9
“We shouldn’t be here.” Mohan said. Uneasiness was clearly visible in his moves.
“I never wanted to come here again.” Shah agreed with him. The air was discomforting around them. A withering stench of rotten flesh loomed over them.
“Neither does me.” Alex shook his head.
They were standing near the white sedan owned by Arun. They parked their cars behind it. They recognized the car and its number.
Three Mahindra Boleros were parked in front the sedan and they were surprised to see that.
“What was he doing here?” Mohan stared at his friends’ faces.
“Digging up the past, maybe.” Alex muttered.
Mohan looked at him panicked.
“Where is he?” Alex looked into Shah’s unemotional face while he was dialing Arun’s number. The policeman immediately picked up the call.
“We are here.” He said.
“Okay. Just cross the road and walk through the shrubs and into the woods till you reach an open ground. I and my senior officers are here.” He cut the call.
I know where to come, I know that fucking spot.
“Come on, let’s go.” Shah walked in front.
“Do we have to go there? It was better if we could avoid this.” Mohan’s words wandered in the air.
While crossing the road they heard the alarming noise of the ambulance.
Mohan and Alex looked each other. They grabbed Shah’s hands and asked in unison.
“What’s happening here?”
“It is better to see than to explain. I too don’t know exactly.” He freed himself from their hold and moved on. Blindly his friends followed. They were silent till they reached the open ground. From afar they saw eight or ten policemen scattered around. Something lay on the ground covered by a white cloth.
“Is he dead?” Mohan’s voice trembled. Alex’s stature wasn’t different.
The constable came forward and guided them to the sub inspector. He signaled the constable. He walked towards the corpse and moved the cloth a little so that the face was visible. The face wasn’t damaged and they easily recognized their friend.
“Arun.” They screamed.
Adam gave them some time. Once he felt they have regained themselves he asked. “Does anyone of you know what he was doing here?”
They shook their head with denial.
“What made him come here? It is almost one and a half kilometers away from the road.” Adam asked again.
Once again they didn’t have any answer.
This is the exact spot. Shah realized.
It was somewhere here. Mohan thought.
“What happened to him?” Alex asked in a very mild voice.
“We are not yet sure. But our primary assumption is that he was attacked by some wild beasts.”
“Never heard about any wild animals here. Nothing reported here as I know.” Alex couldn’t believe that.
“One possible explanation is that he was stopped by an angry tusker. He may have run into the woods and at this spot the tusker caught him and killed him.”
“There are no elephants here.” Shah said.
Adam nodded to his constable and he removed the whole cloth to reveal them the whole body. And they saw the horrible sight.
This is revenge. Mohan whispered for Alex and Shah to hear.
“We don’t know the exact cause of death until we get the postmortem report. He had a girl with him. She was unconscious. We have shifted her to the hospital. She is unharmed but in shock. Only she knows what happened here exactly.” Adam said casually to know their reaction.
A girl? They looked at each other’s face.
It was her. Mohan’s voice was dread filled. She took him here. Now she got us here.
“His engagement was fixed for next week.” Alex told Adam. “But we are not sure whether it is her until we see her.
“Right. Let’s move. We will go to the hospital and check on her. Let’s hear what she has to say about this tragic incident.”
*-*
Mohini looked up with dread filled eyes. Dark cloud filled the entire ceiling of her room and two hands like structures advanced down towards her. She knew that it is the same thing that killed the man at the ground. It has now come for her.
She was still in shock. She was unable to move and her mouth was unvoiced. She saw two sparkling spheres looking at her. A face like figure formed around them and came towards her. The smoky hands almost reached her neck and stopped.
The eyes sparkled brighter and twinkled twice. The real prey is coming. A whisper was unveiled.
*-*
Dr. Gautam has attended many cases but this was a rare one. Everything looked normal, x-rays, scans said no internal injuries and yet he couldn’t understand what is wrong. She is in severe shock. But her brain waves are normal.
“She is still in shock.” Doctor said casually without even looking at him. He was going through some report cards. Adam waited for his next words.
“She went again through some tremors and it worsened her condition. Whatever she saw has rootened deeply into her mind. ” Doctor said while he raised his face and looked at the Police Inspector sitting in front of him. His face said it was hopeless.
“What do you think?” Adam became gloomy looking at his face.
“I don’t know. But I have a conclusion.” He took out a pen and started rolling it between his fingers.
“I will hear that.” Adam hopefully waited for his words so as to get something to take this case forward.
“She saw the gruesome murder of this guy and the way he was killed really shattered her from inside. I think it is giving her nightmares.”
I already know that. Tell me something new. A fruitless explanation. He knew it will be wastage of time sitting there.
“Are you saying she won’t talk?”
“She really needs time to recover from that. Those memories won’t be easy to erase from her. But for the time being stress is the last thing she would need. We better not remind her of those incidents whatever they are.”
“How much time does she need?” It was his last hope. “She is the only witness doctor.”
“We can’t predict an exact time. Maybe days or weeks or months or even years.” Doctor’s reply was discouraging.
Adam sighed heavily.
“She will be in observation for next twenty four to forty eight hours. If there is any progress in her status I will let you know.” He had to give something to him, at least a hope.
“Thank you doctor. Can I see her?” Adam tried to smile.
“There is no use. She is under sedation. It is better to see her tomorrow.”
Adam shook his head and stood up to leave. He walked a few steps towards the door and stopped. He turned back and looked at the doctor.
“What if she murmurs something in her sleep? You said nightmares, right? So there is a possibility.”
“I am not sure of that. But yes, there is a possibility. I will put a nurse to watch her.”
“I would like a cop to be with her.”
“Sure.”
Adam walked out of the doctor’s cabin and looked at the guys waiting outside the door. He shook his head to tell them that there is no hope.
The three friends looked at each other.
“Sir we saw the girl. It is not the girl he was about to marry.” Alex told him. “We have never seen her before.”
Then they walked away from Adam.
Outside the hospital Mohan whispered. “This is revenge.”
Alex turned at him. “I am hearing this for the second time. Who’s revenge?”
Shah also stared at both of them. He could see a hint of dread in Mohan’s eyes. He feared something or someone.
Mohan whispered again. “You know what we did at that ground.”
Alex laughed atrociously. “That is a closed chapter. Don’t try to reopen it. That fool might have angered an elephant to become a hero in front of that girl and it did what it knows. You know how he acts after getting drunk. Let’s go home and wait till the post mortem report comes. We will inform his family later.”
“I can’t believe that bugger is gone.” Shah sighed.
“Neither could me.” Alex looked at his friends. “I hope he will come back to fight with me.” He walked swiftly towards his car so that others won’t see him crying. He tried to stand strong but he knew it won’t take long time to break him. They always fought for silly reasons but the bond between them was so strong. He is going to miss his best friend and brother.
******-------******