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  He didn’t look at Madison with annoyance or anger, but he looked at her with compassion and warmth – as if he had known her all his life. Madison couldn’t help but stare at the intriguing stranger, her heart raced in her chest as their eyes locked on each other. She felt a sense of calm staring into this stranger’s eyes and found herself becoming lost within the seducing colour of crystal blue. Catching herself, Madison looked away in embarrassment suddenly realising she had held the strangers gaze for longer than she had intended too. Quickly she lowered her head, looking down towards the opposite end of the train. Her cheeks flushed pink. The bruising forming under her eye throbbed painfully, reminding her that it was still developing angrily underneath the layers of orange foundation. After about ten seconds Madison gathered the courage to look back around towards the dark stranger. Her direction of gaze was quickly altered by the sight of the two boys who had twisted their torsos towards her, their heads still lowered – shielded by the dark hoods of their jumpers. She quickly looked away, closing her eyes tightly. Madison hit the stop button on her ipod from inside her coat pocket, she couldn’t risk the unexpected - she knew she had to have all her senses available should anything happen. There was silence - no one spoke. Madison heart pumped loudly in her ears, illuminating any other sound within the Underground carriage. The force from the train’s brakes pulled her body forwards and left, as the tube slowed and came to a halt. She opened her eyes and glanced back quickly towards the three strangers. The dark handsome stranger continued to watch Madison. His enchanting eyes twinkled brightly full of interest and amusement as a smile stretched out across his face. She eyed him for a second, quickly directing her gaze towards the automatic doors of the carriage as a ding sounded to signify they were about to open. Placing one hand on the handle of her suitcase, Madison glanced back over towards the two boys as she got up from her seat. Her eyes met the empty seat of the carriage – the two boys were nowhere in sight. Scanning the carriage her eyes flickered over to the dark handsome stranger who had remained where he stood in the carriage where Madison had first spotted him. He stared directly at her, an amused smile spread across his perfectly pink lips. His stunning crystal blue eyes shone brightly with excitement as he watched Madison with fascination.

  Wearily, Madison pulled the handle of her suitcase up and walked slowly towards the exit. Although she felt no fear from this handsome stranger she was still suspicious of what his intensions were and why he had stayed behind when the two boys had disappeared silently ahead. Had they come up with some form of elaborate plan to trap her? And when they trapped her, what would they do to her?

  He stood on the left hand side of the door from her, the same amused smile on his face. Madison found it hard to believe that there could be any evil or indecency behind his extraordinary eyes, but she wouldn’t stick around to find out. She wanted to leap through the carriage doorway out onto the platform and make a run for it. She wasn’t sure what was happening and fear began to pick away at the surface once again. Madison lowered her head, breaking his gaze as she hurried towards the exit.

  “Can I help you with that?” said a deep, but equally beautiful voice.

  Madison stopped dead in her tracks. She was taken aback by the gesture that this stranger had offered her. Slowly, she lifted her head to look towards him. The smile on his face was softer now, kindness sparkled in his eyes - something the Madison had not been able to notice from a distance.

  “Uh um… I’m fine. Thanks” she lied, the muscles in her arm was already starting to tighten and ach again.

  “I insist” he said, his soft smile widened revealing a set of perfect white teeth.

  Madison studied every detail of his face, she was confused and unsure what his intentions could be. She thought for a moment that maybe he wanted to rob her? Either way, he would be vastly disappointed when he discovered her heavy suitcase contained nothing but women’s clothes and not expensive ones either. Madison felt a strange sense of trust for this handsome stranger. He was the kind of man any woman would kill to be with, the kind that made all the hairs on the back of your neck stand up just by the sound of his voice, that would send silvers down your spine when you were close enough to breathe him in and when he traced his fingers over your skin, your skin would tingly for a few seconds after he removed his touch.

