NaNoWriMo story

I don't know if I can 'cut' this as I would on LJ, but here you have what I have so far.






Prologue
I’d like to be able to write a letter to myself, many years ago. I’d write it and send it so it arrived the day before we met. Perhaps then things might have happened more like there were supposed to, rather than how they did.

Imagine a girl, about 5 foot, looks to be around 17, dyed blonde hair, Greeney eyes, wearing a dress of pale blue material that looks as if she’s just been to a prom, black sandals, headphones connected to an iPod in her ears. Yup, that’d be me, all those years ago. I had in fact just been to the high school ‘prom’ it was more like a party than a prom, nothing exciting happened. Well, not there, anyway.

See, I was on my way home when it happened.

Chapter 1

She turned around and was about to scream. It was only when he made a shushing motion that she realised he didn’t want to hurt her. She was, or rather had been, sitting on a train. It was her stop in a moment and she’d got up and was standing by the doors, waiting for the train to stop and the doors to open so she could get off. It was that moment that he’d put his hand on her shoulder. To this day it’ll remain unknown as to why they both happened to be on the same train at that particular time, although it was fortunate, as it turned out.
“You can’t get off here, it’s too dangerous” The first words he spoke, they weren’t evil, they weren’t demented, they were almost sad, regretful. Spoken softly, she could hear the sorrow, but she still maintained that attitude you expect from a 17 year old.
“what do you mean? I live here” She responded, being careful not to raise her voice more than was essential. She was frowning.
He sighed and looked at his feet. She was starting to study his face and hair. Sort of brownie blonde hair, not exactly shoulder length, but long enough to cover his ears. His face was sort of craggy, as if he’d been in a lot of fights. In fact one eye was so scarred it looked as if there wasn’t much usefulness in the eye anymore. Still, he seemed genuine enough.
“Something, really, really bad is going to happen out there, very, very soon” He muttered
“But then, why aren’t you stopping everyone from leaving the train?” She was confused, and uncomfortable, she was wearing a dress, and talking to a strange man who didn’t look to be the most friendly.
“They’re all beyond rescue, they’d never listen, never believe. Besides, I’m not stopping you, you can get out, if you like” With that he turned and walked away, down the train a short way, before sitting down.

The train stopped, the doors opened. She almost got off, but the atmosphere seemed wrong. She looked from the doors, to the guy she’d been talking to and back a few times, then turned around and walked along the train to where he was sitting, and sat opposite him.

“I’m sorry, there is nothing that can be done for anyone still out there” He didn’t look at her, just kept looking out of the window.
“It… it’s okay, I live a ways from here, anyway” She didn’t seem so certain.
Suddenly there was a dull thud and bang. She jumped up and looked around, scared.
“Sit down, there’s nothing we can do, keep your head down”
To a stranger, this would have seemed heartless, there were people running around like scared ants outside the train, they seemed to be silently screaming in agony.
“What’s your name?”
“Uh, Mellysa” She was preoccupied by what was going on outside.
“Mellysa, that’s a good name, yes, it is. I’m Ference”
“Cool” Mellysa really was preoccupied, she couldn’t drag herself away from the window
“Mellysa” She didn’t respond, he said it again, louder, firmer “Mellysa!”
“What? Oh, sorry, I just, what’s going on out there…Ference?”
“Some say it’s natural, others say it’s some spore like menace from space, personally, I try not to think about it”

It was then that Mellysa realised that nobody else on the train seemed to have noticed the chaos going on outside, this struck her as extremely odd. Then she noticed that there seemed to be an air of fear, somewhere nearby, but she couldn’t see anyone, besides Ference, that had any idea that something sinister was going on outside. She got to her feet again.
“Where are you going?” Ference seemed to notice the slightest movement
“I-” She was reluctant to let him know that she had a funny feeling. She sat back down and leaned across the table towards him. Making a decision right there on the spot she decided to tell him.
“You might think I’m crazy, but I think there’s someone else in this coach that can see what’s going on outside, and they’re scared, really, really scared”
His eye widened, the other tried, but the scaring made that very difficult.
“Where?”
“I don’t know, I’d like to go and look for them though”
“Would you know them if you saw them?”
“From the ‘vibes’ I’m getting they’re pretty darn scared, probably scared enough to be cowering in the corner or something”
Ference considered this for a moment.
“Go, go find them” His tone was of urgency so she quickly turned and started looking around.
She didn’t have to go far, just two rows down from them, there was another girl, cowering, as Mellysa had suspected, in the corner. The feeling of fear was so strong around her that Mellysa felt like she might faint from it. She sat down beside the stranger.
“Hey, you okay?” The girl started, looked at Mellysa, and went to get up and run.
“No, it’s okay, stay, I’m not here to hurt you”
“You-you’re not?”
“Of course not, what’s wrong?” Mellysa was tugged at her skirt, wishing she’d had a bag with a change of clothes, she hated skirts.
“Can’t you see them? Outside?”
Mellysa let her airy attitude slip away, but remained calm and friendly.
“You mean all the silent screaming and stuff?”
The girl looked around and up at her and nodded.
Mellysa glanced around quickly.
“Come with me, there’s someone you should meet” She paused “What’s your name?”
“Kathi” She hesitated only a second, she was already scared of outside, she didn’t need to be scared of what was going on inside too.
“Come with me Kathi” Mellysa took the girls hand and quickly led her back to where Ference was sitting, still watching what was going on outside.
-Why haven’t we left the station?!- Mellysa found herself wondering.
“Ference, this is Kathi, tell her what you told me”
Mellysa gently pushed Kathi into the seat she had previously occupied opposite the man and took the seat beside her.
Ference explained all he knew, adding only a small detail that he’d not told Mellysa.
“I’ve been told stories, some claim what’s happening now to be natural, others claim it’s a spore like menace from space. I try not to think about it, but the second explanation seems more plausible”
Just then, the train started to move. Mellysa looked around, in case anyone noticed the horror outside once they were moving. Nobody did, and she couldn’t feel the fear she could before.
Suddenly Ference looked worried, and wary.
“Mellysa, do you have a phone?”
“Of course I do”
“Phone home”
“But I… Okay”
She obeyed, pulling the phone from the small bag she had and dialling the number.
Holding her breath she put it to her ear.
“It’s ringing” It came out as a whisper “What do I say?!” She added, frantically, knowing it’d only be a few more rings before someone picked up.
“Tell them they should go and stay with a relative, someone who lives a long way from here”
“They’ll never do that, they wouldn’t believe any reasoning behind it” She was talking fast, worried someone would pick up before she knew what to say.
“Tell them whatever you can to get them away from here, it’s not safe”
Mellysa was silent.

