A cold embodied her though the long arm that slunk around her waist and the boney chin pressed against her now rigid shoulder were warm. Thin fingers brushed across her skin as they tucked themselves into her hood to pull it down. She could feel dry lips brush against the arch of her ear as they parted to release a soft hushing sound that made her nauseous.
The sensations wrapping around her all at once made her flinch, but that only served to get her tangled deeper into them because the man behind her firmed his hold and pulled her flush against him.
“Keep looking forward.”
Her heart leapt at the sound of his voice, but she did as he said. She looked at anything that she could see. The gum ridden benches, the different shoes people wore, the light bulb flickering on the passengers boarding the next train several stations over.
As she did, the man rewarded her for her obedience by standing upright, removing his face from beside hers. His jaw softly shifted the hair at the crown of her head, as if he were slowly turning his own head in search of something.
When a loud, aggressive twitter sung up from the tracks, the man twisted them both, jerking Suri against his side. The sudden action turned her to face the tunnels with a muffled yelp of surprise.
In response the bird grew louder, the chirping sound becoming scolding, nearly alarming. However, she could feel the man tense and tighten his arm around her narrow midsection, as if in warning.
“This will not do.”
His voice was low and calm. Sickening and distorted. It made the shaking in her legs worsen and she had to cling to his arm just to not collapse to the tiled floor as the air fought to reach her lungs in quick huffs.
“Next to arrive on track five,” the announcer spoke, “Express train to Somerton.”
Suri’s eyes widened. Her train. The train that she could now hear screeching in the distance, could now see the lights of bouncing off the metal beams on the stone tunnel, was now headed this way. When she was waiting for it, time felt like a short forever. Now that she needed time to stop, it wouldn’t hear her.
“Thank you for finding him. It took longer than I would have liked,” the man said. She felt his nose brush across the back of her neck. Without realizing that she had, she released a sobbing scream. “I have to reclaim him. Leaving me in need of a solid distraction. You understand, right?”
His arm pulled away from her waist. Before she could turn towards him, or run, or even scream again, a hand shoved against her side and flung her into the tracks directly in front of the moving train.
The gravel between the wooden blanks and rails tore through her coat and blouse. Her head slammed against something rough and solid. Her fingers clawed at the dirt and rocks beneath her.
A series of shadows fluttered across her vision as the train lights refracted in the tears pooling in her eyes. The weak whimper she released was drowned out by the horn echoing through the tunnel and the screech of the train’s brakes.
The train wasn’t supposed to stop here. It must have seen her. But it wouldn’t stop in time.
She could argue that she had wanted this; it wouldn’t make her feel better, it wouldn’t fix it, but she could just agree to the fact that this is what she had accepted for herself.
Regardless, she pulled herself onto her scraped knees. She pressed herself against the edge of the platform, unable to gain enough leverage to pull herself up, but giving herself a direct line of sight to the train thundering her way.
A flapping, fragile movement caught her attention. It was the annoying bird. Instead of accepting its fate as she had, it beat its wings furiously, singing loud enough to be heard over another ringing squeal of the train’s brakes. The horn sounded again, and this time she folded in on herself and screamed.
The bird struggling beside her had lifted itself just enough to land in her lap. She curled around it, but the moment it touched her a sharp burning radiated from her hand. It only added to the chaos.
She clenched her teeth tightly to restrain the cry threatening to escape her as the searing pain ripped from her hand and into her arm. The train released a final, metallic shriek, and her body felt as though it were fully engulfed in flames.
As she twisted away from the light and heat that the train gave off, fingers curled into the collar of her ripped coat. They yanked the shredded material upwards until they could find purchase on her limbs and firmly wrap around them. She pulled against it, fought the person trying to pointlessly save her.
None of this was part of the plan. Yet still, she kicked, flailed, sobbed; she felt herself rise.
Comments (16)
See all