  His smile grew a few inches wider as he realised Madison had been staring at him for a few seconds too long. Madison saw her mistake by the expression on his face - her cheeks turn scarlet with embarrassment. Feeling slightly awkward and nervous she let go of the handle of her suitcase, letting it sit upright by her side. Her eyes still fixed nervously on the stranger as he slowly pushed the handle of the suitcase back down inside the suitcase and picked it up from by the handle as if it weighed no more than a feather. Instead of leaping in front of Madison and sprinting up the platform like she had suspected his intensions to be, he held his arm out, gesturing for her to exit the train first.

  “Thanks” Madison said shyly, half meeting his gaze. Madison lowered her head and step cautiously over the gap out onto the platform. The platform was empty. There was no sign of the two hooded teenagers now. Madison was unnerved and anxious after tonight’s events, but she couldn’t help but feel strangely settled in the company of this new dark handsome stranger.

  She waited for him to join her on the platform, a small innocent smile on his lips. She couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and self conscious about how she looked. Her appearance must have been amusing to start with, a face full of heavy foundation and a head of messy, un-brushed hair. She was vulnerable and this kind stranger must have picked up on this vibe.

  “Where are you travelling to?” he said, as they began to walk slowly towards the exit together.

  “Umm…..” Madison said flatly, unsure what to say as realistically she had no clue where she was going.

  “That question wasn’t supposed to be a stumper” he said, chuckling.

  Madison turned her head towards him and smiled slightly.

  His eyes narrowed as he tried to read her expression, he frowned slightly giving up.

  She lowered her head and kept walking, finding the situation difficult to comprehend.

  “I’m Madison” she said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

  “Brendan” he said as they both stepped onto the escalator which led up, out onto the streets of London. Brendan held the suitcase as they rode the escalator to the top. He was medium build, but clearly stronger than he looked as he held the suitcase without even flinching.

  “That’s a pretty name, Madison” Brendan said after a few more moments of silence.

  “Umm….thanks” Madison said shyly, butterflies fluttered wildly in her stomach.

  As Brendan and Madison moved up the escalator a breeze of fresh air swooped down the stairs from the street above hitting Madison in her face, her hair spread out wildly behind her and a sharp shiver flew down her spine making her feel more awake and refreshed then she had in hours. She kept her body pointed forward towards the top of the escalator, but she watched Brendan curiously from the corner of her eye.

  Brendan’s face was lost in fascination and frustration as he openly watched Madison from her side. His intense eyes studied every inch of her face and body as he tried to figure out the story behind the lost brunette. To Madison, Brendan seemed like the perfect gentleman, he seemed polite, caring and his mannerisms were old-fashioned - respectful. The doubt in his intentions had now disappeared and she felt oddly calm and comfortable with the handsome stranger, but also unnerved and sceptical of his interest in her. Her head instructed her to be on guard, that Brendan being intrigued with her had ulterior motives, but Madison heart fluttered with excitement and urged her to find out more about the dark handsome stranger.

  Slowly Madison turned her head back towards Brendan. She smiled faintly as he continued to gaze curiously at her. Brendan blinked a few times as if he was trying to wake himself up from a day dream, he was consc
ious of the fact he had been staring at her pain stricken but equally beautiful features for longer than he had intended. Madison held his gaze as he struggled for something to say.

  “So, where are you from?” Brendan finally said, stuttering slightly at first.

  “Umm….” this question caught Madison off guard, she wondered whether to tell him the truth or lie. A few moments passed as Madison thought about the right thing to say. Brendan chuckled again as he leant closer to her face. She could feel his sweet, cool, breath gracing her face as he spoke.

  “That one wasn’t meant to be a stumper either” he said, a wide smile stretched across his face.

  Madison’s cheeks glowed visibly red - even under the layers of thick foundation.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude” she said, looking away shyly from Brendan.

  “It‘s fine. No awkward questions” Brendan joked.

  They both reached the top of the escalator, smiling awkwardly to each other.

  Madison could smell the cool, fresh air from of streets outside. It was mid march and the weather was oddly mild for this time of year, the Underground was stuffy in comparison to the cool air outside.

