nosleep

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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/dlschindler on 2024-11-14 02:46:02+00:00.

I never thought I'd be the kinda person to work a crazy graveyard shift at some gas station out in the middle of nowhere, but here I am, saying yes to Mr. Reilly like it’s just normal. “Yeah, no big deal,” I told him, “I can handle the late shift.” Back then, I’d get all shaky just thinkin’ about bein’ somewhere so quiet, alone with my own head. But now, it feels like the only peace I got.

Ain’t no customers past eleven, just the occasional trucker or someone lost who needs directions back to the highway. So, it's mostly just me, my homework, and my headphones. Got a little playlist goin’—old songs, stuff I saved back when I thought music was gonna be my thing. Little reminders of what I left behind. I keep the volume low enough to hear the bell on the door in case someone walks in, but it’s loud enough to drown out the creaks of the building.

Night shifts are quiet. Real quiet. Crazy quiet sometimes. Just me, sittin’ under the buzzing lights, eyes on my notes but feelin' like someone’s watchin’ me, even though I know they ain’t. The only visitors are the lights flickerin’ outside, or maybe the moths hittin’ the glass.

When the clock hit midnight, I let out a long breath, relief rushing in as I flipped the “Closed” sign and locked the door. Quiet night, nothing strange—just me, my textbooks, and a half-awake delivery truck driver who came in for a pack of cigarettes and two energy drinks, mumbling somethin’ crazy about a long haul ahead.

Outside, the bus was waitin’ at the stop, headlights dim like it’s tired, just sittin' there. I walked over, keys diggin' into my bag, and climbed on, hit with that usual smell—mildew, body odor, and old puke. It’s like that every time, the bus smell, mixed with cleaner that never really does the job.

The driver nodded when I sat in my usual seat by the window. The bus lurched forward, pulling away from the stop, and the world outside turned into streaks of dark trees and dim streetlights. Every now and then, the bus hit a bump, and I’d jerk in my seat, my headphones sliding off. But I kept the music low, just enough to fill the silence, watchin’ the world slip by in the dark, with that weird, crazy smell stickin’ to me the whole ride.

The bus felt heavy with quiet as I blinked myself awake, eyes slow to adjust to the dim lights. I looked out the window, expecting to see the usual blur of passing streets, but instead, there was just a big, cracked lot, all foggy. A sign barely showed in the mist—Park and Ride. No cars. No other buses. Just the fog, curling around weeds growing through the cracked concrete, and a couple of busted lampposts throwin’ weak lights that flickered in the gloom.

I pulled off my headphones and let them hang around my neck, the silence now thick as I heard every little sound. I called out, “Hello?” but my voice just bounced back at me, dead in the air.

I stood up, walking down the aisle, my steps too loud in the quiet, headin’ toward the driver’s seat. It was empty. His jacket was hangin' on the back like he’d just stepped away, but the doors were locked. My skin started crawlin’, like somethin’ wasn’t right.

I pulled out my phone, tried turning it on—blank screen. Dead. My stomach twisted, but I noticed a charger coiled by the driver’s seat. I plugged it in, thankful it fit, and a tiny red light blinked on. A bit of relief washed over me. It’d take a few minutes to power up, but at least it was somethin’.

I slumped into the driver’s seat, staring out at the fog, the shadows dancin’ around the lights as I waited. The minutes dragged on, the silence wrapping around me like the mist.

As I sat there, I started feelin' that loneliness creep in, mixing with the anxiety that’d gnaw'd at me since the second I stepped on this bus. My fingers drummed on the armrest, the tapping sound too loud in the silence, makin’ everything worse. I tried to focus on the faint glow of my phone charging, but my mind kept wanderin’ to the fog outside, wonderin’ what might be out there watchin’ me.

I stared at the red light flickering on my phone, willing it to hurry up. My stomach was tight, my mind all over the place. The phone finally powered up, and I wasted no time, dialing my brother. It rang and rang, but he didn’t pick up. I called again, my finger pressing the button harder, like that’d make him answer. Nothin’.

