Previously on t h e l i f e l e s s l e e c h:
"We heard. I called your house phone earlier and your dad said that you were asleep. We didn't want to bother you, but now we have to take action."
"What action?"
"We're going to see Ansem The Wise. Right now."
xxx
"Aww, Lucas, you don't think your mother is convincing?"
"Nuh-uh, unfortunately. I really can't wait to get out of that hell-hole that they call a house."
"Wow, that's exactly how I felt when I first moved here."
"How do you feel now? I mean, I know it's been like what, seven years since you moved here? But still, I want to know."
"I love it here now. Well, thanks to you guys."
xxx
"You sleep like you're dead. But you wouldn't believe it. The thing we drove into tried to thrash us for quite a while, and you slept through the whole thing. A passerby had to come over and trap it with a metal box."
"What did it look like?"
"I think...it was a bigger version of what attacked Renee. Like a walking shadow. Black figure with glowing gold eyes. It was about as tall as this car."
"Suddenly I wished I had never asked."
xxx
"You...were following us? What do you fucking want from me!?"
"The same thing I've wanted ever since the day we started talking. To meet you."
Natasha was right when she said that the train would arrive very soon, because it was just loading by the time she and Era walked back in. At 9:30 PM, they got onboard the subway train, about to claim what they came out for. Era had never been on a subway train before, and she thought that so far that it seemed comfortable enough to ride in. The aisle and seats were a sand color and the windows were very clear and outlined with what looked like platinum rings. The seats had designed cotton covers on them so that people would be able to sit of a soft surface. From all that Era has seen today, she wasn't sure if she was able to stay awake at all until the next day.
"Wow, Natasha. Did you get us first class or something?" She asked a little impressed by the way the inside of the train was designed. Natasha failed to hold in a chuckle.
"You think this is first class?"
"Well, Tash, she's never been on a train before, remember?" Lucas cut in, pointing it out to her as if she likes to jump to conclusions.
"Oh yeah. But still, I figured that someone like you could picture what first class in any transportation would be like."
"I'm not much of a city girl." Era stated. Since there were only two seats on each side per row, Lucas had to sit behind the two girls. The three of them patiently waited as the rest of the remaining passengers went onboard to take their seats while Era checked to see if anything came up on her phone. She had received a text message about a minute ago from an unknown ID, but when she read the text her heart had skipped a beat.
Please be careful
~ Isa.
"What's the matter?" Natasha asked, leaning towards Era to read the text. From that point, Era didn't have to tell her what was up. "Whoa, what happened to his old number?"
"I really don't know." Era replied. "If he texted me from this number, maybe I can call him through it."
"What do you think that text meant anyway?"
"Maybe he's just worried about me."
"But why? You couldn't contact him before, so he can't know what we're doing tonight." Natasha pointed out. "The way I see it, despite that its only three words, he sounds a little concerned."
Era could hear a chewing sound from behind and smelled a pineapple smell roaming around her side not too long after, then knowing that Lucas was eating some kind of pineapple flavored sweet and that he was leaning right above her.
"What do you both mean?" He asked curiously. Era raised her arm over her head so that he could examine her phone.
"Read this text." She told him. He examined it silently for about twenty seconds before closing his eyes and resting his chin on his fingers in even more concentration.
"Well, Lucas, do you get it?" Natasha asked. He double taked on the two ladies while glancing up at the ceiling all the while, as if he lost his train of thought constantly.
"You see...there are many meanings to sayings like-" Lucas started off. There was suddenly an enormous banging on the subway, making all of the passengers awake and alert. "-What was that?"
"I don't know." Era replied quietly. She wanted to sink into the chair but was too stunned by the sudden shakes of the train.
"Think maybe it was a gap in the tracks?" Natasha said then. Lucas couldn't help but give a grin to that guess.
"Tasha, all of the tracks in this tunnel should be perfectly aligned. I never heard of train tracks with a gap-"
An even louder bang shook the train, sounding like a cannon ball just landed on them, turning everyone's shock to tension. After a few seconds, Era could feel that the train was coming to a slow halt. She had an urge to raise herself up a little and peek through the window, but at that moment she was frozen in place. After a moment of silence (in herself) she rose up to see most of the side lights on outside of the train, and if she looked very hard to her side, she could see that there was smoke seen around the front; commotion grew louder as other people saw the damage as well, and they had a reason to be scared.
