The Scream

The nails scratched on the walls. A shrill noise echoed, similar to the sound made when one metal meets another metal body or chalk screeching on a chalkboard. An awful sound. Not loud but still deafening. It left a bitter taste in his mouth. He could envision a red liquid stealing towards the earth from the line that her nails left behind when it brushed the wall. He had heard this sound before. The thin line of hair on his back stood. Little beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

She was back.

Again.

After all this while, she was back for him.

"No," he muttered under his breath.

"Please do not be true," he prayed.

Even though he prayed, he knew that his source of fear was somewhere near, very close, preying on him, monitoring his every move, feasting on his fear. He could sense her snigger when he trembled in anticipation of danger.

"No, please don’t come near anymore," He begged. "What have I done to you?" he screamed. He was reduced to tears.

The screech came again, from an unknown direction.

"Don’t,…. don’t,…. don’t come any close. No, no, please," he begged. Despite his fervour begging and praying, the sound became more pronounced and more threatening each time.

Wait.

There was something else. His muscles tensed. He was alert, again, more cautious than before. He turned around sharply to understand what this new disturbance was.

Another sound.

He strained his ears to understand the nature of the second sound. What was it?

This one was different.

A voice.

He could hear another voice, a distant and muffled voice as if coming from infinity.

From where was the sound coming? For how long was it there? Though Ramesh could not care else about the answer to the latter question. His senses heightened. His breath became faster. He perceived the second sound as another danger as well. He was more scared than before.

Another trick by her?

Then he heard it again.

"Ramesh, Ramesh."

He recognized this voice.

It was Richa, his wife.

Ramesh ran towards the voice. He ran, turned left here and right there, stopped to breathe, and listened for her voice, and again ran in the trail of Richa's voice.

"Richa, Richa. Save me," he called out for her as quietly as his troubled mind could allow.

Ramesh ran, for a long time. His chest burnt for air. His muscles ached. Then he came to a halt. All his efforts were in vain. Ramesh looked around. He was lost.

Where was he exactly?

Nothing made sense. It was all grey. It looked like some narrow grey alley that extended forever. He was trapped. The walls stood on both sides. Ramesh looked beyond. The walls vanished into the grey horizon.

Ramesh became desperate. His hopes of escape were being eclipsed by the colours of his surroundings.

"Richa," Ramesh screamed. Ramesh risked it. He could not help it. He could not care about the other person.

Suddenly, another shade of emotion overshadowed everything. His heart sank. A small pain started emerging in the pits of his guts.

What if it was not Richa?

What if the other person was imitating Richa?

What if it was a trick?

What if the aim was to give him hope, lure him in, and then snatch all his hopes at the last moment?

Ramesh heard Richa's voice again. He listened intently.

Richa said something different this time. Ramesh picked up his ears again.

"Wake up. Wake up!"

"What? Wake up?"

Ramesh looked around again. His senses wrapped.

"Am I dreaming?"

Ramesh inspected his enclosures again. He felt a sigh of relief. The surroundings made no sense. The more he came to that realization, the more everything was enveloped in a white fog. But why was he not able to wake up then?

His reverie came to a halt. Ramesh fell to the present. The nails rubbed on the walls again. She was near.

She enjoys it so much, scaring him, torturing him, and then suddenly disappearing. As soon as he felt that the danger was over, as soon as he took a sigh of relief, she appeared again. The cycle continued. When Ramesh ran, he heard her menacing laugh coming from everywhere. The sky laughed with her.

The walls howled too.

"Wake up, Ramesh," Richa pleaded.

Richa shook her husband, trying to wake him up. Ramesh's face contorted with fear. He twisted in pain.

"I'm tired of this routine," he screamed in his dreams.

Yes, it had become a routine for him now. It has been going on for so long, for so many years. Ramesh could not remember when it first started. His breath became heavy. He started panting and shifting in his bed. Richa watched helplessly as he withered with pain.

Meanwhile, in his nightmare, Ramesh felt someone staring at him. Terror seized him again.

Had he been found out?

He looked around and saw a pair of black eyes staring back at him. The eyes followed him as he ran away from them. They seemed to see right through him. The eyes that could read all his thoughts and all his deepest secrets.

Ramesh knew to whom they belonged. The eyes were looking at him through the walls. In his gut, he felt the owner smirking with pleasure. The eyes gleamed. The corners of the eyes wrinkled.

Yes, she was smiling seeing him wriggle in pain.

She chuckled.

It echoed.

Ramesh was concentrating so hard on those pairs of eyes that he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings. The walls had started to move. They were somehow coming closer to him. Or perhaps the opposite was happening…..!!! The path was becoming narrower.

"This is a dream." Ramesh shrieked.

He was trapped in a nightmare concocted by her. The walls were indeed moving, inching closer towards him. Ramesh wasted no time and started running again. To where he was to go next, he did not know, but for sure away from this impending danger. He was trapped in a

maze in his nightmare. All he could do was run like a mouse in the wheel, for infinite, till he gave up or woke up. Ramesh looked back. A hand was reaching out for him. He was about to hold on to it thinking it was Richa's when he realized. The hand could belong to the other person as well. The hand inched closer.

