Scare Diaries 1.1: The Night Out

A Cosmopolitan poster lay in front of us, as we gawked at the blonde model with wide eyes. She had a snake around her and she winked at us through the gloss. We winked back.

I was 14 then. And my cousin brother, of a year younger, had come to my home for the weekends. It was a routine thing back then. Sometimes I went to his place. Sometimes he did the same. On this occasion, he was there after a period of two months. My family shifted into a new house, leaving our old home after years. The old home had tons of memories attached to it. The newer one was working on making them.

The flat was basically a 2 BHK home, part of a new apartment that was in a secluded part of the area, with the hall in the middle and the bedrooms split on either side. My own room was my new den and I and my brother were using the seclusion to the fullest.

He brought an old cosmopolitan from one of his friends and that was quite something. We skimmed pages after pages in awe and amazement; puberty doing its part.

After we were done browsing, we went on to play an hour of Super Contra and Tennis. After noises of my mom from the bedroom reached our ears, we switched off the console in a rushed hurry and jumped to our beds. The lights switched got switched off dramatically. It was 1 am.

But being what we were, we didn’t sleep. We broke off into a jig of shallow discussions which consisted of only girls and a comic book thrown in between every now and then. It was safe to say that we reached an all-time low that day. We learned new things about the forbidden part of the human lives in extensive details.

We were on with it in with our hushed tones discussing in great lengths the details of the human anatomy. And just abruptly, my brother stopped and went wide eyed of a different kind. In the very next moment I did too.

From the hall outside, we heard sniffs; an act of crying; restrained. More particularly, it was a woman’s cry. And she did not stop the sorrowful expression of grief. Our neck hair went into absurd angles. It was not a loud wail and that was the worst part. It was a controlled bursting of tears.

We grew even stiffer, as we heard the woman pacing slowly up and down the hall. They were proper soft footsteps and while she paced, she continued the gloomy sobbing. The world seemed distraught as her sniffs drowned us in confusion.

My brother elbowed me and spoke in furious whispers.

"Bro! Kakima! She woke up and she heard everything!”

I looked at him in disdain. I knew my Mom. If she heard what we were speaking about, she wouldn’t take a stroll and cry out. She would come inside the room, switch on the lights and furiousity would follow in ample amounts.

I gulped stupidly.

"We should go and check." I suggested.

"I am not going to face her. My image has been tarnished for life in front of her."

Little punk. I had to live there forever, he skipped that part.

I looked at him with all the anger I could muster and went outside, cautiously placing my feet so as to make no sound. He cheered me on, grinning even.

I went outside into the hall. Apart from the things that are always there, there was no one and nothing else. The chair seemed settled on its own and the curtains waved themselves gracefully. A shot of current ran up my spine and the body went into chills. I tried to calm myself down, but a steady gush of sweat was drowning me in. I hurriedly walked towards my parent’s room to check on them.

They were sleeping like no swallow broke a sound. I went nearer to check on my mom specifically and peace never had a better description. I looked around the room and braced myself for incoming attacks and rushed to my room and locked it from the inside.

When I went inside all I saw was a cousin fast asleep like a sloth. In those few seconds that I was outside, my cousin collapsed into a deep sleep like I have never seen him do before. I tried waking him up but he stayed put. In despair and with sweats of a pig, I crept under a thick blanket to protect me from the evils outside, curling my legs to protect it from being caught from any arm that might come up from the insides of my bed.

It took me hours or maybe minutes to sleep but then I did fall asleep and the next day was behavior as usual. I asked my brother the reason why he left me stranded. He was nonchalant and said he was sleepy. When I discussed animatedly regarding the sniffs, he acted like nothing happened. The story got lost and I was the only keeper.

Times have moved on and we have changed the place and the memories of my cousin have been wiped off completely, sadly. The subtle terror of that night just didn’t tick him. Or perhaps the ghost of that woman took shelter in my brother's body and is playing tricks since then. Let’s just pretend, the last line was not read.