Room No 902 and The Abandoned Corridor

Room No 902 and The Abandoned corridor.

-By Pratyush Parashar Das

Good evening everybody..I assume that while you’re reading this story, you’re all comfortably seated on your bed or a sofa, with a drink in your hand and a pleasant evening ahead..

Well,  some of the things that I am going to describe ahead may seem far-fetched for some of you or even some kind of nonsense I am doling out…but I assure you all…They’re all true events…

My story begins on a pretty much normal note..Pretty much like any other day in any self-respecting college student’s life.. Waking up early morning, getting ready for college etc.. Now, a little something about our college…I won’t mention the name of my college..but merely describe one of the edifices that our beautiful and magnificent campus contains..It is known as the University Block (UB as the students collectively call it), a tall 15 storey block with the first 3 floors devoted to the campus library with the classes beginning from the 5^th floor onwards … The abandoned corridor I am talking about is located on the 9^th floor.. The interesting yet puzzling fact is, this particular floor has been abandoned for quite some time now… Most of the students don’t know why this is the case .. Though rumors abound that some people do.. and they’re the old timers..The ones that have been here since the beginning of the university..

17^th April,2013(4 years ago).

It so happened that once that I happened to have some work which took me  to the 9^th floor purely by chance.. The 9^th floor normally looks like any other floor of the UB building during the day, until at least 4 in the evening.. It is after five o ‘ clock that the creepiness factor sets in..Because, it is then the abandoned floor or rather the aspect of it being abandoned becomes all the more real or obvious..The corridors wear a forlorn look, The corridors near the staircases appear to be even darker than what is normal for corridors on other floors at the same time ..And one often gets the feeling that the empty corridors near the staircases are not really empty..as though some kind of invisible presence hovers near all of them..

