“Other schools have classes up to 6 PM,” Chris said.

  “So, what?”

  “Don't you think we need classes up to 6 pm too? Our Board

  exam is near, and more than half of the syllabus has not been

  completed yet.”

  “I don't think we need classes up to 6 PM….”

  “Good morning class.” The teacher said as she entered the class.

  “Good morning Madam.”

  “Take out your English book and turn in page number 455.”

  “Is it possible that there might be ghosts in this school?” Chris

  continued with a whispering voice.

  “Why should there be a ghost in this school?”

  “I don't know. But, I have heard many creepy stories about this

  school. You know the founder principal of this school right.”

  “Yes, I have seen his photos. He died from a heart attack, right?”

  “That is what school told us. But, I have heard people saying that

  a ghost in the school killed him. They said that he used to live in a

  school. And one night something happens. People heard him crying

  loudly and no one was there the next day.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Another story says there used to be a hostel in this building. One

  night something happened and the hostelers started doing unusual

  things. Later when they were taken to hospital, one part of their

  brain was missing.”

  “Don't tell me you believe in these stories.”

  “I do.”

  “Blimey. How can you believe those stories? Nothing makes

  sense in these stories. So, let's assume that these stories are real

  then where did the principal go? Into a portal like in Stephen King's

  novel Fairytale and then into a new world, a perfect fantasy story.

  Bullshit.”

  “I didn't say that. I am just implying that there might be truth in

  these stories. See, there is no hostel in the main building, no

  classes up to 6 PM, and guards sit outside the gate. There is the

  possibility of ghosts. I have another story to make you believe.”

  “God, no more stories, please.”

  “This will be the last.”

  “Okay, But this should be the last one.”

  “There was one person, a thief. He was running from cops, and as

  he was running he found this school and got inside for hiding. After

  getting inside he strolled around in the garden. As he was strolling, a

  sharp drill noise rose from the building. He thought it was suspicious

  but he didn't go inside. That sound continued for some minutes and

  stopped. After some minutes that sound rose again. And then he

  heard someone crying. Hearing that he got scared and then -”

  “Interesting.” Their teacher said. “Do you want more time to finish

  your epic?”

  “No madam.”

  “Okay then get out of the class.”

  “Sorry miss.”

  “Get out.” She shouted.

  Both of them got out of the desk and ran toward the door.

  “That thief must have heard her

  .” “Might be.”

  Both of them went to the cafeteria and bought Real Juice

  . “Do know what happened to that man,” Chris said.

  “I don't know and I don't want to know.”

  Near the cafeteria, stood an old class. A few years back, there used

  to be a science lab. Now it was a store room. There was a dustbin

  there. They went there to throw their empty packets of juice. What

  they saw there shocked them. In that dustbin, there was something

  wrapped in white cloth smeared with red which seemed like blood.

  “God, what is that?”

  “Let's open it.”

  He stretched his hands and pulled the cloth wrapping. Under it was

  the head of a man, covered with blood, with two eyes hanging by his

  nose, eye sockets were dark empty shells, most of the tooths

  were gone, saliva dripping from the mouth.

  “Blimey. What happens here during the night?”

  “Ghosts, I said you but you didn't believe me.”

  “Let's investigate it.”

  “What do you mean by investigating?”

  “We will stay here at night and see what happens here.”

  “What will we say to our parents?”

  “That we are going to sleep in each other's house.”

  “I don't think it is a good decision, Charlie.”

  “Are you scared?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Then go home.”

  “I won't. I will stay here with you.”

  Orange light filled the storeroom, a crow cawed, and the smell of dirt

  dominated any other smell in the room, at the far corner, there was a

  long poster of old students, besides it was two broken benches, and

  tattered rags, above the ceiling a filament bulb was hanging on a wire

  .

  Charlie and Chris were sitting in one corner of the Charlie had

  brought a book called Needful Things by Stephen King so, he was

  reading but Chris had nothing for entertainment, so he was

  studying the course book.

  “6:00 PM,” Charlie said and reached the door. “I will go and see

  the corridor.”

  He roamed in the corridor and found nothing unusual. So,

  He went back to the store room.

