The Tower

She's silent as people pass her, some rushing to their seats, others taking their precious time. The train moved despite those who haven't made it to their seats. Astrid chewed on the plastic tip of her pen, a nervous habit she had developed as she went on to endure years of abuse. Never once was there anyone to tell her to leave, or fight back. Her mind had already been warped by the 'system.' Children she grew up with had told her repeatedly how unwanted she was and will grow up to be. She fought back on her own accord. Though as those mean and hateful children began filtering out as new families came and gone, Astrid began to accept that she would never be or feel wanted. the only friend she had was a nun named Sister Anna and even she didn't dissuade the poor girls demons. The nuns that ran the orphanage didn't so much as budge when Astrid demanded information about her family. If she even had one to begin with. "Not knowing about your past should be considered a blessing." Was always the answer Astrid received, but of course it did little to suppress her suspicions. Once she had reached the legal age to leave on her own, no one was there to wish her well on her travels. It was to be suspected, but it never hurt any less.

Astrid continued her struggle even after gaining what would be considered a decent life. A small apartment and a fair paying job. Though she was still alone. Through the years at the orphanage she was constantly alone, so to continue into her adult life, loneliness didn't bother as much. It would be one fateful meeting that Astrid soon realized that maybe the others were wrong. That she was wrong. At the young age of twenty, Astrid had met the man who seemed to have put those voices to rest. Even if it was for a little while.

Adam, in the beginning, was loving and patient with her. He took the time to ease her into his life and how he did things. After a year of courting, Astrid took that big leap and moved in with him. Her belonging would stay in their designated boxes. Adam had begun to teach her how things were done under his roof. At times he was still patient with her, though after the first month he had begun to show how easily and increasingly aggravated he was becoming with her mistakes. At first it was simple heard shakes before he would storm off, leaving her to question if she had really done something bad to cause his small tantrums. He wouldn't come right and say it either. If he stewed, she would continue to go above and beyond to please him. The first few attempts earned her kind gestures such as flowers or the occasional sweet. However, for every mistake Adam would dish out a cruel punishment. they were mild from the start, until he became a bit more creative with them. There had been one incident where Astrid had forgotten to wash the last load of Adam's clothes. This had earned her a week of sleeping on the laundry room floor with nothing but his soiled laundry to keep her warm. It wasn't until the beating began that Astrid had realized that this man did not love her, but loved the idea of controlling her. She hadn't counted how many times he had struck her, but she knew that what he was doing was wrong. She had left the minute he left for work. The money she used for her train ticket had been what she had saved from her job Adam insisted she quit. 'I'll take care of your.' had been his line. After spending three years with him, it had become clear that control had always been in the forefront of his mind.

As she watched the passing scenery, Astrid continued to chew on her pen. Her mind was a blank slate which she should have been grateful for but it did little to comfort her. What she wouldn't give for a genuine person to come in her life. To show her at least one person was capable of caring for her. to walk with her through her fears instead of using them against her for their own self gain. Her thoughts, or the lack there of, were halted as the conductor came up to her, "Ticket, ma'am." His kind voice spoke up, causing a small smile to form on her face as she retrieved said ticket. As the older gentlemen looked the small piece of paper over, Astrid's eyes wandered to a small group of men. They must have been talking about something funny because the smiles on their faces were radiant. Before she could look away, one of them made eye contact with her. Her breath caught in her throat as he smiled at her. Her face flushed with heat as she diverted her gaze, taking her ticket from the conductor before sinking down in her seat. She was foolish to even look around, much less make eye contact with a complete stranger. She was on one mission to get away from one danger, not throw herself into another potential danger. She had went back to chewing on her pen as her eyes stared outside. Green fields stared back at her as she counted the seconds that had passed. she had no means of entertainment for her long journey. The simple sounds of the train moving on the tracks seemed to soothe her.

"Chocolate?" A voice startled her from her blank daydream. She looked up to see one of the men from the group she witnessed moments before. "Oh, uhm-"
"It's milk chocolate. I don't much prefer it, but perhaps someone like you would appreciate it." He went on to say.
Astrid swallowed thickly before nodding her head, "Alright."
He held the candy out for her, letting her reach out for it before releasing it into her grasp.
"Thank you." Her voice was meek as she held the chocolate in her lap.
"It's no problem, really." He shrugged his shoulders before sitting himself beside her, "I'm Henrik." He held his hand out for her.
At first Astrid was hesitant, but he had shown her kindness so where was the harm?
"Astrid." She mumbled softly as she placed her hand in his larger one. His grip wasn't harsh, but it was firm.
"That's a pretty name." Henrik smiled at her warmly before moving his head as if to look back towards his group.
"This train offers meals, would you be interested in joining us for dinner?"
Astrid furrowed her brows, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip, "I would love to, but I have barely enough to cover something like that." She made her excuse, "In fact this is the first thing I've eaten in a few days." She hadn't meant to speak that last part, but the damage had been done.
"Nonsense. You're joining us and I refuse any protest you may have." Henrik held a finger up to silence her, which he found surprising when she went silent almost immediately, "think nothing of this, little one. You'll be fine." He smiled at her again before patting her knee, "Trust a stranger for once." He murmured softly before standing up from his seat. Astrid stared as he waled away, her mind racing as she began asking herself just what the hell had just happened.

