Crossing Lines

2. Travelling Differently

When her alarm went off the next morning, she felt like she could sleep for another week; she was emotionally wrung out and she wasn’t looking forward to the trip she had to make to her new living arrangements. She did not consider living with her father a new home; home was where your heart is after all, and hers wasn’t there where he was.

From what she understood, she had two bus rides ahead of her. One that would take about three hours and then she had to get onto another bus that would take another two hours, meaning that she would be there in the afternoon, if all went well.

She had just finished packing her toiletries and things she had been using that morning to get ready, when she heard the doorbell. Mister Allan would see her to the bus station where she would start her long day of travelling.

Pushing her silvery white-blond wavy bob-cut hair out of her face, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and left the spare room where Aunt Betty had let her sleep. The scent of breakfast wafted into her face the moment she opened the bedroom door and she took a deep appreciating breath. It brought back memories of the beginning when her mother had worked night shifts as well to make ends meet.

She wouldn’t have time to eat, since she had overslept and then tried thinking of ways to avoid taking the bus. When she had come up blank, she had given up and finally got into the shower. But she could allow the scent to remind her of happier times for a moment before reality would hit her hard again.

When she came into the kitchen, Aunt Betty shoved a breakfast wrap in foil with a travel mug of coffee and two muffins in a plastic bag into her hand. “I can’t have you showing up to your new life without a full stomach, Deary.” She smiled gently at her and Scarlet giggled despite her sad mood.

She would miss Aunt Betty so much. She had taken on the role of a grandma in her life and she felt like she was leaving her behind. Who would she talk to if she had a tough day if not for her mother and this sweet old lady?

“She’s right; it’s a long trip and I expect you to take care of yourself.” Mister Allan spoke firmly from where he sat at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee that Aunt Betty had obviously forced on him. She was one of those sweet ladies that would feed you a second lunch because you looked ‘half-starved’ after having lunch. There was no refusing her.

Once he had finished his coffee and she had said a tearful goodbye to Aunt Betty, he drove her to the bus stop and they had another tearful goodbye when they hugged for the last time – well, she did. She had thought that she had cried herself dry, but apparently she still had enough tears to cry while she waved goodbye through the window as the bus pulled away. She was going to miss everyone here where she had spent all her life. She watched Mister Allan with his hand raised in his own goodbye with an emotional and worried expression on his face until he disappeared from her sight.

When she had eventually calmed down from her sorrow under the curious glances of strangers, she took out her book and ate one of the muffins with her coffee while she started the new book she had put in her backpack to keep herself busy on the long commute to whatever waited for her. The book was a blessing that kept her from concentrating on the sad state of affairs regarding her life at that moment, otherwise she would have been depressed and crying the whole five-hour trip.

Eventually, after the three-hour trip, they came to the town where she had to get onto the next bus and she allowed the people in the aisle to pass her while she put her book in her backpack and stood, stretching out her tired muscles. She glanced around her with interest when she stepped down from the bus, but she froze when she saw the next bus waiting for her.

What in the world!

It looked like a vehicle going into a war zone, aside from the company’s branding on the exterior. It had small windows that would let in the barest amount of light. It was lifted with larger wheels that indicated that it could go off road. Where was she going to have to travel in that? In fact, if it wasn’t for the branding, she would have thought it a joke.

Scarlet felt her heart rate spike and her breathing come in short gasps while she stared at the bus with wide fearful eyes. The fact that the bus looked like that definitely did not bode well for her near future. They thought it would be best for her to live with her father when she had to take a bus geared for a war zone to get there? She had to have a talk with the judges involved in child welfare!

“Relax, Honey. It only looks like that because we’re going across the border.” A middle-aged woman with blond hair and blue eyes smiled kindly at her.

“Border?” Scarlet asked in confusion. According to her knowledge, they were nowhere near the country’s border.

“Yes, dear; the border between this world and the supernatural realm; well, it’s more correctly dubbed the crossing lines, but the border is shorter in conversations. This bus stops on the other side of the realm; this is purely if there were to arise an emergency.”

“And how often does that happen?” She squeaked in a small voice, her cyan eyes still glued to the monstrosity that was her ride. She had had no idea that there was an open border between this world and the supernatural realm. What was that about?

“Oh, once or twice…” The woman grinned casually as if it was no big deal.

“So it’s not that regular? Then why the war zone kitted bus?”

“Well, once or twice a week, sweetheart.” She shrugged calmly and caught her hand. “Come on, I’ll be with you through this. Chances are nothing’s going to happen anyway. So don’t fret.”

