Into The Shadows

by Aayush Borulkar

  “Just like your wordplays probably,” taunted Kaajal.

  “I guess we need to go back to the living room. Because that’s where this all started, right?” suggested Richa.

  “Oh yeah, right,” Abhimanyu said. All of them ran downstairs to the living room.

  “Now where is the clue in this big living room,” said Nishant.

  As they stood in the hall, wondering where the treasure might have been hidden, the doorbell rang.

  “Who is it at this hour of the night?” wondered Kaajal. “It’s way past midnight,” she added.

  Vibha walked out of the living room to open the door. There was no response from Vibha for a couple of seconds. Everybody was in the living room, still thinking about the “treasure,” and then suddenly, they saw Vibha walking backwards, sobbing as she walked in, and was followed by two men with guns pointing right at her. Everybody cried a scare, as they saw the horrifying sight. Everybody was frightened and came closer to each other. Both the men were still holding the gun towards them, as Vibha hurried her way back and joined the group. Everybody was stunned about what was happening and who these men were, and what did they even want from them.

  “We can talk and settle this. No need to harm anyone,” said Vivek finally stepping forward. “We are ready to give you anything you want, just leave us alive,” he continued walking towards the two men.

  Everyone was shocked by the confidence Vivek was showing in such testing times. In front of them were two heavily built monsters pointing guns at them, while Vivek , with all his courage was walking steadily towards them, just as any prey would walk into a lion’s den unknowingly.

  “What are you doing? Get back!” shouted Richa. But Vivek still kept on cautiously moving towards the men.

  And suddenly one of the men bent down and slid the gun towards him, as Vivek was walking towards them.

  “BAAAM!!” Vivek made the sound with his mouth as he picked up the gun and turned around, pointing it right back at the group.

  The group stood there aghast as they could not believe what they had just witnessed.

  Chapter 18

  The group stood stupefied as they saw Vivek standing with a gun pointing right at them. The two men were standing behind him. How could they have missed this? How could a person be so good at deception, that he blends such two personalities so explicitly that differentiating between the two might be an ordeal task. Mustn’t it be hurting from the inside to host such two stark opposite personalities at the same time? Wouldn’t this make the host forget his true identity eventually? But right now, that was not to be the case with Vivek, as he stood right in front of the group, pointing the gun at them. He was not looking scared or confused, as a wicked smile spread over his face.

  “BAAM!” repeated Vivek accompanied by a wicked high pitched laughter. He lowered the gun and walked lazily, swinging the gun with his finger. He bounced on the couch, still laughing.

  “Raath Akeli Hai...” he sang. “That’s my new favourite song now, and it even fits the situation perfectly.”

  “But why!? We trusted you!” Vibha cried out loud.

  “Why, When, How. All these questions will be answered, madam,” Vivek said mockingly.

  “What is this even happening?” shouted Abhimanyu. “If this is a prank of any sort, then it has to stop at once. It isn’t funny anymore,” he said sternly.

  “Arey aap tho chid gaye,” said Vivek giggling hard. “He thinks this is a joke, huh. A joke?” he continued laughing.

  Vivek jumped out of the couch and swiftly placed the gun on Abhimanyu’s forehead. “This is so damn real! The game is over, and now the clock is ticking Tick Tock! Tick-Tock!” he said, clutching his teeth.

  Everyone got away from Abhimanyu at once, seeing Vivek pounce on him like that. Vibha held Kaajal as tightly as she could and she started crying. Richa stood behind Nishant, who was himself petrified by what he was witnessing tonight as the pill’s magic had faded away.

  “It’s all cool. Relax. No one is getting hurt or killed,” announced Vivek as he took the gun off Abhimanyu’s forehead and went back on the couch.

  “I knew something was off about him from the start. Nobody can be this perfect,” Nishant said.

  “You are what you reveal to be. Always remember this Nishant,” said Vivek with a sense of calmness on his face. Nishant stood there stupefied as to how had they been bluffed. Invited a total stranger into their house and let him turn their lives upside down.

