THE TUNNEL
THE TUNNEL
Introduction
It was supposed to be an ordinary summer afternoon.
Two sisters.
One local park.
Home before seven.
The abandoned tunnel had always been there.
They'd walked past it hundreds of times without giving it a second thought.
Until one day...
Curiosity won.
Jessie thought the worst thing that could happen was getting lost in the dark.
She never imagined the real nightmare would begin...
When her sister came back.
Chapter One
The first week of the summer holidays felt endless.
Their parents still had to work, so most mornings Jessie and her younger sister, Elizabeth, better known as Lizzy, were left at home together.
Jessie was thirteen.
Lizzy had turned eleven just three weeks earlier.
Although they argued like every pair of sisters, they were inseparable.
If Jessie climbed a tree...
Lizzy climbed it too.
If Lizzy wanted to build a den...
Jessie helped her find the biggest branches.
Their mum trusted them.
Their dad worried enough for both parents.
"You stay together."
"No wandering off."
"And if your mum says be home by seven..."
"...you'd better be walking through that front door at seven."
Jessie rolled her eyes dramatically.
"We know."
Her dad smiled.
"I know you know."
"I just like saying it."
Lizzy laughed.
"You say it every day."
"Because one day you'll stop listening."
By midday the house already felt too hot.
Jessie glanced out of the living room window.
"Fancy the park?"
Lizzy nodded immediately.
"Can we take the football?"
"And the scooters."
Jessie grabbed the house phone.
Their mum wasn't allowed her mobile while working.
She answered after three rings.
"Hi, sweetheart."
"We're just going to the park."
"Together?"
"Yep."
"Straight there?"
Jessie smiled.
"Yes, Mum."
"Home by seven."
"And stay together."
"We will."
"I love you."
"Love you too."
Jessie put the phone down.
"Come on."
Twenty minutes later they were walking the familiar route through the estate.
Every summer looked exactly the same.
Children on bikes.
Ice cream vans.
Neighbours watering flowers.
The world felt safe.
Comfortable.
Normal.
Neither of them noticed...
Someone watching from an upstairs window as they passed.
Chapter Two
The quickest route to the park followed an old footpath beside a narrow stream.
About halfway along stood a huge concrete tunnel beneath the road.
Nobody knew why it had been built so large.
Adults simply called it an old drainage tunnel.
Children called it...
The Tunnel.
Graffiti covered the entrance.
Long vines hung from the top.
The inside disappeared into complete darkness.
Jessie slowed.
"You ever wonder where it goes?"
Lizzy didn't even look.
"No."
Jessie laughed.
"You've never been curious?"
"My answer's still no."
"You really are scared of everything."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm just not stupid."
Jessie smirked.
"Oh, come on."
"It'll take two minutes."
Lizzy stopped walking.
"I don't like it."
Jessie looked into the darkness.
"It probably comes out the other side of the road."
"Let's just go to the park."
Jessie sighed dramatically.
"You're such a baby."
Lizzy folded her arms.
"No."
Jessie grinned.
"Race you."
Before Lizzy could stop her...
Jessie disappeared inside.
Chapter Three
The air changed almost immediately.
Outside had been warm.
Inside...
It was strangely cold.
Their footsteps echoed against the concrete walls.
Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
Water fell somewhere ahead.
Jessie laughed.
"See?"
"It's just a tunnel."
Lizzy hurried to catch up.
"I don't like how dark it is."
"It'll be fine."
Sunlight quickly disappeared behind them.
The further they walked...
The darker it became.
Soon Jessie could barely see her own hands.
"Okay..."
She admitted.
"It's darker than I thought."
Lizzy tugged gently on her sleeve.
"Jessie..."
"What?"
"I want to go back."
Jessie nodded.
"Yeah."
"Me too."
She turned around.
The entrance had almost vanished into darkness.
"Let's..."
Jessie stopped speaking.
Silence.
"Lizzy?"
No answer.
Jessie frowned.
"Liz?"
Nothing.
She spun around.
"Lizzy?"
The tunnel was empty.
Chapter Four
Jessie's heart began pounding.
"Lizzy!"
Her voice echoed endlessly.
Lizzy...
Lizzy...
Lizzy...
