The Unforgiven Sins
Short Horror Stories in English
Delhi to Mumbai is a long journey by train. Ramesh, who had a good knack of time had brought a dozen of novels in his bag to polish off along the way.
Though, he visited Delhi often for official purpose, three hour long meeting at the headquarter had worn him out.
He had left in the morning. The train had only crossed one fourth of the route by the time the Sun began to sink below the horizon. Someone switched the tubelights in the coach which were barely luminous.
Ramesh was trying to read through the novel when his gaze fell upon a forlorn boy cowering in the opposite berth. He was wearing a rustic pair of mismatched T-Shirt and half pants. With thin frame and grungy hair, the teenager was sobbing with his head resting in his lap.
Ramesh looked around the boy. There were no belongings. What had happened to him? Had he lost his luggage? Or has his guardian missed the train? He should help him.
Ramesh called for the boy, “hey little chap! Why are you crying?”
The boy didn’t respond. This time, Ramesh came towards his seat and sat next to him. Caressing his head gently, he asked him the problem once more. But the boy now only started wining in guttural roars.
Ramesh tried further, “if you tell me, I can help you dear.”
This time, the boy stopped crying while his head was still buried in the legs. The noise of the train became audible again which was suppressed under his sobs few minutes ago. After a while, the boy lifted his face and turned towards Ramesh in a mechanical way.
The wheatish face was oddly pale and dull. The eyes were swollen and bagged by dark circles. His lips were chipped. And a smell like that of rotten meat exuded from him.
With strange groggy eyes, he kept staring at Ramesh without uttering a word or a tinge of expression on his rugged face. Ramesh was mum with fear and disgust but waited for an answer.
The boy proceeded in a voice as coarse as his appearance, “I have left my home.”
Ramesh was overwhelmed with shock. He was familiar with cases of boys running from home to chase their dreams in a big city like Mumbai. But never did he know that he would ever have to deal with one.
He wanted to help the boy by convincing him to return to his place. But all it required was little patience. He asked the boy to come over to his berth, offered him food and probed him to tell his story further.
The boy clearly denied any interest in eating but after a brief spell of silence, he said
“I completed my bachelors second year. For my poor family with two sisters, it was a tough job for my parents to arrange my study fees. To pay their debts, I started some odd jobs along with studies. Responsibilities don’t let you live on your terms. I was torn between studies and fetching money for family at the same time. My life would continue without any meaning if one day, my friend had not taken me to a small theatre club near my college.
A story inspired from ‘Macbeth” by Shakespeare was played out on stage. I was fascinated to see how an actor can make any fictitious character alive just with perfect momentum of his expressions and dialogues.”
“Macbeth…The story of three witches? I have read that novel” Ramesh mumbled.
“The three witches help Macbeth along the path of gaining the throne but their guidance in turn leads to his destruction.” The boy concluded. “I wanted to do acting since childhood. And I got the first opportunity when they announced that an audition for their next show would be held in our college. I was selected outright and got only a one-minute role. But the clitch opened a conduit of talent for me. My roles improved, so did my earnings. I was falling in love with my new job. One day, the club organizers shortlisted me for film auditions to be held in Mumbai. That day, I had to bring it all under my parents’ nose, hoping they would lend support. But they thrashed and warned me to stay away from the theatre.”
“When is your audition?”
“Next week.”
“Do you know anyone in Mumbai?
The boy didn’t respond.
Ramesh empathized with him. If he sent the boy back home, his Parents would definitely make it miserable for a talented boy like him. His life would be doomed.
“What’s your name?” Ramesh asked him after a brief spell of thought.
“Surya”.
“Surya!” Ramesh continued, “I stay in a PG in Mumbai. You can stay with me until you find some work.”
The boy responded with a delightful grin.
Night took over and they had countless topics to discuss. Since Ramesh knew nothing much about Surya or his talent, he didn’t want to jump to any conclusion about his decision. Knowing well how difficult would it be for a poor boy to survive without a single penny in a suburb like Mumbai, he was delighted to be able to serve as support system for him.
