The train you never want to take

Once the train doors closed, Jolie felt a dusty smell lingering in the air. As she gazed upon the passengers, they were each preoccupied with what they had in hand, whether a book or a phone. Just a few of them had their heads tilted toward the windows next to them.

As she stepped forward, looking for a seat, she also noticed that the cabin where the conductor would be was rotten and lifeless. Almost like…there was no one in there, and hasn’t been for a long time.

Odd, she’d internally say to herself, trying to zone out and hush those weird and loud thoughts.

The train began its journey, and Jolie started thinking about her most recent chapter that’s been staying like that for over 2 years. She left it at the point where the life of the main character would change forever due to an important decision she had to make. Stopping there wasn’t right, but maybe it was wise. She just felt like she needed more experience for that chapter. A great book isn’t written in just a few months, at least not when it’s your first one. It just wasn’t a priority right now and…

The train stopped, and all the people left, except for one old lady, who Jolie wasn’t even sure she realised the train had stopped. She stared down with a blank face, in a total state of reverie, lost far away from this reality.

Slim grey hair was floating on her shoulders, somewhat curled, but not in an intentional way. More like from lack of care or hygiene. It was pinned from behind, leaving her wide, darker forehead clear. Her mouth was wide as well, leaving the corners of her mouth closer to her ears. She tried to associate her with Coco’s grandmother. Her stature was also somewhat bulky.

How the train stopped was also peculiar in itself, in the way that you didn’t hear anything, just noticed on the window that the train had stopped. Jo was erring now on the side of caution and went to the old lady to let her know that the train had stopped, in case she wanted to go.

-Excuse me, miss?

The old lady kept the same lost look on her face, without even moving her head.

-Miss! Hello? — She continued, slightly touching her arm.

The woman raised her head heavily, like a big mobile water tank.

-The train has stopped. Do you want me to help you go down?

The woman opened her mouth at the pace of a snail and said — It’s not time yet.

Jolie looked at her, somewhat disturbed, and the creepiness was slowly instilling in her blood. She felt her head heavier and almost like the gaze of the old lady had something far more than ominous to it.

Went back to her seat, knowing she had to pass 3 stations until arriving at her destination. It was about to be a 2-hour trip, no more than that. She pulled her sleeve, revealing her silver vintage Cartier watch that showed 6:00 PM.

The loathing for trains, especially empty ones, crept in and refused to leave her headspace.

In this case, there was one thing to do. She opened her tablet, firing up Netflix. Seeing familiar titles and opening a movie she loved was exactly what she needed right now.

The window’s own movie was also rolling, and she looked every now and then, watching buildings and nature pass by, until the only thing she saw was nature. Her destination was a mountain resort where she’d meet with a bunch of her colleagues, right at the station.

So everything was ok, and her nerves unwound a little bit, making it easier to breathe.

The movie was hilarious, and when she realised her watch showed 8:45 PM, her heart stopped for a bit again, feeling that big lump in her throat.

The train stopped only 2 times, she thought. She knew for sure there hadn’t been a 3rd stop.

She turned behind, and the old lady was still there, watching the window serenely. That calmed her a little bit, even though the lady was… odd to say the least.

Eyeing the conductor’s cabin, she stood up and went on laser-focused and decided to get some answers for this incredible delay. All while messaging her colleagues fast that she was incredibly sorry, but the train is still on. She noticed her message couldn’t be sent, appearing with an exclamation point. The signal was gone. Oh no no no no noooooo god damn, she started spiralling out loud. No one waits for 45 minutes. They must have left by now, thinking I didn’t come.

-Hey, sir! Excuse me, sir! This trip was supposed to last 2 hours. What’s going on??

No answer

-Sir, if you don’t answer me, I’m going in.

No answer

-I will force the door and go in. Do you hear me??

Still, no answer.

Jolie forced the door, trying multiple times, falling back on her ass, and trying again and again.

