Hello Ms. Walker,
It is our great delight to formally invite you to this years Trials! If you wish to break your next big story, please head to the Broadway subway station at midnight and enter the first train you see. We look forward to seeing if you have what it takes.
Yours truly,
Mr. V
I must’ve read this email a hundred times. Over the last four years, I have been working on a story involving strange disappearances around subway station in the Northeast. In each one, the missing were last seen on CCTV entering the station right at midnight. However in each of these cases, once they enter the station they are never seen again. After finally snapping out of my trance, I quickly sent a screenshot of the email to my partner Dan and gave him a call,
“Kimball?” Dan said in a sleepy confused tone. “It’s 11 at night, what’s happening? Are you ok?”
“Dan, look at the picture I just sent you” I replied eagerly.
Suddenly, I could feel a shift in the Dans energy as the phone went silent. After a minute or so, he finally spoke up.
“Kimball what the fuck is this?” Dan said coldly.
“It’s finally a lead on our story!” I replied excitedly. “These instructions perfectly match each of the disappearances!”
“How?” Dan snapped back at me. “Look Kimball, I get that we’ve been on a losing streak here. But this is just a fucking scam email”.
My smile quickly faded.
“Dan, We had been trying to uncover any form of compelling evidence for these disappearances for the last four years. At least this is a lead”
“A lead to what Kimball? A lead to you getting jumped?” Dan snapped back. “I get that you want to get this story out so we can move on with our lives, but this is just junk mail. A trick someone is playing on an obsessive reporter”.
“Obsessive?” I chimed back. “Fine Dan”.
“Look I didn’t mean it like that,” Dan said solemnly, clearly regretting his choice of words. “This just seems like trouble and I don’t want you to get hurt”.
“You’re not my father Dan” I snapped back at him. “I’ll go there myself and write up what I see in our Google Doc. Just make sure to check it in the morning”.
“Kimball I wouldn’t…” I quickly hung up the phone and put it on airplane mode. I was tired of sitting around and waiting for the story to come together for me. It was time I took charge.
Looking at the clock I saw that it was already 11:25. Knowing that it took roughly a half hour for me to reach that train station, I quickly put on my coat and shoes, grabbed my bear mace, hot spot, and wallet, and made my way to Broadway.
While during the day Broadway was a very busy and safe subway stop, the locals know to stay away from it once the moon comes out. Over the years, that area of Boston had gotten a nasty reputation for being a wonderful place to get robbed. However, the night owls that usually take refuge in the station’s damp corridors were nowhere to be seen. Looking up at the security camera, I wondered if this would be the last time anyone saw me. If I disappeared, at least I was trying to make a difference. Without a single doubt in my mind, I paid the toll and went through the turnstile. I was going to get answers, and no one was going to stop me.
Once I got down to the station platform, I was surprised to see a group of people waiting for the train. Having heard my footsteps, several of them quickly turned to stare at me. Overs stared intently at the track, clearly deep in thought. Avoiding the stares, I lowered my head and stood alone. Having grown up in Boston, I learned that it is never good to make eye contact with strangers on the trains, as that seems to be a formal invitation for them to be a bother. As I stood there waiting for the train to come, I could hear the faint sounds of footsteps approaching me. Before I could look up to see who was heading in my direction, they decided to speak up first.
“Did you get the email too?” Said the young woman approaching me.
I quickly looked up and saw that there were two people standing next to me now. The girl, who looked to be a young pretty brunette and a muscular young man holding a tripod.
“I did” I replied, “I take it that you’re here for the trials too then?”
The girl flashed me a nervous smile before responding.
“I guess so haha”, as she said this she held out her hand for a handshake. “Names Olivia, but you can call me V. Behind me is my husband James”.
As she said this James waved sheepishly with the tripod.
“Nice to meet you V and James, my names Kimball” I said as I shook her hand. “Do you guys have any idea what these trials are all about?”
“No clue,” Olivia said. “But it should make for an interesting video!”
“Oh are you guys reporters too?” I replied enthusiastically.
“We sure are! We make paranormal content on YouTube!”
