DARK DARLING

CHAPTER 2 : Mr. Shutup

The whistling of the engine crack stopped. There is a new girl in the village, a teenaged blond. In short, she was attractive enough for any guy to check her out at least twice, while she walked away without even noticing. As she stepped out of the train, her eyes came across the board with the station name ' Castleford Greenwoods Station ', which was named after the village itself. It was a dull afternoon with a sky full of clouds. Shivering out in the cold, she pulled her jacket close and proceeded towards the village. Jeep services were available from the station to the village which stops every day at five evening. It was already fifteen to five. She rushed out of the station and reached the jeep stand to find, the last jeep already was gone. Knowing this her face lost the joy, which she was carrying all the way to meet her mother after so many days. She knew that the forest was not at all safe after sunset. Neither does her mom knows about her surprise visit to the village. She sat down on a wooden seat hopelessly, knowing that the next train she would get was not before morning.

Time never ceases. It didn't take much to turn six. Not a single being could be seen around. The only sound that disturbed the silence of the dark deserted pathway was the cricket's chirp. Street lights don't serve their purpose as they gave off a faint gleam throughout the night. As the sun went down, the cold became unendurable. Reports of people missing during night time never found again, crossed her thoughts continuously which turned her eyes full of terror and legs froze in cold. She was engrossed in million thoughts and numerous things started tickling her fear more. She was on the verge of breaking into tears. Suddenly a feeble sound came from a distance, distracting her. She opened her bag, caught hold of a big metal torch, fearful eyes fixed to the direction from where the sound was coming, determined to bash off whatever may it be. The noise increased accompanied by two bright light which kept moving forward. She gripped the torch tightest and didn't allow herself to blink in the fear of missing the chance to defend. The noise increased, it was the sound of an old vehicle, two bright lights turned to be the head lights of a rusty jeep which was coming towards her. Atypical thoughts came to her mind, " maybe this is the freaky kidnapper responsible for all those who are missing from the village, maybe a killer, or maybe a villager stuck just like me, anyone may it be, it's better to take help from a human than being eaten up by some wild beast. " She was in two thoughts whether to approach the jeep for a lift or not and finally made her mind, " if there is a way to save my day...then this is the only choice I do have maybe... "

She rushed towards the rusted jeep waving and crying for help, still having the torch in tight grip being unsure of her safety. The vehicle was brought to a screeching halt, as she suddenly came in front of it. Soon she could see the person driving the vehicle. He was tall, face covered with a beard and was wearing a clumsy coat. His sharp nose was breathing out smoke due to cold. He was not looking like a kidnapper or was he. She murmured in a breaking voice, " I....... I need help...as far as I heard the forest is not a safe place at night...I have an address...I am ready to pay any amount. " There was a short pause, then she again started, " I am new here, please hel........ " But before she could finish, he opened the back door from inside without a single word. Crouched in cold, she went inside shivering, gave him the piece of paper with the address on it and settled down still having the torch in her grip within her bag. The door banged closed and the engine roared to life leaving the station behind.

With headlights on, the car continued moving on a craggy road. The village is connected to the station having woods in between as the village is surrounded by it, followed by hills. " Hi, I am Beatrix ", she spoke breaking the absolute silence. But no reply came from the other end. This made her little annoyed. After keeping quiet for a while she again proceeded with a new trial, " May I know who you are ? ". But the same ignorance as before hurt her ego made her disgusted for which she decided not to ask him anything anymore and sat back. The Jeep entered the woods. It was immensely dense and nothing could be seen around except a few feet of road in front, which was feebly lighted with the headlights. He increased the speed at its top and the rusted junker moved through the dead forest. Beatrix was known to be an extremely lively extrovert and the very trait of her didn't allow her to sit quite. Suddenly she pulled herself a little closer to the man on the driver's seat and began, " look, I can understand that I am a complete stranger to you...so you don't wish to tell me anything about yourself...aaa.....right?........mmmm ok I take your silence as a big yes...so, I have a question for you....its like....aaa...mmmmm.....how can you be so dumb ? Compare my age with yours...look at my innocent face...then decide to tell me anything or not ". " Ohh god! shit what did I just say...again messed things up with my silly words...aaahhh...he will think so foolish of me... ", she thought in her mind biting her lips. All these rubbish of her didn't make him speak a word. He managed to keep an expressionless face as it was from the beginning which was partially visible to her in the day-night mirror. His ignorance made her forget about the fear for a while, as she was busy trying to make him talk. Suddenly her eyes caught glimpse of a diary which was kept in the back pocket of the driver's seat, but she dared not to touch it. She got really irritated of this silent journey and all of a sudden shouted, " will you say something Mr. SHUTUP? " Now, after so long there came a change in him. Although he didn't utter a word, but opened the side window, took out a fag from his pocket, placed it between his lips sideways, lit it with a unique looking old lighter of his, and began puffing. " what the hell...I don't like this smell...please don't smoke inside the car...huh....aaaa......but I can allow you in one condition.......only If you give me one pull... ", she exclaimed with an infantile smile on her face. "It's too cold, please ", after saying so she was sure that he won't refuse, but this man was too rude indeed. Not getting a smoke, she sat there disgusted, looking out of the window. The wolf's howl pierced the silence of the dark woods outside. Crickets never stopped their chirp. The noisy jeep kept moving.

