1 Awakening

The bus rattled over the speedbump, and Michael grunted as his heavy bag shifted uncomfortably in his lap. The window he sat next to had a splattering of water droplets, a sign of rain yet to break out on the land. The bus rattle again, and the bag shifted back into a more comfortable position. Michael looked down at his watch, and sighed over-dramatically.

The bus was already 10 minutes late, but Michael wasn't bothered that much, he had nothing he needed to do. A small child giggled somewhere along the train, and a few curious minds turned to look, Michael included. The young boy was drawing smiley faces in the window, and laughing when someone, presumably his mother touched their noses.

Such an innocent thing to be amused by, it made the onlookers feel a little bit warmer in their frosty seats. The bus's floor was once a smooth white slope, but now it was littered with trash and gum, which no one had ever tried to clean up. Michael turned his attention back towards the front of the bus, and resumed waiting for his stop to arrive.

The child's laughter continued to reverberate throughout the vehicle, and Michael almost began to feel irritated by the little boy who could stave off boredom with just a finger and a frosted window. He turned to the window and gazed out, and realized he was almost near his stop. He shifted to the edge of his seat, and draped his bag's straps over his shoulders.

As he stood up to reach the stop button, he saw something on the road. It had barely registered what it was before the bus screeched to a halt, sending Michael tumbling to the ground.

A few people looked down at him, but only a kind grandma offered him a hand up.

"That was a rough fall dear, are you okay?" Michael blushed at the lady's kindness and pulled himself to his feet. The man in the street was grinning strangely, and he was consistently walking towards the bus, with a very confident gait in his step. He had short black hair combed up to the back of his head, and a button up shirt with jeans, contrasting with his apparent madness.

The bus driver opened the door and pulled his head out, and began to berate the odd man in the street.

"Hey! Get off the road! If I hadn't of stopped you would be dead right now!" He just laughed. Laughed and laughed, like a truly deranged man. But then Michael stepped back in fear. Not in fear this strangers craziness, or his apparent lack of fear. No, as Michael stared in fearful fascination, he watched the man begin moving again, only now lit by a red light.

His hands were ablaze, like he had grabbed handfuls of tinder and shved both hands into a fire. As this was happening, the bus's temperature dropped even lower. Even though the air was pleasant outside, the bus grew colder,

"I thought the air-con was broken, but it just keeps getting colder!" A woman at the back of the bus, made this comment, and Michael whipped his head back, confused as to how she could be so carefree when this man...

This woman was covered in frost, and now everyone saw it. cold emanated from her like a disease, reaching into the bodies of those nearby and freezing all it touched. She peered down the aisle, and stood up when she saw the man. She walked down the aisle without a care in the world, and simply stepped off the bus.

And then it began. The man ran at the woman, no longer laughing but instead enraged, at this woman covered in ice. Michael began pushing through the onlookers standing out their seats, trying to reach the front and talk to the busdriver.

As he did so the man reached the woman, and swung his fast at her, much faster than Michael would have expected. The cloud of steam that rose up blocked the view of everything else, but Michael heard clangs and thuds, as flashes of light illuminated the localised fog.

The bus driver, having finally come to his senses, slammed the bus into reverse and started escaping from these super-powered lunatics. But as he reached a further distance a way, his eyes suddenly changed, squinting down as he shifted the gear stick to forward. His black shoe slammed down on the gas, and everyone standing in the bus was thrown down, in their seats and in the corridor.

The steam parted as the bus drew closer, and as it did the passengers all choked in shock and horror. The once grinning man now floated in the air, an expression of pain and fear etched across his face. The reason for his pain was clear to all, a giant icicle floated in the street, a faint reddish tint flowing down the base. Her head raised to meet those of the bus driver and muttered something, whilst sliding the man to the ground.

Michael choked as he saw this, and felt his stomach shiver and contract at the gruesome sight. He turned to the passengers behind him and once again met the eyes of the little boy. And the hideous grin he wore, bore through his eyes to his soul. And everything faded black.