Homecoming

Alex Heusen’s Homecoming

Setting. Modern. 20th November 2012.

Place – BludCreek Town.

 

Alex Heusen, a not so famous writer, was on his way to his parent’s home in his black sedan. He was away from his family for 3 years, all because to prove himself. His family was an affluent one but his parents were not quite supportive about his writing, so he left.

For 3 consecutive nights, he had saw nightmare in which he saw that his family house was on fire. He woke up, all wet in cold sweat and realized that it was just a nightmare but the screams felt real, the heat of fire, felt real. He stepped out of his bed and went in the kitchen to fetch himself a glass of water. He happened to look from his window and realised that the night was unusually dark and grim. The only noise that he could hear was of cricket’s chatter. The moon was hidden behind dark clouds. He finished his glass of water and went to bed. He gazed the ceiling as the fan hypnotized him to sleep. The following morning he made few calls to his parents to inform them about his return but the calls were not attended. It left an uneasy feeling in his mind as the effect of the nightmare was not yet faded. He shrugged of the feeling and packed his bags and was on his way to BludCreek.

While in car, he tried to contact them again but his calls went unattended. He tried calling his sister but he got the same response. The uneasy feeling grew over him but he ignored him and focused on his driving.

It was evening by the time he reached BludCreek. There were very few people on the street. The atmosphere of the town was gloomy. Alex slowly drove over to his house which was on top of a hill, far away from the town’s hustle bustle. He liked it that way, it was calm and peaceful. He stepped out of his car and looked at his two storey, 6 room house. The lights were switched on, on the porch and on upper floor.

He then took out his bags from his car’s trunk and walked over to the porch and rang the door bell. The sound of doorbell echoed through the house. He waited for the door to open but the door stayed shut, no one came to open the door. He rang the doorbell again and dialled a call for his father’s cellphone. But he got no response. So he looked around wondering what to do next. The problem of having a house on hilltop was that your nearest neighbours were miles away. There was no way he was going back to meet his neighbor at this time of evening.

He took a walk around the house and tried to peek in from a window, the lower floor was completely dark. His eyes were having a bad time to get adjusted to the darkness. He saw a movement inside the house. He was not sure what it was but he could have swore on his life that he did saw something. He quickly made his way to the door and rang the doorbell again but got no response.

He searched a flower pot which was near the door on a table and found a key in it. It was his mother’s habit to keep a key in the pot. He used the key to open the door and got in with his bags. He switched on the lights but the lights flickered and went out and he was left standing alone in darkness. An eerie feeling crept over him. He heard footsteps in the room above him so He quickly stepped out of the house and went to fetch the torch from his car. He came back in and so did the lights. He had a smile on his face, thinking that this is some stupid trick of his sister Amanda. “Amanda! I know its you! You cannot scare me!” Alex shouted. “Mom!? Dad?!” Alex called out but got no response. “Ok. Hide, I will find all of you” He said.

He looked around and noticed that the house and everything of it was just the way it was 3 years back. He walked around with the torch still in his right hand. He came across his father’s study room and decided to take a look in it. He went through the titles on the shelves. His father had a passion for reading and judging by the new books, that Alex noticed, his father was still passionate about reading.

He sat on his father’s rocking chair and a feeling of paralysis crept over him. The atmosphere went from gloomy to lively and he saw his mother bring breakfast for him, it took him a while to realise that he was seeing the past through his father’s eyes. His mother placed the tray on the table next to him.

“Amanda nowadays hangs out with a guy from her college. Don’t you think we should talk to her?” his mother asked his father.

“She’s young, its fine don’t you think? besides If she has something in her mind she will let us know.” Alex heard his father say.

“You are always so laid back about everything.” His mother said.

“May be you should relax” His father said.

He then saw his mother leave and shut the door behind her and everything went back to its gloomy self. He got up from the chair and blood rushed through his body. Stars exploded in front of his eyes and he collapsed down on the floor as he tried to walk. “What is happening to me?” Alex asked himself as he slowly got up and hurriedly stepped out of the study room. the lights started flickering and soon went out. Alex’s heart was thudding wildly. He quickly switched on his torch and raised it in front of him and made his way to the living room.

A loud thunder made him jump and the lights came back. Alex sighed a sigh of relief. A window opened and rattled because of the wild wind outside. Alex went and shut the window and noticed that it was about to rain. Alex then decided to eat something as he thought that the visions were just hallucinations because he was hungry. The snacks that he carried for his journey were exhausted so he made his way into the kitchen and switched on the lights. He went to open the fridge and noticed Amanda’s teddy on the fridge’s handle. He touched it and the similar feeling of paralysis crept over him.

