A Stolen Life

A piece written at uni a few years back for my module 'The Fantastic'. It's an old one, but I'm just breaking myself into the site gently :)

I shook my head, trying to ignore the blood pounding in my ears. Running has never been my strong point, yet the fact that I always appear to be late means that it is an inevitable part of my life. I took a few deep breaths, allowing the gentle rattling of the moving train carriage to regulate my hammering heart. Hoisting my huge bag onto the seat next to me, I closed my eyes, allowing myself to drift into a weary doze after a long day of university… and a difficult few minutes of running.

Tap… Tap... Tap...

Pacing footsteps rose me from my semi-consciousness, and I forced my eyes open. Glancing around the train for the first time since I had forced my way onto it, I was quite uneasy. It was empty. Oddly empty in comparison to most days. The footsteps were still prominent, yet I could not see a single soul. Ignoring the alarm bells sounding through my head, I closed my eyes once again.

A soft thud made my eyes fly open, and I physically jumped as I found myself staring into the face of a girl. I took another look around the still empty train, puzzled as to why she had chosen to sit directly opposite me... and where she had come from. Feeling uncomfortable, I started unnecessarily fiddling with my bag, fighting the compelling to urge to take a proper look at the girl. I shivered, suddenly freezing, the only heat in the carriage coming from the girl’s stare burning into my head. I allowed myself to glance in her direction, and quickly did a double take.

The girl was familiar. Unnervingly familiar. I forced myself to look away and caught sight of my reflection in the window of the train… only to see the face of the girl looking straight back at me. I felt myself emit an inaudible gasp, as I realized what my subconscious had clearly been blocking me from knowing. Long auburn hair; dark eyes framed by dark glasses; freckles splattered across a petite nose. This girl was me.

I found myself smiling at how ridiculous I was being. I knew I always got slightly nervy when I travelled on my own, but this was a new level of psychotic. I raised my eyes to share my smile with the girl, and immediately felt it fall from my face. She was completely lifeless. Her glazed eyes stared relentlessly in my direction, her deathly pale skin seemed to emit an eerie glow, and I would have bet that she wasn’t even breathing. Concern rising in my chest, I took another pointless glance around the train, hoping someone else would have appeared from somewhere to help me gain my grip back on reality.  I peered at her lifeless form again, and felt my concern escalate to panic. What would I do if there was something wrong with her? I had no idea what to do in such circumstances and, as selfish as it was, spent a few minutes with my head in my hands worrying about my potential situation.

My anxiety was soon brought to an abrupt halt. Out of the corner of my eye, a flicker of movement caught my attention. I slowly raised my head from my hands and felt a chill run through my body. The girl was still statuesque, apart from her right arm. She had lifted it up in front of her body and was slowly beckoning me over to her with her index finger. Knowing fully that we were the only ones potentially on the train, let alone in the carriage, I still found myself looking around to see who she was calling. Seeing that she was still slowly gesturing me over to her, I gradually pulled myself onto my feet and walked the few paces over to where she was sitting. She lowered her hand at the same lazy pace that she had raised it and once again sat motionless. Feeling out of place, I went to sit back down, but spotted yet another slight movement from the girl. Her lips were trying to form the shapes of a word... yet she made no sound. Warily, I crouched down in front of her, trying to catch her blank gaze and help her communicate.

I instantly regretted my decision.

“T-T-Tiiiiiiina.” The girl stuttered in a ghostly drawl. I recoiled in shock, thinking that I was hearing things. “Tina.” She said, more pronounced and certain this time.

“What do you want from me? Who are you?” I mouthed, making to stand up and back away. With more movement and speed than I’d seen from her throughout the entire train journey, the girl gripped my shoulders with iron tight fingers. I resisted, to no avail. We stood locked together by her grasp, her glassy eyes finally finding mine with purpose. Opening my mouth to scream, I found that I couldn’t. The longer the girl gripped me, the more I felt life seeping out of my body and into hers. Eventually she let me go. I knew I had dropped into the girl’s seat, but I didn’t feel the chair hit my legs as I fell. I couldn’t feel my pale and lifeless hands resting in my lap. I just couldn’t feel. I managed to gain the ability to focus my cloudy eyes just in time to see the girl standing in front of me with her back turned. As she twisted to face me, I noticed a new awareness in her eyes and colour in her cheeks. She was full of life… she was full of my life. Swinging my bag over her shoulder as the train pulled into my stop, she raised the hand she had earlier beckoned me with and waved, smiling as she did so. She then calmly turned and walked away.

I never saw the girl again. I never saw myself again.

I never saw anything again.

Reviews

[Samuel Jack]

Scary stuff, a nice compact little horror story, well written I think, nice and descriptive so the image was built, but not bogging me down with stuff. A fluid read.