How do you feel, when you come to know that you are being haunted? That the dream you saw last night was real? That you and your friends are in great problem? What can you do to help your friends?

  “A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”
                                                                    William Shakespeare
     
                                                   
                                                                       Part 3
                                                  Encounter with her in the real world

I remember, in our second year of graduation, we (Amrita, Rushali, Kiran & myself) promised each other that "no matter what ever happens, we four are always going to stand beside each other in good and bad times." Then, we didn't know that today was the time for us to make our promises come true and face the unnatural.

It was a cold Saturday morning and I woke at around 10 with the hangover of the last night's dream. My mind was busy questioning things. Was it real? Is she a spirit? Did she really come along with us? Is she still here? Should I speak about it to my friends? Oh God! What should I do? Why is this happening to us? Blowing off all the stupid thoughts out of my mind, I tried to notice the interiors of the beautiful room. I must say Rushali's guest house was beautifully designed and was damn spacious. Rushali belonged from a rich family and the guest house was just 2 minutes away from her bungalow, but still she chose to stay with us because her parents were out for a business trip. I stepped out of the bed and stood near the window. Soon, I was captivated by the alienness of the place as it was so green, so calm and so quiet out here. The air smelled so fresh, pure and tasty. Suddenly, I heard Kiran's voice and she was sounding upset which was not at all a good sign. Amrita woke up to the noice and we ran into the next room to examine, what has made Kiran so upset that she was literary screaming?

We reached her room within a second, and what my eyes saw next was questionable.I caught Amrita at the right moment, as she was about to faint. As soon as Kiran saw us, she came running in our direction and started crying in my arms. Someone had to act as a strong person, so I some how collected my strenght to face the real as there, on the floor, lay my friend Rushali in an unconscious state with stains of blood on her dress and hands. Beside her, was a black dead crow, beheahed and drenched in blood. The scene was so scary that it took some time for me to swallow the fact. The crow lay down there lifeless with stiff claws. I wanted to puke at the site but somehow controlled myself and sat beside Rushali,  investigating her present condition. I tried to wake her up but it was not successful enough. In the meanwhile, I asked Kiran to call Ramu who was the caretaker of the guest house. He helped me to shift Rushali from the floor to the bed. I said him to ask the other servants to clean the room and call the doctor. Rushali's family doctor was there within half an hour. He examined Rushali, and gave an injection which would bring her back to  her senses within sometime. He told us that there was nothing to worry about and that Rushali is fine, just she was in a bit shock. It was around 2, when Rushali came back in her senses. "Rushali what was it? Why did you faint and how you got all this blood on yourself," I asked her. She simply said that, she dont even remember a thing about the incident. Looking at her mental state, we did not force her further and started to talk on some other topic so as to cheer her mood. I could feel something different in her but could not exactly figure it out. She quickly jumped off the bed and announced that, we were going out to visit "Pine Forest". I asked her to take some rest but it was useless, as she assured us that she was totally fine and ready to rock. But actually, we were not in the mood to go out after the morning incident but could not say "NO" to Rushali's brilliant smiling face. We started for Pine forest at 4 and reached there within half an hour. For our safety reasons, Ramu had also accompanied us in the other car. It was excessively cold, but I was some what excited to see the famous place. The ground was wet and slippery. We were busy making fun of each other as it was a bit difficult to walk straight without slipping or falling down. The canopy of tall Pine trees was a pleasure to eyes. After walking for around 10 minutes, we finally reached the lake which was surrounded by the forest. I could hear the birds sing somewhere far away. I was totally memerized by the beauty of the place. We went closer to lake so as to click some memorable pictures which, we could cherish in the future. I was busy talking and blabbering something nonsensical when something horrible caught my attention. What the hell? I saw Rushali and quickly stared back into the water. Crap! How can this happen? To confirm, I again repeated my action, but there was no change. The ghost from the last night's dream was there in front of me, she was Rushali's reflection in the water. I slightly flinched as could feel all the emotions from the last night's dream flooding into my veins. I repeated the action again, but still no change. I knew Rushali but I hardly knew her reflection. The unknown was right there. Her face slowly turned towards me, with that hideous smile on her face. My body rejected to the stimulation of my brain cells and I stood right there looking into the water. Like the last night's dream, today also I could not do anything in the real world. I could see her more clearly today. She looked scary, more horrifying, more horrendous. Her features were enough horrid to cause heart attack, and her eyes were filled with anguish and anger. Her hideous smile was conveying some kind of message that indicated "Game on!" She winked at me and in a second Rushali's real reflection reappeared. I dont know what happened next. When i woke up, I found myself at the same place where I was in the previous night.

                                                                              Part-4


                                                                            The Unbelievable