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2024-10-29 19:42:56A non-ending, black expanse of nothingness ..
A silence broken by sound of liquid trickling ..
Was it from the ceiling ?
Maybe. Though it didn't seem to be that high .
A low-height ceiling ?
She closed and opened her eyes a couple of times with the hope of gaining some visibility .. Then strained her ears .. Did some sound get lost into the sound of trickling ? The sound of grinding of some metal plate on something solid .. maybe stone ? Or was it hammering ? Like the sound of mincing of .. meat ? Her nose twitched at the thought. 'No it was just her wild imagination .. the effect of those horror series she loved watching on TV', she tried to convince her mind. 'Hmm .. What have I been watching last night ?' 'Strange!!! Why can't I remember the name ?' she asked herself. She tried to remember the story, instead.
A young woman suddenly wakes up to find herself caged inside a dungeon. A masked figure was pulling a body, chained and gagged. It laid it on a wooden table, and she could hear the victim's sobs - a desperate, futile yearning for life. There was another table with a number of plumber's tools on it. Plunger, pipe wrench, sledge hammer, pliers, basin wrench, hacksaw, spanner, hole saw, jigsaw and what not? She wondered what were these doing there.
She tried to turn her head but was shocked to find that a crown had constrained it from moving. Yes it was indeed a circular ornament, but too heavy for a crown. Then as blood started trickling down her earlobes, cheeks and chin .. she discovered her head to be fastened with a metallic thorn sort of arrangement. It pressed at her temples the more she struggled to set free. The man had taken out a jigsaw by this time and from the woman's groans she knew what he was doing to her. A series of cries echoed left and right and looking through the corner of an eye she could deduce the other cages to be filled with women too. 'Hey you .. mother-fucker .. son of a bitch' she shouted. She couldn't hold herself back.
The figure turned back at her and she found the mask resembling a puppet, but a horrendous one, she hadn't seen before. A pale white skin, a receding hairline in the front giving shape to a huge forehead, a pair of bloodshot eyes, a strange symbol drawn in red on its cheeks, blood smeared on the edges of lips. Clad in a black leather jacket and loose trousers, a bow-tie worn neatly around the shirt collar, the man seemed to be in a halloween party mood, except for the jigsaw held in his left hand from which fresh blood trickled.
Suddenly the man stepped aside after opening the victim's gag, as if deliberately, and the woman lying on the table started screaming her lungs out. The jigsaw blade had scraped off her face's flesh and circular patches in red were etched on her cheeks just like the symbol on the man's mask. The woman had been striped completely naked now, and whether the shaking of her body was due to the pain, shock or fall in temperature inside the room, she couldn't say. The man started humming the tune of an old bollywood number - from a classic black and white movie of the colonial era, though she couldn't remember which one.
He kept humming while caressing her skin with his knife - starting from her neck and stopping at her breasts, then going down her tummy, stopping again at her vagina. He had made small slashes, she found now, with the skill of an artist lending last-minute touches with his brush to his favourite painting. The girl was screaming perhaps more from shock of what she anticipated ahead than the pain she had to endure so far.
One by one the man was picking up the tools in his hand. Now he held a wrench and hacksaw. With deft hands of a plumber the man wrenched her nipples like he'd turn a screw and cut through the soft areole with the hacksaw. As they fell off her breasts, he fondled the nipples with his gloved hands and held them to his mouth. The girl had been crying profusely till now, her tears having mingled with the blood on her face, making it thinner. She had fainted, it seemed and a shiver ran down her spine discovering that the cold-eyed stare was aimed at her. She tried to remember where she had seen that face, but in vain. The killer had disappeared from the range of her view suddenly.
After sometime which appeared like ages, the man returned with a bucket of water. The victim's body trembled for sometime before coming to a stop and during that time she was left to do nothing other than curse herself for her hopelessness. He rinsed the body thoroughly with water, then wiped it clean with a towel. His tongue rolled out from his mouth and kept licking the blood oozing out from the wounds like a cat licks milk from a saucer. He felt his erection at last and started unzipping his pants.
She nearly jumped out of her skin. It pained her to watch the extreme insult of womanhood, being a woman herself, but she couldn't take her eyes off him. It was as if the man was a magician and she was in his trance. The woman lay on the table like pounds of mangled flesh now - a dismembered corpse with eyes gorged out from the face. The man held a sledge hammer in his hand this time. He pointed a finger to the wall across her cage and she saw something written in red. Was the place inside a cave ? Her mind returned back to her dream.