“Ugh fucking YouTubers” I thought.
“Do you wanna be in our video?” Olivia asked as James set up the tripod.
“No I’m ok, thank you though” I replied half heartedly.
As I walked away, I could hear Olivia and James recording an intro to their video.
“Hey Canton crew! Tonight James and I are taking part in the Trials challenge submitted to us by one of our amazing subscribers! Make sure to like and subscribe and please check out our Patreon for behind the scenes content and access to our super fun Discord server!”
“Fucking kids and their social medias” a gruff voice muttered.
I turned and saw someone who I had instantly recognized.
“Are you Walter Carry from Castaways?” I said in quiet disbelief
“Yup that’s me, what the fuck do you want?” Walter said as he took a drag of his cigarette.
Before I could tell him off the subway station began to shake and the sound of a rusted train broke whatever tranquility was left in the station. Everyone in the station looked on as the lumbering train came to a shrieking halt. Suddenly, the PA system came to life.
“Those of you who wish to take part in the trials, please enter the train car. Those of you who wish to turn back, now is your only chance”.
Everyone on the platform looked around at one another trying to gauge the situation. Without wasting a moment, a black man in a suit shrugged his shoulders and made his way onto the train. With this, the others began to follow his lead, heading into the train car one by one. Walter gave me a look before he went to join them. As I followed, I saw four or five people turn around and quickly leave the station. There was no turning back for me, I needed answers and these trials were my best shot at getting them.
By the time the doors closed, there were 10 people in the train car. Standing around, I saw Olivia motioning for me to come sit next to her. While she may be a bit annoying, I would take her friendly annoyance over Walter’s piss poor attitude any day. I quickly made my way towards her and sat down.
“I’m so excited Kimball,” Olivia whispered to me. “What do you think we’ll have to do?”
“Maybe we’ll have to get out a saw trap or something!” James said he gave Olivia a nudge.
“Shut up James, I’m sure it’s gonna be fine.” Olivia said as she playfully nudged him back. “It’s probably just some elaborate escape room or something”.
“Doubt it” muttered the man sitting across from us. We looked up to see the black man who had been the first to enter the train.
“Who the hell are you?” James said sternly.
“Does it matter?” The man said as he went back to reading his newspaper.
“Sure it does!” Olivia said as she went to sit next to the man, much to James’ clear discontent.
The man put down his newspaper and stared at Olivia. Finally being able to see the man’s full face, I realized that he looked familiar.
“Fine, names Kwame. Can you please leave me alone now, I’m trying to read”.
Once he said the name, the memories of his trial quickly flooded back to me,
“You’re Kwame Guzman” I said, probably a little too loud.
Hearing his name, Kwame quickly shot me a glare.
“And your Kimball Walker, the bitch who ruined my life” Kwame said coldly as he continued to hold his glare.
“I did no such thing, I’m not the one who broke BAR standards” I snapped back.
“I did what I had to do to protect my client”. Kwame snapped back. “I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand that though. You reporters are all just parasites, leeching off of false pretenses in order to drum up some limp dicked exposé”.
“Must not have been too limp dicked if it cost you your job”. I snidely remarked.
“Cunt” he whispered before being cut off by the loudspeaker
“Next stop is the first trial, please disembark from the train in an orderly fashion when the doors open”.
“Here we go!” Olivia exclaimed as she was basically jumping in her seat. “James get the camera ready!”
“On it babe!” James said as he powered on his camera.
The subway came to a grinding halt as the doors opened. Not wanting to spend another second on the train, Kwame quickly got up and made his way towards the exit, bumping into an eccentric middle aged woman on his way out.
“Hey, watch it! Get your bad energy away from me” the strange hippy woman shouted. “I’m sensing a lot of animosity on this train”.
“No shit lady,” Walter said as he walked out the door.
Olivia, James and I were the last to leave the train. As I stepped through the threshold. The doors quickly closed and the the train pulled away from the platform.
“Please follow the arrows to the first trial! I look forward to seeing you there”.