  “Nothing unusual,” Charlie said. “We should sleep now and get

  up at 9 PM.”

  A sharp drill sound rose from somewhere. Charlie was not sure if

  it was there or not.

  Where is this sound coming from?

  A sharp light penetrated his eyelid and Charlie slowly opened his

  eyes. What lies ahead of him shocked him. There was a surgical light

  above his head and around him were some people wearing

  masks, hands covered with surgical gloves, and each of them had a

  different surgical instruments in their hand.

  A person from the group, who seemed like their head had a drill

  in his hand. He jerked up, pushed that person and he dashed

  through the door.

  Galloping through the corridor, he observed the place.

  This place was completely transformed. This wasn't his school.

  The floor used to have carpets but now it was marble-covered

  floors and the ceiling had a bulb that threw green lights. The light

  from those bulbs was dim as if it was just there for show.

  Lord, what is this place? How did I come to be here?

  The corridor was dark, and lights from those bulbs were only

  sufficient to see the steps. Running there felt like running in the

  night with night vision glasses on. Both sides of the corridor had

  various rooms within short intervals. The door of those rooms had

  small glass planes to see through it and while glancing through it

  every room had one surgical light, phenyle was sharp in the

  atmosphere.

  Galloping, he came across a reception. The reception had a long

  oak table, on the table, stood two large monitors and a telephone,

  beside the table, were two chairs and across the table were 4 sofa

  with leather coverings facing each other, in front of the sofa was a

  table with a glass top and on top of it was a rotten flower.

  Trrrrring, trrrring………… telephone rang.

  Should I pick it up? Who can it be? Mom, or Dad, or Chris's

  parents. It could be my parents.

  He crept toward it.

  “Hello,” he said with a quivering voice. His whole body

  was trembling. His body became cold with sweat.

  “Mr. Charlie .” The person on the other end said. Charlie's eyes

  widened, his throat dried, and his mind rushed with different

  interpretations.

  Ghosts. Ghosts. Monster. Zombies.

  “You are needed here in room 106, ASAP. Doctors are waiting

  for …….”

  He broke into a run. As he was running his feet stumbled and he

  slipped into a room. He got up, and dust off his uniform, and reached

  near the well.

  Well was not that deep, but it was empty. Nothing except hard

  concrete at the bottom. Jumping in it can break the skull. But he did

  not think about it and divided it into it.

  He was inside the well reaching for the end but all of a sudden

  he was inside a bus. Across him was a girl whom he knew well.

  She died, didn't she? What is she doing here and how is she here?

  She is dead I know it she is dead. News of her death was all over the

  school.

  He glanced outside from the window of the bus. Outside everything

  was floating in the sky. What we call land had no existence there.

  Bricks, buildings, trolleys, buses everything was floating in the empty

  sky.

  All of a sudden he felt a sharp pain in his eyes and slowly his eyes

  crept out of the sockets leaving a black, dark hole. That dark, empty

  socket vibrated and slowly the world around him swirled, making an

  enormous whirlpool.

  The tail of that whirlpool crept over his face, crawled, and went

  inside the eye socket. As the converging continued, his stomach

  began swelling like a balloon. The bus, that girl, and the buildings

  all contracted and went inside him riding that whirlpool. Colors went

  with it too. Only his outline remained. Every other thing was inside

  his balloon like a stomach that could burst at any time.

  A surge of pain rose inside his head, and slowly his head opened

  like a chest, making the outline of the brain visible. The brain

  slinked out of the gaps of the open head like a serpent. A man

  materialized from nowhere and opened his head as wide as

  possible, then climbed inside the freshly cleaned head and sealed it

  from the inside.

  His stomach rumbled and he puked all the things that went inside

  him. Bus, girl, everything came out. Along with those, his lungs,

  heart, stomach, kidney, and other body parts leaped out, and from

  his eye socket fountain of blood burst out.

  With a thump, he crashed into the bottom of the well.

  It was all hallucination then. Charlie thought and got up, dusting

  off his uniform. But, it felt too real to be a hallucination.

  “Wait, where is Chris?”

