Hello, hello! Welcome back guys! As always, thanks for clicking and I hope you enjoy!
I'm writing this as a warning. Please, heed my words and don't ever make the same stupid mistake I did. You might not be as lucky as I was…
I had gone to visit a friend of mine who lived halfway across the city. We had planned to spend the day together shopping. We wasted hours going from store to store and while we didn't find anything worth purchasing, we still had a lot of fun, trying on all kinds of clothes. Dusk had fallen by the time we got back to my friend's apartment. From there we proceeded to watch movies while snacking on a large bowl of popcorn along with an assortment of junk food. Sometime during the second or third movie, I dozed off. Hours later, I awoke to the hushed murmur of white noise. My friend had fallen asleep as well, curled up over the arm of the couch with one foot dangling just above the floor. The popcorn bowl lay on the floor, only a few stray kernels littering the bottom. I glanced at my watch and groaned. 1:30 a.m. I needed to get home. My boss wanted me to come in to work early around 7:30 a.m. I thought about going back to sleep, but that meant getting up earlier, which would be hard as I had no alarm to wake me up at the time necessary. If I took the subway, I'd get back to my apartment at around 2:00-2:30, which would give me around four hours of sleep. With that in mind, I heaved myself up from the couch, nudging my friend and telling her I was heading out. She sat up, blinking and gave me a groggy half-mumbled reply which I couldn't understand.
"What was that?" I asked, putting on my shoes.
My friend stumbled up off the couch. She must have noticed the time because I heard her curse.
"Shit! It's already that late? Crap… Botan, why don't you just stay here?"
I shook my head, shrugging on my jacket, "Koenma wants me to come into work early and I don't want to bother you rushing out of here before dawn."
She walked around the back of the couch, stopping right by the door. I hugged her and we bid each other farewell. Stepping out into the cool night air, I zipped up my jacket and made my way down to the street. I exited the complex, stepping out into the empty street. Street lights cut through the gathered darkness, pooling onto the sidewalk in bright puddles of white. As I walked, I watched my shadow drift up the street, trailing out from my feet like a humanoid ebony ribbon. With no cloud cover, the moon was free to take center stage in the night sky, its light dyeing every surface it touched a bright silver. I turned a corner, and spotted an entrance to a nearby subway station. The light from the underground tunnel spilled out onto the sidewalk like flames beneath an ivory witch's cauldron.
I hopped down the steps two at a time, eager to get home and get whatever sleep I could. Once I reached the platform, I took a quick glance at my watch. 1:45. Fifteen minutes until the next train. I looked around. Nobody. Now, I've taken late night rides on the subway before, but never anything past midnight. So, the deserted platform was a little eerie-almost like something straight from a horror movie. I took a seat on a nearby bench and waited for the train. Time seemed to drag on, as if the silence and emptiness of the station had strapped weights to it, leaving the minutes with no choice but to shuffle along. The tunnel before me loomed pitch-black, a stark contrast to the blazing white tiles of the platform. I anxiously tapped my foot, tiny droplets of sound echoing in the void. I kept glancing over my shoulder, expecting to see someone coming up behind me.
Eventually, the train arrived and I almost dashed aboard, I was so relieved. The doors shut behind me with a soft click and the train began its voyage up the tracks to my destination. As I made my way to a seat, I took notice of three men sitting near the back. At first glance, they weren't much to speak of. Dressed in jeans and faded shirts, they looked like bored college students heading home from a study session, the only exception to this being a pair of rather expensive looking tennis shoes worn by the man on the right. Crisp, shiny, shiny black leather, offset by the bright blue Nike logo swooping down from near the top of the foot. I tossed them a cheery smile and a wave before taking a seat. Aside from the rhythmic clacking of the train, the ride was silent. The men in the back just sat there, two of them staring out the window with bored expressions on their faces. The man in the middle however was staring right at me. It was an unnerving kind of stare, blank face and glassy eyes peering out from behind a curtain of unkempt, greasy hair. Honestly, it looked better suited to a corpse. And for some strange reason, that's what my paranoid brain thought he was at first. However, the occasional rise and fall of his chest disproved this. I leaned forward, thinking that maybe he was just zoning out and didn't know I was there. However, I noticed his eyes following my movements. Suppressing a shudder, I smiled again, hoping to see some kind of expression from him, but alas, nothing happened. Only that empty fish-like stare. I turned away, trying my best not to get creeped out. Maybe he's just tired, I told myself. Or maybe he's some kind of freaky drug addict a tiny, frightened voice in my head piped up. I glanced back at the man in the middle. His tongue crawled out of his mouth like some fat, blind worm and slithered across his bottom lip. This time I couldn't suppress my shudder, and forcibly turned my head away. If this guy was indeed on something, I had to hope that the two men next to him were sober and would restrain him if he tried anything.