No reply.
She walked back the way they'd come.
Faster.
"Lizzy!"
She reached the tunnel entrance.
Bright sunlight flooded her eyes.
The footpath was empty.
No sign of her sister.
Jessie ran outside.
"Lizzy!"
She searched behind bushes.
Along the stream.
Around the trees.
Nothing.
Her breathing became shallow.
Maybe...
Maybe Lizzy had run home.
She pulled her mobile from her pocket.
The screen stayed black.
She pressed the power button.
Nothing.
Dead.
"No..."
She looked back towards the tunnel.
Dark.
Silent.
Waiting.
Then she ran.
Chapter Five
Jessie burst through the front door gasping for breath.
She grabbed the house phone with shaking hands.
Her mum answered immediately.
"Mum..."
"Slow down."
"It's Lizzy."
"What about her?"
"She's gone."
Silence.
"What do you mean gone?"
Jessie couldn't stop crying.
"We went in the tunnel..."
"I turned around..."
"...and she wasn't there."
Her mum's voice changed instantly.
"Stay exactly where you are."
"We're coming."
Twenty minutes later...
Both parents screeched onto the driveway.
Jessie's dad jumped out before the car had even stopped.
"Show me."
The three of them drove straight back to the tunnel.
Jessie's dad searched inside.
Her mum called Lizzy's name over and over.
Nothing.
They drove to the opposite end of the tunnel.
Checked the nearby woods.
The stream.
The roads.
Everywhere.
Almost an hour had passed.
Jessie wandered back towards the entrance one last time.
Something made her stop.
There...
Sitting quietly beside the concrete wall...
Was Lizzy.
Barefoot.
Her knees pulled against her chest.
Her eyes fixed on the darkness inside the tunnel.
"Lizzy!"
Jessie sprinted towards her and wrapped her arms tightly around her little sister.
Lizzy didn't hug her back.
She simply whispered...
"I thought you'd never come back."
Jessie pulled away.
"What happened?"
Lizzy slowly looked up at her.
"I..."
She frowned.
"I can't remember."
Chapter Six
The drive home was silent.
Jessie sat beside Lizzy in the back seat, waiting for her little sister to burst into tears or explain what had happened.
Instead...
Lizzy simply stared out of the window.
When they pulled onto the driveway, their golden retriever, Max, came bounding to the front door as always.
Normally, Lizzy would throw herself to the floor and cuddle him before she'd even taken her shoes off.
Today...
She stopped.
Max slowed too.
His tail stopped wagging.
He let out a low growl.
"Lizzy?" Jessie laughed nervously. "He's waiting for you."
Lizzy looked down at him.
"Who's this?"
The smile vanished from Jessie's face.
"What?"
"The dog."
Max backed away, still growling.
Dad frowned.
"Very funny."
Lizzy looked confused.
"I'm not joking."
"What do you mean?"
"What dog's this?"
Mum knelt beside her.
"Lizzy, sweetheart..."
"This is Max."
"We've had him for nearly five years."
Lizzy stared at the dog.
"Oh..."
She forced a smile.
"Of course."
"I knew that."
Nobody mentioned it again.
But later that evening, Jessie noticed Max refusing to walk past Lizzy's bedroom door.
Chapter Seven
The following morning felt almost normal.
Almost.
Lizzy came downstairs already dressed.
She poured herself cereal.
Sat at the table.
And quietly ate.
Mum smiled.
"Feeling any better?"
"A bit."
"Do you remember anything?"
Lizzy shook her head.
"No."
"Just... darkness."
Dad squeezed her shoulder.
"That's alright."
"You don't have to remember."
Jessie studied her sister.
Something wasn't right.
Something tiny.
Something she couldn't explain.
After breakfast, Lizzy walked into the garden.
She looked around slowly.
Then frowned.
"Where's the treehouse?"
Everyone looked at her.
Dad laughed.
"What treehouse?"
"The one Grandpa built."
Silence.
Jessie blinked.
"Lizzy..."
"Grandpa died before we were born."
Lizzy frowned harder.
"No..."
"He used to push us on the swing."
Mum's smile disappeared.
"We've never had a treehouse."
Lizzy looked around the garden again.
Confused.