  “Caught by them? God, don't tell me they got him .” His eyes

  widened, his heartbeat rose, and a certain kind of warmness filled him

  from inside, his body felt heavier, and his leg felt like a rope on which

  his heavy body was resting. He loses control of his feet and stumbled

  backwards, and leaned against the wall of the well.

  I am the cause of it.

  I killed him. He thought and raised his palm. His palms were

  covered with red, blood. I killed him.

  She is dead.

  He is dead.

  I will soon be dead.

  All of this is planned. He who lives up in the sky planned it. Planned

  it from the beginning, planned before I was even born. This dreadful

  ending …..

  Photos of his parents pop up in his mind. Photos of Chris’

  s parents pop up in his head.

  They don't know Chris is dead. They think that he is at my house,

  having fun. What will they do if he does not arrive home tomorrow? They

  will call my house.

  “Hello, Mrs….. Chris has not arrived yet, is he still in your house?”

  “What! What are you talking about?”

  “Chris phoned me and said that he will be sleeping at

  your house.”

  “Charlie phoned me yesterday and said the same thing, he said

  that he will be sleeping at your home” and then phones will drop from

  their hand, and then both women will burst out.

  The thing that fears me more than dying is people waiting for me

  while I die going toward them. And now the same fear has become

  real.

  Mom will be searching for me, and Chis’s mom will searching for

  him, hoping to find us, or we might return ourselves. And at last,

  they will find out about our corpse. And then they will be shattered

  from inside, as time passes they will regain themself joining those

  shattered parts but, a part will not join, and they will not be as before.

  Our dads will also be affected by our death but, they will hide

  it from all.

  So, this is how our story ends. Charlie and Chris’s tale

  of friendship.”

  Charlie was in kindergarten when he met Chris. It was the first day

  of kindergarten. His mom came with him. Even though school was

  Stolen story; please report.

  only a few meters away, she came with him.

  Mom's love for a child.

  Holding his mother's finger, he went to school. A handkerchief was

  hanging in his shirt pocket by safety a pin, bottle with a thin strap was

  hanging by his neck.

  At the gate of the school, there was a Kafal (Myrica esculenta)

  seller.

  “Mom, I want that.” He said. She bought her kafal for Rs 20.

  “Now, now, study hard and don't give problems to the teacher ok

  .” “Ok,” he said cheerfully and smiled. After that, she turned toward

  the way she came from. Carrying a small paper cone filled with

  Kafal, he entered kindergarten.

  Kindergarten had four rooms, three were classes and one

  was office.

  At the door of the first classroom, there was a boy, weeping, seeing

  toward the gate. Charlie went near him. He picked up five kafal and

  gave him. That boy took it and ate his kafal one by one. After finishing

  his kafal he glanced toward Charlie’s kafal.

  Charlie was a bit hesitant. He gazed at the kafal then at that boy,

  again at the kafal, again at the boy. And then hesitantly he stretched

  his cone of Kafal toward him.

  The friendship started this way and came to a dreadful end.

  Chris opened his eyes and all of a sudden a sharp knife pierced his

  left eye. A sharp pain rose in his left eye. His heartbeat fastened.

  Blood oozed out of his left eye socket. And a deafening cry came out

  from him.

  “It's over now.” a woman said.

  To see who it was Chris opened his right eye. Seeing from

  only one eye felt weird. And difficult. But from now he has to co-op

  with it.

  “Who are you?” He said in a dry voice as his throat dried due to

  loud crying.

  “No one dear.” The woman said. Beside that woman was a round

  surgical light pouring dim green lights. A bloodied knife hung on her

  hands. Under those green lights, the blood on that knife was not red

  or brown instead it looked black and the blade looked green.

  “Where am I?”

  “None of your business.” She said and turned toward the sink that

  was attached to his bed. “Get up and be ready I am going to stab

  other eyes of yours. See as much as you want. When I finish

  washing this knife you should be ready. ”

  He turned his head around, seeing the place.

  In front of him, there was a table on top of that table were dressing

  scissors. He pulled that scissor, small clanking noise came. That

  woman turned to see what was making the sound.

