I still can’t believe that, it happened just because of my mistake. Maybe it’s a clear example of an important lesson of life which specifies that you shouldn’t do anything in a hurry without knowing what can be the possible outcome.
I am a Lawyer and I have some very close friends in the firm. One of them is “B” as I don’t want to reveal his name but I’ll address him by the first letter of his name. So, this “B” and I were at the same collage, from there he was one my very close friends.
“B” was an introverted guy. He didn’t like to talk much in public interactions like parties or group meetings. I was the one who made him recognized by more people. In this profession you really need to grow your popularity. In the weekends we had been hanging out in the bars together. He shared many things with me like how he could notice changes in his personality because of me. I also shared my thoughts about my life and workplace.
In the bars I and B tried to pick up girls but I am an absolute loser when it comes to talking with the girls. So, on that Friday Night it wasn’t a surprise that I couldn’t score a single girl at the bar. I was sipping just another 60ml neat Bourbon at the counter tiredly watching the bartender preparing another cocktail for another customer and all of a sudden I heard B’s voice from behind.
‘Meet my friend here!’
I turned around and witnessed the miracle. B is with a girl laying his left hand on her shoulder and pointing at me with the other hand with an introductory gesture.
He introduced me to her and explained that he talked with the girl and she liked him and they are planning to date.
‘That’s very nice. You two are looking very good with each other.’, I said masking my harmless envy.
B was also like me but maybe that day it was his luckiest day of his life. That girl’s name was “C” (as I don’t want to reveal her name too). As they told me they found so much thing in common between them and they also liked each other’s company. They started dating soon after that intervention. I was happy for them. It’s good to know my friend will be happy.
It’s not a surprise that they will fix a date for their marriage very soon. That girl named “C” is very friendly in nature as I got to know her by small interactions. She might be the best partner to my friend I believe. She is not that attractive in my opinion but her behavior was very pleasing.
I lead a very busy life from morning to evening. I don’t like being alone in life but throughout the days I forgot my mental pain by the pressure of work. But one day B told me that his marriage has been fixed on next week.
‘Hay, that’s a great news. Congrats!’, I replied.
‘Yes, I have made my decision. C will be my wife and I love her so much.’
The conversation ended with extreme positiveness. His marriage had been fixed next week. According to our traditions it is customary to the invited one to give a gift or gifts to the couple on the ceremony day. I am his closest friend and I had to give him a benevolent gift.
But it was very difficult to acquire certain stuffs within this short period of time. I definitely couldn’t buy stereotypical things for gift like perfume or wine bottles like most of the regular people would do. I needed to make it very special.
I called a female friend of mine who could give me some effective advices about places and shops where I could find appropriate trinkets for the wedding gift.
‘So, what kind of gift are you thinking about?’, she asked.
I said, ‘Like certain things which can remind him of me and which will be a very glamorous memento or alike.’
‘Then I think I know one place where you can find certain ready-made ornaments like signet rings, glossy bracelets or necklaces.’
‘But what if those are extremely expensive and I can’t afford them?’
‘Don’t worry. Those are all used products but in good condition. So, the prices should be affordable. Also, those stuffs have an antique feel to it when they are used.’
I agreed with her and decided to visit the shop alone after work which she prescribed and gave all the details about the location. Still three days left for the wedding day. Let’s buy something memorable for my friend.
It was a very mysterious place so deep into the popular market area in the city. A small lane among the queues of old fashioned buildings with no street-lights on the path. It’s the near evening time and the only sources of light were coming from those buildings to the lane. I was walking through the lane following the address and as directed by a stationary shop-owner before entering this dark lane.
Finally, after walking a healthy distance down the lane I found a small shop-like structure on one side. It was very difficult to tell whether it was opened or closed as the interior had no light lightened up nor it had any sign board as I could observe through the glass door. The structure was made of asbestos or tin-like material mostly but has a door like most other jewellery shops has. The shop had no name so it was very difficult to identify the exact location and the address was the only option.
As I was observing the entrance of the structure, the door suddenly moved inwards covering one side of the door with complete darkness and a very sharp voice of an old lady came from inside.
‘Do you want anything, sir?’
I was startled by the voice and managed to reply, ‘Is this the trinket shop with second hand items?’
‘Yes! Come in.’
The interior was lightened up as I pushed the door and entered the shop. It was a very short old lady with some kind of tribal attire. The face of the lady was full of Acnes and one yellow tooth was making its way to light from invisible lips of curled in the mouth of her. The skin colour was also very dark as she can be completely invisible in any dark room.