  "Guys, I will tell you,” said Vivek to the two men, getting up from the couch, and walking towards Nishant. “This guy right here, is the smartest of the lot, or at least that’s what he thinks,” said Vivek placing his hand on Nishant‘s shoulder. The two men stood there and grinned.

  “Vivek enough with the games and small talks already. What do you want from us!?” asked Kaajal.

  “And she right here, is the coolest in the group. The unorthodox girl of the group,” mocked Vivek, ignoring her question. “Look at this cool hair colour,” he said, touching her crystal blue streaks.

  “Enough with this now! Back off!” exclaimed Abhimanyu coming forward.

  “Hero to the rescue, huh,” said Vivek turning to the two men. “Nice. I like that”

  “Apne tho cheh log bole the, idhar tho paach hi hai?” asked one of the men.

  “Yeah. One them is upstairs, completely passed out” Vivek said pointing in the direction with his gun.

  “Usko bhi lekar aaye?” asked the man

  “No, it’s fine. Let him rest. Anyway, he is not of much use. Just a meatball, I tell you,” said Vivek cracking in a peal of wicked laughter, and was joined in by the two men.

  “Now enough with the pleasantries. Let’s get on with the work then,” said Vivek getting up. “I want everyone to form a circle for me,” he instructed.

  No one moved from their place. Seeing this, Vivek took the gun from one of the men with a silencer and shot it right into the couch. The cotton on the couch came flying out. Witnessing the shot, everyone scrambled from their places. They instantly formed a circle and sat at their respective places, scared to death. Vivek took a chair and placed it right in the middle of the circle.

  “Now we are going to play a little game,” he said, sitting on the chair. “It’s going to be like a rapid-fire. Simple questions. But the glitch is that whoever gives the right answer gets eliminated. And I have a special task in place for the first two who get eliminated,” he explained. Everyone was confused about what kind of a game this was, but they did not dare to react because they had already seen worst aspects of Vivek’s personality that.

  “Okay, then let’s get started,” said Vivek rubbing his palms together. “And remember it’s a rapid-fire, so quick answering okay. Let’s start with Abhimanyu, and then we go clockwise. One question each,” he said in a mysterious tone.

  “Colour of the sky?” started Vivek.

  “Pink,” answered Abhimanyu.

  “Colour of hair?”

  “Blue,” answered Nishant.

  “This is a?” said Vivek pointing at his gun.

  “Vegetable” said Vibha stammering a bit.

  “Colour of an apple?”

  “Red,” Richa answered.

  “Oops. What have you done!?” said Vivek dramatically. “You gave the right answer, Richa,” he continued.

  Richa sat spellbound as she was shocked by what she had just done. She didn’t know how to react to this and just sat dumbfounded, as all the frightened faces turned towards her.

  “You know the rule now, Richa. The right answer has the wrong outcome. You are eliminated, but on the brighter side, you are selected for the special activity later on,” said Vivek smacking his lips.

  Richa stood up from the circle uncomfortably and sat on the couch.

  “Okay, let’s continue then, and let’s start with Kaajal now,” Vivek said.

  “Opposite of Inside?”

  “Besides,” answered Kaajal.

  “Inside?”


  “Down,” answered Abhimanyu.

  “Before?”

  “After,” answered Nishant.

  “There we have our second victim!” exclaimed Vivek pointing his finger at Nishant. And Vibha, you are lucky to have missed your chance to answer in this round, as we already have our two unlucky winners, and sorry that you did not get a chance to become one of them,” he added, making a puppy face.

  “What me!? This rubbish game is beyond me. I am not going to get up,” Nishant said.

  “Losing is acceptable, but breaking the rule is not,” said Vivek, nodding disapprovingly.

  “Uthao isko” ordered Vivek. The two men came marching towards Nishant and picked him up, while a helpless Nishant lashed out in vain. They picked him up and placed him beside Richa.

  “Guys, sorry to inform, but this witty game has officially come to an end. As you all can see, we have gotten our two unlucky winners, or may I say losers, who are going to get a special task,” said Vivek getting up from his chair. Everyone got up along with him.