The first picture which came into mind. 'No .No. this is over generalization', she thought. There was always deviations in dreams from what one saw or read . Maybe it was a cellar below a washroom with a leaky ceiling. But still being inside a cave was a more fanciful thought. But what was that stench now ? It didn't' appear to be stony or associated with earth or debris. Not chemical .. Something organic .. Yes. Yes .. She could recognize it now. . the smell of fish not taken out of fridge for a couple of days .. She wondered what some rotten fish was doing inside a cave and controlled a strong urge to retch. Why was she feeling restless anticipating something queer about to happen ?
Suddenly something crawled up her legs .. pairs of tiny feet scurried past her thighs .. waist; pulling along a thick, rough weight of fur. It sat on her breasts parting and she could hear only her heartbeats now. It seemed a pair of eyes was staring at her, as time stood still. Just when she thought her mind was playing games in the dark, she felt its whiskers brushing her cheeks and when it opened it's mouth she could make out the two pairs of yellow incisors.
A field mouse!!! As she screamed her lungs out, expecting her dream to come to an end abruptly, like all dreams did; she found that she couldn't move her arms and legs freely now. Where was she ? She ought to be in her bed with a pillow tucked between her legs, expecting the one under her head to be lying on the floor - a sleep habit she always received a scolding for. But she seemed to be lying on the floor instead and it wasn't dry and cold like her bedroom, instead it was wet and slippery.
To her horror she found her hands and feet to be chained exactly like the victim of the tele-series. She tried to remember the face of the victim in the horror show before the killer butchered her. Following the source of liquid dripping below she looked above, having come out of her dreamy state now. As she moved her head, trying to sense the place, her chin rubbed with the cold surface of a bathtub. And she immediately recognized the hot and cold water taps .. the basin .. WC .. the faulty shower .. the mechanic .. Where was the mechanic ? In a flash she remembered the lines on the dungeon wall of the horror TV show.
'Wait for me in your dream, my sweetie'. She knew very well what those words implied, but try as she might she could hardly keep her eyelids open. The scene of the TV episode got enacted before her once again and the title of the show sent chills down her spine. She searched frantically for the name of the channel, but in vain. The camera zoomed over to the girl lying on the table now, inches away from the knife of the killer and she recognized herself this time. Almost immediately a pair of gloved hands grabbed her.
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Don't Fall Asleep Episode Two - One Night at a parking lot
He ducked below and crouched behind a rear wheel, waiting and changing positions around the cars; while all the time straining his eyes through the little light trickling under the floorboard to watch the movement of a pair of ankles and boots. One delayed or hurried move and he would be found. The sound of thwacking of iron on the pavement followed at intervals. Pressing his mouth with a hand in order to prevent his pantings from being heard, he carried out with the cat and mouse game, well aware of the futility of it.The figure seemed to wait for sometime after breaking a glass, perhaps checking inside the cars for something. He tried to ring the security but no one picked up. 'Why was he running, anyway ?' He was suddenly surprised at his tomfoolery. 'Perhaps this was only a thief stealing car stereos', he tried to cheer himself up. It was quite late and the huge parking lot was empty except for a few cars belonging to the top bosses of the company, who retired home only
Don't Fall Asleep Episode Three - A Unique Birthday Gift
I ran down stairs hearing the calling bell ring. I could hardly wait to open the door. The delivery boy gave a broad smile and handed me the box. I looked at the thing neatly packed inside and sighed . 'Remember the days when we were young ?', my wife reminded, flashing her eyebrows.My daughter's indulgence with dolls had taken on a high since she started going to school. She would be enchanted with a new doll for few months, then it would find a place in our store room along with the previous abandoned ones .The figurines of plastic and rubber - stripped of clothes and crippled with an arm or leg, with a missing eye, an ear plucked off, a 360 degree twisted head or body severed from the hip sat on the shelves like clowns leaving her in splits whenever she saw them.She had had her tryst with dolls which came with home furniture and kitchen appliances - the ones which closed eyes when laid down and those big ones which simply looked at you with round eyes and wi
Don't Fall Asleep Episode Four - A Creature on loose
Trying to keep my cool in the face of adversities, I contacted the bus operator and came to know that my daughter had suddenly halted the bus in the middle of the road, stating an emergency and got off near the market. My wife grew hysterical hearing the news and started screaming, while never stopping to blame me for everything . The teacher who accompanied my daughter later told the bus driver that Isha was not feeling well, so she had sent her home.I immediately set off for the teacher's house but when I reached Mrs. Gomes's complex, an one hour drive from my place, she was not there. I had the class teacher's number and learnt from her that on the way to school Mrs Gomes came to know of her mother-in-law's heart attack and immediately had to return back, pack her bags and go. 'And where did her mother-in-law stay ?' I asked excitedly. 'Versova, Mumbai', Isha's class teacher said matter-of-factly.After lodging a formal FIR at the local P.S. I was wondering how to