He heard his mother’s voice again, this time she was speaking with his sister, Amanda. “Is there something you want to tell?” Her mother asked Amanda who was going through the fridge.

“About what?” Amanda asked.

“About anything, anything that’s going on in your life” His mother said.

“No there’s nothing to talk about.” Amanda said.

“Are you sure?” Her mother asked.

“Yes. and even if there’s something, then you and father will be the first to know about it.” Amanda said.

“Ok. Just be careful.” Her mother said.

Alex felt that Amanda was holding something back but she had always been secretive. The scene then again shifted to present. Alex’s mind was heavy, he was still trying to make peace with his new found power, power to look into a person’s past by coming in contact with that person’s personal thing. He then opened the fridge and a pungent odour emerged from the fridge. Alex quickly covered his nose by his hands and closed the door of the fridge.

“It seems that the food was left untouched for a while now. Weeks may be.” Alex thought. He then came back in living room and then went to check his room. He got in and saw that his room was just the way he left it. He sat on his bed and looked out through the window. He heard footsteps behind him and the door of his room slammed close, it sent a chill through his spine. He quickly leaned on the wall and quietly opened the door and peeked out. There was no one. The lights flickered again and then were stable again.

A loud thunder made him jump and then he heard rain drops falling on the ground outside. He then stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him and made his way to living room. He heard footsteps on the floor of the room above him and decided to investigate. he quietly went upstairs and leaned on the door of a room to eavesdrop. He heard the window blinds rattle so he unlocked the door and went in. It was his sister’s room.

He was in his parent’s room. He heard a noise in the adjacent room and he stepped out of the room in the hallway but he collapsed on his knees as his vision blurred. he started hearing the voice more clearly, he got on his feet and opened the door of the adjacent room and he froze as the similar feeling of paralysis gripped him. He then saw Amanda with her friend, they both were lying on bed on their stomach and watching a comedy movie. His mother entered the room and told them to lower the TV’s volume as father wanted to sleep. Later his mother left and Alex gained control of himself.

He entered his sister’s room and sat on her couch. he switched on the TV but it had no signal so he switched it off. he then went through her drawers and found her diary. he scurried through initial pages and came to a page dated 3rd Jan 2012. His sister had mentioned about her new friend, Alice. she and Alice were assigned a project to work on.

4th Jan 2012, his sister, Amanda visited Alice’s place to work on project. They worked till it was evening. Alice told her that she would come to her house next day to work on the project. Alex then skipped few pages and came to a page dated 14th Jan 2012. Their project was complete and tomorrow they were both going to present it. Alice was particularly happy the way their project turned out to be. 15th Jan 2012, Alice and Amanda’s project was praised by their teachers. Amanda mentioned that it was the first time that Alice embraced her.

Alex skipped few more pages. 3rd Feb 2012, Alice and Amanda went to watch a movie in evening. Amanda lied to her parents and told them that she was going to be at Alice’s place and Alice lied to her parents the other way round. While watching the movie, Alice placed her hand on Amanda’s hand. Amanda felt that Alice’s hand were cold. Amanda looked at her and Alice kissed her. later after movie, Alice apologized about her behaviour to which Amanda didn’t respond. later at home, Amanda was wondering about Alice. Amanda was not sure about what she was feeling.

4th Feb. 2012, Amanda went to college and avoided Alice for the whole day. Alice tried to talk to her but Amanda avoided her and hung out with her another classmate, Dennis. later in evening, Amanda’s mother asked her what was troubling her as she noticed that Amanda was lost in her thoughts the whole day . Amanda said it was nothing and left the kitchen.

5th Feb 2012, Alice again made attempts to try and talk with Amanda but Amanda constantly avoided any interaction with her. Later after college, Dennis came along with Amanda to her place citing some college work as a reason. 6th Feb. 2012, Alice was absent for the lectures. She was not present for the whole day. Amanda missed her, she was worried that something wrong might have happened to Alice. Amanda later went to Dennis’s place to help him with his studies.

Later Dennis asked her to play badminton with him. Amanda completely forgot about Alice and also forgot that she had to reach home. It was late in evening and her Father came to Dennis place to fetch her. Later at home her parents were quite furious at her. 7th Feb 2012, Alice was again absent for her lectures. Amanda grew more worried about Alice and decided to pay a visit to her.

After lectures, she went to visit Alice and found out that she was having a high fever. Alice asked her if she was still angry on her to which Amanda replied that she is not. Alice smiled weakly. Alice then told Amanda that she loves her. Amanda didn’t knew how to react as all this was very new to her and she was not sure if feeling the way she does for Alice was right or wrong. She had this thoughts going on in her mind about what her parents would think and how they would react to all this. Alice was waiting for a reply, her eyes grew more curious to know what Amanda’s reply was. Amanda stopped thinking about what people might think and said that she loves her too. Alice smiled and Amanda took her hand in her hand and told Alice to get well soon. Amanda then left.

