Diane was not in a good mood when she got into the train. In fact, she hadn't been in a good mood for weeks. Now that she was out of high school she needed to save up money for college but hadn't yet found a better job than working at a coffee shop; she hadn't seen her friends in a while and moreover she sometimes had the unpleasant feeling of being watched.
All in all, she was extremely relieved to finally get to go home and collapse into bed. She took a look around. The other few people in the train looked exactly like she felt – exhausted, tired, unhappy. A man who had his face hidden behind a newspaper glanced up. Quickly her eyes wandered back to the window. Outside she saw the blurred outlines of the dark trees in front of the starry November sky. It was a long ride to get home. She leant her forehead against the cool glass and sighed, closing her eyes.
She didn't notice the other people. Whenever the doors opened, the icy air blew some snowflakes on the floor and made Diane's coat flutter around her knees, but she kept her eyes shut. After a while, she opened them slowly. She didn't know how long she had been standing there or how many stops the train had passed, but as she took a quick look, everyone except the man with the newspaper had already got off.
Diane blinked a few time to collect her thoughts. She usually was alone on her ride home. She usually was alone in that train and she had never before seen that man. Again she had the feeling of being watched. 'Just a homeless guy', she thought reassuringly 'no need to freak out'. She exhaled deeply and calmly walked a few feet away, sitting down where the man couldn't see her. Feeling kinda relieved, she slightly started to relax in her seat. Suddenly she froze as she heard footsteps. She leant her head a tiny bit to the left and with a jolt of panic she saw the man slowly walking in her direction. 'No worry', she told herself again, 'it's just a drunk homeless guy; he won't do anything to you.' As he drew closer, she closed her eyes. 'Just a homeless guy, just a homeless guy…' The train stopped again and the doors opened. Diane could hear footsteps and some voices mumbling and felt relief flushing through her body. Not able to hide a small smile, she opened her eyes.
She gave a start. She was circled by a group of men, rough-looking, terrifying men, all of them with an unexceptionally nasty grin on their face. Diane panicky tried to get up, but a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and gently pushed her down on her seat again. "Uh-uh, love", said a mocking voice to her right "we're just getting to know each other." Frightened, she jerked her head towards him. Tall, with dark, untidy hair, a black coat and plaid pants he stood there, his head cocked to the side, with a slight smile on his undeniably handsome face. As the train doors opened one more time, Diane's eyes wandered to the red cloth tied to the arm he was still pushing her down with. Her eyes widened in realization. "Snatchers?" she uttered before she could stop herself. Her thoughts were racing. She took the moment of general surprise, shoved his hand off and ran.