I sat there staring at the screen, feeling the quiet close in around me. I didn’t know who else to call. Maybe Mr. Reilly? But I didn’t want to bother him, especially this late. He’d probably tell me to suck it up and handle it myself. I thought about calling a cab, but that wasn’t gonna work. I had no money for that. No way to get out of here unless someone came for me.

I kept thinking the bus driver would come back any second. Maybe he just stepped off for a minute, right? But the minutes stretched on, one after another, dragging until I started feeling some kind of trapped feeling. I tried not to think about it. But every time I heard a sound, I looked up, expectin’ to see him walk through the door. And every time, it was nothing.

Then the lights flickered once. And again. Then, just like that, they went out. The whole bus was crazy dark, except for the dim glow from the charger, now barely visible. My breath hitched, and I shivered, pulling my jacket tighter around me. The air felt colder all of a sudden, like the temperature dropped ten degrees in a blink.

I glanced at my phone—1:00 AM. The silence was thick, pressing in from all sides. No driver. No lights. Just me, sitting in this cold, empty bus with nothing but my own thoughts.

I shook my head, trying to push away the creeping feeling that something wasn’t right. I thought about waiting longer. Maybe he was just messing with me, right? Maybe he was gonna come back, tell me it’s all fine, and we’d just go on like normal. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that the longer I stayed here, the worse it was gonna get.

I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. The fog outside pressed up against the windows, like it was tryin’ to swallow the whole bus. I wanted to call someone. Anyone. But I didn’t know who. There was nobody else. Just me, the dead phone, and the fog.

The sound of something outside the bus made me sit up and look around out the windows. I couldn't see nothing until I saw this guy come running up alongside the bus. He looked like a homeless person, and his eyes were crazy scared, and I got scared.

I don't panic well, and I just sat there staring at him while he hit and kicked the door and yelled at me to let him in. Even if I wasn't too scared to move out the seat, or wanted to let him in, I didn't know how to unlock those doors and let him in. They open automatically when the bus isn't moving, and I had no idea how to turn on the bus or open the doors.

He was out there jumpin' around acting all crazy when he suddenly stopped and looked at something emerging from the fog. His back was to me, and I couldn't see his face, but he was pushin' himself against the bus like he was trying to fade through the door to the safety inside, or something.

I followed the direction he was looking, and at first, it was just this blurry shape, like a big white trashbag rolling along the ground or something. For about half a second, then I could see it too, and it is hard to remember. It was like something out of a horror movie, or something, it didn't look real to me. I could hear a loud shriek that wouldn't stop and realized I was screaming.

I covered my eyes, the vision of that thing crawling on all fours coming towards us on my eyelids. I could still see it, somehow clearer when I had my hands over my eyes. It was moving almost sideways, coming at him low on the ground. It was like a person, except with its arms too long and skinny and its legs bent all wrong, like it could only crawl along like that. The fog was a clean white color, and its skin was a sickly, almost gray color, and its face was just a weird-shaped head with no eyes or ears or nose or lips or hair, just this huge white football head and a huge mouth full of human teeth.

The man outside was screaming in pain and terror and I refused to look. The creature, the gray crawler, was biting him. I glanced a couple of times and only saw a blur of movement, and it scuttled all over him, biting chunks out of him. Then, after what seemed like an endless amount of violence and screaming, his flailing was striking the bus over and over in loud thumps - the guy collapsed to the ground, twitching. The creature let out a sound like a pinched version of a dinosaur roaring.

I had lowered my shaking hands from my face and somehow they had found my headphones and were playin' some of my music in my ears. I have no idea I did that, but as I watched I was hearing my music, and my trembling hands were checking my body for damage, feeling a chill from my own fingers.

Several more of the creatures arrived and they made weird deep throated gurgling and clicking noises at each other. I think they were talking to each other. They each grabbed one of his arms or legs and worked together to drag him away.

He started moaning in pain as they took him into the fog, and I sobbed and shook my head. It was so horrible, he was still alive as they took him away. I was crying as I sat there.

Just then my phone started ringing and I jumped up, letting out some kind of startled noise, almost like I was barking. I was so terrified I was ready to ...

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