Daemonum

Chapter TWO

I leave around eight. The rain from the night before has passed, but moisture still clings to the sidewalk like a thin layer of plastic wrap as I make my way to the station and hop on the first train. The car is packed with men in women in important looking suits and dresses and I stand pressed to the door. Many of them are busy with their phones, others reading the business section of this mornings Tribune with furrowed brows, but a few take a moment to stare at my two-day-worn clothes with judgemental eyes.

I resolve to stare at my shoes instead of meeting their gaze. There's a hole in the toe of my left sneaker. I sigh, ditching the shoe-stare and instead listening to the sounds of the train. The morning sun streams in through the window, warming the side of my face which is turned towards the door, and after a long moment I feel like I might just be able to fall asleep standing up.

It is in the midst of peaceful moments like these that the dark things come for me.

I can feel it before I hear it. It begins with a sick rolling sensation in my stomach, as if I've just begun the downward descent on the hill of a roller coaster. My toes curl in my shoes, my face heats, and I feel as if I might get sick. All of this happens in a matter of seconds, and I hardly ever have time to brace myself before it comes for me.

I can hear them clicking in the distance and I squeeze my eyes closed tighter, digging my nails into my palms. The same hissing gurgle of a monster that haunts my dreams follows them, and I do everything in my power to maintain my breathing as it moves away from relaxed and closer to panicked. They're closer now, almost upon me, and my skin is itching in the wake of it. There's no way to be ready for this, no where for me to run to escape their piercing talons. I'm holding my breath now, the world growing more and more distant with my lack of breath. They're on me now, I can feel their breath--

And suddenly the doors hiss open against my side and I'm stumbling halfway onto the platform and back into reality. I don't know when I forgot that I could open my eyes, but the world looks different now as I look at it. It's too bright, too harsh, and I struggle to recognize it. Swallowing, I realize I'm frozen half on the platform and half in the train. I glance behind me and I moved quickly on to the platform, away from the train, at the view.

Hundreds of skeletal beings stare back at me, each and every one of their empty eye sockets haunting me.

I squeeze my eyes shut, count to five, and when I open them again I am faced with concerned commuters eyeing me like some kind of caged animal. A woman near the front even goes as far as to ask if I'm alright, but the doors have hissed closed on her before she can answer and the train rattles on down the line.

It takes a couple of moments to regain my senses, but when I do I realize I've gotten off a stop early. There are a few folks on the platform who witnessed what just happened, but none of them pay me too much attention as I hurry away and onto the street, holding my head low. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, and it won't be the last, but that never makes it any easier for my pride to swallow.

By the time I make it home, my feet are aching and I can barely keep my eyes open in the wake of the sleepless night I'd suffered. It's my day off at the diner, though, so sleep is thankfully - hopefully - and option. I shove my keys in the lock, fighting with it for a moment before it comes undone and I shove inside, closing the door quickly behind me and locking it back.

Hanging my keys on the hook near the door, I reach for the lightswitch and flip it with no response.

"Shit," I mutter, realization hitting me like a truck. I forgot to pay the bill, last week.

There's a pitchy meow from down the hall, and I sigh as I head for the kitchen. The bill is still sitting on the counter, and beside it is my monster of a cat, Charlie. He's watching me with expectant green eyes, tail twitching. Smiling weakly, I pet him gently between the ears as I glance over the bill once more and make a mental note to take care of it tomorrow.