Then quietly whispered,
"I thought we did."
Chapter Eight
The strange moments kept happening.
Little things.
Tiny things.
Easy to explain on their own.
Impossible to ignore together.
Lizzy called the microwave a cooker.
She asked why the bathroom had been moved upstairs.
Their house didn't have an upstairs.
She asked where the blue front door had gone.
It had always been white.
Jessie tried convincing herself it was shock.
The tunnel.
Fear.
Confusion.
But then came Wednesday afternoon.
Mum asked,
"Lizzy, what would you like for dinner?"
Without hesitation she replied,
"Fish."
Jessie nearly dropped her drink.
"You hate fish."
Lizzy looked puzzled.
"No I don't."
"You've hated fish since you were four."
"I've always loved it."
Jessie slowly looked towards Mum.
Neither of them said anything.
That night...
Mum quietly whispered to Dad in the kitchen.
Jessie only caught three words.
"...doctor..."
"...concussion..."
"...memory..."
Chapter Nine
Three nights later...
Jessie woke suddenly.
Someone was breathing.
Not outside.
Inside her room.
She slowly opened her eyes.
A figure knelt beside her bed.
"Lizzy?!"
Her little sister didn't answer.
She was perfectly still.
Her hair covered most of her face.
She wasn't blinking.
Jessie's heart pounded.
"What are you doing?"
Very slowly...
Lizzy lifted her head.
"When you turned around..."
Her voice sounded almost dreamy.
"...why didn't you come back for me?"
Jessie frowned.
"What?"
"You left me."
"I didn't!"
"I looked everywhere for you!"
A tiny smile appeared on Lizzy's face.
"So..."
"...which one of us do you think came out first?"
Jessie felt every hair on her arms stand up.
"Lizzy..."
No reply.
Only silence.
Then...
As though nothing had happened...
Lizzy stood up.
Walked back into the hallway.
And closed the bedroom door.
The next morning...
Jessie confronted her.
"You came into my room last night."
Lizzy looked genuinely confused.
"No I didn't."
"You were standing beside my bed."
"I slept all night."
Jessie stared at her.
Lizzy smiled nervously.
"I think you had a nightmare."
Chapter Ten
The following Saturday, their parents were invited to dinner at the neighbours'.
"You're both staying here and the kids will be joining you," Mum said.
The girls simply nodded in agreement.
Mr and Mrs Harrison had two children.
Ben was fourteen.
Chloe was twelve.
They had all grown up together.
As soon as they arrived, Ben shouted,
"Switch 2 tournament!"
Normally Lizzy would have raced him to the games room.
Mario Kart was her favourite game.
She almost always won.
Today...
She didn't even look at the television.
Instead, she quietly sat in the corner with a colouring book and a tin of pencils.
She pressed so hard the first pencil snapped.
Then another.
Then another.
Ben looked at Jessie.
"Is she alright?"
Jessie forced a smile.
"She's just... been a bit different lately."
Trying to lighten the mood, Jessie stood up.
"I'll grab some snacks."
She walked towards the kitchen on the left side of the bungalow.
A few seconds later...
Everyone heard her voice.
"Guys!"
"Come and look at this!"
Ben jumped up.
"What've you found?"
The voice came again.
"Hurry!"
It was coming from the hallway...
On the opposite side of the house.
The bedrooms.
Ben and Chloe both stood up, Lizzy stayed where she was.
They started walking towards the voice.
Halfway there...
Jessie stepped out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of snacks.
She stopped.
"...Where are you all going?"
They turned slowly towards her.
Then...
From the bedroom corridor...
Jessie's voice called again.
"Guys!"
"I said hurry!"
The bowls slipped from Jessie's hands and smashed on the floor, snacks went all over the floor.
All colour drained from Ben's face.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Then...
A quiet giggle.
They all turned towards Lizzy.
She hadn't looked up from her colouring book.
Another pencil snapped in half.
Without lifting her eyes from the page, she smiled and whispered...
"I guess..."
A second pencil cracked.
"...I wasn't the only one that decided to tag along."
Chapter Eleven
The room remained completely silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even looked towards the hallway.
Jessie's voice called again.
Closer this time.
"Guys..."
"...seriously."
"Hurry."
