OMG, Breaking News!
Okay, so I am bored and I want feedback from the one person who might read this by accident, so I am going to post the first chapter to my fifth novel, as of yet unnamed (seriously; the files is called 'story'). It is unedited, so it's rough, but you get the idea. Or maybe not. It's science fiction, horror, fantasy - I call it the 'alternate universe' genre. I don't read stuff like that, but I randomly write novels/stories in that genre and black comedy for my screenplays.
Chapter One
The Depths of the World
At nine o’clock on a Friday night, the subway was pretty much deserted besides Alicia, sitting with her briefcase silently staring ahead, and the sleeping bum spread out over a bench at the rear of the car. The difference between the prim and well dressed woman and the scruffy man was striking, but she didn’t take care to notice. She wanted to go home, take a nice shower, look over the day’s work, and get some well deserved rest before another hectic day arrived. She didn’t want to look at the underbelly of Manhattan. The dark subway itself was enough of the underbelly for her.
At the age of twenty five, Alicia looked more like a young woman thrown into the business world than someone her actual age. Her straight black hair was pulled back in a tight bun that made her look harsh, and the black coat, black blazer, black skirt, black pumps, and pressed white blouse just added to the image of a much older woman. People who knew Alicia, though, would say that the much older image was correct.
The car came to a slow stop as a voice came over the loudspeaker. “181st Street. Please exit to the left.”
Alicia stood up as the door opened. Mysteriously the platform was empty. With the A and 1 trains serving the station, most of the time, even at night, the place was crowded with students from Yeshiva, the same kids she shared an apartment building with. But that night it was deserted. Her hand reached into her pocket to make sure that the can of mace she kept with her at all times was still there before she started walking towards the elevator to the surface. Over her head the lights flickered and water dripped after the day’s many rain showers, even though they were deep under the city. She pulled her coat tightly around her as she moved towards the way out, her high heels clacking against the ground. Even though the darkness seemed to close in around her as the subway left the station, to her it was nothing to be afraid of. The lights would get fixed in the morning, the students were probably studying for upcoming midterm exams, and everyone else was at home out of the rain.
A metallic clang rang out behind her near the tracks, making her jump in surprise. To Alicia it sounded like two cooking pots clanging together, but in an empty subway station, that answer just didn’t seem to fit.
She scanned the dark tunnel, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Hello?” she asked, but the only response was her own voice echoing back. Pursing her lips, she turned back to walk faster towards the elevator.
The noise sounded again, but Alicia did not turn to look, instead she just started running up the stairs. Normally she wasn’t a wimp, but at that point she just wanted out of there. Better safe than sorry, even if it just was steam escaping from a vent or something.
Pressing the button for the elevator, she began tapping her foot incessantly on the ground as she impatiently waited. Alicia looked back over her shoulder, but the platform was still empty. There was nothing there besides the same darkness she had just run away from.
Behind her the elevator dropped down and stopped, the brakes squeaking. The doors opened and Alicia ran in, almost barreling over the attendant in his chair in the process. “Sorry,” she told him as the doors closed. “Um…I guess I am going to the top, sir.”
The man pressed the button. On his vest a nametag read ‘Carlo’. In Washington Heights there were two majorities - Dominicans and Jews. Carlo was clearly the former being and older man of sixty or so with dark skin, deep chocolate colored eyes, and graying hair. “I haven’t seen many people out tonight,” he said in a thick accent. “The rain has kept everyone inside. There is flooding up and down Manhattan. It’s a bad night out tonight.”
“Yeah, it is,” Alicia replied, buttoning up her coat. She gripped her briefcase tighter as the elevator began to ascend.
“It’s one of those nights when the bad things come out,” he murmured, glancing over at her. His face was stern, but at the same time it was also a bit rueful. “Not a place for a little lady like you.”
She frowned. “I can handle myself.”
Carlo shrugged. “Think what you will, but on nights like these, you can never be too careful.” The doors opened. “You make sure to keep that in mind. It is good advice, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” she muttered, walking past him out into the main lobby of the station. There were a few people here, mainly making their ways down towards the platforms for the 1 train. Outside with the lights of Washington Heights brightening the streets, she could see the pouring rain. Alicia stopped and watched for a moment, debating if she should walk the two blocks to her building or wait for the shower to pass by.