  “But what is this activity about? Could you tell us now at least?” asked Kaajal.

  “Yeah, sure,” replied Vivek. He went up to the men and whispered something.

  “Okay, the task is simple. The unlucky winners have to accompany this man to my car and take out a sack from the boot and bury it,” said Vivek.

  “Bury it? And what is in the sack?” countered Abhimanyu.

  “Abhimanyu, you are one hasty young man. Want all the answers at once, huh” said Vivek, signaling the two men to take Richa and Nishant to the car. The two men held them both firmly and pulled them out.

  “We will go back to where we were sitting and let them finish their work,” said Vivek going back to his chair. Everybody sat down on the floor, huddled up. As Abhimanyu was about to sit, they heard Richa scream her lungs out, which instantly dried out.

  “What was that!?” exclaimed Abhimanyu. “Dare you to hurt any of them!”

  “Oh, no one is getting hurt. It’s just that she might have seen inside the sack,” said Vivek, asking him to sit down. “It is just a natural reaction. Please sit down.”

  “Are these guys with you, and do they know everything about the sack?” asked Kaajal

  “Oh no, these are just local goons. They get paid well, and they don’t ask any questions. They indeed are quite professional,” Vivek said. “Not one question asked till now. Impressive,” he said, turning to the door.

  “What the hell is in that package!?” asked Vibha.

  “We deserve to know it now,” demanded Kaajal.

  “Do you know the feeling when someone keeps on nagging you to an extent where you can’t take it anymore, and you have to do something to make it stop?” asked Vivek leaning forward and bending his neck down.

  “The constant irritation. The way you are looked down upon and kicked around as if you are a piece of garbage,” he continued, this time stammering a bit.

  The group looked at each other as they heard him stammer.

  “No one sh..sh..shoul..ld have to go through this,” he stammered. “I used to get this fe…eling when my dad used to beat my mom and I c..ouldnt do anything. My friends made fu..un of me tha..at I was of no go..ood, always being pushed around by not only my father but also anyone I tried to connect with” he continued stammering.

  “This woman was no different,” he continued after a brief pause. “S…She kept on nagging me continuously. Again and Again. Trying to, point out how bad of a driver I was,” said Vivek raising his voice slowly.

  “And all of this because, just I took a wrong turn and due to that she was 15 minutes late. There was this constant screeching noise in my head as she kept ranting, and that noise kept on increasing with every passing minute. It was feeling as if the noise in my head was overpowering me, and I had to make it stop!” he said, standing up from his chair. Everyone slid back as they saw him get up.

  “I couldn’t bear the noise anymore, and I had to shut it at any cost. So I did make the noise stop,” he said with a wide scary smile. “I pushed her back into the car, as she got out, and muted her voice forever with these hands. And then she stopped talking. Slit her throat open with this knife,” he said, raising his hands and looking at his palms, with wide eyes. He took out a knife from his back pocket, with stains of dried blood all over it, and showed it to the group. He then slowly slid it back into his pocket.

  Vivek stopped and stood with his hands near his face, as the group stared at him, completely perplexed. They could not believe that this was the same shy, well-mannered guy who had wowed them as he walked in. The man standing in front of them now, and narrating a horrendous murder, was a completely different man with malice and cruelty dripping from his wide red eyes.

  “I need to use the washroom,” said Kaajal abruptly.

  “How cliché. But I am going to be a good host and allow you to go to the washroom,” said Vivek signalling the man to accompany her. The man picked up Kaajal by the arm and followed her. First he inspected all the windows of the washroom and then let her in as he stood outside. After a while, the door unlocked, and Kaajal came out.

  And just then, everyone heard a heavy deep cry of pain from the direction of the car.

  “What the hell was that now!” wondered Vivek. He walked up to the door to check out. Vivek saw that the man who had accompanied the two kids came running inside with blood gushing through his half bit ear which he was holding with his hands. Vivek ran towards the man, confused by the sudden change of events.

