The Metro

10.44 pm: It was the last blue line train and she hurriedly boarded it.

Moments ago she was rushing out of the high-decibel party zone in the building abutting the B Metro Railway station. They had just celebrated the birthday of her best friend from college.

Nikitha was alone, she was to travel to the far end of the city and was fortunate to be living close to the last Metro station on the route. Huffing and puffing after climbing almost a hundred steps, Nikitha barely got into the coach, when the doors closed.

It was quite deserted, hardly about fifty people, mostly late returnees from work heading home after a tiring Monday. Most people were busy lost in their mobile phones, either listening to music with earphones plugged in, or just simply sifting through their smart phones.

Nikitha sat alone at the far end of an empty row of seats and looked out of the window. The dark cloudy sky was constantly enlivened by constant flashes of lightning. A thunderstorm was brewing. As she gazed out of the elevated metro, she could see the lights from the towers that abutted the city. The fun and mirth of the evening brought a smile on her face, soon to be lost in thoughts of what lay ahead. She was embarking on a journey that would take her far away from her home and friends. To a world different from where she grew up and a culture, she was excited to experience, was soon to be a reality. A career path that she charted for herself was going to take her to the west for higher studies.

As she was reflecting on what to expect in the weeks ahead, the train passed four stations and quite a few people got down. She looked around and found just about a dozen people left, most of whom were now almost half asleep in their seats.

As the train pulled out of the ‘East’ station, it started raining, the drizzle soon turned into a huge down pour and the sound from the water beating down on the windows got louder. Slowing down to engage the curving path over the junction beneath, the train was now at the highest altitude on its path. The flashes of lightning accompanied by thunder grew. Just as Nikitha looked out of the window, the train was passing beside the cemetery. A bright big flash of lightening hit the solitary tree in the cemetery and it caught fire. It seemed eerie out there, the bright white light bathed the entire area and she could clearly see every tombstone as if it were mid day on a summer afternoon.

She also saw something strange! Bewildered she moved her eyes away from the exterior and looked inside the train, and was shocked to see that there was no one, except her in the coaches. It was totally deserted. A chill ran down her spine.

The silence was broken by the automated voice that announced the arrival of the next station. The voice tapering off “… doors open on the right side”, is all she could hear. Her heart started beating faster.

“Should I get down here and take a cab home? Six more stations… could there be more people getting in? Would I have some company? Let me wait in here”, she told herself, grabbing her bag tightly.

At the next Metro stop, the doors opened and she saw about four or five people walking out from the train and about the same number getting in. She wondered, “Where were they? How did I miss seeing them, Invisible people?”

An old lady, who just got in, came and sat in the empty row of seats in front of her. Nikitha smiled at her. The lady did not acknowledge and gave her a cold stare. Nikitha was fine with it, she was glad to have company.

Over the next few stations, she just shut her eyes and didn’t bother to look out on to the platform. The penultimate station was one of the busiest junctions in the city and almost everyone, of whoever was left, got down there. With a late urge to join them, she got up from her seat, only to see the doors closing and the train pulled away from the platform.

For the next hundred-and-twenty seconds she could hear her heart pounding. The last station was approaching and it seemed to be dark, there were no lights on. “Is there a power break down, then why is the train still moving, if so? Is the place haunted?” thoughts were flashing in her mind.

HAUNTED? Nikitha just couldn’t get over the thought. It came like flash, and it stayed… the next few seconds seemed like eternity. She started fearing for the worst.

Flashes from her past rendezvous with the abnormal, the hallucination of travelling in a horse drawn cart and the strange phenomenon from her train journey started to play in loop at high speed.

Nikitha started perspiring, she wished it was a dream and it would end soon. The old woman sitting across was not be seen either. “Did she get down at the previous station? Why didn’t I jump out before the doors closed?”

Then, suddenly the lights in the train went out, it became totally dark and it was frightening. A streak of lightening in the sky brightened the compartment, but only momentarily. The thunder that followed rattled her and she shrieked out loud.

Just as the train was about to halt, a lady tapped on her shoulder. “Last station Miss, you’ve got to get down”.

She opened her eyes to the bright lights in the Metro station, even as dozens of people walked out into the crowded platform. Nikitha realized, she had dozed off after a tiring party!


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Pic: Internet