First One.....
It was raining that evening.
The mind-soothing quietness, the stimulating smell of the wet soil, and the chilly weather created a great atmosphere at The Arrêtermps, a café far away from the deadeningly mechanical, deafeningly noisy, soul-tiring, and the never-resting life of a metropolis.
Set at the precipice just a few metres diversion from the main highway, the café was small and always had very few customers. People came here from the nearby city, college students mostly, to spend a chatty evening with friends when the weather turned ‘gossip-worthy’ in their words. And indeed the weather was ‘gossip-worthy’ today.
The fog has blurred the road causing the sporadically coming vehicles at the highway to decelerate, not a bird was at sight that could have possibly made any noise, and the life around the café seemed to have stopped, the way it always did in weather like this.
“What a gorgeous evening.” Said a woman as she closed her eyes and inhaled the spicy aroma of the hot tea rising from a freshly kept cup at her table. “It is like the time has stopped. Everything is so quiet and serene. Ah, how healing it feels just to hear the rain and sip your favourite drink. People like us need moments like these every once in a while to keep our sanity intact.”
“Rightly said.” Her friend, a woman of the same age, smiled at her. “Apart from those two dogs sitting quietly at that side of the road, everything else is so pleasing. Look at their eyes, never seen a dog’s eye glowing red.”And then suddenly she remembered something. “Oh! I completely forgot, I brought the album of my cousin’s wedding, it’s beautiful. Here, take a look at this photograph…”
“Oh you guys are so boring. Always about the cheesy weddings, photos…….It is the PERFECT time to snuggle in the blanket with friends and share scarrrryyyy stories.” Flicking the lighter on and off, another friend has started to speak. “I would really love to hear few good horror stories right now. Speaking of horror, I have heard you were planning to go to that fort of Rajasthan, what’s its name….something Bhan…”
“Wow, you guys are going to Bhangarh, that’s awesome. Sign me up please.” A girl interrupted him. “I heard it is haunted. I would love to go there.”
And their group started to indulge in the topic they knew would not end until someone’s mom calls for coming home straight off without blinking twice.
The conversation grew to such interesting point that it attracted everyone’s ear in the Café. But completely lost in their ‘the warden was the ghost’, ‘her throat was slit open’, and the famous ‘believe me it’s true’ type of stories, the group was totally unaware of being noticed. Besides, the ‘everyone’ consisted of only three or four more customers sitting at the different tables.
“Ghosts do not exist.” A man in his late twenties rose from his seat and intervened in the conversation.
“Ghosts do not exist.” He continued. “I have spent a lot of time on this subject, been to many places that are known for being ‘haunted’.” He emphasized sarcastically on the word ‘haunted’ and continued. “I have used EMF Meter and all those geeky stuffs to have a single hint of their existence but disappointment was all I could ever find.”
“Please, join us.” The lighter-flicking man enthusiastically invited him in. “I would really love to hear some of your experiences.”
“And I would love to join you but could you kindly stop playing with your lighter, the sound is quite unpleasing”
“oops, sorry. Sure, I will keep it in my pocket.” He didn’t mind being stopped. The curiosity was compelling him. “Please share some of your experiences with us.”
“I am terribly sorry to dishearten your spirit.” The man replied. “But, I have promised someone that I will always speak the truth and to speak the truth, there was absolutely nothing I could ever find. My entire experience was so exhausting. Sleeping at poorly maintained inns, exploring the hideously smelling morgues, wiping the spider-web off my face – the experience was not so graceful I am afraid.”
“I second that………never believed in this BS.” Another man joined the conversation. “Always knew that these things are just the produce of uneducated minds. Nevertheless this kind of topic is always provocative and it is always so interesting to talk about it over coffee, especially in this weather.” He lifted his cup.
The rain started to grow heavier. But as the wind was not violent, the serenity was unbroken and the conversation went more intense. Almost everyone in the café was taking interest in the conversation.
