Why do the train schedules show destinations that don't exist? What causes the temperature to drop in certain tunnels? How do the shadows move against the train lights? Why do the night workers hear announcements from empty platforms? What makes the turnstiles spin when no one's there?
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The text also just grows increasingly garbled. For instance, here it says that our new subway system will streamline the rush-hour commute, but about halfway down, it’s a series of nearly indecipherable glyphs our experts insist hint at “non-Euclidian emotions” and “appeasement” (though we think this may be a euphemism for “fares”).
― Joseph Fink, The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe
The fluorescent lights of Harrow Street Station flickered in that particular rhythm that Simone Blackwood had come to dread. Three quick pulses, then darkness for two seconds longer than comfortable, then light again. It happened only on Platform 3, and only after midnight.
Simone checked her watch---12:47 AM. The digital departures board claimed the next train would arrive in eight minutes, though she’d never known the late-night schedule to be reliable. The platform stood empty except for a man at the far end, motionless against a peeling advertisement for a play that had closed months ago.
The station’s architecture was all wrong. Simone had noticed it her first night working the late shift at the hospital. The arched ceilings curved at impossible angles, and sounds echoed in ways that defied physics---conversations from one end would reach her ears before ones happening closer. Tonight, she could swear she heard the clacking of the approaching train even though the tracks remained empty.
Three nights ago, she had seen a woman in a cream-colored coat standing at the yellow safety line. When the train arrived, the woman hadn’t boarded. Instead, she’d turned to look at Simone, revealing a face with features that seemed to shift and realign with each blink. The next moment, as passengers disembarked, the woman had vanished entirely.
The lights flickered again---three pulses, long darkness. In that extended black moment, Simone felt warm breath on her neck. The station remained empty when the lights returned, yet the man at the far end now stood only three pillars away. His stillness was unnatural, as though he wasn’t breathing at all.
The digital board now read: “ARRIVING.” But no train approached. No rumble beneath her feet. No light from the tunnel. The man took a step toward her, and Simone noticed his feet didn’t quite touch the ground.
That’s when she heard it---not the familiar screech of train wheels on tracks, but a deeper, more guttural sound emanating from the tunnel. The darkness there seemed to pulse, to breathe. The station’s speakers crackled to life with static that gradually formed words: “This is not your stop.”
