Betrayal

Richard Thomas

We registered at the reception and enquired about the magazine section. The receptionist guided us to the section filled with loads of magazines. The magazines were arranged perfectly such that it took only a few minutes to locate issues of the 'Belief' magazine.

"Here it is," said I.

"Wow...great. Now what?"

"Search for all the issues of this magazine for an article written by Richard Thomas"

"Impossible"

"No. It's definitely possible. All we have to do is search for the issues four or five years back. Most probably issues of 2000 and 2001"

"Okay. Let's do this"

I smiled at her. Since it's a monthly magazine we took all the 24 issues of years 2000 and 2001, reached a table at the corner as it could provide us a little separation from the rest of the people inside. We searched the content area of each and every magazine for Richard Thomas's article. One by one we closed the issues but found nothing for quite some time. I was going through the content of the September 26, 2001 issue of the magazine...

.................................Stephen Jones

................................Andria Mithur

.................................Somnath Gupta

..................................Sam Anderson

...................................Seema Davis

..................................Amber Maria

.................................Richard Thomas

Wait!! I got him.

"Mia, look at this"

She closed the issue that she held in her hand and focussed on the one I was pointing to. "Haunted by a hallucination........ Richard Thomas........page 19-21"

I turned the issue to page 19

HAUNTED BY A HALLUCINATION

RICHARD THOMAS

(richieraz23)

I am still wondering what spirits are all about. Are they mere unfulfilled wishes or an indication of the afterlife? I rarely believe in the existence of ghosts and paranormal stuff, but they do occupy a part of this vast universe. We normally do not sense them as we do not come in direct contact with objects they are connected with. Once we come across one such stuff we could sense some signals indicating their presence. We fear to consult with the outer world, as many still believe that there is no such thing as ghosts. Once we open our mind, we would end up being named as a person with a mental disorder. We are excited about watching a movie circling around ghosts and filled with paranormal activities which are far different from the fantasy and science fiction world. Without our knowledge the impact imparted by such movies stays somewhere deep down in our brain and when suddenly the power went off our brain automatically recollects the paranormal activities that were displayed in those movies. Immediately we run in search of torches or candles thinking that light in the dark could chase away the unwanted existence. I am not an exception. I didn't believe all the paranormal existences I heard so far but I couldn't resist when the one so dear to me lost life after experiencing one such existence in real life. All these started after a few days of renting a villa. I remember how happy she was on the day she entered it. Slowly she began uttering incidents that I never came across. I laughed at her when she mentioned hearing strange music from a barren locked room. I never realized how she might have suffered deep inside when I took her to a consultant on hearing that she visualizes some writings which no one else can see, neither me. The consultant named it a hallucination. To her, it's an unusual paranormal presence and for the rest of us, it's just a sick mind that started hallucinating weird things. We drown her words with medications; failed to hear when she said she witnessed strange things around her; made a mistake by letting her suffer all alone and it became too late as she drowned herself completely with loads of medications to leave the earth in search of peace. I should have heard her. It's too late when I realized how she suffered all alone. Hallucination itself the worst form of haunting. She left a note with just two words "Get him." Get whom? I am still searching for her in the clouds to understand the meaning of those words.

(based on a real-life experience)

"This is it"

"I think he is related to the archaeologist who rented the villa"

"Yes," I noted down his email address on my palm.

"Nothing particular about the villa but the incidents match what we experienced yesterday. I hope we have nothing to deal with him"

"Actually we have"

"What is in your mind?"

"Listen, I think it's not just words; he is trying to convey something through it."

"What is that he is trying to convey?"

"Only he could say"

"We got nothing to do with him"

"Let's meet him as he is the first person or someone who experienced everything before us. Moreover, this is just a part, I think he got more to tell us in person"

"Okay send him a message"

"Let's do that once we get into the car"

We arranged magazine issues properly in place. As soon as we reached the car, Mia took my mobile out and entered the email address in the To: column.

"Oh! You remember the mail address"

"Yeah!" she smiled.

'Hello Mr. Richard, I am Anna and I live in the happy villa, Berkeley. I read your article today and got something to discuss with you in person. If you are willing to meet me please send your residential address. I am looking forward to your reply- with regards- Anna'

The message was sent with fingers crossed.

"I think we sent him an open statement"

"A positive reply would be sufficient"