Unraveling the Darkness
By Palvi Sharma
Copyright 2012 Palvi Sharma
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or dead or places, events or locales is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
The Challenge
A Granted Wish
Sweet Endings
Seconds
A Light in the Dark
The Drama
Amuses
The Party
Forgetting to Remember
Her First Dance
The Comeback
Falling Illusions
Hidden
Dreams for Tomorrow
Truth or Dare
The Soldier
The Challenge
It was a hot Tuesday morning. We had started on Sunday. Just two days left now.
We had to spend five days in the woods and if we came out alive, we would have five million each. I needed the money badly, and so did my other friends- Lucian and Ruth.
“Two more days. “I reminded my friends.
“As long as we aren’t eaten by lions.” Ruth replied quietly.
“As soon as I get that five million, I’ll buy Margaret a big house and we’ll have twenty kids.” Lucian said.
Ruth snickered and patted him on the back. I looked back at my friends and understood what they were doing. It was better to think about the prize rather than the journey ahead of us. I was happy for Lucian. He and Margaret had been neighbors and childhood sweethearts. But Margaret’s father had never approved of their relationship because of Lucian’s financial status.
“I shall invest my five million in a factory.” Ruth said. “What about you Phil?”
I looked at my friends as they waited for my answer. I tapped my walking stick on a rock and stepped forward. I needed the money to survive and that was all they needed to know.
At midday, we stopped and took a swig from our water canteens. It was horrible, living in the woods, evading the ferocious wildlife and being careful not to step on poisonous plants that dotted the area.
I thought back to what General Reginald had said. On a quiet evening, over drinks, a wager had been made as the General had narrated a horrific tale that had taken place in these very woods. We had taken turns scoffing at the legend until General Reginald had leaned forward and challenged us to spend five nights in the woods.
“Five million each.” He said, sipping from his glass. “A million for each night spent in the woods.”
“Where will you get the money from?” Ruth had asked in a drunken stupor.
“I have a lot of property in my name.” The General had replied imperturbably.
I had watched this happen, unable to decline the offer as my friends jumped in at the chance to win some easy money. They had looked at me then and I was unable to back out.
Now glancing at our torn clothes and the cuts and bruises on our skin, I wished I had shown the nerve to speak out then. This wasn’t a good idea.
Suddenly, we heard a noise.
“What was that?” Lucian asked.
“It may be a woodcutter whistling.” Ruth replied quickly.
I started to feel nervous and wiped my palms on my dirty shirt. I watched as Ruth pushed the leaves away and walked forward. We followed him with trepidation and I prayed that it wasn’t a lion.
“I think I see something.” Ruth said and Lucian and I exchanged anxious glances.
“What?” I asked in a shaky voice.
“Something bad will happen in the woods. Something strange and unexplainable. Few have survived to tell of their tales.” The General had warned us.
I swallowed as Ruth moved forward to inspect. I glanced at Lucian and saw him holding on tight to the strap of a bag that held our food.
Ruth came back several minutes later with a confused look on his face. “I was pretty sure I saw something.”
“Probably your imagination.” I said coolly. “Come on, let’s go forward. We have more land to cover today.”
We walked on until sundown, and even though I was glad that I had managed to put my friend’s fears at rest, I couldn’t shake a sinking feeling in my stomach. My fear had turned my insides cold and my skin crawled with goose bumps. I was relieved when we had to set up camp but I also felt nervous at having to stop at an unknown place and who knew what dangers lay ahead on our path?
After a quick dinner of bread and soup, we lay down, each lost in our own thoughts.
“You asleep Phil?” Lucian asked.
I was turned away from him and still awake, yet I chose to remain silent for fear that Lucian would start to talk about what the General had told us. Five feet away from where I lay, I could hear Ruth snoring.
As time passed, I could hear Lucian breathing heavily in his sleep. I glanced at him and wondered if he was having a nightmare. There was no sound to be heard and even as it gave me immense relief that no wildlife would bother us, I wondered why I couldn’t hear even the hoot of an owl. Surely, there must be some nocturnal animal scampering somewhere.
