Page 14 of Moonlight Hearts
“Nope, because that’s Dwayne’s decision, and he wouldn’t.”
“Hmm.”
We went around for several more turns, our footsteps echoing all around us, and if we’d been going just a little faster, the stairs might’ve given us vertigo.At the bottom, it got brighter, the light warm as dawn.
I took a few steps forward into that dawn-like light and gaped at the sight of the place Soyer had taken me to.I didn’t know what to call it.It was a room, pretty big, with creamy stone all around.The walls on three sides had been fitted with glass terrariums like you might see at a reptile house in a zoo, and inside them, odd greenery bloomed.I looked closer to see what it was.Moss.It had conquered branches and the little stone structures placed inside the terrariums to create strange landscapes behind the glass.
Placed around the room were more terrariums and bowls, some set up on spindly tables and small enough to fit in my hand, others octagonal and too big to lift.It was warm here too, warm and verdant, the orange light making me think of sunrise.
Soyer wasn’t stopping, but he slowed down to give me time to stare.I’d never seen that much moss in my life, and I’d never known the many colors and shapes it came in.Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement in one of the terrariums; a butterfly or a moth.Its coloring made the creature vanish just as soon as I’d spotted it.
“Come on.We want to get there on the hour,” Soyer said, his thumb stroking the back of mine.
“Get where?”
I reluctantly looked away from the moss art and found his attention on me, his blackness such contrast to the softness behind glass, to the daybreak light.
“You wanted a drink.You’re getting a drink.”
“Right.This is just really pretty.”
“You can look later.”
He walked ahead of me to the far end of the room.I realized there was a booth here, beyond the many terrariums, looking about as old-fashioned as the elevator.Behind it sat a person with skin that looked more like leather and had a bluish black hue, and long black hair framing a thin face with high cheekbones.They wore a dress—a robe of dark green, shimmering like silk.As we came closer, I saw that their unusually long nails were painted in the same shade of emerald.A brass sign fastened to the wall behind them read The Small Express.
“Welcome to the Small Express, Mr.Bennet.Will you and your companion be traveling with us tonight?”
Their voice, much like their features, was androgynous, and something about their eyes wasn’t quite right, either their size or placement.I made myself smile at them, pretending this was just a normal day for me.It was hard not being able to show my excitement.
“We will.Do we have a time limit?”Soyer asked.
The…concierge?Conductor?They made a clicky little sound.
“Not for you, Mr.Bennet.We’re excited to welcome you.”They turned to an old typewriter, one of these big old things with the letter stamps hitting the paper as if it were a drum.In short order, and despite their nails, they’d typed something on two rectangles of heavy paper with a slight metallic shimmer.They handed both to Soyer.“There you go.Please enjoy yourselves tonight.”
“Thanks.”
Soyer walked through the open archway right behind their desk.I nodded at the concierge when our eyes briefly met, and if I was reading their face right, they were smiling at me.
The archway led us to a platform.It was clearly a subway stop, but not like any I’d ever waited at.This one was a relic from a golden past, complete with shimmering light fixtures and shiny tiles in green and gold.On one end of it, there was one of those photo points with a wooden display that had characters painted on it, their faces cut out so anyone could step into their role.In this case, it was the uniformed body of a train conductor with a steam train in the background.It said Small Express on the side of the train.
“What is this place?”I asked, cautiously stepping toward the photo spot even as I heard the rumble of an engine from the dark tunnel.
“A fucking tourist trap.Like the restaurant on top of the Eiffel Tower.Some people call it an exclusive dating spot, but they’re wrong.”
I snagged one of the tickets from Soyer.“The Small Express, Unlimited Ticket.Mr.Bennet plus one.Don’t tell me we’re going somewhere?”
“We’re going on an experience.That’s their marketing.It’s basically just a dining car that keeps going round and round.”
As he said it, the train came in.I’d expected something old, although maybe not a steam engine like in the photo wall drawing, given that we were in a system of underground tunnels with limited ventilation.But the train that arrived at a leisurely speed was the lovechild of steampunk and futurism; sleek and shiny, yet painted in the golden and green tones that surrounded us and decorated with swirling metal fixtures that grew more pronounced when the carriages came into view.
Soyer walked with me to the front, where I spotted the actual conductor stepping off the train and onto the platform.She looked just like a regular human, and I was a little bit disappointed about that.
Soyer held out the ticket he’d held on to, and she produced one of those punch tool thingies to stamp it.
“Welcome to the Small Express, Mr.Bennet.”Soyer ignored her, and she turned her welcoming smile to me.“Welcome to the Small Express, Mr.Saintclair.”
When I just stood there with open-mouthed surprise at her knowing my name, Soyer gave her my ticket to punch, which she did.