  Everyone stood up at once as they saw the man running in. Just then, Vibha saw some shiny metal like thing under the sofa and quickly slid her hand underneath to reach it.

  “What the hell…BAAM! Vivek fell on the ground before completing his sentence with a thud. Blood gushed out of the bullet wound in his leg. Richa came running from behind with a rod and swung it hard, rendering the man with the injured ear unconscious. Kaajal came running into the living room with an injection in her right hand as she saw both Vivek and the man down on the floor with blood everywhere.

  Abhimanyu ran towards the two men on the floor. “He is still alive,” said Abhimanyu checking the man’s pulse.

  “Well played, guys…

  Richa swung the rod again, rendering Vivek unconscious. “Enough with your talking,” she said.

  “Are they still alive?” asked Nishant running inside the house.

  “Yes, they are. It’s just that they are unconscious,” replied Abhimanyu.

  “What about the third man?” asked Abhimanyu.

  “He is unconscious too,” said Kaajal throwing away the syringe. “I injected him with a very heavy dose of cocaine from Nishant’s box in the washroom. But he is in critical condition right now. He needs medical help as soon as possible.”

  “I say we kill them all,” said Nishant angrily.

  “And then what? We all end up in jail,” said Richa.

  “But we can’t just leave them here like this,” said Vibha panting heavily, as she couldn’t let the fact sink in, that she had just shot a man in his legs.

  “We could take them to the hospital?” suggested Richa.

  “No, we definitely can’t do that,” said Abhimanyu.

  “Then how about we just leave them near a hospital so that in the morning someone eventually finds them,” said Kaajal as everybody looked at each other silently.

  “Yeah, we could do that,” said Abhimanyu breaking the silence. “We could use Vivek’s car to carry them,” he added. “There is a government hospital on the outskirts of the town. We could take them there.”

  “But we also have to get rid of the dead body in the boot and clean this up!” said Nishant impatiently which was accompanied by a thunder from the sky.

  Present Day…

  “Hence, it was decided that Abhimanyu and Richa would take these three men near the hospital,” narrated Kaajal as Erika and Avinash listened to it intently and recorded it. “While we were going to stay back
and clean the house up,” she continued.

  “We decided that we would put the dead body in the refrigerator and then call in the police the next morning and feign innocence because we had actually nothing to do with the murder,” said Nishant.

  “So framing Ram Lal the accused, was never part of the plan?” asked Avinash reading the file.

  “No, it was never the plan,” said Nishant.

  “We were equally amazed when Ram Lal was caught for this murder. But then we were too naïve back then and decided to save our own skins and let an innocent take the fall,” said Vibha, still sobbing.

  “But why would a murderer choose a house with so many witnesses? Wouldn’t it catch more attention?” asked Avinash.

  “Sir, a villa with six crackheads. A house party with lots of drugs involved and a villa that is way outside the city limits. What better place to hide the body?” Nishant answered. “Even if Vivek would have succeeded in his plans, we wouldn’t have been able to open our mouths and attract an investigation. That would just ruin our future. We didn’t know any better back then,” he continued.

  “So just because of a few drugs, you chose to ruin a man’s life,” said Avinash, disgusted.

  “We did not! We have already told you that! That was never the plan” said Kaajal.

  “And plus, we have not committed any crime. We left those three men near a hospital and surely didn’t kill the woman,” said Nishant, getting aggressive.

  “Unless Vivek never reached the hospital,” said Erika, staring at Richa.

  “What do you mean?” asked Vibha, aghast.

  “I took a sample of the soil that we dug the other day and gave it to the forensics. It seems that the soil had been tampered with,” she said

  “Tampered how?” asked Vibha

  “The soil had an abnormally high percentage of acid in it. These levels are only found if there is heavy acid rain, or some sort of acid has been poured on it externally,” explained Erika.

  “We also checked with the institution Richa was admitted to, and it seems that she was heavily into black magic and had tried to summon a bunch of souls. One of them being Vivek,” said Avinash showing the photos that the warden had sent.