“Great!” taking out the lighter from his pocket, remembering something and keeping it back, the man announced. “As we are trapped here, and as we cannot go anywhere unless the rain stops, let us hear a long horror story; mind you, a long one.” And like planning a game, he continued. “It should be extremely interesting. Anyone who starts to get bored can stop the storyteller right then and we will do something else, whatsay?”
“You will always be a kid.” Both the women laughed at him.
And suddenly their laugh was joined by another convulsive laughter. It stopped almost in the same second they stopped laughing.
All of them looked into the direction this was coming from. A thickly bearded man in the suit was sitting at the corner. For a long time, he’s been noticing them but he never looked at them nor he interrupted in the conversation; just looking at the outside view, he was attentively listening to every word they have said. His neatly trimmed suit, pointed chin, and the well-groomed appearance was intimidating to look at.
“Excuse me?” one of the women exclaimed.
The man said ‘excuse me’ too. What’s interesting was that he started and finished the sentence exactly as the woman did.
“Are you, by any chance, daring to mock me?” the woman was angry this time.
And again, the man started and ended the same sentence in exact seconds with her.
“What is the meaning of this?” she was furious.
Same thing happened. He started and ended every sentence in precise seconds. It was like he already knew what she was going to say.
“Would you stop it?” a hint of nervousness showed on her face.
It happened again.
“Okay, this is getting kind of…..? The lighter man started to say something but was interrupted by him.
“Creepy now?” he completed the man.
“That’s what I was going to say. Whoa! How do you…how are you doing it?”
He repeated the same thing with him.
And suddenly he started to complete every sentence before anyone was even able to speak the first few words.
The entire group was dumbstruck because he completed everything exactly how they would have completed it. It went on.
“Alright, Enough! Sir, whoever you are and however you are doing it, it has to stop. Please stop this. It MUST stop. I am going to have a headache otherwise” the girl who was sitting in the corner, pleaded.
He did not say anything this time. And there was quietness in the room for next few seconds. Then he spoke.
“I knew you would say that but this is when it stops” He looks at his watch. “…and I tell you how I do it.”
“What do you mean?” asked the girl. Others were too disturbed to say anything.
“Right!” I know that you all are curious. And you want to know.” And then he laughed again.
It was still raining. But the once evening atmosphere now turned into a deadly quiet night. The serenity was gone. It was strange, because apart from the light, nothing visibly or audibly changed. In the evening, the only sound to be heard was of rain and it was the same at night. But the evening was pleasantly quiet. And right now, as the night came, this quiet was anything but ‘pleasant.’ The serenity that the evening exuded was completely gone.
There was a long silence inside the café.
Finally, he wiped his specs, worn it, and started to speak. What followed shook their entire universe.
He looked at the outside view once more and started. “Now, before I go ahead, I want you to know that there are three stories that will unfold, each one of them is connected with the other. I….” he stopped for one second and then continued. “Whatever I say, I want you to hear me out completely and not freak out…”
“What do you mean freak out?” The girl asked.
He gave a long sigh and stood up. “I am going to start it now.”
“Three months ago, there was an accident on this highway, about five kilometres left from here. The victim was severely injured. The skin of his head was completely burnt, and the flesh looked torn from each corner of the mouth. But that was not the worst thing to see. Only his head was burnt. Rest of his body was flayed, not a piece of skin was to be seen on his entire frame. The most horrifying part was that when the police looked closer to the body, they found tiny pins stuffed throughout his torso’s naked flesh.”
“Why are you telling us about the accident?” the girl spoke again. She looked terrified. Everyone in the group was waiting, waiting to understand the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of the situation.
The man unbuttoned his suit and sat down where he was sitting before, at the corner table.
“Like I said, before I complete, you will not understand what I am talking about. So, please…. let me complete. I insist.”
He continued. “I will stop that ‘accident’ part of the story for now, and begin with another opening. Believe me, it is the best way to make you understand everything”
“Six kilometres left from here, there is a village called ‘Kakhor.’ It is….”
