The Metro Murderer

The Metro Murderer had the entire city in a state of utter fear.  The murders took place in the beginning of the year 2013. Within 4 months, a total of 14 murders were linked to the murderer.  The victims were mostly people returning home late at night.  They were stabbed right in the heart dying instantly.
 
One of the most notable of the murders took place on January 14, 2013, down in an underground metro station that had been newly constructed and was waiting to be inaugurated.  This was the only double homicide by him, and it cemented his name as the Metro Murderer.


**


It was about 11 p.m.  Even though the metro service hadn't begun operating yet, people still used the underground passageways as a shortcut to get to the other side of the huge mall under which the metro station had been built.

By 11, the place was more or less deserted.  A middle-aged man was seen walking down the platform carrying a plastic bag in one of his hands.  Suddenly, the place resounded with the ringing of a phone, and it jolted the middle-aged man out of this deep thoughts.
 
It wasn't his cellphone.  It was a payphone on the wall close-by.
 
The man stopped for a moment, looked at the phone, then looked around expecting someone to come running from one of the sideways and pick it up.  May be one of the maintenance guys.  A few more seconds went by and nobody was in sight.  The middle-aged man finally took a step towards the phone, but then the phone, just as suddenly, had stopped ringing.

Just when he was about to turn away and continue walking, it started to ring again.  This time, he promptly walked towards it and picked it up.
 
"Hello! This is the police control room!" It said. "We need your help!  There was a murder just a couple of minutes ago pretty close to where this payphone is!  We need you to stay calm and try to stop the murderer from leaving the area!  Our men are on their way and will be there in a few minutes!"
 
Then there was a pause.  The man just stood there starting to panic.
 
"Hello? Are you there!?" the voice said again.
 
"Y... yes." the man replied.
 
"Ok, we got the murder on a surveillance camera.  The killer is about 6 feet tall and wearing a brown jacket.  Do you get that!?"

But the man had stopped listening at that point, because right then he could see a man walking down the platform towards him.  The man was about 6 feet tall and had a brown jacket on.  The phone slipped out of the middle-aged man's hand.

The middle-aged man stood planted on the spot as if he couldn't move his body.  The man wearing the jacket was closer now, about 10 feet away.  The man with the jacket stopped, looked at the middle aged guy, and shouted,
 
"What are you looking at?!?"
 
The middle-aged man, instead of looking away or may be try and make a run for it, continued to stare at the murderer.

"What?  You going to hit me?" said the man with the brown jacket stepping up towards the middle-aged man.  Surprisingly, the middle-aged man jumped at him and they both fell on the ground and a struggle followed.  Just then, another person came running out from a sideway shouting,

"SIR, ITS A PRANK! YOU CAN LET GO! ITS JUST A PRANK!" The guy was laughing as he shouted this.  And when he noticed that they both continued to struggle, he, still laughing, grabbed the middle-aged man by the shoulders and tried to gently pull him off his friend.  The man struggled a bit, but then finally let go of the guy wearing the jacket.  The man, who was laughing, was suddenly laughing no more.  Because he had just realized that his friend was covered in blood and the middle-aged man had a bloody knife in his hand.

"OH NO! YOU STABBED HIM?? IT WAS A PRANK! OH GOD!"
 
The guy kneeled over his friend, who by then had blood gushing out of his mouth.
 
"Oh no, quick, lets get him to a hospital!" the friend said getting more horrified when his friend in the jacket suddenly went limp.
 
"What do you mean, its a prank??" the middle-aged man asked sitting on the floor shocked.  He still had the bloody knife in his hand.
 
"We were secretly filming it for our Youtube channel. Com'on! Hurry! Hold him!"
 
"Call the others to help!" the middle-aged man said.
 
"There are no 'others'.  Its just us both.  I made the call with my cellphone." he replied quickly, at the same time putting his friend's arm on his shoulder and trying to pull him up.
 
"Ok, then, let me help!" the middle-aged man went around to the friend who was trying to lift the other up and stabbed him repeatedly into his chest with the same knife.  With a muffled scream, the friend too fell on the floor.  A pool of blood surrounded them and it kept growing.
 
The middle-aged guy went over to his plastic bag that was near the payphone and pulled out a towel with which he wiped his hands off the blood, then wrapped the towel around the knife and placed it inside the bag.  Then he walked around to the sideway mumbling something under his breath.  He found a camera propped up on a tripod.  He grabbed the camera and threw away the tripod in a room nearby which looked like a store room.

He then put the camera in his plastic bag, and with a last glimpse at the 2 limp bodies covered in blood, turned away and started walking.





 **


It was the only double homicide by him and it cemented his name as the Metro Murderer. The last of his murders took place on April 27th.  Investigations are still ongoing.  The police do not have any suspects yet.


The Metro Murderer - A Short Story
- Rejo John

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Pickpocketing Gone Wrong - A Short Story

"Just make sure you create a huge scene," I said.
 

"What if we get caught, dude?" said Rajesh stroking his chin thoughtfully.
 

"Listen guys, it's all in the performance.  You create a huge ruckus and everybody starts looking at you," I said holding up hands up in the air as if I am a director describing a movie scene.  "It creates the needed distraction.  You guys should shout at each other at the top of your lungs so that the people around you get annoyed.  Then you demand loudly that the bus be stopped so that you can get down and take the fight outside.  And if you have done it well, all the people should be happy to just get rid of you and ask the driver to stop the bus as well.  And, in the middle of all the commotion, I slip out of the bus along with you guys.  In the end, we are all left completely clean."
 

"What if they didn't stop the bus and the guy realizes that hes been robbed?" put in Lokesh.
 