On the floor of the station were large red painted arrows which pointed towards a narrow hallway. As I walked down the hall, I suddenly realized that I have never seen this station behind. Picking up my pace, I tapped on the shoulder of the lady walking ahead of me.
“Can I help you?” The woman said as she continued to walk forward.
“Yeah, have you ever been in this subway station before?” I quietly asked. “I’ve never seen this place before in my life”.
“Honey I work in TV, I don’t use public transit” the pretentious woman replied.
Not wanting to engage with this woman anymore, I slowed down my pace to avoid being directly behind her.
“I’ve never seen this place too” said a man behind me.
I looked over my shoulders to see a middle aged white man in jeans and a stained hoodie.
“Thanks” I said. “At least I know I’m not going crazy”.
“Nah you’re all good” the man replied. “But that doesn’t mean your not crazy”.
I laughed before responding. “Names Kimball, it’s nice to meet someone who isn’t cold or condescending”.
The man smiled at me and nodded before replying.
“Names Noel, the pleasures all mine”
As he said this, the door to the first challenge came into view. As we got closer, it began to open automatically. As it swung open, we could see that it was several inches thick and looked to be made entirely out of metal.
“Are we going into fucking Fort Knox or something?” a man several people ahead of me sarcastically asked as he walked through the doorway.
“We better be” the posh woman behind him said. “If I’m getting up at midnight and being forced to spend time with you people, I better be getting paid.
As the last of us walked through the door, it abruptly shut behind us. Whatever challenge was waiting for us, there was no backing down now.
Once again, the PA system burst to life.
“Hello everyone and welcome to your first trial, my name is Mr. V and I am pleased to be your Shepard during the course of the games. Ahead of you are two narrow platforms. Use the handholds on the wall to reach the other side to board the next train. Be careful, as it may get a bit windy. You have 5 minutes to board the train to move on to the second trial. Good luck!”
“Windy?” Said the sarcastic man from earlier. “Can’t be worse than my free climb of the Empire State Building last year”.
Suddenly I felt a light tap on my left shoulder. I turned around and saw Olivia was inches from my face.
“Oh my god Kimball, do you know who that is?!” Olivia attempted to whisper.
“I don’t, who is it?” I asked as I took a step to my right.
“That’s Percy Harris!” Olivia squealed
“Percy who?” I replied as I turned to look at the man.
“Percy Harris! He’s like one of the craziest dare devils on YouTube! I can’t believe I’m gonna meet him!” Olivia said excitedly.
“Stand back everyone, I got this!” Percy exclaimed with remarkable confidence.
“Good luck Percy!” Olivia yelled, catching his attention.
“Don’t worry hot stuff, I got this” Percy said as he tried to pose like a Superman wannabe.
Percy jumped onto the platform and quickly made his way to the edge of the first wall. In order to complete this trial, each of us would have to cross 4 different platforms before we reached the other side. Between each wall was roughly 3 feet, so each transfer would require us to make a risky jump.
“Watch and learn ladies” Percy remarked, as if to taunt the course.
As he was about to jump, we suddenly heard the sound of spinning metal in the distance. Unperturbed, Percy took a breath and then leapt off the ground. As he did, we watched as Percy was quickly yanked to the left at incredible speeds. As quickly as the man had made himself known, he vanished followed by the sickening sounds of screaming and slicing meat.
“Oh my god” Olivia screamed.
“What the fuck happened” James yelled.
Panick soon overtook the room as everyone was confused as to what happened to Percy. Trying to disassociate from the situation, I looked up and saw that the timer was counting down with 4 minutes left to go. Realizing that we didn’t have much time left, I pushed my way to the front and stepped onto the platform.
“Kimball, what are you doing?” Noel asked as he grabbed my arm.
“We can’t waste anymore time, look” I said as I pointed up to the clock.
Realizing that we didn’t have time to sit around and panic, Noel gave me a nod of approval as we both made our way across on the right hand platform. After quickly making it to the point where Percy had jumped, I looked to my left and saw what had happened. What remained of Percy was just chunks of meat caked on to the blades of an industrial fan.
