On a Rainy Night

15-07-2022 | 22:37:07

Pranav's hands were tied behind his back. He had resisted, but to no avail. Tears stained his face as a large hand covered his face and brought him away. The burly man dragged him to a dusty building.

"No!"

"Let me go!"

Pranav's cries were for the ghosts.

There was no one around at that late hour. It was dark, just like his Aaya told. He might not have seen the route they took but he recognised the location. This was the Bhoot Bangla in the distance where monsters ate up children.

He was shit scared.

As the man dragged him, he lost his footing.

Pranav's body was one fourth of the man's and so was his strength.

His knees grazed the hard, rough concrete surface.

The coldness of the night and the curing concrete pricked his skin.

Only a few seconds later, he could smell blood along with the fresh cement. He knew his knees got hurt. A new round of crying began with the darkness around aggravating his fear.

"Please... please take me back," he begged.

The man released his hands.

"I'm scared... I want to go back... Please," Hiccups marked Pranav's meek request.

"Be quiet!" The man growled and flung him to the ground.

Pranav's fear heightened. He tried not to make a sound.

In the next few moments, the man came closer and closer to him.

Feeling uncomfortable, Pranav tried to jiggle away. This elbows also grazed and bled in the attempt, thanks to his bound wrists.

The man pinned him down, putting him in place.

"What are doing?" Prave asked with dread. His voice was low lest he cross the man.

The man was merciless. He hit him.

Pranav curled up to a side at the impact. He breathed in some dust and cement off the ground.

He coughed violently.

The next few moments were hurried and horrific.

The man pushed his limbs the way he wanted as if Pranav was a toy.

When the man removed his clothes and the feeling of shame engraved in his heart.

Next his whole body was in pain.

Even if he was scared to make any sound, he could not bear it.

Then, like everyday, it started to rain. Rain drops fell faster and faster, heavier and heavier, just like the beat of his heart.

Soon the sound of the train was deafening. It was only then that he dared to let out his cries and cope a little with the pain.

He did not understand what the man was doing to him.

The sky rumbled with a strong lightening. That was when he finally saw the man's face.

Through his tearful eyes he stared at him.

Another time the lightening struck, he was filled with hatred for that face.

The man took notice of the glare and slapped the small face hard.

Pranav cried again. A bout of gut wrenching cough came out of him. The sound almost dominated the heavy downpour.

This whole body was splitting and his head was spinning.

Amid the rumbles of the sky, the lightening and the downpour, a guest of wind blew into the corner, bringing with it, some rain.

The man got off of him.

Pranav looked at him with caution.

The man kicked him in the stomach hard, as if a mark of end to the torture he put him through. He then walked over him and turned around.

"Please... take me back... I'm scared," Pranav asked amid coughing one last time. He sounded rather nasal and his voice was very raspy.

The man stopped. "Be happy I didn't finish you off. If you tell anyone, I'll kill you!" He brisked away.

Left with writhing body, in a situation he still could not quite comprehend, in a chill that made his fingertips tremble and a fear of the dark unknown, Pranav could not do much.

It was way too much for a boy of age 11.

He coughed again. By now, the rope that bound his wrists had loosened. With a few jerks, his hands were free. Enduring the pain and with the little energy left, he pulled up his exhausted body.

However, he fell back onto the concrete. His grazed knee and elbow burned for the fall. His body shook with the wave on pain that hit him.

He lay in the dust without moving, softly sobbing with intermittent coughs.

He thought he could quickly run away from it all. But truth was he could not.

When he calmed down, he still did not understand anything. He knew he had been through something very bad and he could not shake of the shameful feeling.

He did not like that feeling. He pulled himself close and hugged his knees tight despite the coursing pain.

Slowly his thoughts were filled with images. Everything replayed.

He felt empty. His fear of the building did not matter. His pain did not matter.

Still only an inch from the cement, he inhaled it again and wheezed.

But this discomfort did not find place in his mind.

It was filled with the shamefulness of being exposed and being penetrated. The more he thought about it, the more horrifying it seemed.

Tears flowed down his face, although, there was not a single sob this time.

He close his eyes. He did not have energy to do anything at that moment.

But his mind would not stop. He knew what death was. But what happened to him seemed worse than death.

As if on cue, his hand moved slightly and touched something cold.

He picked it up.

It was something sharp and slippery.

He put a lot of effort and sat up, putting his weight on one hand.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness as he tried to make out the object.

It was a glass shard covered in dust.

For the first time that night, his eyes shined.

It would be great if he ended it all.