The Slave That I Am | 18+✔

Book 1⌇9. Kill

Chapter 9 ∣  To Kill

-Annika

The station is very loud, the bustling and hustling of shoes making their way across to the platforms drowns out into one incoherent noise. Included in that noise are people having conversations with one another, their voices only gradually growing in volume as the next group decides it's time to speak louder. People exit trains here and board trains there, coming and going making me feel as though I'm about to get swept out to sea.

My gaze lifts and lands on a giant clock hanging precariously from the center of the station where it reads back to me as a quarter to six, reminding me that the train will pull into the station at six o'clock.

Fifteen minutes...

That's all I must wait is fifteen more minutes, and I'll be free, putting distance between myself and the vampires who reside within this city. These are the most dangerous minutes to wait out as the night would soon bring with it the creatures of the dark.

Breathing in deeply and calming my already high-strung nerves, I wrap my arms around myself, holding the soft sweater close to me. Flipping the hood up on the back of the jacket, I begin my advance toward the wooden benches. Taking a seat, I jolt a moment when the sound of a whistle blowing startles me.

"The six o'clock train to Canada will be arriving on time. Expect no delays," the intercom voice resonates throughout the station.

Thank God the train is running on time...

People pass in front of my field of view, watching them behind dark shades, attempting as hard as I can to steady my erratic beating heart. I'm almost there...I can practically taste the real freedom of putting a great deal of distance between Locaine and I. I'm not sure how long it will take him to find me if he's hell-bent on revenge, but at least this gives me time.

Even though I know Locaine and his coven will follow me to Canada, it will more than likely take the time before they realize exactly where I am...by then, I will be long gone elsewhere.

The sound of shuffling stops near me, my gaze taking notice of a man out of the corner of my eyes, tilting my head slightly to see past the shade frame. The man takes a seat near me, pulling out his newspaper and flicking it open to the centerfold. I briefly regard his presence, knowing that I don't want to stare at anyone too long and draw attention to myself, offering them to engage openly in conversation.

Hesitantly, I peer up at the looming clock overhead...eight more minutes.

Absentmindedly, I begin to shake my right leg while picking at my lower lip with anxiety. Anticipation is building within me, my stomach flip-flopping as butterflies make a permanent home in it. I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my entire life then at this moment, an impending countdown taking place all around me.

My heart stops the second I hear a piercing scream being ripped from a woman's lungs, echoing in the busy station. In the next moment, a man yells out, "Vampires!"

Chaos ensues immediately after the announcement, that word lingering with me like a tethered weight I am unable to escape from. The man who sits beside me is gone, bolting from the bench and heading directly for a door to exit the station. I don't want to be like him though...I can't run away, I must get on that train to ensure some type of protection for my freedom. However, other people around me scatter like cockroaches, running to the exits to get out of harm's way with determination.

"Fuck you!" I hear a young man's voice sound not too far from where I was once seated. I had sprung from my wooden bench a second or two after the man before me bolted for the door, taking refuge behind a tall pillar. My breathing is heavy, cupping a hand over my mouth in an almost useless attempt to calm down.