That Corner Room-4

Now finally to the end of the story....had some exams on between, hence the long gap...

Part-4

David snatched up the letter and began reading. It was not long, but it said a lot:

'There is a pistol under your bed. I noticed that your predicament was a bit too one-sided, hence I thought I'd give you a concession. Use it wisely.

Mr. D'

David frantically searched under the bed and his hands fell upon a cold, metallic object that he grabbed and pullet out. There was indeed a pistol. He gripped it tightly as he stood up and walked towards the two doors again. He looked at the clock again and noticed he had fifteen minutes more to decide what to do. For a brief moment he considered putting the barrel to his temple and pulling the trigger. He would rather die at his own hands then at those of the creatures in the right room. Hell, he didn't even KNOW what was in the other room, but the thought made his blood run cold.

He quickly put the barrel into his mouth and his finger hovered over the trigger. He could not bring himself to press it. He began sobbing as the barrel lay in his mouth, too helpless to do the necessary. He had just realized that killing yourself was much, much harder than people thought. He lowered the gun, his shoulders sagging. Then in a split-second, quick as a viper, he brought the gun to the mouth and pressed the trigger. The click sounded, but that was it; there was no flash of light, no momentary pain in David's head. The gun had not fired.

David who had gone bug-eyed, now took a moment to realize he was still alive. Puzzled, he took the gun out, observing it and pressed the trigger again. This time there was a huge report and a brilliant flash of light, as the gun fired. Again he tried, and again he fired.

He realized what had happened, and this time he put the gun to his mouth, confident he wouldn't die. He pressed the trigger, and as he expected it did not fire. Suicide was not an option for him, the gun was to be used on something else. He gripped the gun, pressing down in frustration and disgust. He started pacing the room again. Ten minutes left to decide. He thought of his time in both the rooms.

The first room was full of creatures that wanted nothing more than to kill him. He knew that at some point the bullets in his gun would run out and he would be overrun by them. There was no denying that. But at that point a thought struck him.

Damn it, at least he KNEW what was in the room. He had absolutely no clue what was in the other room, but he knew he had been much more afraid in the second room, because he had no idea where he was, how he could get out, and what was getting at him. At least in the first room, he knew which way was out. Then a thought rang clearly through his brain, and in that instant of clarity, he made his decision.

The fear of the unknown was and would always be much, much more than that of the known. You would always choose to fight that which you could see, but what do you do when you don't know what to do? The darkness, the death, the unknown...that was there fear truly lay. Everything else could be handled.

And without further hesitation, he turned the knob of the right door, entered and closed the door behind him. There was no going back now. At least here he would know what was happening and he would look his impending death in the eye, being fully aware when it would come.

At soon as he closed the door, the lights in the room turned on, revealing those same creatures. The wolf-like animal pounced at him, and David let loose a flurry of gunfire, that halted it in its tracks. Then came the zombie people, and by the time he had downed the fourth one of them, his gun ran dry. He threw it away with disgust and tried to take on the remaining four or five of them with his bare hands. But pretty soon, he was overpowered, by them and as their hands prodded all over his body as they held him, he shut his eyes in sorrow.

His whole life flashed by him. How he had been a small kid, playing around as his mother held his finger. How he had once been a promising college graduate, with a potentially bright future in front of him. How he had fallen into the wrong friends, had started smoking and drugs. How he had slowly but surely denounced his family, caused them pain. He silently vowed that if he could live his life again, he would do none of this, he would try to right his wrong. But of course, it was too late....

Or was it??

With a violent jerk, David felt the current scene being yanked out of his vision, and the next thing he knew, he was sitting on his bed in the room, sweating and panting, but unhurt and alive. For a few seconds he just looked about himself and then it hit him.

The whole thing had just been a dream!! Immediately he realized that it wasn't a dream, no. He had had a really bad trip because of the heroin. The vividness of the dream, the clarity with which he remembered his trip, awed David. He had never experienced anything like it and never again wanted to. He remembered the vow he'd made to himself in his last moments, and decided he wanted to stick to it.

It was morning and time to leave it all behind. He took a long, hot bath and packed his things. He felt like a new man, with a lease of life. He walked to the reception, and saw a look of fear and surprise flitting across Hari's features. Could he have been privy to what was happening inside David's mind? Maybe he had heard the noises David must have made during his trip, he didn't care.

'Sir, did you by any chance have any discomfort in there? Because..'

'Because you heard some scary sounds from my room last night didn't you? Well, you could say, I was having a real bad dream.'