‘We have large collection of beautiful trinkets in our shop. What kind of stuffs you are looking for, sir?’
There was no single soul other than me and that lady in that shop and still she is saying “we” as collective entities to represent the commercial institute. The interior of the shop was filled with different ornaments and trinkets as it’s making very difficult to discover the colour of the walls also the light of the shop was not really as bright to see through clearly the closets with transparent glass doors of it.
I specified, ‘Actually I am planning to gift my friend a nice-looking ring on his wedding day.’
‘That’s a great idea, sir. Let me show you the varieties.’
The lady brought out a huge maroon colored wooden box and put that on the ground. The box is looking like an ancient hoard which contains thousand mysteries or treasures in it. In simple words, it was like pirates’ treasure-chest.
The lady slowly opened the lid of the box and many sections of ring-holding slots were revealed inside of which it was partially filled but every ring that were peeking its signet out of it were truly gorgeous. There were large variety of rings including certain stone rings and signet rings. But I liked the collection of signet rings most.
I observed the variety for maybe three or five minutes looking through every designs and symbols but the one which shined the most than other ring to me was a very unique looking signet ring with a symbol of unicorn beautifully curved on it. In the older days this kind of rings were used maybe to put the symbol of kingdoms or any company on the wax seal of mails and parcels. The ring could be put on most popularly on the middle and ring finger and the position of the signet symbol which located in the fist could be placed gently on the wax to put the mark on the wax.
‘Can I have a closer look of this one?’, I asked pointing at that ring.
‘Ah! You have a great choice, sir. Here you go.’, She pinched up the ring and put it on my palm of right hand.
Absolutely remarkable creation! As I was looking at the ring holding it with my own fingers I cannot describe the mesmerising artwork in words. The ring was made of silver and the band of the ring was a little bit more thicker than usual rings. Not a surprise that, the signet will be much bigger in size to manage the ratio of the ring. The most beautiful part was definitely the symbol of that unicorn caved in the royal shaped signet making the whole thing more than perfect in my eyes.
‘Alright, I’ll buy this one. How much is it?’, I bought the ring after few negotiations even though the final price was a bit outside the budget.
But after the payment she warned me, ‘Be careful with that, sir. It was a ring belonged to an inhuman criminal back in the days.’
‘What do you mean by being careful? And why are you telling this after I’ve made the purchase?’
‘I am letting you know what you should know that’s why. We don’t take returns anyways, sir.’, she laughed a weird pale smile.
Returning to my home I couldn’t stop looking at the ring. Should I keep it for myself? The though flashed into my mind. B helped me a lot of times and that’s why I planned to make the gift very special for him to show true gratitude. But the ring is so beautiful. Should I try putting it on and try once to see if it looks good on me or not? No, I shouldn’t do it because it can get stuck to finger and it would be a trouble if that happens.
I just put that in the small box of it and promised myself to never look at it and make it into a nice gift-wrapped piece so it looks presentable when I give it to B on his wedding day.
It was the wedding day but I reached there when it was night as the party was timed. I met him and gave the gift to him.
‘Hey, there was no need for such things. Let’s see what you have brought for me.’, he unwrapped the gift and put out the ring. ‘Wow! That is truly amazing. Thank you my friend.’
He put on the ring on his middle finger of his left-hand and it surprisingly made a perfect fit for him. Also, it looked rather gorgeous on him! Everyone including his newly married wife C admired me for such outstanding gift.
Everything was fine but after putting on the ring, B started to behave a little bit unusual which was easier to me to notice than others. For example, he loved having sweet deserts after meal but that day he didn’t took his favourite deserts. Also, the style of talking and body language was changed. But that’s not in a bad way though I mean it was different than usual. He started cracking jokes on serious emotional stuffs which were definitely not suitable for a gentleman like him. People who were invited in the party were looking at him strangely as they were also able to see the change in him.
The next working day I visited the firm on time morning but there was no sign of B. Maybe it was because his marriage but B never came late until that day to the firm. Eventually, he came almost two hours late to the firm. The boss was definitely not happy about that. I heard them arguing in the office. B never argues with anyone so it was very strange to know that he argued with boss on that day.