  The main hall of the Underground station was brightly lit; the white stone flooring looked glittery under the florescent lights. It was empty. Small shops and food stand lined the large white room, but were drawn with large grey shutters. Brendan still carried her large suitcase as they began to cross the large room, side by side.

  “Where are you from, then?” Madison asked bravely, the words came out of her mouth before she could even fully think the question. She flushed slightly pink as Brendan’s eyes met hers in surprise.

  “Umm….” he said, looking down towards the white stone floor. He ran his free hand through his slinky brown hair, almost scratching his head for the right answer to respond to Madison’s question.

  “That wasn’t meant to be a stumper” Madison said slyly, a smirk spreading across her lips. Madison found it weird to smile with everything that had occurred tonight, with the pain so fresh inside. Her insides were tangled and twisted in distress, but she felt momentarily amused with Brendan’s reaction to her question. A sharp pain twinge in her cheek reminding her of the damage that Phil had done, her smile slowly faded until her face was blank again.

  “Okay, you’ve got me. Let’s leave the awkward questions until we get to know each other a little better” Brendan finally said, noting Madison expression.

  Confusion clouded Madison’s thoughts her eyes narrowed as she looked at Brendan skeptically. She picked apart his statement, until we get know each other a little better? Was he expecting to see her again? She was shocked, unsure how to react. She studied his expression for some clue to what that statement entailed, but there was nothing. Her body tingled with excitement, but this quickly dissipated when it occurred to her that it was probably a fly away comment and at present she was in no position to even consider the possibility of dating someone if that was what his intentions were. There was something about Brendan that she couldn’t shake off, a feeling of comfort, protection, trust and more importantly complete infatuation.

  “Taxi?” he gestured towards the two open glass doors a few feet ahead of them.

  Madison nodded, a frown still spread across her brow as she still processed the statement and what she had concluded. She lowered her gaze to the floor and slowly walked the remaining distance to the exit. Brendan followed silently behind her, his eyes firmly fixed on the back of her head. He lifted the suitcase down the ten long concrete steps onto the pavement – taking the lead. Madison followed, taking each step one at a time - the way a small child would. It was almost pitch black outside the terminal the only source of light being a few street lamps and the glow from the two large doors of the main hall of the Underground. Madison rubbed at her eyes as she struggled to see through the sleep that covered them. Her mind buzzed and her chest was tight with anxiety, she was conscious that she would be leaving Brendan soon and she would have to carry on her journey alone.

  Brendan headed for the nearest taxi which sat directly in front of the concrete steps. He went around to the back of the car and opened up the boot, dropping the suitcase in without even flexing a muscle. He slammed the boot of the car shut and turned to look at Madison who stood motionless on the pavement - the same blank expression once again present on her face. Brendan’s eyes wondered over the forming bruise underneath Madison’s eye, he was too much of a gentleman to stare, but he couldn’t help but notice how she tried to hide it.

  “Thank you for helping me, I really appreciate it” Madison said flatly. Her arms felt heavy as it hung down by her side, her whole body was tense and throbbed from the whole ordeal of tonight. Madison smiled shyly and reached for the door handle to the back seat of the taxi. Brendan grabbed the handle before Madison‘s fingers could touch the cold solid metal of the car door. She felt her face flush at the prospect that her fingers were so near to his - she could almost taste the sweet scent of his aftershave.

