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....
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