Chapter 2
“ANSWER THE PHONE WILL YOU!?” Startled, the young man fell from the edge of his bed and hit the floor with a loud, resounding thud.
“But muum, you’re closer!”
“I’m busy!”
“eurgh, fine then!” He picked himself up off the floor and went to answer the phone. On his way to the phone, he glanced out of the window, not seeing anything out of the ordinary he picked up the receiver.
“Hello?”
On the other end of the line, he could hear his sister having a frantic conversation with someone”
“Hey, Mellie, what’s up?”
Mellysa fell silent for a second.
“Hey, you know, I’m actually glad you answered Leo”
“huh?”
“Listen, you gotta get out, you, mum and dad, take the cat too, go visit aunt Emma for a while”
“Mellie, you’re not making any sense, we were supposed to visit Em anyway, we’re waiting for you to get home”
“Oh yeah, well, go without me, take my bag, it’s in my room, and pack my laptop too, I’ll meet you there, go NOW”
“But Mell-”
“No buts! Just GO!”
‘Leo’ was silent for a moment, he could hear Mellysa breathing on the other end of the line.
“Something very, very bad is happening, trust me on this, just go, please? And please don’t forget the cat”
“Okay, what do I tell mum and dad?”
“Tell ‘em the truth, I missed my stop and decided to go all the way by train, I have money”
“Sure, see you there”
“Sure” She hung up before he could ask where she was.

Leo, whose name was actually Levon, was Mellysa’s older brother. This conversation worried him, but he knew his sister wouldn’t tell him to do something without good reason.

“Mum, That was Mellie, she missed her stop on the train and said she’ll meet us at Emma’s, shall we pack up and go now?”
“Is she okay?”
“Sure, she says she has money, and she sounded happy enough” He was telling lies, to cover up his own fear.
“Fair enough, we’d better get going now then, go grab her case from her room”

Leo, knowing his sister better than their parents thought (she trusted him with a lot of things she’d never tell her parents), knew exactly what else to pack in her case. All those bottles that looked like they contained illegal pills that she kept, the box of jewellery that had belonged to their grandma and her laptop. The bottles actually just held all sorts of different pain killers, as well as a fair few sweets.

“Whatever you’re up to Mellie, don’t do anything stupid” He muttered. At that moment his personal mobile started ringing, it was Mellysa, again.
“Yo” He replied, pulling the phone from his pocket and holding it to his ear
“Hey, Leo, are you leaving yet?”
“Just packing your laptop away for you”
“Good, can you also throw in-”
“Your bottles and jewellery? Already done that”
“Oh, man, you really ARE brilliant”
“Look, can you tell me what’s going on?”
There was silence again, for a moment, and then he heard Mellysa talking with someone else, that male voice, again.
“I’ll explain when I see you, okay?”
“Sure, just, be careful, okay? Whatever it is you’re doing”
More conversation with that male voice.
“Of course, just go, and drive as fast you possibly can, there really isn’t much time left. Only stop when essential”
“See you soon then” Leo faked a smile, he was worried, his sister didn’t speak like that unless something was serious.
“Yeah”
He hung up first, this time. At that same moment he threw the power charger for her laptop on top of the clothes in her case, quickly grabbed her favourite coat from the back of the door and threw that on top, zipped the case shut, and almost ran out of the room, it was too eerie being in there without her being there.

Of course, the cat only proved to be a small problem, she eventually went into her box once there was a clean blanket and some treats in there. She was Mellysa’s cat, she only did anything voluntarily for Mellysa.

