No Way Out

I woke up at a hospital with intense pain all over my body. The last thing I remember was crashing my bike to the ground. It was raining which made the road wet and I lost control when I applied the brakes while making a turn. I don’t know who got me to the hospital but let God bless their soul. I looked around the room in search of a familiar face but no one was around. I checked my body to see the damage. My left arm was in a cast and I could feel the fresh wounds in my stomach, forehead, right shoulder and left knee. It must have been a very bad crash. Luckily I was not injured badly and can still walk. I felt hungry and I decided to eat something from the hospital canteen. I used the elevator to go downstairs. The elevator stopped a few meters before it reached the ground floor.

After banging the elevator door and pressing the alarm multiple times someone finally came near the elevator. He informed me about the power cut and that the people from the Electricity board are on their way to check for the power. There was quite a bustle outside for the next fifteen minutes which slowly reduced to pin-drop silence. I waited for half an hour after which I lost my patience and started to bang the elevator door like a mad man asking about the power. Suddenly a cool breeze brushed my feet. It felt like someone with a cold hand touched my feet which freaked me out. I also heard a woman scream from behind which alarmed me. I did not know there was another person with me in the elevator as I did not see anyone enter with me.

“Did you also feel a breeze in your feet?”, she asked. 

“No, I did not feel anything”. I lied as I did not want her to freak out any further. 

I checked on my phone’s reception again but no luck.

“Where are we? I mean which area?”, I asked her as I wanted to inform my parents about my location. 

“Why are you asking for the area’s place? Aren’t you supposed to know?”, she questioned me as her voice cracked.

“Ok leave it”, I said as I knew she was useless and would bother me with more questions. 

“This is Rokhan”, she said after a brief pause. 

“Rokhan? I asked with a raised voice which frightened her. She moved towards the corner of the elevator. It was dark in the elevator and the only light we had was the emergency light coming inside through the thin line of the elevator door. I could make out with her body language and heavy breathing that she is very nervous. I was shocked to hear that I was admitted to a hospital 50km away from the accident. I wanted to ask her if she had a signal on her phone when I started to hear a faint male voice inside my head. 

“Are you confused Rakshan?”, asked the voice.

I was startled by the voice and started to look above the elevator. The woman also started to panic even further. She took out her pocket knife and pointed it towards me. I immediately took out my wallet, chain, watch and phone and kept them in the middle of the elevator. The woman was puzzled and questioned,

“What are you doing?”

“Please don’t hurt. This is all I have”, I said. 

“You idiot! I am not mugging you. I took out my knife because I thought that you would touch me”, said the woman. 

“What nonsense?”

“Then why did you move suddenly?”

“I heard something in my ear and I got… I got frightened. It was as if someone was speaking directly into my ear”.

“Why am I also hearing it? Are you Rakshan?”

“Yes. How did you….?

“Who are you dude? What is happening?”, said the woman as she started to bang on the elevator door when the male voice was again heard.

“You are very lucky Rakshan. You were supposed to die in the accident today as per your fate but somehow, someone helped you to escape it and I am here to finish the job”.

I was baffled. I am stuck in an elevator with a crazy woman and I can hear a mysterious voice which is after me. To add crazy on top of crazy this woman can also hear the voice. Bemused by what happened, the woman kept on calling for help by banging on the metal elevator door. I was irritated and was about to shout at her when I started to lose my consciousness and fell to the ground. When I woke up I was again in the hospital bed. I am uncertain at this point if it was a dream or I really fainted and someone put me back to my bed. As I was in a dilemma a nurse came to the room to give me my injection. 

“Did we have a power cut sir?”, I asked.

“Yes, but the backup generator started immediately”, said the nurse. 

“Is it possible to discharge me now sir?”, I asked.

“What’s the rush son? I have all night to finish the job”, said the nurse in the voice from the elevator.