Vicissitudes- a story

Episode 1

The two boys were standing in front of the door. One had a hammer in his hand. The other with his digicam was busy taking snaps of the door.

 The door which was in the midst of twenty acres of forest behind their dormitory had always caught their fascination. However, the other students of the Origianian Residential School were not much fascinated about the door which had nothing in special except that it was a single structure. There was neither a room nor any building, but door alone. None except these two were interested in the door and the rusty lock which stood guard of the door.

“ Neil..!! Make sure that you break it on the count of three” said Alec adjusting the lens of his camera. It was the last day for Neil Forest and Alec Trims in Origianian Residential School. The boys in their sixteen wanted to break open the door which stood guard for nothing.

“One, two and three.. Action” shouted Alec. Clung..!! The lock broke with an ugly sound.

“Ah..!! I never knew that I was so strong” smiled Neil. Alec didn’t react. He looked interested in inspecting the lock which now lied on the ground, broken. He picked it up and kept it in his bag. He then tried giving a gentle push to the door. The door didn’t move by an inch. He set himself for a second try, now with a little more force. The old, seemingly weak door showed no signs of movement. He gave one more try, however the result remained the same.

“I think I have a better idea” said Neil. He went to the other side of the door. He held the handle bar on the door firmly in his hand. “On the count of three you push the door, and I will pull it from this end” said Neil. Alec agreed. They weren’t interested in using the hammer as they didn’t want to damage the door.  “All right..!! One, two, three” said Neil and both of them used all their might from both ends.

“ah..!! This is disgusting” said Neil wiping his sweat and leaned against the door.

 Krrkk..!! The door opened outwards with an unpleasant sound. And he fell on ground along with Alec, who was at the other end of the door. Ouch..!! Neil got an ugly scratch on his elbow. Alec checked his Digicam for any damage.

“so stupid of us” said Alec and both of them laughed over it. “Let us take a snap with the opened door” said Neil. Both of them who were now facing the ground slowly got up. Alec turned on his Digicam. “Ok fine ..!! Stand near the door “said Alec. Neil still busy wiping off the dirt from his shirt slowly turned back to proceed towards the door.

“oh my God..!!” he exclaimed instantly. The door..!!!! The door was no longer there.  Impossible..!!

“Where is the door?” he asked still searching for the trace of the missing door.

 “Which door?” came back the reply.

 Frowning on his reply Neil slowly turned towards Alec. “Oh my god...!” he exclaimed for the second time. “Hey before anyone sees us we have to leave. Now hurry up” said Alec.

Neil couldn’t believe his own eyes. Alec’s dress was soaked in blood.

“For god’s sake hurry up” said Alec and started running. Neil who was still in confused state followed him with equal pace.

After running in the woods for ten minutes they stopped for breath. “What happened to your cloths, why is it in all blood?? And why are we running?? And where did the door go??” asked Neil.

“which door..!!! god damn it..!! We have killed him. And the only thing we should be thinking is to run” shouted Alec in all anguish.

KILLLLLEDDDDD..!!! The word echoed in Neil’s ears.  It sent a chill over his spines. He couldn’t believe his own senses nor was he able to understand what was happening.

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The clock stuck three. A huge silence loomed in the hall. A dozen worried faces could be seen.  The grey haired man in his late fifties entered the hall. He was Mr. Paul Simpson, the principal of the school.

“To which house does the three belong to?” asked he.

“Titanium” many voices came up.

“And  the House Master?”

Mr Hanns stepped forward.

“Any idea as where they went?” asked Mr. Simpson in stiff voice.

After few seconds of hesitation he replied “No Sir..!! We thought that they may have gone to the college roof top to have a couple of shots. But then they are not there”.

“It’s been almost six hours since they went missing and you have not done anything about it. Inform their parents about their missing. Make ten squads of six students each. Spread them over the forest”.

“Yes sir” answered everyone in unison.

“And call the cops, as well” added Mr. Simpson throwing a cold look.

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“I have been asking you since long. Where did the body go?” asked Forest.

Both Alec and Neil were walking in heavy pace. Neil’s dress had blood stains all over it.

“You are out of your mind..!! From past one hour you have been speaking nonsense.” Alec sounded irritated.

“And you better walk fast. If the teachers find us missing, then we will be in a big trouble”, he added.

“Neither am I able to relate with the nonsense that you have been speaking since morning”, Neil turned furious.

Alec didn’t’ react but chose to continue to walk.

Phat!!! Neil held Alec by his collar and landed a heavy blow on his nose.

“Look..!! We’ve committed a murder..!! Does this sound like some joke to you. If we are caught, we are done..!! At least now try to come back to your senses and think of a way to come out of this”.  

Alec who was trying to recover from the punch that had left his nose bleeding froze for a moment.

“Which murder are you talking about..!!? He exclaimed in utter shock and cluelessness.

And then he noticed the hammer which Neil was carrying.

It had blood dripping from it…!!! And, and his cloths was drenched in blood. That means we have indeed killed someone. The thought made Alec grow numb…!!

      

                                                    To be continued……………

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