THE BLOOD DATE

 ‘It was a rainy night. The wet roads were reflecting the bright yellow streetlights. Both sides of the road had old and abandoned houses, algae growing on the walls, radiating bad smell of dead rats.

Ajay was regretting. He should have left his friend’s birthday party sooner. There had been incidents of murder on this road.... murders which couldn’t be explained. He walked with a black umbrella over his head, the other hand a bit above the first, tightly gripping the handle so that he could use it as a weapon if required. His home was still a mile away. Ajay glanced at his newly bought watch. It showed 11. Even though this route was a shortcut, it would still take him an hour to reach home

‘Mom is going to kill me’, he thought to himself. Well that would only be true if someone else didn’t.

Suddenly the sky roared, there was lightning, the winds picked up pace. Ajay struggled to keep his umbrella in position. The wind was too fast, the umbrella overturned. A splash of rainwater hit his face, startled, he lost the grip and away went his umbrella. Now completely wet, he ran as fast as he could, panting, his blue shirt dripping with water, he somehow took out his phone only to find it malfunctioned due to the water. The only option he could see was to take shelter in one of the houses along the road until the rain stopped. He turned towards a single storied. The shed outside was insufficient, he shivered. It was cold, still he hesitated to step inside the house. He tried to bear with  the cold but at last had to give in to it. With shivering hands, he turned the doorknob, it was unlocked, he pushed, the door didn’t move. He pushed harder, and the next moment, he was inside. It was completely dark inside, Ajay wanted to keep the door open, but the cold forced him to close it behind him. Just as the door was about the close, the lightning flashed, and he saw something... someone  just outside the door. A large figure, hands at the side. Ajay skipped a heartbeat. Who was that? Was it someone who needed a shelter just like him? Ajay's mind was stormed with questions. Was it the one who kills anyone who passes the road at night? Ajay shivered even more. Suddenly he started feeling even more cold. He gathered some courage, sat on his knees and looked out of the keyhole, nothing was visible, the lightning flashed again, there was nobody outside. 

Ajay reassured himself by assuming that it was just his imagination. He turned and sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. Moments later, he felt a hand on his shoulder. The scream was heard miles away. Blood flowed out on the road and was washed away by the rain as soon as it touched the road.’ Sapna finished her story.

‘You got some skills Sapna’

‘That was awesome’

‘I felt like I was really there’

All of her classmates were praising her.

‘Well that’s because it’s not a story, it’s a true incident…’

The students shifted uneasily. Indeed it was true. The govt. had waived it off as just a rumour but still no man would dare walk on it at night. Some said it was a demon, some said it was some wild animal which used to come at night. No one knew, no one could know. The body was never found, just blood.

A boy sitting at the last bench was listening to all this. Sunk in deep thought . Why wouldn’t he? After all, was the mythbuster of the town. His name…was Ajay.

The introvert kid was quite popular in his school. He had earned lakhs of rupees by his weird hobby of mythbusting. He had stayed in so called haunted houses and had earned thousands overnight. To others, Sapna’s story was a source of entertainment, a way of spending the free period but Ajay’s brain was already at work. Being an orphan, all he had to do was to sneak out and explore. He was not doing this for money, he was doing this for the thrill. He had heard the story, he used to hear them all the time, but this time it was different. He wanted to go there, see the place, not for money, he felt like the road was calling him. He had to go there.

             *******************

The moon was up. Occasionally peeking through the dark black clouds. Ajay made sure whether everyone was asleep. He climbed over the fence and dropped down outside. The moment he turned, his heart skipped a beat. The sky rumbled and the downpour began. Ajay tried to scream but couldn’t. A hand clamped his mouth. He could feel the nails dig into his cheeks.

‘Shhh! It’s me idiot’, a girl said. Ajay tried to look. The sky lit up and he could see her face. It was Sapna. Ajay kept staring for a moment and then said,

‘The hell!? What are you doing here?’

‘Let’s go. I knew you would be tempted to go to the road. Thought you might need a partner. And also, it’s been a while since we went out together right?’ she said taking his hand into hers.

‘This isn’t a date Sapna. Go home. How did your parents all-’

‘Don’t worry about them. They are fast asleep. Just like your friends in there’, she said pointing towards the orphanage. ‘And we will be back before sunshine, no one will know.’

She made her best ‘please’ face.

‘Stay close!’, he said with a smile.

She grabbed him by his arm and they started moving towards their BLOOD DATE.

The road was far. The wind was blowing in their opposite direction making it hard to walk but they didn’t stop. They kept talking about random stuff and then, they finally spotted the road. The locals had made a small barrier with tree branches and dry bushes to prevent others from going there. The couple went over it. Ajay felt Sapna’s grip tightening over his arm

‘Are you scared Sapna? We can go back right away!’

‘No!’ she replied, in a voice so deep that Ajay found it hard to believe it was her.

‘Alright..’ her grip tightened, it was starting to hurt his hand. He glanced at his partner and for a moment he thought that something was wrong with her face. There…there were no eyes. A chill ran down his spine.

A trick of light, he thought. But something was not right. He tried to free his arm but couldn’t.

‘Sapna, you are hurti-’, he stopped mid sentence. Sapna was staring at him. Through her skin. There were no eyes. Just flesh. Ajay panicked. He started screaming for help. He gave a jerk to his hand and freed himself. He fell on his back. To his horrors, the hand was still grabbing his arm. It…it had been detached from Sapna’s shoulder.

She let out a laugh.

‘Awww…you look so cute while screaming. I wish I had brought my phone. Come on, let me get you up on your feet’ Ajay was trembling, he crawled backwards. The hand on his arm was still twitching. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t scream. Sapna or whatever she was stretched out her hand. Blood was flowing from her shoulders and her eyes and her mouth, she was smiling. She grabbed him by the neck and picked him up.

‘Look at the moon Ajay. It’s so beautiful. Just like your eyes. They made me fall for you’

Ajay was shaking. His hands seemed to be paralysed. The detached hand left his arm and started floating mid air and with a jolt went straight towards his head and scooped out his eyes. There was a scream, his last scream and then peace. Peace everywhere except the sound of the rain hitting the ground and the occasional rumbling of the sky.