THE VISION

1.2 | The Mystery of the Grumpy man

Episode 01

It was a bright sunny morning when Abhay and Vipul reached Mussoorie. It was a long drive from their place. After the success of their last adventure, they had decided to take a break.

'Ah-ha!! Finally, Abhay we have reached, and I thought you had lost track. Well done, my friend.' Vipul spoke spreading his arms in front of the car.

Their bodies ached after driving the entire night. They stood near the sunrise point, looking at the golden rays of the rising sun spread across the valley. Mussoorie is aptly named the Queen of the hills, in the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayan range. Rich biodiversity with many species of plants, trees, shrubs and wildlife makes it a perfect destination for both of them to have a silent weekend. They stood silently at the point and watched the sunrise slowly from the gaps of the mountains.

'This is beauty, my friend.' a visibly happy Abhay said.

They both kept on staring at the beauty of Mussoorie, unaware of what are they going to face in the coming time. After a memorable view of the sunrise, they started to move towards their hotel. It was a homestay property situated on the outskirts of the town. They started moving towards it, crossing the small curved lanes. Small kids were playing all around, ladies sitting outside their homes and working, some were getting ready to go to the fields, the men were already on the streets for their work. It was quite a busy day for the holiday season, but this is the best part of the holiday season. As they moved left towards a sharp corner, they came across a large lane that had houses on both sides. They moved straight towards the end. The houses ended after some time. At the end of the lane, there was a house. As they crossed it, suddenly something flashed in front of Abhay's eyes. He quickly pressed on the brake and looked outside.

'What happened, Abhay?' asked Vipul.

'Ah... Nothing. Something flashed in front of me.' said a visibly shaken Abhay.

Abhay kept his head on the steering wheel and tried to think about it. All he could remember are some flashes of someone from behind walking around in a room. He started sweating.

'Here, take some water. Let me drive from here. You take some rest.' said Vipul by handing him over the bottle of water.

With it, Vipul started driving towards their hotel as a pair of eyes watched them from the house. The curtains were again closed after they passed away.

'I hope you are not coming up with some new vision. We are on a holiday.' Vipul said as they sat in front of the bonfire with their drinks.

'I think it was because of lack of sleep. We kept on driving the entire night. No issues at all. Let's have a great weekend.' said Abhay.

'You know what, Abhay. The hills have their own secrets. I think we should not disturb the serenity of the hills.' said Vipul.

Abhay nodded in agreement, and the glasses clinked as they started talking with people sitting around the bonfire.

***

Episode 02

It was a dark hallway, which was sparsely populated with furniture. The wooden floor made a creaking sound as he slowly moved ahead. He could see nothing. As he was slowly waving his hand in front of him to know if the path ahead of him is clear or not, he felt something pass by him. The air turned icy. He could feel cold air coming out of his mouth. He turned around and saw nothing. It was cold and silent. He was freezing. As he reached the end of the hallway, he stumbled upon something and fell near the dining table. He looked around. A fading bulb lit the entire room. He was shocked to see someone lying on the floor in a pool of blood in the hallway. He dragged himself back and crawled near the refrigerator. A huge butcher knife had been stabbed in the back of the person, lying with his face on the floor in his own pool of blood. He froze there when suddenly the lights started to blink. As the lights went dark, he saw a face with blood oozing out from the edge of his forehead, sore lips, eyes without eyeballs, and the lights came again. There was no one in front of him. He was shaking in fear. He was not able to erase that image from his mind when suddenly; the lights went out.