Evening had come quickly into the small apartment that was "Andrea's" home, the already grey world darkening outside and sucking out the color from the old wall-paper adorning the walls. The old-style furniture cast various shadows from the man-made light that shown through the chambers of the young woman's home, creating a creaky, tired atmosphere that only seemed amplified by the constant percussion of raindrops, the many sprawling potted plants seemingly reaching out for sunlight that just wasn't coming for the past few weeks. Still, the young woman whom had been living in this state of placid depression found a certain peace about it; as if it were a bittersweet lullaby to a long, harsh day.<br/><br/>Resting on the chesterfield that centered the living room, Andrea began to unwind the braid that had been woven carefully into her locks, a cup of tea sitting in front of her and gently steaming while the television talked about in the background. Her own eyes were drawn away from the wavering figures and electronic light, staring off into space as the now-freed brown hair was left in a heavily layered wave down her left shoulder.<br/><br/>The ramblings never seemed to amuse her, as it seemed there was always negative things going on in the outside world. Whether it be war, famine, disease or wide-scale political thievery, the constant pessimism and destruction of the land that had given birth to the races of this world acted as a depressive sedative for the woman, long-past shedding tears over the mayhem around her.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Best let them gloat in their own misery,"</span>Andrea thought to herself.<br/><br/>It was then that a certain topic seemed to stick out and ping the pale, nearly grey-skinned female in the side of her head, her brown eyes turning to stare at the television in focus as the words sank into her mind.<br/><br/>"...A train car arrived today at Amersham station with all its passengers missing. The train had been full when it left a station earlier in the morning and only one of the twelve cars was affected by the mysterious disappearance."<br/><br/>Normally, Andrea would have payed no heed to such a development in society. She had no reason to, for there was little she could do anyway without risking her own safety. Something about this particular event, however, left a cold and resonating horror sink into her heart, as if something<span style="font-style: italic">very wrong</span>had entered her cozy home and proceeded to breed in its nooks and crannies. It was something she could not stand, like a knife prodding into the back of her mind and rustling about to no end. Standing up, she decided that her usual visits to her beloved woods would not be occurring tonight, and the soft-moving female proceeded to prepare herself for a venture off into the city.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Upon exiting her apartment complex, Andrea's eyes scanned the ever-dimming environment around her. The lights of night were beginning to turn on, shining off into the distance as their glow reflected off of the watery puddles on the ground.<br/><br/>The building she lived in was old and traditional, set apart from the others due to the small park that sat directly in front of it, green as ever due to the hanging vines and many small leaves. This was exactly why she had chosen such a location, for the presence of such an ever-lasting concept brought serenity to the young lady's heart. Despite all the cutting and prodding of the people who lived in this area, the vines always grew back just as fast; lively and ready to overtake the land the second their caretakers seized their actions. following them would come the grasses and the trees, and all the other various things that once grew out from the soil before they were covered up with cement and stone. The world would always revert to the way it was before, always unchanging from the perspective a millennium, and even more so if one looked further beyond that.<br/><br/>Her mind drifted off at this thought, continuing down the streets as she considered a time when there was no green or life to cover the world, thinking that perhaps that time too would come again once more, and perhaps<span style="font-style: italic">that</span>was in fact the infinite norm. She shook her repeated thoughts away once she remembered her purpose for this walk, continuing on-wards and towards the increasing volume that was the heart of London.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Eventually she arrived at the place she had been seeking, the smell of ammonia from long-aged urine seeping into her nose along with bits of various garbage-stuffs, but the scarfed-up and long-jacketed woman payed no heed to any of it. Her own sounds of a light jingle, all due to the bracelets made of beads she crafted and the metallic, abstract necklaces blended into the other noises of the crowd, though there was one thing that made her stand out from the average fledgling adult, apart from her near-grey complexion.<br/><br/>It was the aura she gave off, an old and unusual one at that. Every being in the world had a certain aura about them, one that made them an individual apart from others, but Andrea's stuck out like a weed on an otherwise perfect sidewalk. It was the same presence that one felt in their lonesome, the presence of being alone in a field under a starry night, albeit grossly concentrated into one area. It was too much of a lack of presence for one to point out and feel suspicious of, and yet too strong to forget she was there. The combination of these two points created an awkward feeling around her that prevented people from socializing with her, and though she knew of this fact, she felt no bitterness towards it. Her own posture reflected this, straight and like a statue in a blissful painting, though still managing to breathe and blink. Her eyes stayed straight and slightly lowered, only breaking her peaceful expression to move and notice something before it abruptly returned.<br/><br/>Stepping forward a few times, she stopped in the middle of the station and stared forward at where the train would normally be waiting, not yet having arrived. She closed her eyes now and then, exhaling quietly as she let time do what it did best, and that was decide if something should worry her or not. She was here for a reason at least, and the value of that reason would be revealed soon enough, but she could not help but wish she was in the woods instead, and that she had never turned on that blasted television. She could have been leaned against a tree in the dead of the night by now, letting herself melt away in her own solitude had it not been for that awful feeling of horror she had experienced, but now it was far too late.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>And so she waited, like a sentinel at guard, in the dead of the underground night.