Ayush woke up with a start, his heart beating fast. As he opened his eyes, he saw a deep red stain on the almirah. The sight made him freeze in horror. His stomach twisted in knots, and he could feel his palms getting sweaty. He had never seen so much blood in his life.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the blood was still there. It looked fresh like it had just been spilled. He felt a sudden rush of fear that someone had broken into his room and was hurt.
Alarmed, he jumped out of his bed and called out to his roommate. "Prakash, come here! Look at this!" Ayush said, pointing at the blood stain on the almirah.
Prakash stirred in his bed and groggily opened his eyes. "What is it, man? Can't you see I'm sleeping?"
"Look at the almirah, Prakash? Can't you see the blood stain? Ayush asked anxiously.
Prakash rubbed his eyes and looked at the almirah, but he couldn't see anything unusual. "What blood stain, Ayush? I don't see anything."
"What are you talking about? Look there is blood on the almirah. Why are you not seeing it" Replied Ayush.
"There is no blood on the almirah. You going crazy or what" said Prakash with slight irritation.
Ayush frowned. He was sure he had seen the stain. Maybe he was hallucinating? He decided not to make a big deal out of it and pretended to laugh it off. "Haha, I guess I must have dreamt it."
But he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off. As he got ready for the day, he kept replaying the sight of the blood in his head. The fear that someone had been hurt was gnawing at him.
He went to the common room to check with the other guys in the PG. However, no one had seen any blood stain, and they started giving Ayush strange looks.
Feeling embarrassed and confused, Ayush decided to leave the PG and went to the Alan Coaching Institute, where he was preparing for the JEE exam. As he walked through the streets, his mind kept going back to the blood stain. He couldn't help but imagine the worst-case scenario - someone had broken into his room, someone who was hurt, and he had failed to help.
When he arrived at the Alan Coaching Institute, his heart was still not totally calm. He walked to his classroom, trying to compose himself. But as he opened the door, he froze in horror. There was blood on the desks, the walls, and even on the floor. It looked like a crime scene.
Ayush's fear turned to panic, and he stumbled back in shock. He had never seen so much blood before. It looked fresh, and he could smell the metallic scent in the air.
"What's going on?" he whispered to himself, feeling a chill run down his spine.
He looked around but there was no one in the classroom. He turned to run away and as he was contemplating this-
"Can you please move forward please?" someone asked from behind him.
As if it broke him from a trance and suddenly he was not feeling the smell of blood anymore.
As he turned around again towards the classroom there was no more blood there and many students were inside and chatting with each other.
"Can you move already" again asked a boy behind Ayush. This time ayush moved out of the way to let the boy enter the class.
Ayush's mind was in turmoil. He didn't know what was happening to him. Was he going crazy? Was there something wrong with him?
As the break between the classes come, Ayush decided to confide in Prakash, who was his closest friend.
After the cram school ended, Ayush and Prakash were going back home(PG). Ayush was still feeling uneasy about the strange incidents that have been happening to him throughout the day, but he didn't know how to bring it up.
Prakash noticed this and asked, "What's wrong, Ayush? You seem troubled."
Ayush hesitated for a moment before replying, "It's nothing. I'm just a little tired."
Prakash raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Come on, man. We're friends. You can tell me what's going on."
Ayush took a deep breath and decided to open up. "Okay, I'll tell you. I saw a blood stain on my almirah this morning, and no one else seemed to see it. And then when I got to the classroom, there was blood everywhere, but it vanished when I got closer to it."
Prakash looked at Ayush quizzically. "Are you still on it? Look, there was no blood on the almirah."
Ayush's heart sank. He had been so sure he had seen the stain, but now he felt like he was losing his mind. "Are you serious? I woke up to a huge red stain on my almirah, and it looked like blood!!" he said, his voice rising slightly.
Prakash sighed, finally taking what Ayush was saying a bit more seriously. "Okay. Maybe I must have not noticed it at that time. Let's see it again when we go back home"