When dawn broke, I rose to my feet and estimated that I had slept a mere two hours. But it was finally time to get away from here. We would move forward today and towards the end of the forest. I went over to the fireplace and poured water into a pot for tea.
While the water boiled, I took out the map and a pencil. Marking an X at the position we currently were, I wearily realized that it was still quite some time before we would reach towards the end of the woods where the General would be waiting with our prize. Just then I heard a gasp and the pencil slipped from my fingers.
“Are you alright?” I asked Lucian.
Lucian looked pale and sweat formed on his brow. He was breathing roughly and had a hand on his chest.
“It was the most terrifying nightmare I ever had.”
I turned away hoping that Lucian wouldn’t narrate it to me. I really didn’t want to know what it had been about.
“Wake Ruth up.” I told Lucian and with a hand cloth, removed the pot from the fire. “I suppose we could have a fruit instead of bread for breakfast today.”
Lucian rose to his feet and I could see his hands still trembling. As I removed an apple from my satchel, I heard a loud gasp.
“Phil!” Lucian cried and my heart turned to ice. “Ruth isn’t waking up.”
The apple dropped from my hands and I looked over to where Ruth lay. There was a sheet covering his body completely and Lucian looked ill, standing by his feet.
As I inched closer, Lucian started to move away. “That’s not how he sleeps.” he whispered. “He never covers his head like this.”
I placed a tentative hand on the sheet and gently pulled the sheet away from his head.
“Oh no! Oh no!” Lucian yelped.
I fell down on my knees and pushed myself away. The sight before me made me scream in terror. Ruth’s head had been severed from his body. I kept looking at his face that was twisted in a horrific manner.
“Who did this to him?” Lucian screamed.
I willed myself to look away, but couldn’t. There were no footprints around except for ours. No blood on the mud or even a weapon. “It’s not who, but what killed him.” I replied quietly.
Lucian started to weep uncontrollably and that’s when I noticed a mark on Ruth’s forehead. With my heart thudding in my ears, I crept closer and saw a handprint etched on his forehead.
The hand couldn’t possibly belong to a human, I concluded. The fingers were too long and it appeared as if the fingers may have tiny horns on them based on the tiny puncture wounds on Ruth’s forehead.
I got up quickly and pulled Lucian away. “We have to go.”
“We can’t lea
ve him here!” Lucian cried.
The trees behind us shook and a twig snapped. That was all we needed to get our feet moving. I managed to grab the food bag as we ran and it was not until later that I wished I had picked up our first aid kit too. We were scratched all over and Lucian had sprained his elbow when he had fallen down.
When the sun had set, I set up a fire and as the water boiled, I placed an arm around his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”
“If we get out of this, I’m coming back and we will give Ruth a proper burial.”
I nodded and handed him a biscuit. Lucian took it quietly but didn’t eat it. I took a bite of my biscuit and suddenly felt my stomach churn. I ran towards a tree and threw up. As my nausea passed, I clutched a branch tight. I wanted to cry, scream and hit something. Ruth had been my best friend and something unknown had killed him. He was now lying alone somewhere as food for scavengers. I felt my nausea returning when Lucian walked over and handed me some water.
“We should get some rest now.” he said.
“We have to take turns keeping watch.” I said in between gasps.
“I’ll keep the first.” Lucian said.
I didn’t argue with him and lay down on the sheet. “We will get out, you know.” I said. “You’ll see Margaret soon.”
Lucian threw a twig into the fire and said nothing, but his bloodshot eyes only spoke of fear.
I closed my eyes and dreamt about getting back home, when I felt a hand on my shoulder “Phil.” I heard Lucian whisper.
“What?” I whispered back, my mind still groggy.
“I think I hear something.”
I got up and pinned my ears, but I couldn’t even hear the wind.
Suddenly Lucian cried. “Margaret!”