Every instinct told Jessie to answer.
But she couldn't.
She was standing right there.
Ben slowly turned towards her.
"If... if that's you..."
"...who's in the hallway?"
Jessie couldn't answer.
She didn't know.
The voice laughed.
It sounded exactly like her.
Every word.
Every breath.
Every little pause she made when she spoke.
Then...
Footsteps.
Slowly walking towards them.
One step.
Then another.
Then another.
The three children backed away together.
Just before whatever it was reached the corner of the hallway...
The house phone rang,
The footsteps stopped instantly.
The hallway fell silent.
Jessie ran to the corner.
Nothing.
The corridor was empty.
Every bedroom door stood open.
Nobody was there.
Chapter Twelve
Nobody mentioned it to the adults.
How could they?
"We heard Jessie's voice while Jessie was somewhere else."
Even saying it aloud sounded ridiculous.
On the walk to Ben's and Chloe’s house, Jessie finally asked,
"Lizzy..."
"What did you mean earlier?"
Lizzy looked at her.
"When?"
"You said you weren't the only one that decided to tag along."
Lizzy frowned.
"I never said that."
Ben stopped walking.
"You did."
"Chloe heard it too."
Chloe nodded.
"I heard you."
Lizzy looked genuinely confused.
"No..."
"I was colouring."
"I never even spoke."
Jessie stared at her.
"You honestly don't remember?"
Lizzy shook her head.
"No."
That night Jessie couldn't sleep.
Something was pretending to be her.
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, Jessie made a decision.
She was going back to the tunnel.
Not inside.
Just to look.
She told nobody.
The tunnel looked exactly the same.
Concrete.
Graffiti.
Darkness.
She stood several metres away.
Then noticed something on the ground.
A trainer.
Small.
Pink.
Mud stained.
Jessie's stomach dropped.
She recognised it immediately.
It was one of Lizzy's.
The same pair she'd been wearing the day she disappeared.
She slowly picked it up.
How?
Lizzy had come home barefoot.
Her shoes had never been found.
So why...
Were they here now?
A quiet sniffle echoed from inside the tunnel.
Jessie froze.
Someone was crying.
Very softly.
"Hello?"
The crying stopped.
Then...
A frightened whisper.
"Jessie?"
Her blood ran cold.
"Lizzy?"
The voice came again.
"Lizzy!"
Chapter Fourteen
Jessie's legs refused to move.
The voice sounded weak.
As though whoever it belonged to had been crying for hours.
"Jessie..."
"Please..."
"I can't find the way out."
Tears filled Jessie's eyes.
"Lizzy?"
"I'm here!"
"I've been looking for you!"
The voice became more desperate.
"No!"
"Don't come in!"
"What?"
"It's watching!"
Jessie's heart pounded.
"Who's watching?"
Silence.
Then...
A slow scraping sound echoed deep within the tunnel.
Like something being dragged across concrete.
The crying stopped immediately.
The silence somehow felt worse.
Jessie backed away.
Then turned and ran.
As she reached the path...
She heard one final scream behind her.
"JESSIE!"
"...DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!"
Chapter Fifteen
Nobody believed her.
Dad returned to the tunnel with torches.
Police officers searched both entrances.
Volunteers walked through it twice.
Nothing.
No shoe.
No footprints.
No crying.
No little girl.
One officer even smiled kindly.
"You've had a fright."
"Sometimes tunnels echo."
Jessie looked at the ground.
Lizzy's shoe that was there had vanished too.
She hadn't imagined holding it.
She knew she hadn't.
That evening she sat alone in her bedroom.
Mum and Dad watched television.
Max suddenly began barking.
Not at the front door.
Not outside.
Outside Lizzy's room.
Jessie stepped into the hallway and saw Max stood at the door, growling up at Lizzy.
His ears were flat.
His tail tucked tightly between his legs.
Lizzy slowly looked up at Jessie.
She smiled.
Then...
Without moving her lips...
Jessie heard her voice.
Clear as day.
Inside her own head.
"She told you I'm still down there, didn't she?"
Jessie felt the blood drain from her face.
Lizzy's smile widened ever so slightly.
Then she spoke normally.
"Jessie?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Chapter Sixteen
Jessie couldn't stay away.
