The Tunnel Dweller



Edited by:SaturnSunrise

It was a Saturday night and roughly 11:30 PM when I staggered home from a friend’s party. It was dark out and most people had gone to bed by now so the streets we’re silent. The only sound that could be heard was from the wind quietly whooshing through the trees in the darkness – quite relaxing really. It was almost complete darkness out apart from the street lamps that lit up the deserted roadside that I walked down. Strangely enough, it didn’t seem to bother me either, the dark and the quiet rustling above me was often something that made me feel alive. But, there was something not quite right about this night. Something that made my hairs stand on end, I didn’t know what caused it, but I was sure I was going to find out soon.

After another ten minutes of walking, I finally reached a familiar street. The trees around the road had begun to get thicker and denser as my house was in the outskirts of town. At this point I was exhausted, I hadn't had that much to drink at the party but I was still tired none the less, after all my parents weren’t going to pick me up. Not after being at a party half sober.

So I continued onward across the barren Street. By this point I had lost track of time and was trying to stop myself from collapsing on the curb, so I kept moving. Suddenly the road split and I could choose one of two ways. One I remembered was quite a long route through the forest but it still lead to my house. The other was a faster, shorter route that took nowhere near as long to get to my house. For me there was only one option. I began to follow the shorter path that lead through a tunnel to my home. I had never been through this tunnel at night before, but it didn't seem to bother me. It leads underneath a normally quite busy road, but since it was roughly 11:40 at night now, I didn’t really expect it to be.

After about another 5 minutes of walking I finally came to the bridge with the tunnel leading towards my home. “At last” I thought to myself as I approached the void of darkness in front of me. However this is when things started to turn strange…

As I approached the tunnel, I felt this abnormal eerie feeling that I had never felt before. It was strange because it made my hairs stand on end just thinking about it, but as I got closer… It got worse… and worse… and worse until I was eventually at the mouth of the tunnel.

I help my breath as I peered into the pitch-blackness of what I had to travel through to get home. The only sources of light seemed to be a few lamps that hung loosely overhead. They looked like they hadn't been fixed in years. Every so often they would flicker on and off making the emptiness of the tunnel even more devoid. As I looked in deeper I could see the faint light that was the end of the tunnel caused by the moonlight seeping in. Yet apart from that, the darkness seemed to swallow the room like it was a predator engulfing its prey.

Suddenly from behind, a gust of wind pushed against my back and the sudden noise made me jump. It was as if the wind was forcing me into the unknown. My body started forward without my minds permission and I started the walk through the gloomy entrance.

“I won’t die here” I thought - I was terrified. Normally I wasn't afraid of the dark and like I said before it quite often comforted me, but there was nothing comforting about this darkness. No, it just seemed empty like all light had been scared away by some presence. My eyes we’re flickering from what light there still were, trying desperately to stay in it with minimal luck. With my heart still racing, I continued forward.

The other thing that sent a chill down my spine was the silence, the eerie silence that loomed all around me, that didn’t feel quite right. It seemed to pierce my eardrums as the sound of rustling leaves outside had long gone. I was alone in a tunnel caked in utter silence. Yet it was that silence that caused me to jump a foot in the air when I heard it. It was a high-pitched giggle. The one you’d hear from a little girl that scared me shitless and still does just thinking about it! The laugh seemed to come from the entrance of the tunnel, my head spun around to the entrance expecting to see someone or something.

Of course, there was nothing, Just the same gloomy light that lit up the end of the tunnel. The only thing that my eye’s greeted was the seemingly eternal darkness that seemed to act like a blanket around the tunnel. That only frightened me even more as my eyes darted to every movement. I was no longer tired anymore, I was frightened… terrified even. I just wanted to get out of that goddamn tunnel before something else freakishly weird happened.

Yet at the same time, a part of my mind told me it was just my imagination. After all I had been drinking and I was exhausted after all, so maybe it was just nothing, just a figment of the imagination maybe. I didn't just walk now, I ran, ran as fast as I could down the tunnel, the old lamps flashing past me like they never existed. I must have been more than half way through the tunnel and the exit was clearly visible. See I thought to myself, we’re almost out! It must have been your imagination! Those words’ we’re almost obliterated from my mind when I saw what was standing in the entrance.

I suddenly screeched to a halt as I saw what I believe was a silhouette of a young girl standing at the exit of the tunnel. Her hair was long and seemed to drop down to her feet and her eyes… Those eyes will forever haunt me. They at first appeared to be green blobs in the darkness, peering out at me as I stood near the exit to the tunnel petrified and having no clue what to say or do next.

At first I just stood there paralyzed, unable to command my body to do anything. The only thing I was able to do was stare in to those eyes, those ominous baubles ahead of me. Those green ovals that shone in the consuming darkness around her were like nothing I had ever seen in my life. I was utterly petrified as I tried to free my body from the trance it was in. Finally after standing there for what seemed like days, I called out to her.