In her pocket her cell phone began to vibrate. Alicia looked down as if she didn’t know what that meant, but finally she pulled it out and answered without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Alicia?”
“Sam?” She was surprised to hear her brother on the other end. After he had gotten kicked out of school three months prior the two really had not spoken. Added with the fact that Alicia had been working overtime on a nightly business doing research for the law firm she worked for, and it was as if she was a stranger to the one friend she could really say she had. “What’s going on?”
“I…I don’t know, but just don’t go home, okay? Just… just don’t go home.” His voice quavered some as he spoke. “It’s not safe. Just go check into a hotel for the night and I will get all of this sorted out.”
She shifted her weight. “Is this a joke?”
“I’m dead serious. Don’t go home.”
Alicia did not believe him, but he was her brother and her friend. He wouldn’t lie about something that serious. “Where are you, Sam? What in the Hell have you gotten yourself into? Do I need to come and get you?”
“Just let me handle this!” he snapped. She had to pull the phone away from her ear with his loud, angry response. After a moment of silence he seemed to calm down. “Check into a hotel and I will pay you back. I’ve got to go.”
The line went dead. Alicia closed the phone and put it back in her pocket. The door was there, leading to her nice warm bed and a hot shower. But Sam’s warning was glued to her mind. However much she didn’t want to believe him, at the same time she knew that Sam had a knack for getting himself into trouble with the wrong sort of people. The same sort who would put out a hit on the family members of people who got on their bad side.
“Damn it, Sam,” she muttered, still debating what to do. Alicia looked down at her watch. It was just after nine. There was a small hotel nearby, the Rubicon. She had enough money for one night on her debit card, and on the way to work she could swing by her apartment to pick up a change of clothes. It wouldn’t be that hard, she guessed. Just a pain in the ass because Sam got himself screwed over by some Mafioso in a poker game.
Putting her briefcase over her head, she pushed through the doors open and walked out into the pounding October rain shower. Her feet splashed through the puddles as she crossed the street, her eyes set on the hotel down the block. She didn’t expect for someone to reach forward, grab her by the arm, and pull her into an alley. Her briefcase flew into the mud as the assailant grabbed her around the neck and gripped tightly.
“Take anything you want, just leave me alone!” Alicia cried out, digging her nails into the person’s hand. The thick leather gloves made it futile, but they were not normal gloves - they were webbed. Given that she thought she was being robbed, though, she didn’t take much notice. “My cash is in my briefcase!”
“I don’t want your money,” the person said in a male voice, with a slight Brooklyn tinge. “I just need to warn you that you are in danger.”
“I’ve already been told that today, just let me go!” The man’s arms prevented her from elbowing him in the stomach. “I don’t want anything to do with you, I just want to go.”
The man spun her around and pushed her into the wall. Besides the fact he was wearing a ski mask, it was too dark and too rainy for Alicia to see much of him. “Don’t you get it? Someone wants you dead. I’m suggesting that you pack up and leave town before you end up in the city morgue.”
“Whatever, asshole. Just let me go, okay?”
“You’ve got a brother, right? Sam Davy?” His grip on her shoulder relaxed a little, but still kept her pinned to the wall.
Alicia didn’t respond for a few moments, stunned. “Who the fuck are you?” she asked in a low voice.
He let her go and stepped back, anxiously looking around to make sure they were alone. The pouring rain made sure of the isolation. There was nobody on the street or sidewalks for a block in any direction. “A good Samaritan,” the man muttered.
She watched, unnerved by him, as he backed out of the alley and disappeared at a dead run down the street. It took her a second of being soaked by the cold rain before she finally snapped back to reality, grabbed her briefcase from the mud, and started walking once again towards the hotel, constantly looking back over her shoulder to make sure that the man wasn’t there.
In the course of ten minutes her day had been ruined, however bad it was to begin with. Mr. Barkley, one of the partners at the firm, had given her a stack of papers a foot high to check for information on an upcoming rape case, in addition to the research she was doing for Mr. Woods. She had left at eight after being kicked out by the head paralegal Mary, supposedly because she looked like a nervous wreck. After walking through the rain for two blocks to get to her subway station, she had to wait fifteen minutes before the train arrived, and then had to change trains and wait another twenty before her final train arrived. The 181st Street station was just the worst of her problems, it seemed.
