A night's mirage

It was a chilly winter evening back in 2010 when Abhigyan and his friends came up with the idea to jog the entire neighborhood as a part of their morning workout routine. It was decided that they would all assemble at his place the next morning sharply at five. They called it a day when it started getting darker.

The brevity of winter days is often astounding as it was only 5 pm but the locality breathed in an eerie silence; only the clanging sound from the far-end prison of the city was heard. Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! 

Owing to renovation, that year, Abhigyan's room was left adjoined to the entrance making it the first reach for the house visitors after the front porch was vandalised. After completing the school homework, he set off to bed. Mobile phones were not so handy those days so Abhigyan completely depended on his friends who took charge of waking him up in the morning. 

The night rolled by and a knock was heard at the door startling him off from his half slumber. "Who is it?" Abhigyan inquired in a lethargic voice. "Wake up! It's us. You asked us to come early, didn't you? We have come."- the familiar voice of his friend replied. The suddenness of the moment triggered a quick response. Rubbing his eyes, Abhigyan directed his friends to proceed and said that he would join them shortly. Picking up his warm clothes, he locked his door behind and noticed that none of his family members had woken up. So he considered it impolite to bother them at such an ungodly hour and sprinted out.

To his surprise, the boys were nowhere in sight. The fog was dense and only the lights of some distant households shone like a forest beacon, scattering timid rays. Apart from that, everything was clawed by kohl black darkness. Staggered, Abhigyan called out his friends' names searchingly. A voice came from across the corner saying - "We're here, come forward." He started moving blindly towards the source of voice. "Where are you? It's freaking me out." Abhigyan said irritably and took a few more grudging steps. By this time he had already reached the point where his narrow aisle joined the main road. However the darkness was too stubborn to leave yet. He started panicking. "Where the hell are you all? I'm leaving"- he cried out one last time only to be greeted by an unsettling response - "We're here. Come." No figures. No silhouettes. Only voices.

Impatient and skeptical Abhigyan decided to return home and the moment before he turned, the clanging of the prison bell was heard. Tang! Tang! Tang! A shiver ran down his spine. He could feel his head pounding as a rail of sweat sluiced down his shirt. It was like he had just woken up from a nightmare by the bells ringing. The feeling of being lured and invited by a non human form was an experience beyond explanation. He summoned all his courage and ran back as fast as he could.

To this day, Abhigyan recalls this incident and fails to fathom the consequence had he followed the voice till the end. Lore has it, such supernatural forces are known for deceitful traits as they tempt vulnerable humans to a clearing and burry them in the ground alive.