The Man on the Train
Over the course
of her lifelong search for the perfect man, Devon had learned two things: 1)
There were perfect men in the world, and 2) they were not interested in her.
Those men usually
went for her best friend, or they already had a girlfriend, or she just wasn’t
their type. “You’re too nice,” a “perfect” guy had told her once. “I need
someone who’s a little less … nice.” He wanted the bad girl. Devon had tried to
be the bad girl, but it hadn’t worked out so well. Leather made her hot and
itchy, and she’d nearly thrown up while sitting in a chair waiting to get a
tattoo. In the end, she’d fled the scene, inkless.
She assumed this
meant she was destined to be alone like her Aunt Mary, who she was on her way
to visit by train this very evening.
The man sitting
across from her on the train was perfect. She could tell. Maybe it was just
that he looked perfect, but that was enough for the moment. He stared out the window, his hand fisted and
pressing against his chin and mouth. His brows sank low over his eyes, and his
dark, curly hair hung just over the collar of his long, gray trench coat.
Devon wondered
if he was traveling to Scotland, as she was. Or would he disembark at
Darlington or Durham? It hardly mattered. She would never know him. She’d only
have the luxury of staring at him for the few remaining hours that the train
was in motion, and then they would part ways, and she’d never see him again.
Wasn’t that the way it always was?
When she’d
boarded the train at King’s Cross Station that evening, the train had been
standing room only. Now, two hours later, the train had cleared out, and she’d
taken a seat next to this heartbreakingly attractive man.
But it was
Halloween, and she was on an adventure. If she’d been at home, she’d have been
sitting with her flatmate in their tiny flat, eating popcorn, and watching
horror films.
The train’s
brakes squealed as it began to slow, and her purse fell from beside her and
onto the floor. Her cell phone shot from the opening and under the seat of the
gorgeous man sitting across from her.
He had not quit
staring out the window, even as the train howled to a halt and stopped
altogether.
Devon shifted
forward. “Excuse me.”
The man turned.
His dark eyes touched hers, and something in her belly flipped. Yes. Definitely
perfect.
“I-I’m sorry,
but my phone slid under your seat.”
Without dropping
his gaze, he reached under his seat and retrieved the lost phone. He handed it
to her.
“Thank you.”
He smiled a
little. “We’ve stopped.”
Devon nodded,
glanced out the window into the darkness. “We’re somewhere near Darlington, I
think.”
“Ladies and
gentlemen,” the muffled announcement reverberated through the carriage. “Due to
unforeseen circumstances, we will be stopping here momentarily. Please do not
leave your seats. If you are in the food car, please remain there until we give
you further instructions. As soon as the situation is resolved, we hope to be
on our way again shortly. Alternatively, we will move you to another train if
the need arises.”
“Must be
mechanical problems,” Devon said.
The stranger
nodded slowly, his eyes fastened to hers. “Must be.”
Moments ticked
by. The couple in the seat behind her grumbled about the delay. Everyone was in
such a hurry. But she wasn’t. No, once the train was on its way again, the
beautiful stranger would be that much closer to parting ways with her.
“Are you going
to Edinburgh?” Devon asked.
“Not quite that
far. Just to Newcastle.”
He had a low,
melodious voice that rippled through her. She swallowed. The man’s dark stare
was so intense. “Family there?”
“No.”
She waited, but
he didn’t elaborate. Okay. Obviously, he wasn’t going to reveal much about
himself.
“I’m headed to
Edinburgh,” she offered. “Visiting my aunt.”
He nodded, his
gaze remained fixed on her.
She looked away.
Her body heated as weird, wild snippets of fantasy ran through her mind. The
lights going out in the train, two strangers grappling in the dark, kissing,
unclothing one another, silent writhing in the darkness. She shook her head.
Where had that come from? When she glanced up again, he was still staring.
“Do you ever
wonder about the safety of public transportation?” he asked. “I mean before you
get on a train or a plane or a bus, do you ever stop and think—this could be
the last time I do this? There could be a terrible accident. I might not make
it off of this.”
“Not really.”
Strange line of conversation, but she was willing to go for it. Anything to
keep talking with this guy.
“Is that because
you’re young?” He continued, arching a dark eyebrow. “You assume you’ll live
because you’re too young to die.”
Devon shrugged,
and a strange, prickly sensation prodded at her skin. “I don’t know. Maybe. How
old are you?” She would have guessed he was mid-twenties. Thirty at the most.
“Older than I
look.”
“Okay.” She’d
never been good at determining ages anyway. It really didn’t matter how old he
was. He was perfect. Whether he was twenty or forty, he still made her heart
flutter.
