LAST STOP ON THE WYNDSBURY LINE

1.

‘The weirdest dreams are the ones where you realise that you’re dreaming’ thought James Sung, as he realised he was dreaming. He had ridden the Wyndsbury Line plenty of times before, and not once had he ever looked out the window and seen a featureless orange expanse over an endless black ocean. As he leaned up to get a better look James could’ve sworn that he could see constellations of stars shining from beneath the perfectly still waters. The train carriage made no sound and there was nothing outside to give James any frame of reference from which he could tell whether it was moving or not.

"Well this is all very conceptual isn’t it?" said the young man in the seat across from James. He was tall and lean, with long blonde hair that was tied back in a neat braid. If it wasn’t for the modern black suit and tie James thought, he looked like kind of pirate or Viking. James noticed an elaborate red rose pin on his suit and suddenly he recognised who he was talking to, Eric Vinsten, a senior student from his old high school. That same recognition appeared on Eric’s face as his eyes lit up and he suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Hey I know you, you went to Wyndsbury High didn’t you?" Eric said enthusiastically.

"Yeah." Said James quietly, concerned by the casualness of this conversation taking place within a dream.

"Mm weren’t you in the school band? Jake or Jim or something?" Eric’s brow furrowed with concentration.

"Uhh its James."

"Oh yeah I remember now. You had glasses and you messed up that C Sharp that time we played the national anthem" As Eric mentioned this James’ face reddened.

"You don’t remember my name but you remember that!" James exclaimed.

"Calm down mate, it’s just a dream" Eric chuckled.

"Yeah but it’s my dream and I don’t wanna be reminded of that stuff."

"Mate, what do you mean your dream?" This mate was said in a less friendly and more accusatory manner.

"I’m the one having the dream and you’re…"

"I’m what."

"A figment of my… you know. Imagination" At the mention of this Eric stood up and pointed his finger directly into James’ face.

"Listen here you little shit. I’m me, and if anyone here is a figment of imagination is you because I can’t imagine that anyone could be as annoying as you in real life!" Eric poked James’s forehead, and seemed surprised when it was tangible.

"Can you guys keep it down over there." A young woman sitting across the row called out. "I’m trying to sleep. Or wake up. I can’t really tell." Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she pondered this line of thought. At this point James realised that she was Emily O’Brien, who used to sit next to him in Pre-Methods Maths.

"Well isn’t this shaping up to be some kind of astral high school reunion." Eric said. "You’d at least think my imagination would conger up some people from my year level. There was this one guy Derek and let me tell you he had the funniest-

James woke with a start as the train stopped. That being the real train which he had been sitting on before he’d drifted off. It was late dusk outside, and the train had just arrived at Wyndsbury station. James sighed and turned to pick up the trumpet case sitting in between his feet when he stopped suddenly.

Eric Vinsten was still sitting in front of him.

They locked eyes for a moment, and James couldn’t help but feel guilty. To him, dreaming about another person while he was right next to them felt like a theft of intellectual property. When he was younger, he had often worried that people could hear what he was thinking about them and that if he thought the wrong thing, they’d get mad. Of course, he was able to shake this feeling by reasoning that it was impossible for anyone to hear his thoughts and that he was probably more likely to upset by staring at them paranoidly. Eric interrupted this train of thought by leaning forward without warning and poking James in the forehead in the exact manner in which James had dreamt he had. They both heard a small gasp and turned to see that Emily O’Brien was seated in the row across from them, she had just checked the time on her phone and quickly ran out of the carriage and on to the platform. Eric pulled his hand back from James’ head.

"Did you…" Eric began to ask "Did I…"

"Nope… definitely not…"

"Wow that’s crazy because-"

"Bye" James mumbled as he picked up his case and quickly made for the exit. He heard Eric stand up behind him and say,

"I’m sorry I called you annoying!"

2.

James stumbled down the ramp in his attempt to get away from Eric and the train as quickly as possible. Being a generally anxious person James was not a fan of unexplainable phenomena, and something about the dream that he and Eric had apparently shared unsettled him deeply. It was like two magnets of the same polarity being forced together; James felt compelled to slip away. His mood was not improved by the two police officers he saw on standing outside the station exit. Police also made James nervous, not because he was a criminal or anything, but the fact they always carried deadly weapons always put James off, like at any second they could turn around and end his life right then and there. Avoiding eye contact with them he moved out onto the street. Wyndsbury was at the very edge of what could be considered suburban Victoria, the town bordered on what seemed like an endless expanse of farms and pastures as well as a large national park. For James it was a short walk from the station to his parent’s house, but he had stopped a short distance from the station exit, his breath visible in the frigid air. Something was giving him an uneasy feeling (well more uneasy than he already was) and suddenly walking out into the cold autumn night alone didn’t seem like such a good idea. Then James heard a scream.

