I and Jessica, we were friends since 2nd grade. Yes, friends. No more, no less. And no I was not friendzoned. Never had to (nor needed to) get out of that. She was not only my friend but my neighbour too. Yep, she was the girl next door (no pun intended).
By now you must be wondering, what's with the past tense. Well, she was a great friend of mine. Someone with whom I loved sharing my thoughts. She knew me better than any friend of mine did. Things remained that way till last year's summer. A night that still gives me the chills. That night something unexpected happened. Something that even she didn't ever think of. (Don't use your polluted mind right away. Wait till the story ends).
It was April 15th. Despite of the wrath that Ra poured on us for the last few days, today was a bit of a relief. It seemed that it might rain after all. Although the Met department said not to expect any sort precipitation any soon, where as you might expect a whole lot perspiration (that wasn't at all funny). My exams were near. Had to study the entire day. Night seemed to creep in pretty fast.
Usually I go to Jessica's house when it's almost 9 or 10 at night. To take a break. She has a brother too. He is just 2 year younger than me. We are good friends. Yup, not brother but friends. Anyways that day it felt like I overworked myself. I had a lot of assignments to finish. It was 7 in the evening. And I was studying since 5 o'clock in the morning. I was tired. Thought of taking a break early. I asked mom if I could go out a bit, to take in some fresh air. To my utter surprise she didn't scold me. Usually she does if I ask to go out at the time of study.
I went out. I thought I would go to the phuchka shop to have some. And I remembered Jessica asked last day that she wanted to have phuchka but always forgets to buy when she goes out or just goes short of money. I thought I should get some for her. While returning from the shop and walking towards her house I saw the red slowly diffusing the sky. And the entire canvas of the sky looked like a crimson river. Wind has picked up speed by the time I reached her house. I thought, 'to hell with the Met department'.
I pressed her bell. She came out. She seemed lost in thoughts. Anyways, that didn't stop me from talking shit. I kept on babbling. I noticed that she didn't even ask what was in my hand. So I told her that I have brought some phuchkas for her. She didn't seem to pay any heed to what I said. So, I went in.
The house seemed empty. I asked her where aunty was. She didn't say anything. But I felt she nodded. And 'bhai'(her brother, yeah I do call him brother). She without answering my question sat on a seat around the dining table. I said, " care to have some phuchkas?". She didn't reply as usual. Now it felt a bit concerning. Then I asked in a firm voice,"Hey, is everything Ok?". "Did Neel (her BF) said anything? ", I asked. Finally she replied. "No, everything's fine. I was just thinking about something". "What's that?" "Nothing much", she said. "Let's have those phuchkas that you bought and..... " she continued for some time.
Meanwhile I brought a knife to cut the knot of the packet, which seemed almost impossible for me to untie. I was about to cut the knot when a sudden stormy wind came thrashing at the windows and I missed the knot and cut my finger. Damn. That was painful. And as the omens of day was looking, followed the power cut next. All this time she was silent again. Now she slowly got up and searched for some candles and lit them.
Suddenly I felt nervous, in front of her. I never felt like that before. She looked a bit scary. Suddenly she spoke, 'You are hurt.' She took my hand and put it into her mouth. That was first grade first aid technique. I was feeling relieved that she is acting normal. But is she? Her eyes were red shot. She had a dangerous look in her eyes. I don't know whether I was imagining all that. Maybe the atmosphere added a lot to the already eerie feeling I was having the moment I stepped in her house. I forcefully took my hand out of her mouth. She didn't make a noise. She didn't move. She just stared blankly at nothing. I went to the basin to wash my hand. As I turned around, a chill went down my spine. There she stood at the same spot only now with a knife in her hand.
I was speechless as she slowly approached me. I couldn't move. I froze. She tried to stab me. She missed but she surely made a scar. Because I felt a pain shot through my entire body. I didn't know that at that point what was more strong, the pain or the fear.
Then the lights came back up. Somehow that helped me to gain my senses back. She still looked at me with evil eyes. A look that I have never seen before. A look that I will never forget.
Then, I pushed her into the ground and ran for the exit. I knew she tried to get up and catch me. But I ran fast. I ran for my life. I knew that if I wasted any more time. I might lose my life to a friend whom I have known almost my entire life. Whom I have trusted till today.
I ran to my house. It was raining heavily by now. And as I entered inside my house and locked the gates I saw her standing in her balcony. She was staring at me. Her dead and cold eyes fixed at me. Then as I rushed towards my mother's room, I faded. Well evidently, I woke up at the hospital. And as soon as I woke up, I told my parents everything that happened. They said that they knew and that I was lucky to come out of that house alive. They said that she killed everyone of her family. Only leaving her brother, who was not at home at that time.
Now it's been 5 years that she has been sent to mental hospital. A lot of people say a lot of stuff about what happened that night. But only I know what kind of terror she truly yielded that night. Only I know what fear she truly etched on my heart.
Sometimes strange things happen in your life that you can't explain with plain logic. I'm not saying she was possessed. I'm just saying that she wasn't the Jessica that I grew up with. Maybe there is an explanation. Maybe there is a reason. Maybe something did happen. But we may never know that. We may never know the truth.
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