“Hello? Are you okay?” I yelled, sounding like an Idiot but not caring. I just wanted to leave the tunnel desperately. The girl didn't respond. Instead she crouched down with her piercing green eyes still fixated on me. Her sudden movements made me jump and shiver at the same time. Her presence didn't seem like any ordinary young girl; it was like she was something Else… Something different… Something wrong, very wrong indeed. The presence she emanated however was undesirable, but those eyes, those green fucking eyes that would never leave me. Always judging every move I make. They seemed to imbed themselves into my mind like I was some kind of host.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I looked away and began to back away slowly. I no longer cared about getting home… I just wanted to survive! Yet as I did this she let out a high pitched scream that made me clutch my ears in pain. At the same time, her body started to change, to twist and deform even until her arms and legs we’re pushed backwards by some unseen force. She was now on all fours, like some kind of-human spider! Her eyes continued to follow me. My mind was telling me to run but my eyes we’re once again fixated and unwilling to let my body move. Finally the girl opened her mouth revealing a set of razor sharp teeth that stuck jagged out of her jaw.

My mind was now yelling at me to move, surly I’d get killed if I didn’t! This time my body listened and I began to run faster than I had ever run before. My mind calculating where I was going to go after I left and my eyes briefly darted back to that thing behind me. It was virtually on top of me as I stared up at it. It was on the ceiling of the tunnel now travelling at impossible speeds behind me. I yelled out in terror, as my heart seemed to pound out of my chest. Even though I was looking forward I could still feel those eyes… burning into the back of my head, looking at me she was a predator and I was her prey.

Before I knew it the entrance to the Tunnel was in front of me as I raced out of the tunnel and into the surrounding darkness. For a moment there was a sense of relief. I was out of the tunnel and into the open, but I still didn't know where that thing was. As I left I continued to run down the pathway and back onto the road not looking back to check if it was still behind me. I could only pray that it wasn't as I finally stopped running and leant against a tree. I panted heavily gasping for air as I took the time to look behind me. My heart once again stopped at a standstill, as I saw it standing there in front of me, its bear-trap of a mouth hung open and its green eyes glowing into the night.

I just stared at it helplessly. Unable to escape the likely fate I faced. I grunted in defeat and whispered under my breath the only thing that was going through my mind at the time, “What do you want?” The creature seemed to smile at me, almost delighted that I asked it, and then it spoke. Its voice strangely enough still sounded like that of a little girl but more muffled and distorted. Its voice was crackly in nature and almost electronic. “I… want… peace…”

I just stood there and stared at it, unsure what to say or do. Yet for some reason, I felt sorry for it. Almost like something inside me could understand what it was saying. I replied after much consideration of what to say, I finally replied. “I’m sorry… I can’t help you, I need to get home” I said hesitantly and also finally recovering from running so fast in such a short period of time. Suddenly the creature growled and let out a high pitched scream causing me to cover my ears once more, its teeth flaring and oozing saliva from its mouth. It then ran towards me, the fastest I had ever seen anything run before in my life, and then…nothing. I couldn't remember anything after that; it was a sudden blur and then blackness.

--

The next morning I woke on the curb with the biggest headache I had ever had in my life. My head throbbed as I squinted at the bright light shining through the trees. I was still exhausted and felt like shit. I was tempted to just lie there for a bit even though my back hurt from lying on the solid concrete. Suddenly a car must have driven past and I sprang to my feet. I placed a hand to my head and looked down the road. “Oh no… My parents are going to kill me” I thought as I began to make my way down the road until it began to curve and I had a choice of two passage ways. Suddenly at that very moment the events of that night came back to me and tiredness and pain all seemed to vaporize. Was all that a dream? Could it have been my imagination or the fact I was tired? I then looked at the short cut pathway for a brief moment before whispering to myself, “Never again”.

After that I got home. Everything seemed to be okay, my parents we’re worried sick and I was practically grounded for life, but apart from that, I was just happy to be home and alive at least. I told them that I had been to a party and passed out on a curb, a story they’re more likely to believe than the one I remember. I still had no idea if what happened back at the tunnel, was it really a dream or just a hallucination, but what I am sure of is I’ll never forget those eyes, those piercing green eyes that followed my every move. I still feel them today, burning into the back of my head, even when I’m with friends. I have a feeling those eyes will never leave me. Even now when I write this I still feel like I’m being watched. It’ll never go away… Never leave me.

One night I decided to look up the history of that tunnel and the bridge itself. It turned out that a young girl was murdered in that very tunnel, and ever since then reporting’s of strange noises could be heard coming from the tunnel. It couldn't be possible! It couldn't have been a coincidence either. So I decided to call it a night. I was exhausted and it was almost midnight. Yet as I went to close my curtains and get what happened out of my head, I saw it, those ominous Green eyes lurking in the darkness watching me, waiting for me to go to sleep.