Have you ever heard of Kisaragi Station?

It's a train station that became famous on online message boards—a place where, once you set foot inside, you can never return.

This is the story of a woman who actually managed to come back from Kisaragi Station.

After working late overtime, Ms. A missed the last train right in front of her eyes and was left stranded at the station.

Having no choice, she pulled out her phone to call someone for a ride. But even though the last train was supposed to have already left, a train suddenly pulled up to the platform.

Thinking the train had just been delayed and feeling lucky, Ms. A got on.

A little while after boarding, she noticed something felt wrong. Ten minutes passed, then twenty, and the train wasn't arriving at the next station at all.

Yet the other passengers sat there in complete silence, without anyone making a fuss.

After about an hour had passed, the train finally stopped at a station, and Ms. A hurriedly got off.

The station she got off at was an unfamiliar, deserted station called "Kisaragi Station," with nothing but a single bench standing on the platform.

It's hard to put into words, but the air felt heavy and creepy, giving her the distinct impression that there was something deeply wrong with where she was.

There was no timetable for the next train, so she had no choice but to call a taxi on her cell phone.

"Excuse me, I'm at a station called Kisaragi Station. Could I request a taxi?"

"..."

Someone picked up, but the person on the other end of the line remained dead silent.

"Um, hello? Can you hear me?"

When she spoke up, a eerie male voice answered:

"Kisaragi Station, correct? Understood. Heh-heh."

With that reply, the call disconnected.

At the end, it almost sounded like he was chuckling. Though she found it intensely creepy, she thought she could finally go home, so she waited for the taxi to arrive.

Ms. A stepped away from the platform to wait, and five minutes later, a single car pulled up.

She had been worried whether a car would really come, so feeling relieved, she approached the vehicle.

But then, several people dressed in white robes with white masks completely concealing their faces got out—far more people than could possibly fit inside that car.

"Ms. A, correct? Thank you for waiting. Please, get in."

Screaming, Ms. A ran back onto the platform. Seeing one of the robed figures walking slowly toward the platform, she jumped down onto the tracks and kept running along them.

She ran frantically for what felt like thirty minutes until she came across a tunnel shrouded in pitch darkness.

In stories about Kisaragi Station on internet message boards, people often write about walking along the tracks until they reach a tunnel, posting "I'm going to go inside," after which they are never heard from again.

However, Ms. A did not enter the tunnel; she turned back instead. Why did she turn back?

Because Ms. A saw what was waiting inside.

Out in the pitch darkness of the tunnel, countless white hands were reaching out, waiting to grab her.

Eventually...

Ms. A managed to make her way back to the platform of Kisaragi Station.

The people in white robes were no longer there.

Terrified of her surroundings, Ms. A curled up on the bench and did nothing but pray for a train to come.

What felt like an hour passed, and a train finally stopped at the station. However, it had no destination listed anywhere, and not knowing where it would take her, her instincts screamed at her not to get on, so she let it pass.

After that, every hour or so, trains continued to stop at the station, but none of them listed a destination, so she passed on all of them.

After roughly five hours had passed... finally, a train arrived showing "Bound for [Destination]"—

A train displaying a station name she recognized pulled up. Ms. A boarded it, and eventually arrived at that station and made it back home.

By then, morning had fully broken outside.

Ms. A entered her house and called out, "I'm home! Sorry I didn't call, I got delayed so badly getting back. Is anyone here?"

Walking inside, she saw an old woman sitting in front of the family Buddhist altar.

Ms. A lived with her father, mother, and grandmother, so assuming it was her grandmother, she spoke to her.

"Grandma, I'm home! Man, I missed the last train and got super delayed."

Hearing her, the old woman turned around and looked at Ms. A's face.

"Is that A!? Is it really you, A!?" she gasped, staring at her with wide, shocked eyes.

"Huh? What's wrong, Grandma? Why do you look so—" Before she could finish her sentence, Ms. A realized the truth.

The person she had addressed as her grandmother was not her grandmother at all.

Trembling with fear, Ms. A asked the woman:

"Mom... what year is it right now?"