Casey Lewis was listening to Every Breath You Take by The Police when two things happened.

Every breath you take…

The train began to slow down.

Every move you make…

The sound coming through the headphones began to crackle.

Every bond you break…

The train ground to a halt as it passed into a tunnel.

Every step you take…

The song in both headphones dissolved into a fuzzy white noise.

I’ll be watching yoooouuuuufsssshhhhhttttttt…

Casey yanked her headphones out of her ears, unplugged them from her phone and stuffed them into her bag with a scowl. She slouched in her seat and turned to the window and saw nothing… save for her own reflection. She pulled a disgruntled face and upon seeing how ridiculous she looked she sniggered. In that moment she was very relieved to know that she was in an entirely empty train carriage. She slouched in her seat as a voice came through the speakers – the voice was crackly, distorted and Brummie – Casey rolled her eyes.

“Sorry for the delay everyone, but…er…there were trespassers sighted on the tracks, but they disappeared into the tunnel. Security are going to look for them. When they’ve been found or when it is confirmed that they are no longer there then we will get moving again. Apologies for the delay.” The Driver said.

Casey suddenly became aware of the stillness and quietness of the train, the engine was off. She wasn’t happy about the delay, it was dark, it was cold and she just wanted to get home to where it was warm and safe. She’d always been of the opinion that if someone was playing on the train tracks then it was the solemn duty of any driver of an oncoming train to speed up and try to hit the little twats. Alas, very few people shared Casey’s misanthropy… or her vaguely homicidal urges.

If she was going to be waiting here for God knows how long then she may as well attempt to entertain herself rather than just sit still and allow the boredom to wash over her. She opened her brightly coloured backpack that was made from wool? Or hemp? Or brightly coloured hessian? She didn’t know, but she liked it and she reached in to its spacious interior and pulled a heavily weathered copy of Desperation by Stephen King.

She had read valiantly for a good thirty minutes before the darkness and the stillness worked their magic and she drifted off to the land of slumber. She was jolted awake, she wasn’t sure what by and then she slowly became aware of the rumbling noise and the bright light. She peered out of the window and she could see that there was a bright white light emanating from deep within the tunnel.

“The fuck is that?” Casey said, the words barely audible – an idle thought for her to muse about. As she wondered at what could be making such a bright light it slowly dimmed and vanished. She frowned and sat back in her seat. The speaker above crackled and the voice of the driver emerged again, but there was something not quite right about it. As she listened to the voice telling her that the train would be ready to go in just a few moments she realised what was wrong.

Punctuation. The punctuation was all wrong. It was as if the words were being spoken by someone who had never spoken English before in their life. There were incongruous pauses, enough that Casey found the entire statement to be just a little bit unsettling. Nonetheless, the train engine growled into life and the train began to move and it moved very, very slowly, but she was glad that it was moving at last. She smiled.

Then the lights flickered.

Casey looked up at the lights and then she looked around the empty train carriage to make sure it was still empty. Thankfully, it was. However, Casey could still an icy chill moving up and down her spine. She got to her feet and looked through the glass of the carriage doors and could see into the next carriage – there was nothing there, but she could see something four carriages away. It was a light, but there was something in the light and it was moving its way up the carriages very, very slowly. Casey should have fun, she knew that she should run, but regardless she walked to the door between carriages, opened it and stepped through.

She kept on walking forwards, through carriage after carriage, being drawn almost hypnotically towards the gleaming light. When she got close enough to touch the light she realised that there was something within the light. That very thing stepped out of the glowing white light and upon seeing it Casey was filled with fear and awe, but she was unable to run, she was unable to even move.

The Grey Alien stepped forward, it towered over her. She looked up into its deep black eyes and she could only see her own reflection. The Grey Alien reached forward with its long fingers towards the immobile Casey and she could nothing save for holding her breath.

*

The train pulled into the station and terminated. The doors opened and the meagre five passengers departed the train and walked their separate ways. As Casey walked down the street no one paid much attention to her.

No one noticed her wide eyes.

Every breath you take…

No one noticed her vacant expression.

Every move you make…

No one noticed the blood trickling from the edges of her mouth down her chin.

Every bond you break…

No one noticed that when she blinked, she blinked vertically.

Every step you take…

No one noticed that five aliens now lived amongst them.

I’ll be watching you…

F I N.