Don't Fall Asleep Episode Five - A New Family
Turning behind I saw nothing. 'Must be field rats' I thought, looking at the rice fields behind the house and kept walking .A small room led to a big hall and it was here that the smell was more prominent. My torchlight illuminated heaps of cardboard boxes lying on the floor all packed with dolls. So this was Raghu's godown, I told myself. Did he live nearby or his friend had misguided me ? As the light shone on one of the boxes, a barbie doll's face peeped from inside the transparent cover.. I could recognize the company's logo instantly. As I began to open the top cover an uneasiness gripped me . Then I realized this one had a different face. And also a different body.This was ridiculous. It was an older version of Nisha, in fact an old lady wearing a gown and not a young girl wearing fancy dress . Her skin was shrivelled of age and hair dry and unkempt. Out of curiosity I took the doll in my hand and watched it open its hazelnut brown eyes. Wondering why
Don't Fall Asleep Episode Six - A Mysterious Disappearance
'Since when has your sister gone missing, did you say ?'Last night Sir.What brought you to her apartment ? You told she stayed alone'.She had called me.''You mean she called you to say she was leaving ?'I got a ring from her mobile number, but couldn't make out anything other than her groans and laboured breaths at the other end.What ?She was trying to spell out something amidst her gasps. I tried to call back but without result. I even tried to reach her landline. I thought maybe her health had deteriorated . She has asthmatic problems you see.Hmmm .. I see. At what time did you receive her call ?8:30 PMYou too stay alone or .. ?My husband is out of the city .. business tourWhat business ?Building promotingAnd you ? Are you working ?No. Housewife.Hmmm .. From Chandannagar to Saltlec .. takes two hours to reach by carYes. Aro
Don't Fall Asleep Episode Seven - The Investigation begins
It was difficult to believe that Suparna would finally give in and take such a drastic step. They weren't on talking terms after that argument following the decision to sell off their ancestral property in Burrabazar. Actually it was Upendra's decision.Suparna was in the final year of her college when their parents died in a car accident. She had reluctantly stayed with her elder sister's family - Shivangi and her husband in Chandannagar for a couple of months. Then after she landed a job in BPO she moved over to Saltlec. Shivangi had caught her taking anti-depressant pills one day . Though she had pledged to dessist from such acts of self-destruction again, she knew once alone she would resume her habits. How many times Shivangi had asked her to refrain from watching those bullshit on TV. She had even locked up some TV channels in her Saltlec flat - but to no avail. She said the shows gave her thrills and made her forget her loneliness.But Shivan
Don't Fall Asleep Episode Eight - The First Clue
'Did you notice the TV Mrs. Ghosh ? Shivangi looked at the broken LED screen in horror. The screen was sunk inwards giving rise to a vent which went deep into the wall behind, yet it didn't bore a hole through it . It looked as if someone had dug a tunnel inside the TV to pull something in. 'Could be a chemical reaction which caused the explosion', Arunava Sarkar murmured to himself. 'Can a TV explode by itself ? Is there some major electrical dysfunctioning in the circuits in this flat ?' He called the constable to collect samples of the wreckage. The forensics would take care of the rest.'Your sister had placed requisition for a mechanic .. a TV mechanic. The apartment owners' association informed us. She had complained that a particular channel was always showing up whenever she pressed the remote. And then videos would keep playing all by themselves with the remote failing to pause/ stop them. Reporting the cable operator had not helped - there are many users of that net
Don't Fall Asleep Episode Nine - A Solo Ride
That was when she had her first nightmare. She found it impossible to move her limbs when she woke up. And things had only worsened further since then. The symptoms came up on her sister about a year later. Her father had consulted a number of doctors but to no avail. Referring to quacks, priests, even occultists had continued unabatedly and it wasn't long before the neighbours and relatives had labelled them as bananas - often sharing a laugh behind their back.Psychological diseases are still considered a taboo in the society in which they had been brought up. It took a great deal of concealing and cajoling on the part of Shivangi's parents to convince her in-laws that their daughter-in-law was perfectly all right. Still the air couldn't be cleared. On their wedding night when she had left him unsatiated at the peak of his desire, Upendra had charged at her directly.'Your father has deliberately married off a sickly daughter'.Shivangi knew there was no
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Episode Thirty Eight - Creatures, Creatures!
