The fog made it impossible to see the route in front. I pressed the brakes for the 3rd clip tonight. I could hear voices in my caput pressing me to turn back. I tried to tune those voices out & A ; pressed my pes down on the gas pedal easy. The fog made me experience creepy. It had taken every ounce of my bravery to come to this determination. We were headed to Kurseong, near Darjeeling. Yes, we. We were a group of four friends – Me, Neeraj, Preeti and Garry.

I woke up at the center of the dark all of a sudden, when I heard person whispering outside the collapsible shelter. Though I was sleepy, I could calculate out that it was Sophie ‘s voice. At first, I did non happen anything leery about it as I thought it was Garry she was talking with. Then all of a sudden she laughed, the sound of which sent a iciness down my spinal column. It was nil like Sophie. It sounded more like a hoarse and ferocious snarling. The sound started attenuation after that, as if it was traveling off from the collapsible shelter towards the wood. I do n’t cognize what came upon me at that minute and I decided to look into. May be I should hold called Preeti, but I did non. Very easy and mutely I crawled out of the collapsible shelter. I could non bury the sight that met my eyes. I put my custodies on my oral cavity to smother my call. Sophie was sprawled on the land about 12 metres off from our collapsible shelter, creeping towards the wood on her tummy, her lingua which appeared to be at least 2 pess in length sticked out her oral cavity in a horrifying mode, as if person was drawing her by her lingua. But I could see no one at that place. I wanted to shout for aid but I could non happen my voice. And so something happened. As if she sensed me looking at her, she got up faster than I would hold imagined and looked directly into my eyes. There was something terrorizing about those eyes. She was non Sophie. Those eyes were blood ruddy and she had blood smeared on her oral cavity. Her lingua lolled on one side as she looked at me puffing. I felt the land faux pas beneath me and as I fainted the last thing that I heard was a blood clabbering scream.

We were walking towards the garage. I was walking in front of the others. The minute I opened the garage doors, the sight that met my eyes brought bile to my oral cavity. I heard Preeti pant in horror behind me. A decapitated crow was lying on the bonnet of my auto. Person has drained all its blood & A ; smeared it all over the windscreen. I felt ill. I wanted to throw up.

“ It ‘s acquiring dark, ” I reminded Neeraj, eyeing the puting Sun on the western sky. I had kept really near to him all these clip. We had already searched this part of the forest twice. There was no mark of Sophie anyplace, though I had a feeling that person was following us all the clip.

The others were already at that place when we reached the glade. Their decision was same as ours. They found nil. That dark, after dinner we discussed out following twenty-four hours ‘s program of action. We were traveling to cover the remainder of the forest tomorrow. We were so tired that we decided to name it a twenty-four hours & A ; retired to our beds.

A sudden tintinnabulation sound pierced the silence of the room so piercingly that it made us all leap, broad awake and qui vive. After a minute ‘s confusion, we realized it was Preeti ‘s cell phone pealing. We sighed, relieved. But Preeti had a disquieted look on her face. She was a courageous miss. I have seen her acquiring unnerved merely one time, long back. And by my old experience, I could about think who was naming.

“ Hello Papa, ” She answered the call. Yes, she got nervous whenever her parents called her up at unusual hours. What she feared was bad intelligence.

We could hear merely one side of the conversation. By the expression of her face, I assumed that whatever it was, it was decidedly bad intelligence. By the clip she kept down the phone, she was hyperventilating. When she explained to us, all I could do out between her shortness of breath was that person has fallen down a flight of steps & A ; has injured his caput severely. I wanted to inquire who it was, but thought that could wait. I could clearly state by her looks that the individual was a household member.

Within proceedingss, Preeti was standing at that place in forepart of me wholly dressed and packed, ready to go forth. She asked me to drop her at the nearest coach station from where she can take a coach to Darjeeling. I stared at my ticker. It was 12 in the midnight. The last dark coach leaves at 12.30, I thought. I wanted to inquire her to remain back till forenoon. But, I ne’er voiced that out as I knew how obstinate she was.

“ I ‘ll come with you, ” Neeraj said acquiring up.

‘Of class, you must idiot ‘ , I thought. Otherwise I would hold to drive all the manner back from the coach halt entirely. I slid my Katara inside my jacket pocket before go forthing the room.

“ I am truly regretful, Garry, ” Preeti whispered. “ I truly necessitate to travel. ”

“ That ‘s all right. I can understand, ” Garry assured her. “ You two come back shortly, ” He added looking at us.

We were halfway to the coach halt when Preeti all of a sudden shouted, “ Stop! ”

Neeraj pressed the brakes and the auto skid to a arrest. Both of us stared at her with oppugning eyes.

“ How could Papa name me? ” She was speaking to herself. We were looking at her baffled.