  In an instant, he swung his hand and sliced her neck with it, she

  backed a bit and then he thrust that scissor into her chest, it

  penetrated her skin and easily broke her bone at that place.

  He threw the scissors and dashed out of the door.

  He was running through a corridor, and his eye was making it hard

  to run, on top of the green light was so dim that it was hard to navigate

  the way.

  As he was galloping he stumbled upon a room with a well.

  He went near it and saw Charlie there.

  “Charlie.”

  “Chris, is that you? I thought you were dead. ”

  “I’m not. But, what is this place? Wait, what are you doing

  down there?”

  “I’m stuck.”

  “Wait I will find someone”

  Chris went out of that room and crept into the corridor. Following the

  corridor, he came across a veranda. Throughout the veranda, he

  glaces upward at the sky.

  The sky above the building was like nothing he had seen previously.

  The sky above had two long strips of Auroras, intersecting each other

  like intertwined ribbons, around it, the sky was filled with stars. Slowly

  intertwined ribbons loosened and from the middle of it, something

  like a black hole opened.

  Seeing beautiful things before dying.

  He peered through the veranda at the ground below. The distance

  between the ground and the veranda was not that much so, he

  jumped through it.

  With a thump, he landed on concrete land. He got up and dusted off

  his dress. He turned his head upward to see that black hole but the

  black hole was gone, instead, a giant eye was peering through it. He

  stopped looking at it and crept ahead.

  After walking for some minutes, he came across a gate. But, that

  the gate was locked, locked from the outside.

  “Ok, son take your medicine.” he heard someone talking

  from outside.

  “Hello, Mr., Mr. hello,” Chris said

  . “Who is it?” That man said.

  “I'm Chris student at the school

  .” “What are you doing there kid

  ?”

  “I will explain everything to you. But for now please open the

  gate please we need your help.”

  “We? Are there more of you?”

  “Yes, there is my friend Charlie. He is stuck in the well

  .” “Where did the well come from?”

  “I don't know.”

  He opened the gate and entered inside. The first thing he noticed

  after getting inside was the sky, the eye in the sky, and the aurora.

  And then noticed the building. The building was the same but the

  nights from it were different and the curtains were different, and the

  aura of it was different. It was a discomforting aura.

  “Kid, What the hell is this?”

  “I don't know.”

  “I'm having bad feelings kid. I don't want to get into this kid,” he

  said and turned around but the gate was already closed, closed

  from the outside.

  “Kid, let's go and rescue your friend kid,”

  They went through the back gate which leads to the principal

  room. It was forbidden to use that gate by students. Only staff is

  allowed to use it.

  They came across some stairs, climbed those stairs, and reached

  a small hall. On the right side of the hall was the principles office,

  and on the left side, opposite the office was a stairway leading

  upward. Besides, the office was a corridor that led to the veranda

  from which Chris jumped. Besides, that stairway was the library.

  The office was not changed it was still there.

  “Kiddo, you said that your friend was stuck inside a well, don't

  you?”

  “Yes.”

  “We need a rope then. Go inside and bring a rope.”

  He hesitantly opened the lock and went inside. Inside there

  was the principal’s desk. Behind it was a chair. On top of that desk

  was the principal’s nameplate. But, on that nameplate name of the

  old principle was written.

  At the far corner was a rope he quickly went there grabbed it and

  dashed out. He did not want to stay there for a moment.

  “What happened kiddo? Why are you running?”

  “There, there……”

  “Whose there?” a voice came from the stairway. From that

  stairway emerges a bald man. As he came closer his face became

  clearer and clearer. It was the old principal of the school.

  Seeing him stunned them, their legs froze, sweat rose from their

  skin, their heartbeat rose, and their adrenaline supply rose.

  Save me, god. Chris thought.

  Both of them galloped.

  Chris got separated from the guard as he dashed toward the

  stairway. The stairway was long and full of turns. After climbing for

  10 minutes he was able to reach its end.

  At the end of the stairway was a door to a room, on the

  nameplate of that room ICU was written.

  Rrrrrr. Rrrrr. Rrrrr …… His phone vibrated.

