“Hey.” Arla cast a quick, squinting glance down to the workers and floodlights. Their shouted orders floated faintly toward her and Rayth. “I trust Hollywood as far as I can throw them. Can’t blame a girl for keeping notes!”
	As he contemplated her question at the sky, her own gaze flicked between him and the train car. She took it in, trying to tell if there was anyone else already inside. But the windows were dark, the glass reflecting the fairground lights, and she didn’t see the telltale glow seeping around the doorframe.
	Her attention shifted fully back to Rayth as the boy answered. Her body tensed reactively at his quick movement of jumping up to the sleeper car’s entrance. She watched him closely as he reached for the door, but stopped to continue speaking.
	She blinked in surprise at the second half of his response. “You… lived with humans?”
	She supposed that made sense—being half human, he’d have had human family. Still, being something renowned for preying on humans, that didn’t lessen its strangeness.
	“Not sure which is more surprising. That you lived with them in general, or that you managed to put up with family for sixty years!” She offered a chortle, but the sound died off as he opened the door into the interior of the car.
	There was no one inside, after all. That, or they’d gone to sleep and shut off the lights. Despite the windows, the only light illuminating the entrance came from behind them, turning it into a playground for creeping shadows. 
	[i]About as close to an equivalent of a creepy alleyway you’re going to get out here,[/i] she thought.
	Her attention shifted back to the half-vampire as he continued. 
	“So, you’re all like introverts on crack?” 
	Instinct told her that getting into an empty, confined space with a vampire—even a half-breed—wasn’t the smartest thing in the world. Reminding herself to trust Freida’s judgment—after all, Rayth hadn’t used any mind mumbo-jumbo on her that she could tell… yet—Arla shoved that instinct to the side, waved away Rayth’s gentlemanly offer for help, and hopped up into the entrance to the waiting corridor.
	She frowned. “Seven. Great.” She supposed it could be worse. There could be more she’d have to sift through and try to remember which had her bed. She’d have to look for defining marks again when her attention wasn’t divided.
	The darkness of the car enveloped her. Despite her companion’s race, she felt some of the tension leave her as what light radiated from the fairgrounds remained outside. Something about this place felt… [i]content.[/i] If a place could [i]feel[/i] any way about those who lived there. 
	She shook the thought off and stepped aside to give him room to enter.
	She nodded as Rayth finished speaking.
	“Sounds like a solid idea.” She shifted her gaze to the corridor slicing through the center of the car’s interior.
	Despite its darkness, her eyes adjusted quickly to the new lack of lighting. Though she doubted it was as sharp as a vampire’s, her night vision was one thing she’d always prided herself on. If only to herself.
	She started to take in what she could make out, then remembered that Rayth could see her. As she knew all too well, seeing in the dark wasn’t exactly considered ‘normal.’ And she didn’t need anyone here thinking she was a freak before she’d signed an official contract.
	She almost laughed aloud at the thought, the corners of her lips twisting upward. She was in a circus. With a resident vampire. She doubted being dubbed a ‘freak’ would be a problem here. Heck, it was probably a compliment. 
	But, better yet, she didn’t need Rayth to realize she could still see in the dark, on his turf. Though so far he’d demonstrated she wouldn’t need that advantage of surprise, as much as she hated it, tonight was as good as any to take heed of that soft voice of caution poking at the back of her mind.
 	“Don’t suppose there’s a light, is there?” She struggled to keep the dismay at the thought of adding brightness to the comforting night from her voice. She squinted, trying to mimic the expression she’d seen on others’ faces when confronted with the dark. “Or would that risk waking people up?”