The cold, hard light shone from the high ceiling above the train station, irritating Ann's eyes.
The air conditioning was too weak, too stuffy. Ann pulled her backpack closer to her back, tightening the dark blue straps around her thin shoulders. The escalator hummed beneath her boring brown boots, the components creaking in protest as she slowly descended.
The whole station was a big old castle, filled with intricately painted designs on the ceiling and an ornate clock hanging from ropes that were actually too old to be doing such straining jobs.
Ann thought they looked boring, stiff and lifeless.
Just like her.
Ann sighed and peered at the scenery below her.
Painting the walls blue was a chubby construction worker humming a repetitive tune, "Free, Free. It'll be over soon. Free, free, try to land before noon!"
It made no sense, but the man kept the tune going with his fat sausage-like lips, his voice hoarse but loud enough to carry the song over the loud noise from other construction sights.
The escalator wailed.
A sense of dread washed over Ann as she nervously tucked her red hair behind her ears.
She was a quarter down the height of the escalator.
"Free, free," The man sang, packing up his brushes into a ridiculously large bag.
The large clock chimed. Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
The rhythm of her erratic heart clashed with the orderly chimes.
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
The man had disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only a blue drawing of a mark of some sort. Ann frowned. Where had she seen it before?
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! She was halfway down.
"It'll be over soon!" The man sang, but only his voice could be heard. Ann's heart rate increased.
Below, Ann could hear the chatter of excited workers talking about what they were having for lunch. Butchered lamb, one said.
A worker caught her eye. He was too thin and pale to be a construction site worker. Dark circles under his eyes seemed to crawl over his entire cheek, making Ann shiver.
He looked up, and smiled a tight, tiny smile.
The familiarity of his eyes, one green, one milky white struck Ann to her very core.
The leader of the enemy faction.
Ann's heart stopped as she took in her situation. She was still in the middle of the escalator, several meters above the white marble floor. The escalator stopped abruptly.
A cheery voice came from behind, "Try to land before noon!"
The last thing Ann saw before hitting the white, white marble was the tight, tiny smile of triumph from André, her twin brother.
The clock chimed its last chime.
