Mrunmai was feeling unbearably uncomfortable ever since the journey began. "50 kms to Mumbai. Another hour or so then I guess,” Ankit said after what felt like ages, reading off a road sign.
"To enter Mumbai, yes. After that though..."
Mrunmai’s legs cramped up at just the thought. Getting home could take hours once they enter the city. She wanted to pull her legs up but the back seat was full and Sahil was the one sitting beside her. Despite the already deafening music being played at the front, he had been droning on for a while about how his match that morning had been so close and how he could have won that final rally but he saw her expression just then and faltered.
“I’m sorry for boring you like this. What’s done is done, after all; I should focus on the next tournament.”
Ugh! Honestly, Mrunmai just wanted to go to sleep after two full days of matches but seeing his stupid face, she felt like she was the villain. “It’s fine; anyone would want to rant after a match like that. You can continue; I’m listening. I just don’t have the energy to reply.”
“Really—”
“Guys, look!”
For maybe the first time ever, Mrunmai was glad to hear Ranjana’s voice. She looked over at the loudmouth pointing at the sunset. It was quite beautiful. A river was flowing golden underneath them at that exact moment, making the moment much more magical. Looking at the horizon, she couldn’t tell where the sky ended and the river began and the evening air whizzing past her was making it difficult to stay awake for much longer.
Sunset.
"My grandma says to drop whatever you are doing during sunset time. Whatever it is, drop it like you do when the national anthem plays."
"Why?"
"Just a superstition." The story Mrunmai’s grandma had told her was about how crossing borders at sunset could take you 'somewhere you shouldn't be'. Since not all borders are visible, it was better to... Mrunmai stopped herself as she realised that she was narrating everything out loud. "It's just a folktale. It was probably created to make people stop and appreciate the sunset."
"I don't think people need to be told to enjoy something this beautiful." There it was. "I say it's true! 'Somewhere you shouldn't be' is probably the underworld or something."
“I can never tell if you truly believe the stuff you say, Ranjana.”
Mrunmai was in complete agreement with Sahil. She could never understand horror fans. What was so exciting about being eaten alive by monsters? Most people couldn't even imagine or tolerate the agony of a stab wound; why would the idea of being torn apart give someone pleasure? Masochists. Did she think that if such a situation did occur, she wouldn't be screaming for her life with the rest of them but rather fighting the mons— actually she might do that. Freak.
Trying to figure out Ranjana’s brain just pissed her off even more than everything else already had. The sun had almost disappeared by this point and Ankit was driving the car into a forest that was rapidly growing pitch black. At Shreya’s reminder, Mrunmai rolled her window up and tried to sleep but maybe because of how cramped the car was, that proved to be difficult. She had given up all pretence of propriety and was pushing Sahil around first this way and then that in an attempt to free up some space but even when she did settle into a comfortable position and blocked the music out with her headphones, it took a while for her to be relaxed enough to sleep.
It didn’t take her very long to wake up either. This time, she was sure of it. Something sounded off. The songs were turned off and she saw Ranjana craning her neck over the front seat to take a look into Shreya’s phone. Shreya had a confused frown on her face as she scrolled around the map and even Ankit was trying to sneak glances in between paying attention to the road. “What’s up? Roadblock?” she finally asked.
"We passed the same road sign we passed at sunset, ten minutes back. Probably the same river too. No idea how we looped around on a straight road but we did and now the GPS won't work either."
Well, it was pitch black outside and they were in a forest. Mrunmai found it quite plausible that they might have accidentally gone the wrong way.
"I wouldn't mistake a foot trail for a car path. Rather, I can't drive a car up a foot trail to begin with. There's only one road and it goes straight ahead."
That made sense. And so did losing connection with the GPS. Maybe there actually was another road along the way that the map didn't show due to the connection? "Anyways, we should stop and try to figure out---"
"NO! Don’t stop!"
Wincing as she stuck a finger in each ear, Mrunmai turned to look at Sahil. He was being extremely jittery. This irritated her even more. “Do you need to—”
“Listen!”
