Short Unsettling Stories

Story 2

The Subway
    Taylor sat on the subway not sure where he was going. He just had to get away from the busy city. He started to observe who was on the train with him. A girl and her boyfriend laughing and playing like nothing could ever go wrong. An old man reading the ratty old news paper, probably not a recent one from the looks of it. A younger girl sitting by the door with earbuds in. Everything seemed to be okay for a little bit. The train started to rock back and forth, startling everyone in the cart. It was like they hit something. The lights flickered and went out. It was pitch black, Taylor hears the couple start whispering, he couldn’t make out what they were saying though.
    “What happened?” Finally someone says. Taylor guessed it was the old man. “I can’t read my darned paper now.”
    “I think we hit something.” Taylor could tell it was one of the girls, but he didn’t know what one. The speakers started to release a bunch of static before the instructor comes on and says that they’ve hit something and we’d be on our way soon. Taylor checks the time, 2:35 am. Taylor lets out a loud sigh and decided to find a spot to sit since he was standing. He turns on his flashlight on his phone and points is over to where the girl with the earbuds in was and sits next to her. She just gives him a weird look and goes back to what she was doing. Taylor leans his head back and closes his eyes. He must have drifted off because when he checked the time again it was now 3:30am.
    “Has there be---” a hand was clasped over his mouth. Taylor tries to get it off but he feels like whoever it is isn’t going to hurt him. After a second the person dropped their hand. Taylor then hears a rattle, it sounded like it was coming from the window behind him. Taylor tries to look but it was no use, it was pitch black, he couldn’t see anything.
    “I can hear you.” A raspy broken voice calls out in a sing-song voice. Taylor feels a knot start to form in his throat. Taylor starts to realize what’s going on. A crazy dude is on the subway, and doesn’t know what his intentions are. Is that guy here to hurt them? Kidnap? Taylor didn’t know. He just knows he wished he wasn’t on this train right now. Taylor hears a small sniffle off to where the couple was before the lights were knocked out. Guessing the girl was crying, Taylor starts to whisper.
    “What’s going on?” His voice laced with terror.
    “We don’t know, all we know is the one guy left to check about what’s going on but hasn’t came back yet.” It was a girl speaking. “It’s been almost a half hour since then.” She quietly adds. Taylor needs to figure out names, so he can know who he is talking to.
    “ What’s your names? Starting with the girl from the couple. Then the old man. Then lastly the girl with the earbuds in.”
    “My name is Jessie.”
    “Mine’s Harold.”
    “I’m Gabby.” They listed off. Taylor figured he should state his name now.
    “I’m Taylor.” Taylor softy said. They all talked about possibilities to get off the train now. They were on the last cart and there was a back door to evacuate out of. They figured since the train had no power the alarm would hopefully not go off. The only problem is they can’t use light or be loud. It would give away where they were exactly. The last they knew the guy was on the outside. Finally they had a plan, one person would walk a couple carts ahead and make noise to draw the guy there and the others would run. They were not far from the station. Harold had volunteered to be the person to make the noise. He said that he had a lot of problems with his health and wouldn’t be able the run. Harold left making his way to the front of the train. After a second there was a lot of banging. The rest took this as the signal and bolted out the back door. Once everyone was out they started sprinting. Their feet pounding against the metal tracks. Taylor heard a crazed laugh behind them. One of the girls screamed, realizing their plan didn’t work. The man was now after them. They could see the faint light ahead of the station. Taylor took a quick look behind him being able to see some now that the light was there. What he saw was nothing. No one was there. Taylor and the girls pulled themselves over the wall and sat down in the crowded lobby area. Catching their breath, Taylor called the Police. Telling them what happened. The police arrived shortly and questioned them.
                                                                ***
    A few weeks have passed and Taylor had just gotten off the phone with the police station. They had told Taylor there was nothing more they could do. They didn’t find anyone, not even Harold. It’s like the guy and Harold just disappeared. As for what happened to the train, it just got derailed as it came around the corner too fast. Taylor knew what he saw but no one believed him. As for now it is unsolved.