Every night she lay awake listening.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Three nights later...
At exactly 3:12 a.m...
It came.
Not from downstairs.
Not from outside.
From inside the tunnel.
Even though she was lying in bed.
She heard it.
Clear as someone whispering beside her ear.
"Jessie..."
Her eyes flew open.
"...please."
It was Lizzy.
Not the girl sleeping in the next room.
The other one.
Jessie quietly climbed out of bed.
She didn't switch on any lights.
She quietly made her way past the bedrooms.
Max was already waiting by the front door.
Whining.
He knew.
As soon as Jessie opened the door, Max refused to leave the house.
He planted his paws firmly on the floor and growled.
Jessie had never seen him frightened before.
"I'm sorry, boy."
She walked into the darkness alone.
The voice continued calling.
Leading her back towards the tunnel.
Chapter Seventeen
The tunnel looked different at night.
The darkness seemed thicker somehow.
As though the torchlight didn't travel as far as it should.
Jessie stepped inside.
"Where are you?"
Silence.
Then...
"I'm here..."
The voice came from deep within.
She followed it.
Further than she'd ever gone before.
The air became colder.
The tunnel became quieter.
Even the dripping water had stopped.
Then her torch caught something.
Dozens of shoes.
Children's shoes.
Old trainers.
School shoes.
Sandals.
Some tiny.
Some almost adult sized.
Lined neatly against one wall.
As though someone had carefully arranged them.
Jessie recognised one pair immediately.
Lizzy's pink trainers.
The ones she'd been wearing the day she disappeared.
She picked one up.
It was cold.
Wet.
And covered in fresh mud.
Behind her...
A little girl's voice whispered,
"You found them."
Chapter Eighteen
Jessie spun around.
A little girl stood only a few metres away.
Barefoot.
Her clothes were filthy.
Her hair tangled.
She looked exhausted.
But it was her face that made Jessie's knees buckle.
It was Lizzy.
Not looked like Lizzy.
Was Lizzy.
Every freckle.
Every strand of hair.
Every tiny scar on her chin from falling off her bike.
"Jessie..."
The little girl burst into tears.
"You came back."
Jessie dropped her torch.
"Lizzy?"
"I knew you would."
Jessie wrapped her arms around her.
She felt real.
Warm.
Shaking.
Then Lizzy grabbed both of Jessie's shoulders.
Her face filled with panic.
"We've got to go!"
"What?"
"RUN!"
Jessie's stomach tightened and they ran hand in hand. Complete darkness, no time to try and find the torch she had dropped.
Lizzy looked back into the darkness.
"I don't know what it is."
"But it learns."
"It learned me."
A deep voice echoed somewhere behind them.
"Elizabeth..."
Both girls froze.
The voice sounded exactly like Mum.
"Girls?"
"Dinner's ready."
Jessie's blood ran cold.
They were over a mile from home.
Chapter Nineteen
Lizzy pulled Jessie's hand.
"Don't answer."
The voice came again.
Closer.
Sweeter.
"Jessie..."
"It's Mum."
"I've been looking everywhere."
Jessie knew that voice.
She'd heard it every day of her life.
Every instinct screamed at her to answer.
Lizzy squeezed her hand painfully.
"It isn't her."
Footsteps echoed through the tunnel.
Slow.
Calm.
Unhurried.
A figure appeared in the darkness.
It looked exactly like Mum.
The same coat.
The same smile.
The same voice.
"Oh, there you are."
Jessie felt tears fill her eyes.
"Mum..."
The figure smiled wider.
Then...
Its smile kept growing.
Far wider than any human smile could.
Its eyes never blinked.
Lizzy screamed.
"RUN!"
The two sisters sprinted towards the tunnel entrance.
Behind them...
The footsteps didn't speed up.
Whatever was following them...
Didn't need to.
It knew exactly where they were going.
Chapter Twenty
Daylight exploded across Jessie's face as she stumbled out of the tunnel.
She hadn't realised how long she'd been inside.
She collapsed onto the grass, gasping for breath.
A moment later...
Lizzy crawled out beside her.
Barefoot.
Filthy.
Shaking uncontrollably.
Jessie wrapped both arms around her.