“ It ‘s a jungle. Are you having any webs on your cell phones? ” She asked us, obviously turning impatient at our deficiency of comprehending.

Realization hit us like a boom. She was right. This topographic point does non have nomadic signals.

We turned and sped back towards the cottage.

Neeraj dropped us at the cottage gate & A ; went to park the auto. As I approached the cottage with Preeti, I had a intestine feeling that something was awfully incorrect. My inherent aptitudes were shouting at me. I felt the dark presence in the cottage even before I saw the half-open door. Turn and Run! , my encephalon was stating me. I would n’t listen. I could n’t. Garry was inside.A We bolted for the unfastened door. The scene that met my eyes in the hall tore a shriek from my pharynx. Blood was splattered all over the white walls. The obsessed signifier of Sophie stood in the hallway express joying threateningly.

“ Where ‘s Garry? ” Preeti demanded, seeking to maintain her voice sweetheart.

Sophie pointed us to the way of the kitchen. There on a pool of fresh blood, lied the lifeless organic structure of Garry.

“ No! ” I screamed. My tummy twisted into a knot of guilt and choler. Cryings blurred my vision. ‘No! ‘

There was barely any clip to believe. My fingers closed around the grip of the sticker hidden inside my jacket. I wished I had brought the gun alternatively. My eyes narrowed as I rapidly measured the distance between us. I launched myself at Sophie. I slashed at the air where she stood but she vanished an blink of an eye before the blade met flesh.

I kicked myself. I should hold expected what she was capable of. I crouched low to the land, turning in topographic point. My eyes scanned the hall. She was gone. After a few minutes, I allowed myself to loosen up. In the silence that followed, the lone sound I could hear was my ain rough pant as my lungs fought for air. I stood, take downing the sticker but non seting it off merely yet. It was still my best defence if that thing came back.

I was all of a sudden cognizant that Preeti was standing really near to me now. “ Preeti, we have to run! Travel! ” I shouted madly at her. She did n’t look scared, like I expected. Alternatively her face was clean of any emotion. Out of the blue, a cruel smiling spread across her face. Her eyes, which had been their usual black, all of a sudden flashed blood red. My bosom about stopped. A strong fist in the dorsum of my caput threw me winging across to the floor. My sticker got knocked off from my manus. I did n’t see where it landed.

I turned around & A ; tried to comprehend my milieus. I had landed in the pool of blood in which Garry was lying a piece before. His organic structure was levitating 5 pess above the floor. Preeti walked easy towards me, uncovering the Katara that she held in her manus now ; the cruel smiling still on her lips. A soft but endangering chortles came from Sophie, who was now standing where I had been standing merely before I fell. I squeezed my eyes shut, as the daze moving ridge hit me difficult. My ain friends were traveling to kill me, I realized. Death was shuting in on me from all waies.

A sudden gunfire startled me. My eyes flung unfastened. Blood was sloping out of Sophie ‘s brow. Preeti, her manus held high with the sticker in it, shrieked maniacally and ran towards the room access cursing. I jumped at the sound of another gunfire. I turned towards the beginning. Neeraj was standing at the room access with my handgun in his right manus and a illuminated torch in his left manus. I could see the fire in his eyes.

“ Sang aid! ” the voice which belonged to Preeti, was simply a susurration.

She looked up at me, her eyes back to her normal ego once more.

“ Do something! ” I shouted at Neeraj, seeking to make where Preeti was lying.

“ She ‘s lost excessively much blood. There is nil I could make to salvage her now! ” Neeraj replied in a level voice. “ We need to acquire out of here every bit early as possible. ”

“ Yes, and we take her with us, ” I argued furiously as Preeti succumbed to her lesions.

“ She ‘s gone and it is non safe for us to linger here any longer. The fire is non traveling to last long, ” He said impatiently.

I knew he was right ; I merely did n’t desire to acknowledge it. He put the gun in his jacket and picked me up. I kicked and punched, spot and screamed ; I tried everything to get away him. He was merely excessively strong. He carried me to the auto and placed me gently besides the driver ‘s place. As he reached across to acquire the place belt, I slapped his manus off. I did n’t desire his aid. I curled up on the place, covering my face. Streams of cryings ran down my cheeks. I was in hurting. I wanted to decease excessively. I felt the auto moving.

“ I found your gun in the auto. When I turned up the walk after parking the auto, I stopped dead in my paths. I could see the interiors of the cottage clearly through the unfastened door. I had believed you all along, but I ne’er wanted to acknowledge that. I could see it was go oning now ; there was no denying that, ” I was merely mistily cognizant of his chattering tone.

As we left the forest boundaries, I heard a piercing shriek over the boom of the engine coming from the wood behind us. Neither of us said anything. Neeraj hit the gas pedal difficult and the auto sped into the dazed dark, go forthing my worst incubus behind.