CHAPTER 2 - the dreaded night
Sana and Aksha were dreading the night since they had to share their bed with Martika. To their surprise, when they entered the room, Martika was not there. This gave them some time to relax. “I’m so tired with all the traveling, yet so excited!” Aksha said. “Hey let’s call Khushi in here and watch a movie.” Sana offered. Aksha liked the idea and they went towards the door. Just before Aksha could reach the handle, the door opened in full swing and hit her hard on her nose. “You…” She was about to swear assuming it must be Martika, but to her surprise it was Kumar sir. “I’m so sorry dear. Does it hurt?” Aksha wanted to say “it not only hurts, it stings!” but she went on with, “No sir. I’m okay” and continued rubbing her nose.
“I’m here for a regular check" sir said, "and also to inform you about some restrictions. You will not go outside, call anyone else other than your roommates inside, or let anyone other than faculty members or volunteers in. And there’s something else too.” Kumar sir’s voice grew softer, “There’s a jungle nearby. But it’s forbidden to go there. Don’t do anything stupid.” He then turned and walked away to the next door. “There’s something about this jungle, it keeps popping up again and again.” Sana said.
Their plan about inviting Khushi would obviously not work now. The professors would be on their rounds. “It’s just the two of us then. Let’s begin!” They took out their laptop and played a horror movie. The sound was low enough so that it wouldn’t pass through the door. The movie started and the girls were missing their popcorn and hot chocolate. They ate wafers instead. It was a movie on ghosts and lost souls. They were so involved in the movie that Aksha accidentally bit her finger once. Her scream was loud but thankfully no one outside heard, they assumed. The next scene started. It was a pitch dark night and all the ghosts were attacking the hero’s isolated house. The scene was intense. Deadly music was playing. Scary musical wind was blowing. The ghosts in the movie were about to enter the house when Sana and Aksha heard a knock on their door. Their heartbeats sped. Sweat along with fear started to drip.
Sana held Aksha’s hand. They started chanting. Both of them sweating, their hands started to slip, when the door was knocked again. This time, it was louder. Somehow they held their scream. Two seconds later they heard a voice from the door. The voice said, “Girls, I know you don’t want me inside. But since I’m your roommate, and Kumar sir won’t let me share a room with my friends, you need to let me in. Right now! Or else I’m gonna get you out of this camp!” The girls let out a loud sigh. “She’s no less than a ghost!” Aksha mumbled while giggling. She opened the door and saw the same irritating and annoyed expression she was expecting. “What took you so long?” Martika demanded. “Nothing, we were just watching a movie about YOUR kind of people and your knock scared us” Sana explained.
“Kittens! Shy, scared, good for nothing kittens!” she threw back. “And please I don’t wanna listen to ghost music while I sleep. Put that thing off right now or I’m gonna tell sir that you two are not in bed. You know the consequences of that now, don’t you?”
“She’s such a spoilt brat!” Sana said. They had no other option but to stop the movie and shut their laptops. The three of them went to sleep. Martika annoyed, Aksha’s heartbeat still fast and Sana still thinking about the forest. Aksha had the urge to throw Martika off the bed. But considering the fact that she hadn’t told sir about their movie yet, she dropped the idea. Each of them closed their eyes and eventually drifted to sleep. Except for Sana. She didn’t want to go to the jungle. But somehow after Kumar sir’s fair warning, she felt reverse psychology kicking up. She was a kind of person always acting on instincts. She thought of taking Aksha with her. But she looked at her and she was sleeping so peacefully. She hadn’t seen her sleeping like that ever since her break-up with her former boyfriend. So she decided to go on her own. She put on her shoes, tip-toed and sneaked out.
She took a map with her. It was about half an hour’s walk. It was a pitch black night, just like the movie. “It was just a movie. It was just a movie.” Sana kept assuring herself. She checked the map and her GPRS app. She was on the right track. After a few turns, she could finally see the jungle. She felt as if the forest was calling out to her. Sana was in a two-state mind. Whether to go inside or not to. But she wasn’t foolish. She knew what happened to over-curious girls in horror movies. She turned back. Just at that instant, she saw a bright light from within the forest.
“Looks like a human settlement. A small visit won’t do any harm” Sana thought. She went towards the light coming from a small room. The door was wide open. “Hello? Anybody there?” Sana called. She heard soft music playing. The music was catchy and rhythmic. She went further in. It led to another door which revealed a big hall. It was decorated. What amused Sana was that all the decorations were translucent. She couldn’t guess the material they were made from. It was beautiful and elegant. She wanted to touch it, just to know what it feels like. She extended an arm towards it. Sana was amazed to see the semi-solid, semi-liquid, semi-gaseous material. “What is this thing?” she asked herself.
“You shouldn’t be here.” Sana snapped her head back to see where the voice came from. She saw a shadowy figure. “Oh I’m sorry sir. I just thought… Well, actually these decorations are quite fancy.” The shadowed figure came closer to her. Sana was a bit shaken. “Oh please don’t call me sir. I’m Dravya. What’s your name?” Sana was startled because Dravya was translucent too. Just like the materials inside. She rubbed her eyes assuming it appeared so because she was sleepy. She was right. As she finished rubbing her eyes, she could see Dravya, clearly solid. Just like any other person. “Hey. I’m Sana.” Dravya looked a few years elder than her. He was handsome, perhaps an inch taller than her. His hair matcher hers, brown curls. From his attire, Sana guessed he must be pretty rich. He was wearing a smart tux and had branded shoes.
“Sana, I told you, you shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe. Don’t you know about the stories of Phargadh forest?” ”What stories?” Sana was more curious than ever. Dravya’s voice was low and watchful. “You really don’t know anything. Do you? Hm. For now, trust me on the fact that this forest is filled with dark secrets. Go back to where you came from.” Sana was confused. Before she could ask him anything else, he turned back and went away. Sana reached the door to see him but he was already gone. She turned back to close the party hall door. What she saw, kept her haunted for a minute. The decorations were gone, replaced by spider webs. The fancy lights were gone. The music was gone. All that she could hear was wolves howling. Sana was frozen. Her hallucinations were increasing every damn hour. She was scared to death. As soon as she was back to her senses, she ran back to the hotel.
Aksha was peacefully dreaming about Adhiraj when she heard the door knock. “Sana please see who’s at the door” she said, opening her eyes a little, realizing Sana was not beside her. She went towards the door and opened it. It was Sana. “Where were you idiot?” Aksha asked in a low sleepy voice. Sana’a eyes were red, frightened. She was sweating like crazy and her hair was messy. Sana was almost in tears. She hugged Aksha tightly and started crying. She told her the whole story. Aksha was pretty sure it was just her imagination. But she said, “Sana, don’t worry. We’ll get there first thing in the morning and see it ourselves.”
”No way Aksha, I’m not going there again.” Sana still had a ragged breath. “Okay, okay. Just relax now. Remember you’re back and safe. Relax...” Sana closed her eyes, not sure if she could sleep tonight.
