B008GMVYA4 EBOK (5 page)

Sadness and
relief washed over Madison. A hollow emptiness still clung to her insides,
twisting around her vital organs, causing her to breathe fast and uneasy. The
dull throbbing in her heart was still present, but the pain had eased slightly
since leaving her family home - her mind still blank and incoherent. Madison
felt like she wasn’t even really there, like the event that had occurred
tonight was just a nightmare that she would eventually wake up from, but the
dull ache of her heart and the throb of her injured face were too intense for
her to be dreaming. Letting her head lay back against the back of the seat,
Madison closed her eyes. A single tear forced its way out from underneath her
eyelid and rolled down her right cheek and dripped off her jaw. Wincing from
the pain in her right arm, Madison searched through her handbag. She pulled out
a small, black
ipod;
unwinding the earphones she popped them carefully
into each ear. She thumbed the play button and let her head roll towards the
window. A heavy black veil of night hung over the outside of the train – preventing
her from seeing anything apart from her own reflection in the window of the
carriage. She winced at the sight of her swollen damaged skin, the foundation
had concealed the bruising of the black eye which was forming, but her swollen
eyelid had begun to droop down slightly. Her cheek had become very inflamed and
purple bruising had started to form along the curve of her cheek bone. The
foundation did little to conceal the large bulge of bruising and redness,
causing Madison to feel more self-conscious then she had earlier. Two large
dark circles hung underneath each eye and her skin was pale and dull, she
looked tired and ill. Today’s event had taken its toll on her body, mental
state and emotions. Madison felt the need to conceal the injury further, by
applying additional layers of foundation, but she decided quickly against this
- knowing that there was little she could do to conceal the newly formed
bruising. Hopelessness flooded in - Madison leant her head against the window,
her eyes falling towards the floor. Allowing her body to hang limp in the
comfort of the seat of the train, she let the music take her over. Her heart
beat matching the low strum of a guitar and the soft, slow flow of a husky
voice. The music passed through every molecule of her body moulding it into the
rhythm of the music. Every muscle relaxed and tightened in response to the
higher and lower verses of the song.

Madison
closed her eyes tight as the sadness bubbled under the surface. Tears tried to
escape from underneath her eyelids, but she fought them back - letting the
music portray her feelings.

When
Madison and Stephanie were in high school they fantasised about moving to
London together. They talked for hours about renting an apartment and discussing
how they would furnish it with expensive silks and exotic items they brought
back from one of the many holidays they would take together. Stephanie would
always finish the conversation with
“Don’t worry I’ll buy us an 1800ft
penthouse above Regent Street when I’m a rich actress”.
Stephanie had
always aspired to become an actress from a very early age. The truth was, she
wasn’t any good at it, but that never stopped her dreaming of the red carpets
of the Golden Globe Awards. She had a habit of freezing when put under pressure
and laughing uncontrollable when embarrassed or nervous about something. So it
wasn’t so much as case of Stephanie being a rubbish actress, but she physically
couldn’t get up in front of people and act. This was the reason why she
continued to work as a waitress in the small Chinese restaurant in Thatcham,
chop
sticks -
s
he was waiting
for her ‘big break’. Stephanie saw no point changing job roles as she knew
acting was all she wanted to do with her life even though she struggled with
nerves and when she eventually made it as an actress, she would make Madison
her assistant - as well as best friend and advisor.

The
decision to move to London had always been lingering at the back of Madison’s
mind. London had always been a safe haven for her and Stephanie, somewhere
where Madison could run too - escaping Phil and the life she had longed to be
rid of. She had made the decision to go to London unconsciously. It was an
instinct that had been triggered when Phil’s fist impacted with her face. It
had become Madison’s destiny - Phil had knocked her
physically
onto the
right path.

Madison
stirred; movement awoke her from a semi-unconscious sleep. She had been
drifting in and out of consciousness for over an hour, only waking up a few
times to check that she was still alone in the carriage and that her
possessions were still by her side. Now, two boys entered the carriage through
the automatic doors that led through to the next carriage. They were both
dressed completely in black, wearing identical black jeans and plain black,
hooded jumpers. The black hoods of their jumpers pulled up over their heads,
shielding their faces in shadow.
 
