Afflicted

“Wait!” I called, hoping he might explain what was going on but he didn't come back.

“Let’s do what he said,” Spencer suggested. “Something bad has happened here and I don't wanna hang around to find out if it's still going on.”

We all agreed and joined Spencer as he upped the pace to a jog. Ella cursed quietly as she struggled in her boots but she didn't ask us to slow down.

The train station finally came into view and I sighed with relief as I spotted it. Ella was starting to fall behind and I slowed to stay with her. She smiled at me gratefully and I returned her grin though a knot of unease still rested in my stomach.

“You've got to be kidding me,” Spencer exclaimed from the front of the group as we all came to a stop. I couldn't see what was going on with everyone blocking my view but I could hear someone rattling what sounded like a metal gate.

I pushed my way forward to find out what was going on and felt my heart sink as I spotted the gate blocking the entrance to the underground train station. A sign was hung on the gate which only held one word. ‘Closed’.

“What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Demi shouted angrily.

“There has been a considerable terrorist threat detected by the Monitor,” a man’s voice called from the depths of the train station. “All public transport has been suspended until the threat can be neutralised.”

“What are we supposed to do then?” Reese asked loudly, giving the gate a kick.

A large guard appeared holding a baton in one hand and smacking it into the palm of the other. “I've been told to stop any crowds from forming here,” he said slowly, glaring at us. “So I suggest you move on.”

“We live near Harbour City,” I said pleadingly. “How are we supposed to get home if the public transport has all been shut down?”

“Call a cab if you can find one that isn't charging the earth,” he said without any concern. “Or call your parents to give you a lift. Either way I can't help you and you need to clear off.”

“So you're telling me they've just closed the train station and your answer is to call someone for a lift?” Demi asked angrily, her voice raising in pitch as her temper flared.

I turned away from her, not wanting to witness the rant she was clearly about to begin.

“Brilliant work Demi, now he definitely isn't going to help us,” I muttered although no one was listening.

I walked away from my friends as Demi and the guard started arguing behind me. Some of the boys were joining in with her, trying to figure out the best way for us to get home while the guard shouted at them to clear off. There were lots of suggestions being thrown around but none of them sounded like they'd get me home any time soon.

Something had definitely happened. Something so bad that the streets were deserted, a body was left laying on the sidewalk and an old man was raising a gun at strangers. I didn't need my dad's warning to tell me that I needed to get the hell out of here but it was looking harder and harder to do.

I pulled my cellphone from my pocket and tried to dial my mom. The call failed and I frowned as I realised I had no cell service. I knocked my phone against my palm and tried to dial again. Still nothing. I held it up as I walked on, hoping to get some signal as I moved away from the taller buildings.

It was just my luck to get stuck in a situation that called for calm when hurricane Demi was with me. No chance of that guard helping us out and not much else in the way of options if I couldn't even call home for help. Besides, my mom had never learnt to drive and with my dad stuck in the city, I wasn't going to be able to get a lift from them even if I did get through.

I opened up my contacts list and scrolled through it vaguely, wondering if there was anyone I might call on for help. My thumb hovered over Lincoln's name as my stomach lurched involuntarily. If I could rely on anyone for help it would be him. When we were kids he'd always been the one person I could turn to. No questions asked.

I hit dial before I could talk myself out of it and moved further down the street to block out the sound of Demi’s yells.

To my surprise the phone starting ringing. It cut out suddenly on the third ring and I glared at my cellphone as the signal vanished again. Damn piece of crap. If I ever got home I was demanding a new one from my mom and dad. How did they expect me to survive without a functioning cellphone?

I'd wandered beyond the station and an alley shrouded in shadows opened up on my right with a coffee shop beyond.

A prickle started on the back of my neck and I turned quickly, feeling someone's gaze on me.

At the end of the alley a dark silhouette stood, staring at me. My heart stuttered as my breath caught in my throat. Fear slithered it's way down my spine as I froze. Something about the figure didn't seem right.

Grams had a favourite word which sprung to mind as I took a slow step backwards. Unnatural. Sure, she believed in ghosts and pixies who stole her shoes while she slept. Nine times out of ten when she called something unnatural it was just the wind blowing through the trees in a strange way. Or the cat knocking something over in the next room. But the way she said it had always made my ears prick up. A little shiver ran down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

If Grams had been stood beside me in that second I knew the word that would have left her lips.

Unnatural.

And she'd have been right.

The figure stood so still that it didn't seem human. It was tall and broad enough that it had to be a man though. My heart somersaulted as I stepped back again, hoping to move out of sight before they decided to respond to my presence. The shadows were too deep for me to make out anything about the man hiding within them but my gut told me that he didn't mean me well. The guy with the gun had asked if we were afflicted. I guessed he meant by the water. The water that was sending some people insane.