…
So that was why she had the weird feeling the whole time. Those were growls, without a doubt. Quite loud too, if she could hear them within the car. She wasn’t sure what animal that was but she knew it couldn't be anything good. That said, Mrunmai wasn’t as panicked as Sahil. The car may have been small but it wasn’t weak. It could hold off a few animals for the few seconds it took them to decide what to do, couldn’t it?
To begin with, what animal was it? The growls didn’t sound like what Mrunmai knew about tigers or leopards, although she didn’t know a whole lot about them. What animal would be active at night?
"Something is following us."
At Ranjana’s comment, Mrunmai looked into the rearview mirror. Something was indeed following them, matching the car’s speed and staying just barely out of the range of the taillights. Looking at the feet, Mrunmai thought of wild dogs but there was something different about them. These weren’t wild dogs. Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something walk out onto the road ahead of them. It was only for a second, however, before the car swerved to the left and just barely missed a tree.
“What on earth ARE those?”
Mrunmai shared Ankit’s sentiment. Those couldn't be real. She must have hallucinated that because she was telling that story earlier. For sure, that’s what it was.
Shreya turned the music up louder than she had all day long. "Ankit, step on it. Make sure to keep on the right road. Don’t think about anything else. Everyone else, close your eyes, listen to the songs. This road is not that long. We'll be out soon enough."
No, we won't! If those things were real...
"What even are those?"
"Ranjana, shut up and close your eyes."
"Those mouths---"
"I said shut up and close your eyes!"
Thank God for Shreya. Mrunmai was two seconds away from hitting the freak over the head herself. Why did she become deaf at times like this? Please, just don’t do anything stupid!
They really were ‘someplace they shouldn’t be’, as her grandmother had warned her. The river that they crossed at sunset must have been the border. Mrunmai signed all of this to Shreya as quickly as she possibly could.
Can’t we cross back out through the river then?
Only at sunrise.
We don’t have enough petrol to last all night!
Should they stop till morning? Was the car strong enough to shield them that long? Mrunmai wasn’t sure anymore. It was wobbling even as they spoke as the beasts rammed into it.
Shreya kept increasing the volume of the music but the growls were just getting louder as well. They were now just behind the car. Mrunmai saw Ranjana move and almost jumped in her seat at the sight of her pulling out a lighter and deodorant spray from her bag.
As soon as her hand moved towards the window button, Mrunmai lunged across the seat. She tried to tell the idiot not to open the window but she just stared at her with a dumb look on her face, clearly not having heard what she said. Mrunmai tried to snatch the stuff out of her hands but she couldn’t.
This was bad. She had to do something before Ranjana really did something stupid. Something. Anything! What should she do? What could she do? They couldn’t cross the river back out until—
… the river? That's how they had gotten into the mess in the first place. Crossing it again would only take them back out at sunrise. But even till then, the river was still the border. The things shouldn’t be able to follow them in, right? But can they enter a boundary safely themselves?
There’s no other option. They had to drive in. Getting out later would be tricky but they could call for help then. If the river really was the border and all of this was really according to her grandmother’s story, then they should be safe.
The river. It would be coming up soon. They had to drive in.
"Is it... over?"
Huh?
... No way. Mrunmai couldn't hear the growls anymore. Ah, it was the river. No, don't go ahead. Stop!
"Dive in!"
#
...
That must have been Sahil, Mrunmai thought as she lay on the bridge, unable to move. He was sitting in the middle seat. That little... she couldn't even blame him; she yelled out to dive in. Ankit didn’t seem to have understood either, as she could see the car’s light driving off into the direction of the forest.
I need to get away! In the pitch black of the night, she saw a piece of black blot out the fading lights of the car. For a moment, a whole chunk of the darkness flashed orange and the growls spiked in volume and agression to match but soon enough, the orange flickered back out to black.
She had no time to watch! Grandma said they could use a bridge too. She had to get into the river, where they couldn’t get her.
But she couldn't move. Just till the river. Just a little more!
No. No no no. No! Don't come closer!
She could drop the ones blocking the way into the river. If they can't cross the river, that should kill them, right? She might not be able to see but the growls should give her an idea as to where to strike. She had to move! Please don't come closer. Don’t you dare come closer!
Don't…
The End
React
