Uncanny Presence - Chapter 3

The most important phase of Anthony’s life had started. He started working diligently on the project assigned for which he had been preparing for a month. He was totally focused on the project and gave less time to his friends, family and social life. So much so that even after work, Anthony would continue working after returning home from office on his project called ‘Ether’. Suvesh would often tell jokingly that Anthony had made Ether his God and all he could only hear chants for Ether.

He was also very alert to the unknown presence that surrounded him earlier. He was always watching his back to make sure that he could catch a glimpse of the presence. But Anthony didn’t feel it whilst at work. Azhar had suggested that he was being delusional and was imagining things due to his stress. As the days passed by, Anthony was slowly agreeing to Azhar’s opinion.

Soon, Anthony had completed the major tasks assigned to him. The project was in its final stages. Sitting on his bed, he was rechecking the final documents on his laptop. Anthony’s roommates were partying at another house which would go on past dawn. He was relieved and preferred living alone as his roommates would always create a mess. With clothes strewn around, a constant and pungent smell of beer dropped on the floor and dust all round would always demotivate Anthony. He had to clean the house himself before he went to sleep

Anthony called his leader Anupam. “Hello Sir, I have sent you the documents. Have you received it?” “Yes I have received it and gone through it. Well done Anthony, you can rest now. Ether is complete,” Anupam said.

“Thank you Sir and goodnight,” Anthony said. Taking a deep breath, he stretched his body and flexed his muscles. Then he got out of his bed to take bath. Enjoying a hot shower, Anthony felt a calm and renewed vigor.

Now he could attend to his personal life. ‘Should I tell Teena the truth? Will she accept me?’ Anthony wondered.

Suddenly the bathroom lights went off. “Vineet is that you? Are you seriously going to play this prank on me again!” Anthony said loudly. He thought that one of his roommates returned home early. There was no answer. Anthony felt a certain chill. He couldn’t see anything in the dark and the only light that was entering the bathroom was from the window. Swallowing his fear, Anthony turned around. Water was falling on his face. The hot shower water had turned cold. Regaining his composure, Anthony realized that there was a power cut.

Anthony knew that such power cuts lasted for about 15 minutes and happened at least once a month. The building that he was staying in didn’t have a backup generator, much to his annoyance. He had complained several times and had requested his landlord to install the same but to no avail.

Anthony got out of the bathroom and checked the time on his mobile phone. It was 12.30 am. ‘The neighbors' would be sleeping’, Anthony thought. He sat on his bed thinking what he should do next. With no power, he had to conserve the energy on his mobile phone and laptop. ‘What if there are any further changes that I have to make to the documents?’, Anthony thought.

He looked outside his bedroom window. Most of the houses in the opposite building had their lights out. He saw a red light shining from one of the houses. ‘The temple room, of course. Well at least God is giving them comfortable sleep’ Anthony thought.

Lying down on the bed, he looked up at the ceiling. The fan wasn’t moving and he could noticed cracks on the ceiling. ‘How long has it been since I have been living here without noticing these cracks? Have they been there all the time or has it come up recently?’ Anthony wondered. As the power didn't return, he got up and decided to switch of all electric appliances. He had assumed that the power wouldn’t return until later in the night and thus decided to sleep.

Anthony could not sleep as it was hot and humid. Just as he was about to sleep, he felt a chill down his spine. He felt as if something was crawling up on his leg and was nearing his stomach. Anthony got up in a daze. He felt for his mobile on the bedside table.

After finding it, he switched on the torch to check what was crawling on his leg. He found nothing. He searched for marks on his feet but there were none. ‘Must have been a bug’, Anthony thought. Switching off his torch, Anthony again laid down on his bed and slowly closed his eyes.

But a few minutes later, Anthony again felt a chill. This time he felt something crawl up his leg much faster than before. Anthony got up with a start and moved his legs vigorously. He quickly got hold of his mobile phone, switched on the torch and checked his legs again. He found nothing. He realized that the power was back on and the fan was running again. It was much cooler now. Tired and frustrated, Anthony laid down on his bed again.

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Anthony heard a distant humming of a woman. At first he ignored, but the humming got louder and louder. He was very scared and felt heavy headed. He got up to check if there was anyone in his room. He tried searched for his phone but didn't find it. He tried switching on the room lights but was unable to do so. It felt strange and he stood up to see the room again. ‘Where is the door?’ Anthony thought. He looked around and tried to get a clear view of the room but could see nothing. He couldn’t see the curtains or the windows.

Fear was slowly consuming Anthony’s mind as the woman’s humming was getting louder. He didn't accept it that the hum was closing on him. He took a deep breath and turned to his left. There he saw, a woman in white sitting on his bed. Her long hair was covering her face while she was looking down on her knees. Anthony felt the racing heartbeats.

The woman stopped humming and slowly looked at him. She was wearing a white mask which only revealed her black eyes. There was complete silence for a moment and Anthony turned numb.. 

Then the woman shrieked, her eyes turned blue and she jumped on Anthony.