'Well that too sir, but the thing is...the reason I was hesitant to give you the room was that, I have heard its occupants say that it's haunted. There's something in there they say, but they cannot explain further. No one has ever spent a silent night in there sir, they all have nightmares, and usually they come out looking worse than you do right now. I tried to stop you yesterday, but. To be honest, the room doesn't really any history of violence or sorrow for this to happen. But then that's only what the movies say right sir? In reality, why should there be a reason for any of this to happen? It is taking place, simply because it is and we must accept that. I beg of you not to tell anyone of this sir, we don't want any negative publicity.

David looked at him for a couple of seconds, wide-eyed and stunned. Then he smiled at Hari and said:

'Right you are my man, this will not go beyond me don't worry. Now its time I leave. However I was wondering if you knew where the nearest pharmacy was? I needed to buy some syringes...'

David took the directions from Hari and walked out of the Overlook. As he walked out the doorway, a lit cigarette now dangling between his lips, only one odd thought ran through his mind...

'Fate does indeed have a sense of humor!'

His laugh could probably be heard all over the numerous valleys that Mussorie was full of....

That Corner Room-3

PART-3

David tried to move, tried to make sense of the situation. He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down. He knew that if he did not act in the next two hours, he would indeed be dead, or worse. He got up and dusted himself off. He went to the wash basin and splashed some water across his face, in an attempt to clear his head. He went and stood in front of the two doors. They looked just as menacing as they had when he'd first seen them. A pulsating orange glow behind both of them, heat emanating from the gaps in the frame. He debated on which door to open first. He decided on the right.

Not pausing for the growing apprehension to immobilize him, he quickly snatched the doorknob and turned it. A part of him still hoped this door would be locked as well, and he would come out of this psychedelic dream. But his other part simultaneously observed how easily the door had opened. Surprisingly, the room within was dark and cold, but David knew that for the next few hours, his definition of 'strange' would undergo a drastic modification.

The room was silent as a tomb, and too dark to see through. David took a couple of tentative steps inside, looking back to make sure that the door was open. But his visitor had earlier said that only he would decide which door to close, and he was being true to his word. He tried to find the light switch, but it seemed like there was none. He made his way deeper into the room, while taking out his lighter out of his pocket. He slowly brought it up, and tried to get a light. All of a sudden he was aware of other forms within the room. Things were going bump in the dark, there was a low moan from somewhere in the room. His skin could feel the presence of other beings in the room.
Finally he got his light, and he looked up to find himself staring into a pair of cold, lifeless yellow eyes. The eyes had only anger in them, nothing else. He jumped back in fright and fell against the wall. That's when he noticed that the room had a window, but there was no moonlight filtering through. Because there were storm clouds gathering outside and there was thunder and lightning. The lightning flashed once, and in its brilliant brightness, the whole room was illuminated in all its terrifying glory, in front of David.

There were all manners of creatures in the room. The cold, yellow eyes belonged to a wolf-like creature, six feet tall and extremely muscular. It was baring its razor-sharp teeth at him and growling. There was a severed hog's head nailed to the opposite wall, bleeding all over it. But it was moving in a frenzied way, clomping its jaws down, desperate to get free, its eyes and its wrath focussed on David. There were piles of dead, decaying bodies in a corner that weren't look all that dead anymore as they started to get up and move towards him. Their entire countenance bore a hollowed look as they crawled towards him. Then the flash ended and the room was plunged once again in darkness.

David lay frozen for a second, then ran our of the room screaming as its inhabitants chased him. He just managed to beat them to the door and close it, hoping and praying that they wouldn't follow him out. They didn't. He stood there for a while; panting, sweating and trying hard not to lose his wits. So that was one room. He looked at his watch, it had been half an hour since his ordeal had begun. He stood up and started pacing the room, wondering what he would find in the other room. He had said that the very nature of fear were hidden in these rooms. David's mind was too clouded to think of what that meant, but he knew he did not want to go in there. However after fifteen minutes it was imminent he had to make a move on, if he wanted to come to a decision. So he reluctantly made his way to the other door and planted his palm on the doorknob.

Once again, the room was dark and cold and quiet. Was it just his imagination or was it darker here? It was as if the room was swallowing up light. He entered, ready this time for whatever there was in here. He looked into the inky depths of the room and received a jolt when he saw a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at him from those depths. There was a growling sound coming from it. Gulping, he stole a look a look at the open door, that all of a sudden looked too far away. He tried to get a light again, to see what he was pitted against this time. The lighter flickered, but then went out. He tried a few more times, but then realized, it wasn't the lighter, it was this room. An unnaturally cold and damp breeze blew across his hand, extinguishing the light every time. The fifth time he tried, an icy, clammy hand actually dug into his arm and pressed into it, drawing blood. David yelped into the dark and saw that those red eyes were now right in front of him, right next to him. He ran blindly into the vast room, losing his direction.

