Wow, that is… yeesh. What a way to go. It’s an unpleasant reminder of what could happen to any one of them if they weren’t careful between this car and the next, and the next, and the next, and… god. They’re really going to be here forever, a fact which suddenly seems far less unsettling in light of the way this spectre is staring at him.
Dexter Blanche “You cannot be fooled by him.” He begins to say to you. “Don’t underestimate his childish prattling and short stature. Dexter Blanche is a dangerous man. He-”
“Who, Dexter? Are you sure he’s–”
Speak of the devil there he is. Possibly literally, if the mysterious book ghost was telling the truth.
Dexter’s impenetrable stare cute through him again. Had he always looked so eerie? All those other times, there was some immediate reason for it. Accusing him of being suspicious after Atsuko died was… unappreciated, but of course Dexter would have seemed a little freaky to him then. This was different.
Right?
Dexter Blanche “Are the ghosts bothering you?” He asks, innocently enough. “They were talkative for me too, so I just ignored them. Whoever said dead men tell no tales was clearly dead wrong, ahah!”
“The ghosts- uh.”
Melvin’s expression is far easier to read. He is uncomfortable and freaked out, and doing a really bad job of hiding it.
“Yeah, uh. no, they’re… not… at all. Probably wasn’t saying anything, uh, important. Dead men and their tall tales, hah.”
He laughs nervously at Dexter’s… joke? Yeah. Joke. Hahaha, very funny. Dead men. Like that Michael guy. Like how he might end up if he wasn’t careful - not just here, faced with an apparently dangerous short man, but in general. Anyone here was capable of killing.
… Melvin’s starting to reconsider those earlier doubts about how much of a threat Dexter may have posed. He tries to convince himself doesn’t have any reason to take it as anything more than a vengeful spirit who could just be making shit up. It does not work, because he also has no reason to doubt it. If there was one thing about the train, it was that you could count on it to be remarkably prescient about its passengers.
Dexter Blanche He turns his head. “Come on, Mr. Melvin. It looks like the doors unlocked. It’s time to move on.”
He places the book diligently back on the shelf, and leaves, turning his back to you. The others are, presumably, leaving all the same (though there’s some commotion with Jack. Is he stealing again? Typical.)
“Yeah, uh…”
He lingers a moment after Dexter turns his back and starts to leave. Curiosity was always so much more trouble than it was worth, but even he has to take a moment to assess if it would be worth it to see what else that Michael guy had to say… but nah. They’re moving on. If he didn’t hurry, Dexter might get suspicious, and… well. Suffice it to say he’s not too keen to discover what the and could possibly entail.
“… right with you, man. I’ve been around enough books for a lifetime in here anyways.”
Always more trouble than they were worth, these things. It doesn’t stop him from casting a glance over his shoulder back at the shelf as he, too, turns to leave. The final words of Michael St. James aren’t going to leave him so easily, much as he wishes they would. He wasn’t going to be able to look at Dexter quite the same way going forward, was he?