The train zipped down the tunnel. We passed a couple stations, both of them as empty and lifeless as the man in the middle's stare. At the third station, the train shuddered to a stop. One of the men in the back, the one on the left got to his feet. He turned to the men behind him, who by now I assumed to be his friends, patted the middle man on the shoulder, and whispered something to the man on the right. Said man nodded and watched his friend exit the train. The doors slid shut and we were off once more. I took a tentative glance back at the men. The one on the right continued staring out the window, every now and then his eyes would droop. I slid my gaze over the creepy guy next to him. Sure enough, he was still staring at me. A soft hissing noise echoed in the cabin as the train slid to yet another stop. My heart began to pound. I watched the man on the right.
Don't stand up. Don't stand up. Please, please don't stand up!
But he did. Stretching, the man got to his feet. He stifled a yawn, turning back to the staring man. Like his friend, he patted the guy on his shoulder, turned and exited the train. The sound of the doors shutting once more echoed in my ears. Ringing out like the blade of a guillotine, slicing through any hope I had that I would not be left alone with the man in the back. A shuffling noise caught my attention. I looked to see that the man had changed seats, moving up a row. I swallowed my terror and did the same, moving closer to the door. As I sat down, not taking my eyes off of him, I noticed that his expression had changed. A predatory gleam shone in his eyes while his lips had begun to part in a hungry smile. I balled my shaking hands into fists, wondering why the hell I hadn't just spent the night at my friend's apartment. Looking back, I should have tried to move to another car, or run up and gotten the conductor's attention. However, one look at this creep's face made me think twice. Just the thought of turning my back on him in a closed space was enough to keep me seated. Still, it wasn't like I could sit here and wait for him to do something. I was unarmed, no defenses whatsoever. Sure, I had my keys, but that was assuming I could cut or stab this guy without him overpowering me.
I took another glance back towards him and saw that he'd slip up another seat. The smile on his face had widened into a sick, twisted leer. Upon meeting my gaze he began mumbling to himself. Christ, I thought, this guy must be on something. No one acts like this without something flooding their system. I couldn't make out what he was saying, and no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to read his lips. Again, I turned from him. This time though, I made sure to keep him just within my peripheral vision. Horrified, I watched as he again moved closer to me, leaving the distance between us to four rows. My heart hammered against my ribs, increasing tempo with each passing second. I needed to get out of here. I couldn't afford to let him get any closer to me. Not taking my eyes off him once, I stood up and backed towards the door. The man's smile dropped, a look of confusion creeping across his face. The light then dawned-his confused expression twisting into a strange mixture of sadness and desire. Think of a demon trying to give you puppy-dog eyes. A good attempt, but defeated by how horrid the creature doing it is.
"Please don't go," he murmured, "I like your eyes. They're so very pretty. Please, just stay here and let me look at them."
While I had a whole litany of denials and curses lined up in my head and ready to barrage the bastard, my mouth was locked shut by fear. All I could do was whip my head back and forth and mutter a noise that sounded like a strangled kitten trying to cry. By this time I had my back pressed flat against the door. Due to the terror, my body had become hyper-aware of what was going on around me. I could hear every little noise the train made as it traversed the tracks, every creak and groan of the metal, every click and clack of the wheels; the lights in the car beamed far too bright, threatening to blind me if I looked at them; and every dip and bump and shudder of the train made my nerves jump and spasm. All the sensory input threatened to fry my brain. The noises kept rising, the clicks, clacks, moans, and groans blending together into some screeching, metal cacophony thumping to the beat of the train's travel. Everything seemed to swell, condense, then balloon out again; rippling as if I was seeing it through a fish bowl. My brain couldn't figure out how to handle it. Impulses sizzled through my nervous system, hissed demands to calm down drowned out by the panicked screeching of my instincts, replaying the man's request over and over again.