Arunava shouted his lungs out. But his cries got lost amidst the incantations and noise. Tears rolled down his eyes. He remembered the police station he served. He found himself sitting at his desk with coffee. He saw the white board crammed with charts based more of his imagination than clues or crime scene evidences - which appeared like jigsaw puzzles to others in the Department, a child's meaningless scribblings to his boss who wondered how Arunava had passed the IPS interview. But it was an exercise which always led to the truth in the end, much to the discomfort of his peers eyeing the promotion ladder. He always knew he was made for the job. Images of his village, his home, his parents flitted by. Since when did he last paid them a visit? It's been ages he had food cooked by his mother. Would his parents be able to cope up with the pain of their eldest son's death? After he was gone, who would pay for his brother's education? He was a good painter too and had ambitions of holdi
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Episode Thirty Seven - The Atonement
Now pronounced disability stood around him like the leafless trees smeared in darkness. Nobody was walking. Nobody was standing properly either. Nothing was moving anywhere. A subtle consciousness of mixed emotions - astonishment, sorrow and loneliness formed lumps inside the throat but wasn't able to manifest itself fully in the end. The divine revelation continued his speech above their heads. 'Those of you who have made it till here - the time for your final verdict has appeared. From here the path will divide into two. One goes towards heaven, the other towards hell. A sky-scraping wall separates the two. Positioned on the wall are my dedicated messengers since time immemorial. Judging the karma of your human births they will decide who chooses which path. The door of heaven would never open for those who've insulted me, been rude to others. But those who've never lost trust in me, have been honest throughout their lives, always cared for others shall always find place in heaven.
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Episode Thirty Six - Sara
Scaring the shits out of him a young lady stormed inside. He recognised her immediately to be Sara - his neighbour. They stayed in the same barrack quarters. Despite their age difference of ten years they were quite friends. She was physical instructor Mr. Snehashish Dutta's only daughter. This was the man who had cured him of acrophobia. 'What's up? Won't let me in? Whom did you expect at this hour? A hooligan? A fugitive? Well he must be lion-hearted then .. a gem of a criminal .. to have hoodwinked the security. Did you expect an old rival?' When Sara spoke her words flew copiously like a mountain spring without giving the listener any chance to reply. Then eying the bottle and half-filled glass on his table she asked. 'Partying alone?' There was a twinkle in Sara's eyes. 'Just stressed out a bit', he shrugged. 'Well .. lemme guess .. you must've had a fight with your boss .. no .. you have that every other day. Then any particular case you're worried about?' The words were cascad
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Episode Thirty Five - The Gateway to Hell
Slowly the living souls came down on the muddy road. They started their journey again. She was walking beside him. Her eyes held that same innocence. But a question was aimed at him this time. And it seemed to pierce his heart. He increased his pace. He wanted to walk away from her. From others. But an individual's wishes were not considered here. One had to go with the tide.Suddenly a voice boomed in the sky above. 'I don't like torturers. Severe punishments await them. But if anyone is repentent and makes best efforts to rectify themselves I may forgive them. Those of you who have played roles in destruction in your lives - I won't spare you. Those who have been cruel to the orphans, the destitute and homeless would have to burn in fire to cleanse your souls of the evil. I hate those who have misused funds. Those who were busy maligning others and spreading hatred will be punished. Those who have wrongly accused innocent women would be dealt with severly. Those who are proud, arrog
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Episode Thirty Four - Lost
There was darkness all around. He strained his eyes but could hardly make out anything. Then slowly shapes of wild bushes and creepers appeared. He discovered himself lying on his back with no sky above his head. How long had he been lying there? He had no idea. He rose up and sat down on the ground with legs straightened before him. He turned his head around in the hope of finding a way around. He didn't feel any fatigue. As if a long period of sleep had rejuvenated his energy. But how strange the shrubs were here. There was no smell in them. He tried to touch them but couldn't. The branches were withered and dry without leaves. Is it winter here? How did he come to such a place? He tried to remember but in vain. Nobody was speaking around him. But there had been people even a little while ago, he could bet. He had felt their presence. Were they too sleeping like him ? Where are they now? He couldn't remember anything before or after that incident. He was feeling very lighter now. H
