It was coming. Just as it had come every night for the past few weeks. She
stood. Watching. Waiting. A muffled breeze circled its way out of the end
of the tunnel and entwined itself around her. Somewhere along the distant
darkness of the line, the continues echo of the beast's heartbeat bounced
off the arching walls and out onto the cold platform. She looked from left
to right. She was alone. She stood. Watching. Waiting. Until, like always,
it came, roaring and billowing. The Train.
It came to a screeching halt, the door inches away from her. Silently they slid open. There it was. A shadow, advancing onto her. There was a gunshot. She screamed.
Bevin sat up, her long nightgown clinging to her with sweat. She looked around, gasping for air, her chest tight and heaving. Slipping out of bed, Bevin walked over to her computer desk, rubbing her eyes as she entered the welcome glow of the monitor. The faint sound of eerie music alerted her senses and reminded the teenager that she had left her headphones on. She yawned, quietly closing down the search boxes, which had obviously finished hours ago. As she did so, something happened. The whole of her screen flickered, sending horizontal lines racing down before her eyes. Bevin shook her head, expecting it only to be the next degree of tiredness, after all, she'd hardly slept for the past month. Her dark eyes opened again to see a new chat window open itself up. For a while, she watched. The green font swept across the black background of the box.
RED_QUEEN: Hello Siren.
Bevin watched almost afraid to type anything. Eventually she assumed that 'red_queen' had obviously got her name from another chat room, or had seen her online work. Her fingers crept to the keyboard.
WHITE_RABBIT: Hello. What do you want?
Her own white text appeared in the box.
RED_QUEEN: I want to help you.
WHITE_RABBIT: What do you mean?
She waited, watching the screen intently. Who was this? And what did she mean by help?
RED_QUEEN: The Matrix has you Siren.
WHITE_RABBIT: The what?
RED_QUEEN: Turn on your TV.
With one last look at the screen, Bevin turned her back and crossed the small room to her TV set. She picked up the remote in a pale hand and hit the red 'ON' button. The television sprung to life.
"Good Evening and welcome to NewsRight. Our main story tonight. 16 year old Luke Nerron is still missing, police say that they fear the worst. It has been nearly six months now since Luke disappeared near his holiday home in New York. The teenager, who was staying with relatives, is said to have been contacted last by an individual on a chat room, police say that this person may be involved and have begun a full scale search. In other news, an old building is due for demolition on Friday." Bevin switched the TV off and was left for a moment in a clotted silence. Her skin suddenly felt clammy again and she became aware of how cold she was, just in her night clothes. The pale haired teenager turned back to the monitor. "What on earth?" She whispered, as she rushed over to the computer. The whole thing was shut down. For a few seconds, all she could do was stand and stare at the blank screen. Whatever was going on, it didn't make sense, but for some reason, she couldn't help feeling that the outcome would be just right.
It came to a screeching halt, the door inches away from her. Silently they slid open. There it was. A shadow, advancing onto her. There was a gunshot. She screamed.
Bevin sat up, her long nightgown clinging to her with sweat. She looked around, gasping for air, her chest tight and heaving. Slipping out of bed, Bevin walked over to her computer desk, rubbing her eyes as she entered the welcome glow of the monitor. The faint sound of eerie music alerted her senses and reminded the teenager that she had left her headphones on. She yawned, quietly closing down the search boxes, which had obviously finished hours ago. As she did so, something happened. The whole of her screen flickered, sending horizontal lines racing down before her eyes. Bevin shook her head, expecting it only to be the next degree of tiredness, after all, she'd hardly slept for the past month. Her dark eyes opened again to see a new chat window open itself up. For a while, she watched. The green font swept across the black background of the box.
RED_QUEEN: Hello Siren.
Bevin watched almost afraid to type anything. Eventually she assumed that 'red_queen' had obviously got her name from another chat room, or had seen her online work. Her fingers crept to the keyboard.
WHITE_RABBIT: Hello. What do you want?
Her own white text appeared in the box.
RED_QUEEN: I want to help you.
WHITE_RABBIT: What do you mean?
She waited, watching the screen intently. Who was this? And what did she mean by help?
RED_QUEEN: The Matrix has you Siren.
WHITE_RABBIT: The what?
RED_QUEEN: Turn on your TV.
With one last look at the screen, Bevin turned her back and crossed the small room to her TV set. She picked up the remote in a pale hand and hit the red 'ON' button. The television sprung to life.
"Good Evening and welcome to NewsRight. Our main story tonight. 16 year old Luke Nerron is still missing, police say that they fear the worst. It has been nearly six months now since Luke disappeared near his holiday home in New York. The teenager, who was staying with relatives, is said to have been contacted last by an individual on a chat room, police say that this person may be involved and have begun a full scale search. In other news, an old building is due for demolition on Friday." Bevin switched the TV off and was left for a moment in a clotted silence. Her skin suddenly felt clammy again and she became aware of how cold she was, just in her night clothes. The pale haired teenager turned back to the monitor. "What on earth?" She whispered, as she rushed over to the computer. The whole thing was shut down. For a few seconds, all she could do was stand and stare at the blank screen. Whatever was going on, it didn't make sense, but for some reason, she couldn't help feeling that the outcome would be just right.