Amanda and Alice then continued to be in love. They had to keep their relation under wraps and that meant behaving normal. Alex flinched when he realised the orientation of his sister. Weeks went by, one night Amanda came home and her parents decided to sit and have a chat with her.

Alex then heard a knock on the door, he kept the diary on bed and rushed downstairs. he opened the door but there was no one at the door so he closed the door and turned to collapse on the floor as his vision started to blur. He started hearing voices again. He tried to get up as all the atmosphere shifted to past. As his vision was clear, he saw Amanda and his parents talking. He walked closer to them and their voices became more clear.

His parents were asking Amanda about Dennis as Amanda usually told them that she was going out with him. “what is going on between you and Dennis?” her father asked.

“Nothing, dad. we are just friends.” Amanda said.

“everyone says that. you can really tell us if you are in love with him, we wont scold you for that. we just want you to share with us.” her mother assured.

“yes, its completely natural to feel so for someone but there are things that you should be careful about” her father said.

“shhhs Daniel. is this a way to talk?” her mother said to her father.

“what? I m just trying to be straight forward, it saves time.” her father said.

“what are you both thinking? The only reason I hang out with Daniel is because…” Amanda paused.

“yes, go on girl.” her father said.

“no, let it be. you wont understand.” Amanda said.

“then try to make us understand.” her father said.

“ok, I know this might sound weird but, I love someone, but its not him.” Amanda said.

“ok so its some other guy ha, who is he?” her father asked.

“Its not a guy, its a girl.” Amanda paused and she and Alex both noticed that their parents faces grew grim. “she is my class mate, her name is Alice.” Amanda said.

“what? this is downright outrageous” her dad said as he stood up in displeasure.

“please calm down, Daniel.” her mother said.

“calm down? didn’t you listen what our girl is saying? she is in love with a girl! It sounds so… I don’t even want to talk about it. I need to clear my mind, I will go for a walk” her father said and stepped out of the house.

Her mom gave her a unpleasant look and went upstairs. Amanda followed her but her mother closed the door on her face. Alex watched Amanda knocking on the door and sobbing, asking her mother to understand her. Amanda later then went to her room and the atmosphere shifted to present time.

Alex went upstairs to Amanda’s room. Alex opened the door and a sudden sight of a corpse hanging from the ceiling followed by a loud thunder repelled him out of the room. he slipped and fell downstairs and was knocked unconscious. Alex gained consciousness after a while and saw his sister, Amanda looking down on him from her room. His vision was blurred but he could see Amanda. He got up and went upstairs by taking support of the railing. Alex then cautiously entered Amanda’s room and looked around.

There was no corpse. He picked up the diary but all the pages were now wet and the writing on them was erased. He had left the window open and rain water spoiled the diary. Alex went through the diary to see if any page was left unspoilt. he came across a page. it was Amanda’s suicide note. She committed suicide just on the night he saw the nightmare for the first time but if Amanda’s dead then where are his parents? and why didn’t they tell him about anything?

The sun was up and Alex decided to go to town and pay Alice a visit. He went to the college and waited for Alice. He knew how Alice looked like because he had seen Alice through his sister’s eyes when Alice and Amanda were in her room watching a movie. He saw Alice arriving and introduced himself to her. She was surprised to meet him but was not ready to talk to him and went to attend lectures. Alex waited for her outside college.

Later after lectures, Alice stepped out of college and spotted Alex but as soon as he made an attempt to reach her, she ignored him and continued on her way to her home. Alex followed her.

“Stop following me, will you?” Alice told him without turning back.

“I will after you clear my doubts.” Alex said.

“I don’t want to talk with you.” Alice said.

“Even I m not here to have tea or coffee with you.” Alex said. Alice stopped walking and Alex walked over to her.

“I just want to know few things.” Alex said. “I know what my sister was for you…” Alex said.

“And you are disapproving like her parents.” Alice said sternly.

“No. No. I m not here to talk about that. I just want to connect the dots, find my parents.” Alex said.

“And your sister? aren’t you worried about her?” Alice asked.

“My sister?” Alex paused, he was wondering how to tell it to her.

“She committed suicide. I thought, You might have known about this.” Alex said. Hearing that her beloved committed suicide and is no more, Alice felt as if she was going to collapse. Alex quickly held her by her arm and broke her fall. He took her to his car and made her seat.

“When did this happen?” Alice asked.

“I don’t know, may be a few days back.” Alex said.

“What do you mean that you don’t know?” Alice said.

“I don’t know when she committed suicide and I don’t know where my parents are.” Alex said.