Just when I thought I was going to pass out, leaving myself at the mercy of this creep, everything stopped. It was like something inside me had reached up and yanked my panic lever back down to a resting position. My vision was able to correctly process the amount of light, and I could no longer feel and hear everything around me. A cool, soothing equilibrium flowed through my brain, soothing my mind like Solarcaine on bad burn. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, reveling in the feeling.
"If you're feeling unwell, you shouldn't leave."
Like window shutters my eyes snapped open. There, right in front of me stood the man. My shriek died before it had even climbed halfway up my throat. A lopsided smile hung upon his face. Sour, wet breath tickled my nose, smelling like rotted trash. I flinched back, pressing my back flat against the door. His smile broadened, that malevolent, crooked grin of someone who knows their prey is trapped.
"Please," he said, extending one long-fingered hand, "come sit back down."
My tongue sat in my mouth, heavy and dead, unable to form the words that were looping within my brain. I clung to my purse like a drowning man to a life raft, as if somehow this tiny bag that only held my wallet and a small notebook would save me. Although impossible, I somehow shrank further back into the door, succeeding in only putting a few centimeters between me and him. He shuffled forward, fingertips grazing my arm.
"Come on now."
Before I could shove him back, the door opened up, and I fell backward, spilling out onto the platform. The impact knocked the wind out of me and I lost my grip on my purse, causing it to skid back towards the tracks. Scrabbling at the tile, I managed to get my arms working properly and shoved myself to my feet. Just as I turned to grab my purse, I saw that the man had exited the train as well. My heart somersaulted into my throat and a sickening tightness wound itself around my chest. All I could manage was a choked gasp before I snatched my purse off the ground, turned, and fled. From behind me, I heard the man shout followed by the hard pounding of footsteps. I banked left, sprinting down an empty tunnel, my eyes darting everywhere, looking for some place to hide. Solid white walls illuminated by light, leaving no speck of shadow to squeeze in. The trash bins were too small to duck behind. For a moment, I considered grabbing one of the bins and chucking it at him-that way I could slow him down and give myself a good lead. One glance behind me shattered that hope into a thousand tiny fragments. Five feet. That was the distance between us. Just three inches beneath my height and already the tail end of my shadow had lapped onto the tips of his feet.
Adrenaline surged through my body, crackling along my nerves like lightning. Desperate, I poured on the speed and turned sharply down another corridor. Already, pain was lancing through my sides, burning beneath my ribcage with each breath I took. The muscles in my calves felt like bags full of glass shards, scraping against my skin like thousands of tiny teeth. It felt like at any moment, my body was going to give out on me, betraying me out of an insane desire for rest. Images surfaced within my mind, bubbles of terror floating up from within my subconscious, popping upon breach, flooding my imagination with dark possibilities.
Then, as if to confirm the reality, I heard a sharp snap and felt a burning, needle-like pain as a few strands of hair were yanked from my scalp. Right then, my body instantly went from flight to fight mode, and I whirled around, swinging my purse like a flail. The satisfying whump of black leather smacking my pursuer right in the temple met my ears. The man reeled back, more out of surprise than pain I suspect, stumbling backwards before falling to the ground. Achievement unlocked, my body switched right back to flight mode and I took off, sprinting like a first-place runner just a few feet away from the finish line. The corridor veered left and I did the same, nearly smacking into the side of a photo booth as I did so. I backed up a bit before it hit me: I was standing right in front of a hiding spot.