As they reached Mumbai the next morning, Ramesh picked up his car parked at the railway station and headed towards his apartment with the new companion.
He opened the lock and showed his one-room apartment to Surya whose expressions were as dead as before and the face even paler than last day.
Ramesh offered him some of his T-shirts, trousers and other essentials, asking him to feel at ease.
After a short nap, the two of them were prepared to go on their individual chores.
Ramesh had to go to office on half day and Surya had to search for temporary jobs for his living. Ramesh once again showing a sign of generosity, offered Surya to drop him.
But his afternoon shift at office meant for Surya to wait for another couple of hours. So Surya left on his own.
Ramesh too left for office later. After a regular day at work, he came back during the night on his routine time. The sight of his courtyard shocked him…
Few empty bottles of beer lied haphazardly near the main gate of his apartment. ‘Might be a drunkard.’ He thought to himself and walked along the pathway. But he was bewildered to find the number increasing uptil his door… tens, fifties, hundreds. Not even a group of chronic drunkards could drink such copious amount. He unlocked the door and entered his room.
Ramesh was wondering where did the bottles come from? Could be a conspiracy of a lunatic neighbor. After changing his clothes and winding up important calls, he swooshed the door open to inquire the neighbors about the culprit. But there was no bottle any longer. Maybe street cleaner had taken them away. The road was deserted and dark in the night. Barking sounds of the dogs came from long distance. He shut the door and slumped in his chair. Before he could forget the bottle mystery, another worry caught him. Surya had not arrived yet. If he doesn’t come back, what would he tell his parents? As it kept getting late, he bemoaned his decision of letting Surya be on his own in this new city.
At 12, he heard a faint knock on the door. He rushed towards the door, expecting Surya. But, there was no one except the growling wind which sang an eerie in his ears.
Closing the door, he went back to his room. But what he saw made his blood run cold. Surya was sleeping in the bed. How? There was no one outside before. How did Surya enter the room? Ramesh could only have a fitful sleep during that night.
A sharp clinking sound of glass rapped his ears. He thought it was a dream, but the reverberation kept getting louder than his sleep could withstand. He got off the bed. The sound died instantly.
It was morning. He turned to his left to find Surya still asleep. He recalled last night’s incident and thought of asking Surya about it as soon as he wakes up.
Ramesh walked towards the washroom. This time, what he witnessed made him jump out of his skin. His eyes remained wide open for seconds as he saw what lied before him. The whole of area was full of cigarette smoke. Through thick white rings of smoke, he saw brown liquor in his bath tub filled to the brim. The liquid sloshed to and fro and spilled whenever it hit the edges, as if someone had just popped out of the tub.
The choking smell of cigarette and liquor was wafting from the bathroom. The smoke started to accumulate around Ramesh’s head, while the spilled beer slowly streamed towards his feet, making a pool around it.
Ramesh screamed at the top of his voice and ran towards his room. He saw Surya rubbing his eyes having woken up to his scream. Ramesh narrated the entire episode, rendering Surya laugh at him.
“Don’t you believe me? Come with me.” Ramesh screamed in agony and took him to the bathroom.
He was nonplussed. His blood froze and his head reeled. There was not a trace of smoke or alcohol. Everything was normal. Ramesh fidgeted in fear, in deep melancholy asking himself if he was hallucinating.
During breakfast, Ramesh noticed the stench of rotten meat still coming from Surya. His face was getting paler and weaker during the course of time. He asked the question that kept mulling him all night. “How did you enter the room while you were not there at the door?” Surya crinkled his brow and looked grimly at Ramesh for a brief spell. In an absolute nondescript tone of voice, he said “Sir, Is everything okay? I was standing right before you but you were still looking around. I thought you might be expecting someone else. It was quite strange. I anyway entered the room and went to sleep. I am sorry but I was very tired.”