Scarlet allowed herself to be led unwillingly towards the intimidating bus with her luggage being loaded over. Seemed she had been doing a great many things unwillingly since her mother’s death. But she couldn’t help the adrenaline rush when she stepped inside the bus and found that it was not like a regular bus inside either.

The seats were arranged around the sides and back of the bus, not in rows like they usually would be. There were three sets of rows, arranged like bleachers would be on any sports field. At her look of confusion in the dusky interior the older lady smiled.

“The men sit around the outside, women in the middle row and little ones in the center. The men serve as a barrier to help protect the women and children inside in case something breaks through, which hasn’t happened yet.”

“But I’m travelling alone.” Scarlet managed in a hoarse whisper.

“Oh relax, sugar. They always have four or five hunters on the bus to help with protection in case there’s a problem. They will probably seat one of them behind you.”

“Hunters?” She felt like she knew nothing about the world around her. Why had she never learnt about this in school? Shouldn’t there be a brochure for people headed in this direction with travel tips and warnings? She would have loved to have one of those.

“Oh, they’re specially trained men that hunt and protect humans against supernatural creatures that might want to do us harm. Sort of like the police in a way.”

“But, what about you?” Scarlet asked when she could finally tear her eyes away from the seating on the bus.

“My son is coming now; he came over to escort me.”

“Should I be worried about where we’re going?” She asked in a small voice and the older woman smiled kindly while she gently patted the back of the hand she was still holding.

“Don’t you worry, sweetheart; we’ll be as safe as houses once we cross that border into the human world again.”

“But more than sixty percent of accidents happen in people’s houses, so we’re only about forty percent safe?” She squeaked out. The odds seemed ridiculous to her; she didn’t want to live with her father, but she also didn’t want to die just yet. Wasn’t there a middle way she could walk in her choices?

The older woman chuckled her amusement at her words and tugged on her arm, leading her onto the bus and to seats in the back that faced the front of the bus. “Come on, sweetheart. If anything happens, just listen to the Hunters and do what they tell you to do, OK?”

Scarlet obediently sat down and strapped herself in with the seatbelt that looked like she was about to fly in a fighter jet, then she started gnawing on the side of her thumb in her nervousness. Chuckling, the blond woman caught the hand she was chewing on and handed her some sticky toffee to chew on, as if that would help any with her nerves.

“Where are you going, sweetheart?”

“Oh, I’m going to live with my father. You can call me Scarlet, Mrs…”

“Oh, call me Rhonda. Are you still in school?”

“Uhm, yes, I’m going to start there on Monday, finishing my senior year.” She answered while she watched people starting to get on the bus and find their seats, just like Rhonda had explained to her; men sat with their backs to the outside of the bus, in front of them and in most cases between their legs, were the women and what few children were on the bus were placed in the centre.

“Oh, here is Ben now.” Rhonda smiled at a man that she guessed to be in his late twenties with a mop of blond hair, just like his mother’s. “Ben, dear, meet Scarlet. She’s moving to town to finish her senior year.”

He smiled openly at her and held his hand out to shake and she obliged with a more reserved smile; she was still nervous about the rest of her trip. “How are you, Scarlet? I have the diner in town, so you’re welcome to visit us any time you want some company, or if you want a part-time job; I always seem to have a shortage of help.”

“Uhm, thanks. Honestly, I’m just trying to get through this trip first.” She admitted nervously and he chuckled.

“Nothing to worry about. See, you got one of the hard-core Hunters to protect your back.” He teased and indicated an armed man that looked somewhat like a soldier with his clothing and weapons that approached her seat.

He seemed to be in his thirties and he gave her a reassuring smile before he sat down in the seat behind her, making her more nervous than relieved at that point. Could anyone blame her?

She was travelling in an armored vehicle with an armed man that looked ready to go to war sitting behind her that she did not know at all. His long legs meant that he had to spread them to not knee her in the back and she felt a blush rise to her cheeks at the close quarter seating arrangement she had with a total stranger – an armed stranger.

Rhonda chuckled wordlessly and she glanced up at her from where her eyes had fallen into her lap. The older woman had an amused expression on her face as if she thought that this was the best entertainment around. Taking a deep breath to steady herself when the diesel engine of the armored bus started, she bit into the toffee stick and started chewing slowly, hoping that the normality of the action would help to soothe her nerves.

Slowly, the bus pulled away before speeding up to what seemed like a terrifyingly fast pace, but then, that could be because she couldn’t really see how fast they were going and the semi-darkness inside unnerved her even more. There was casual chatter going around despite the circumstances and she wasn’t sure if this was normal everyday for these people, but it was daunting for her.

Was she the only one who was travelling this route for the first time? Everyone else seemed so calm and collected, but she was ready to scream ‘uncle’ any minute now.