With little time, I plunged through the curtain and into the darkened space. The harsh slapping of shoes against concrete echoed in my ears. Panicking, I hopped up onto the small bench and grabbed hold of the curtain to cease its movement. I squatted in the dark, holding my breath and listening as both the footsteps and my heartbeat grew louder. To my horror, I could hear his footsteps begin to slow the closer he drew to the photo booth, finally drawing to a stop right outside. Hand pressed hard against my mouth to stifle my panicked breathing, I watched his shoes from where they peeped at me from beneath the small gap in the curtain just above the mouth of the photo booth. Dirty, scuffed, and cheap these worn-down sneakers looked like something the king of all bums would wear. The leather looked to have been worn paper-thin and I could see a flash of white sock through a small hole near the heel. I stared hard, knowing that if his shoes turned to point at the photo booth, I was doomed.
He stood there for a few moments, breathing in harsh, ragged pants. Thin tendrils of pain lanced through my arm and into my wrist, but I didn't dare let go of the curtain. Just the slightest movement and it would all be over. I resumed my focus on my assailant and noticed that his breathing had slowed. Now, I could hear him murmuring to himself, cursing up one side and down the other. Good, I thought, get pissed. I'm not going to let you find me. He continued to stand there for about half a minute before turning to walk further down the tunnel. However, before he could walk off, there came a shout from that direction. Relief flooded my body in a shimmering, golden tide. Thank God, someone else was down here. Maybe a security guard, maybe a maintenance worker, or even just some random scrub who was also on his way to a late night ride. In all reality, it didn't matter who this person was, I just felt so relieved now that I was no longer alone. I expelled my tension via a long, quiet sigh and waited for the person to approach the photo booth. Potential savior not, I wasn't about to exit my safe spot and waltz straight into the arms of danger.
Heavy treading hinted at the gender of the sudden arrival. A deep voice called out, confirming this. The words however, brought me up short.
"Hey man, did you find her?"
I frowned. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Just who was this Johnny-come-lately? Glancing back down, I watched the newcomer's shoes drift into my little viewing space. The sight sent a river of chills coursing through my body. My eyes swelled like ink blots on dry paper, growing to the size of saucers while my mind tried to process the rapid-fire blips of fear and confusion popping up all over my mental radar.
The newcomer's shoes were a rather expensive pair of sneakers. Shiny black leather sneakers, offset by a bright blue Nike logo. The dirty sneakers turned towards their financial opposite.
"Nah, man. I almost had her, then the bitch whipped around and smacked me with her purse. I ended up falling on my ass and losing her. Did she run by you?"
Nike-boy responded, "No. I haven't seen her. I've been wondering up and down this whole area. Niko's laying in wait by the Injuku Station, but if she slipped by you, she's probably gone."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Injuku? That was near the train's first stop. Just how far had they (because now I had more than one stalker, apparently) planned that I would flee? Nike-boy had gotten off at Shinohara Station, which meant that I had burst out of the train at Umi Station. Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized if I had just been able to last two more stations, I could have bypassed this subterranean hell entirely and just made a run for my apartment. Despair and self-pity took the place of terror, rotting away my rationale like an emotional case of gangrene. Why the hell hadn't I just taken my friend up on her offer? Why had I stayed over so late in the first place? Here I was stuck within a hair's breadth of potential death that could have been avoided if I'd just been somewhat responsible.
A desperate sob began to crawl up my throat. Still clinging to some notion of survival, I pressed my hand to my mouth even harder. Light pricks of pain nipped at my cheeks as I felt my nails dig into my skin. Warm tears dripped down my cheeks, mingling with the thin coat of sweat that I'd built up during my run. This hadn't been just a simple run-in with a creepy stalker, this had to have been planned. These men had set the trap and I'd been stupid enough to take the bait. Now the only thing left to do was wait and see if they'd figure out where I was hiding.
Yet, by some grace of God, they didn't. I heard one of them let out a long, frustrated sigh to which his companion replied,
"Well, c'mon then, let's get out of here. This place is starting to creep me out."
To my astonishment, the prince and pauper shoes both turned and began walking away from the photo booth. I couldn't believe my luck. Up until that moment, I figured breaks like that only happened in the movies. As the sound of their footsteps drifted further away, I heard the words that will haunt me for the rest of my days,
"You should have seen it, man. I really had her going-you could tell she believed I was mental. Talk about some spot-on acting."