The day went on as usual. Surya had to leave early. He told Ramesh about his getting a cleaning job in a nearby restaurant. Having readied for office, Ramesh headed towards his car. But this time what he saw could not be less than his illusion. The music player of his locked car was sending a deafening music with frequently changing tracks. Inside the car were sealed bottles of beer in the front seat, in the back seat, on the car floor, everywhere. And streams of smoke were emanating from between the bottles, slowly filling the whole car. He was transfixed at the episode, blinking his eyes to rely on his senses.
He called for the security. There was no one in the parking. He ran towards the courtyard. A guard came up and followed Ramesh to the parking. But the same thing happened as before. His car was simply standing as any ordinary car. No music, No beer, No smoke.
The guard shrugged his shoulders leaving a perplexed Ramesh behind.
Was everything he had witnessed during the last two days entirely an imagination? He was petrified. He could not sleep and eat properly. His office work was hampered. He lost all concentration. And for the worse part of it, things took on a more grotesque form.
Next day, Ramesh was driving home from work. His car was inching through the honking vehicles under the dark shield of evening. The road became freer after a certain distance allowing him to pace up. His engine sprang up in wild roar when he hit the accelerator. His car was now gliding over the road which was wide and plain. In the spooky darkness, the headlights of his car were the only source of light upto a long stretch. Ramesh was confused by the absence of other vehicles on the otherwise busy road. The daisy chain of his thoughts broke when suddenly, loud music started beeping from the audio system. His body hair began to prickle. The off button didn’t work while the audio tracks kept changing with increasing frequency. There was no question of stopping mid way. He took fright and increased the speed.
His heart was in his throat. His head was thumping with entangled mysteries. He noticed that he had been driving for past two hours and had not made to his place despite a free road. Where was he? He looked around to find. Through the meager light, he gleaned that it was not his regular route. It was strange. Everything was strange.
He was frenzied and out of his senses. But he thought of driving fast to escape the predicament. One more time, he pressed the accelerator. His car was now bulldozing like a wild wagon through the stormy wind. A whirlpool of dust awoke blanking the visibility for him. Ramesh tried to slow down his car, but it didn’t work like the music system, which kept churning out tracks after tracks. Ramesh started feeling giddy. With the loud crescendo of music and dusty storm hitting the front window of his car, he was losing his control.
Suddenly, he saw a boy crossing the road who was limping slowly unperturbed by the loud honking of Ramesh’s car. He hit the brakes over and over, but the car didn’t stop. The small fragment of time eventually leading to the inevitable.
The boy was thrown a long distance after hitting the car’s front bumper. Ramesh looked back, but was late to do anything. His car was rushing maddeningly down the interminable road which soon started to take the form of the busy street he was familiar with.
In sometime, he discovered, he was back on the same route buzzing with heavy traffic. The music had died away to soothing silence. The brakes were functional again. In a while he reached home, safely. But his body was drenched in cold sweat. His head was bursting with pain. He parked his car and opened the door to his house.
Once more, his throat choked and he thought he would die coughing through the cigarette smoke which was slowly clogging his lungs. Just as he moved forward, few bottles smashed on the floor. Bottles? Again?
When he looked at the floor, he got scared out of his wits. Not tens or hundreds, but thousands of sealed beer bottles strewed the entire floor and furniture of his apartment. Ramesh was motionless. His mind was saturated.
Not only the door was locked before he came, there was no sign of Surya either. Coughing through the suspended smoke, he inched towards his room through the bottle-packed corridor. In complete apprehension of another sordid surprise, he slowly creaked the door open. He entered the room and observed everything with suspicion like a lunatic. Not a single nuance was to witness as if he were in a totally different place. He peeped out of the room. The smoke and the bottles had vanished like previous times.