The journey was quiet for a long time until a sudden jerk which gave her a strong jolt on her seat. The jeep jumped and everything in it got misplaced almost. " Such a bad driver you are ", she shouted, but it was very much clear from the tone of her voice that the anger was not due to his driving. Suddenly she noticed that, due to the jerk, few pages from the diary which was kept in the seat pocket, flew out and was lying near her feet which was not noticed by him. She knew this is the only way to know at least something about this strange man. She pretended to look out of the window and tried to reach the pages with her right arm, not moving her body a bit. Finally, after few trials, she caught hold of those. There were three pages, which she slowly put inside her bag and sat quietly. The jeep came out of the forest, and another fifteen minutes travel, they were inside the deserted village. Streets were empty, shops were closed, windows were tightly locked. It looked like an abandoned village, it looked just as it looked last time when she came here when she was just thirteen, it looked the same way it looks every night. She was lost in her thoughts, gazing at the beauty of the empty village as she has never seen such a deserted place in her town when the jeep slowed down gradually and stopped in front of a familiar looking house. She recalled the garden outside, and a smile came in her face, it is where she played with her mom five years back. She is home. Finally, she realized, " whoever this man on the car maybe, he cannot be the one responsible for all the kidnapping incidents, or else I wouldn't be in front of my home by now...he is kind indeed, no matter how strange he might be ". Different thoughts passed her mind," then who can he might be? Must be some valiant guy to roam around at dusk in such a village, or maybe he has nothing to fear about, maybe he has no one to lose or no one to cry for his loss ". Her deep thoughts were shattered by the bang of the door, which he opened for her from inside. " Wait till the door opens, they might get scared hearing the doorbell ringing at this hour of the day ", after completing this in a cold voice, she got down from the jeep and walked towards her home. She opened the big rusty iron gate with a creak, walked up the narrow path through the garden, reached the main door and rang the doorbell. " l have changed a lot in these five years, will she recognize me?...of course she will...I am her only daughter ", she stood straight in front of the peephole so that her mother can see that there is no threat in opening the door. She turned back and saw the jeep was still waiting. Faint voices came from inside, " it's her, she is here ", and the door opened. " Oh my god, my baby girl, come inside, how did you reach here so late? Are you fine? My sweetheart ", exclaimed a lady from inside and hugged Beatrix tightly. She started, " mom.... ", but the lady interrupted, " It's not good to remain outside for long dear, come inside, I will listen to everything ". Beatrix turned back to thank the stranger, but by that time the engine already roared into life, and within a second the jeep went away deserting the place in deadly silence.

Both of them came inside, the lady shut the door and locked it with two big metal locks. It was a cozy room, with red carpet on the floor, dim lit lamps hung from the ceiling dully illuminating the room. Excluding Beatrix, there were five other people in the room, her mother and four students whom her mother teaches after school. As it got too late while teaching, her mom suggested them to stay at their place overnight and leave at morning. " I love you mom, it was so hard to live there ", Beatrix didn't complete when she hugged her mother and tears dropped down her eyes. " I understand my kid, you don't worry at all, you will live here with me now onwards. Today you must be exhausted after such a long journey, go get fresh, we will have our dinner together and then take a nice nap, tomorrow I will listen to everything dear ", said her mother. " I feel so bad, I should have thanked him before he left ", said Beatrix. " Whom are you talking about dear? ", asked her mom. She replied, " the man on the car, the one who was waiting outside... it's him with whose help I could reach home today... ". " What was that moron doing there? ", exclaimed her mother in a disgusted tone. Beatrix, " do you know him, mom? ". Mother, " no one in the village knows anything properly about him or about what he does. He doesn't talk with anyone, neither does he comes out frequently. He remains on his own, lives at the outskirt of the village near the woods in a worn-out house. Keep distance from him, dear maybe he is the one behind the missing people, that is what some of the old men were suspecting ". Beatrix, " what is his name ? ". Mother, " no one knows that. " Suddenly one of the students, who was looking out of the window when the jeep arrived said, " he does have a name....The Handsome Beast.....at least that is what we call him. " Saying so she gave a smutty smile.

TO BE CONTINUED...

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Thank you for spending your valuable time and reading my story. If you like it please do tap/click on the star below to vote for this chapter and encourage me and help me to grow...have a great day ahead...God Bless You...