I turned all around me but saw no one. “What? Where?”
“It’s Margaret!” Lucian said jumping to his feet.
That was when I saw her. Looking like an angel in a soft blue dress stood Lucian’s fiancée.
“I found you!” she cried happily.
“Margaret!” Lucian said taking her into his arms.
“Don’t ever leave me alone.” She said.
“I promise, I won’t!” Lucian replied.
I smiled and stepped away. They obviously needed their privacy. I removed the map from my pocket and found that we were almost through the woods. I turned back to see Margaret and Lucian chatting happily.
I felt relieved seeing them both together and I ignored the nagging thought in my mind that wouldn’t be convinced.
How had she found us? How could she have been here?
I shook those thoughts away and picked up the bag and decided to move further away from them. I was being ridiculous. We had lost a friend, but that was over now. I traced my hand on the bag and felt for the bulge of the small radio Ruth had packed.
I removed it and switched it on, listening for a channel that would provide a little respite to our aching hearts and body. Instantly, I heard the most angelic voice. I stopped, and placed the radio closer to my ear. I frowned when I couldn’t remember who the singer was. She was familiar, yet...
A smile lit up my face then. It was Margaret. Lucian had made sure we had heard every song she had sung on the radio. I looked over to the lovebirds and saw them walking arm in arm.
I closed my eyes and allowed myself to enjoy the song. Margaret truly had a wonderful voice.
“Well folks, I hope you enjoyed the song.” The man on the radio said. “This is live with Margaret Chillson. So Margaret, are you writing any more songs?”
“Oh Robert, you have been such a darling this evening.” Margaret said and my heart jumped. It couldn’t be! This had to be pre-recorded. Margaret was right here!
“I’m working on another one for my fiancé Lucian.” Margaret chirped. “But that will only come out next week when I finally see him.”
“And where is your fiancé?” Robert asked her.
“He’s on a mission somewhere. But we promised to meet at the harbor whenever he comes back. That will be when I sing my latest song.”
I dropped the radio and it broke with a loud crack. I ran then, as fast as I could.
“Lucian!” I screamed.
Just then I spotted them both cuddling. Lucian had his eyes closed, so he couldn’t see what was happening. I paused, too scared to move as I watched Margaret transforming into a metallic man who held an axe in his hand.
“No!” I shrieked, but it was too late. In a flash, the metallic man had struck down on Lucian’s forehead.
Lucian gave a bloodcurdling scream, before he went limp. But the man was still not done with him. His fingers suddenly grew knives and he ripped out Lucian’s head.
I screamed again, but this time I found my feet moving. I ran as far and as fast as I could. When I blinked, I suddenly found myself elsewhere.
I looked all around me and saw that I was at a farm and it was morning. A lone farmer worked on the other side of the field and I walked over to him.
“Could you help me?” I asked.
The farmer, with his greying hair and tired eyes looked at me and smiled. He removed an apple from his pocket and offered it to me.
I took it quietly, wondering if this was a dream or if I had died. I started to take a bite when I noticed blood spattered on the bushes.
“What is that?” I asked and turned around to see no one. The farmer had disappeared.
I walked over to the bushes and pushed them aside.
A sob escaped my throat when I saw myself lying dead. My throat was ripped off and there was a strange marking on my forehead. Just then, I turned around to see the farmer behind me with his scythe aiming towards my throat.
“No!” I screamed and pushed past him, but not before he had managed to scratch my palm with it. Blood oozed from my hand and the pain spurted to my arm. I stopped momentarily to catch my breath when the metallic man reappeared, his axe raised above his head.
I looked for something to throw at him and saw that I was still clutching the apple the farmer had given me. But as I raised it, the apple transformed into a rat and I threw it towards the monsters that were chasing me.
I ran then. For how long and how far, I couldn’t remember. All I could see was General Reginald, standing near the road by his car.
I collapsed at his feet and closed my eyes. My lungs burnt, my feet hurt and I had lost one of my shoes, but I wasn’t dead.
