“Your back is all blood!” Amanda shouted.
“Keep well back!” Daniel called to the girl.
The wraith-like figure started in the direction of Amanda. It moved with serpentine fluidity; an eerie and unnatural motion which caused the hairs on the back of Daniel's neck to bristle.
Whatever this thing was, it wasn't human.
Daniel quickly positioned himself between Amanda and the shadowy figure.
The figure stopped. Its body language seemed to convey fascination in regard to the man's move.
Daniel's eyes twinkled in the gloom, and then turned ruby red. He drew back his lips into a snarl. He couldn't allow this thing to reach the girl. It was time to act.
The Shadow
-figure reacted quickly to being attacked. It lashed out with its right hand and pierced Daniel just below the left shoulder. It drove its razor sharp nails all the way into its adversary's flesh.
A tortured cry escaped Daniel. Blood from the wound spread out across his cotton shirt. He gripped his assailant's wrist and attempted to remove its nails, but they wouldn't budge. Whatever this thing was, it possessed considerable strength. With a determined roar, he gripped the Shadow
-figure's throat and squeezed hard enough to crush a man's windpipe.
But this was no man
.
The anomalous entity's reaction to Daniel's assault came in the form of mocking, guttural laughter.
Daniel gritted his teeth and attempted to summon his left arm into action. The pain from his shoulder was incredible, and the limb felt heavy and numb.
With relatively little effort, the Shadow
-figure plucked Daniel's hand free of its throat ... and then snapped his wrist.
Daniel unleashed a roar that was filled with as much rage as it was pain. He swung his head at the Shadow Figure and sunk his teeth into its neck. A thick, oily substance filled his mouth, causing him to gag.
“Oi, what the bloody hell is all this!”
Someone else had arrived at the scene.
Daniel pulled back from his assailant and fixed his gaze on the fast approaching policeman. Inky fluid ran down his chin.
Amanda ran to the officer. “A monster is attacking us!”
The policeman stopped before the girl. “Did you just say 'a monster'?” He looked to the two brawling individuals. He could barely make them out against the burning pub.
“Take her away from here!” Daniel shouted, then turned all of his mental and physical focus to his tingling arm.
Muscles flexed ... fingers twitched ... his arm jerked into action
.
Daniel drove the palm of his left hand up into Shadow
-figure's right elbow. A loud snap followed and the entity's nails slid from his shoulder.
The figure stepped back from Daniel, and, from no discernible mouth, spat, “
Mandaaa
.”
Manda: the word Daniel had pretended to hear when Amanda had given her name. This thing must have been following them even then.
The policeman approached the affray with his truncheon held firmly in his grasp. “Right, break it up you two.”
The Shadow
-figure turned to the uniformed man. Luminous yellow eyes with long black elliptical slits suddenly opened.
The blood drained from the policeman's face.
Daniel's broken right wrist had healed. He threw a punch at the entity's head. It connected, but it felt like he was hitting a sandbag. Shock waves tore through his injured left shoulder. He staggered to the side, clutching his arm.
The Shadow
-figure swung its broken arm in front of its face. There came a loud click, and the fractured joint re-connected. The figure flexed the spidery digits on the end of its limb.
Daniel looked to the dumbfounded policeman. “Hit it!”
The man just looked at Daniel.
“What are you waiting for!” Daniel yelled.
The policeman jolted into action and swung his truncheon at the 'monster'. He struck it across the skull.
The entity's head whipped to the side. Nevertheless, it stood its ground, and looked at the officer through narrowing eyes.
“Hit it again!” Daniel shouted.
The Shadow
-figure tore the truncheon from the policeman's hand before he could launch another attack.
A cry escaped the man's lips and he fumbled for the whistle around his neck.
The figure brought the truncheon down on the policeman's head with so much force, it completely flattened the man's dome-shaped helmet and smashed his skull.
Small fragments of bone and brain matter, intermingled with blood, spurted from inside the helmet and ran down the policeman's face. The whistle dropped from his mouth and he keeled over.
The Shadow-figure locked its sights on Amanda. “Mandaaa!”
“Amanda, you've got to get out of here!” Daniel shouted.
Amanda dug her fingers into Mister Bear's chest. “No, I won't leave you!”
The entity swung the truncheon at Daniel's head.
Daniel successfully avoided the attack, then lunged for the Shadow-figure. He sunk his teeth into its throat and gripped the back of its head so it couldn't pull away.
Its skin was cold and waxy
The truncheon clattered to the pavement.
Keeping his jaw firmly locked, Daniel tossed back his head and tore a large chunk out of the figure's throat.
A loud screech ripped through the air.
Daniel spat the dark flesh to the ground, then spat again to clear the foul, vitriolic taste from his mouth.
The Shadow-figure clutched its throat. Its bright yellow eyes were wide with whatever it was capable of feeling.
Daniel made a little space between himself and the figure, then planted the sole of a heavy boot on its chest. With a grunt, he pushed it back into the burning pub.
Screeching once again, the abomination reached out to grasp onto something, but found nothing.
Daniel watched bright hungry flames consume the bizarre, supernatural entity. In all his years, he had never saw such a thing. It was like something straight from Hell.
He approached Amanda. “Are you alright?”
Amanda nodded. Her face was ashen. “I thought it was going to kill you.”
