This was back when I was a high school student in Sydney. It was around 7 pm in Winter, and the sky was already pitch black. I was on a weekly train ride to my after-school physics tutoring. The train carriage that I was on was pretty empty. I went downstairs and sat on the last row of the carriage, right next to the stairs (search up images of “Sydney train carriage” for an idea of what the layout was like).
There were only three people on the floor, including me - a man who was sitting far away facing away from me, and a woman who was sitting on the other side of the floor facing me. I was minding my own business, feeling “cozy” in my corner of the carriage, pondering about impending exams and the hardships of being a busy, tired teenager. I stared out the window as the train glided through the suburbs.
The train frequently stopped at each station to allow passengers to board and alight. As usual, the train doors opened along with its beeping sound, but this time, I abruptly heard slow, heavy footsteps boarding the carriage. I was daydreaming whilst gazing through the window, but because I was sitting next to the stairs, I could hear the heavy footsteps getting closer and closer. The slow thudding of heavy boots could be heard from my right ear as it made its way down the stairs next to me. I didn’t turn to look as I was still daydreaming.
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped, and I could hear a loud murmur in my right ear. Startled, I quickly turned my head to my right to see a very tall man with the most terrifying black eyes. He was dressed in yellow tradie clothing, with big chunky boots. His face was covered in black tattoos, and he had short, dark brown dreadlocks. His teeth were all black and rotten, almost falling off. He was slightly smiling in a mocking way with his teeth showing, half chuckling and half serious. And his eyes were also pitch black; there was no white in his eyes. Unless you have experienced it for yourself, it is difficult to truly understand how terrifyingly ‘evil’ his black eyes looked. It was big, round, and staring into it was almost literally like staring into the devil. He pointed to the other side of the carriage using his right hand, as he loudly murmured to me in a deep voice. He was speaking to me in a language that I didn’t understand, but I was so scared, so I only managed to ask a couple of times, “Sorry?”.
He then continued thudding down the aisle and sat facing me on the opposite of the floor, behind the woman. The woman had seen the man talking to me earlier and seeing that I was a high school kid, made eye contact with me. Her eyes were telling me to be careful, and move away whenever I got the chance.
Luckily, the next station was my stop, and I quickly went up the stairs and got off the train. There were crowds of people coming out of the other carriages. I turned back as I alighted the train to see the main alighting as well. I freaked out and my adrenaline kicked in. I pushed through a sea of people and quickly stepped through the escalator going up to the ground floor. I occasionally turned back to see the man also pushing through the crowd on the escalator.
I finally made it outside of the underground station and ran as fast as I could to a busy pedestrian crossing with many people. I looked back at the station to find that I wasn’t being followed anymore.
Even looking back now, he didn’t look like a common person high on illicit drugs. He had a certain, possessed, satanic look, that still brings a chill down my spine every time I think about it. His face has forever burned into my memory, and if I see a similar face anywhere, my body freezes in fear.
* I couldn’t find a similar example online, but search up “Szondi Test”. Face number 3 has a similar, although less frightening, ‘vibe’ as the face that I saw that evening.
Edit: Reposted with new title