Day by day a very furious man was introducing himself in the behavior of B. B has changed a lot. Is this because of his marriage? Maybe his life has changed too. These kinds of assumptions were being made by other colleagues. But, I had an additional thought. Is it because of the ring I gifted him one that day? I noticed an immediate change in him while he wore that ring. The shopkeeper also told me that it belonged to a criminal. But what did she meant by being careful? Can a person be changed to another just by putting on a ring?
It was evening time in the office. I decided to talk with him about his change of behavior and what others thought about it. I met him in his cubicle and asked him, ‘Is everything ok?’
‘What kind of question is that?’, he was typing something on his laptop but gave me a straight eye glare to me while replying.
‘You are acting strange. It’s like your personality has changed massively or something.’
‘Has it? If so, then what’s your problem?’
‘That’s why I asked that question.’
‘Don’t you have other works to do than to worry about me? Let it go of your head. Let’s have some tea.’
His soft and pleasant personality was gone; a new very confident and dominative person had took over that place. He shouted for tea and the brat from canteen came for order.
‘Make us two cups of tea at once!’, even if the brat was standing right in front of him, B still shouts without any reason.
After the brat went to make tea, B suddenly asked me, ‘Have you ever felt like some persons should be eliminated from this world for ever? Don’t you think some people should get tortured for their deeds?’
That’s a very strange question but I replied anyways, ‘If someone commits any crime or does something unlawful then the police and the court will steps for that. We are lawyer and our job is to deal with these kinds of people too.’
‘That’s not what I meant. Do you really think the court can do justice to everyone effectively? It’s nothing delightful as when you execute those who deserved it with your own hands.’
Already, the brat had come and put the cup on the table. The tea cups were not releasing any steam in the air as it was not hat hot maybe.
‘Why these are cold?’, B asked the brat.
‘It’s not cold, sir.’, the brat timidly answered.
I know that tea can be hot even if it does not have steams. So, I tried to simplify the situation, ‘Let’s just have the tea. I think it’s hot because the outer area of the cup is very warm.’
All of a sudden, B stood up from his chair charging toward the brat and clinched the brat chocking his neck by his right arm mostly but the other hand also joins the hand-guillotine. There was no way for the brat make any kind of noise or sound through his mouth as the choke is getting tighter and tighter making his breathing nearly impossible.
I rushed into them and tried to lose him up from B’s clutches. I was already startled by sudden brute charge by B. But I need to manage the situation at any cost.
‘Have you lost your mind? What are you doing? Let him go!’, I screamed.
There was no other people in the office, so no one was in or near the room. No one will come so I only have to stop that.
‘I asked why is the tea is cold?’, he addressed the brat chocking him continuously.
I have no other option. I punched aiming right on B’s nose and it landed. Some tears came out of his eyes as the impact was no joke. He dropped down to the ground finally leaving the brat standing and coughing. The brat ran outside as he was terrified.
‘You have become a complete monster.’, I said.
‘Huh, did you felt that? Sometimes you have to take action immediately no matter if it gets brutal or not to make the justice work.’, B was laughing looking at me from the ground.
I came to my home after that. What the hell I just witnessed? I was still thinking about B at my dinner table. It was far opposite to what B was in the older days. I laid on my bed after dinner and was still remembering the brutal face when he was chocking the brat. If he chocked him a little more time it could send the brat to deep sleep. How could he be changed to this monster?
I lived alone at home so no one was there to share what happed that day. But I really wanted to talk about this as it was a great shock to me. Thinking these I fell asleep. That night I had a weird dream that I still remember today.
It was B but his face was partially burnt. The chin and left cheek were burnt to black of his face as he is approaching me in the void. B was looking furious and was coming towards me slowly raising his both hand towards me. The hands had overly grown nails like demons and the whole appearance was very intimidating as a pair of horns on the head could turn him into a complete form of Satan. B was like a devil coming through the shadows in that dream. I wanted to run away but when I turned around and saw a women shaped figure covering its face to half of its body with long dark hairs was standing just behind me. That figure was much closer to me and when it raises it’s blood-covered hand upon me, I woke up.
What a horrific dream it was. It was about 5 a.m. in the morning. I was still thinking about the dream sitting on my bed, but all of a sudden my telephone started to rang.
I picked up the receiver and heard a shocking news from a known policeman. C was found dead with a kitchen-dagger stabbed deep into her heart and B was missing from the house. The police wanted to ask me questions as I was the last person who talked to him before leaving the office.
