After going home, Arjun bathed to relax, the evening was quiet, he turned on his TV and started glancing through the channels, searching for any familiar movies to watch or any other he wanted to watch, but there were none.
He felt grumbling inside his stomach, he thought it may be because of his empty stomach, he went to the kitchen to find something he could eat, there were two packets he grabbed and went towards his screen. After a few hours, his stomach started aching, so badly that he was unable to sit there properly, he took medicine and went to bed.
He was confused and failed to recall what thing he ate which caused him the ache, but there was nothing he could recall, he tried to sleep but sleep was miles away from him and the ache was just getting worse.
He stood up and thought of walking which could help him to reduce the ache, but it was unsuccessful. It was night when it took its worst form, he thought it would reduce by the night, but he was wrong, it was not in the mood to get reduced.
He talked to Priya, and she advised him to drink warm lemon water, which might help him to clear his stomach, She also suggested a few medicines, but it was too late to find any medical store open.
He was in his bed, and his blank mind started aching just like his stomach, he stood up to make warm water, it was 11:00 pm, too late to find any medicine. He grabbed the kettle and put that on the stove.
He started chatting with Priya on WhatsApp, and she asked him about his ache, it was worse, he told her, he also told her that he might have to take leave from the office, she promised to visit him the next morning and if needed she would take him to hospital. Arjun smiled, he felt lucky to get this kind of caring Girlfriend.
while chatting with her, he thought if he took a day off the next day and got cured early, he could play chess the rest of the day and also he can spend his days reading novels, it was his best hobby, he always played chess with his neighbours who were living near him, they were not that close to him but they were friends just because of the chess, every one among them was quite good enough to be victorious.
while thinking all this he saw the weather from the window, black clouds were covering all the visible stars and half-moon, the night was quite cold, his legs were getting frozen, he walked towards the window, he saw quiet streets, a few dogs sleeping peacefully, the sky was clear, but still there was something strange which he was unable to figure out.
He heard one strange noise, first, he thought that it was coming from the street, he was following the voice but it was not long before he figured out that the voice was not coming from the street but it was from inside his house, the voice grew stronger, it was the voice of scratching, not the normal one but scratching on the steel object, it was so annoying which forced him to take his fingers towards his ears. He guessed that it was coming from the kettle, he went near the kettle, saw some water spread on the platform, aside from the stove and the voice came again, now he was sure that it was coming from the kettle, he lifted his neck to see inside the kettle which was now empty but the surface was as it is, no sign of scratching anywhere inside the kettle.
He gazed at it while rubbing his cheeks, the voice grew louder, his eyes were still on the kettle but the kettle was as still as a corpse. He turned his neck back to search for the voice if he was mistaken, but the voice was coming from the kettle.
He stood there, nothing was clear to him, the sound stopped, he waited for it to appear again but it didn’t come again.
He turned back toward his bedroom, and he heard the kettle fall from the stove, and it was a loud thud which made him turn back immediately, when he looked there, the kettle was far from the stove like someone had thrown it that far.
His stomach grumbled he felt uneasy, his heart had gone cold, but he gathered his all courage, he had been living there for the last three years, and there was nothing like this ever happened to him, it might be something else which he couldn’t explain, but with all his courage he maintained to gather, he went ahead towards the kettle.
His fingers were about to grab that kettle when he saw four red fingers making their way through the kettle, he stood still, taking his hand back, his hands were shaking a bit after looking at those four fingers, and another four fingers also arrived at the top of the kettle. The drop of the sweat found its way from his hairs to his cheek and slowly towards his neck, he was not aware if he was dreaming, or if he was awake.
Before thinking anything he slowly took a step back from where he stood and ran directly towards the door, he tried to open the door. Still, the door was jammed, he wanted to cry but the tears were not visible in his eyes, the door didn’t even move an inch from where it stood and that made his heart make its way out of his body. He screamed, but no voice came out of his mouth, again he tried to scream but still no voice. He felt like he was dead, he couldn’t find his heart living inside him, and he lost all his senses.
His eyes were burning, he closed his eyes, not wanting to see what was happening to him or what was going to happen to him. He sat there with the support of that door still refusing to move.
He heard someone’s step, he closed his eyes, he imagined that red fingers in that kettle, he imagined a red monster with many eyes and hands coming out to eat him, or any spirit who died in this house was sparking for revenge but the whispers of step converted into dead silence, he looked up, everything was silent, he stood up moving slowly, it appeared that everything was a dream, he saw that kettle back on the stove, water was on it, the gas was also on, the water became too hot to drink, he turned off the stove and kept that kettle where it was for a while.