“Not me. I have special powers, remember?” He flexed his left shoulder. “Already healed, see?”
“Daddy told me there was no such thing as monsters. Why did he lie?”
Daniel hardly knew where to begin. “He didn't lie. I'd have told you the same thing not fifteen minutes ago.”
Amanda lowered her head and looked at her feet. “I thought I was going to lose you, too.”
…
lose you, too
.
Then something tragic had happened to her parents.
Daniel squatted before Amanda. He cupped his hand below her chin and gently lifted her head. “Hey, listen, why don't-”
Amanda released a bloodcurdling scream and covered her face with her hands.
Mister Bear dropped to her feet.
Daniel turned to see the truncheon come swooping down on him.
“Daniel!” Amanda cried.
Daniel lay face down on the road. He craned his neck and looked up. Blood from the crack in his skull ran into his right eye, partially obscuring his vision
The Shadow-figure had Amanda by the hair and was dragging her away. The girl thrashed and kicked; fought with everything she had to free herself. She cried Daniel's name one last time.
And then she was lost to darkness
.
Daniel reached out, but found only Mister Bear. He drew the cuddly toy close. He had failed; failed to save Amanda.
He had failed to save himself
.
Drifting to the drone of the continued incendiary attack on the city of London, Daniel wondered if he would ever see Nellie again. Sweet Nellie, standing barely five foot tall, but towering with love; her silvery hair, and every line on her face, a testament to her wisdom.
Nellie smiles at him. She is letting him go
.
Go back
.
Back to where it all went wrong
.
It all went wrong a very long time ago
.
Daniel's mind begins to roam. It takes him on a journey though a forest blanketed in an ominous fog; a forest full of dead trees with crooked branches. This forest eventually gives way to a large clearing, in the center of which stands a house of considerable size. On the uppermost floor, a window is open. His mind's eye carries him through this window and into a room with a stained oak floor. He sees the flicker of candlelight; sees an art canvass depicting a unicorn basking in the glow of the sun; sees a four poster bed and a young girl below red satin bedsheets
.
Then, before consciousness lapses into darkness
... he sees Mister Bear
.
01:51 am
...
Michael turns to follow Amber … and then it happens: somebody, somewhere on the train, employs the emergency brake.
01:48 am
...
Wiley moves rapidly through the train. Every now and then, he looks back nervously over his shoulder. He has no idea what he's going to do when he's run out of cars and Amanda has finally caught up with him. Despite this concern, the person at the forefront of his mind is Becky. She watched him kill her boyfriend, and can't be allowed to leave the train alive. Amanda can take the blame for both her and her boyfriend's deaths.
He looks back again. Still no sign of Amanda.
Canal Street Station passes by
.
Wiley wonders what will happen at the end of the line. Will the train keep going until it crashes? Or is there some kind of auto mechanism that will bring it to a stop? He supposes he'll find out soon. In the meantime, he could kill for a cigarette.
He sits down and rummages through his pockets. Even something smoked down to the tip would satisfy his craving at this point. Sadly, his search comes up fruitless. He puts his head in his hands and wonders how everything got so fucked up so quickly tonight. He thinks about Jeff and Amanda; wonders what the hell they are. Then he thinks about his mom, and how dearly he loves her. This, in turn, steers his thinking back to Becky. If Becky manages to get off the train and talk to the cops, she'll ruin everything. With that in mind, he picks himself up and resumes his pursuit.
The next car is empty, but the one after that is the end of the line - the end of the line for Becky, that is. It's the car behind the operator's cab, and Becky is there, standing halfway along the aisle. Her face is highlighted from the glare of her cellphone. She looks frustrated.
Jack is standing beside her.
“Low battery?” Wiley says. “Or just can't get a signal?”
He flicks open his knife.
“Stay away from me!” Becky cries.
Jack steps in front of the frightened woman.
“I don't wanna hurt you, old man,” Wiley warns.
“Look,” Jack says. “It was crazy back there. Things got confused. None of us are really sure what we saw.” He turns to Becky. “Am I right?”
Becky just stares at Jack.
Jack pushes for the desired response: “
Am I right
?”
“He killed my boyfriend!” Becky retorts.
“Yeah, well your boyfriend assaulted me,” Wiley says.
Becky gasps with incredulity. “Oh my God.
What
?”
“He laid his goddamn hands on me. Accused me of raping that monster bitch.”
“And for that you stabbed him?”
“Too fuckin' right I did.”
“You're insane!”
“Okay, now hold on,” Jack says, raising his hands.
“Fuck this,” Wiley snaps.
Suddenly, the emergency brake is engaged.
Becky let's out a scream over the clamor of the brakes, and grabs hold of the nearest rail. Wiley does the same, but without the vocal drama. Jack trips over his feet and hits the floor.
Before long, the train has pulled to a stop in the middle of the dimly lit subway tunnel. The lights in the car flicker, then remain on. The LCD information and notice displays light up.
Someone exits the driver's cabin. She's pushing a phone into the rear pocket of her jeans.
“Took me ages to figure out how to stop this thing,” she says in a casual manner.
Straight away, Wiley recognizes it as the woman he caught sight of running across the platform at Union Street station.
Becky gathers herself and rushes over to the woman. “This guy is trying to kill me!” She points at Wiley.
“Oh really?” the woman says. “And why would that be?”