Arla chortled at Rayth’s comment about math. “And with that, any doubts about you being half human have been erased.” She offered him an amused grin, letting his rough guestimate sink in.
	Thirty people. Thirty people to hide among. So long as she stayed more in the background workings, there would be little chance of any visitors to the circus recognizing her as a missing person. And, with luck, she’d be half way across the country by tomorrow night, anyway.
	Her head cocked slightly as Rayth took a moment to answer her second question. Her chin dipped slightly in suspicion, before he finally answered, making her raise an eyebrow. What kinds of rules were so complicated that she’d have to hear them from the ringmistress herself?
	“Okay?” she drew out the word, meeting his gaze when he glanced to her.
	Yet, the simplicity of his summarization contradicted their apparent complexity. She inhaled at his add-on for himself, and she put the two together; he likely had a different set of rules to follow than everyone else. What, if any, restrictions were set for [i]her[/i] would vary from his.
	“So, it’s like the pirate code.” Her small smile returned at her own reference. “More what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual ‘rules.’”
	Arla followed after Rayth as he led the way through a couple other cars. She took in each one, trying to imagine who occupied the surrounding beds. Some of the members had personalized their space to an extreme, while others were rather minimalist. Some sleeping areas were tidy, while others looked like a five-year-old hyped up on a pack of Mountain Dew had thrown a tantrum.
	A chill crept down her spine as they passed a couple beds, though she couldn't say why. She shook it off as just nerves. Or a drafty window.
	When they stopped the final time, she released her hold on the half-vampire’s shoulder. She glanced to him curiously, wondering why he thought now was a poor time to choose.
	[i]Because most people couldn’t see what they’re choosing in detail,[/i] she realized. She looked from him as he continued, a smug smirk involuntarily twitching over her face. 
	“Now [i]that’s[/i] a guideline I can live by!” She glanced to him, then to the cabin before them. One of the shades over the windows had been left up a fraction, letting in a bit of light. 
	She nodded toward the last bed Rayth had pointed out, hoping the sliver of brightness was enough for the motion to pass as normal. “Looks like Juliette’s got herself a new bunkmate!”
	Arla stepped toward the bunk. She hesitated for just a moment, a once buried instinct yelling at her for turning her back to Rayth. Taking a slow breath, she did her best to ignore it. She shrugged her backpack onto one elbow and closed the space to her new quarters.
	Juliette had claimed the bottom bunk. Drawers lined the space beneath the bed. One sat slightly ajar, part of a clothing item jammed inside. Bolted, Arla assumed, to the floor, a narrow dresser nestled in the shadows between her chosen bunkbed and the next. A small, cushioned chair filled the space on the opposite side.
	A blanket was still tucked neatly onto the mattress of the bed above. Wide-laced netting draped across half the bed, leaving an opening at a small ladder.
	Arla tossed her backpack into the opening, then climbed up after it. 
	“I really don’t have much to unpack,” she admitted, sliding her backpack toward the head of the bed. Using the mesh to help keep her balance, she sat on the opening’s edge, her feet on one of the ladder’s rungs. 
	She unzipped her backpack. She carefully removed her camera case so she could get to the cleaner clothes beneath it. Pulling out a couple clothing items, she glanced down to Rayth.
	“So, where do you sleep?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant. Her gaze flicked to the other beds in her view. She couldn't tell by just a glance whether or not they kept the members segregated by gender, or if the cars were co-ed. For all she knew, the vampire could have one of the other bunks in the same car. “Or do you not need sleep?”
	She reached into her backpack’s smaller front pocket. She freed a zip-lock bag of mini bottles of soaps her parents had collected from hotels they’d stayed at over the years.