“We have to time our jumps so that we make it across before the fans turn back on” I yelled back at everyone.
By this point Walter had also joined us on the right hand platform, while James, Olivia, and the Hippie Lady were on the left.
Hearing the roar of the fan two platforms ahead of us, I reached across the gap between the platforms and was able to get proper footing on the second platform. Once I had made it, I held out my hand to Noel and helped him across. As I crossed over to the third platform, Noel had helped Walter cross over to the second platform. Just has Walter had successfully made it, the roaring of the fan begun to sound where he had just been.
“Holy fuck man, you saved my life” Walter said as he gave Noel a pat on the back.
“Just happy to help!” Noel replied.
Looking up at the clock, it was now at 3:00.
“The fans change every 20 seconds!” I yelled back as I man my way across the third platform and into the last.
“Good to know!” Yelled Kwame, who had just helped the two posh women cross onto the first platform.
Looking back at Kwame, I recognized the two women instantly. The Posh woman who was attempting to cross to the second platform was former State Senator Lisa Wu. I remember reading a story where she had been having sex with interns in her office. The pretentious woman I spoke to earlier who was behind her was Diane Foster, the former head anchor for channel 7. She had been one of my heroes growing up.
As I turned to jump, I realized that the fan in front of me had begun to turn on. Losing my footing, I began to slip from the platform. Just as I was able to slip off completely, a hand reached out and grabbed me. It was Noel.
“Your not dying on my watch!” Noel said as he smiled at me. I quickly was able to get up and regain my footing on the platform. Just as the wind in front of me begun to die down, I leapt off the platform and landed on solid ground. I completed the trial, with Noel right behind me. After taking a couple seconds to recuperate, we begun helping the rest of the group cross the final threshold. Suddenly the PA burst to life.
You have 1 minute remaining
The next two the finish the trial were Walter and the Hippy. As she landed on the finish line she pulled me into a hug.
“I sense such amazing feminine energy from you honey. I’m forever in your debt”.
“Thanks” I replied as she pulled me into a tighter, more awkward hug.
“Call me Dee” the woman whispered as she finally let me go.
“Will do” I replied. “Nice to meet you Dee”.
When I turned back to the platforms, I saw that James and Olivia had also made it. However on the right hand side, there appeared to be a growing issue. Diane and Lisa were still on the third platform with only 30 seconds remaining. I quickly rushed over to Noel and Kwame, who were both trying to coax Lisa to move.
“Come on, you can do this!” Noel yelled. “You ladies only have 25 more seconds!”
“What’s happening?” I asked as Kwame begun to head for the train.
“They’re a lost cause, the lady in front is refusing to move,” Kwame said, shaking his head.
As Kwame, Noel and I boarded the train, we could hear PA burst to life overhead.
“15 seconds left, all successful participants please board the train”. the PA called as it begun to count down.
“Move you stupid bitch!” Diane screamed
“Do not talk to me like that, I am an elected official!” Lisa screamed back “You will respect me!”
“Respect this then” Diane said as she drove her foot into Lisa’s ankle.
With a deafening scream of pain, Lisa lifted up her leg causing her to fall off of the platform. As the sound the gurgling and chopping meat begun to fill the room, Diane made it across the last two platforms in quick succession and ran towards the train.
3…
“You got this!” Noel yelled.
2…
“You’re so close! Olivia exclaimed.
1… Doors are now closing
As Diane was inches from the door, they begun to shut. We all stared on in horror as Diana tripped over her high heels which had been warped from her kick.
0… Times up
Diana got up and started pounding on the subway door.
“Please don’t do this, I was so close”. Diane pleaded. “I beat the trial”
“Stand back” James said as he attempted to wedge the tripod between the doors like a crowbar.
As he pulled the tripod back, it began to create an opening.
“Yes yes yes thank you Jesus!” Diane yelled.
Just as the door was open about an inch, the tripod snapped, the doors shut, and the train began to move. We looked on as Diane began to look behind her and scream. Before we could see what happened we passed into a tunnel and begun traveling down.
Next stop, Trial 2.