Chapter One
The Depths of the World
At nine o’clock on a Friday night, the subway was pretty much deserted besides Alicia, sitting with her briefcase silently staring ahead, and the sleeping bum spread out over a bench at the rear of the car. The difference between the prim and well dressed woman and the scruffy man was striking, but she didn’t take care to notice. She wanted to go home, take a nice shower, look over the day’s work, and get some well deserved rest before another hectic day arrived. She didn’t want to look at the underbelly of Manhattan. The dark subway itself was enough of the underbelly for her.
At the age of twenty five, Alicia looked more like a young woman thrown into the business world than someone her actual age. Her straight black hair was pulled back in a tight bun that made her look harsh, and the black coat, black blazer, black skirt, black pumps, and pressed white blouse just added to the image of a much older woman. People who knew Alicia, though, would say that the much older image was correct.
The car came to a slow stop as a voice came over the loudspeaker. “181st Street. Please exit to the left.”
Alicia stood up as the door opened. Mysteriously the platform was empty. With the A and 1 trains serving the station, most of the time, even at night, the place was crowded with students from Yeshiva, the same kids she shared an apartment building with. But that night it was deserted. Her hand reached into her pocket to make sure that the can of mace she kept with her at all times was still there before she started walking towards the elevator to the surface. Over her head the lights flickered and water dripped after the day’s many rain showers, even though they were deep under the city. She pulled her coat tightly around her as she moved towards the way out, her high heels clacking against the ground. Even though the darkness seemed to close in around her as the subway left the station, to her it was nothing to be afraid of. The lights would get fixed in the morning, the students were probably studying for upcoming midterm exams, and everyone else was at home out of the rain.
A metallic clang rang out behind her near the tracks, making her jump in surprise. To Alicia it sounded like two cooking pots clanging together, but in an empty subway station, that answer just didn’t seem to fit.
She scanned the dark tunnel, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Hello?” she asked, but the only response was her own voice echoing back. Pursing her lips, she turned back to walk faster towards the elevator.
The noise sounded again, but Alicia did not turn to look, instead she just started running up the stairs. Normally she wasn’t a wimp, but at that point she just wanted out of there. Better safe than sorry, even if it just was steam escaping from a vent or something.
Pressing the button for the elevator, she began tapping her foot incessantly on the ground as she impatiently waited. Alicia looked back over her shoulder, but the platform was still empty. There was nothing there besides the same darkness she had just run away from.
Behind her the elevator dropped down and stopped, the brakes squeaking. The doors opened and Alicia ran in, almost barreling over the attendant in his chair in the process. “Sorry,” she told him as the doors closed. “Um…I guess I am going to the top, sir.”
The man pressed the button. On his vest a nametag read ‘Carlo’. In Washington Heights there were two majorities - Dominicans and Jews. Carlo was clearly the former being and older man of sixty or so with dark skin, deep chocolate colored eyes, and graying hair. “I haven’t seen many people out tonight,” he said in a thick accent. “The rain has kept everyone inside. There is flooding up and down Manhattan. It’s a bad night out tonight.”
“Yeah, it is,” Alicia replied, buttoning up her coat. She gripped her briefcase tighter as the elevator began to ascend.
“It’s one of those nights when the bad things come out,” he murmured, glancing over at her. His face was stern, but at the same time it was also a bit rueful. “Not a place for a little lady like you.”
She frowned. “I can handle myself.”
Carlo shrugged. “Think what you will, but on nights like these, you can never be too careful.” The doors opened. “You make sure to keep that in mind. It is good advice, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” she muttered, walking past him out into the main lobby of the station. There were a few people here, mainly making their ways down towards the platforms for the 1 train. Outside with the lights of Washington Heights brightening the streets, she could see the pouring rain. Alicia stopped and watched for a moment, debating if she should walk the two blocks to her building or wait for the shower to pass by.
In her pocket her cell phone began to vibrate. Alicia looked down as if she didn’t know what that meant, but finally she pulled it out and answered without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Alicia?”
