Three Terrifying Ghost Stories

5th and Center Station

by Soymodelo111

A young woman enters the underground subway at 5th and Center Station to catch the 3:15am train. Her fear of the late night ride has prevented her from working the graveyard shift in the past, but increasing financial struggles quickly influenced this exception. The silence of the eerie subway halls steadily discomforts this as she anxiously awaits on the subway bench. Constant stories of horrific events involving murderers and thieves easily invades her mind.

Suddenly, a smirking gang of three appears. They seem to walk towards her but vanish almost instantly. “I’m really letting my fear get the better of me,” she states, attempting to calm herself. Vibrations from the oncoming train begin, which aid in a sigh of relief from the startled woman. Stepping into the empty car, she decides to rest in the closest seat. I’ve never seen the train so empty, she thinks while withdrawing her book.

Eventually, the passenger drifts asleep yet awakens to find herself at the same 5th and Center Station. What the…? she wonders, I guess we haven’t left yet.

The train then takes off. Within minutes, the same 5th and Center Station sign appears. What’s going on? she nervously ponders.

Quickly lifting her watch to verify how long it’s been, the passenger is aghast to find that the time still shows 3:10 am. Fearing that she’s losing her mind, the wide eyed commuter uneasily watches as the train’s next stop appears. It is yet another 5th and Center Station sign. Growing more perplexed every instant, the panicked woman promptly begins running through each car to find others. Without warning, an unforeseen beam of light emerges. It embodies the whole train car and finally causes the confused woman to halt.

“Hello there, young lady. I’ve been waiting for you,” spoke a friendly male voice.

“What do you mean?” she asks, looking around dumbfounded.

A male apparition materializes and chucks her a newspaper article. The moment the female reads the title, a brutal memory instantaneously floods her mind. ‘Young Woman Fatally Raped and Beaten in 5th and Center Subway.’ Finally relaxing, her now saddened eyes look up at the elderly gentleman.

“It’s been four months, love,” he answers before she could speak. “It took you some time to reach me.”

“But why am I still here?” she says with a depressed frown.

“This train is a spirit trap, love. Those who ride here choose forgetfulness in order to block their gruesome deaths. I am here to show you the way.”

“Did you die here?” she asks, returning her eyes to the grim article.

The friendly man answered, “I sure did. My heading said: ‘Well Known Hobo Pushed in Front of Oncoming Train.’ I refused to believe what had happened to me and ended up here just like you.”

Her mournful voice questions again, “Can I move on now?”

“Not quite, my dear. It’s your turn to be guiding spirit. I’ve waited six years for you to replace me. You’ll get your time.” As her eyes begin losing their relaxed disposition again he adds, “Now don’t worry, years don’t feel as long anymore.”

“Wait!” The young woman cries as she realizes her companion is fading, “You can’t leave yet. I don’t even fully understand what’s going on. How do I even know when someone’s coming?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” he smiles, pointing at the newspaper in her hands. “You get a new article.”

Alone once again, the young passenger peers out the train window to see the same 5th and Center sign appear. She is unable to disembark.

Afterward

by Zack Ryan Hamilton

Robert sat reading in a comfortable chair close to his tainted, beautiful, wooden fireplace. The light of the flame flickered around the room, making the outside look cold and forbidden. Wind howled against the window as the snow pushed against it.

“Goddamn winter,” he thought.

As the night continued on, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. The book became harder to read. He finally gave a satisfactory grumble, and trotted off to bed. The wind howled outside the whole time.

He stared up at the ceiling from his bed. Reminisced about times since gone, things he could have fixed. Tears built in his eyes as he watched the images project onto the ceiling. Images of love and immunity flashed. He wished he could close his eyes a final time. He kept whispering, “This is it, this is it,” until finally his eyes closed and he slept.

A muffled thud rang out. His eyes shot open.

“What in the hell was that?” he thought.

He quickly grabbed his robe, and lazily sleepwalked his way to the front door. He didn’t see the double-barrel shotgun over his fireplace as a decoration anymore. He reached for it and loaded it.

The front door flew open amidst the powerful winds as he turned the knob. He squinted his eyes through the blizzard and through the cold and shouted. Nothing. Something wasn’t right.

Robert slowly shuffled out of his cabin, the shotgun gripped between his fingers. He started around the cabin slowly. The wind seemed to whip him to speed up, but he was persistent. His legs took careful steps in the snow. Oncoming footprints appeared in the snow, straight toward his cabin.

“This sumbitch is mine,” he said.

And he knew he’d end a life today. No more regrets.

He followed the tracks around to a small covering over a window. It was pitch black.

“You come out right now.”

Nothing moved. The wind still howled. The forest began to lumber over top of the night sky.

“I will shoot you, you sumbitch. You come out right now!”

Finally the figure began to move. The shadow raised its hands, only to return them quickly because of the cold.

“Please, I have no house.” The old man’s eyes widened. It was only a boy. “Please sir, I have no house.”

Robert looked down the iron sight of the shotgun still.