Emily O’Brien walked down the ramp and into the tunnel that lead under the train tracks and out into the other side of Wyndsbury. She shivered and drew the long woollen coat she was wearing in around herself. Emily was still waiting at the bus stop when she heard the scream.

Eric was still confused about the dream as he left the station, despite how strange it had seemed there was something not entirely unfamiliar about it. He knew it had something to do with that James kid, but it was stuck like a word on the tip of his tongue. Eric’s phone buzzed, it was a text from Joseph and Agatha, they were waiting for him in the car park. As he left through the station exit, he saw James standing off to the side, that was when he heard the scream.

James shuddered as he heard the blood curdling scream, he jumped as Eric bolted past him and down the ramp leading under the station. Heading towards the source of the scream was the last thing James wanted to do at that moment, but he found himself invariably compelled to follow Eric. There was something about the whole situation that felt vaguely familiar to James, as if running in after Eric was a habit that he couldn’t remember picking up. As he ran down the ramp James heard a metallic clanking sound, as if someone in steel boots was running inside the station. The tunnel under the station was lit in a dim yellow by a series of old lights set along the tiled walls and ceiling. He found Eric stopped dead in his tracks halfway through the tunnel. Ahead the bodies of the two police officers who had passed them before were lying in pools of blood. Footsteps echoed off the walls as Emily O’Brien ran down the tunnel from the opposite direction. Despite her better judgement she had also felt compelled to investigate the source of the screams. Unlike James and Eric however, Emily didn’t freeze upon seeing the bodies, but instead leapt into action, pulling out her phone immediately and dialling 000. Seeing this seemed to snap Eric out of his stupor as well, and he quickly crouched down to feel for a pulse on the bodies. Meanwhile James stood there, unable to move, thoughts racing through his mind. Once the initial shock of seeing the bodies wore off James began to fret over other things, how was he supposed to get home and do his work now that he’d stumbled into this mess, James felt guilty for thinking so selfishly, then he felt guilty for feeling guilty for thinking so selfishly, its not like anyone else could hear his thoughts, it was his actions that would define himself to them, then James felt guilty for having stood still for two long. He looked down to see Eric turn around with a grim expression on his face.

3.

"Now that there is some shonky business." Said Special Investigator Paul Londreth as he regarded the two bodies.

"What’s your take?" He said, turning to face his partner, Special Investigator Jake Janeiro.

"If I had to make an educated guess, I’d say they were murdered." Janeiro had to angle his head up to talk to Londreth, but this was mostly because Janeiro was still crouched over the bodies. Normally he was only slightly shorter than Londreth, but Janeiro liked to think he made up the difference with his more conventionally handsome appearance, his muscular physique, long flowing hair and strong Brazilian accent that surely made him more engaging than Londreth with his exceedingly average appearance and silly British accent that wasn’t even, like, one of the posh one’s, if you know what I mean.

"Yeah, I was hoping for something a bit more insightful than that." At the mention of this Janeiro stood up quickly and cleared his throat with theatrical flair.

"The victims are two police officers, one male, one female. Both have multiple wounds, all appear to be made by a long blade, there are both stabs and slashes present, several of these wounds are potentially fatal but I’d say its the chest stabs that did it."

"The ones who found the bodies said they heard a scream." Londreth interjected.

"Yes, that appears to have been the male officer, look how he’s slightly further along the tunnel. I think the assailant killed the other officer first, which alerted our victim here to try and draw his gun which was when the assailant uhh, disarmed him"

"Which was when his arm was chopped off innit." Londreth crossed his arms, satisfied.

"Where are these witnesses you mentioned?" Janeiro asked. Londreth tilted his head towards the tunnel exit.

"They’re being kept here while the local police take their statements. Apparently, some of them are being less than cooperative."

"Well that’s understandable this a pretty traumatic thing to see on your evening commute."

"No none of them seemed overwhelmingly disturbed actually." Londreth explained. "I think they’re holding back something though."

"You think they might be involved?" Janeiro asked.

"Well not all of them, otherwise they wouldn’t have called it in in the first place."

"I think its time I go talk to these witnesses." Although he liked to think of himself as a prime specimen of physical health Janeiro couldn’t help but wince as his thighs burned as he stood up from the bodies. He always hated late night cases.

