6
June 2019:
A few days have passed on. I am back at home.
At times I still get scared and wake up at night after seeing Ethan's dead body in my dreams.
After the day of his death, the police thoroughly checked our rooms starting with Ethan.
What they found was shocking.
A blood stained knife was found in his room with only his fingerprints on it. Later it was confirmed that the blood on the knife was prof Samuel's blood.
The police had gone through the security cameras of the college and it was found that Prof Samuel had entered the department building at 10 p.m. Then Ethan came in 5 mins later and exited at 10:25 p.m. The footage from the hostel's main gate showed that Ethan left the hostel gate at 9:45 p.m. and came back at 10:40 p.m. The time of prof's death was also estimated to be in between 10 and 11 p.m.
The bag with the blood stained knife and disposable gloves from the chemistry lab were laid out on his desk.
There was no attempt to hide anything. It was as if Ethan willingly admitted to everything and then hung himself with the guilt.
The police also didn't pursue the case further, due to pressure from the college. It was closed with Ethan being the murderer who was also dead now.
I was sitting on my bed when I got a call from Charlie.
He asked me a favor.
I thought things ended now but I was mistaken. There was still a lot to this story.
* * *
I was traveling on a train. Charlie was with me. Both of us were heading to the city, Vaxa. Ethan's hometown.
Vaxa was one of the less developed cities in the country. It had always been the den of many local criminals.
'Thanks for coming buddy,' said Charlie.
'This was the least we could do for him,' I said as we were heading towards Ethan's home.
The HOD had received a call to attend Ethan's funeral. He had asked us to go in his place and we did.
We reached Ethan's home at noon.
It was quite a small house and the nearby area looked rural and congested. We could understand that his household belonged to the poor class and now all of Ethan's worries about money seemed very legitimate. I felt ashamed of myself when at times I thought he was a miser when he didn't go to movies or on outings with us. But the poor guy was just saving money.
An old lady opened the door and we introduced ourselves as Ethan's friends who had come to offer their condolences.
She was a warm person. She welcomed us in. We sat on a sofa and she brought tea for us.
'So both of you are his friends?'
'Yes ma'am we are.'
'I am so glad he was able to make some friends. Did he have fun at his school?' she asked.
'Ma'am, he was studying most of the time but at times he did come with us to movies and trips,' Charlie said.
'I knew. He had always been so worried about his studies. But it's so good to hear that he also went outside. By the way, I am the owner of this house. Ethan used to work for me.'
Both of us were confused.
This was the address given to us that he had officially listed in RIT's documents but it was not his home.
'Ma'am is his father not here?' I asked. 'I heard he is the only family he has.'
The lady had tiny eyes amidst that face full of wrinkles.
But suddenly her eyes grew larger as if they would pop out.
'Are you boys crazy?' she said.
'His parents died in an accident 3 years ago when he was in class 10th. His mom worked for me so I hired him for some small household chores and let him stay in my house. He had no family or relatives left after his parents died.'
Both of us froze in our seats.
Ethan's dad died three years ago. This guy used to get calls throughout the day from his dad when he was with us.
At times when I was in his room, I had seen his phone ring with the name DAD flashing on the screen. And his dad died three years ago. What the hell was happening??
Charlie looked at me and I looked at him. We still couldn't believe what this old lady was saying. My mind went blank.
Charlie asked the lady how his parents died.
'It was an unfortunate accident,' the old lady began narrating.
'They lived in a makeshift house near the front road as they were very poor. His mother used to work as my maid.'
'Once at night, Ethan came rushing at my door. His small house had caught fire. I woke up the neighbors and all of us went outside. The house was really on fire. Since it was a very small house so the men themselves were able to put it off but both his parents were burned and died on the spot.'
'He remained silent for many days. Seeing his condition and with no relatives to care for him I hired him in place of his mother and gave him a small place to live in my house.'
'With the limited money and time, he had continued to study and god knows how but he miraculously got into RIT. There was even a newspaper interview about him a year back. He had become a local hero.'
All of her words were going above my head. The guy was scared of his dad all the time. During the first term, he used to get 5-10 calls a day from his dad. And his dad was already dead. How is this possible? My mind never heard a word the lady said after she told us that his dad was dead.
We prayed in front of his photo and came back.
'See Adam, I was not a great friend of Ethan but wasn't he buzzed by his dad all the time?' asked Charlie.
'That's what is bothering me as well. I can't believe his dad is dead.'
Just to verify we asked a few neighbors here and there and all of them said the same thing. His parents died 3 years ago. My mind was still in disbelief.
We caught our trains and went back. Both me and Charlie lived in the same city but our houses were in different directions, so we departed at the railway station. I reached home, had dinner and then laid down on my bed.
I am 100% sure that his dad used to talk to him all the time. How can he be dead? In the first term, he was a good friend of mine but now it seemed that I knew nothing about him. In the end, I had a single question in my mind:
Who was Ethan?
7
July 2019:
I turned 19 last month and now I came back to the hostel after the summer break was over. 2nd year had started.
Room 505 was sealed. The admin asked me whether I would want to change my room. Normally nobody would want to remain in the room opposite to the one where someone committed suicide but I felt an emotional connection with my room. All the people I knew from civil lived on the same floor and I didn't want to leave that floor. So I stayed back.
It was night time and I just came back to my room after dinner. I looked at Ethan's room and the memories of the 1st term when we were still friends came back rushing to me. I wished I knew him better. I wished I knew what really happened to him. But now it was impossible.
The evening football practice had drained me completely and my stomach was full from the dinner. I straightaway went to sleep.
