The Underground

​I hated the subway. It was filled with rude people and lunatics. First, the wait for the train. You have to watch out for pick pockets and nauseous homeless drunk on cheap spirits. The moment the sounds of the street faded you knew you were in for a treat. It seemed the cities worst centered around the subway, so I guess that makes me one of the cities worst. To be honest, if I had energy to walk across the city, I would, but I cant and this is one of the mundane problems. However, this is nothing compared to the train ride itself.

The last time I rode the subway was unforgettable because even to this day I have no idea what happened. I stepped on and found a free seat. The stiff chair bugged me. It was so easy to slide right off or into someone else. I soon realized this was even more so for this train when we set off. The train lurched forward so fast I grabbed the edge of the chair to keep from sliding off. Such a burst of speed was surprising, but I let the thought pass for a moment and concerned myself with just making it to the end of the trip.
I looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but they didn't. They continued to read, sleep or stare aimlessly at the floor. I couldn't blame them for trying to pass the time, but something was off and I couldn't be the only one who noticed. The train was moving faster and faster. The lights in the tunnels sped past, stretching with the Doppler Effect. Soon they became one continuous beam of light and I sat there like the greatest fool of the people. My head darted from side-to-side looking at the people and outside the window. Was it always this way or was my mind snapping? A question I asked myself several times that week.
My eyes were wide as I stared at this light. Just as soon as it started it disappeared. The tunnel lights vanished and the train shook more than usual. Thinking back on the scenario I wonder why I wasn't making a bigger scene. I will add that to the list of things I can't explain that night. My eyes eventually drifted to the passengers across from me and I found myself noticing something unusual. There was a couple across from me. The man sat with one leg over the other while the woman had her legs apart. The man was dressed in a suit and the woman in a short dress, reading a newspaper. I found it more unusual when the man turned to stare at me the moment I started studying his face.
The train began to slow and soon the familiar light of another stop had arrived. Passengers left, others came on. I watched the couple leave as well as other unusual figures. Again, I don't understand my behavior. I should have just walked off with them, but it wasn't my stop. In fact, it was the stop that came before the one I was waiting at. I threw away the idea that the train went backwards. It was probably just a mistake with the signs, but I believe now that it was something keeping me on that train. A force or person that didn't want me to walk off and stay on for another trip.
The train burst forward once again and the darkness returned. There weren't any tunnel lights. It was just a void. I took a quick look around the train. They were all new passengers seated in cheap seats just like mine.
​My heart began to beat like an engine pushed to the max. It sensed something was really off now and I began to feel terrified. I felt eyes on me, I felt hands on me, I felt breath of strangers drift across me. It was a harsh feeling and it left me holding my breath and my muscles tensed to the breaking point.
Once more I turned my attention to the passenger across from me and I found that he was staring back at me. His face was masked in shadow, but then he lifted his head enough to reveal the horror of who sat across from me. He didn't have eyes, just flesh where eyes should be. Everyone else had the same trait. Flesh staring at newspapers or at the floor. Everything was silent. The train was making no sound. It was quiet. The lights flickered and the other people lifted their heads simultaneously. It was such a mass movement that I couldn't help but notice.
​They were all staring straight at me. Whatever they were knew I could see what they were and they didn't like that. The lights flickered off and my heart stopped. I felt death close its hand on me. A few seconds more of silence and the lights returned. They were gone, all of them. I was in an empty compartment. The tunnel lights had returned with the sound of the train. Just as I noticed this the train began to slow and it soon came to my expected stop.
Without hesitation I climbed off the train. I was the only one to get off. I didn't notice this at first. I was too happy to see other people. These people had eyes. They talked, they read and they were bored.
The train hissed behind me and began to take off. I didn't look back, I just ran back to the surface. I would never take the subway again. I repeated that statement to myself so many times, but I found myself returning to it, never feeling the same again. Where else could I go? Getting a taxi would cost me more than I can afford, I knew nobody with a car and I wouldn't be available to afford one anytime soon. Despite all that I felt I sat in the same cheap seat a few days later, nervous running sweat running down my forehead.
I fear the underground.