As their parents locked the door, Leo sent Mellysa a message to her phone, it simply read - We’ve left, see you soon, Leo <3

Chapter 3

As she sat on the train, watching Ference with increasing interest, Mellysa found herself wondering why he had chosen her, why had she been the one he personally stopped.

Kathi still looked almost petrified, she didn’t seem to trust Ference, and she didn’t really put across the impression that she trusted Mellysa, either. She looked to be younger than Mellysa, but she was slightly taller and her hair was a fiery red.

Ference was still looking out of the window, not really watching the scenery, not really thinking of anything at all. He knew that Mellysa seemed to trust him, she was wearing a dress and he wasn’t even showing any interest, so she’d trusted him early on. He also knew that Kathi didn’t trust him, she was wary, she had no idea what was going on, and the story he’d told her didn’t seem to be very convincing. He mentally sighed as he realised what was worrying both of them. His face. Glancing about he noticed that Mellysa quickly looked in another direction and Kathi simply continued to watch the scenery.

Someone had to break the silence, Mellysa was becoming uncomfortable, she looked from Kathi to Ference, and back again, realising that that friendship was never likely to happen she sighed.
“Ference, where are we actually getting off?” She asked, noticing the almost empty carriage.
“Not just yet, we’re not quite out of the danger zone”
“My aunt lives a long way from here, we have to get to her, you heard what I told my brother”
Ference nodded.
“We’ll be there, don’t worry”
Kathi continued to look scared.
“Where were you headed?” Mellysa asked what she knew their male companion was wondering.
“Home, I- I was going home, it’s the last stop”
“Well you can either go home, or you can stay with us” Ference found it easier to talk to Kathi now that Mellysa had opened the conversation.
“I think I’d like to go home”
“Here, take this” Ference passed a piece of paper across the table between them, it had a number scrawled on it. “If that number calls you, you should answer”
Kathi took the paper and nodded, she still looked sceptical though.

Slowly the carriage became more and more empty until there was only Kathi, Mellysa and Ference left.
“Are we safe to get off now?” Mellysa leaned across the table to ask.
Ference looked around. Focusing on the map on the wall on the other side of the carriage.
“Yes, we’re safe”
“Will you be okay?” She asked Kathi, because she looked about ready to freak out at the slightest thing.
Kathi didn’t speak, but she nodded.
“Here, take my number too”
As they exchanged mobile phone numbers, Ference observed the world outside. It was getting dark, darkness was good cover for unwanted companions.
“Mellysa” His voice startled her, she’d been having a slightly girlie conversation with Kathi.
“What?”
“What is your brothers name?”
“My brother? Leo, well, Levon, but we’ve always called him Leo”
“Are you close to Leo?”
“Sure, probably closer than most girls are to their brothers, but that’s just the way it is, really”
“Keep that in mind, focus on it”
“Of course”
-He must’ve been rather good looking, once, a while ago- This thought ran through Mellysa’s mind before she could stop it and she had the sneaking suspicion that he could read minds, just slightly, because he smiled at that moment, and returned to looking out of the window.
Mellysa wished the journey would end, she was tired of sitting down and the carriage was starting to smell funny. Then she realised what was wrong.
“Kathi! Get to the front of the train, NOW!” Kathi, who’d switched seats with Mellysa ages ago, got up from her seat and was running down the middle of the train towards the front as fast as she could.
“What did you tell her to do that for?” Ference looked confused and startled at the same time.
“There’s an odd smell in here, smells oddly like the platform did just as I was going to get off”
Ference looked at her, then was on his feet as fast as Kathi had been pulling her behind him.
“Just keep running, don’t stop, and don’t look back, just keep running!”
“Fer! What are we running from?!” The shortening of the name was a spur of the moment thing, not intended, it just happened.
-Did- did she just shorten my name? wow…-
“I’m not entirely sure what we’re running from, I’ve never actually encountered it, this is the closest I’ve ever been” he paused, still running “AND I DON’T LIKE IT!”
-So much for the fearless warrior-

Up ahead Kathi tripped and fell to the floor, She looked back and almost instantly passed out. Mellysa found herself pushed in front as Ference stooped and picked Kathi up, all without looking back.

The train had just come into the station, the doors opened just as they ran towards them, suddenly the air was clear, and the doors were shut the second they were through.

“Don’t look at the train, just walk calmly away” Their pace had slowed, and they were indeed, just walking calmly away from the now empty train.

Chapter 4

Ference simply sat there, reflecting on the days events. Wondering if the nightmare would ever end. Memories of previous fights against unknown enemies plagued him. The unknown frightened him, but once it was no longer the unknown, he was a fearless fighter.

Mellysa was too concerned with making sure Kathi was okay, she said she was fine, didn’t know why she’d passed out, but she was still shaky, and they had to wait for a train that she could get on to come in anyway.

“I don’t want to go home now, I don’t want to be alone” She suddenly stammered
Mellysa looked over to Ference, he seemed to be the ‘leader’ after all.
“Of course, stay with us, if you wish” He got to his feet, and held out his hands, one to each of them.
Mellysa took hers and pulled herself up, but Kathi ignored the offering and helped herself to her feet. She still didn’t trust him. He sighed and let that hand fall to his side again.