“I know that place.” The man, who was initially talking about the non-existence of ghosts and trying everything to find them, spoke. He was surprised to hear the name of the village from that man as very few people know about it. “They say it has a tribe living there. They…they have strange traditions.”
Everyone wanted to say something but they were not able to speak, partially because they were afraid and partially because they wanted to know.
The night grew darker. Nothing was visible except for the three table candles and one main lamp of the café.
“I know that you know about the place. But would it be too much if I ask you to wait for me to finish what I have to say?”
There was a silence again.
He took off his specs. “Thank you. Now, the victim that I talked about was an explorer once. He came this way to visit Kakhor. And he did. But when he discovered few things about the tribe, he immediately wanted to leave. And he did. But, the tribe people captured him on the highway. The victim did not have a chance. He was once a ghost-explorer…..used EMF Meters…” He looked at the man who previously talked about it.
“What are you trying to imply?” he asked sharply.
“…that you are the victim. I will start from the beginning.” The man did not have any expression on his face. “Six months ago, you were in your hometown. The thirst of exploring supernatural has earned you many like-minded friends, and one of them told you about Kakhor exactly six months ago. As usual, you ridiculed the facts that your friend told you and in reaction to which he smiled and said ‘may be you are right. May be, like all the haunted places, this one too, is just false rumoured.’ Your friend left after saying that but you could not forget the name of the village. Curiosity got the best of you. ‘What the hell? Another place. I will just visit and come back.’ That’s what you said to yourself. And then you started the journey to Kakhor. When you entered the village, you were welcomed by a man who offered his place to spend the night. You politely refused and decided to explore the area at night instead. You had not the slightest idea what that night will bring to you.”
He looked outside in the dark and continued with blank expressions.
“You thought of visiting the east side of the village but you also wanted to go north at the same time. And as always, you took out your grandfather’s ancient coin. Flipped it and went north.”
The man, who he was talking about, went bone white. Suddenly he did not have any words. His mind has flooded him with questions. He did use his grandfather’s coin whenever he was confused. But how could he possibly know about that?
“Look, I know what you are thinking. But please do not freak out. Whether any of you believe me or not, hear me out completely. You will have answers to all your questions.”
A chill crawled up the spine of everyone who was listening to him.
“I don’t want to hear this crap. You are probably one of those magicians who can play some tricks. Stop. As soon as the rain stops, we will be our way.” One of the women said.
“You will be your way….that you will be.” He smiled. “I promise you that if the rain stops before my story, I will not ask you to listen to me.”
“Let him continue.” The lighter man said. “At least he is trying to scare us. Besides, the story is interesting. Let’s hear him out.” He said that in a quite composed and unconcerned manner but he knew inside that he was scared.
“Thank you.” The man smiled at him. “As I was saying…” looking at the other person now, he continued. “He went north. The area was chilly and the darkness made it quite………..well, scary. But it was him. He had been to worse and more horrifying places. Fearlessly, he walked forward. For an hour, he could not find anything. ‘Why do I listen to my crazy self? Why did I even think of coming here? This senseless pursuit has to stop. I must think about my future now, I cannot go on like this. Ghosts do not exis…’ he heard something while thinking these things. The noise was coming from the nearby forest. Naturally, he went towards the source of the noise and………..”
The man stopped. He looked horrified. His face turned extremely pale.
“and…when he reached, he saw something…..what he saw…………raised each and every hair on his body….it was horrifying….he turned back, trying not to make any sound so that they do not hear him……he ran towards his car, started the engine and ran off. But……he could not go. They found him…and…”
He looked afraid and scarily pale.
“This is nonsense………what is wrong with you? How the hell did you get to know about my grandfather’s coin??!!” the man was shaking.
“Please. I know how you are feeling. I beg you to let me complete. Just hold yourself and your questions till that time.”
He was powerfully convincing. Even when they did not want to believe in it, his incredibly modulated voice, soul-piercing gaze, and the magnetic manner was making it impossible to ignore him. Of course, he was not trying to harm anyone, nor was he coming closer. But there was something about him, something that seemed very dangerous, very intimidating……….very life-threatening.