The five witnesses were sitting on the ledge of a garden bed just outside the tunnel entrance. Having already been given the once over by the paramedics they were being watched over by two police officers. Londreth had scribbled down their names and some notes on a pad and passed it over for Janeiro to see.

Eric Vinsten

James Sung

Emily O’Brien

Joseph Harn

Agatha Lalor

"Alright let’s get started, which one of you is Eric?" Janeiro asked them. The tall, blonde-haired one stepped forward. While all the other witnesses had a variety of blank, shocked and confused expressions on their faces Eric alone stood there with an intense, steeled look and glared directly at Janeiro, who was thinking about how his ex-girlfriend would have described Eric as emitting "extremely angry vibes". They stood their face to face for a moment, as Janeiro was transported a thousand kilometres away reminiscing about his sweet Francesca and wondering how things could have gone so wrong. Meanwhile back in Wyndsbury, Londreth was beginning to suspect the constant late nights were taking a toll on Janeiro’s ability to focus. Erics gaze failed to waver while Janeiro’s eyes had glazed over. Londreth coughed loudly into his hand and Janeiro snapped back into action.

"Sorry I must have fallen asleep there for a second, late nights, you know how it is." Janeiro said, trying to lighten the mood.

Eric said nothing.

"So let me get this straight, you got off the train alongside James and Emily here, walked down off the platform, then when you heard the screams you ran straight over to investigate, which is when you found the bodies of the two officers." Janeiro read through Londreth’s notes.

"Yes." Eric replied curtly

"That was brave of you, a lot of people would hear blood curdling screams and decide to rush off in the opposite direction."

Eric said nothing again.

"You know most people who find dead bodies are quite distraught." Janeiro pointed out.

"Is that required?" Eric asked.

"No, I guess it isn’t" Janeiro turned around and pulled Londreth aside.

"Is it just me or is this guy holding together a bit too well?" He asked Londreth softly.

"He seems more upset at being held for so long." Londreth whispered

"You think he might have done it." Janeiro pointed out.

"He was the one who called it in!"

"Might have been a self-report. You never know how these psycho’s minds will work."

"There are other witnesses who can back him up!"

"Maybe they’re all in on it."

"Jake remember what happened last time you thought all the witnesses were in on it?"

"Paul if you’re talking about the San Pablo case then- "

"Of course, I’m talking about the San Pablo case! You were overworked then like you are now. You’re overthinking things. Come on, these are all just kids! Its like that thing about the razor being the simplest answer innit?"

"You’re right Paul, lets try a different angle." Janeiro spun back around to face the witnesses. He glanced at the notebook again before handing it back to Londreth.

"Thank you for your patience, we should be done in a minute. I just have a few more questions to ask." Janeiro said sincerely.

"Now you were at both ends of the tunnel. Did any of you see anyone other than the officers or yourselves enter or leave the tunnel?" The five shook their heads and there were a few mumbled noes.

"So, our killer must have been laying in wait. Probably in one of the public restrooms down there. Any of you use them?" More noes.

"What about the two who were waiting in the car park? See anything else unusual going on."

Agatha and Joseph glanced at each other then quickly looked away.

"Uh we didn’t really see much of anything." Agatha said.

"We were uh… distracted." Joseph said, his cheeks flushed bright red.

"Having-a-pash-in-the-parking-lot." Londreth spoke aloud as he jotted this down in his notepad.

"Ok and finally, what about the one’s on the train. Was there anything out of the ordinary on that train? I don’t care how inconsequential it might seem, everything we learn takes us just that little bit closer to making the community a safer place." Janeiro reassured them. This time it was Eric, Emily and James who shared glances.

"No." They quickly said at the same time before cringing back, realising how suspicious they must have sounded. And sound suspicious they did, as Janeiro raised an eyebrow. There definitely was, as Paul had put it, some shonky business going on right now.

4.

The deaths of the two police officers became a hot issue in the normally quiet town of Wyndsbury. James on the other hand avoided all of it. Seeing the dead cops was traumatic of course, but it was the apparent shared dream he’d had with Eric and Emily beforehand was really messing him up, it was some kind of bad omen probably. To take his mind off it James tried to increase his trumpet practice, the classic throw yourself into your work technique of avoiding problems. This was ineffective at lifting the constant sense of impending doom he now felt, as everything he played, no matter what genre he started with, ended up being a funeral dirge in a Grave tempo and a suitably minor key to boot.

Then on a Friday night the week after the murders, James had the dream again. He was back on the train. The carriage was still gliding silently over the starry ocean beneath the orange void. He was back in his seat across from Eric, who sat there on his phone with a confused look on his face.