She watched back at the old lady, but she seemed to be ignorant of all the noise behind.

The last time, as she ran from the middle of the passage alley and pushed herself through the door, she finally got the door moving just a crack, enough for her to see what was inside.

No one.

Her heart stopped for some time. At least that’s how she felt it.

Her eyeballs were bursting through her skin, and she was left without air for more than 1 minute.

That’s when the train stopped, and the doors opened.

She froze, turned her head slowly, and outside was a deserted, cold nature. Looked like somewhere in the middle of the woods, but nothing like the station she expected to see.

With the corner of her eye, she saw the old lady standing up and moving towards her direction, fixing her gaze.

Her breathing sped up now, and she was holding her phone so tight, in her pocket, she thought she’d broken it. She immediately dialled 911, but to no avail. No signal.

• It’s time, she said, as she moved along the train stairs, near the conductor’s rusted cabin, that Jolie just forced.
• There is no one in this cabin. No one is riding this train, lady!!! Do you understand me??

That old lady stopped and stared at her.

• Of course, my dear.
• What do you mean, of course, my dear?? Where are we?? How can this be???
• Come, there’s no point in… dwelling and…staying here anyway. The train won’t leave anymore. See..it’s…it’s reached its final station.

She didn’t know what that meant, but oh boy, how much she wanted to not know. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare soooooo bad. Oh my god — oh my god — oh my god. That’s all she could utter in denial of everything that was happening right then.

She went back to her seat, grabbed her coat and over-the-shoulder bag, and ran out of the train, following the old lady to see where she was going.

The air was crisp, cold, but the dusty feeling wouldn’t go away. It was there, lingering in the air like a bad omen.

The most disturbing thing wasn’t the smell, but the pitch black in total and absolute silence.

No birds humming, no wind blowing, no traffic down or above, where she looked briefly, hoping to see an airplane, a drone, a helicopter with “Rescue team” on, anything. No noise whatsoever.

She tried her phone over and over again like a maniac, frozen in place, looking only at her phone as if analysing the scenery around her would cause her a heart attack.

The old lady was looking at her, then she sighed and simply said with big pauses between her words, as if she could barely speak — Let’s… go. Follow…me.

Jolie couldn’t move her body. Either from the shock or from that place, she just couldn’t move. She was frozen like a statue of ice in an exhibition.

– You need to pass that wall of fear, dear. One leg in front of the other — The old lady added while walking utterly slowly forward, but without turning to Jolie for confirmation.

Jolie tried to calm her breathing to no avail. She managed to move one foot, though, and place it in front of the other one. Her heart was pounding so hard it could have ripped her chest open. Her mouth was completely dry, and the lump in her throat became even more intense.

Then the other foot, and next thing she was walking as slowly as the old lady was. As if she had earned 40 more years in the time of 3 train stations.

She could see the ground where she was walking, covered in pebbles, dirt, and mud. The silhouette of the trees near them was barely visible.

She kept thinking that it shouldn’t be that dark at this time of the day, but it was. A darkness that she has never seen before. It was almost like the only point of reference in space was the trees, as if someone wanted her to only see them.

That was a station indeed where the train stopped. It was just secluded, and didn’t look like one, but the two barriers placed oddly and curved, limiting the space from everything else, and an empty bench in the middle, confirmed it was a degrading train station.

After a few steps of looking down, carefully what she stepped in, the old lady was nowhere to be found. Jolie was afraid to yell for her because in her mind, this was clearly either not happening in real life or she had just entered a different world with different rules.

Yelling would only freak her out even more if that was even possible.

She only hoped she didn’t die in her sleep or anything, and that she would find a way out of this world soon. Hope was all she had, and she pulled it from the depths of her mind, like a lucky talisman, under a wrap of heavy clothes that hangs by a thin thread. She just kept marching forward because there was nothing else to do but freeze in place. In her mind came a saying from her grandpa — You don’t find your way by waiting — you find it by walking.

