The man in the fog
Do I believe in ghosts? If you had asked me that question a few months ago I would have laughed at you, but ask me it now and I wouldn’t be so quick to express amusement. You are probably wondering why there has been an abrupt change in my disposition on all things ethereal. Well let me tell you a story, a story that recounts a very unsettling experience that happened to me last Halloween, describing it still sends a shiver down my spine even now nearly twelve months on.
It was a few minutes to midnight and Halloween was coming to and end, but it would still have a sting in its tale, well at least for me. Being on leave from the army I was looking forward to spending some relaxing time with my family and friends in London. So it was that I found myself walking towards Salisbury train station hoping to catch the last train home. To say that it was foggy would be an understatement, I had never
experienced fog as profuse as it was on this night, and it gave this particular Halloween a more sinister feel, it felt as if I was starring in an Alfred
Hitchcock film.
In the thick fog I had momentarily lost my bearings and I could not for the life of me find my way to the station, it was then that I nearly bumped into a man in front of me.
‘Sorry mate!’ I said and he turned his head to look at me although rather unsettlingly it seemed as though he was actually looking straight through me.
‘I’m heading towards the station, but I have lost my way in this fog, I don’t suppose you could point me in the right direction?’ I asked.
‘That’s alright.’ Replied the stranger. ‘I’m heading there as well follow me.’ He then proceeded to march quite rapidly and I had to be on my toes to make sure I did not lose him in the murkiness. The air was moist and acrid which made breathing difficult and almost painful, the dampness seemed to breach my clothing causing it took cling to my skin. The orange glow of the street lights, diffused in the fog, seemed
to add to the creepy ambience. As I strode up alongside the stranger he spoke.
‘So are you on your way back to your unit?’ I replied that I was in fact on leave and heading home to the capital for some much needed rest and relaxation. He explained that he had been in Salisbury on business and that he had decided to head back to London rather than spend the night away.
We soon arrived at the station entrance and finding the ticket office closed I purchased my ticket from one of those soulless automated ticket machines, before boarding my train, that was thankfully already waiting at the platform. I spotted my erstwhile companion
who was sitting alone in the “quiet zone” carriage. I sat on the seat opposite him and asked him if he minded if we could travel together as I could use the company. He said that he didn’t mind at all as he himself did not like travelling alone, especially at this time of night.
‘I tell you, I am so glad to get outof that damn fog’ I said
‘I know what you mean, it reminds me of a night back in 1980.’ He replied. I was a bit taken aback by what he said as he didn’t seem old enough to have been alive back then.
‘That’s a long time to remember, 1980?’ I said.
‘There is a good reason why I remember it’ he said whilst blowing his nose, ‘I’ll tell you about it. Like I said it was a night like this, misty and dank and so cold that it made my bones ache. I got on the train and managed to get a compartment all to myself, with the intent of having a snooze. However at the next station a man came in and sat himself down opposite me, he looked shifty and ill at ease and he kept staring at me. He unsettled me but as I said I was tired and I tried to ignore him, I reached into my jacket pocket for my fags, but instead my wallet fell
out, spilling some notes onto the floor. I picked it all up and sat back down, but I noticed that the man was watching me even more intently now, like a fox watches a chicken. The movement of the train was making me drowsy and I felt myself nodding off. Suddenly the man pulled out a long knife and leapt at me. I managed to grab his wrist and in the ensuing struggle we collapsed onto thefloor…’
I had been listening intently but I felt the urge to interrupt the man to ask him a question.
‘Did you win the fight?’ I enquired.
‘No I did not, as although my attacker was slim and wiry he was very strong and as I stood up to grab the communication cord, he plunged the knife into my back.’
‘Wow’ I said ‘You were lucky he didn’t kill you, what happened did the knife deflect of a rib and miss your vital organs?’
‘No I was unlucky the knife penetrated my heart and killed me.’
‘It did what?’ I asked incredulously, but I never received an answer, the man had vanished into thin air, leaving me alone in the carriage as the train drew further and further away from Salisbury.
notnumber6 