THE VISION

2.1 | The Mystery of the Missing Teacher

'We received a call about a missing person.' said John.

'I had called you, sir. The husband of the lady has gone missing. They had shifted here yesterday.' said a man with paan stained teeth.

'How do you know them?' asked John.

'Sir, they used to stay here 15 years ago. Jiban Babu's had a transfer to a different government school, and they had left this place. He was a nice person. Please, sir, find him.' said the man.

He went inside with two female constables. A group of women sat around Radha, who was wailing loudly. She was beating her chest and was crying. She had a kurta in her hand, which had blood on it. That's evidence. John thought.

'Excuse me, please can you tell us what happened and is it the kurta your husband was wearing?' asked John.

She hugged the kurta even tighter. John signalled the female constables to collect the kurta and escort her to another room to know about the incident. The female constables did not find it easy but managed to do both the tasks. They asked all the ladies to leave the room.

'Ma'am, please tell us, what happened so that we can help you?' said John, as he sat in front of Radha.

'We came back to our house yesterday after 15 years. I had complained about the leaking kitchen sink. He had said all the workers would be here today. This morning, I woke up and found him missing on the bed. I thought he had gone for his morning walk. I got up and got ready for my morning rituals. When I reached the balcony, I found his kurta, which he was wearing last night, covered in blood. I searched for the entire house, but could not find him. All the doors were locked from inside. I could not understand what happened to him.' said Radha and started crying.

This was strange. He asked his constables to look around for any clues. He looked all over the place. There was no trace of forced entry. He called for the sniffer dogs. There was no sign of any entry. It was a strange case. He went to the balcony and asked the team to look for any clue. As he was looking at a corner, he saw a piece of white cloth lying in the corner, which could have been a waste cloth, but still, he collected it. He assured Radha that they would search him and asked the paan stained teeth to come to the station to file an official complaint.

As John moved away from the house, an old man came near him and whispered, 'This was meant to happen. Some things never leave you alone.'

Before John could ask anything, the old man vanished in a flash. He looked around but could not see him.

Episode 03

It was a full moon night. The sky was clear. There was silence all over. The streets sported a deserted look. A distant howling of a dog echoed the narrow street. The howling sound reflected an upcoming sinister happening. There was a strange eeriness in the atmosphere. The atmosphere felt heavy as if the entire burden of the society has been heaved upon it. The air was still. The leaves of the trees did not move a bit and looked like they belong to a painting. In the dead of the night, when no soul moved around, the faint knock of the stick was heard. It was the watchman who had the duty to cover the entire area.

All the houses were built closely in such a manner that one could climb into another house from the roofs. All houses were connected in such a manner. A dark shadow was jumping from one roof to another. As it was a summer night, many people were sleeping on their rooftops, but a shadow crept its way slowly across them until it reached the destination. The shadow flew around. There was no one around. The shadow stood on the balcony. It was time.

The shadow floated in the air for some time. There was no action from the shadow. The watchman had turned towards the street in front of the house. The shadow did not move from its position. The watchman passed by the house knocking on his stick and whistling. This was an alert signal for any anti-social elements to stay away from the area, as the watchman is under duty and alert. The sound also relaxed the people around, that their houses are safe. But tonight, this house is not safe. The shadow has reached its destination and was about to fulfil the job.