[CENTER][img]https://i.imgur.com/4JWqVyO.png[/img][/CENTER]
[center][color=darkgray][b][sub]B O O K   I  -  G E N E S I S[/sub][/b][/color][b][color=FF4500][sup][h1]A TROUPE OF SINNERS[/h1][/sup][/color][/b][/center]
[COLOR=800000][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][sup][color=SILVER]November, 2017 | [i]NORTH-WEST BOUND TRAIN LINE[/i][/color][/sup][/INDENT]

Dani could see a storm broaching the horizon from across the treeline, and with November bringing short days and long nights, she had little time left to secure herself safe passage. She had found the fenced-off railway easily - the barman had not been lying after all, though she had never doubted his sincerity - and after scaling the chain-link paneling and dropping deftly down on the other side she had begun to walk beside it heading North-East. Hopefully a cargo train would pass her before the sun fell completely, but she had not heard the telltale rumble from the tracks yet, and she whipped her head around in paranoia at every rustle and chirrup and gust of wind. The man in the corner of the bar played on Dani's mind, his smirk and stare still seemingly upon her even now, somehow watching through the walls and terrain and growing darkness.

A twig snapped somewhere beyond the fence to Dani's 5'o'clock and she stopped mid-step, stanced like a runner and poised to flee or fight depending on what emerged from the bushes. A few seconds went by, the whole universe silent and still - and then a hare hopped out from a the tall grass, breaking the treeline to take a quick glance around before it darted back in and out of sight. Dani sighed as she released the breath she had been unwittingly holding and unfroze herself, giving herself a light and nervous chuckle to try and relieve some pent-up tension. The moment passed and the air seemed to [i]pop[/i], and Dani carried on along the railway.

She had walked maybe another half-mile, growing ever more concerned about the waning sun with each step, when a low rumble started to emanate from the old iron of the train tracks beside her, some of the more aged and worn wooden slats beginning a subtle rattling as a train approached. Dani felt a mix of relief and nervous eargerness blossom in her chest, and took a few steps to the side, turning around in order to walk backwards so she could watch what was approaching. Maybe one or two miles down the line, she saw a massive, cargo-laden locomotive, and she steeled herself to leap aboard - a young stowaway, following half-knowledge towards an optimistic redemption, and fleeing the naive, selfish choices that had damned her in the first place. 

Wrapped up in her own recent history, Dani had not heard the footsteps behind her over the growing cacophony of the incoming train, and only realized she was not alone when she walked backwards into a cold and broad body. Her pursuers had caught up.

Before she could turn, or even gasp in shock or terror, there was a bag thrust over her head and the world went black - only for it to leave completely as something hard hit her forcefully on the back of her skull, and she dropped to her knees, consciousness dropping out to the sound of the passing train beside them. [i]Klick-klack, klick-klack, klick-klack[/i] - and then there was only [i]klick-[/i] then nothing.

-

When Dani re-surfaced to the waking world, that steady back-and-forth rattle returned with her, accompanied by the blurred whooshing of wind and rain and low murmurs from somewhere behind her. The murmurs ceased as their owners noticed Dani's movement as she tried to sit up, and then heavy footsteps came towards her, boots on reinforced wood, before the world flooded in as the bag was ripped off and then whited-out with flashing pain as the same boots came around and kicked her hard in the side. She sprawled out onto the floor and felt ribs crack in her torso, but at the same time, within her, the devil she harboured snarled and lashed back. Dani knew it was a matter of minutes, if not mere seconds, before she would lose all control, and turned her head to face her attackers. 

The man from the bar. Hair as slick as ever, his eyes were a gleaming ethereal yellow, and his skin - in the bar it had been only aged and weathered with sweat and dirt - was now actively cracked and shedding from his face. Behind him were two more similarly-faced men, their own veneers failing far more rapidly than that of their ringleader's. Dani looked out at the blackened night sky through the open side of the carriage she had been hauled into, and was met by the watchful orb of the full moon through parting storm clouds before they closed up again, and the rain doubled-down in its intensity. The men - though it was long since she had suspected her aggressors of being mere men - had sealed their own fate. She could feel the heat from her hands already.

[COLOR=800000]"You've got maybe a few seconds before this goes [i]very[/i] badly for you."[/color] She spat, words dripping with a mix of anger and fear. The man just kicked her again.

"Shut up. We're not here to talk to you. Why do you think you're even still alive?" His voice sounded like writhing maggots. She spat blood, and it bubbled with heat.

[COLOR=800000]"Buddy,"[/color] she replied, flexing her hands as the heat reached the base of her skull, [COLOR=800000]"I'm the only one here who's gonna be [i]leaving[/i] alive."[/color]

Dani stood, and her eyes were full of fire.