Suddenly his eyes went blank, there was darkness all over them, it was like someone covered his eyes, the hand which covered his eyes were soft, he touched that thin hand and took it away from his eyes, he heard the sound of a giggle, he was not scared but he was curious to know who’s there, he turned back and saw Priya over there.
“Surprise,” she said with a smile.
Arjun was confused, he wanted to smile but the smile refused to appear on his face, he raised his finger toward the door, and Priya looked toward the door, confused.
“How did you get in?” he asked. She looked surprised, maybe she wasn’t expecting that question.
“Through the door,” she said like it was obvious.
“The door is jammed.”
“No, it was open when I got in.” she said, “By the way how are you?”
“Not good, but now it’s all okay because I am with you,” he said.
Arjun walked toward the door to confirm if the door was flexible or still jammed, he tried to pull that door, which was still jammed, he turned towards Priya disbelieving what she said, but she was not standing there, his head was just blasting, and he was unable to understand what was wrong. He moved toward his bedroom. There was an unusual silence, before that night he loved silence but now he hated it, his eyes were wet, and his body looked like he had taken a bath of sweat. Every part of his body was aching. He heard the sound of barking, but the concerning thing was that the sound was coming from his bedroom, he was sweating so badly, that his body was trembling. His heart started aching so badly, that he felt like he was getting a heart attack but he did not die but was standing there with the support of the door.
A dog came out of the bedroom, towards him, barking so loud that he felt his ability to hear was dying, The dog’s eyes were red as if it was bleeding, half of his body was rotten, and the blood had dried on whatever flesh had remained on the creature, Arjun can see the flesh of that dog, the dog jumped towards him attacking with his paws, he closed his eyes again, he kept them closed for a few seconds when he opened his eyes it was all normal like it was from the beginning.
Still, not believing, he went towards the kitchen, the kettle was still there in the gas stove, he grabbed it and took the hot water out from it. He drank hot water and went to bed. pretending like it was all just a dream. Again he heard the footstep, it was approaching him, as the steps became louder his heartbeat went faster like running a race.
He woke up from his bed, the door was opened, and he could see his floor wet from the water covering it from every side, his hands shaking so hard, and he felt that he had no control over his hand, his legs also refused to move. He saw a pair of red legs arriving, it stood straight from him, Arjun could see those huge red legs like the pair of elephant’s legs, he raised his eyes, and he saw red arms, but the rest of the body was black as a black hole. Then he saw the face of the monster and that was what took his breath away, there was not only one head fixed on that monster, but there were five heads, and they stood straight against him.
The first head on that body was of his mother, that face was still soft and very much comforting but the eyes in her face, her eyes were black and a black liquid was running out from her eyes, seeing those eyes, he felt like vomiting, his stomach was making sounds to which he couldn’t even name it, her face was full of scars, and the worst thing was her head, it was bald, he had never imagined his mother without hair, and that was the scariest part, same with his Dad, his eyes were just like his mom, all black, but his nose was not there, the face of his dad was all flat and he felt like his father was threatening him, he felt like his father was here to cut his nose as well just because he did not have it. and hairs were so big, that he could see a group of snakes inside the hair, one of the snakes jumped towards him which made him scream so loud, that he moved aside. He put his hand on his mouth, his eyes denying what he just saw. He screamed, the loudest one to date but no sound came from his dry mouth.
His brother was staring at him with no eyes at all, he could see through that empty hole where there used to be his eyes, The rest of his face was normal, but once again he saw the hole, it was growing every second, and then one bat came from that hole straight towards him, he put his both hands to save his face, the bat made long scratches in his hand and flew towards any direction, then he saw Arun, Arun’s face was not that scary, just covered with blood, he was looking like a cannible who just ate someone, he was staring at him straight to his eyes which made his heart go cold and all his hairs already stood from their place.
The last face was of Priya, the only woman he loved, her face was full of scars and black liquid finding its way out from her mouth, she was covered with blood, he was staring at her eyes he kept looking at them and felt like he was not sitting anymore, he felt that there was no land beside him. He glanced through all the faces, Suddenly Priya opened her closed eyes, that was the last thing he saw that night and the darkness covered everything after that.
(To be continued)
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