“I knew trouble was out here. Always is. Now you gone and run things up for me. I told myself that I would end the trouble tonight.”

The boy looked at him with half-beaten eyes. He tried to say something, but the only sound Robert heard was that of a scared little boy. Someone with no hope left. But he told himself in his head he couldn’t give up; he had to do something he wouldn’t regret. Until it hit him. This boy was the change he was looking for. He could finally appreciate helping someone, letting them grow up and become a man. This was his chance. He spoke, and nodded along with the shotgun.

“How old are ya?”

“I’m 14, sir. You?”

“67. And not a day older’en that. Come on in, boy. I have a good feeling ’bout you.”

Robert led the boy in. He was filthy in the light. His face smothered in dirt, knees redder then the devil. Robert began to feel better; like he was the savior this time. The old man motioned toward a chair close to the fire, and they both sat amongst the flickering light. Robert returned the shotgun to the mantel.

“What’s yer name?” The boy sat focused on the fire, and finally looked up.

“Adam.”

“Where are your parents, Adam?”

“My mum and pa, both of ’em were dead a long time ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

They both sat, listening to the fire crack over and over again. Adam sat up after a moment’s pause.

“Why do you live out here?”

“‘Cause it lets me get away from the bullshit back in the city. Back in ‘them life.” Adam eased back. He knew it wasn’t an appropriate question. They sat by the fire a long time.

Robert showed Adam the guest room. The boy nodded, and closed the door. The old man returned back to his room, comfortable. He smiled to himself. He smiled about helping someone. He smiled about a future for the boy. He smiled to himself again and again until he was too tired to continue. This was going to be the best sleep he’d ever had.

Morning arrived and Robert sat up. The wind stopped. The night had turned to a crisp morning. He smiled to himself again. This was what he needed.

He walked down the long hall of rooms before reaching the kitchen. Nothing had been moved. The ticking of a clock in the background. No one was up for breakfast. The boy must be hungry, he thought. He started out of the kitchen before noticing a small mud track on the floor. The boy was never in the kitchen last night. He looked up and around, hearing the silence screaming at him. No food had been moved. No crumbs on the counter. Only the infection of the small mud track. Robert began toward Adam’s room. It was still locked. He knocked and called for him, but nothing answered. Maybe the boy was still asleep, and merely woke up for a snack? The old man was still curious. He continued down to his room, found the door key, and unlocked it.

The bed was perfectly made, as if no one had even slept in it. Robert’s heart began to thump in his chest. This could not have been a dream. His fear brought his thoughts back to the shotgun again. He turned and thundered toward the mantel, only to discover that it was gone. Instead, a note had been nailed in its place.

Robert slowly unfolded the note, removing an old Polaroid picture first.

‘I win, dad. You forgot about me.’ The picture showed Robert’s wife crying in their basement. He looked up slowly at the mantel. He remembered everything. His anger, the custody battles. His love becoming obsession, his immunity becoming weakness. He remembered how he hid away the two people he loved most in the darkest reaches of the house. The screaming and crying became fainter with each day. Only to finally become crying and shuffling. The unbreakable lock to the basement becoming comfort to him. Robert smiled to himself still. This was what he needed.

He began to turn around, only to hear the click of the shotgun behind him.

“No regrets, right dad?”

The wind howled as a beat was heard from the cabin. The forest lumbered over, hushing the noise.

The smile was frozen on Robert’s face.

The 3rd Floor

by TheDarkcomedyZ

I was not one to believe in things such as ghosts, However I was still an individual that was easily scared. My friends Mike and Chris, would constantly take it upon themselves to scare me. Schemes such as jumping me from behind, or telling me some scary story. These pointless acts did scare me, but at the end of the day they were

pranks. Amongst the stories and pranks they pulled, nothing stuck with me more than what I saw on the third floor. Through my high school years I went to a really old fashioned school. The school at the time had two complexes on the campus. The one on the right side was a newer building, which was where most of my classes were held. On the other side was the original three floor complex, which was there from around the 1930’s. We only had two classes there, as the school’s shitty budget couldn’t have all the students piled in one area. They used the downstairs of the old building for two classes, and the school office on the second floor. Since they had no use for the third floor, they blocked it off from student entry. The third floor used to be upstairs dorm rooms, as the school back in its day was a boarding house for girls. As you would expect students concoted rumours about what could be up there. Some of these claims where ridiculous, like the school hiding rotting corpses in the floor boards. Honestly, I just ignored most of these claims. Naturally Chris and Mike were always curious as to what was up in there and constantly urged me to go up with them. I of course constantly turned them down. Not out of fear but out of concern for being suspended. However, through peer pressure, I finally decided to go up. That was the last mistake I would ever make.