"We made it..."
"We made it..."
Lizzy clung to her, sobbing into her shoulder.
Then, in the distance...
Sirens.
Voices.
Car doors slamming.
Within minutes, police cars, neighbours and both of their parents came running across the field.
Jessie looked up in relief.
"Mum!"
"Dad!"
She pointed excitedly towards the little girl still clinging to her.
"She's here!"
"My real sister!"
Mum dropped to her knees.
But instead of reaching for Lizzy...
She threw her arms around Jessie.
"Oh my God..."
"Jessie!"
"We've been so worried!"
Jessie frowned.
"What we're you doing Jessie?"
"Lizzy's here!"
Dad gently pulled Jessie to her feet.
"Easy, sweetheart."
Jessie stared at him.
"What?"
Then she noticed something.
Standing beside Dad...
Was Lizzy.
Clean.
Wearing the same clothes she'd gone to bed in.
Watching Jessie with an unreadable expression.
Jessie's heart stopped.
She looked behind her.
The barefoot Lizzy was still there.
Still crying.
Still holding onto her hand.
She looked back at Mum and Dad.
Neither of them even glanced in the barefoot girl's direction.
"No..."
Jessie whispered.
"No... she's here!"
She pointed desperately.
"This is Lizzy!"
Everyone looked exactly where Jessie was pointing.
The police.
Her parents.
The neighbours.
They all frowned.
Confused.
"What are you talking about?" Mum asked softly.
Jessie looked down at the barefoot girl.
"Why can't you see her?!"
The little girl nodded through her tears.
"I'm right here..."
Jessie grabbed her hand tightly.
It was warm.
Real.
She turned back towards her parents.
"Please!"
"She's right here!"
When she looked back again...
Her hand was empty.
The barefoot girl was gone.
Jessie stumbled backwards.
"No..."
"No, no, no..."
She spun around wildly, searching the field.
There was no one there.
Then...
Very close to her ear...
She heard a tiny whisper.
"Jessie..."
She froze.
Had she really rescued her sister?
Or had she left her behind...
Again?
Nobody ever believed Jessie's story.
Doctors called it trauma.
Police called it shock.
Doctors called it trauma.
Her parents never spoke about the tunnel again.
Within a few months, life slowly returned to normal.
Or at least...
It pretended to.
Lizzy laughed again.
She went back to school.
Played football.
Argued over whose turn it was to wash up.
To everyone else...
She was exactly the same little girl who had disappeared for less than an hour that summer afternoon.
Only Jessie noticed the tiny things.
Sometimes Lizzy would stop halfway through a sentence and stare at nothing.
Sometimes she'd wake in the middle of the night with muddy footprints beside her bed that vanished by morning.
Sometimes she'd quietly ask questions that made no sense.
"Do you ever miss the other house?"
Or...
"Do you remember the little girl crying?"
Whenever Jessie asked what she meant...
Lizzy would simply look confused.
"I didn't say anything."
Eventually, Jessie stopped asking.
She stopped talking about the tunnel.
Stopped telling people what she'd seen.
People stopped believing her long before she stopped believing herself.
Years passed.
The tunnel remained.
Overgrown.
Silent.
Waiting.
Nobody ever closed it.
Nobody ever explored it.
And nobody ever noticed that, every few years...
Someone else went missing.
Always for less than an hour.
Always returned.
Always... different.
Sometimes, just after sunset, when the wind was blowing in the right direction...
A frightened little girl's voice drifted out from the darkness.
Calling only one name.
"Jessie..."
"...please come back for me."
Jessie never went back.
She couldn't.
Because deep down...
She was terrified of what she might find.
Or worse...
Who she might bring home.
Then, almost fifteen years later...
Jessie received a phone call she had spent her entire life dreading.
A frightened mother was crying so hard she could barely speak.
"My daughter..."
"She disappeared in the tunnel..."
Jessie's heart stopped.
The woman whispered one final sentence.
"Someone said you survived it once."
Jessie slowly looked towards the old photograph she had kept hidden in a drawer for years.
It showed two smiling sisters outside their house.
She gently placed her finger over Lizzy's face.
Then quietly whispered...
"I never found out if I saved you."
The End... For Now.
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