Chapter 26: Breakdown
Dawn went to the back of the car and looked out the rear window as the train pulled out of the station. Her pursuers got to the empty platform and realized she was on the train. They left presumably to get their car and chase the LRT like something out of a movie.
Dawn took a deep breath. Then alarm crept in. She had been so focused on eluding the men chasing her that she forgot where she was, but the gentle swaying of the train reminded her.
It started to slow down, and the automatic voice announced the next stop. Dawn was paralyzed with both the fear of getting off and running into those men again and the fear of staying on the LRT. Eventually, the decision was taken out of her hands as the doors slid closed.
A young mother with a laughing little girl sat down on one of the seats. The woman smiled at the child. "Buffy, honey, sit down."
Dawn closed her eyes only to have memories from the worst night of her life flash in her mind. "Dawn, honey, come sit down," her mother had said when she and Toby began to explore the passenger car.
Dawn opened her eyes and saw the little girl hold up a stuffed pig and announce, "Mr. Gordo likes the train, Mommy."
Dawn closed her eyes again and remembered playing peek-a-boo with Connor and him smiling at her saying, "I like trains, too."
Heart pounding in her chest, she opened her eyes and saw mother, daughter and pig settle back to watch the scenery streak by as rain began to pelt the windows.
The train stopped again. A man with a beige trench coat and carrying a briefcase sat down and pulled out a magazine. This time when she closed her eyes she heard her mother's voice say "I think Mr. MacLeod would like to read his newspaper. Why don't you and Toby come lie down?"
Dawn opened her eyes with a gasp. "Have to get off. Have to get off," she repeated softly.
The train started to go underground as it got closer to the downtown core. The tunnel amplified the incessant squeal of the wheels on the track. The sound grated on Dawn's nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. She looked at the route map posted near the ceiling and noticed that the next stop was at the Lexington Center. Connor always told her that if she was ever worried about her safety, she should go to a public place with lots of people. It didn't get much more public than the biggest mall in Seacouver.