The Shadows of the Tunnels

Back when I was a train operator, I sort of got used to being in the dark. The red line I was doing in the afternoons would leave me with little sunshine throughout the day, but I didn't mind it. Being in the dark for so long, I mean. What I didn't like about it, well, aside from the delays that I had nothing to do with, were the shadows in the tunnels. My name is Edwin, and here's a scary story. I had been used to clocking out earlier in the evening, but they had hired a bunch of new drivers for the new subway line and they switched me. I had been operating the trains for almost 15 years by this point. I sometimes trained the newcomers. I was staring out the front, the green and red buttons in front of me as I approached yet another empty station. I didn't know how that subway made money around those areas or who had commissioned it to be built, but I'm not going to lie and tell you that it was a walk in the park running an empty train either. Staying on schedule was still a priority. We still had to wait in the empty station for the required 30 seconds. One night, I got my train to the station right on time, opened up the doors, and waited. As expected, the sensors didn't go off. Nobody was there, not even the security guard at that time of the night. Very few people ever needed to head up north, especially at that hour. So I was the only train running that line. But just as I was about to leave the platform, I got an alert. A door was jammed open. I opened it, heard the sensors align properly, and tried shutting it again. But the second door on the fourth car was jammed. I found it on the screen right away. I opened the doors and caught it. The shape of a woman in a large hoodie was blocking it and wouldn't move. Please stop blocking the door, I shouted over the intercom. I always wondered why the train operators always sounded so mean, and yet I followed along. I looked at the camera again. The bluish light from the black and white screen was showing the dark figure still standing right between the door and the platform. Step away from the door, I shouted, attempting to close the doors again. I saw two people stand up from the front car and look around in curiosity. An older man was sitting in the last car of the train, asleep. I could hear the two people shouting down the train, probably telling this old woman to leave, but among the yelling, I heard screams. So I stood up I took a deep breath and checked the cameras one last time, opening up the entrance to the operator's cabin, the one that led to the seats in the first car. Terrified screams were coming from the platform. I got out as fast as I could, and I saw the commotion. Two people were scrambling to climb up the stairs, one of them dropping their sunglasses and hat, but not stopping to pick them up or anything. I saw as the old man from the last car also run out and went straight for the elevator. A little bit nervous now, I went back to the operator's cabin. I locked the door behind me and grabbed the radio. Dispatch, I said, and I identified myself. I might need some help. Two, well, three passengers just ran out of the train pretty shaken up. One of my doors is jammed and I can't move. Copy, the guy replied. What's the obstruction? I gave him the details. Station and the door, but couldn't give him a straight answer when he asked me again. what the obstruction was, why my door wouldn't close. Like normally, they turn yellow if someone's at the door and won't let it close, or red if there's something with the mechanism itself or an emergency. Just won't close. The button's yellow. On the camera, as there appears to be a... I looked at the monitors again and watched as the doors closed. The figure at the door was gone. Looks like we're good to go. Can you check on the passengers? Copy that. Contacting security, he replied. I was looking down at the monitors, seeing a completely empty train again, when he sent another message over the radio. You're clear to go. Security found them. I looked at the timer, seeing that I was only two minutes late when I started it up again, and watched the headlights brighten up the dark tunnel in front of me. That track had three connections inside, including a small repair depot area, and at the end of the line was still another station over, there was something about that track, that specific section, that always bothered me. Now, just between you and me, there had been a few operators that talked about things that were impossible in there. I hadn't been on this track long enough to make a decision, and those other guys had been operators for even longer than me, so there was no doubt that there had to be something out there that they talked about. The first guy told me about how near the end of the shift, he had to call the police because a woman with two children was found down in the tracks. They were holding hands and making their way down the tunnel as if they were walking in the park. One of the kids was skipping, man, he told me, with a completely serious expression on his face. He said he had to stop the train, change directions, and the passengers had to deboard. They had long buses sent over to take them overland. And after an exhaustive search, no one found anything. The thing was, even way before construction fully began with the trains in there, the workers were already reporting sightings of a mother with children. The children would