A SHOCK ON THAT ROAD

I got fever. Yeah, that very fitful thing that keeps paying a visit to my body every few months. I was completely used to it, so I really didn’t bother to report it to my mom.

  This time though it really seemed to have gotten my nerves. The temperature wasn’t high according to the thermometer, yet it was frigid. I urged myself to tell mom about it, but just then the doorbell rang.

Oh yes, I told him to come today, I muttered and hit myself on the head. I had a minor short-term memory loss problem, which can be quite annoying at times. Still thinking about how I keep forgetting recently done things, I opened the door.

  Jai stood upfront, a cricket bat in one hand and a ball in another. He threw a quick glance at my enervated shoulders and said, “What’s up, dude? You called me to come over to play yesterday, no? You seem weak—why? What’s the matter?”

  His questions passed my ears in a flash, and I took a moment to comprehend a question at a time. “Fever,” I simply replied.

  “Oh—fever? Did you tell your mom about it? Playing today or not?”

  I let out a sigh and moved back to let Jai come in. Of course, there really wasn’t any energy left in me to respond to every single query of his.

  “You still haven’t answered my questions,” he said glumly once we sat down on the sofa.

  “Was going to tell mom,” I answered in a weak tone. “And I know what she is going to reply: ‘I told you not to party till late night with your friends, but you still did! You don’t have the endurance to chat and eat the whole day. And look what you got now—fever!’” I managed to let out another sigh.

  “Oh, so that’s the matter,” came a familiar voice from down the hallway. I wasn’t surprised to see my mom glaring at us. Before I could gain back energy to answer her, she began again, “I wouldn’t lecture you this time, but get yourself an appointment in the RS hospital. You need to learn a lesson!”

  “No—” I started to retort back, but mom had already left the room.

  “Dude, the RS hospital…” Jai said in a shaken voice. “No prob, I will accompany you. The sun hasn’t set down either.”

  I nodded my head slowly. If you’re wondering what this hospital is, it was just another normal hospital. However, it was the path leading up to the hospital that never failed to give me a shiver.

  There was only one road leading up to the hospital, one long and straight road. It was said that paranormal incidents occurred there. Workers reported having seen flashes of white while they walked on the road at night. Three people went missing too—and the strange part is that they never returned, nor were any dead bodies found. With all these credentials, the road was given a name:

That Road

  Whenever someone of the area referred to “that road”, it was clearly understood what they meant.

  I brushed off all these thoughts, which were apparently facts, as I put on my sweater. There wasn’t an option to call, so the only way to take the appointment was to go there and write one for yourself. My bicycle needed repair because I hadn’t used it for months, so I was forced to go by walk. Nevertheless, it was still evening time, and I wasn’t alone in this.

  “Let’s go,” Jai said. He had his sweater on, too. It was wintertime and was impossible to leave the house without it.

  We made our way out of the house. It’s just going to the hospital and giving an appointment, I said to myself. I’m not a kid to not be able to do this.

As the cold wind hit my weak body, I briefly looked at Jai. He seemed in his own world of thoughts. There was nothing other than calmness seen on his face.

  We walked out of the gate and onto the road. A few quick right and left turns bought us to the infamous “that road”.

  I’m not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but that road was just a single straight road. It ran for almost half a kilometer with no other road across it. Once you enter it, the only way of coming out is turning back.

  Other than the wind, nothing was that horrifying. There were a few people around, most closing down their shops. And the sun was still shining bright despite being late evening.

  “What are you waiting for? Let’s get going,” Jai called out, and I followed suit.

  Apparently, nothing at all happened. It took just about six minutes to walk from one end to the other. I’m not so sure about Jai, but my heart rate slowed down realizing the fact that we were wholly safe.

  It took another couple of minutes to make the appointment. After confirming tomorrow morning as the visit time, I and Jai left the hospital. Just then something hit me, something I hadn’t thought of before.

  The sun had set down—and we still had to return home. We still had to walk through that road, this time without any backing from the sun. Walking a few more meters confirmed it—it was total darkness on the road…

PART #2

“Come on boy. You just need to walk through. Just…” My own words hit back at me.

  I looked at Jai and found him staring at me too. To make things even spookier, there was no human within sight, much less any vehicle moving around. It was all dark and silent.

  I found myself giving a shiver. With courage, I took a few steps forward. And a few more. No, at this pace I wouldn’t even reach home after a month. I gained speed and jogged along. The next five minutes were something I never wanted to experience—walking on a dark and empty road at night with an air of ghosts pressing me from all sides.