The features became clearer. It was a dirty, crippled, wrinkled hand with long nails. And it was about to grab him when a blinding light came from above and he suddenly he was lying on his bed, wet from sweat. His wife was sitting beside him. The lines on her face told the story.

Ramesh opened his eyes. He lay in his bed panting and drenched in sweat. Ramesh frantically got up and looked around. He was alive. He was in the real world. He was not in the nightmare anymore. After he was content, he let out a deep breath. But Richa's brows did not go back to normal.

"Ramesh, did you have the nightmare again?" Richa laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, Richa…. you saved me," Ramesh wailed, grabbing her arms.

"She was there. It was so real," he paused for a breath. "Yes, yes, she was there, again. She almost caught me," Ramesh paused again, to recall something. "If you hadn’t called out my name, I might have been lost in the darkness forever."

"Don’t say so," Richa interjected. "It’s ok, now. Everything is fine. You are here with me."

************************

"This row is empty. There are some more books in the store. Bring it out and arrange them on this shelf," Richa inspected her bookstore.

"Ok," Ajay, the staff nodded.

Richa and Ramesh owned a bookstore in the heart of Kolkata. Vitta Artha housed a vast collection of international, national, and regional novels. Vitta Artha became a haven for book lovers when they started hosting literary festivals, an attempt to promote new writers. As their business expanded, the upper floor was modified to accommodate a cosy cafe.

"Are you feeling ok? Get some rest. You did not get proper sleep last night."

"I don't feel like being alone. I can still sense her around. I will stay here in the back office." Ramesh assured.

"Ok. Don’t stress yourself." Richa smiled and returned to check on the bookstore.

"Ajay isn’t back yet? The customers are looking for books. Where is he slacking?"

Richa never screamed at her employees or treated them any differently. But callousness at work and making her customers wait did not please her in the least.

"Esha, have you seen Ajay?"

"No." Esha, another staff shook her head.

Richa flinched.

"Fetch the books from the store," Richa ordered.

"Yes." Esha excused herself and walked towards the end of the bookstore.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream filled the room. Silence fell on the bookstore. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. Soon, murmurs filled the aisle of the bookstore. People gathered towards the source of the scream. Esha rushed out from the storeroom, clutching her arm. Her clothes on her right arm and shoulder were slashed, revealing three deep gashes beneath, one on the shoulder blade and two on the arm. Blood seeped from the wound and assembled in a small pool on the floor. Another stunned silence filled the bookstore. Some customers got scared and left the bookstore. Two of the employees rushed towards Esha.

Ramesh also heard the scream. He came out of the back office. Somewhere in his heart, he knew what the scream meant.

"What if the lady from my nightmare is here? What if my nightmare came true?" Ramesh's heart picked up the pace. His breath followed.

"Please don’t be true. Please, please." Ramesh unconsciously started his prayers as he cut through the commotion. And then, his world came to a standstill. Another noise filled the store.

Another screech.

Similar to what Ramesh has heard so many times in his nightmares. Nails gouged on the walls. Silence shrouded the bookstore for the third time.

"Ra………a………m……e……s…….h!" the lady of his nightmares called out.

"Did you miss me?" There was a mocking jeer in her voice.

That person was so close. There was only the closed door of the store between the nightmare and Ramesh. Beads of perspiration settled on his forehead and rolled down. His heart hammered in his chest, rising to a crescendo.

The door slowly opened. Each stir seemed like ages. Time stood still as everyone watched in anticipation. The door finally stood ajar. Darkness stretched beyond the door. She was nowhere to be seen. They were staring at the zero that had consumed Ramesh’s life. Then came the same spine-chilling, blood-curling cackle Ramesh had heard numerous times in his nightmares. The show had not ended. She was here! A hand slowly emerged from the darkness, just as steadily as the door had opened. The fingers connected the walls one by one. Little by little, the hand emerged from the dark, then her arm. And then, just like that, she finally appeared from the black of the corridors!

Slowly and steadily the lady of her nightmares finally made her appearance in his real world.

The woman of his nightmares!

A ragged, dirty old lady! Her lips were chapped. Dark baggage hung below her eyes, just like dirty clothes hung on her skeleton body. She wore nothing but a loose dirty T-shirt. The long unwashed hair coupled into bundles that hung loose on her back. Her dark loose skin bore deep burnt marks. The old lady stood barefoot in front of everyone, cackling like a child.

The tension in the bookstore finally snapped. Customers frantically left the store out of fear. Ramesh could see his fears materializing in front of his eyes. His energy left him. His legs became wobbly. He slumped on the floor.

Richa and everyone could now see what Ramesh dealt with in his nightmares. Richa had heard her description many times that it took her no time to understand who they were about to deal with.

But how powerful is she?

Does she have demonic powers?

Or is she an embodiment of evil?

Rich was the first to take action. "Leave the bookstore and run for your life," Richa screamed at everyone.

"And someone please call the police." Richa helped Arya to escape and pulled Ramesh with her. The sinister laughter filled the hall and slowly crept into their lives as they tried to escape.

"The nightmare is real. People know it now." Ramesh thought.