'Dude, you okay?'
I turned around to find Arun standing there, a hand on my shoulder with a worried look on his face.
'You've been acting kinda weird today.'
'Oh, I'm just drowsy since I didn't get much sleep last night.'
'Want me to bring you some water?'
'No no, I'm fine.'
I was not fine. I mean how could I be? Just last night a weird woman/ghost or something threatened me that something or someone was coming for me. My whole body was filled with anxiety. I put a hand on my thigh because I realized that I had been tapping my feet continuously. Every sudden noise in the class would make me flinch and look around, Now I don't know if ghosts have a wicked sense of humor but to me, it felt like she was serious about the warning. Like do you know any dead people who crack jokes? And if it is a joke then honestly, fuck off ghost, it's not funny.
'Okay bro, just let me know if you need something.'
'Sure thing'
As Arun walked away, my hand reached towards my pendant. Ever since my dad gave me this, I hadn't taken it off. It was a simple circular ring made of gold and there was nothing very special about it. But for some reason, I had taken a liking to it. Whenever I'd get nervous, I'd grab onto it and it kinda made me feel safe.
As I grabbed onto it, it felt somewhat different today. It felt almost as if it was heating up but only slightly. It wasn't hot, more like a little bit above body temperature. At the time I didn'y care since I was nervous but now that I look back, I probably should have. As my heartbeat calmed down, I started feeling sleepy. I was starting to nod off when the school bell rang.
Break time was over.
I looked at my timetable. It showed that the next period was Hindi literature. I hated Hindi. Not the language but studying it. It made me restless and want to run away and blow up the entire classroom. Also didn't help that the teacher didn't like me. At all. I always try to keep out of trouble in front of the teachers but for some reason, she made it a point to always make me read in class and ridicule me for my bad pronunciation. It got oly quickly.
Not today. I thought as I ran up the stairs.
*****
I lay on the roof looking at the clouds moving slowly across the blue sky, thinking about the crazy night that had occurred. Like, was it all even real or just a dream? Since I had been consistently seeing the ghost for 6 months, she had to be real right? Because normal people don't see or experience the same dream over and over again do they?
I knew there was no real answer to the question. At least there was no answer that I could give. But I was not in the mood to go around explaining myself to a therapist until I found someone who would listen, not laugh, and believe all that I said.
Suddenly a soft breeze started to blow. It felt like a welcome reprieve from the warm mid-day sun. It was gentle and brushed across my face like a loving hand. For some unknown reason, I started feeling unnaturally drowsy and began to fall asleep. In a few seconds, I was out cold.
*****
When I finally woke, I was surprised at how long I had slept. On hard concrete no less yet I felt well rested. My body didn't seem to be in pain from sleeping on a hard surface though some drool had dried on my face. When I looked at my watch, I was shocked to see that it was 2 pm. I had spent the last two hours sleeping and missed two of my classes.
Well, what's done is done. I thought. I should head over for the final class, Arun might be waiting for me.
As I was getting up and dusting my clothes, a weird feeling struck me. The environment felt a little too unnaturally quiet and the only sound I could hear was my breathing and the wind blowing through the trees.
That can't be right.
It was the end of the school day. No way it would be this quiet with all the kids trying to leave through the gate altogether. There should have been vendors shouting, rikshawallahs trying to get the kids' attention, and drivers abusing. But there was nothing. Had I gone deaf? Or did something happen while I was asleep?
My hand immediately reached for my pendant but I let go as soon as I touched it. When I looked down, my pendant was shining with some vapors coming out from it.
What the hell was going on?