Transcending Abnormality

Train Journey

Another of Virgil's alarms went off just after midday. He was still lying on his bed. He wasn't asleep, but his eyes were closed softly, his mind full of cotton and the soft lullaby of his earphones drowning out his newfound lack of a best friend.

On the alarm, he rolled over. He still hadn't got dressed, which was bad, considering he had to be in a class in just under an hour and a half.

He slumped out of bed and over to his wardrobe. He didn't feel like putting effort into his outfit. He could just wear loads of bracelets and necklaces and it'd look good enough. He opted for some wide-legged, light grey jeans and a black shirt with a purple skull graphic on it.

He'd missed breakfast time, and wasn't at all in the mood for lunch, so when he left his room after doing his eyeliner and grabbing his bag, he slinked past Remy and Patton watching TV together, not giving either a word as he reluctantly realised it was about now that he'd have to speak to Janus.

Surprisingly though, his uncle's floor was empty. He supposed the man must already be in his office or the higher floor, working.

Virgil decided that was a good thing. The man probably wasn't all that pleased about yesterday's outburst.

As per routine, the lad trekked through the offices, not in the mood at all, and therefore staring right at the floor. It was all getting a little too much.

After leaving the building, Virgil made a beeline for the train station. It was almost robotic when he bought his ticket and stepped through the gate. Hell, he felt a little on autopilot.

Someone on the train platform was tapping their foot impatiently. It made Virgil a little tense, but didn't last long, because the four-coach train arrived at the station.

Except once on the train, the person tapping their foot carried on. Maybe they had a valid reason to be tapping it, maybe it was anxiety or restlessness. Virgil decided he didn't care. It got really annoying after five minutes.

All he could think about was the sound. Tap, tap, tap. The harsh rubber soul against the linoleum floor. Tap, tap, tap.

Shut up.

Oh my God, shut up.

And with every continued tap, Virgil felt like the walls were closing in on him more and more. All of this was too much. Too much was going on. His chest began to heave up and down. He tried to push the feeling away but it wouldn't work.

And the lights. When did the lights get so bright?

And, oh, God, can the old woman flipping newspaper pages do it any louder?

Then, really suddenly, Virgil didn't think he could breathe. Fuck, not right now, he was having a shit enough day. Tap, tap tap, pounding in his head.

Virgil placed his head into his knees in an attempt to try and block out the noise. So much noise, oh my God. His chest tightened and he gasped for air that didn't seem to exist. He couldn't breathe, fuck. Fuck.

He was crying helplessly. If he could think, he would probably be thinking about all the people on the train that were probably looking down on him.

But, he wasn't thinking - his mind was too busy. Too much was going on, way too much. And Janus, and Roman, and Roman's mum, and Logan and Remus and he wasn't really in control of his own thoughts anymore as he continued to spiral.

It was terrifying, he knew that.

Virgil blinked, his tears slipping out of his eyes so that he could see. There was a person crouched in front of him as the train still moved slowly. He couldn't make out a face or anything proper, but it was a person with two of their hands wrapped around one of his, squeezing it to ground him.