Monsoon Spirits - Part I

"It won't come out that easily."
"Why? Spirits don't have a brain do they?"
"Well..."
"See. This is a rather simple solution. Let's just do it."
"Bah! You don't know one thing about human emotion do you?"
"I have plenty. Now just do as I say and I promise you won't be late for your next date."
I sighed. How did I get into this situation?

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Thinking rationally, it was already two days since I got this ton of documents. There were a total of 15 people missing. They went missing during the evening when it becomes dark. "About 1900 hrs to 1930 hrs." or something of that sort was written in the 15 page brief report. I took a sip of coffee. There was no pattern of attacks. They happened very randomly and at random places. All the victims went missing on an near empty metro train, but strangely enough the metro card and the wallet or purse in which it was kept was found. Thanks to that we came to know about this abnormal activity.


Then the realization suddenly dawns upon me and I realize I've been made a fool by that vicious twin again. I sigh and decide not to think about it. Somehow, I was more interested in the puzzle in front of me... After about an hour of brain storming and decoding all the info I got. I couldn't think of anything. My phone rang and with perfect timing too. I picked it up. It was my girlfriend. She said if we could meet up tomorrow and I naturally said yes. Never let an opportunity slip by. I get up from my chair and turn around. A familiar looking girl in a black robe was standing in front of me.


"Just knock before entering dammit. You guys scare the shit out of me sometimes."
"You weren't scared this time?"
"No."
"Found anything?"
"Nothing."
"Need some help with something?"
I sighed. She was the only one who'd ask me if I needed any help. But that was the problem. I didn't know what step to take, so I didn't know what to ask her to help me with.
She waited queitly for my reply. I didn't really reply. However, something struck me.
"Hey. Your reports say nothing about the cards."
"We did mention it."
"No, I mean, data like how much money it had, or what was the serial number of the card and all that stuff."
She looked at me. "OK. I'll try and get all that info. For now you should rest. You have a date tomorrow." And then she gave me a freakish smile and walked away towards the balcony.

I slept peacefully that day and got up the next morning. I found a brown envelope with the morning newspaper. As I had thought, it had the details of all the cards found in the metro. And some points were neatly highlighted by a fluorescent marker. The figures were the balance remaining on the metro card. The balance on each card was exactly Rs. 99.90/-

It seems it was an obvious observation to even an amateur like her. However, what I was trying was to connect this value with the timings. Well, not much progress that way. So I forget all of it and prepare for my upcoming date.

It's now early afternoon and now I'm waiting for my girlfriend on Sector 18 metro station. She is about 15 minutes late. I mentally prepare myself to be angry at her. She comes with a sweet smile and even a sweeter voice she says "I'm sorry! There was too much crowd and traffic. Just couldn't get on an earlier train." That unfair amount of sweetness renders me weak and I find myself giving her unneeded sympathy.

"So where do you wanna go?"
"I wanna go to Palika"
"Huh? CP? OK. Let's go then."
"You have a card right?"
"Metro Card. Ya I have one."
"Let's go then!"
My girlfriend goes ahead first and flashes her card on the sensor. The path slides open and the display shows a balance Rs. 99.90/- in green. I feel a chill go down my spine. My stomach and chest feel a strange sense of uneasiness. I can't move. There are people lining up behind me. My girlfriend who has now run a few steps ahead suddenly turns back and then asks with a worried tone, "Something wrong sweety?"
"Ugh. Nothing." I flash my card. The balance is Rs. 2.23/-. This has to be a joke right? Am I really the one taking her on a date?

Well, I first relax myself thinking that it was afternoon. All the occurrences happened during the evening. Meaning that She should be in the safe zone. And out of the hundred thousand odd people traveling there have to be many who have such a balance left in their cards. Thinking this we got up on the next train to Rajiv Chowk Station, which was directly in CP.

But then my peace of mind was vanquished by a monotonous voice - 'You're wrong. There are only unlucky people with such balance.'
I turn around to see my nemesis right in front of me with a serious "I wanna Kill" expression on her face. With her red eyes more fiery than ever, she continued, 'And she may do something in broad daylight now. After having 15 people, she must have had enough spiritual energy to do something bad now.'
'You have to be joking right? There is nothing that can go wrong, at least not my girlfriend.'
The red eyes look behind my shoulder. I turn around to see my girlfriend. Her otherwise shining eyes were lifeless. "Hey! Akansha!! Are you OK."
"Yes. I'm just feeling..." and she fell on her knees and her forehead hit the train wall.

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Part two of this story is Monsoon Spirits - Part II. (<- It's a link... you can click it... ^_^ )

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Author's Note
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For Once, I wanted to write a horror story, but then I guess it ain't easy to write horror in today's age of high visual effect movies and animations. :?

Yes, this story has a Part II, where I will hopefully conclude this. For now, I'm feeling lazy and sleepy *Yawns*. Guess the ending :)

P.S. Now I've also italicized the dialogs in this one too...