"What just happened?!" Lucas asked. He looked like he was recovering from anxiety.
"We don't know. Something hit us, part of the train had burst, or we crashed into something." Natasha guessed.
"Should we go see what happened?"
"Now why would you even think to do that?" Era then cut in, finally finding her voice. Whatever caused the blast to occur on the train, she honestly didn't want to know what it was. She wanted to sit still until the conductor makes an announcement, but it seemed to be taking a while.
"You scared, Era?" Natasha softly asked.
"Well, I'd be surprised if anyone on this goddamn subway wasn't." Era replied.
"You both want to come with me to see what happened outside?" Lucas then asked, standing up from his seat.
"I want to stay here...where it's safe." Era replied quietly. Lucas could possibly tell that she wasn't kidding around, but he still seemed eager to go out.
"Maybe the engine broke down." Natasha guessed again.
"What engine makes a giant sonic boom noise when it breaks down?" Lucas replied. He headed towards the aisle. "I'm going on ahead. You two can stay here if you'd like." And he began to walk towards the door. Natasha stood and leaned over as if she were about to look after him.
"I think I should keep an eye on him." Natasha said to Era. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small teal flashlight. "You want to be here alone?"
Era could only nod yes in reply. As Natasha then followed Lucas, she sunk a little low into her seat. She just wanted to go to fall asleep and go pass all of the drama so that if she woke up, everything would return to normal. But what if she were to miss something urgent? She brought her legs up so that she could hug her knees. At this moment, she felt slightly helpless. She has already became a legal adult, yet she felt so weird from needing so much comfort from her friends, even if it seemed normal; she hated feeling like the fragile one of the town, but she hated to admit it even more. From a distance, she could have sworn she heard the conductor yelling something, and after a few seconds, a low growl around the same distant tone.
"What is that...!?" The conductor said unseen and afar. Era wondered what he was talking about, but at the same time didn't want to know. Because whenever she hears about something someone's never heard of, it's most likely to be a Heartless. Rexa could agree with her thoughts. She didn't know anything else that could make the train stop easily unless the tunnels were being bombed for some pompous reason. "H-Hey! What the hell are you kids doing!?"
Was he talking to Lucas and Natasha? Of course he was. Era rose a little bit from the seat to peek through her window, but couldn't see anything. She could only hear noise. Someone tapped her back and she turned around to see an old man behind her that looked troubled.
"Are those your friends out there?" He asked a with a slightly shaky voice.
"I...think so. I'm not sure if they're the ones that the conductor is yelling at." Era replied quietly. Another stranger, a lady, joined in with the elderly man.
"Well, I didn't see any other kids go outside unless they were onboard a different car than this. Shouldn't you try to be bringing them back?"
"They told me to stay here...and I'm a little frightened anyway." Era replied. She looked back through the window, everything was still the way it was.
"Well it sounds like something's out there." The old man said. "If I were you, I'd just check to make sure they're okay."
As if it were a trigger, another unusual cry was heard outside the train.
"I'm just going to check through the door. That's it." With that, Era got up from her slouched position from the chair, her heartbeat going up by a pinch once she stood up straight. She felt curious and anxious eyes staring at her from behind her back as she walked casually down the aisle towards the closest double-doors. It was already opened a crack and the air coming in from it smelled of dry dust and toxic bog. The engine did this?! She nearly thought out loud. Blocking out second thoughts, she pushed her way through the doors, closing them behind her immediately so the other passengers couldn't possibly suffocate. The subway had let off so much bog that she couldn't see anything below her ankle, but it also stung a little to try and keep her eyes open. Before anything else could happen, she heard a female voice cry out from the other side of the train.
"What are you doing...!?!"
"Get back...!" Another voice shrieked. Was it Natasha and Lucas?
Era forced herself to run over to the front of the train and tried to listen closer as she pressed her back against the head of the train.
"How are we going to get out of here?"
"I don't know, call the fucking cops maybe!?"
"We can't when this thing won't stop attacking us!"
They're being attacked?!
Era edged closer towards the side so see if she could at least peak at what was happening, but her foot had bumped something when she tried to take a step. Looking down to see what her foot nudged, she wished that she hadn't looked down at all. A man's head, possibly the conductor's, stuck out from underneath the train while the rest of his body was underneath. He stared death into Era's eyes motionlessly as she could see a few stains of blood on his neck and possibly on the rest of his attire. Era pushed the image out of sight and out of mind as she forced herself to glance over at the other side of the train. She'd have to settle this situation soon since the fumes were really getting to her. She didn't see anything at first, but a shadowed figure jumped close with his back turned, startling her. The shadow turned around in the same amount of surprise.