That last sentence rammed it home. This whole thing had been some sort of elaborate set-up concocted by those three men. The realization opened up a well-spring of mental images, each one worse than the last. Nausea hit me like a freight train, forcing me to sit still, holding my head until it passed. When it did, I noticed the corridor had fallen silent. No footsteps, no drifting voices, the men had gone. On legs that felt like melted butter, I rose from my crouching position and got down from the bench. Peeling back the curtain, I peered out into the hall, squinting, eyes not prepared for the sudden onslaught of bright light. Aside from one discarded, crumpled pop can, the hallway was empty. Like a young deer, I crept out of the photo booth, eyes wide and darting, sure that one or both of the men were lurking somewhere nearby.
Once more in the hallway, I turned and walked in the opposite direction the men had taken, retracing the path down which I had been chased. All the while, I kept looking around, not ready to believe that I was alone. I had to stop a few times because I kept mistaking the echo of my footsteps for those of my stalkers. Eventually, I made my way back to the Umi station. I didn't wait for another train. Instead, I exited the subway at that station. Once I made it back above ground, I stopped for a moment and took in my surroundings. A cloud of moths hovered in the glow of a buzzing streetlight. Tall buildings stood sentry on either side of the street, garbed in the silver-streaked shadow cloak of night. The air around me smelled cool and damp while out on the empty street a small pack of leaves skittered towards a storm drain, pushed on by a light breeze.
Tears of relief blurred this vision. Never before have I been so happy to be above ground. Since it was far too late to take a bus or a taxi, I had no choice but to walk home. However, just the thought of striding down these empty darkened streets unnerved me. What if I ended up running into those creeps along the way? Taking a quick glance up the street, I spied a payphone and jogged towards it. I popped a few coins in the slot and dialed my boyfriend. He picked up on the third ring, annoyance underlying the exhaustion in his voice. I didn't even get out two words before I broke down, the situation finally having caught up with me. Bawling like a child, I begged him to come get me, trying to explain what I had just been through, my mouth tripping over my sobs as I tried to form something that could be considered a coherent sentence.
My boyfriend cut me off, all traces of sleep gone from his voice. In a stern voice, he told me to stay put and that he was on his way. Before I could say anything else, my boyfriend hung up. Within ten minutes I saw his headlights stabbing their way through gathered darkness. He pulled to a stop in front of the pay phone. I burst out of the phone booth and ran up to his car. He flung open the door and leapt out, wrapping me in his arms. Like a drowning man to a life raft, I clung to him, shaking while he stroked my hair. After a short while, we let each other go and I crawled in the car. On the way back to my apartment, I, now in a calmer state of mind, explained what had happened to me. Although he remained silent, his jaw clenched while his free hand reached out and squeezed my thigh. When we pulled into the parking lot for my building, I asked my boyfriend if he could stay the night. Of course, being the wonderful guy that he is, my boyfriend told me he would.
Once we were inside, we went straight to bed. Didn't pass go, didn't collect two hundred dollars, didn't even get undressed. We just kicked out shoes off and fell into bed. The next morning my boyfriend left for school and I, at his behest, called into work sick. Right before he left, we talked about what happened to me in the subway. We were both in agreement that I had been ensnared in an elaborate trap, but our thoughts as to the reason behind it differed. I'm pretty sure all they wanted to do was assault me while my boyfriend believes they not only had plans for rape, but may have been planning to kidnap me as well. Whatever their reasons, I'm glad to have made it out of that subway with my life. So please, never ride the subway late at night, if you can avoid it. If not, make sure you're not alone. I don't know if occurrences like that are a regular thing, but you can never be too careful.
Okay, yeah, this one took a while to get out. I'm terribly sorry for the delay. Finals are coming up, and all my motivation has gone into studying. At any rate, what did you think? This one wasn't as scary as the last ones, but I like it nonetheless. Also, if you know my fics, I'm sure you have a pretty good idea of who the boyfriend was. *winks*
