Excerpt: Untitled

Chapter 1
Beneath the city streets a creature was stirring. It moved through the underground in the city of decay and madness.
The train left the inner city station at 10.31pm on its monotonous loop around in the subway until it returned back to where it started. Sitting directly across the carriage from Ava was a man that she guessed to be no older than twenty. He wore a black fitted trench coat with the collar flicked up, his medium length hair swept across his face covering his eyes. At the other end of the carriage were three girls huddled in tightly on a single bench. The girl in the middle was slightly slouched and probably asleep, jolting side to side from the movement of the train. They all sat in silence yet noticeably aware of each other’s presence.
Ava’s eyes felt heavy and she wished that she was home already in bed. She had bustled around the city throughout most of the day in search of a job, but unsurprisingly there were none to be found. This was the demoralizing nature of the city that she had grown accustomed to. But now that the money was running thing, things had quickly become dire.
The young man sat on the seat in front of her unmoving, yet Ava became aware of his frequent glances in her direction, and that of the three girls at the end of the carriage. She didn’t know what to think of him. It almost appeared that he had something to say to her but instead chose to say nothing. This made her feel uneasy, and she drew her small duffel bag closer to her body. This was noticed by the man, who glanced quickly in the opposite direction. It was then that she noticed a large tribal tattoo that crept up the side of his neck up to his strong jaw line. She noticed that his teeth were clenched and his hands were balled tightly into fists resting by his side. He flicked his hair to the side, revealing the most unnatural blue eyes that flicked their attention back to her.
Ava, now slightly unnerved by his reaction to nothing, gathered her bag and walked to other end of the carriage near the three girls. It felt like all eyes were on her as she travelled the length of the carriage; the man’s eyes burning a hole in her back and the girl’s quizzical eyes pressing her from the front. Her reflection in the Perspex windows gave away nothing that would warrant a reaction from either party. Ava closed her eyes in an attempt to block them out. She was sick of the attitude of everyone in the city, this fight for self preservation amongst the masses at the cost of your own humility.
She felt the desire for sleep tugging at the corners of her mind, dragging her deeper in to a relaxed state brought on by the soothing motion of the train. She could not fall victim to the temptation of sleep however, and she snapped her eyes open again to fight its enticement.
Something had changed however since she’d closed her eyes. One of the girls in front of her quickly shifted in her seat, noticeably agitated with her eyes set upon Ava. The other one muttered something in a low sharp voice to her whilst the girl in the middle still slept, her skin somewhat pale under the fluorescent lighting.
The feeling of uneasiness stirred in Ava’s stomach again, and she looked back up to the other end of the carriage in search of an escape from their accusing eyes. The man was still up the other end of the carriage, his brilliant blue eyes fixed solidly upon the three girls.
Fed up with the commotion, Ava attempted to switch carriages but the doors separating would not open. Once again she felt that all eyes were upon her as she was forced to walk the entire length of the carriage, purposely away from the girls. The train unexpectedly lurched sideways, sending Ava sprawling onto the seat beside the man. His concentration momentarily broke from the other end of the carriage; his eyes appeared somewhat more relaxed than before.
The train lurched again, this time making the lights flicker completely off. There was a rush of air around her coupled with a quick whispered male voice in her ear.
“Get off the train at the next stop. Do not look back.”
“What?” She replied in confusion.
A strong arm drew her closer. “One of those three girls isn’t breathing,” the voice said quietly. “Get off the train at the next stop.”