  He pulled out the phone from his pocket. An unknown number

  was calling him. He picked up the call.

  “Hello.” He said.

  “Hello, Mr. Chris. What are you doing outside the ICU? You are

  not needed there. Your need is here at …

  Before she could finish he threw the phone.

  How did they know that I was her?

  What is there inside the ICU? Some equipment. Maybe. It can be

  the best place to hide. If they came to get me I could attack them with

  the equipment.

  The door was not locked. He pushed it to open it and it

  opened into a room. Inside was something that shocked him.

  Inside were more than fifty beds, divided into columns, left and right.

  On the beds were kids smaller than him, sleeping. Some beds were

  empty but most of them were filled. Beside each bed were oxygen

  cylinders. A pipe stretched from the cylinder up to the mask that was

  on the children’s mouths.

  He turned around to creep out of the room but, those kids

  woke up.

  Brother save us. He heard voices inside his head.

  “Kiddo, wake up.”

  Charlie slowly opened his eyes. He dozed out waiting for Chris.

  “Are you that Chris kid friend?”

  “Yes, but who are you?”

  “I am George. I and your friend were coming to save you but, the old

  principal came from somewhere and to be safe from him I ran. As I

  was running I found this well. And I jumped in this to be safe……”

  “And now you are stuck”. He completed the sentence.

  “Brother, where are you taking us.” a kid said.

  “Oh,” Chris said as he crept along the corridor. It was the

  corridor that was beside the ICU. “Don't make noise otherwise they

  will find us.”

  They followed the corridor and stumbled upon a large panorama

  window. Inside it, there were some people. Two people were holding

  one person by his legs, making that person upside down. Another

  person had a chainsaw in his hand.

  Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr….. Chainsaw roared.

  The person with the chainsaw raised the chainsaw and began slicing

  the person who was being held. At first, he sliced his testes, and then

  down from there. Blood splattered around the room. Even the window

  got some blood. People inside were covered with blood.

  Found you brat. A voice came from their back.

  “Kid, I have a son who is five years. His name is Aaron. He has

  asthma. It is in the first phase but the treatment is too expensive. I

  cannot treat him. But, I could have been near him. Supporting him. But

  now I will be dead. And then he will die too.”

  “You love son very much it seems,” Charlie said.

  “Yes, I love him very much. When he was this small he got a fever.

  In the middle of the night, I took him to the hospital. When a dog bit him

  , I took him for the rabies dose by riding a bicycle for 2 Hrs.”

  “Does he love you?”

  “Very much. When I was feeling a little bit sick he declined to go to

  his uncle’s house with his mom. He waits for my arrival to have dinner.

  I don't want to die. I want to be at his side. I don't want him to die.”

  “Run,” Chris shouted, and then they all ran. All of the kids were

  caught by that anonymous person. But, Chris was able to run away

  from him.

  After running for some minutes he came across the well.

  “Charlie are you there”

  “Yes, I am. And George is here with me.”

  “Wait then I will take you out of there.” Chris turned and tied

  one end of the rope to the door. And threw another to them.

  They came out but someone came through the door and caught

  Charlie and Chris. George was able to run.

  “Sorry, kids I have to save my life,” George said as he ran

  . Running he reached the top floor of the building.

  On the top floor, there was nothing only an empty veranda.

  From there town looked beautiful.

  He looked down from the veranda. There was a road down there

  . If I am lucky I will survive

  And then he jumped and landed on a truck back. Trucks back had

  food items, so he was safe.

  When he reached home. His wife was weeping.

  “What happened? Why are you crying?” George said to his wife.

  “They took him.”

  Charlie opened his eyes and found himself lying in a bed

  , surrounded by his family.

  “Are you alright Charlie?” His Mother said.

  “Your report has come Charlie.” The doctor said as

  he approached Charlie.

  “Is everything ok doctor

  ?” “How should I tell you

  ?” “What do you mean?”

  “He does not have any body parts inside him.”

  “Don't joke doctor.”

  “I am telling the truth. He even does not have a single bone in his

  body. Everything is gone. On top of that, there is a human inside his

  head.”