“Wh… What the hell is happening? How did you get into my house?” Abhijit tried to struggle against his invisible bonds.
“The same way you got into our lives. Do we remind you of something that took shape in that productive mind of yours?” The man said in an almost robotic manner.
Abhijit stared at the unwanted guests. The man was ugly, evil permeated his pockmarked face. He wore a striped sweatshirt and jeans beneath the black cloak that almost swept the floor. It was again a strange choice of clothes for unpleasantly cold Shimla.
Abhijit's eyes switched to the huge dog that was staring back with baleful yellow eyes. Yes, there was something familiar about these three. Had he seen them somewhere? Or imagined them? They did seem to belong together! He was almost there. The feeling in the back of his mind was pushed ahead by the fear that shook his body. He closed his eyes and thought hard. Abhijit had a sudden flash of clairvoyance. “You are all from Thirteen, the lead story from my last book. You are Akash, she is Nandini and the dog is Tiger. ”
The woman shook with delirious laughter. “The genius has understood at last. Now we'll show him. We'll do to him everything he did to us in that book,” She looked at the dog. “Go Tiger!”
The dog growled, reared up and shot forward at Abhijit. He bit him hard on the ankle even as Abhijit tried to back off in the chair. A piercing bolt of pain shot through his calf as he remembered that Thirteen'sstory began with Nandini's dog biting Akash.
“How does that feel, Abhijit?” Akash taunted. “How does it feel to be treated the same way you treat your characters?”
Abhijit fought against the rising panic. 'This cannot happen. This is impossible. I must be dreaming,' he thought even as he willed himself to snap out of the nightmare.
“This is actually happening! You are not getting off that easily, Mr. Bestseller,” Nandini said amused.
“No way, you can read my mind!” Abhijit whispered as his lean muscles strained against his skin.
“Yes, I can! Don't you know that I live in it? That is where I was born… my birthplace… my sick birthplace,” Nandini groaned.
“All of you are my creations. You will listen to me and go away!” Abhijit shouted.
“Not this time, Abhijit Mukherjee. We have come here with only one purpose. Revenge!” Nandini hissed. “You have created and left us in the timeless labyrinth of human imagination, where we live forever. You have given me a tortured existence. Every time a new reader goes through your book, I suffer all the unspeakable indignities you devised for me. And it never ends. Someone somewhere is always reading you, making me go through the perpetual torture that you have inflicted upon me. And now I am here. I will make you suffer like you have made me ever since you wrote that infernal book of yours.”
“This is not possible. I am going crazy!”Abhijit thought.
“No, you are not,” Nandini said, after reading his mind again. “Yes! You may find refuge in insanity by the time I am through with you. Or you may not. In fact, I have not even decided what to do with you. But I know where to start.”
She advanced towards the table, her eyes blazing with malevolence. “Damn!” Abhijit thought. “How the hell could I create such a crazy character?”
Nandini picked up the half opened pack of cigarettes, extracted one, and lit it up using his lighter. She then blew a puff of smoke in his face.
“You can't… you can't do that. You don't smoke!” Abhijit blurted.
“Yes, I can and I will, Mr. Bestseller. You see, this is not your script anymore. We are independent entities and we don't take orders,” she snarled and looked at the scarred man. “Now Akash darling, will you be a good boy and take off this nice warm shirt Mr. Bestseller is wearing?”
Akash stepped forward, caught his shirt by the collars and ripped it off without much ceremony. His long nails scratched Abhijit's chest, leaving three burning red lines on either side. Abhijit strained and shook the chair but the invisible ropes held him tight, rooting him to his place.
Nandini walked over to him, took a deep drag on the cigarette, removed it from her lips and crushed the glowing end against his now bare chest. The smell of singed human flesh mixed with that of burning tobacco and Abhijit felt pain beyond anything he had ever imagined kick his neurons.
“Stop… please stop …” he screamed.
“Not so easily. Let them come too. Let your other creations from the book come and see your fate. Let them take their revenge too… Come you all,” Nandini thundered, making the house sway to her vent. And then with tearful eyes, Abhijit watched in mute revulsion as the ceiling cracked and out tumbled macabre wraiths in the room with a vicious smile on their bloodthirsty faces. The walls trembled as a huge hairy beast with a large horn on its snout rammed against the house assaulting the age-old creation as it entered the room. All the windows of the room flew open, their latches flying in the sudden force of the cold wind as transparent spirits floated around emitting a deathly glow from their essence. The rooms above flew open, their doors crashing to the floor as creatures with green bulbous heads crawled towards the room, exploring the air ahead with the darting tongues. Abhijit thought he saw a blur of a shadow shoot past him and as it came to a halt in a corner, he released his bladder on seeing the long curving teeth on that pale handsome face. And then the ground exploded as the dead rose from the deep confines of the ground, looking intently at a shaking Abhijit as they dragged their limp legs, pointing an accusing finger at him. The worms on their bodies detached to fall on the ground and made their way towards him, crawling all over his body, nibbling at his flesh. They were joined by the vermin that appeared out of nowhere along with the bats, the wolves and the owls.