Murder on the Orient Express Chapter 2(my version)

It had been a long day and the sun was dispersing behind the hills, sending out a pink light over the horizon.

I was tired and starving and I had been on the train for several hours, so I made my way to the dining car. Everyone was staring gormlessly at me as I walked past. However, it was nothing new, I was used to it.

As I walked into the dining car, I gasped in amazement at how grande and beautiful it was. There were many tables and chairs that were set out for two people and they looked very pretty with the sparkling white, clean table cloths and the candles surrounded by red roses and white lillies in the middle of the tables. It smelt of the most wonderful smell I had ever smelt and the sound of the shiny cutlery clanging against the white plates.

I looked around. The car was full of beautiful girls accompanied by men sitting together romantically and eating together. I sat at the table by the window alone and feeling lonely. All these girls are priviliged. They had homes to go back to, they had a family, they even had someone to love them. They weren't deformed like me. I sat there turning green with envy. How could I ever get any friends or even a boyfriend looking like this?

Suddenly, a tall boy with pale skin, white blonde hair and pink eyes entered the room. He looked very rich and had a cute smile. All the girls automatically stopped eating and watched him as he entered the room. He looked around looking for a place to sit while girls followed his gaze drooling all over their plates, watching his every move. I sat there, looking out of the window, naive of his entrance when I felt a warm hand rest upon my shoulder.

"Is anybody sitting here?" said a well spoken voice coming from behind me. I swivelled around in my chair to find a gorgeous looking man standing infront of me, his beautiful pink eyes twinkling. I blushed a slight pink in embarrassment. I was paralysed in shock and I sat there for a few minutes gaping at him.

"er...no," I replied and I tried to force a smile. I felt my cheeks crease and a sudden warmth over-come my body. I had never smiled in my life. I was pretty sure that my smile might scare him away but he smiled back, his cheeky face illuminating underneath the candlelight as he sat down.

He started asking me questions and I found him a bit strange and mysterious at first, but then I forgot about my worries and became more confident and started chatting back. I was sure he probably wouldn't understand my strong american accent, but surprisingly he understood and listened with interest.

"What is your name?" he asked me.

"Tigerlilly, Tigerlilly Pera," I replied nervously.

"What a charming name for such a charming girl!" he replied sweetly back. I blushed pink in embarrassment again. "Pleased to meet you Tigerlilly, my name is Markus Storms, but you can call me Marky." he continued.

"Marky," I muttered under my breath.

A young french waitress in her 20's with very greasy black hair in a tight bun on the back of her head, and tightly pursed lips came to our table with a piece of parchment and a pen in her hand. She looked annoyed and tired. She was wearing a black pinifore and a white frilly apron with a blue badge on her apron to represent that she worked on the Orient Express. She glared at me showing pure hatred and envy, however she smiled at Marky showing her dazzling white teeth.

"Mr. Storms and ze girl, are ze ready too beee served?" she demanded impatiently.

By the time we had got our meal, the candles went dim and the wax dripped down the sides of the candle making it look pretty. We ate spaghetti bolognese together as the moon came out of it's hiding place and shone through the window on our silvery blonde hair. Marky showed me how to eat spaghetti. It was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted in my life! I felt embarrassed though as I had never ate Spaghetti Bolognese before and I had dropped half of the spaghetti on the floor and I had bolognese all round my mouth.

"Come here," Marky said and he picked up the napkin on the table and wiped the bolognese around my mouth grinning at me.

When we had finished eating our Spaghetti Bolognese followed by a double chocolate gateau and a bottle of bubbly between us, we stood up to leave as Marky left a tip on the table. He started talking to me but something distracted me.

At the other side of the room, a dark figure wearing a black cloak, his hood covering his face was sitting at a table glaring around the room. It was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman because to be honest, it looked like neither. It then caught my eye contact and glared right into my face. Suddenly, a cold shiver went down my spine and the room all of a sudden went colder. It was like I was being hypnotised by this thing.

"Are you alright?" Marky asked, "What's wrong? You look like You've just seen a ghost!"

"It's... nothing," I lied. I didn't want to tell him just incase he thought I was going mental.

I turned around to face the thing lurking in the corner, but to my delight, it had disappeared.

"Maybe you're feeling a bit tipsy after the champagne?" he enquired.

I nodded, half listening to him, half mesmerised in my own thoughts.

"Come on, I'll walk you back to your room!" he said beaming.

As we were walking out of the dining car, I turned to look behind me, a girl with a grey tinge to her eyes was sitting with a few of her friends chatting. I caught her eye contact for a few seconds and her eyes suddenly flashed a green colour. I blinked and looked again, but her eyes were the normal grey colour and she was chatting excitedly to her friends again. Maybe Marky was right. Maybe I was going a bit tipsy from the champagne.

After a stroll around the train with Marky, he escorted me to my room. I stood there smiling at him and he bent down and kissed me on the hand.

"This is for you," he said and he handed me a single red rose, "I stole it from the table in the dining car," with that he laughed.

"Goodnight and thankyou," I said to him,

"See you tomorrow," he replied.

Tillulah was already asleep, camouflaging against the white duvet of my king-sized bed. I quietly got undressed, being careful not to wake her up and I slipped underneath the warm duvet. Thinking of Marky, I smiled and gradually, I fell asleep.