* * *
I opened my eyes and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
I was in a blank room. Pure white. The roof, the floor, everything as white as snow.
The room was totally empty with just 2 chairs in it. On one I was sitting and in front of me was Ethan sitting on the other chair.
My body froze. I felt I was haunted now. I should had listened to the admin and changed my room. My body started trembling and words would just not come out of my mouth.
'Adam! You look so afraid. I am not a ghost if you are scared of me,' he said.
'What the hell?' I shouted at him.
'You are dead. You bastard. You hung yourself. How can you be alive if you are not a ghost?'
'It's not that simple' he said.
'Is this a dream? How do I get off from this dream? Do I need to die in order to wake up?'
He laughed. 'Try pinching yourself, Adam.'
'What??' I again shouted.
'Please try once Adam.'
'I pinched myself. It hurt. What the hell? Is it possible to feel pain in our dreams? That cannot be true.'
'It's not a dream. It's really you and it's the real me' he said.
'My mind was busted. You bastard. What nonsense are you spouting?'
'It is all true Adam. I have come to meet you, one last time.'
'What do you want Ethan? Just let me go.' I was getting impatient now.
'Adam! It's just the last wish of mine and only you can fulfill it.'
'Huh?? What last wish?'
'I am going to show you the story of my life. Just watch it till the end and then you will be free to leave.'
After hearing things about his dad I really wanted to know the truth.
'What is the guarantee that I will be able to leave after this?' I asked him.
Suddenly a door appeared on the wall.
'If you wish to leave, then you can leave now itself. But as a friend I just wanted you to fulfill my last wish. My soul can rest in peace then.'
I didn't understand what was happening but I let my curiosity get the better of me.
'Okay. I will see your story.'
He smiled back. Suddenly a screen came in front of me out of nowhere and some video started showing.
'What the hell is happening now?' I shouted.
'Don't worry Adam. Just see the video. You can treat this like one of those movies that you like to watch.'
He disappeared and the visuals started to play.
I was irritated but I had no other choice. So, I began to watch the video of his.
His voice started narrating.
8
'We were very poor from the day I was born. My mom was a housemaid and my dad was a construction worker who used to get daily wages. We made just enough that we were able to meet our daily ends. Sending me to a public school was the greatest expense of our household.'
'I took it to heart and studied hard for as long as I can remember. I always came first. Even though we were poor but things still were not that bad till that day when I was in class 5th.'
* * *
September 2009:
'Dad had always been a tough guy but his working days had forever been seasonal. Mom on the other hand used to earn way more than dad and got monthly wages.'
'But dad was a good person. He cared for us. He was very kind and he also didn't have any bad habits like smoking or drinking. He always told me that only I can break our cycle of poverty. That served as my biggest motivation to study all the time.'
'Once at night, he came home drunk along with his worker friends. We were surprised to see that he was drunk. His friends told that the economy was doing very badly and the supervisor had fired in masses. Dad was also one of them. He was too light-footed to say anything and just went to sleep.'
'We were shocked to see him drunk but dismissed it as an unusual occurrence. Never we would had thought that this would be the start of our doom.'
'The economy then went from bad to worse for the next 3 years.'
'Dad was getting close to no work. Only mom's income contributed to the family income. Even I had started helping out at nearby food stalls so that I can earn some chump. And Dad on the other hand now used to get occasionally drunk and loathed everyone while sitting idle.'
'Once he took some money to buy his drinks and mom tried to stop him as that money was being saved for my school fees. They started arguing and he slapped mom so hard that she fell on the floor. That was the very first time I had seen him get violent. I rushed to mom but she said it was okay and told me to go and study. I was very angry but I controlled myself. I was just a kid. I foolishly hoped things will get better and did as told.'
'But this was only the start. I was just so wrong.'
'From then on it became a habit.'
'He was not getting any work. His frustration grew day by day and all that frustration was vented out on mom.'
'Our lives became miserable. I used to cry at times but mom never shed a single tear in front of me. She was the only reason that I withstood all that torture.'
'I studied harder. I wanted to become an adult quickly so that I can save my mom and earn some money for the family. If we got enough money, maybe then dad would also go back to being the good father he was.'
'But I was naïve. I couldn't have been more wrong.'
'I was in class 10th when the real tragedy happened.'
'Mom was feeling ill on that day so I had gone to her houses as a substitute which I used to do at times. When I came back it was already late night.'
'I entered in. What I saw next just broke my mind.'
'Mom was lying dead on the floor in a pool of blood. Beside her was dad with the blood stained knife in his hand, He had cut off mom's neck with that bloody knife.'
'The anger, the frustration, everything exploded. My mind went absolutely blank and I blacked out.'
'When I opened my eyes then dad was lying on the floor with a sharp cut on his neck similar to mom. He was dead. My whole world which I was trying so hard to protect came crashing down in a single moment. I again blacked out.'
'This time when I opened my eyes, I was standing in front of our house and there was a fire inside. Everything was burning. I did not know what to do.'
'Suddenly dad's voice reached out to me. The same gentle voice which I had always heard when I was a kid.'
'Dad you are still alive?' Ethan asked.
'Son I'll always be with you. You have to call the neighbors to put off the fire.'
'But dad, mom is dead.'
'Son don't argue. Do as I say and you will be safe. Remember that I am always correct.'
'I did as he said and rushed to the old lady who lived nearby. Rest you already know Adam.'
I was just too astonished to speak. This bastard killed his dad. Put fire to his house. And then played the victim.
Even though a part of me sympathized with him but in the end he was just a cold hearted murderer.
But the words would just not come out of my mouth. I was too shocked to speak.
I didn't try further and stood mum as he narrated the rest of his tale.