"Welcome to Umbra City. Hope you enjoy your trip and remember, the night never falls."
The speaker rang through the train station as soon as the train arrived.
One by one, passengers walked through the door, stepping into a place called Haven on Earth.
One girl stood out—a redhead, barely taller than a middle schooler, too young to be traveling alone.
But what made her stand out was all luxury surrounding her. The branded clothing — a short red dress made from top quality fiber, an expensive leather bag and boots while wearing sunglasses make her appearance matched that of a celebrity, a movie star.
All eyes were on her, but the girl herself looked lost. She searched around for some sort of direction but to no avail, she tried asking but every attempt to reach out was met with silence, everyone was ignoring her, like she didn't even exist.
But she knew, she knew everyone was watching her, she felt the weight of countless eyes on her, she was aware of it, so why? Why are they pretending they can't even see her?
Seeing that, a man came up to her. He was wearing a gray hoodie, his appearance was dirty, with worn-out boots with the jacket itself covered in stains.
He was all skin and bone, withered and white, covered in purple and red dots running over the hands and fingers, she could only guess it was due to years of drug abuse.
He glanced up and showed his face, a middle-aged man, his face covered in stubble, his teeth were golden, but the most recognizable feature was his visor or enchantment. It was black and covered his eyes, a red dot ran over the place, maybe to pinpoint where he was looking at.
"I see you," he said it as if he could read her mind, his voice was distorted and sore, likely due to the drugs or too many cybernetic implants, the dot on his visor pointed straight at her eyes, while a creep smile ran through his face.
"You lost little girl?"
"No, I was just looking around," she said in a nervous and anxious voice. Barely meeting his gaze, she clutched her bag tightly and her eyes wander around, searching for a way to escape.
She wanted help but not from this kind of person…
"Now, now don't be shy." He pulled out something from his left pocket, a flyer, a typical one that could be found everywhere. "Just consider this a small gesture from a folk around here," he said ominously while trying to give her the piece of paper.
She accepted it, wanted to rush to the end of this conversation. "Thanks..."
He laughed, not a mocking one, not a happy one, just one that of confusion, bittersweet. Then he walked past her, but not before leaving one last message.
"Welcome to Umbra City, where the night stays till ya mind break."
When those words hit, she didn't know how to react, just frozen in time. She felt a scent of creep, a scent of unease rushed down her spine.
The thing that broke her from that state of mind was the sound of an alarm echoing throughout the station and screams could be heard around her.
Looking back, there was nothing, just a train arriving as scheduled. It was painted in red, pure red. Strangely, paint was still dripping underneath, the texture was odd — a bit darker, a bit thicker, a bit more tainted.
On the railways there was something, a black visor now colored in red.