It was around December that my school would always hold an annual Christmas party. These parties went on quite late with most of the teachers drinking themselves to the point of being totally oblivious. Of course my friends took this as a perfect opportunity to sneak up to the third floor of the school. Mike then once again asked me if I wanted to come. At first I said no, like I had time and time again. “Come on,” Mike kept insisting. I sighed, perhaps it could be a bit interesting. Plus the building was empty, which meant we wouldn’t be caught. “Fine.” I finally said. As I did Mike’s face lit up as he shouted, “Yes!” while patting me on the back. I felt a bit happy, knowing my friends really wanted me along with them. Mike went to get Chris, who’d basically go anywhere Mike went. I followed them over the campus. I was as nervous as anyone could be. No nervous would be a small way to put it, petrified would be the better term. I kept thinking, “why am I doing this, am I crazy?” As I slowly moved next to Chris, He kept on telling me to calm down but it was never that easy to me. I kept glancing over as we ran over to the old complex, afraid that we might be caught. To be honest part of me wanted us to get caught. Looking back now I wish we had been. Mike led us into the main hall of the school. The lights were turned off, no shock there. Mike fumbled until he found a light switch. As the lights went on, I could see an expression of excitement on his face. Wish I had the same feeling.

Chris and I followed behind Mike to the third floor stair case. I glanced up and saw the regular do not enter sign, that was stuck onto the rotting wood. I shrugged this off the best I could. Lucky for us the wood wasn’t high at all an example of the school’s cheap security. Mike slowly climbed over the wood motioning for us to follow. At this point my mind was screaming for me to run. So it was either stay, or ditch your two friends. I sighed and slowly followed Chris as he climbed over the wood. I stepped on to the staircase. The creaking from it unnerved me a bit, wondering if this floor was stable. Still it was a minor concern. I followed Chris to the top as Mike was already looking around. I reached the last step, and glanced around the top floor. It was surprisingly very well preserved despite the dust and fading paint on the walls. It had a very damp smell which reminded me of dirty laundry. Mike started to dart around the floor eagerly looking for something interesting. Chris followed him like a puppy, typical behavior for him. I slowly followed them into one of the dorm rooms. It was very dusty, with nothing but a worn out bed in the center. I kept looking behind my back. Half expecting someone to be there. Nothing.The shadows must be getting to me I thought. We took a look in the other rooms finding the same thing, one bed in each room. Nothing that special.

I could see Mike was getting annoyed, poor guy I thought. I laughed in my head at myself, about being afraid of this place. Turns out it was nothing but a dump. No ghost or corpses. Just an old floor. Mike gave up looking and began to make his way downstairs with Chris. I followed behind them slowly still looking over my back. I will admit I was still a bit nervous, I mean the place was still eerie. As I reached the staircase I heard a voice from below. I stepped back as I recognized the voice. It was the school janitor. He’d caught Mike and Chris climbing over the wood. I began to panic. Not wanting to get caught I darted into one of the dorms. I quickly hid in the corner of one of the rooms, waiting for the Chris and Mike to be escorted out. “Some friend I am.” I thought, feeling guilty. I slumped onto the floor and waited. it was quiet, the wood didn’t even creak. The only light was the moonlight through the window. The silence began to bother me. I kept thinking that someone was waiting for me to get up. After at least three minutes I couldn’t take it anymore. I jolted up, and went into the hallway on the floor. As I moved for the staircase, I saw something catch my eye. I froze in place not wanting to turn around. I felt a cold feeling that I wasn’t alone up here. That someone was behind me. I kept telling myself to run but I couldn’t help but look. I regret every thing I did at that moment. I turned around to find what appeared to be a girl at the end of the hall.

She was spaced and had not noticed me. My mind was racing, trying to find out who this girl was, and why she was up here. I began to step back, telling myself to run. Then I heard the floor creak beneath me. It made me jump at the same time making the girl face me. I froze in place, as she looked at me. The girl looked at me so wide eyed, as if her eyes were going to pop. Her eyes where a black colour. Her face looked dirty and slightly rotted and she wore a worn out dress. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. for that moment I never took my eyes off of her. I kept waiting for her to do something, but she stood still. She just stared at me For what felt like forever. I needed to get out of there. I kept repeating to myself to run. “Run, run, run, run.” I finally began to step backward. As I did the girl jerked and began to scream. My blood ran cold as I forced myself to run to the wooden barrier. To my horror I could hear the scream getting louder. She was coming for me! I panicked fumbling over the wood. I fell over the other side. ignoring the pain, I made a dash for the main hall. I didn’t dare turn around. I finally made it outside. Taking a second to catch my breath I found Chris and Mike waiting for me. Mike asked me where I was in a rage, but I barley heard him. I was in shock. My heart was racing to the point where I collapsed onto the ground. Mike and Chris asked me worriedly “What the hell happened?” but I could never answer.

After that night, I could never look up at my old school complex the same way. I always knew that girl was up there. You would have expected me to tell someone, but I never did. No one would believe me anyway. I still couldn’t believe it. It’s been three years and I’ve finally graduated from school. Life is good, I’ve had no reason since that night to feel afraid of anything… That was until graduation day. After my graduation, I was leaving in my car parked near the old building. Not thinking about it, I looked up at the third floor window. I then stopped. Staring back at me through the dusty glass was a pair of wide dark eyes…