"I can’t read any of this, its all out of focus." Eric squinted at the screen, pulling it closer and further away from his face.

"That’s because it’s a dream." James said flatly.

"We’re back here again." It was Emily, she had stretched out across her row of seats and was laying back, her long ginger hair partially covering her face.

"And where is here exactly?" another echoed down the carriage, it was Agatha, she was standing by the doors in a nightgown and looking confused. Her blonde hair was up in a tight bun and she had a general look of confusion about her.

"Who cares?" The reply came from the other end of the carriage. It was Joseph, standing there in a pair of blue pajamas, his thick curly black hair was let down past his shoulders and underneath his sketchy moustache he was wearing a wide grin (it was at this point James realised he was so fixated on everyone’s hair because he had forgot to shave that morning). Joseph, decidedly did not look confused at all; however he was definitely unaware of the true nature of the situation as he began unbuttoning his shirt with a mischievous look on his face. Agatha raised an eyebrow, intrigued. She moved to-

"WAIT!" Eric leapt into the aisle between them. "This isn’t just a dream Joseph!"

"I’m dreaming?" Said Joseph, sounding disappointed. He looked out the window and saw where they were. "Figures." He turned around, looked at Eric, Emily and James and snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He kept snapping them.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked.

"If I’m gonna be lucid dreaming then you don’t need to be in it." Joseph snapped again.

"We’re not figments of your imagination Joseph. Somehow we’re all in a collective dream."

"Oh yeah, prove it."

"Prove it? Prove it?" Eric started towards him. "I’ll prove it you horny bastard. I’ll punch you so hard you wake up. Then I’m gonna come round and find you in real life and hit you again!"

"What would you call that, a knock in?" Emily called out as Eric ran past her. Meanwhile Joseph only smirked.

"Come on, this is a dream so there’s now way that could possibly hurt me-"

Joseph woke with a start and covered in sweat. Rubbing his jaw absent mindedly, he noticed that it had a dull ache to it. "Must’ve slept on a funny angle" Joseph thought as he rolled over and had nearly drifted back off to sleep when there was a buzz from his bedside table. A text from Eric that read "Do you believe me now?".

Eric stared at the spot where Joseph had just vanished after being hit.

"Well now I just have to wake up somehow and-" Eric was cut short as Agatha performed a flying kick into his head, something that would’ve been highly difficult in real life, but seemed to come naturally to her in the dream. Eric vanished and without his body to stop her, Agatha continued flying and crashed to the ground hard. Hard enough apparently to wake her up as she also vanished.

"I guess they were light sleepers." Said James quietly.

"Did you say something?" Emily asked, she had placed one freckled arm over her face, trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep from inside the dream.

"Oh uhh…" James trailed off. Could he be sure this wasn’t just a regular dream? The others seemed to be acting as nonsensically and impulsively as possible, like the one-dimensional, cartoonish representations of a real person inside another dream. But then it all felt so clear and so real. James took a deep breath, but then paused. If he was in a dream, why would he need to breath, it’s not like he was in a real place. James held his breath and waited. Seconds seemed to pass by, and he felt no change, he looked at the watch on his wrist to time himself, but the face was missing. Then the train jolted, James quickly looked up and saw that Emily had vanished and the train’s surroundings had changed. They’d arrived at the Wyndsbury station. James stood up and looked around cautiously as the train doors slid open, enticing him to exit the carriage. He stepped out quickly. His actions feeling more like a recreation of a memory than a new experience to him. This feeling was confirmed when James saw the two murdered police officers standing by the station exit, alive and well. James did just as he did that night, avoided his gaze, and walked by them quickly. He glanced back and saw them heading down the tunnel under the tracks. Then James did something that he did not do that night, he followed the cops down.

He moved quietly as he walked behind them, staying back a distance and sticking to the sides of the tunnel, James had no desire to get himself killed as well, but he did feel a compulsion to discover what had happened and so continued lurking, this was still only a dream after all.

The cops had walked about midway through the tunnel when James saw a metallic object glinting in the shadows nearby. Slowly it detached itself from the wall and drew up to full height, freezing James in his tracks. It was a person in a full suit of armour unlike any James had ever seen. Well, he thought, he hadn’t actually ever seen anyone wearing a suit of plate farmer but this one was far different from the ones he’d seen depicted books and films. From head to toe the entire suit of armour was covered in hundreds of sharp, angular points. It was if someone had taken a thousand knives and melted them together. The tunnel shook, a train was passing overhead. Using the noise to mask its passage the figure in the knife armour crept up behind