He took a sigh as his tired frame limped in the chair. The paranormal events started playing out in his delirious mind one by one. He could barely conclude anything from the repeated appearance of the bear bottles, the smoke of cigarettes and the audio player. But one thing kept springing up with dominant force. All these events started to take place after Surya’s arrival in his home. As he dug deeper, he feared to recall that the boy who collided with his car more or less resembled to Surya.
Is he playing a prank? But the car actually collided with the boy. Why would Surya transpire these wicked things? Is he a mugger? And the worst of all…Is he dead?
The clock ticked on. Ramesh had been slouching in the chair for hours constantly shivering with the thought that he has led the teenager to death. He was both speechless and sleepless. During midnight, the doorbell rang.
Ramesh stumbled to open the door. His head was churning cluelessly about the appearance of a visitor at an hour past midnight.
Surya was standing in front of him, alive. As soon as the door was opened, Surya ran towards the bed and went to sleep without saying anything.
Ramesh was afraid to sleep next to the fellow who now seemed to be a mysterious mastermind trying to psyche him into something like mental disorder. He had to find out Surya’s true identity.
Ramesh searched the facebook for Surya’s full name, ‘Surya Chakrawarthi’. Around a hundred profiled rolled up. He went through each one with intense curiosity. Eventually he came across the one he was looking for. The face in the profile was much fresh and agile. The eyes were alight and free of rings. But as he scrolled down the timeline, he was appalled by the string of messages that flooded his account.
“Rest in peace.”, “may the soul rest in heaven”, “you left us with tears”, “devastated to hear about the accident.”
Ramesh could not believe what he was reading which meant only one thing, Surya was dead. Then who was the person in his bed? Ramesh’s eyes flitted towards the bed where Surya was sitting wide awake. His eyes were red and unusually big. Ramesh was speechless, the boy was speechless. A white silence engulfed the room. In sometime, the boy began to speak.
“You killed me.”
“Me? Are you in your senses? Stop bulshitting and tell me the truth who are you?” Ramesh stammered.
“Don’t you remember what you did last year?”
Ramesh was filled with blended emotions of fear and fury. He had absolutely no idea of anything strange happened the previous year.
“I was the only son in my family. Having left my home to chase my career in acting, it was my first day in Mumbai. I had given my auditions on that very day and was happily exploring the blazing streets bursting with vitality and light. Suddenly a car jaywalking across the road appeared from nowhere. Before I could get time to get aside, I was torn into pieces. Hooked with bear, enjoying the loud music and chain smoking the cigarettes, you didn’t even bother to see the boy squirming on the street who was counting the last seconds of life with stomach ripped open.”
Ramesh was awestruck to hear what he had done. But he had a very blurred memory of the incident, since he came drunk from a late party. He was so out of his senses that he kept driving oblivious of the fact that what hit the bumper of his car was not a garbage bin or a lamp post.
He was crying the tears of repentance. He had killed the only son of a poor family, he had killed a boy who just stepped in Mumbai to become something in life. There was no redemption for his fallony.
***
Ramesh had been sleeping for a long time. He realized as he woke up to the chirruping of the birds. His eyes blinked to absorb the brightness of a fresh morning. He recalled last night’s incident and got off with a jolt. His head started buzzing with a new set of questions. How did he sleep? Where was he? Where is Surya?
Everything around him was normal as if a storm has subsided. Surya wasn’t there. With him, his pungent stench had disappeared too. Perhaps he had forgiven him making Ramesh indebted for life. But he took a vow to never drink and drive. He would be very careful now.
He got ready for office. Everything was normal as before meeting Surya. He had his breakfast and was about to leave when he heard a cacophony outside. He opened the door and witnessed a swarm of people mumbling amongst each other. Few Police officials were inspecting the area. His eyes went downcast to give him the biggest blow of his life.
Surya’s blood ridden body was lying in front of his car which was filled with beer bottles while the smoke of cigarette was gushing out of the open windows.
Beep! Beep!
He got a message on facebook. It was from Surya which read, “Some sins can never be forgiven.”