mess around with the workers' tools, scaring the heck out of them. They made a newspaper report on them at one point when one of the workers quit and was suing the city because of it. The article said that he was fired for coming forward with it and mentioning the child's laughter in those tunnels. Coincidentally, they published it near Halloween. No one really knows where they had come from. If they were perhaps some transient people who had found their way in, or maybe those mole people everyone talks about. There are definitely strange experiences that happened down there, but mainly crazies trying to hop on the tracks to pick up something that they dropped, or maybe to drop themselves out of existence. You would be surprised at the amount of rats and possums that make their way down there and stain the tracks for a few yards with their blood, usually in the same spots. I was watching the headlights curve around the tunnel, the track making its usual rhythm on the wheels of the train, when I heard the static buzz of the radio. Eber, Eber, come in. Eber, train 247, I responded. Can you confirm a woman on your train? Confirm? A woman? What do you mean? I asked. Is there a woman, dark clothing, hooded sweatshirt, on your train? The train cars were completely empty. I checked right after closing the doors, but I decided to peek at them again. Those monitors, lowering my speed. I pressed the button on the radio to say this when, in the last car, I saw a dark figure crouch on the second row from the end. I let go of the radio, staying silent. Ebert, come in. Can you confirm? That radio call nearly gave me a heart attack. I pressed the button. Confirmed. There's a woman or something crouched down in the last car. I kept looking at the screen the whole time, scanning the other monitors as well. There was no way I would have missed her. In fact, that old man that was sitting in there before, I saw him clearly. Or something, Jerry from dispatch said. I stayed quiet this time. The woman was wiggling in the seat and was about to stand up. Eber, I need you to... And the radio cut out. I heard the train power down right then in the middle of the tracks. The last thing I saw from the monitors was just how this woman was approaching the camera with her dark eyes and frozen expression. I got a good look at her. Everything was still for what seemed an eternity. I waited for the radio to buzz again, but even still, I wasn't sure if I would hear it over the beating of my heart. It was pitch black and silent. I could barely make out a faint sound coming from the train itself. From behind me. Footsteps. Heavy footsteps that seemed to be getting louder. And then they were quiet. Thump, thump, thump. Something banged on the door behind me so hard that I thought I was going to knock it down. I screamed and reached for the radio. Jerry, Jerry, can you hear me? Come in. I was so scared that I didn't even recognize my own voice. Who could have possibly made that noise? Because this woman... Certainly could not have gotten to the front that fast. I heard the generators turn on, the lights flickered above me, and the monitors flashed back on. Ebert, train 247, can you hear me? I'm here. What's happening? Who is she? I was scanning the monitors like a hawk. Every camera, every angle, and nothing. I covered every single corner of the train and it showed clearly that my train was empty. Uh, correction, Jerry. The train's empty. Am I on full power or partial? Train power's on. I just... About 200 yards away from the platform, 85. Thanks for confirming, Eber. Train's power is full. And noted. No woman. Right? I let his question linger. I didn't know what to say at that point. Jerry didn't follow up with me either. I eventually logged my time once I got to the platform. I grabbed my things, locked the doors, walked the train front to end before heading out. The shift was over. I understood now about the shadows in that tunnel. I finally had a story of my own I could share with the new guys. Something without an explanation. I remember getting into my car and calling up Jerry. His shift was almost over too. At least maybe joke around with him about what he knew. He told me that security had reviewed the tapes after talking to the passengers, who had talked about the strange figure that appeared, in their own words, completely out of nowhere on the train. Her strange face and hair, the grin, all three of them described her the same way. She didn't look human. But the thing was, the security guard had no footage of her entering or leaving the platform. So the only explanation was that she was still on the train. Or maybe somewhere on the tracks. Now, to this day, I don't have an explanation for that night. There's no possible way to just leave the train whenever you want. I started the next shift as usual. When I arrived at the platform, there was a young couple waiting to get on the first car. The doors opened. They stepped in, completely unaware that I was there, and the train with them. Just like maybe there are passengers that I'm unaware of. Scary Story Podcast is written and produced by me, Edwin Covarrubias. If you have any ideas for the show, send them in. My info is in the description of this episode. To listen ad-free and support independent storytelling, head on over to ScaryPlus.com to try it out for free for two weeks. Anyway, thank you very much for listening. Keep it scary, everyone. See you soon.