Saanvi shivered in the draft as the train sped away from the station, the rails' "singing" fading away into an eerie silence as the train vanished through the tunnel. Winter slept soundly in her arms, undisturbed by his grandmother's unease as she looked around the dimly-lit station, which had clearly seen better days. It looked like a ghost town, old signage from a bygone era still clinging to the tiles despite looking like they'd seen better days, and litter covered the platforms and tracks. Only a handful of lights illuminated the darkness, and Saanvi shivered again as she and Bethany ran from patch to patch, fearful of what might be awaiting her in the shadows. "What the hell is this place?" Saanvi whispered, as they came to a flight of stairs, disappearing into the darkness overhead.
"I've heard tell this is a heavily-guarded entrance to somewhere," Bethany replied, her voice tight with strain as the two women began making their way up the stairs. "I don't know where it leads to, but they created a defence strong enough to deter anyone who wants to go to the other side with malice in their hearts."
This did not make Saanvi feel any better, and when they exited through a wooden door at the top of the stairs, she felt nauseous with new fear. Before her lay a deserted ticket hall stretched in either direction as far as the eye could see, as dirty and dingy as the platforms, and just as dimly lit. She and Bethany made their cautious way forward, jumping as the door slammed to behind them with a clang, the echoes chasing each other up and down the cavernous space for what seemed a very long time afterwards, setting bats to screeching and fluttering. Saanvi cried out as she and Bethany shielded their heads as the bats flew past, the drafts raised by their wings buffeting, but eventually, they settled, and the women lowered their arms, hearts pounding as they stared at each other in shock. "I don't like this place one bit," Bethany stated.
"Me neither," Saanvi agreed, feeling goosebumps rise on her skin.
Nothing in the vast, dark hall told of a way out, but with no options presenting themselves, the women made their way across the deserted ticket hall, flinching every time something skittered past their feet. By the time they reached the double doors at the far end, they were jumpy messes of jangled nerves, and Saanvi, not for the first time, cursed the ruse which had forced her and Bethany to flight. Arjun had planned the confrontation at their house down to a T, but Saanvi had not liked it one bit, and while she admired her husband's balls for setting up such a cunning ruse in the first place, she still wished he'd come up with a better way that didn't involve traipsing through deserted ghost stations that had seen better days!
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Saanvi stared in horror at the ghost town that lay before her as she and Bethany emerged into the street. Empty buildings lay crumbling all around them under a grey sky, with a washed out, dingy cast to the air. It was as if the place had been frozen in time, only for time to catch up and obliterate everything around them. A bitter, metallic taste coated the womens' tounges, and they had to refrain from throwing up on the spot from the foulness that seemed to seep inside them, as if the taint on the place was a tangible thing with a mind of its own. "I don't want to go pointing fingers," Bethany said, gagging as she almost swallowed her words, "but whoever designed this place has a nasty sense of humour."
"What is it?" Saanvi asked, clutching Winter tighter to her.
"In 1986, one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant blew its stack," Bethany explained in a tight force. "This is Pripyat, in what was once the Ukrainian SSR of the old Soviet Union. It was right in the blast radius, and it's been unfit for human habitation ever since. I'm guessing the people in charge really wanted to scare the shit out of anyone coming here with ill-intent, and it's giving me the willies."
"We're not going to be poisoned by whatever that left behind, are we?" Saanvi asked.
"We won't be, but anyone else who comes here seeking to bring harm will," Bethany said. "I don't know why those without ill intent have to suffer the same thing, but I guess it's a test to weed out the truly good from the--"
"Hello."
Saanvi and Bethany jumped out of their skins at the sound of a little girl's voice addressing them, and they turned to see the owner of that voice standing in the street before them. She wore a garishly red dress that stuck out like a sore thumb, carrying an equally garish red balloon, and while she smiled, her eyes were blank. Worse, they were black, and Saanvi felt as if her spine had turned to ice. "W-who are you?" she whispered, but between one sylablle and the next, the street was empty again.
"Hello."
The women turned to see the little girl again, but this time her dress and balloon were blue, and she smiled at them with the same blank, black eyes. "Defence system," Bethany whispered. Out loud she said, "Hey kiddo--" but again, she found herself looking at an empty street.
"Hello."
Now she was wearing a green dress, with a green balloon.
"Hello."
Yellow dress, yellow balloon.
"Hello."