Now as it happened ..I had to get some work done pretty much urgently so..as I was in a hurry, I didn’t notice which floor I was on and indeed which classroom I happened to enter in  a hurry. Later, I remembered that I had vaguely caught a glimpse of the classroom number..which was 902.. However, the intensity of the fact didn’t strike me until much later..  Anyways, a few minutes into my work , as I raised my head from my graph sheets to think of something related to the graph sheets, I was instantly aware of a very low pitched scraping sound over the peaceful hum of the AC(which was strangely switched on, another fact which hit me when it was too late).. I at first thought that it was my imagination..But after a gap of a few seconds, I heard the sound again, coming from the back of the classroom. I turned around and my heart almost came into my mouth.. Because the scene in front of me was so impossible yet so real that I couldn’t control my shock..One of the chairs kept in the 2^nd last row of the classroom was moving or slightly moving to and fro in a left-to-right kind of movement..The scraping sound that I had been hearing seemed to be coming from that very to and fro movement.. “Nope.. I must be dreaming indeed..Or, rather , stress has got to me.. “ . I smirked at the thought and got back to my work..Yet again, the scraping sound reached my ears..this time accompanied by the sound of voices..voices which sounded like the voices of women mingled with whispers..or maybe one woman’s voice which were reverberating just like you would expect an echo to.. And while all  this was happening, I swear that I could sense something or someone else in the class other than myself though technically it was empty but for me.. I could then sense that presence or thing coming closer to me..when the classroom doors suddenly opened with a creak.. I almost jumped when I saw two women come in with buckets and mops in their hands ”Room cleaning” . I gave them a look of acknowledgement and went back to my work .They came in and started  with their work and I continued my  work. As they continued to go about their business , I realized that the sounds, voices and the unusual movements had stopped. They reached my table and told to go the back of the classroom as they were going to clean the very part of the classroom which contained the desk I was sitting on.. I went to the back and this time , with only a brief glance at the chair which had been moving ,I continued with my work..  When I had nearly reached the end of my work , I happened to look up outside the classroom through the doors(both doors have glass panels which allow you t0 look outside) and once again, I froze..for the light outside was constantly being switched off and switched on… Funnily enough there WAS no one around to ensure that..After all, the lights were manually operated..So there was no reason for them to behave like that.. Anyways, I now suddenly felt an impulse which told me to leave the classroom that very instant, so I gathered up all my belongings and prepared to leave . But all of  a sudden , almost instantly after I had stood up, I could feel a force trying to STOP ME FROM LEAVING and a voice which was kind of supporting the force and telling me not to leave.. I tried to move but I could feel the resistance offered by the force (which wasn’t very strong..it felt..SOFT) , like somebody’s hand was gently pushing back my chest to keep me in the same place..By then, my mind was blank and I couldn’t focus, I mean,I was beginning to get scared to be very honest..And I desperately wanted to leave the classroom. So, after being rooted to the spot for 5 minuets , I tried to move again,and this time , I could feel no resistance and hear no voice. I exited the classroom but before leaving it, I turned back to look at the chair and the place where I had felt the presence . And , almost in a gesture of farewell, (if I would have liked to consider it that, which I certainly didn’t ) the light around that area dimmed even if only for a brief millisecond and the chair moved. I lef tthe classroom in a huff after that.. It was only when I reached the ground floor that it occurred to me..”Hang on..why did they come to clean the room at all if the entire corridor has abandoned for the past so many years..!?? “.That thought spooked me out to a great extent . As  I was leaving the UB Building , another chilling thought occurred or rather a series of them occurred to me .. “Why and how was the electricity present in that classroom in the first place at all ??” “Why did the cleaning women come to clean the room if it was abandoned ?? “ and lastly.. “if the corridor and the classroom had been abandoned for so many years..How could it have been littered with strewn wrappers and torn pieces of paper if I was first person to enter that classroom since that fateful day..? ” With all these questions running through my mind , I didn’t even notice where I was going and almost crashed with a security guard (uncle) . “Sorry uncle, “ I said . “No problem “ , he smiled and said. Upon taking a closer look at my  face, he asked me what the matter was . I then asked him those very questions that had been running through my mind. He gave me an odd smile,amost twisted and asked.. “Son, are you aware that all the rooms on that floor have been locked since that fateful day when a person committed suicide by jumping from the window  ?? And are you sure you entered a classroom on the 9^th floor ?? Or did you misread the 8^{th floor} as the 9^th ?? “ . I couldn’t take in a word of what he was saying and stared dumbly at him . “But that’s not possible..I entered that classroom and SAT ON THE DESKS for god’s sake ! “ , I exclaimed. “Lets go back up and check shall we ? “ , he asked with a smile, though there wasn’t something quite normal in his smile. We went back and to my immense shock, 902 was indeed locked and the lock looked exactly 9 years old(which was for how long the corridor had been abandoned).It was the same case for all the other classrooms. As I turned to leave,I suddenly realized that the security uncle was no longer with me. “ Uncle..?? Where are you..?? “. I suddenly heard the scraping sound directly in the area in front of me . I heard somebody laughing in the uncle’s voice and the voice was saying “It was me who was stopping you from leaving the classroom….” . I was dumbstruck with fear and nervousness. “W-What ?? “ “Yes,it was me who jumped 9 years ago from that window”.. I almost fainted from shock when i heard what he said but somehow , I controlled myself and ran down the stairs, two at a time ,until i reached the ground floor and then, breathing hard, I took deep breaths and began composing an urgent email to the Director of our campus on my way back to my hostel..

                                                                                                     

21^st April,2017 (Present Day)

Its been 4 years since that incident now. Now , I’m at home, and due to leave for Pune in abut 2-3 months where my  post-graduation awaits me, in short , a new phase of my life.

17^th April ,2013 (4 years ago, the day after I sent the email)

When the Director of the college came to know about what had just taken place, he ordered all known entrances to and from the 9^th floor to be sealed with brick walls to ensure nobody even mistakenly set foot on(or inside) that floor.

21^st April,2017 (Present Day)

I had been to my college once,just a few days back, for old times’ sake. And , when I was told by another security uncle , (who didn’t ,to my relief turn out to be another ghost) , the 9^th floor of the UB Building was sealed and off-limits for everybody , I couldn’t suppress a smile at the thought of the fact that it had in fact been me who had given the alarm. So, that , my dear readers , that was the tale of Room 902 and the abandoned corridor.

Thank You All for reading.