A/N. Sorry for the delay guys. I won't promise the next chapter's coming soon... just in case I let you down! ;)...
The morning after, Brian Fields put his best suit on. He had woken up morning with his future clear to him. The few weeks off work had given him time to think and now finally, he had decided that he wasn't going to work on the trains any more. He would hand in his resignation and move on with his life. Although he had tried to believe that it was because he wanted make a positive step, he never could, it was simply the fear of going back to a place that had nearly killed him that was holding him back. Still, grabbing his coat, he left his apartment to face it one more time to resign.
It had taken him all of the morning to press down his fear to even attempt to go within a mile of the place, so it was early afternoon before he was walking down the street to the station. He approached with much trepidation, but he forced himself to enter, one step at a time. The fact that the wind picked up and dark clouds suddenly appearing over the station and releasing a torrent of rain certainly didn't help the situation. Though, it wasn't just the dramatic change in weather that made the station a forboding place. Cranes, looming over the entrance as part of the repairs for the damage caused by the train crash served as a constant reminder of the incident.
High above the station, a crane operator was dozing off in his cabin.
Brian, meanwhile had passed through the foyer and onto the platforms. The surprisingly large crowds that were huddling under the cover of the roofed section due the weather forced him to walk under the edge of the roof to the administration office. For a second, he thought he heard someone shout his name, but when he looked there was no one there. Lightning struck in near distance, followed by the ominous thunderclap.
Lightning struck again less than a minute later, this time a lot closer, in fact it struck the cabin containing the snoozing operator, who woke with a start. Unfortunately, has he jumped in his seat he hit the 'release' button on his console. The concrete block that the crane was meant to be moving into position fell from the crane's grasp, down towards the station below.
The crowd reeled from the lightning and near instantaneous thunder, Brian probably jumped more than the everyone else though, being already on edge. Before he regained composure, someone crashed into him, pushing into the safety of the masses, just as the concrete block crashed into the roof, sending tradition pointed fence posts hammering into the spot he would have been standing in if the stranger hadn't moved him out of the way.
"You alright?" The stranger asked. Brian got to his feet and dusted himself off.
"Yeah, thanks... wait, I recognise you!" Brian exclaimed, "you're the one who stopped me from getting on the train in the first place. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you... twice. Thank you"
"No problem, we need to talk," announced Harry.
Harry, Brian and Officer Gibson, who had actually been at the station too joined David, Lucy and Jenna in the middle of the park. Chosen, as it was a large open space in which they could see anything coming in plenty of time, just in case.
"You did it?" Lucy asked as they approached.
"Yeah..." Harry smiled grimly, hugging his girlfriend. Once out of the embrace he turned to Dave, "Though... this means you're next."
"I'll be fine, don't you worry," he replied in the most reassuring and sincere voice Harry had ever heard from him, "beside, I'm sure you lot will keep me out of trouble." Something flashed in his eyes that made Harry think Dave knew something that he didn't, though he hoped it was just confidence.
"Ummm, what you mean 'you did it' and 'you're next'" Brian asked, confused and worried.
"You didn't tell him?" Lucy asked Harry, almost an accusation.
"No, I thought I'd wait till I rejoined you lot." Harry replied.
"Can someone tell me what's going on?" asked Brian.
"Have you been paying attention to the news?"
"No. Um... I've haven't been coping well in the aftermath of nearly dying... I've stayed away of anything to do with death and the station, till today... to avoid being reminded," reasoned Brian. A brief flashback to that day's chaos surged through his mind and he shuddered.
"Bad luck, mate, you're about to be constantly reminded," David stated, laughing, but not because it was funny.
"Dave..." Harry warned, even though he knew he didn't mean it like that, "I'm sorry to say that you haven't escaped Death yet... not even now I've saved you for the second time, just you're just at the end of the queue again, sorry."
"What do you mean?" Brian asked.
"I messed with Death's plan by saving myself and the others, and now he's trying to finish the job... one at a time... but like I said, you're safe for now. It's David's turn." Harry explained.
"So you're saying that Death's out to kill me?" Brian's expression glazed over for a second and then turned into pure fear.
"Not right now, but when it's your turn again, yes." Harry replied with a grimace, "Stick with us though, help us, and we can try to beat this."
Brian sat down on the nearest bench to think for a moment. Harry took this pause as an opportunity to talk with the others and Officer Gibson and recite the events of a few hours prior. As he was doing so, a vendor wheeled his cart along the path, 'Quinn's', the sign read, in block writing. Though to Harry, the 'Q' appeared brighter than the rest of the name... but he couldn't work out what that was trying to warn him about. He knew it was an omen, but not what of. As the cart passed out of view, Brian collected his thoughts and gave his response.
"Okay. As I'm not next though, can I take care of a few things and meet up with you guys later? Brian agreed, bobbing up and down a bit, racked with nerves and impatience.
"I think we should be able to manage that." Harry replied, "Oh! Where do you meet us? My place?"
"I reckon we should go out, celebrate! How about donuts?" David suggested.
"No, too many thing could go wrong in a place like that," responded Harry.
"I doubt you've death-proofed your house... and your parents are back, you don't want them around, you know, just in case," said David.
"True..." Harry said, sighing, "Fine. Damon's Donuts it is, meet us there tonight."
"Got it." Brian confirmed and ran off.
"I still think we should have done this at home," said a worried Harry as the four of them approached their destination; Damon's Donuts. Brian had message Harry saying that he'd be there in a few minutes.
"Hey, I think you deserve a reward for saving Brian's life, and hopefully the rest of ours too." Dave attempted to reason.
"Alright, quickly though," Harry responded, realising he wasn't going to get his way, "We'll just get some donuts and go."
"Deal." Dave agreed.
On the roof of Damon's Donut's, a bolt holding the huge donut in place wobbled.
On the ground, next to Damon's Donut's, Harry had suddenly frozen in place, a chill had just gone through his bones.
"Guys, we should go... I'm getting a bad feeling." He announced. Lucy and Jenna came over to comfort him. However, the stubborn David stayed where he was.
"Oh, come on! You're always going to be having a bad feeling now, everything is going to fine."
At that moment, the bolt gave way and the donut fell the ground with an almighty thud. Right down on top of David. Harry, Lucy and Jenna recoiled, hoping to avoid watching their friend die.
"See, it missed me, we're going to be fine!" David exclaimed. The others stopped cowering behind their hands to see that the donut had landed around David and he was standing in the middle with a manic grin on his face. Unfortunately, the weight of the donut before it prised itself completely free had dramatically loosened the support to which it was connected to from its sockets on the roof. It wobbled and tumbled over the edge, and fell, point first. The group didn't get a chance to turn away in time and watched in horror as the support plummeted down, down through David's head into his body. Blood, flesh and brains splattered his friends and his lifeless body slumped to its knees before collapsing over the donut.