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The speaker crackled. “Hey, folks, sorry for that. There’s an obstruction on the track. Once it’s cleared, we’ll get going again. It shouldn’t be long.”
Given the amount of muttering going on around me, I wasn’t the only one unhappy with the situation. Most didn’t like being stuck in a stuffy train. Others complained about being late. Me, I eyed the windows and the shadows beyond them, wondering what lurked. So long as the doors remained shut, we should be fine.
I hoped.
As in every dire situation, there existed an idiot. A guy who brashly declared he couldn’t wait. The clean-cut dude in a suit gripped the door at the far end and heaved. I prayed the doors would stay shut.
No such luck.
All the doors whooshed open. More than just the suit jumped out. A handful of passengers exited, determined to brave the darkness rather than wait, but the majority of us remained in place. No one wanted to be in the tunnel once the train got going. Add in the fact I worried about what might lurk and no way was I going anywhere.
The lights on the train flickered. Not unusual. This actually didn’t count as the first time I’d been on a stalled train. What had never happened before? The strident screaming from those that ventured into the tunnel.
The shrieks of pain had me hugging myself and scooting until my ass hit the wall farthest from a door. At least the hollering didn’t last long. It cut off abruptly, and in that silence, no one spoke. No one moved. I’m pretty sure no one breathed.
A new voice bellowed, “No, stop. Argh!” Layered over his pleas, someone uttered high piercing shrieks.
People looked wide-eyed and worried. I heard someone whisper from my left, “I’ll bet the rats got them. My cousin says he seen one the size of his dog.”
Please let it be rats and not demons.
As if my thought conjured them, a face peeked around the edge of a door. A wrinkly, gray, and ugly visage that sent a shiver down my spine. Especially since it looked right at me. But did anyone else see it?
Nope. Someone yelled, “Is that smoke? Fire! Evacuate the train.”
Not fire, fog. As people panicked and began to flee the train, more screaming erupted, but the truly terrifying moment?
When the lights went out.
8
There’s something about an electricity failure that unnerves. The sudden lack of lights being part of it, the absence of any humming or electrical sounds the worst. Not that I had silence for long. The initial shock wore off within seconds, and people lost their minds.
“What’s happening?”
“It’s the end of the world!”
“Someone turn on their phone flashlight.”
“We’re all going to die.”
Given the many hollers of terror and pain, the latter seemed likely. Several phones around me suddenly shone, beacons against the dark that did little to illuminate. It didn’t help that, according to the few remaining passengers on board, the train was filling with smoke.
Not smoke, demon fog. A fog I’d have preferred over the sight of monsters creeping in, crawling on hands and feet, their heads tilting left and right, noses flaring as if they were scenting for something. Please don’t let it be fear, because I sweated it from every single pore.
A man to my right pointed to the demon nearest him and yelped, “That ain’t no rat.” For a second, I was relieved to know someone else could see them.
Until the demon sprang and bit off the guy’s finger. The demon hit the floor chewing, and the man bolted screaming, his hand spurting blood. He jumped out the nearest door with the demon hot on his heels. Given how abruptly his cries ceased, I had a feeling he’d never make it home.
Then again, neither would I.
The phones illuminating the scene might not be perfect, however, they provided enough light for me to see the demons headed in my direction.
One, two, three… and that was just from my left. A peek right showed even more.
Eep.
Maybe I shouldn’t have eschewed Nova’s offer to take me to the witch guild. At least there they had people who knew how to fight these things. Me? I had nothing. Not even a purse to swing.