The train began
to move again, but slowly.
“We’re moving
again,” Devon said, slightly disappointed. She turned back to the man,
determined to maximize whatever time they had. “What do you do … for work, I
mean.”
His mouth
twitched into a smile. “I’m a vampire.”
Oh, ha-ha.
Right. It was Halloween. Even so … wow. This guy really didn’t want her to know
anything about him.
The train inched
into the station, and as Devon glanced out the window, she glimpsed the sign
for Darlington.
Another garbled
announcement vibrated the walls of the carriage. “Passengers for Darlington,
please disembark at the station. Passengers traveling on to Edinburgh, please
disembark and transfer to the train on the opposite platform.”
Devon locked
eyes with the vampire sitting across from her. “I guess that means we’re
switching trains.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
He stood, and so
did she. The back of his tall, lean body was in full view as he turned and
filed down the aisle. Devon quickly followed, but when she reached the luggage
receptacle, her bag jammed against another’s, and it took her a few minutes to
pull it from the tight space. In the meantime, the perfect vampire had left the
carriage and disappeared into the mix of people milling around the station.
She suppressed
the disappointment. Now she’d have to look for him in the next train.
Otherwise, so much for her shot at the perfect man.
A crowd had
gathered just in front of the train, and Devon stared down the length of the
platform, where police darted in and out of the last carriage, calling out
orders for everyone to keep moving, stay away from the carriage car. Emergency
technicians quickly followed them, and all around, the air echoed with sounds
of concern.
Devon turned to
a middle-aged woman standing next to her. “What happened?”
The woman stared
at her. “Did you just get off that train, love?” She pointed at the door from
which Devon had just exited.
Devon nodded.
“Yeah.”
The woman patted
her arm. “You’re that lucky.
Devon glanced
again at the last carriage as two emergency techs carried two stretchers out …
and were those … bodies that they were transporting, covered with sheets? “What
happened?” she asked again.
The woman’s
brows knitted. “I overheard one of the police say that there were four dead
people on that carriage. Killed. A Halloween murder spree.” She shook her head.
Devon felt a
chill run through her. A murder spree. How was that possible? On the very train
she’d been sitting on moments before… talking to the perfect man.
The woman
continued. “All of the bodies drained of blood.”
Devon’s breath caught
in her throat. “What?” At that moment, she looked up at the train on the
opposite platform. In the window of the first carriage sat her perfect man, his
dark eyes staring out at her, a slight smile gracing his lips.
She found she
couldn’t move until the man in the window had passed by her, and she’d missed
her train.
The Meadows
Legacy of Darkness
Book One
London Clarke
Genre: Gothic suspense; supernatural thriller
Legacy of Darkness
Book One
London Clarke
Genre: Gothic suspense; supernatural thriller
Publisher: Carfax Abbey Publishing
Date of Publication: October 2018
ISBN: 9781386765233
Cover Artist: Stephen Lee Designs
Tagline: Bed, breakfast, and blood.
Book Description:
A decades-old murder. A strange, blood-thirsty cult. And a house full of spirits.
It was supposed to be a new beginning, a fresh start in the Shenandoah Valley, where Scarlett’s memories weren’t riddled with drug addiction and rehab. But after purchasing an abandoned house with a checkered past in the hopes of transforming it into a luxury bed and breakfast, strange things start to happen. Disturbing voices and noises interrupt her new life. Strangers appear to her, bearing cryptic warnings. A tunnel is discovered underneath the house—one historically used for a local cult’s rituals. After several of Scarlett’s guests are hospitalized after visiting the underground, she finds herself targeted by violent spirits.
Driven to the edge of despair, Scarlett vows to fight back—but she has no idea what she’s really battling. And her nightmare is just beginning…
The Meadows is a gripping supernatural thriller in which the monsters may be vampires, demons, or flesh and blood. It is a nightmare that will make you believe it could easily happen to you.
About the Author:
Obsessed with vampires and haunted houses from a young age, London grew up reading gothic tales featuring romantic and tragic heroes. Wuthering Heights and Dracula are her favorite novels, and although now happily married, she readily confesses that she is a recovering runaway, who once moved to England in search of a man who was the perfect amalgamation of Dracula, Hamlet, Heathcliff, and Mr. Rochester. London holds a B.A. in Music and M.F.A in Creative Writing. She’s had an eclectic array of jobs including receptionist, legal secretary, literary assistant, high school English teacher, and freelance editor.
London lives in a Washington, DC suburb with her husband and three greyhounds. She’s happiest when she’s writing novels, reading books, or binge watching her favorite programs like The Vampire Diaries or Being Human.
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