  He pulled open the car door and held it out wide for her, an endearing smile stretched across his lips. He faced Madison, but his eyes wondered back towards the open doors of the Underground main hall. Madison watched as a flicker of concern and anxiety flashed through his crystal blue eyes, she frowned confused at what had caused such a reaction from Brendan. Slowly Madison tilted her head towards him, her gaze wondering curiously back around to the Underground and what had grabbed Brendan’s attention so abruptly. Madison’s eyes flickered over the brick wall of the Underground, then over the transparent glass of the double swing doors into the brilliant golden glow of the main hall. In the center of the large white room and under the golden glow of the florescent lights stood the two hooded boys. The hoods of their black jumpers pulled up over their heads as before, their bodies motionless - frozen in time. However, this time both their heads were tilted upwards towards the ceiling instead of the normal slouched position they had remained liked through the duration of the train & underground journey. The florescent lights on the high ceilings of the Main hall shone down on the two boys illuminating their faces. Since Madison had first laid eyes on the two youths, their identities had remained masked by the black deathly shadow of their hoods. Now, for the first time the light was able to penetrate the darkness, revealing their identities to her. Madison gasped, sucking in a sharp gallon of bitter cold air into her lungs. Her chest ached and forced her to exhale quickly, almost choking on her own breath. The eyes of the two boys were hollow, covered in a black mass of darkness that remained over the area of where their eyes and eye sockets should be. Their skin was pale, almost transparent. Thin blue spider-like veins were visible underneath the thin layers of skin. Their mouths hung open revealing a large black hole of which Madison could only imagine would be utter horror if looked directly into it. Their faces were ghastly, twisted in a way she had never seen before. Each boy’s expression was mimicked by the other – identical like twins or the repercussion of an experiment gone horribly wrong. Their faces were aged beyond the years of their teenage bodies.

  Every hair on Madison body stood on end as she gazed at the two boys, unsure what she was really seeing to be real or some kind of weird hallucination due to lack of sleep.

  She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t open her mouth to allow the sound to escape. Her body was paralyzed by uncertainty, a veil of dread crept over her – stopping her from calling out to Brendan.

  “Madison?” Brendan said, his voice firm – pulling her attention back.

  “Huh?” she croaked, confused. Her body swayed a little as her mind swarm, she turned back around to face Brendan. His face was creased with a frown, his eyes narrowed towards Madison as he watched her expression - searching for answers in her eyes. Disbelieve and panic clouded Madison expression, she gazed a Brendan but looked through him rather than at him.

  “Madison?” he repeated again, a lot more firmly this time – almost frustrated.

 
“Sorry…” she murmured, blinking several times to awaken herself from her haziness.

  Madison attention drifted back round to the open doors of the Underground. She needed to know what she had seen was real or whether it had just been a figment of her imagination, probably a side effect of the damage Phil had caused tonight. Madison’s eyes met the empty space where the two boys had stood, she scanned the area but the room was now empty. It would have been impossible for the two boys to leave the building without Madison noticing, both her and Brendan had remained at the only exit. She turned back to Brendan, unconsciously shooting him a worried look. Brendan picked up on her concern, but remained silent. He gestured to the open car door with him eyes, watching Madison awkwardly. He smiled faintly, his crystal blue eyes shining brightly in the dimly lit street. His eyes had lost the curiosity he once had for Madison, now he was frustrated and willing Madison to go. Sensing his frustration, Madison slowly slid into the warm back seat of the taxi. She remained confused and worried about what she had just seen, mentioning it to Brendan who didn’t seem to notice the two boys would only confirm what she had seen was not real and that she was almost definitely going crazy. Madison couldn’t help but feel slightly sad and disappointment that her time with Brendan was now over. The confusion of what she had just seen disappeared as she realised this was her goodbye.

  “It was nice meeting you, Madison” he said through the open door of the taxi, one arm rested on the open door and the other lent on the roof of the car. His perfect features were calmer now and more genuine then before.

  “You too…bye” was all that Madison could manage.

  “See you around” Brendan said softly, slamming the car door shut.

  Madison wondered for a moment whether she would see Brendan around, before realising that London was a large city and the likeliness of her running into him again was extremely low. Not to mention the fact that she didn’t know where she was going to live or how he would find her, he hadn’t even asked for her mobile number. Behind the tinted glass of the taxi, Brendan’s eyes remained confident and a part of Madison couldn’t help but buy into that. As the taxi pulled away from the pavement, Madison and Brendan kept eye contact until he was out of sight.