The two friends excused themselves from the party, and moved out.
It was 11 in the night, and fog had started to descend on the wintry night. The roads were more or less empty, and not even a solitary figure could be seen. The trees planted on the roadsides made a thick canopy overhead, and it made the already moonless night all the more darker. The orange street-light mixed with the fog the present a ghastly scenario. Occasionally, the bark of dogs could be heard somewhere in the distances.
'The music is so loud, you can hardly listen to what one is saying', remarked one of them, the thinner one.
'Yeah, i agree', replied the second. She was visibly anxious. It was showing on her face. Silently, they made their way towards the colony gate, and exited it.
They turned towards their right and started to walk. The fog was not thick enough, and they could see that the road went straight on for more than a kilometer, though they knew that there were 2 cross-roads ahead at regular interval. Residential blocks flanked both their sides.
'I’m happy you know, that we sorted out our differences.' said the second one.
'Me too, you know she said them in such a way that i was taken aback. Maybe i should have talked about it with you, i guess am sorry.' said the first one slowly.
'No need for that sorry, we are back to being best friends, that’s enough.'
One of them looked over her shoulder, and stopped.
‘What happened?’ asked the second one.
‘I thought I heard someone.’
‘Really? I didn’t. Maybe some dog..?’
They talked about other things as they walked on.
Passed the first cross-road, and continued onwards. Suddenly, the same girl stopped again.
'What?' asked the other one.
'I saw a movement, a shadow ahead. I guess we should go back now.'
The second girl looked in the direction in which the first one had pointed, but saw nothing. 'I don't see anything but, I'am sure it was nothing. Maybe the light was playing tricks. It can happen you know, with this mist and the light.'
'No. I am telling you, there was someone there. HELLO? Anyone there??'
Silence.
‘See, didn’t I tell you? Lets walk only a little further and then we will turn back. Besides, we are only 10 minutes walk from our home.’
*****
'...and you know, he is madly in love with his girl. It's so cute.. barely in 7th and so serious for each other.' said the skinny one.'
'Yeah, i so agree. Anyway, you heard about that break-out recently? They say a serial-killer escaped along with other small-time criminals. Scary, isn't it?'
'L.O.L.. Yeah, fancy bumping into him right now. Would do you reckon he will do..?' and the two laughed.
They had walked for nearly 15 mins before they decided to turn back, and were now halfway through it. They were now walking by a huge wall which ran along their left. They reached the first of the two cross-roads when both of them heard footsteps behind them. They stopped, and grasped each other's hand. Silently they turned on the spot and saw, through the fog which had grown thick by this time, a lone figure standing behind them.
The guy was wearing a long overcoat and jeans, and looked filthy. They could tell he had a rugged triangular face, and appeared to have bloodshot eyes. His head was delicately tilted towards one side, as he surveyed the two girls.
'Oh damn, who is he?!', said one of them. The man took a step towards them, and then stopped. He seemed to be contemplating something.
With a silent urgency, they turned their back towards him, and started walking towards party. They could hear the man behind following them. Panicking, they broke into a run, but the man still seemed to be following them.
'STOP!', he cried from behind. One of the girls suddenly turned towards left, and the other one followed her. They had attempted to throw the man off their trail, hoping that the thick fog-cover would hide their detour.
They continued walking briskly, as they took another turn towards right and walked straight. Fingers crossed, lips moving in silent prayer, they hoped they would reach their colony quickly enough to evade the man following them.
'What if he is the serial-killer?', murmured one of them, visibly shaken.
'I wouldn't want to think about that. Lets just reach our colony quickly.'
They continued onwards for another 2 minutes before the sound of loud music reached them. With a sigh of relief, both of them looked at each other. It was the very music which had made them leave the party to talk in peace.
The sound of music was growing louder and louder..
'What do you reckon? Not more than a minute before we reach?'
'Yeah, probably sooner than that.' the other one replied, and then added, 'I won't roam at nights like this from now on for sure.'
Both of them smiled,
and then cried out loud.
The very man they had fled from minutes ago stood towards their left. This time, he had something in his hand which shone in the orange light. With a gleam of triumph, he started walking towards the two girls. The girls stood rooted at the spot, unable to move a muscle. Surely, it is the mass-murderer...
