Patapsco River Horror Story

Chapter 5

Amanda had a bad feeling about the door at the end of the passageway. She had a bad feeling about this little expedition that Debbie had begun. The feeling in her gut about the door was making her nauseous. She saw no reason to tell Debbie, she would have ignored her and continued on. Debbie was determined to find out where the girl had disappeared to. Debbie pressed her ear up to the cold steal door.

“Do you hear anything?” Amanda whispered.

“Not a thing!” Debbie replied.

She grabbed the door handle and slowly turned it. The handle made a high pitched squealing sound in protest. The high-pitched noise made Debbie and Amanda flinch.

“I wish I had a can of oil right now!” Debbie whispered.

“I can run up to Yates Hardware and get you some.” Amanda whispered cheerfully.

Debbie looked over her shoulder and replied. “You’re not going anywhere Amanda!”

Slowly Debbie pushed the door open about a foot. On the other side was the train platform.

“Is this it?” Amanda demanded without whispering.

“What do you mean? Is this it?” Debbie whispered.

“Is this what we’ve been searching these dark and dingy passageways for? This little adventure of yours, Debbie has almost given me a heart attack.” Amanda whispered angrily.

The two girls scanned the train platform. It was empty and deserted.

“How was I supposed to know what was on the other side of this door?” Debbie shot back.

As they continued to survey the platform from the doorway, a bright white light flashed a cross the entire sky. Debbie and Amanda’s ears popped and they heard a low buzzing sound. A second later the sky lit up again the buzzing got louder and their ears popped again. In between this nightmare of light and sound Debbie searched the sky, not a cloud in site. Amanda covered her ears with her hands, the pain from her ears popping and the buzzing made her head feel like it was being split with an axe.

Debbie could see the crescent moon between the flashes of light. She felt the buzzing would short circuit her brain if it went on much longer. Each time the flashing light got brighter their ears drums continued to pop and the buzzing got louder. Each time the white light lit up the sky Debbie could make out a silhouette on the south end of the platform. When the skies darken again, the form was gone.

When the sky would light up for a second, she would try to make out what the silhouette was. The form looked like a van or a small bus but the shape was not a perfect rectangle. At one end of the silhouette a form was sticking up from the silhouette. Each flash of light in the night sky was brighter then the last, the buzzing noise was louder then the last and every time their ear drums popped it was more painful. The whole event lasted about one minute.

The last flash of light was so bright and the buzzing sound was so loud that Debbie and Amanda were thrown back into the passageway. The large steel door made a loud “bang” when it slammed shut behind them. Debbie and Amanda were sprawled a cross the floor of the passageway on their backs. After the doors slammed shut, the girls were in total darkness and complete silent. Debbie could only see a small amount of blue light coming from under the steel door, once her eyes adjusted to the dark.

While lying in the darkness she heard Amanda moan. “Wow! My head hurts!”

Her voice echoing off the stone walls of the passageway as she ran her hand a cross the back of her head.

“What just happened out there?” Amanda asked.

“I don’t know, but it was no thunder storm!” Debbie said as she picks herself up off the floor.

She puts her ear up against the steel door.

“I don’t hear anything out there.” She said.

“Don’t open that door again, Debbie, who knows what’s on the other side!” Amanda said frantically.

Debbie ignored Amanda’s plea and reached out for the door handle. By this time Amanda was back up on her feet.

“Debbie!” She said forcefully. “Did you hear what I said?”

Debbie didn’t even look back at Amanda. She grabbed the door handle and turned it slowly. Once again the door handle squealed again in protest. Debbie pushed the door open slowly and noticed right away something was different. The night sky was brighter then before. Amanda was looking over Debbie’s shoulder and noticed it too.

“It’s much brighter out now.” Amanda whispered.

The girls gazed into the sky. The first thing Debbie noticed that was different was the moon. It was full now. “It’s full.” Debbie whispered to herself.

Amanda heard her and replied. “The moon,” Debbie pointed to the moon and said. “It was a crest moon less the two minutes ago.” In a trembling voice Amanda replied. “Really?”