Purple dress, purple balloon.
"Hello."
Now there were hundreds of little girls, wearing dresses and carrying balloons in all the colours of the rainbow. Saanvi and Bethany shrank closer together, putting their backs to each other, watching in mounting horror as the girls came on in silence, smiling, their eyes black and dead and empty. There seemed to be no end to the ever-increasing number of little girls; they were thick as ants upon abandoned food. To make matters worse, they spoke again, their voices merging into a cacophony of distorted sound as their one word greeting filled the air.
"Hello. Hello. Hello."
Saanvi screamed as she pressed her back to Bethany's, hearing the other woman's screams ringing in her ears as the girls came ever closer to them, their hands reaching out hungrily. But just as the first questing hand reached out, the girls vanished, and Saanvi blinked sweat out of her eyes, heart hammering, hearing Bethany's ragged breaths as the older woman likewise fought to regain control. "That scared the fuck out of me," she said in a hoarse voice.
Saanvi agreed wholeheartedly with her. "We have to get out of here," she said. "Do you know of a way that we can--"
"Hello."
Saanvi screamed, almost climbing the air as she turned to see her tormentor returned for round whatever. But now she was looking at a little girl dressed in purest white, her long golden hair done up in an elaborate ponytail, white flowers entwined in the long locks. Saanvi quickly revised her assessment; this wasn't a child, but a woman, albeit no taller than the little girl. And then her eyes widened; this was the little girl she'd seen!
"Forgive me," the woman said, smiling warmly at the two shell-shocked women. "But it is my duty to screen all who first arrive in the city. I am the first line of defence, and given the current situation, all my power will be needed to halt the invaders in their tracks." She sighed, her good mood disappearing. "I have said these words before, and the situation remains the same, only now, much more is at stake."
"What are you talking about?" Saanvi demanded, still shaky, but also relieved to know the woman had not meant them any true harm.
"I met your son's natural grandmother when she came to me troubled in mind," the woman explained. "Back then, more than seventeen years ago, I knew trouble would follow on her heels through no fault of her own. Now it seems that history is repeating itself, but we have a larger force, ready to take us down by any and all means necessary."
"You mean the Pandoran council?" Bethany said, her voice grim.
The woman nodded. "Only now they have twisted plans for Scarlett," she said. "They plan to breed her to sun elves to produce a host that will eventually unite and come invade our lands so they can finally eradicate us. Our queen has held them off successfully for the most part, but her power has never been intended to withstand a full-scale assault - only to defend against the worst ravages. Jaiden and his council have systematically stolen our secrets ever since the first councillors kidnapped five of our queen's subjects to breed them into perfect, obedient warriors, and their skills have only grown more deadly over time. Our queen knows we are in more danger than ever before, and with Scarlett carrying an antigen that will also eradicate their false disease, her children will be intensely gifted, and they will bring the fury of a thousand suns to bear against us when they are grown."
"Dear god," Saanvi whispered, horrified. "Arjun didn't tell me about that part of the plan!"
"He did not wish to distress you," the woman told her. "Sadly, it means you now know that your grandson is very precious, and he must be guarded at all costs. There is a geas on him that will ensure any children he fathers will be full night elves just as he is, regardless of who the mother is, and I fear one day he will suffer the same fate as his mother, forced to impregnate many women so that he can repopulate his race, who will then be turned into weapons, just as his mother's other children will be made to do."
Bethany looked like she wanted to be ill. "How do you know all this?" she demanded.
"I swore an oath to Scarlett's biological mother to protect her children and grandchildren," the woman explained. "As such, I have been monitoring the situation from afar, and I know all that goes on. No one on Pandora knows that I am watching over Scarlett, and I pray it will remain so. If my presence is discovered, there is no telling the fate that will befall Scarlett." She firmed her shoulders. "I came because you were in desperate need," she said. "The remaining trials in this place are worse than their predecessors, and I will not subject you to further torment."
She held her hands out to the two scared women. "I will transport you directly to the queen's castle," she said. "I must return to my guarding, but rest assured, you will be in the best hands known to anyone."
Saanvi and Bethany looked at one another and nodded. They were still scared half witless by what this facsimile of Pripyat had put them through, but the woman's words were comforting enough to reassure them to put their trust in her. "Here goes nothing," Saanvi said, as she took one of the woman's hands. Bethany did the same, and the world blurred around them.
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