“You made it out.” The General said after a few minutes. “And your friends?”
“Dead. Both of them.” I gasped, still with my eyes closed.
The General helped me to my feet, his face grim and his eyes silent. He helped me into his car and offered me water from his bottle.
“You just won fifteen million.” He replied solemnly. I looked at him and before I realized what I was doing, I punched him.
And now five years later, here I am back at the entrance of the dreadful woods. I can still hear the cries of my friends, but I know they’re not real. Two years ago, four scientists entered the forest and the one that survived deduced that toxic gases may have been the result of his hallucinations.
I didn’t reply to that. I knew what I had seen, but it seemed safer somehow that it had just been mirages.
Margaret and I had married. She had become pregnant with Lucian’s child and I owed my friend that much. The factory Ruth had dreamed of had become a reality too. I had money, a beautiful wife, remarkable children, but my friends were still lost in the dreaded woods.
I leaned on my car and crossed my arms. It was time to go home to Margaret now. I started to turn around when a glare blinded me. I turned back and spotted metal gleaming near the trees.
I walked towards it and knelt down, pushing the mud away to reveal an axe. My fingers touched the blade and saw blood still drying on it. It felt strange in my hand and yet so familiar.
I felt a memory coming to me, about running. I had been running all this time, but what I now remembered was th
at there had been an axe in my hands all that time.
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A Granted Wish
And now it had started to rain. Thunder boomed in echoes and when lightning struck after a few minutes, the sky seemed to rip apart, drenching them in the fierce torrents. It had been three days, Jane noted. Her boyfriend Ray had marched her on rough terrains, made her endure the harsh weather and when she had just begun wondering if perhaps he was a tyrant, he had gently applied salve on her wounds when she had tumbled on a rocky path.
"How much longer?" she gasped and put her hands on her hips. Ray smiled ruefully and then turned towards the troll who had been guiding them on this trek. Jane pushed away her wet bangs from her forehead and studied the two inch troll as he conversed with Ray. His bright yellow shock hair seemed to be water-proofed for the rain, and his skin glistened like tiny pearls even in the dark. His large round eyes however, were dark and grim, and a shudder ran through her when he grinned at her. She could only think one thought then- What the hell had they been thinking?
"Well?" she asked impatiently."
The cave is a few feet away." Ray replied.
"It better be worth it."
Ray came over to her and spoke in a low voice. "A cave full of hidden treasure IS going to be worth it. The troll has granted me my wish. He wouldn't lie." Jane nodded hastily and they continued on their path, dodging falling rocks and hunter traps while Jane remembered how Ray had managed to save the Troll from a falling branch. The troll had looked so frightened and had stared at him with his wide eyes. After chatting with him and managing to soothe his nerves, he had uttered a single sentence.
"I'll grant you one wish."
If it were up to her, she would have asked for Ray to always be with her and for them to get married soon and have kids, but the wish had been granted to Ray and he had asked for the one thing that would make him truly happy- a chamber full of treasure. They walked for several minutes and finally came to an opening in the side of the mountains.
"In here." Ray said without looking at her.
"Is it...safe?" Jane asked, but Ray was fixated on the entrance of the cave. He moved towards it in a trance and quickly disappeared into the darkness. Jane licked her lips and looked down at the troll.
"Is he going to be okay? It's not a trap, right?" The troll turned to consider her, his eyes not menacing but thoughtful. He wrinkled his nose and turned away. "Ray!" Jane called. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah!" Ray replied back. "There's gold and diamonds everywhere. Come on in and help me pick them up." Jane bit her lip and looked at the Troll who still hadn't moved. She took a hesitant step forward and took a deep breath.
"Shine the light near the entrance!"
Ray came towards her, an excited look on his face. "We're going to be so rich!" he said and hugged her. "Now, I have everything!" Jane smiled even though she couldn't help being annoyed that Ray hadn't thought of her. Were these riches