Although their faces were covered their body frames were no bigger than
an fifteen year olds.

Both boys
walked over to the seat across from Madison, squeezing past her suitcase which
blocked the gangway and sat down. Every movement was synchronized between the
two boys, they were puppets joined at the hip - a large hand above the train
manipulating their identical movements. Their shoulders were slumped forwards
and their heads lowered towards the floor – covering their faces in complete
darkness. They were deep in conversation, their voices muffled and low. Both
boys ignored Madison and she was unable to hear their conversation over the
fast strum of an acoustic guitar in her ears. Every movement the boys made was
motionless, as if they were floating in the sky like a cloud, being pulled
along with the wind. They had no intent, focus, or even purpose – they just
were. Their bodies moved with the motion of the train, every movement mimicked
identically by the other.
 

Madison
eyed them both wearily, she was spooked. The way the two boys moved wasn’t
normal. She wondered whether the two boys were trying to spook her by sitting
in the same carriage as her, dressed completely in black with the hoods of
their jumpers pulled up over their heads looked suspicious enough, but the
posture of their bodies so defensive and shielded - like they were trying to
conceal their identities from her caused her more concern. Madison threw that
theory aside, even the best circus performers couldn’t mimicked each other’s
movement the way the two boys did - it was unreal, even their breathing matched
identically. Anxiously Madison straightened up in her seat and she removed one
of the earphones from her right ear. Curiously, she tried to hear what they
were discussing but their voices were too low and husky for her to make out
what they were saying. They whispered wildly to each other, almost frantically
like they were panicked by someone of something. Madison pulled the suitcase in
closer to her seat, unsure of their intensions and wanting to keep her
belongings safe. She turned off her
ipod
and pulled the remaining earphone
out of her earlobe. She wound the earphones around the small oblong black
ipod
,
quickly popping it back inside her handbag and throwing it over her
shoulder.
 
She jumped as the train
driver’s voice sounded over the tannoy - announcing they were arriving at
waterloo. Grabbing her suitcase she jumped to her feet and slipped out into the
gangway – yearning to leave the train as quickly as possible. Madison pulled
the suitcase to the door at the rear of the carriage. The train jolted forwards
as the train-driver hit the brakes. She balanced herself against the pull of
the train, staring curiously around at the two boys who remained seated -
ignoring her glances. They continued to whisper frantically, their heads
lowered, the hoods of their jumpers hiding their identities. The train slowed
to a stop. She gripped the suitcase tightly, readying herself to step through
the sliding doors as soon as they opened. The train doors slid slowly open. A
breeze of cool fresh air flooded through the open train doors. A cold shiver
ran down her spine as the breeze impacted with her body.

Taking a
big step, Madison cleared the cap between the platform and train. She pulled
the suitcase from the train down onto the platform next to her, quickly pulling
the handle up and towing the suitcase behind her. Her hair flew up wildly as
the wind caught it, spreading out unevenly across the back of her leather
jacket. She scanned the platform her eyes focused on the
exit
sign.

Quickening
her pace, she headed towards the exit without stopping to find out whether the
two hooded boys had vacated the train yet. A flickering of a shadow caught the
corner of Madison’s eye - two small shadows danced on the ground next to her.
Both shadows floated motionless like the two boys had when they entered the
carriage. Shuffling footsteps now echoed around the platform from behind her.
She twisted around to search for the source of the footsteps - keeping her pace
at a fast steady speed. The two boys walked motionlessly about five feet behind
her, the hoods of their jumpers still pulled up over the tops of their heads –
blocking their features out in shadow. Their feet seemed to graze the concrete
floor as if they were suspended above the ground, floating almost two inches
above the floor. Their pace was faster than Madison’s, they were gradually
closing the distance between them both.

Fear
flashed wildly in Madison’s eyes, she bit her bottom lip stopping herself from
whimpering. Although both the boys were shorter and younger then her, she knew
that together they could overpower her.
 