Most of them were waiting for the rain to stop or at least go slow so that they can get away from this place. But the rain, the rain never stopped.
The silence was broken again by that man. “I will hold this story here and start with another one that meets this one en route.” He wiped off his glasses and continued. “Three months ago, two lawyers have lost their jobs. On the same day, both of them tried to commit suicide but could not do it as at the last moment the fear of dying gripped them. They stopped, reasoned, and thought about leaving the city and all their usual business for some time. Both of them decided to go on a road trip to wherever the highway took them. At last moment when they were leaving, their friends, a banking student and a medical practitioner, stopped them. After a dose of beyond healthy arguments, they finally planned to go together. So they started the journey. But…” He arched his eyebrows, took a sip from the cup. “After crossing a few kilometres on the highway, due to the dense fog in a particular area, they missed to see a damaged car that was just standing on the side of the highway……they crashed. The car was at such deadly speed that they did not have time to do anything but die….and so they died. All of them. Now I will come to the third and the final part that will j……”
He was stopped by a sudden loud thud of the tree. Everyone except him jumped with fear.
“Calm down. It is just a tree.”He assured them. But it was not only the sound of the tree crash that made their blood run cold.
“The last part.” He looked at the outside view again. “…..The damaged car they crashed to…. was no one’s but the explorer’s car. The tribe dragged him out of the car, they skinned his entire torso, leaving his head intact, they performed their rituals on him and left…but to his worst luck, he was yet drawing breath…If only for just few moments. He still owed something to the karma…..and that…..that needed to be paid in full sum. So when the car crashed……a burning metal travelled through air and fell on his face… In his last moments, his mind was switching his focus between a skinned torso and a fresh burning face……excruciating pain had arrested all his senses.”
An exploding loud scream has filled the café.
The explorer was crying in torturous pain. He remembered everything now. Everything that man has said was coming back as a memory to him. Flash by flash. He saw himself entering in the village, he saw himself starting the car…..their footsteps….the flashes in his mind were extremely vivid. But he was not the only person in the room who started to remember………….
The two women’s faces were turned ashen. The lawyers, yes they were the two lawyers who lost their jobs. Another girl who was a little better than the rest of them looked like she will have her heart out of her mouth anytime now. The guy who was playing with the lighter, lost his voice in sudden shock.
They started to remember……flash by flash….everything that has happened…..
Yes, they remember now, that night………….the plan was to go to Bhangarh……….the suicide, they remember it now………the crash………the accident…….
“……..wait! Hold yourselves……..Before it happens, I have to complete. I must complete what I have to say” The man ordered them in his commanding voice.
“Three months ago, you both, lawyers….” He pointed at the women. “And you both….the medical and banking students” he looked at the girl and the lighter man. “…you died. And with you, he died too” he fixated his eyes at the explorer now. “the reason why he asked you to stop playing with the lighter because he still had the faint memory of flames, and his sub-conscious was afraid when he saw the lighter flame”…….“All of you in this room……are dead. The place that you are sitting in is only traceable by those who are not accompanied by their bodies. There is no café, there was never any café. This……is a halt.” He stood up.
“Three months……every evening, for past three months, you come to your senses…….and every single evening of your group starts with ‘What a gorgeous evening’ said by that woman. And rest follows………same evening is repeating itself for the past three months… that is how I know what you are going to say before you even form a word. Every single evening……I tell you the story, you realize what happened….you accept it as your reality and fade into a dead white vapour as the night strike 3 am. You reappear every single evening, and when the next evening comes, none of you know that you are dead. The two dogs that you have seen on the entrance, are the criesés, they make sure that whenever you recall your past and try to leave in panic, you do not get an inch away from this very table…..
The night was charcoal dark now, the rain had stopped. The clock struck 3.00…….every one of them was looking at their hands, gradually fading into thin air…….
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-V