Chapter 1-
The bells toll a total of twelve times. The full moon illuminates the ivy-infested path. My bare feet make hardly a sound as I stroll the graveyard. I had taken my converse off to relax my sore heels after walking this far. Strewn over my shoulder is a messenger bag with only the necessities. A train waits for me down at the station, which is about a five minute walk from this graveyard.
I look around at the many headstones and wonder about the people buried beneath them. Who they were. What kind of life they lived. How they died. Trivial things like that. I sign and continue walking.
A lamppost comes into my line of vision. It shines on the empty train tracks. In the way distance, a train whistle breaks the silence of the night.
That's my ride,I think. I take a seat on a nearby bench and wait. The door to the inside of the station opens and a man comes out. He could pass for being in his mid-thirties, but his scruffy hair and hipster clothing makes me think otherwise.
He looks over at me and suddenly I feel self-conscious, even though he's a total stranger. I glance down at my outfit: a pair of tattered blue jeans, a tee shirt advertising some indie band from the 70s, and a slightly over-sized black-and-white checkered hoodie.
I cough awkwardly just as the pulls into the station. I quickly slip on my shoes and nearly sprint to the slightly ajar door. The doorman (would you call him a doorman? I'm not even sure.) greets me with a smile and asks for my ticket. I pull it out of my jacket pocket and he punches it with a star-shaped puncher thing. He slides the door that leads to the cabin and I step in, careful not to make any wrong moves. You never know with trains these days.
The cabin is empty, of course, being just after midnight. Shitty elevator music is playing through the speakers on the ceiling. I plant myself in the forever uncomfortable seat and lay my bag on my lap. The man with the hipster clothes enters the cabin, as well. He sits across the aisle from me. As I pull my laptop out from my bag, I sub-consciously look at the man, feeling hiseyes on me.
The laptop screen glows as it turns on. I hear the man inhale quietly. It makes me fidgety. I play with the keyboard until my wallpaper shows up. The well-loved, beautiful smile of Charlie McDonnell fills the screen. He's a British YouTube vlogger and has one of the most sexiest voices ever, apart from voice actor Vic Mignogna.
I chuckle underneath my breath and click on a word document. It pops up, covering Charlie's face with a whole bunch of words that are due in less that two weeks. Damn manuscripts. As I'm scrolling to the bottom of the page, the man decides to speak up.
"H-Hello." His voice is low. Almost inaudible.
I glance up slightly and respond, "Hi…" My fingers find their way to the keyboard to form some more words.
"Um, what are you doing?" He asks.
"Finishing my manuscript," I answer honestly.
"Manuscript? You're writing a book?"
I nod and start typing. The darkness filled the room like—
"That's amazing. You seem a bit young to be writing," he says. Obviously, he doesn't know much about me. Well…he isa stranger.
"I'm seventeen…" I brush my hair out of my face.
"Oh."
Before I can say anything witty, the train jerks to a halt. The lights flicker and burn out completely. I mumble, "Goddammit."
The train conductor comes on through the speakers. "I apologize, we seem to be having some problems with the train. We will have it up and running as soon as it possible. Thank you."
I groan, save my document, and close the laptop. After putting my laptop in my bag, I run my fingers through my hair and bring my knees to my chin. In the darkness, I hear something, like scratching. As if someone was dragging a statue across the floor. The lights flicker on and surrounding us are stone angels, mouths wide with jagged teeth like canines. I let out a quiet scream. My eyes are glued on these demonic angels. They don't move…but how did they get here?
I scoot back, keeping one hand on my bag, and an eye on the angels. I whisper loudly, "What the hell are these things?" The man is dead silent, probably scared shitless.
Then I hear a sound, like a cycling, wheezing sound. All of a sudden, a blue police box shows up in the middle of the room. A man with a bowtie jumps out of the door, a smile on his face. He straightens his caramel coat and says, "Hello, I'm the Doctor."