A few hours had passed before Henrik had joined her again, only he didn't sit. He stood there for a good minute staring at the small woman who had found the time to catch a small nap. She looked so small in the massive seat. Her legs were pressed against her chest as she balled herself up tightly. It had struck him odd how she could possibly find that comfortable.
"You going to wake her or just stare at her?" Henrik turned his head to see Tim and Kungen both smiling at him with mischief in their eyes.
Henrik shook his head before reaching out to gently jostle the sleeping girl. Astrid's eyes squeezed together tightly before she opened them. "What?" Her voice was thick from sleep, her eyes barely adjusting as she looked up at the three men that had surrounded her . Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest , her fight or flight senses kicking into high gear until she settled on Henrik.
"Time to eat." Tim piped up before moving away from the seats.
Henrik cocked a brow before holding his hand out for Astrid to take. She was of course hesitant but she could tell even through her sleep rattled brain that he wouldn't intentionally hurt her. Though there was that nagging in the back of her mind. She gripped his hand tightly before standing up, "who was that?" She asked softly, peering over at the blonde dreaded fellow before looking towards Henrik.
"Oh, that was just Time. This is Kungen." He jutted his chin towards his friend. Kungen simply nodded his head towards the girl as he was introduced.
"The others are waiting." Henrik began leading them towards the dining car of the train. Astrid walked between both men until she was greeted with a savory aroma. Her stomach instantly growled which caused her to wrap her arms around herself just in case either of them heard the noise. By the looks of it, neither of them noticed.
"You actually brought her." She looked around Henrik to see the same male she had seen earlier, sitting at the table she guessed she would be dining at.
"Astrid this is Johannes." Henrik spoke up. His voice took a turn, something Astrid knew all too well. Was he afraid of this beautiful stranger? If so, did it mean she was to be as well?
"Lovely to meet you, Astrid." Johannes' voice broke her from her thoughts, her cheeks burning hot.

As they took their seats, Astrid seating herself between Henrik and Tim, the men began speaking amongst themselves. Astrid took the time to look over her menu, her brow scrunching together as she looked over the dinner options. "Something wrong?" She looked up to Johannes speaking to her. Her throat went dry, a sensation she was grateful to have water for at that moment. "Uhm, most of this is rather...Odd to me.." She chewed at her bottom lip as the men around her shared the same odd look. "And why would that be?" The blue eyed devil asked as he leaned over the table, giving her his undivided attention.
She felt her chest grow tight. The food choices were odd for many reasons, she just didn't know which one to voice. "Well, I've only ever had water, milk, bread and the occasional cheese." Her voice betrayed her as she spoke. "My now ex-boyfriend was vegetarian, but he didn't really understand how to prepare dishes." Lie. Adam knew all to well how to properly feed himself. He would just demean her eating habits to where she ate just the bare minimum.
"Sounds like someone didn't know how to properly take care of a person either." Tim spoke up, peering over at Astrid, offering her a small smile before taking her menu, "Why don't you let me choose your meal this one time and we'll see how you take to it." He bargained with her. At the kind gesture, Astrid nodded her head, a meek 'thank you' coming from her before she looked over at Henrik who winked at her before going back to his conversation with Kungen.
"Astrid, may I ask a question?" Johannes broke away from his conversation with John. The suddenness took Astrid off guard, her eyes wide as she then nodded her head.
"Aren't you warm? Hot maybe? They keep these cars rather toasty during the colder seasons and yet I haven't see you take that sweatshirt off once. Why?" His statement was logical. His question, however, didn't sit well with her. At all.
"I'm not all that warm, I guess." It was party true. She was rather warm, but considering the cuts and bruises she had on her skin, she wasn't about to just strip her sweatshirt off for everyone to see them. She kept eye contact with him, feeling as though the ground could swallow her whole at any time with how intense his stare was.

Johannes' eyebrows quirk before he nodded his head. He didn't believe her. He'd seen abuse before, not necessarily by his own hand, but he knew this girl would not just openly show whatever it was she had hiding underneath her sleeves. Nonetheless, he'd creep his way under those mysterious wall, though he'd have to see her again. A chance meeting was all it would take to have her baited.

Astrid could feel herself starting to relax around the new strangers, though she kept close to Henrik whom didn't seem to mind as he had on arm draped over the back of her chair as they spoke. She didn't realize until that moment that she hadn't done much of anything with her young life. This was the first 'trip' by herself but while she was surrounded by kind faces, more or less, it didn't seem to really matter. Astrid had lifted her hand to cover her mouth as a sudden yawn breaks through, catching Johannes' attention rather immediately. "Seems our companion is bushed." He spoke softly as an amused look crossed his features.
Astrid shook her head, "I'm fine, just caught me off guard is all." She smiled sheepishly as her hands reached for her drink. She was tired. A few hours had passed since their meals, her stomach was still somewhat painfully full which only increased her fatigue.
"Nonsense. Henrik take her to go rest. We'll catch up later." He quickly turned his gaze to John, who felt it was necessary to kick him under the table.
Henrik rolled his eyes as he helped Astrid up to her feet, "C'mon, I'll show you to one of the rooms we reserved." He instructed, though by the look on Astrid's face, he could tell she was about to argue with him. How he could read her so easily was beyond him, but he was relieved to say the least.

The others bid Astrid a goodnight before moving back into their conversations. Their now hushed voices as she and Henrick moved out of the dining car had the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up. With a backwards glance towards the table, her eyes connected with that of Johannes'. His blue hues burning into hers as Henrick guided her out. She didn't know what had come over her but the feeling of security and warmth began to bloom in her chest which seemed odd. She didn't know any of them. For all she knew they were just being nice so they could blind side her just as Adam had. Her guard had to stay up for the duration of her ride.