"Aryan, Mridul, Rudra come on get up. We are going to be late." Aryan woke up to the knocking on the door. The girls were calling them cause they were going out that day. All the three boys slept together and late enjoying their time.
Aryan was still trying to process what is going on around him when Simran shouts, "GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP, YOU IDIOTS."
And finally reality hit him. He remembered why he came to Darjeeling in the first place.
"Simran wait for fifteen minutes, we are getting ready." He said and hurriedly went ro the bathroom to get ready quickly. After getting himself ready he woke up the other boys and opened the door. The girls were standing there hand folded. Looking at their expressions, the very first thought thatbcame in his kind was, 'We are done.'
"Good morning." He smiled awkwardly.
There was long silence before Sasha spoke, "You guys, do you know what time is it? The car and the tour guide is already waiting for us for an hour. You guys want to go or not?"
"Ah...it's...it's not what you think. Actually we stayed up late at night, so...I'm sorry guys. They are getting ready. Let's just wait for ten more minutes okay?" Aryan tried to control the situation.
It was their fault actually. They all decided to enjoy on the last day but the boys got too excited ro celebrate among themselves. That is why they stay up late at night watching cinema, dancing around and singing songs. They were silently standing in the hallway, when all of the boys came running outside.
"We're ready. Let's go." Mridul screamed.
"Stop screaming." Sasha scolded him.
Hearing Shasha, the surrounding suddenly went to a pin drop silent mode. Nobody dared to talk. In the whole group Sasha is one of a scariest member. Nobody dares to utter a word when she is not in a good mood. Seeing the situation everybody decided to stay quite for their dear life.
Aryan just looked at everyone's face and then Nisha's. She signed him to say something. He nodded quickly and said laughing, "Now, now, guys...let's not be angry okay? We came here to enjoy, so let's be happy. Let's not make the mood deprssing, okay?"
Nobody answered. Mridul and Rudra tried to walk away when Sasha said, "I will not tolerate it again." Then she smiled. "Let's go guys. Let's have fun." And proceeded to walk ahead.
Mridul and Rudra held each other hand and said, "I'm telling you, she is a total psychopath."
After some sightseeing the group stopped by a small hotel to have some snacks. Nisha pulled Aryan aside avoiding everyone's eyes.
"What should we do now?" She asked.
"I have no idea. If we tell them that we came here to investigate, they would be so angry." Aryan said.
"That's true. What should we do? Brother Rohan called me saying they were heading to the nearest police station today."
"Hm." Aryan putting his hand on his chin started to think. "Nisha, I have an idea."
"What?"
"Let's try asking local shop owners. They must know something about it right?"
"You're right. Let's try."
Nisha and Aryan went to the hotel owner to order snacks while all their friends sat on the table. There were no customers other than them cause it was off season.
The hotel owner is an old lady. She with her two son and two coworkers run the hotel. Nisha started the conversation.
"Hello grandma. How are you?"
"Oh, hi there pretty lady. I'm good. How are you? What can I get you?" The owner chimed.
"I'm doing fine too. Well, I want to order seven coffee with seven cheese cakes. That would be all."
"Ok, it'll be ready within a few minutes please wait."
"Yes, sure." She stayed silent for a few seconds and then said, "By the way grandma, I have a few questions to ask. If you don't mind can I ask?"
"Yes beta. Go on, ask me anything." She replied.
"Well, I heard this from a close aunt of mine. She said that a serial murder happened here years ago, which left everyone traumatized. I would actually like to know more about it. I am actually writing a crime story and I find this story interesting. My aunt was little back then so she don't many things. Could you please tell me about the incident in details?"
She remained silent for a long time. She just stared at the table. Nisha knew that it was a sensitive topic for them. She kind of expected this outcome.
"Grandma, if you feeling uncomfortable, you don't have to tell us." Aryan said.
"Ah no! I would gladly tell, but I was wondering if you could handle?" She asked worriedly.
"It's nothing grandma, we can handle. I am experienced in the field of crime and thriller." Nisha said with a proud smile.
"Okay. Actually when this murders happened, my son was in the same class with Phurmit. She was a very bright girl to be honest. She was a social butterfly. The first murder happened when my son was in class nine. That year, one summer day a girl suddenly went missing after class. Nobody noticed it because the school was closed by then. But the next day the girl's parents came to the school asking about her. Noone knows where she went after school. When the teachers enquired her friends, they said that she went home earlier cause someone said that her mother was ill. Buy, actually at that time no one was ill. Someone lied to lure her out of the school alone."
She paused a little and then leaned forward signaling Nisha and Aryan to lean forward too. They leaned in to listen further to what she was saying.
"She was reported missing at the police station, but no clue was found. They then appointed two policemen to search for her in the mountains and on the fifth day after she went missing they found her body hanging on a tree by a cliff. The body was unrecognizable. Her skin was ripped and her eyes were bulging out. Even the police got so scared to look at it that they without any further investigation asked the family to bury it for now. When proper investigation will happen they would dug it out. That news spread like fire in the village. Everyone were so traumatized that they waited for their children after school. I was one of those parents too. But things got pretty crazy when the second murder happened. A big investigation took place just to find nothing. Not a single trace of the murderer was found. After that five more girls went missing. So out of seven girls who went missing only three bodies were found and four are still missing. Phurmit was one of them too, her body was never recovered."
*Hah* She sighed heavily.
"It would have been better to find the bodies of them atleast, if not the killer. But neither the four bodies or the killer was found. Poor souls, they must've been wandering even now, in this world waiting for someone to find their body."
"But why did he stopped murdering abruptly? I mean, his movements were like a serial killer but why did he stopped suddenly." Nisha asked putting her hand on her chin.
"Something must have happened, maybe he's dead." Aryan said. "The murders that are happening now, maybe someone else did it. Maybe he got inspired by these murders happened here. It can be a possibility."
"You're right." Nisha agreed.
"What are you both talking about? Did something happen actually?" The grandma asked.
Nisha and Aryan realized that they were talking about the murders loudly and forgot where they were.
"Ah...ha-ha...it's nothing grandma. We were talking about the story actually." Aryan somehow managed the situation.
"Then, we'll be in our seat. Thank you grandma for telling us the story." Nisha said and pulled Aryan to their table.
"Guys, the foods are coming. Wait a bit more." Nisha informed others.
"Ah, yeah we understand, but..."
"But, what?" Nisha looked at Simran, confused.
"Why are you guys holding each other's hands tho?" Simran asked with a mischievous smile on her face.
Actually on everyone's face.
Nisha and Aryan quickly let go of each other's hands.
"Guys, it's nothing, I didn't realized it." Nisha tried to reason.
"Yes, yes, we understand. Did anyone of us said anything to you?" Mridul teased.
"Oh God." Nisha muttered under her breathe. Aryan just stood beside her blushing hard.
After everyone finished their food they headed out when suddenly Nisha's phone rang. Aryan immediately looked at her.
"Guys, you go ahead. I need to take this call." Nisha went to the side and Aryan got restless. He wondered if the call was from Rohan.
After sometime Nisha came back and said, "Aryan, we need to go to the police station now. This case is not a simple serial killing case. It's much darker than we thought."
"What are you talking about? What police station?" Sasha enquired looking confused just like the others.
"We will explain to you guys later. You guys enjoy, but we need to go now. I'm so sorry guys. Aryan let's go."
Nisha left her friends and took Aryan to the police station.