"Era!?" Lucas gaped in disbelief. "Why aren't you inside!?"
"Because I want to know what's out there trying to kill you guys!" Era yelled back as if the question was stupid.
"Era-" Lucas said. He looked as if he didn't know what to say to her that would solve everything. "How are we supposed to get out of here?"
Not even Era knew the answer. Without an conductor, a new engine, or safety from whatever was out there, she felt as though there was no longer hope. Even Rexa didn't see how they could make it out, and she even wondered if she was looking at the part where she lost her heart, but something felt missing in the situation, and it seemed a little too early to be an empty shell at that moment. Something told her...this wasn't Era's end.
Era suddenly heard Natasha cry out and then grunt as if she was trying to hit something. Moving over from the front of the train to check on her, the bog didn't settle, but it was clear enough to see that something had a major grudge against her friend. She suddenly gave out a hard blow to the unknown creature and it gave out a loud shriek, giving Natasha a chance to run to the other two friends.
"...Era!? What are you doing out here?!" She nearly whispered. Era looked over her shoulder with a grimace to see what was trying to attack them.
"I could hear you guys from inside the subway. I was worried, as well as the other passengers. Some urged me to come out and help you guys."
"All we can hope now is that the thing is dead." Natasha replied. All three looked towards where it seemed to last stand. "Lucas and I have done all we can to try and fight it off, but it keeps ticking."
They keep staring at the spot, where they could no longer see or hear the creature. Era had guessed that it had disappeared, and she had realized a strange pattern. Whenever anyone is encountered by the fiend, they only retreat when she seems to come around, as if she's a threat. Was there something about her that she didn't know? Rexa knew what it was. Era glanced at her friends and caught a glimpse of something that shocked her. The back of Natasha's shirt was almost entirely ripped, and deep cuts had ran through spots of her back.
"Oh my God, Natasha, what happened to you?!" Era asked as she ran behind Natasha to get a closer look of her back. The fleshly wound had made her stomach churn slightly.
"That thing could pick a fight alright." Natasha replied as if she hasn't been hurt at all.
"Doesn't that hurt you?" Lucas cut in, checking out the damage as well.
"Guys, its no big deal. I have bandages and some cleaning alcohol with me in the bag of the train. I can fix myself up in the restroom." She looked towards the door to the inside of the subway. "Everything looks better now anyway."
Era didn't know what she meant at first, but then she realized that the bog wasn't there anymore, and neither was the intoxicating smell of the broken engine. It was almost as though the fiend was the source of it all. The subway had suddenly hissed some exhaust out of its side pipes, giving the trio a clue that it might work again.
"I don't know how it happened. But either way, we should get back inside." Natasha said. Despite her confident talking, she was actually a step behind her other two companions when they began to walk in.
"Tasha, you're slugging a bit. You sure you're okay?" Lucas asked with a concerned tone.
"I told you, I'll be fine." Natasha replied. It was as if the back cuts were nothing more than a splinter. Lucas and Era had paused in confusion for a moment as their injured friend got in first, some of her black strands sticking to the bloody wounds, making her look beat. The restroom, to her luck, was just diagonally across from the exit, and Natasha went inside without glancing at the other passengers who stared in awe as the other two slowly walked back to their seats.
"I heard...a hissing sound." A little girl said, standing on her seat. "Is the train moving again?"
"I hope so." Era replied. She sat back down on the cotton seat as Lucas sat right back behind her, waiting a little anxiously for Natasha to come out as well as she sounds. Another hiss blew out from the train, as well as its horn.
"How is it doing that if the engine's broken?" Another confused passenger asked. A few other questions seemed to echo through the aisle.
"Where did that other chick go?"
"What was the thing that attacked us??"
"Where's the conductor?"
"Why don't you ask her? She seems to be the other person that witnessed it all."
More questions. Era wasn't in the mood for talking right now, and she figured that Lucas wasn't either. She just waited for a miracle to happen. Something that would bring everyone to safety and answer their questions. Everything nowadays seems to be all about questions. Why won't they stop? Era was so tired that she actually fell back asleep while in the midst of trying to find answers to her wonders as the subway gave one last hiss before it started to slowly pace forward on the tracks.