The unknown
Silence, is powerful sometimes, peaceful at times, and maybe scary from time to time. In a group of strangers, a silent person is a mystery by themself, but a silent space decorated with darkness is something more than that of one’s imagination. It’s the space where the unknown is privileged to dominate the known. A suspicious place where only guesses can have their seats.
It wasn’t the same a few moments back. Huge[S1] unrest, various quest, throbbing, and crying were the occupants. Silence spread its wings just after a shrieking noise, the sound which instilled fear within them. The lack of light was their first enemy, the dark made sure that all of them were unaware of what was going on around them.
The courage of questioning their whereabouts was diminishing whenever one among them was taken away and the fear within them was elevating with every passing second. Anymore the pitiful souls didn’t have the strength to fight back.
As time passed on, everyone was lost in their thoughts. There were so many questions running within them. The common one was,
Where am I? and why?
They didn’t have an answer not even a clue. They feared to speak up. And all they did was, wait for someone to rescue them. Every single heartbeat felt like a lifetime. All of them were shattered, and the fear of what next took the front seat. Will I be the one, next? They feared.
After a prolonged wait, a quavering voice sprouted amid silence.
“Is anybody around?”. The impatient person took the lead.
“Hmm. Yeah.” An apprehensive reply emerged followed by a long breath.
“Please. Untie me. Please.” The shaky voice begged fretfully.
“Am sorry, I am not in a position to help anyone, not even myself.” The helpless sobbed.
“What’s going on? Please, Help! Can anyone hear me?” The screech for help pierced through the air. But in vain, only the echoes were the return gifts.
“This doesn’t work here. Be silent.” A firm voice ordered.
“Who, who are you?” The trembling voice asked out of fear in the least decibel as possible.
In a trice, a barking dog responded to the query. It upraised the trepidation amongst them. A pet lover may enjoy the sounds of their pet at any random time, whether in the dark or in silence. But for a stranger, a dog barking at them in the dark can only act as a threat to life. It did the same to them.
The helpless beings stood still, the pressure within them was building up, and the fear restricted them from letting out their emotions. They silently cried and prayed within themselves. The dog continued growling with certain pauses. All they could imagine was the growling dog roaming around. The palpitated heart, dried lips, and Shallow breaths became normal for them. The time flew as same as their heartbeats. Some felt it was the end and few were on the edge of hope.
As time passed, they could hear the dogs whimper at a distance, which brought a small sigh of relief to them. But it didn’t last long, a new entry into the darkness lit up the screams again.
“Uncle leave us.”
“Where are you taking us?”
“Uncle, open the door.”
“Uncle can you hear me, I say open the door”.
It wasn’t a cry for help instead it was a scream of anger by a young girl.
“Ezhil, are you there?”
“Where are you?”
“Ezhil, can you see me? Ezhil, Ezhil, Ezhilllll……”
A young girl’s scream for search exploded in that darkness and it ignited others too.
“Help! Help! Is somebody there, Help me. Can anybody hear? Is anybody there around.”
“Please leave me, please.”
All and sundry called out for help. The people screamed one after another. The fear was a contagious one in that spot.
The young girl was shocked to hear the people’s screams. It hit her reality still she searched for Ezhil’s voice amidst several screams.
The clueless ones kept on shouting for help. Two or three went back to silent mode as they realized screaming doesn’t help them anymore. The initial entries into the dark were tired of begging and pleading for help. So, they chose to be silent.
“Uncle, where have you taken us?” The young girl cried.
After a pause, she screamed out of shock. “Oh my god! Uncle, don’t play with us, it stinks in here.”
“Oh my god! Is it blood here? Oh god! Why? You promised to help us, don’t you remember? Ezhil, where are you?” The young girl bawled.
“This doesn’t work here. Be silent.” A firm voice ordered once again.
“Who are you? what do you want? Where’s the baby? It was right here next to me. What did you do? The girl who once cried for help now screamed at her unknown enemy.
The girl’s questions shook the young girl, and her fear leapt uncontrollably.
“Who are you all? Uncle, please tell me, who are they?”
“Which baby are they talking about? What’s going on? Uncle? Ezhil.” The young girl screamed; she didn’t have the courage to speak to any other person out there. She raised several questions to a man whom she taught was there among that group of people. She didn’t wait for any reply she blabbered and cried continuously out of fear.
“It stinks like a slaughterhouse. Uncle please, I can’t bear this smell anymore, please, please leave us….” She begged and at the same time, her search for Ezhil didn’t stop there.
“Slaughterhouse, with a replacement. Humans instead of animals.” A man’s intimidating voice shook them. The little hope they had was shaken by the man.
“Ezhil…., Uncle……” Everyone out there muted themselves for a while hearing the man’s words except the young girl.
“Who the hell is that dammit Ezhil, uncle, this, that? Nonsense” The man roared.
“Aren’t they here?” The young girl started to blabber. “Please leave me. please.”
Out of fear they cried, yelled, and prayed. They didn’t know whom they were yelling at. They weren’t capable of doing anything more than that. The surrounding wasn’t supportive. They couldn’t even think of an escape. The blood smell was the greatest issue for one, for the other it was dark, for some it was the inability to move. They tried their best, at least to know the reason, for being there in that situation. Everyone was facing the same threat but was fighting separately in different ways. Some begged for release, a few threatened, and another few even pleaded for mercy. Somehow, they convinced themselves of being guilty of something. A solution can be derived only when the problem is known. The unknown problem only has an unknown solution. It was far away from them.
One amongst them gathered the courage and tried to have a conversation with their common unknown enemy.
“So, what’s your plan? What’s going to be our destiny?” A guy who was sobbing once now asked stoutly.
When a person experiences a threat to their life, they are just left with two extreme options. One is fear and the other is courage. The guy passed through the tunnel of fear and chose courage as his weapon to save him.
When there wasn’t a reply, the guy repeated. “So, what’s your plan? What’s going to be our destiny? I know you are here. Answer me.”
Crows cawed; insects squeaked but the man wasn’t ready to reply.
“You are a coward. I will kill you, man. You scoundrel” The indignant guy bellowed. He yelled at the man by using the most abusive words he knew; he did know that it didn’t make any sense still he continued until he was tired. Meaningless words enter the world either from the incapable person or when a capable person switches off their reasonable mind. Here the scenario was quite different, a capable guy in incapable mode. Even though his unknown enemy chose to be silent mostly, he didn’t give up his fight. The least possible thing he was capable of doing was a verbal war. He was doing it in every possible way he knew. Some were tired and stopped fighting back. But only two people among them didn’t give up. Constantly they were questioning their mysterious enemy. The rage-fueled up within them for each unanswered question.
“Be silent. I hate these things.” The man yelled after a long time.
“I can’t be silent anymore. Leave me. Why have you kidnapped me? What’s your plan? What did I do to you? Who are you?” The guy fumed.
“Be silent. I hate these loud noises. Do you understand? I want just peace, leave me alone.”
“Just leave us. You can be in peace, sir. Please.” The girl stuffed her anger within her and pleaded politely.
The irritated man confusingly asked, “How can I free you? I don’t have any superpowers, to free anyone.”
“He is a psycho. He is playing a game with us. No way, he will never let us free.” The guy muttered and was about to give up.
The word psycho hit the man hard, his ego was touched. “How dare you call me Psycho. Be careful with your words or you have to face the consequence. Remember that you are speaking to a police officer.” The man threatened.
“Are you a police officer?”
“Are you sir?”
“Are you uncle?” The guy, the girl, and the young girl were astonished concomitantly.
Serial Fictions 