  The fortunate thing was that the street lights were still on. It decreased the spookiness but did not make it die completely.

  Another tense thirty seconds passed, but I continued my brisk walk. For some reason, there weren’t any stray dogs around. There was literally no one around. Or…

  I turned back but found a completely empty road. Just the reflection of street lights on the old asphalt road. Yet, there was something stirring in my mind.

  Jai!

  I looked around in all directions in alarm. No, there wasn’t any human being around. For the first time, my short-term memory loss proved not only annoying but also death-dealing.

  The beliefs of people vanishing on the road conquered my mind. I stood on the same spot, trying to decide whether to look for Jai or continue walking. A common man in a normal situation would choose to search for his missing friend—but I could end up losing my own life here.

  Yet, I chose the first option. I didn’t call out Jai’s name. I couldn’t dare to. The road wasn’t too wide for searching, that was—

Dmmm! The street lights suddenly went off. It was dark, pitch dark.

  “Darn you. What timing.” I looked for my mobile in my pocket, but no, I didn’t bring it. I had nothing with me, nothing at all to fight what was going to come along.

Everything was as smooth as one could imagine—walking on an empty road at night with a friend; suddenly finding him missing; then suddenly finding yourself in darkness without a weapon.

  There was only one way out that I could see. Walk past the road and tell everything to a trustworthy person. And yes, stop worrying about Jai’s disappearance for a while.

  I shuffled up again. It seemed like my heart was being bought closer to my ear as each second passed. Yet, I continued walking…or more like jogging. My head was straight and my eyeballs moving in all directions.

  I knew I was halfway through within a minute. All I had to do was continue walking. That’s it.

  I looked to my left and right. There was no one around, not a soul. Still, I kept getting the feeling that someone was around. Someone was following me.

Don’t be a scared poke. Come on now.

  I made up my mind to turn around. But before I could do so, a sweet voice broke the silence.

  “So destiny chose you for death, my boy.”

  I was almost knocked out of my senses for a second. There was a woman standing right behind me, a woman in a completely white dress. My heart dropped as I saw her face. No eyes. Literally no eyes.

  She opened her mouth to speak again. There was no tongue, no teeth. Just a plain face with nose and ears.

  I felt my innards being replaced by a small black hole. All the blood crept down my feet and I tumbled on the road. It was all darkness as the world went black.

PART #3

My eyes opened sluggishly. Two blur figures stood on either side of me. My memory gradually returned as I glanced around. Yes, I was on the same road but lying under the shade of a tree.

  “Oh man, you’re up,” a familiar voice said. I recognized it at once.

  “Jai,” I said in a muffled tone as he helped me to my feet.

  Another guy stood beside me. He was dressed up in white and had a ghost mask pulled over his face. Yet, I could tell who it was. Sahil, the most well-known prankster in the entire school.

  “Tell from the top, can you?” I asked.

  “Of course,” Sahil said. I waited as he took off his mask. “You could have guessed it, it was all a prank. Jai came to your house to drive you onto the road after playing cricket. You were already ill and were about to go through that road yourself. This is where our plan got easy, and Jai chose to accompany you.”

  “How did he disappear?” I inquired.

  “Oh, it was simple. You were walking ahead, so I pulled Jai behind a car where you would never find us.”

  “Then?”

  “It was all our plan to shut off the electric supply of the street lights.” Sahil grinned. “You were panicking back then, admit it.”

  “Yes, and your prank worked out well.”

  “It did? You collapsed before I could scare you out of your wits. Seems like my costume is a complete waste.”

  “That wasn’t you?!”

  “Who?”

  A terror-filled gulp came down my throat. “Come on man. I just saw a ghost here! Tell me it was a part of your prank.”

  “You saw a ghost? LOL. I know you can act well, dude, but don’t try your skills on me. Let’s go home before it’s too late.”

  “Yeah,” Jai agreed. “It’s already half-past six. Come on.” Jai and Sahil commenced walking and I trailed. 

In a few minutes, we were out of that road. Once we waved our goodbyes, I was all by myself. I shut the gate of my house with deep thought. The woman’s words hit back at me.

So destiny chose you for death, my boy.

Was it really a hallucination that caused me to hear and see all that? Or did destiny really have death in store for me…?

I know I have left many parts unexplained in this story. It is all up to your imagination to carry on from here!

P.S: Sorry for the disappointing end. A new and better horror story coming soon! Meanwhile, check out my other horror stories here.

Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of my imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental. || Contents of this story should not be reproduced in any manner without permission.