“Then how do you know that she committed suicide?” Alice asked. Alex gave her Amanda’s suicide note.

“That’s it? you didn’t find her body? all this doesn’t make any sense? how do you know that she is no more?” Alice asked.

“Its all a long story and it wont make any sense to you. tell me when was the last time you met Amanda?” Alex asked.

“A week back may be.” Alice said.

“That means she committed suicide a week back. but then where is her body and where are my parents?” Alex thought.

“What are you thinking? will you tell me what’s going on?” Alice asked.

“I know this will sound crazy but its true.” Alex said and told her the things he experienced in the house. Alice had a blank look on her face. she was having a hard time to believe what Alex told her. “Ok. so you saw all this?” Alice asked.

“Yes otherwise how would I have known how you look. I saw you through my sister’s eyes.” Alex said.

“Ok. I will try hard to believe you.”

Alice said. “You have to trust me. Now tell me what pushed Amanda so hard that she committed suicide? I know my parents were not supportive but then what pushed her a step so far?” Alex asked.

“Can we go to your place? I want to take a look at her room” Alice asked. “You sure you want to go there? personally I would not enter that house again.” Alex said.

“We will find our answers there itself.” Alice said.

“Ok” Alex said and drove her over to his place.

 

They entered the house and she went upstairs to Amanda’s room. Alex followed her. “Now will you tell me what happened?” Alex asked.

“When your parents got to know about us, they imposed restrictions on her. Her mother came to drop and pick her from college. She avoided talking to me. But She told me once that she misses me and she looked wasted. She was not sleeping or eating. I tried to meet her but your father didn’t allow me to meet her.

Then one day she called me and told me that her parents were going to send her away and she was talking all non sense. I tried to console her but then she wouldn’t listen and then that was the last time we talked. She then stayed absent for the lectures so I thought may be your parents sent her away. I visited your place again but found it locked.” Alice said as tears rolled down her eyes.

Alex placed his hand on her shoulder and she embraced him. Alex could sense the pain she was in and tears built up in his eyes too but he withdrew himself and wiped them. “So what about your parents? and where did Amanda’s body go?” Alice asked.

“I don’t know and I don’t know how to proceed further” Alex said.

“Did you search the house?” Alice asked.

“no. I don’t think that would yield anything.” Alex said and opened the door.

“Come I will drop you to your place. I don’t want your parents to worry about you.” Alex said.

“Ok. But we will never get to know about what happened to your parents and Amanda.” Alice said.

“Yeah.” Alex said.

They both got in car and drove down the hill. Alex’s vision was blurring. He tried to apply breaks bur unfortunately the car’s break failed.

“Alex watch out!” Alice screamed as their car dashed against a tree. Alice crawled out of the car. She was safe, minor scratches on her arms. she pulled Alex out and woke him up. He too was not wounded much. They both looked down the steep slope and realized that they missed death by inches.

“What happened to you?” Alice asked.

“I don’t know, suddenly my vision was blurred.” Alex said.

“Are you hungry?” Alice asked.

“Yes.” Alex said and chuckled.

“Don’t tell me that whatever you saw might just turn out to be hallucinations.” Alice said.

“No I thought the same thing but this aint hallucination” Alex said and peeked down and saw a car wreck. Alex then descended down and Alice followed closely. They reached the care wreck and saw three bodies. He touched one body and fell down on the ground and started shivering. Alice rushed to his side.

“Alex! Alex! What’s happening to you?” Alice asked.

Alex saw what all happened after suicide. His mother and father found Amanda hanging by the ceiling. they quickly untied her and were on their to hospital but due to the heavy rain they met with an accident. The rain extinguished the fire that accompanied the explosion and the noise of explosion was covered by the thunder. Alex saw the burning car which resembled his nightmare and he fainted.

He came around a few minutes later. “What happened to you? you scared me.” Alice said.

Alex then told her everything that he saw and they went up to the road. “At least now we know what happened.” Alice said.

“Yeah. We have to live with it now.” Alex said.

“So what’s next for you?” Alice asked.

“I don’t know, I have a home right here and I think I will write a story about my experience” Alex said.

“Good luck” Alice said and they both got in car and he dropped her to her place.

Later he informed police officers and the bodies were retrieved. he gave them a proper burial and wrote a story about his experience. his story found many readers and he became a well known name.

 

A Year later he received a letter from a girl named Sherwin Woods. It said – “You don’t know me but I know you. I have the same gifts that you have. I see things that people cannot and that has landed me in trouble. No one else can help me but you can. I stay in BludRim Village. My address is mentioned below. I need your help.”

Alex at first thought that may be its just a prank. But later he found out that the address is real so he decided to pay a visit to this BludRim village.

***

(To be continued.)