I immediately went to the spot. My heart was beating heavily. The police asked me about the last conversation between me and B. I stated that at least there was no conversation about C that night. I still cannot believe that happened. The police are very confident about their assumption that B killed his wife C last night and flew away from the house. The footprints and other investigations were still in process.
Did B really kill his wife? Why I had the weird dream in the same night? Did the Signet Ring which I gave it to B, turned him into another person? Why B’s personality and behaviour was changed in last couple of days? If he really killed his wife then what was the reason behind that? Maybe they had a heated debate or some kind of arguments between them but even so why a murder had to happen? Where is B now?
There were so many questions in my head. From there, I had to venture into the firm. I felt the absence of B greatly. I couldn’t concentrate on the job. I was going to have a coffee from the tap located in the corner of the office and when I was about to pour the coffee in the plastic-cup a terrifying thing happened. I was still thinking about the disturbing question continuously in my mind so when I was pouring the coffee in the cup I was looking at the other way absentmindedly. But when I took a sip standing near the tap still looking at a trash-bean I felt a metallic and salty taste, which surprised me. When I saw the inside of the cup, my whole body shivered. It was blood!
‘What is this!’, I screamed.
Another colleague was nearby and he startled by my sudden scream.
‘What’s the matter?’, he asked me.
‘Why is there blood in the coffee-machine?’, I showed him the cup.
‘What are you talking about? Are you ok?’, he was looking at me frowning.
‘Can’t you see? There’s blood in the cup which I got from the machine.’
‘The cup is empty and the coffee machine is not working since the morning. I think, you should go home now.’
What? I looked into the cup again and saw that it was empty but a couple of minutes ago it was filled with blood! What is happening?
I decided to leave the office early that day. When I left the exit door from the office I remembered there was a short-cut path to a bus-stop which goes right near my house otherwise I had to board more than one vehicle. I took the narrow and lonely path towards the bus-stop.
The lamp-posts were not very bright here. I was walking at a side of the road. There was no one on the road. Suddenly I felt like someone was watching me from behind! I turned around but no one was there. I stopped walking. I was hearing something whispering into my ears. The whispering sound was keep getting louder a little by little but was getting more difficult to understand to what it was try to say. Was that my hallucination? I don’t know but I could feel an energy working its way around my body. I could feel the cold wind passing down my spine. I was sweating heavily.
I could not bear the situation and all of a sudden, there was a figure of a man standing in front of me when I looked straight to the road. It was much more taller than me and the face was covered by the fedora-hat shadow on its face. When the man raised his chin a little-bit I was truly frightened.
It’s B ! His left-cheek is burnt. He was not that tall as I recall. He raised his hands revealing the huge claws with sharpened brute-beast-like nails on it.
‘Thanks for giving me re-birth.’, that was not B’s voice and it was much more deeper than usual.
‘What are you doing here? Why did you kill C?’, I still couldn’t confront myself.
‘Can’t you see I’ve become a much stronger version of me?’
I was already terrified by this sudden intervention. My Head is spinning and I couldn’t really breathe comfortably. I managed to utter, ‘What do you want from me now?’
‘Come closer. Join me friend!’, he tried to come more closer to me.
I had enough. I started to run to the opposite direction down the road.
‘Don’t be scared! It’s a great instinct which you gifted me!’, he was still chasing me shouting meaningless things.
I ran out of breath eventually but I had run far from him. I needed to regain my stamina and was panting on the road. Suddenly, I felt another person’s presence behind me but it was different than B’s. It was milder than that. More like a thin unearthly energy making its way to reality.
I felt a very cold hand on my shoulder but there was no sign of any single soul near me. Another hand also joins gripping my right hand wrist tightly behind my back. I didn’t know what kind of deadly nightmare is this? Wait, is it a dream or reality? I was praying to God to my heart’s content to make it a dream. That unearthly spirit has grabbed a good amount of hair on the back of my head and the right-hand stuck behind me.
‘Now, you cannot escape, my dear sweet little friend.’, B was laughing menacingly discovering me hopeless in front of him. He had found me maybe by the struggling sound of mine.
I had no energy left to take any action at that point. B was approaching me by making small steps. I was totally arrested by some unknown but powerful spirit. All in all it was a complete mess.
I didn’t recall anything more than that of the night. I was found passed out on the road next morning by the locals. My body was unharmed but there was a mark of Unicorn punched on my right cheek . No matter what I said, no one is going to believe me.
But what was that I experienced that night? What was that feeling? What did B wanted from me? Will I meet B again?