She took
large steps trying to quicken her pace, she was unsure what the two boys
intension were, but she had heard rumours about the muggings that occur in the
London area and how children as young as 13 years old carried knives around
with them for protection. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest, the
irritating dull pain in her arm now fading as fear and anxiety took over her
senses. The suitcase wobbled reluctantly against the speed that it Madison
pulled it, the wheels clunked nosily under the weight of her clothes. She
reached the exit of the platform, making her way towards the sign directing her
to the
Underground.
Quickly
glancing
behind, she stopped dead in her tracks. The platform behind her was empty. The
train remained stationed by the side of the platform, but the two boys had
vanished. The only movement on the platform was a white plastic carrier bag
that had been caught in the wind - sending it soaring wildly across the
concrete. Narrowing her eyes, Madison scanned the full length of the platform -
nothing. The ice cold breeze gushed towards her, flowing through her body as if
it was nothing more than empty space. She inhaled, taking a deep breath of soot
tasting air. Another gust of wind rumbled around the platform, sending plastic
bags that were scattered around the platform soaring towards her. Turning back
around, Madison headed towards the underground before another gust of wind
could hit her.

 
She should have relaxed with the knowledge
that the two boys were no longer hot on her heels, but she couldn’t shake off
the feeling that she was being watched. The hairs pricked up on the back of her
neck as she reached the underground, she pulled out her ticket from inside her
handbag as she had approached the automatic gates. Madison slipped the ticket
for the Underground into the card reader. The gates swung open, allowing
Madison to slip through with her suitcase after recollecting her ticket from
the machine. The dull nagging pain in her arm had returned now that the threat
of the two boys had dissipated. Every muscle screamed, urging her to let go of
the large heavy suitcase, but Madison ignored her distressed muscles. Her head
was hazy from dozing on the train journey and she was still uneasy and spooked by
the disappearance of the two boys. The raw emotions of tonight weighed heavy
over Madison - she felt dumb. Every feeling or thought was sucked into the
empty abyss that lay inside her, only the stronger feelings of fear, hate,
guilt, sorrow and pain were able to scratch the surface. All her energy had
been channelled into reaching her destination and this allowed some of the
stronger feelings to bubble up to the surface, causing fresh tears to spill out
over her cheeks. Madison let them slip down her face and neck, wincing from the
stinging sensation as the salty tears grazed over her damaged cheek. She towed
the suitcase swiftly along a dimly lit corridor which led down towards the
underground. Her head felt heavy on her shoulders, the thick layer of haze that
hung around her mind put pressure on her head. Her senses were still spiked,
the boys disappearing act had unnerved her more than she realised.
 
Her mind wondered as she continued down the
corridor towards the Underground. Images of Phil’s expression just before he
struck Madison flashed into her mind, reminding her of the unfortunate
occurrence that had led her up to this point. Madison scanned the corridor
wearily. The walls of the corridor were painted beige and the floor was thick
concrete, making the corridor eerily dark and cold. The few wall lights that
lit up the corridor illuminated the grey concrete in an orangey glow. Torn
advertisements for gigs and movies scattered one side of the corridor, graffiti
in an arrangement of colours covered the opposite wall. The corridor opened out
into a long platform of the Underground. The bright lights of the Underground
stung Madison eyes, she walked along the platform towards the track. The weight
of the suitcase lessened on Madison’s arm as the floor smoothed out spreading
the weight of the suitcase out evenly. She stopped about three feet away from
the edge of the platform. The Underground was empty apart from a businessman
talking on his mobile phone while pacing up and down the platform. He swung his
suitcase back and forth as he shouted angrily into his hi-tech phone. The top
button of his shirt was undone and his black and red tie lay loose around the
collar of his shirt. His black suit jacket was undone revealing a large blue
ink stain in the centre of his white shirt. He frowned and narrowed his eyes as
he caught Madison’s gaze. She looked away quickly in embarrassment, staring out
onto the empty track ahead. The two boys who had been on the train earlier were
nowhere in sight, Madison found herself beginning to relax slowly, but she
couldn’t shake off the knot that had formed in her stomach from the anxiety of
feeling like she was being watched. Tonight’s occurrence had completely crushed
her. Her exterior remained like stone, the tears had now passed and she was
numb again, however, on the inside her thoughts and feelings were in chaos. She
doubted her decision to leave Phil, but she knew deep down she had to escape
now or she never would. She bit her lower lip hard to stop it from quivering,
forcing any emotion that had risen to the surface back down inside to the pit
of her stomach where she could deal with it later.