That was when he heard the low, deep moan from a corner. It sounded like the song of the dead, the lamentations of a soul long-resigned to an eternity of solitary misery. It was emotionless, it was lifeless, it sounded lost. A deep, scratchy sound. It made David's hair stand on end. It continued so for a minute and then it grew in volume. It turned into a scream, a tortured wail of agony. Shriller and shriller, it sounded like someone was being burnt alive. Just then, David's skin was invaded by an army of sensations, as if there were things crawling all over him. They pricked, they tickled, they made him feel impure all over. Something was pulling at his hair, he could no longer breathe comfortably. It was like the room was swallowing him. He stood up, and looked at the distant pinprick of light which was probably the door. He stumbled across to it, determined to ignore the grasp that was trying to pull him back. He reached it, and closed the door behind him.

He stood in one place for a while, getting himself mentally out of that room. Although he did not know what was in the room, he did know that it was no less scarier than the other one. He sat there wondering which room would give him a less terrifying and painful death. That was when he saw there was a note lying at the foot of his bed. It hadn't been there before, and it was signed Mr.D.

David snatched up the note and began reading...

That Corner Room-2

The first part was just used in setting everything up. Now, on with the real story!

PART-2

'Hello neighbor', the figure chuckled. The voice was cold, scratchy like metal grating upon metal, and gave David goosebumps on hearing it. It was devoid of emotion, and brimming with evil intonations. The hooded figure finally looked up and pushed back the hood, uncovering his face.

His handsome face was young, smooth and pale, unnaturally so. He had high cheekbones, a sharp chiseled jawline and a long aquiline nose. His lips were thin and the ghost of a malignant smile was playing upon them. His ears were inhumanly long and pointed. But it was mainly his eyes that gave him away. His eyes were crimson orange, and they flickered like the flames that burnt forever back in his domain. They gave him the impression of being an ethereal specter, one just as human and inhuman as any of us. And although he had said nothing after that, as he stood there smiling, David's soul cried in the hope that this was a dream and he wasn't actually seeing the Devil standing right in front of him.

'So how's it going David? Having good trips lately?' He spoke conversationally, as if he were a friend meeting David after a long time. When David still failed to say a word, he seemed annoyed and bent forward to give him a rap on the wrist.

'There. I am real, in case you are still harboring any doubts.' The part where he had touched was burning as if it were on fire, and at the same time, it was soothing like the touch of ice. He smiled knowingly at the look of bewilderment on David's face.

'Now let's get to what I came here to tell you. Well, contrary to what your folks believe, me and the Boss are pretty good buddies. And God isn't all of that benevolent and forgiving, come-hither-my-child kinda guy. Not really.' He was speaking in a casual, mocking, walking around and waving his hands; as if he was doing stand-up comedy.

'He sends me to get the people that really annoy him. People who fail to appreciate the gift he's bestowed upon them, who waste their lives and leave it being nothing more than a mockery of the enigmatic power of existence. This whole life-creation thing is pretty cool actually you know, even He admitted it the other day. But every so often come along the unworthy. That's where I come into the picture. He just points the finger and I do the rest. Now to be honest, he's been mighty pissed with you for some time now. With you wasting away your life in the pills, smokes and syringes and whatnot.'

'He'd almost passed judgement on you, but it seems your mother back home has been praying for your excuse-of-a-life. That sort of mellowed his anger a little, and he's sent me for a different purpose today. I'm here to just shake you up a little. Make you realize what you've been bartering away all these years. Trust me,' and here he smiled the most hellish smile David had ever seen,' this will be one night you will never forget.'

'So let me tell you what's going to happen now. You see those two doors in front of you?' He waited patiently till David nodded his head. 'There's uh...things behind each one of them. Things that might be injurious to you. Things that might scare the senses out of you. In fact, to put it in a single sentence, the very natures of fear hide behind each one of the doors. Its one in the night now. What I want you to do is to decide within the next two hours, in which of the rooms you will spend the rest of the night. You cannot come out once you decide.'

'However, if at the end of two hours I find you in this room,' and then his face went blank, devoid of emotion, his voice lowered to a growl and he raised his hands, with talons at the end of each finger,'then things will get very unpleasant for you.'

'Remember, two hours. And of course, I cannot guarantee that you will survive this night, I just said it was your test, I don't know the outcome. But know this; in spite of what your movies might say, the licence to kill lies only with me...all the best.'

These last words were followed by a thunderclap and a massive force pushed David off his bed and sent him sprawling onto the ground. When his head finally stopped spinning, he realized the gravity of the grave danger he was in. Something firmly told him this was not a dream. He rushed to the entry door, but it would not budge. The windows in the room had mysteriously disappeared. He was trapped, and his only way out was a gamble of his life. At was this truth that dawned upon David, and the full measure of the horror crashed upon him. He lay on the ground and starting shouting, the notes of despair and hopelessness ringing within its very soul...