“Sam?” She was surprised to hear her brother on the other end. After he had gotten kicked out of school three months prior the two really had not spoken. Added with the fact that Alicia had been working overtime on a nightly business doing research for the law firm she worked for, and it was as if she was a stranger to the one friend she could really say she had. “What’s going on?”
“I…I don’t know, but just don’t go home, okay? Just… just don’t go home.” His voice quavered some as he spoke. “It’s not safe. Just go check into a hotel for the night and I will get all of this sorted out.”
She shifted her weight. “Is this a joke?”
“I’m dead serious. Don’t go home.”
Alicia did not believe him, but he was her brother and her friend. He wouldn’t lie about something that serious. “Where are you, Sam? What in the Hell have you gotten yourself into? Do I need to come and get you?”
“Just let me handle this!” he snapped. She had to pull the phone away from her ear with his loud, angry response. After a moment of silence he seemed to calm down. “Check into a hotel and I will pay you back. I’ve got to go.”
The line went dead. Alicia closed the phone and put it back in her pocket. The door was there, leading to her nice warm bed and a hot shower. But Sam’s warning was glued to her mind. However much she didn’t want to believe him, at the same time she knew that Sam had a knack for getting himself into trouble with the wrong sort of people. The same sort who would put out a hit on the family members of people who got on their bad side.
“Damn it, Sam,” she muttered, still debating what to do. Alicia looked down at her watch. It was just after nine. There was a small hotel nearby, the Rubicon. She had enough money for one night on her debit card, and on the way to work she could swing by her apartment to pick up a change of clothes. It wouldn’t be that hard, she guessed. Just a pain in the ass because Sam got himself screwed over by some Mafioso in a poker game.
Putting her briefcase over her head, she pushed through the doors open and walked out into the pounding October rain shower. Her feet splashed through the puddles as she crossed the street, her eyes set on the hotel down the block. She didn’t expect for someone to reach forward, grab her by the arm, and pull her into an alley. Her briefcase flew into the mud as the assailant grabbed her around the neck and gripped tightly.
“Take anything you want, just leave me alone!” Alicia cried out, digging her nails into the person’s hand. The thick leather gloves made it futile, but they were not normal gloves - they were webbed. Given that she thought she was being robbed, though, she didn’t take much notice. “My cash is in my briefcase!”
“I don’t want your money,” the person said in a male voice, with a slight Brooklyn tinge. “I just need to warn you that you are in danger.”
“I’ve already been told that today, just let me go!” The man’s arms prevented her from elbowing him in the stomach. “I don’t want anything to do with you, I just want to go.”
The man spun her around and pushed her into the wall. Besides the fact he was wearing a ski mask, it was too dark and too rainy for Alicia to see much of him. “Don’t you get it? Someone wants you dead. I’m suggesting that you pack up and leave town before you end up in the city morgue.”
“Whatever, asshole. Just let me go, okay?”
“You’ve got a brother, right? Sam Davy?” His grip on her shoulder relaxed a little, but still kept her pinned to the wall.
Alicia didn’t respond for a few moments, stunned. “Who the fuck are you?” she asked in a low voice.
He let her go and stepped back, anxiously looking around to make sure they were alone. The pouring rain made sure of the isolation. There was nobody on the street or sidewalks for a block in any direction. “A good Samaritan,” the man muttered.
She watched, unnerved by him, as he backed out of the alley and disappeared at a dead run down the street. It took her a second of being soaked by the cold rain before she finally snapped back to reality, grabbed her briefcase from the mud, and started walking once again towards the hotel, constantly looking back over her shoulder to make sure that the man wasn’t there.
In the course of ten minutes her day had been ruined, however bad it was to begin with. Mr. Barkley, one of the partners at the firm, had given her a stack of papers a foot high to check for information on an upcoming rape case, in addition to the research she was doing for Mr. Woods. She had left at eight after being kicked out by the head paralegal Mary, supposedly because she looked like a nervous wreck. After walking through the rain for two blocks to get to her subway station, she had to wait fifteen minutes before the train arrived, and then had to change trains and wait another twenty before her final train arrived. The 181st Street station was just the worst of her problems, it seemed.