Amanda saw the crest moon earlier too but was hoping she was seeing things this time. The sky was a bright orange color. It looked like the sun just went below the horizon, but the sun had set hours ago. The sky was beautiful and frightening at the same time.

Debbie looked to the south end of the platform, where she saw the silhouette, as her eyes adjusted to the sky she was surprised to see a horse and carriage. She looked over her shoulder at Amanda; she could tell by the look in Amanda’s eyes that she saw it too. Debbie didn’t even ask a question.

“They could be practicing some kind of performance by the historical society?” Amanda answered, not believing her own reply.

The night was eerily quite. No lights were on in the station.

“The party just started a little while ago. It couldn’t be over.” Amanda whispered.

Debbie had no reply for her. The girls slowly stepped out onto the platform. They walked toward the carriage to get a better look at it. The girls walked slowly out of the passage way and onto the middle of the platform. Debbie paused as she heard sobbing and whispers coming from the darkened railroad station. Keeping her eye on the carriage on the other side of the platform, she walked quietly as possible over to one of the windows of the station.

Something hit the back of her foot. Her heart was in her throat until she turned her head quickly around to see it was Amanda following to close behind her.

“Do you have to be so close behind me Amanda?” Debbie whispered loudly.

Amanda did not reply. She just stared at Debbie for a moment. Debbie did not want to admit to herself she was just as scared as Amanda. Debbie curiosity had gotten the best of her and there was no turning back now. The girls peered through a window of the station.

It looked like the interior of the station was being lit by candles. They could only see a few silhouettes. Where were all their friends that were at the party? Debbie could not believe what she was seeing. No light, tables, chairs or DJ, all of it gone, gone to were Adam and Jack.

Just a dimly lit station lobby and a few figures and she could not make out who they were. Debbie’s heart jumped to her throat again as she felt something clammy grabs her hand. She looked down to see Amanda’s hand in hers. She glanced up at Amanda and could see the fear in her eyes. Debbie said nothing; she motioned with her left hand for Amanda to follow her. They hugged the stone wall of the station as they headed south toward the carriage.

During the day the sun warmed the stones on the wall. They could feel the heat that had been absorbed by the stones on their backs. Debbie’s blouse would occasional snag on the stones. The warmth felt good on her back and helped com her nerves. She looked back at Amanda, her face bathed in the orange glow of the strange night sky. Looking into Amanda’s eyes she could see her confusion. Amanda’s eyes darting around the sky looking for something that made sense. She feared Amanda would slip into madness.

Amanda looked south when the girls heard a train whistle blow.

Then she whispered. “It does not sound like a regular train to me.”

The train was still well off in the distant. “I don’t notice anything different about the sound of the train; it’s most likely a freight train.” Debbie whispered as she keeps her eyes on the carriage at the end of the station.

Amanda tried to figure out in her head why the whistle sounded different. Finally she realized it did not sound like a diesel engine whistle, she had only heard a really steam engine whistle a few times but that’s what it sounded like.

“Why would a steam engine be coming out here at this hour on a Friday night? Why would a steam engine be on the tracks at all?” She thought to herself.

Amanda believed she would go mad soon. Debbie and Amanda inched slowly down the platform toward the carriage. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the carriage shift from side to side as if someone had stepped off of it, at the same time the girls both looked up to where the figure had been on top of the carriage, it was gone. They quickly but silently walked around to the south side of the train station. Debbie bent down to see under the carriage.

She could see someone’s boots walking toward the back of the carriage. The girls walked farther up the south side of the station wall toward the horses at the front of the carriage. The horses were large beasts’ chestnut in color. Their were two of them, one stood pawing at the earth with its right front hove. The other shook its head from side to side wildly.

It was chilly for a mid September night; it had also rain a few days in the past week. Amanda could see the steam from the horses breathes. She could also see steam rising from their large muscular bodies. The horse’s backs glistened with sweat. Their legs were covered with mud. One of the horses turned its head in the direction of the girls, it showed its teeth pursed its lips and gave out a deep gurgling sound.

Amanda keeping Debbie between herself and the horse said “Do horses bite?”