That Corner Room-1

This story could be called a product of multiple what-ifs running in my mind. Inspired in part by stephen king, who, in my opinion can spin a bloody good yarn...yes, 1408. I've put in my opinion about the true nature of fear. However, i think its a pretty common belief, not just my own. Also its about how drugs could screw u up; all the themes that excite me, i've put em here. The only time i ever had as much fun writing a story was 'Metaphor's Game' (look back through the blog)...dark, dark! Hope u like it..

THAT CORNER ROOM

On a cold Mussorie evening, when the mist swirls in almost premeditated shapes and the wind whispers sinister messages in your ear, the last thing you want to do is end up in front of a motel as unwelcome as the Overhead. It's a seedy place, where the doors are rickety and the furniture musty. Tucked away in a remote corner of the beautiful hill town, the receptionist Hari makes no effort to correct the guests' opinion of the place. Serving with a perpetual sneer on his face, making sure that the people don't come here the next time around.

At was at the Overhead that David had to end up. After a day of trudging all over the town, it was too late by the time he realized he had to find a place to lay his head. So he followed hushed directions to the motel. Eyes avoiding his, voices low. It was as if there was there was something they were hiding from him.

But I ended up leaving myself no choice. I'll just have to take what i get, he thought to himself as he entered the foyer and dragged his luggage to the reception desk. Looking around, he wasn't particularly impressed with what he saw. Reaching up to the desk, he looked up to find that famous sneer plastered on Hari's face and shuddered inwardly.

'Good evening. I wanted a room for the night please.'

'I'm sorry sir, but all the rooms have been occupied tonight. It's a rare coincidence, but unfortunate.'

David was feeling the tremors coming and knew there wasn't much time left. He could not believe his luck. He sighed to control his anxiety and looked around. That's when he saw a lone key hanging in the rack behind Hari, all by itself.

'But there's a room key right behind that one. How about that one?'

Hari spun around, and when he turned back around, that sneer was replaced by a different look. It was concern and fear.

'Sir that is not for rent. For certain reasons, we do not allow guests to stay in there.'

'But I cannot stay outside for the night can I?' David replied, his voice rising a few notches.

'People do not stay in that room sir. Those who have, did not have a pleasant experience.

David grew sick of Hari's vague talk, and replied hotly, 'Look I'll pay you extra if you like, just stop wasting my time and give me the damn key!' Scared, Hari promptly placed the keys in his outstretched palm, at which David offered him a smile as fake as it was wide. He looked at the room number on the key.

'667...hmmm, the neighbor of the devil, baby' And so he walked away, laughing at his own joke, not noticing the look of terror that had now settled in Hari's eyes.

The room was the last one on the third floor, tucked away in the corner. The numbering system obviously didn't make sense. David had made up his opinion about the place long ago. But as he felt the urge growing within him, rattling his senses, he knew he had no choice. He reached 667 and opened the door, finding himself in a decent suite. One hall and two small bedrooms, all passably furnished. The yellow lights bathed it in a comfortable glow, and the cold wind glided in through the open windows, overlooking an endless cluster of trees. Nothing sinister, nothing to vindicate Hari's irrational fear. Time to get down to business. He could not afford to waste any more time.

David flung his backpack on the bed and took out his syringe, a needle and a spoon, along with a packet of powder. He put the white powder on the spoon, mixed it with water and held it over his lighter. The solution boiled and bubbled. He suctioned the liquid into the syringe, tapped it and without hesitation plunged it into his arm, sighing as he did so. All the tremors, and his fears melted in the oncoming wave of ecstasy and power. He felt himself being carried away in the flow and let himself free. He never even realized when he had lain on the bed; he was in a totally different place.

David awoke with a jerk, coming out of one of the worst nightmares he had had in a long time. They were becoming more frequent nowadays, but he remembered nothing of them; the drugs were showing their nasty side effects. He rubbed his head as he tried to get his bearings, tried to calm his racing heart. He looked around the room, taking a moment to remember where he was.

That's when he saw something that made his heartbeat skyrocket again. There were two doors where there had been done. There was a reddish-brown glow behind each one of them, as if the room within were on fire. And he saw a hooded figure standing in front of his bed, head held low, eyes indistinguishable. Its being emanated evil and inspired pure, unadulterated fear. For a whole half minute, it was as if time had frozen. The figure stood in the exact same position, no motion, no sound. And David inched closer and closer to losing his grip on reality. Just as he reached what he believed was his tipping point, at the very edge of reason, the figure finally spoke. And then hell finally broke upon David...