“So, going home after long time, stressed out? “ Asked the driver glaring a look at the girl behind looking completely worn out. “Here we are, that’d be 65.”He said as he stopped the cab at a house with a faint light bulb glowing.
She gets out after taking a couple of minutes, completely messed up, headphones covering the head and the ears that were pinching her as she keeps on adjusting and continuously pulling the denim jacket to get it in right position even though it was a perfect fit, gives him 200 and just starts walking toward the door .Driver honks, but she doesn’t even give a look. He shouts, “you…OK?” she doesn’t reply and the cabbie starts the engine but stops, he hears someone from behind calling “help help help” he waits and puts his head out to see if someone was there but all he sees is pitch dark ,he puts feet on the accelerator.
She stops right outside the door, the sound of people laughing and chattering is audible and she comes to her senses checks herself, sets her hair right, takes a deep breath and knocks on the door of H.No.103/16A, could hear someone giggling and coming towards the door. A woman in her mid-50s answers the door and as soon as they both see each other hugs each other tight, the woman is overjoyed on seeing her, “We missed you a lot girl.”
“I missed you too mom “, Said the daughter in a pretty relaxing way.
Her mom welcomed her in and announced, “Look she’s here” glancing towards the father sitting on the couch who barely even cares about the news, just gave daughter a cold smile and went on to mind his own business. The daughter grinned and smiled and was on the same level of excitement as was the father, suddenly she got hugged from behind, her little brother was excited to see her elder sister back home. He was laughing and shouting at top of his voice until his dad gave him the look which made him instantly settle down.
She went in her brother’s room with him to be away from his father. ”Hey who’s this?” her sister asked pointing at picture of a guy on the mountain ,
”Ummmm…I don’t know may be some god or king maybe showing off his strength lifting the rock, you know how these people can be. “And they both started laughing which got interrupted by her mom’s call for the ‘Dinner Time’.
“Come honey, you must be hungry” mom said as she funnily pushed her towards the table. The three sat for the dinner, later brother came and placed his chair a bit far from the dad. Her sister helped him and they started the dinner. The T.V. behind was on and the reporter was talking about a family murdered by some killer with an axe on 10th October. ”The cruelty one could say was not humanly “these lines kept on repeating over and over.
“That happened close by right?” The girl asked suspiciously looking towards his father.
“Yeah, some freak gone all out, happens every day.” Answers without looking at her.
“Dad, you happen to know anything about it? “Asked daughter.
He got up, slammed on the table, the food flew all over, ”You have to do this every f**king time, you ruined everything… all because of you. “He yelled pointing at the daughter.
She got up and left seeing her father raging up, pushed the chair down. She went to her room started searching for her cigarettes but couldn’t find them.
“You shouldn’t have yelled at her like that, she didn’t even eat. “Mother sobbing to the father.
“Huh! Must have gone to smoke, all that maniac ever cared about was her smoke, its great, you guys don’t remember.” He sat down back on his chair.
She went down to her father’s room to get the cigarettes from his secret stash that he kept in his tiny drawer at the corner of the room. She opened the drawer but she found not just the pack but something else too, blood drenching all over, she always suspected but now it was all real. The axe was wrapped in a newspaper smothered with blood. Blood is stuck and hardened on it.
She couldn’t find her breathe and fell down on the floor ,she saw her little brother peeping from the door whispering “He’ll be mad at you again “and smiled . He kept on whispering something but she couldn’t hear so she came closer to him, he lashed on and bit her ear and laughed wildly with his bloody teeth. She dropped the axe, pushed him back and ran out, she saw her mother crying and screaming at the top of her voice, her father staring at her and started running to grab her. She tried the door but was locked ,she ran upstairs ,grabbed her bag and started to unlock the window but it got stuck halfway she couldn’t get out. She tried to break but all was for nothing, she saw her dad and her family standing in the room with her holding the axe covered in blood.
Her father had a big cut on his neck, same as mother which started to bleed again. She couldn’t believe what actually was happening, her father started running towards her took a big swing but instead at her, he smashed the window glass and clutched her and whispered in her ear “See you next time ,Honey “and pushed her out .
She lied still in the bush for few moments then she crawled out to the footpath, cries “Help Help Help” she looks down at her hands holding an axe in the right one and a pack of cigarettes in the other filled with blood and a dark blood stain on her t shirt.
She pauses for few breathes and takes out her denim jacket throws the axe, keeps the cigarette pack in the bag which was already full of them. A cab stops right near her,”you want to go home?” winks at her.
She puts her headphones on and sits in the cab. He stops at a dim lit house after few minutes ,”that’ll be …”pauses smiles and continues”200” she pays him and he drives away. She strolls down the house 104/16A, people talking and laughing she stretches her jacket and fixes her headphones and knocks. She closed her eyes as she heard footsteps approaching towards the door. Takes a deep breathe and the door opens.
–END–
