Destination Unknown

"Hello?" My voice echoes through the labyrinth of tunnels. The reverberations sound nervous in my ears.

"Anyone there?" I ask as I turn on my flashlight. There's no answer. Of course, there isn't; it's an abandoned train station. Why would there be? I take a few tentative steps down the stairwell, wondering if there's a light switch somewhere in here.

Washington Station has been abandoned for centuries. It had been named after an American President the people had loved, or something like that. I suppose the place had once been beautiful. Even underground, there are towering white marble pillars and shiny granite floors. The ticket booths are made of a glossy red wood, maple, or mahogany. It must've cost a fortune to erect.

Now everything is covered in a thin film of dust. There are small bits of marble scattered around the pillars. Every inch of this place reeks of rot and decay.

I jump as another piece of a nearby pillar falls to the ground. It echoes through the room. A mouse scurries over my foot as I try to stay calm. There's nothing here. Nothing at all. But that's not very reassuring. There's something supposed to be here. Something I need to find.

"Okay, if I were Jacob, where would I hide something?" I asked myself. Well, not here. That's the obvious answer. Jacob would never come here, except for maybe a late-night daredevil outing to look for ghosts or something equally stupid. Jacob loved to psyche himself out.

But that was the point, wasn't it? One last game? One last trick? Stupid best friend. I balled up my fist in frustration. Why did everything have to be a game to him? Why did he have to leave me out of the blue? There wasn't even a hint he was going to! Why? Just... Why?

I inhaled deeply. Being angry wasn't going to get me anywhere. What I really should be doing is thinking. Why would Jacob hide something here? No matter how crazy he seemed, there was always a method to his madness. I mean, that was the reason we became friends: he decided to do something crazy, talk to the mysterious new girl who talked to lizards and never went anywhere without a book.

I smile, remembering the lizard keychain he got me for my last birthday. Sentimental idiot. Then suddenly it dawned on me. Jacob was sentimental! This place must be important to him. Or to me. We'd both been here a few times before, but never alone. So all I had to do was remember.

I made my way to the ticket booths. The first time Jacob brought me here, we scratched our names in one of the pillars, but that didn't seem right. The last time we were here, we were playing capture the flag with the kids in our apartment building. We had tread into enemy territory and decided to camp at one of the ticket booths.

We had talked a lot that day. Mostly because we were super short on space and so cramped that if we sat any closer, we would be practically lying on top of each other. Sometime during the campout, it got really quiet, and it almost felt like we were going to – anyway, weird pick from Jacob. But it felt right.

I squirmed my way into the booth. I really hoped I was right about this. There was a cupboard right under the glass partition that would've separated the ticket-seller, or whatever he was called, from the customers. It had probably been used to store the tickets. But today, tickets were not what I was hoping to find.

The cupboard opened with a creak. But inside? Inside, there was exactly what I was looking for. Or at least I hoped so. There was a letter addressed to my name, written in Jacob's chaotic scrawl and... tickets? I decided to open the letter first, hopefully it'd tell me what to do with the tickets.

Dear Eris, Okay, we're off to a pretty good start. If you're reading this, I'm already dead. Dead! What?! I knew he was missing, but dead?! He couldn't be dead! I really, really hoped he wasn't dead. I tried to quell the sinking feeling in my stomach before I read on.

Just joking. I'm not dead. Please save the yelling about how I scared you and shouldn't joke like that for when I'm actually there to listen. Don't you just hate how friends can make you cry and laugh at the same time? I was going to kill him the next time I saw him. That is, assuming there was a next time, which was what Jacob was suggesting.

Right now, you need to focus. I want to explain everything right now. I do. But I need you to do something first. I need you to find me. And yes, I do mean that literally. You see, I'm a little lost right now. It's a really long story. Again, I'll explain later. Anyway, you'll want to keep those tickets. Wish you luck, Jacob. (P.S. - Don't Panic!)

The last part of the letter was written in big yellow letters with a caution sign by it. Even in a mysterious letter, he managed to make a reference and a joke. Jacob knew that the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy always managed to cheer me up.

But what could the rest of the letter mean? Keep the tickets? Find Jacob? It all sounded insane! I sighed and shoved the tickets and the note in my pocket. There was no sense in throwing them away, so no matter how vague Jacob was, I might as well keep them. I left the ticket booth and started making my way home. The search for Jacob Henley had ended for today.

I wondered what was for dinner. Since it was a Saturday, I'd get Sushi with Jacob and Sammy. Unfortunately for me, Sammy was out of town, and Jacob, of course, was missing. Maybe I'd make macaroni and Dad and I could watch Napolean Dynamite or something. I could use a little pick-me-up after everything that had happened in the past few weeks.

"Ah!" My head hit something hard. I tried to keep walking, but I could barely take two steps without falling over. Or maybe I had already fallen over. Honestly, I was seeing so many stars right now I couldn't even tell. The room started to go dim. I was about to faint, wasn't I?

"Excuse me? Miss, are you alright?" The buzz and chatter of a crowded room flooded my ears. I groaned. My head hurt, my side hurt. Everything hurt. What had just happened? I pryed open my eyes, closing them again from the pain of the light that hit them.

"Ow." I mumbled.

"Oh, good, she's awake, can we go now?" An annoyed transatlantic accent asked. I worked up the courage to open my eyes again and found a tall man with a gray tophat and a woman with pixie-ish features and blonde curls standing over me.

"Be quiet, Richard, the poor girl is hurt, and she was alone when we found her." The woman scolded, "It's alright, dear, we'll take care of you. My name is Lottie. What's yours?"

"I, uh," I felt a wave of panic surge through me. I couldn't remember! I couldn't remember my own name! I felt like I was going to cry. I realized I couldn't remember anything before a couple of minutes ago. Well, I could remember my dad. I lived with him in an apartment. My mom died when I was young, but I couldn't remember any siblings.

Okay, that was a start. I could remember some things. There was no need for panic, no need at all. But anything from the last couple of months was blank. Completely, utterly blank. Like an empty chalkboard. Don't Panic. Don't Panic. Don't Panic. I fidgeted around in my pocket. Huh, that's weird, there was a piece of paper in my pocket.

"Come on now, dearie, you can tell us." Lottie encouraged. I unfolded the paper, maybe it'd have something useful in it. Bingo! It did have somehing!

"It's, uh, Eris," I stuttered, "My name is Eris."

"What a lovely name. Let's go already we're going to miss our train!" The man, Richard, fumed. Hold on... train? Were we at a train station?

"Excuse me, Miss, um, Lottie," I began, "Where are we?"

"Washington Station, dear." Lottie answered, "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." She hauled me to my feet and led me to a long line.

"Lottie! Train!" Richard whined. Lottie waved the words away.

"Don't worry Richard, we'll be on time." Lottie assured him. Richard rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. "Let's get you a ticket, dear."

I nodded, but something felt off. Washington Station was loud and bright and crowded with people. But that wasn't what worried me. What worried me was Washington station being operational at all. I couldn't think of a good reason why though. The place didn't look dangerous or... man my head really hurt. I'd worry about the all the whys later, right now I really needed an asperin.