No Way To Escape | Novel

CHAPTER 36: MEETING HIM

After my visitors' departure, I knew what I had to do then. There was now my appointment with Dr. Eastwood – which I hadn't informed Murph or Fred about. Only Bob knew about it. There was no problem if Fred got to know about it. It's just that we hadn't been in contact since the train incident.

I rushed into my apartment and looked at the clock. Still two hours to go. I went into the bedroom and dressed myself up. Looking at the mirror, I took a deep breath and then exhaled the air out in a long spell. I was nervous, palpably.

You can do it. Just a test – I told to myself and then trudged out to the hallway. I was just about to open the door when I remembered I hadn't carried any currency.

And in this manner, I was going to ruin it further.

Giving out a scoff, I walked into the bedroom again, got the dollars from the drawer beside the bed and was about to leave the room when something shone at my face in the sunshine rushing into the room through the windows. I hindered the light with my hands and then looked in the direction of the reflection. The silver coin of Warwick's it was. It had somehow fallen down from its place and had rolled down to the bed.

I picked it up and frowned at it. A horrific sequence had started from up there – the day we went to the Warwick's and Larry had picked up this coin in his excitement. I didn't want any memento of it. Infuriated, I got to the window and threw the coin out of it. I witnessed the projectile as it fell down in the back alley with a soft, but piercing clinging sound, then bouncing and disappearing there on the road.

Closing the window, I walked back again to the hallway, wore the shoes and went on to open the door. But the knob didn't turn. It was stuck. I tried hard to rotate and open it but it didn't. Then the door shook, terribly and suddenly. I backed away. The tremble was for a moment. I stepped forward slowly and looked out through the lens. No one out there. Just the door of my neighbor.

As I moved my eye back, it trembled again. I backed away faster than the last time. Then again looked back outside through the lens. Again, there was no one. A voice then called out from behind. 'Liam'

I turned around slowly. No one... Again. The voice was echoing. Then suddenly a light started appearing in front of me, at the end of the length of the house. Then something started forming in front of me – from the floor itself. It was someone's feet. First came the bones, then the muscles, then the skin and then the shoes over it. Then it started taking the form of a man exactly in the same manner – Bone, muscle, skin and then the clothes. It was walking in my direction all the time, slowly.

It was forming a strong, lean and blonde man. After his face was formed, it could be guessed that he was some man in his late-forties. His face, with a rough stubble, had a calm, but slightly grimacing look. His eyes were deep and shiny and they were pointed at my face all the time he took to reach me. His arms seemed strong and well-built. He was wearing a pea-green striped vintage two-pocketed three-fourth sleeved, spearpoint collar shirt alongwith faintly striped flannel trousers. He put his hands in his trouser pockets as he finally stopped, just a few feet in front of me.

'You don't know me, but you do', he said. I had been looking at him, dumbfounded.

'What do you mean?', I asked.

'Recognize me?'. He leaned a bit. 'We had met at the countryside road'. He gave a smile and then straightened. I shook my head and then said, 'You... You? –'

'The man whom you stabbed with a fucking candle in the eye'. He started laughing.

'But you –'

'This is me, Liam. The real me. In my astral form as the man which I once used to be'

'Oh my... God!'. Retreating back slowly, I softly collided with the door and then turning back, started to bang and kick at the door – something similar to what had happened there at the dark cabin. But this time there was a difference. The door was a real one, and there were people outside who could here me.