She finally reached what looked like another station. Someone was sitting there on a bench. The profile revealed a man in his 50s, looking in front of him, as if watching a movie.

– He…llo? Hello?

The man turned to Jolie, and he looked normal, had calming features, thick, full lips, light green eyes, and looked rather bored than threatening.

– Yes, miss?

– What are you doing here?

– Waiting for the train, of course.

– What train?

– The 10 PM train, miss.

– Leading where?

The man stopped, turned his head forward, and stood in silence.

– I said, leading where?

Jolie looked at him with a paralysed face and kept waiting for an answer.

– Have you ever tried to open your eyes underwater?

– What? This is not the time to play riddles. Uhah. nope. Not here. Don’t fucking riddle me.

– It’s not a riddle. It’s just a question. We have some time until the train arrives. At least we can talk to make time…pass.

– Aaha…Jolie said distrussfully. — No. No, I have never.

– Why is that?

Jolie took some time again to compose her shaking body, breathe, and drag herself from the layered depths of fear she had been drowning in until getting here. Was it only until getting here, or was the fear installed earlier?

– Because I was afraid, she whispered.

– Of water?

– Yes.

– That’s strange. I mean… out of all the things one could be scared of. I can tell you it’s quite an experience. You look at a distorted image, and it’s like entering a different world. You know?

Jolie thought she knew what he was talking about more than he did. Or maybe he knew. That was such a bizarre question to ask out of nowhere to someone you don’t know. Yeah, as if that was the weird thing. Jesus Christ. She started saying a quick prayer in her mind.

The man sighed.

– Yes, she finally said — abruptly; — I imagine it…must be quite impressive. I wish I had the courage to do that.

– Do you wish for that now?

– Yes.

– Interesting.

– What’s interesting?

– Well… we usually don’t wish for the things we fear. We simply lock the fear in a drawer, where we never look. I mean, it can be scary even to be here, at this time of night, what looks like the middle of nowhere.

Jolie felt the first touch of relief for that day.

– Yesss!! — She exhaled; — It is strange, right?? Oh god. I thought you wouldn’t say anything about it. I am so scared.

The man smiled kindly and looked away again.

– Fear is only in your head, Jolie.

Jolie froze.

– I never told you my name.

– You didn’t.

Jolie stared at him

– How do you know me?

– I don’t. I have been told your name is Jolie.

– By whom?

The man looked away again.

– You always look away when you don’t want to answer, huh?

The man turned quickly and spoke in a different tone than before, more authoritative this time.

– Yes.

Jolie sensed that and shut up. She looked at her phone again, but nothing. She kept writing messages to her friends, hoping by some miracle they would arrive. “I don’t know where I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PLEASE SEND HELP.”

The train finally arrived. The man asked Jolie to come up, and she did. She wouldn’t stay there, as she thought, anywhere would be better than there.

After they sat down, the man kept talking slower and slower, just like the old lady before, and mumbling bizarre things that were completely missing sense.

He asked a couple more bizarre questions, and Jolie kept checking her phone.

When the train arrived at the next station again, the man left, invited Jolie with him, saying that they both needed to go down, but Jolie refused to go. She would stay here; at least it’s warm, and it’s light. And she secretly hoped this time there was a conductor, but never checked.

Also, she hoped the train would go back somehow, or if not, she would wait for daylight to make a decision.

That’s when she felt dizzy, like her whole body felt slow and heavy. Her head felt like it usually feels when she’s about to faint, and….

Next thing she saw was her text message from Annie, her colleague. We’ll be expecting you at 8:00 PM, sharp. The train doesn’t delay, so don’t worry. She was sitting in the same station where she originally sat while awaiting that mysterious train.

She stood up in disbelief, touched her body, her head, her hands, making sure they were all there, and rushed away from the station, down the escalators, pushing and shoving through the swarm of people. She was sweating through her clothes, but didn’t stop, only for the red lights, all the way back home.