The Green Room

Prologue

March, 2008.

Shimla.

A soft drizzle fell that night. A dense mist crept down from the mountains to a village that seemed to stand brooding in the valley below. Gloomy dark trees surrounded it, fanning out into the thick forest that ran right up the mountains. A man walked briskly towards the village with a dog at his heels.

Ramesh kept his eyes on the path. Seventeen years had passed since she returned. And just when he had begun to assume that it was over, he saw it again.

A pug mark.

He had examined it, hoping it would be a real. He had searched around, praying that he would find a leopard ready to pounce on him. But deep in his heart, he knew that the pug mark was fake. There was no leopard. It was vague that it could correlate to his past - but then, the sudden summon to Nainital, a place he had promised himself never to visit again. It was from a stranger named Harry.

Something moved in the trees. The dog barked. Ramesh kept his eyes on the path.

Queen Victoria School, Nainital.

That was where it had begun. This time, he would put an end to it before the torment started, before she became powerful again. He thought of his wife, waiting for him not very far away, and his two-year-old daughter. He would not let them suffer for his sin. He felt the talisman tied firmly around his neck. It had worked for the past seventeen years and there was no reason it would fail now. He had decided - he would go to Nainital. He would help.

The barking became furious. Ramesh took the cue and looked up at the trees. There was nothing he could perceive in the dark foliage, yet he was sure that something lurked in there.

Monkeys?

The movement began to grow and he felt surrounded by it. If there were monkeys, there must be at least a thousand of them. He turned around. He could see the mud-path running between dark trees until it was swallowed by the night. High above, the tree-tops swayed gently in a breeze and a few stars peeped through the dark, tattered clouds. The dog barked again and leaped ahead.

"No! Come back!" he shouted and ran after it, but stopped dead when he saw what lay ahead. At first, he thought it was a wall, a massive white wall rising high above the forest canopy. Where on earth did it come from! His jaw dropped the moment he realized its true form. Not more than fifty meters away, a dense mist drifted towards him. It was vast and dark and formidable - an aggressive ocean of vapors that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. He retreated in fright.

He called out to the dog again. But it ran into the mist and never returned. Cursing, Ramesh pulled out a torch and followed.

The trees began to buzz with life.

He looked up again and still saw nothing. The mist was almost on him. He paused, took a deep breath and boldly stepped into it, and his senses went numb. All he could see was ghastly grey vapors swirling around him. The forest went eerily quiet. He looked back, but the path was lost in the mist. He took another step; and he froze. He had seen something. He narrowed his eyes and looked again. In the storm of vapors, a dark figure stood silently, watching him. His legs jerked backwards, his hands began to tremble, yet he leaned forward for a better look... a girl, and he recognized her only too well. His face contorted into a silent scream.

She was back!

Warm blood rushed down his spine. She stood in front of him, blocking his path, staring through the veil of mist. With a surge of desperation, he turned around and ran. He had to get away from the mist, anyhow, so he ran, and kept running.

The movement in the trees followed.

He tried to call for help, but couldn't summon the strength to shout. All that came out from his mouth were whimpers of helplessness. And then, he tripped over something and fell. He tried to get up, but fear had crippled him, and he fell again. He looked back. The mist inched closer. So he began to crawl.

The trees mocked.

He heard the dog bark. But the sound came from somewhere far away, maybe from a distant mountain or maybe from a different world. He tried to call for it, but only managed to splutter instead. Then, he saw it again, right in front of him. It was the second time since the phone-call. It couldn't be a coincidence.

Another pug mark.

The past came swirling back. That cruel night. That dark cave. Those abandoned barrels.

Ramesh began to cry. His limbs felt numb with fear. He clutched his talisman and mustering all his courage and strength, got to his feet. And then, lightning struck, illuminating what lay hidden in the foliage.

His eyes saw them, his legs retreated from them, his hands shielded his face from them, yet his mind protested to acknowledge their existence.

Hundreds of men and women sat on the trees!

The lightning died and the trees went back into darkness. But the sight lingered. He could feel their ghostly eyes on him.

Then came a growl from the mist – a raspy, short growl, but cunningly long enough to confirm its existence and freeze his heart.

Seventeen years, and he still recognized it. It still chilled his blood. He backed away from the mist; he backed away from the trees. His knees could no longer support him and he fell off the path and rolled down the slope into the forest. The talisman fell from his grasp as he landed into a pool of wet mud. Spitting out bits of grass and twigs, he scrambled on his fours. A few feet away the land fell down to his village and then to a vast valley beyond. He saw lights flickering in the center of the village - the temple. Towards the east, there was a lone bulb at the edge of the market - his house. He cried for help, but his throat was dry. The village didn't hear his silent moans, but the people in the trees did. The black canopy of trees burst into whispers. He saw hundreds of faces peeping through them. He tried to crawl out of the mud, muttering prayers to every deity he worshipped.

A pair of yellow eyes appeared from behind a tree trunk. They watched him for a moment and vanished.

The whispers grew into an excited chatter.

The eyes appeared again, this time closer.

He flailed his hands madly to crawl away, tears washing away the dirt on his face.

The eyes circled him, coming closer every time they appeared. Something growled, and Ramesh collapsed with fright. Something moved. For the briefest moment, he saw black spots on a yellow coat. He reached for his amulet, but it was gone. A deep ringing jangled in his ears.

Something came closer.

Something crouched.

Something bared its fangs.

Something pounced.

With a yelp, he tried to shield himself with his handsbut they were no protection; with a crack they gave away under the immense weightof something. He felt rough fur on his face. He saw anger in those yellow eyes.Then, he felt burning pain as fangs ripped open his body. His insides layscattered around him. The world began to fade. The trees began to disappear. Heknew he was dying. Then why were those faces becoming clearer? And there she stood by a ghastly trunk, watchinghim...