Read Online Ghost of Doors (City of Doors) by Jennifer Paetsch - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jennifer Paetsch
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before he lost consciousness. In seconds that seemed drawn out to minutes, in a tumble of images that almost made no sense anymore, Wolfgang could see through Johnny, realized he was dissipating, could no longer hold his form. Through him was a window to the dark tunnel of the underground, light flickering as they passed by markers in the long train tunnel. Gripping Vogelfang with all his might, Wolfgang focused as hard as he could like a drunk might focus on his house keys in the struggle to remember what they did and let loose a shot that flew through what remained of Johnny to smack open the jiggling train window. An emergency exit, the window popped free and Johnny rushed helplessly out through it, the air in the train almost immediately rushing back to normal again, as a tin can, once opened, flooded with air. His glasses slipped off, almost sliding across the floor, and for a terrifying moment, Wolfgang was blind. Reaching out in one desperate motion, his fingertips grazed the glasses, and he managed to slide along the car floor just enough to claim them and return them back where they belonged. Marie looked up from where she had collapsed on the floor, out of Wolfgang's sight. "Where is he?" she stammered, her loose hair spread out across her face like a golden veil. The air rushing past the train cooled off the hot car almost immediately. "Is he gone?"
"Not for good," Wolfgang admitted, his newly recovered senses dull and throbbing from their ordeal, he struggled to decide what to do next. Riding this train all the way out was a death trap. Once Johnny regained his strength, he would be back. Luckily, as weakened as he was, that would take time. A recording announced an unintelligible stop. "We've got to throw him off track. Let's get off here and change trains. It will take time for him to check them all."
Marie sat up, her face flushed, her glamour waning, though she was still beautiful. "You should change clothes," Marie said. "Lose your jacket. I'll change my look, too."
"We should stay underground," he told her, "until we get as far out as we can. We can go back to the train station, and get on another train and take it to the outskirts of town. Then we can find Pilgrim and make for the Hindernis."
Chapter 5
P AINTED A LOUD, SCHOOL BUS yellow and marbled overall with graffiti, the train that carried them out to the edge of town screeched and raced with surprising smoothness except for the pause at every stop and the reminder to "mind the gap between platform and train." Wolfgang found himself touched by this show of courtesy, and while he wondered sometimes about the graffiti, he was impressed with how thoughtful it seemed to alert people about the dangers when traveling by subway. It made him long even more for the human world, a world which he had never seen but only read about in the books his father had in his library, books brought back from the human world by monsters and which his father himself had collected over time. The train crossed over the Spree and stopped at the next station where they got off and marched carefully down the steps to the street, Wolfgang favoring his wounded knee and Marie careful not to leave him too far behind. They met up with Pilgrim just past Falckenstein street and he carried them them beyond the watching eyes of the graffiti until the buildings gave way to green trees and shaded roads.
Wolfgang had never been any farther than this. A thick mist rolled in from the river, the air cool and organic, the nearby lake making its presence known by scent if nothing else. An iron fence kept them from wandering further, but it was not so high that Pilgrim couldn't jump it. Wolfgang hadn’t remembered the No Man's Land being so obvious, but it made sense for it to be gated off, or to at least have some kind of warning posted for those who didn't want to enter, never to return.
"What I don't understand is how will we know when we get to the Hindernis," he said, pulling his hood
"Not for good," Wolfgang admitted, his newly recovered senses dull and throbbing from their ordeal, he struggled to decide what to do next. Riding this train all the way out was a death trap. Once Johnny regained his strength, he would be back. Luckily, as weakened as he was, that would take time. A recording announced an unintelligible stop. "We've got to throw him off track. Let's get off here and change trains. It will take time for him to check them all."
Marie sat up, her face flushed, her glamour waning, though she was still beautiful. "You should change clothes," Marie said. "Lose your jacket. I'll change my look, too."
"We should stay underground," he told her, "until we get as far out as we can. We can go back to the train station, and get on another train and take it to the outskirts of town. Then we can find Pilgrim and make for the Hindernis."
Chapter 5
P AINTED A LOUD, SCHOOL BUS yellow and marbled overall with graffiti, the train that carried them out to the edge of town screeched and raced with surprising smoothness except for the pause at every stop and the reminder to "mind the gap between platform and train." Wolfgang found himself touched by this show of courtesy, and while he wondered sometimes about the graffiti, he was impressed with how thoughtful it seemed to alert people about the dangers when traveling by subway. It made him long even more for the human world, a world which he had never seen but only read about in the books his father had in his library, books brought back from the human world by monsters and which his father himself had collected over time. The train crossed over the Spree and stopped at the next station where they got off and marched carefully down the steps to the street, Wolfgang favoring his wounded knee and Marie careful not to leave him too far behind. They met up with Pilgrim just past Falckenstein street and he carried them them beyond the watching eyes of the graffiti until the buildings gave way to green trees and shaded roads.
Wolfgang had never been any farther than this. A thick mist rolled in from the river, the air cool and organic, the nearby lake making its presence known by scent if nothing else. An iron fence kept them from wandering further, but it was not so high that Pilgrim couldn't jump it. Wolfgang hadn’t remembered the No Man's Land being so obvious, but it made sense for it to be gated off, or to at least have some kind of warning posted for those who didn't want to enter, never to return.
"What I don't understand is how will we know when we get to the Hindernis," he said, pulling his hood
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