The Mechanic Strikes Again: Chapter 7 - Don't Fall Asleep
As she opened her eyes, she found the scene to have changed again . There she was all alone - watching her parents inside a car - fear of death written on their faces; as they tried to open the door locks without result. The train was very near now and it's whistle almost deafened her ears.
As the yellow beam of light illuminated the tracks, she found to her horror a girl standing on it. She knew she had to save her if she wanted to save herself. It was only a matter of chance now - her running steps versus the speed of the train. She had had these nightmares again and again. They had never left her.
Suparna was in a state of shock . The incident was too much for her to bear. So Shivangi had to visit the morgue to identify the bodies. More than the trauma of recognizing mangled flesh drabbed in white; accepting the unnatural, untimely deaths of parents was perhaps the most difficult task for children. It tortured her even today. She could still smell the incence her mother burnt before the idols everyday. It was the same smell which adorned their bodies - draped in white and carried on shoulders for the last rites. How peaceful the eyes of the deity looked at her home .. like the peace with which her parents rested on their pyres now.
The scene changed to Kalighat temple. But unlike at home - here amongst thousands of believers fighting to have a glimpse, the idol of Goddess Kali looked up with the fiercity in her eyes which had once destroyed the world. A number of purohits were waving five-basined lamps and fly-brushes before her. The air reverberated with the sounds of tambourine and bell - metal played on with sticks. The eyes misted with the smoke of burnt resin.
Tears flew down her eyes in silence. It was a mixed feeling of fear, love, regret, haplessness and hatred. Then everything went mute before her again. Her eyes were paining and she found it difficult to keep her eyelids open. Suddenly she wasn't feeling the emotions anymore. She found herself immersed in a sea of blackness. As if the whole universe was going to be created before her eyes now !
Like a phoenix the masked face resurfaced in the dark again and within moments it's entire body revealed itself. That high forehead with receeding hairline, those blood-shot eyes .. They were those same gloved hands she had seen a little ago at her sister's flat .. the same slender fingers which were trying to drown her in the bath tub. A finger pointed backwards and Shivangi turned her head to witness something written with invisible hands on her rear window - the scratching of fingernails on the glass making her giddy. 'Wait for me in your dreams, my sweetie' As she read the lines, realization dawned upon her in a moment. She came to know how her sister had disappeared. She knew her only chance lay in keeping awake. Otherwise she was never going to find out in her life time her sister's whereabouts.
The mask was falling off little by little. First the white coloured skin, then the red symbol on the cheeks. The smell of molten plastic was nauseating. Blood was flowing in a stream down the collar, painting the black jacket in red. Now only a pair of eyes stared at her in the dark. As the face inched closer she found the skin had been charred with flesh having peeled off at the cheeks and jaws revealing the teeth inside. A tongue rolled out from what could be called the mouth and kept licking Shivangi's cheeks as she desperately tried to keep her eyes open.
Soon the burnt, rotten pair of lips locked into hers - the fetid stench making it impossible to breathe ; while the gloved hands pinned her against the car seat. Her state of helplessness worsened further with the feeling of an icy cold hand sliding inside her blouse and the recognition of a sharpened steel object caressing her breasts . Judging by the pressure of the knife on her skin and the excruciating pain which followed she knew she was bleeding profusely. She closed her eyes.
Almost at the same moment the shrill ringing of her mobile phone brought her to senses. The man .. mask .. gloved hands .. black jacket all turned into dust like magic and mingled with the fog outside. 'Inspector Sarkar' she cried with joy as she saw the name on the screen.. But her happiness didn't last long . Before her worn out brain could register the real state of affairs - her position on the road, the vehicle's speed .. she found that her car had hit the bridge and was running straight towards the railings.