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Episode Thirty Three - Wait for me in your dreams
She heard Dad calling her mother. It was too cold outside. Dad had been calling her name since long. Why wasn't Mom getting up? Like previous times Dad had returned late from work. Even in her sleep she could feel his presence. He had knelt down before her bed and parted the strands of hair on her forehead. Then he had bent down and kissed her cheeks. The next morning when she had woken up Dad was gone again. How tired he must've been and to keep him waiting at such an hour of the night in the nail-biting cold was a crime. And then she realised that Mom had fallen asleep after a hard day's work. She hurried down from the bed and ran towards the main door. She knew immediately after getting in Dad would curse at Mom with 'Were you dead?'. Then he'd rush upstairs into his study and lock himself up. Despite knowing eavesdropping was wrong she had tiptoed up to her Dad's closed door many times. Anirban would be having a row with someone over phone. She could recall a few words like 'Tende
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Episode Thirty Two - Dad's Not The Same
It was a December night at Kolkata before Christmas. The cold had just started to show it's teeth and nails. A time when people hid themselves inside the trusting sheathe of blankets and quilts.However, barely a month more would the residents of the city be lucky enough to get a taste of winter. For the rest of the year the tiresome humidity and untimely rainfall awaited them. Perhaps I should've said a number of people and not all when I said people slept peacefully inside the cosy comforts of blankets and quilts. For many weren't lucky enough to procure them or to even have a roof above their heads for that matter. These hapless people who were generally beggars or ragpickers lighted little fires with twigs and dry leaves of trees. Often stray dogs joined them in their struggle to somehow pass away the night and long for the mercy of sun god when his seven horses would spread radiance and heat into the earth and rescue them from their state of helplessness. And this hope and wait c
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Episode Thirty One - The Chase
A man was walking leisurely down the road. When Arunava asked where the nearest bus stop was he measured him with a mixed expression of surprise and irritation. 'No buses ply in this road. You seem to be a newcomer to this area. What happened? Your car broke down? Hmmm .. there's a mechanic who lives three kilometres down here. I can give you his number. But I need ..'Arunava knew what he needed. At other times he would've slapped him twice. Once for seeking bribe from a police officer and twice for talking too much without listening; but now in a remote place several kilometres away from Kolkata, in a devastated condition; he needed help desperately. He had tried to reach railway enquiry on mobile but could not. The internet had also stopped working. The man seemed to be a local from his accent. His torn clothes, sewed at places and a large jute bag on his shoulders told him that he was a vagabond, probably a ragpicker.. 'I want to reach the nearest railway station quickly. How far i
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Episode Thirty - Vishnu's Sword
Suddenly he felt a hand pull him away and close a door behind. There was a flicker of light and it appeared someone had lit a candle. Then everything went black around him again. When he regained consciousness he found himself lying on a cot with a pillow tucked under his head. It was day and the sunlight was streaming through the openings in the white coloured walls around him. The fragrance of agarbattis filled the room. A fair, benign, saintly man in his mind sixties was caressing his forehead. The man had long, curly hairs, a tilak drawn on his forehead and a soothing smile. In his other hand he held a rudraksha garland. 'Where am I?' Arunava asked and tried to get up. But the man gently laid him down saying 'Not now, now, you are still weak, my son' Then looking at the inquisitive expression on his face took him into confidence. 'You are in safe hands now. Don't worry. Take some more rest. Come, have this glass of milk first. Then some breakfast. I'm sure you haven't had anythin