"Again, its all in the performance guys.  Be as huge a nuisance as you can be.  Make the people 'want' to throw you out of the bus and we will be off the bus even before this guy has a chance to realize his wallet's gone!"
 

They both stood lost in thought.  I knew they weren't sure about the plan, but they weren't about most of the ideas I came up with.
 

Well, dont blame us! We tried to get a job, but being school dropouts, the only people who hired us were people who were going to make us work like dogs and then underpay us.  All we do is hangout all day long at the teashops and come up with such ideas to get easy money.
 

This one was my latest.
 

Next morning, we had a few more verbal rehersals of our plan, and then we finally got into a bus that looked crowded enough for our mission.
 

First, I had to find a suitable target.  Someone who might have a decent amount of money in his wallet.  I had to do this before the bus turned into the main road.  Our plan was to get out of the bus somewhere in the middle of the main road and then hire an auto and get the hell out of there.
 

After a bit of covert observing, I finally settled on a guy wearing a flashy branded T-shirt with white earphones sticking out his ears, which indicated that he most probably owned an iPod, and most probably had some decent cash in his wallet, provided that he didn't own one of those Chinese iPod knockouts.  Then I observed that he carried a handbag with the logo of a multinational company on it.  Suddenly, he seemed like a safe bet.  I pushed myself through the crowd and placed myself right behind him and waited for the chaos to begin.
 

Just as the bus turned into the main road, I started hearing Rajesh and Lokesh shout at each other.
 

"For the last time, stop stamping my feet, you asshole!" I heard Lokesh shout.
 

"What the hell are you talking about?? I didn't stamp your feet!" I heard Rajesh retaliate.
 

"Hello! Are you calling me a fucking liar??" Lokesh shouted back.  

This went on for a few seconds before it began to make heads turn.  Everyone were straining their necks to get a look at the fighting duo.  The branded T-shirt guy couldn't resist either.
 

I took a look and made sure that the guy's wallet was in his back trouser pocket.  I then gently placed my fingers on the top of the guy's wallet and waited patiently for the speedbreaker that I knew was coming.  As the bus hit the speedbreaker, I pretended to miss my footing and fell on the branded T-shirt guy and at the same time managed to pull out the wallet from his pocket.  The guy stumbled ahead, but then caught the top railing and straightened himself and looked back at me irritated.  My heart jumped to my throat for a moment as I wondered if he realized what I had just done, but all he did was scowl at me for a few seconds, then turn away.  Relieved, I slowly dropped the wallet into my pocket.
 

Luckily, by then, the passengers had started to get irritated with Lokesh and Rajesh.  Everything was going according to plan.
 

An old man pretty close to me started shouting at them telling them how the youths these days are brats and asked them to shut up.  Hearing the commotion, the bus conductor made his way towards Lokesh and Rajesh.
 

"Whats the matter with you guys?? Shut the hell up!" the conductor shouted at them.
 

"Let us off the bus right now! I know how to deal with this asshole!" said Rajesh looking at Lokesh.
 

"I dont take orders from anybody!  You can get down when the bus stops at the next stop!!" the conductor shouted back at him and started to push himself through the passengers to the back of the bus towards me.
 

Lokesh and Rajesh looked at me with a look of helplessness on their faces.  The next stop was about 5 minutes away.  I swallowed hard.  Suddenly, I started to get panicky.  What if the guy finds that he has been pickpocketed, then suspects me and asks me to empty my pockets.  Suddenly, I realized that prison was the last place I wanted to be.  I could imagine how my parents were going to shout at me while I sat on the floor behind bars.  My siblings looking at me, judging.  Even worse, I will be branded a pickpocketer for the rest of my life!
 

As all these thoughts whirled in my head, I realized that the conductor was moving towards me.  He was asking everybody around if they had bought their tickets.  He then looked at me and asked me the same thing.  I nodded yes hoping he wont demand to see the ticket.  Luckily he didn't and instead turned and asked the branded T-shirt guy, who unfortunately wasn't even aware that the conductor was asking him.  The guy was busy staring out one of the windows, his head slightly bobbing to the music he was listening to.
 

"Hello, have you taken the ticket?" the conductor shouted at the guy.
 

The guy heard it this time and turned to the conductor scowling.
 

"Well? I have had it with you youngsters! Cant you just take those damn things off your ears when someone is talking to you??" the conductor shouted at him again.
 

The branded T-shirt guy removed one of the earphones so that he can hear the bus conductor better.
 

"Where's your ticket? Have you bought it??" the irritated conductor said again.
 

"No. I got a pass." the guy said arrogantly and put the earphones back into his ears and turned away to stare out of the windows again.
 

I wished the conductor would just walk away at that, but he didn't.  

He looked visibly pissed off and jerked out one of the earphones out of the guy's ear and shouted,
 

"Well, show it to me! How will I know if you are not lying??"
 

"Comon man! I travel in this bus everyday! I always have a pass!  I have shown it to you hundreds of times!" said the guy.
 

I started to get nervous.  If the guy went to get his pass from his pocket, he might realize that his wallet was gone.
 

"I don't care! What if you didn't get the pass today? What if you forgot??" the conductor was shouting even louder now.
 

Now all the passengers were looking at the bus conductor and the guy.  The guy scowled back at the enraged conductor, then feeling all the eyes on him, said,
"Ok, look......" The guy slipped his hand into his back pocket and suddenly looked confused as he realized his pocket was empty.  He started checking all his other pockets.
 

The conductor now had his hands on his hips with a satisfied I-knew-it look on his face.  A few more seconds of searching later, the guy looked at the conductor, worried, and said,
"I think I forgot my wallet at home.  The pass was in it."
 

The conductor stared at him for a few seconds, then shouted towards the front of the bus,
"STOP THE BUS!!!"
 

The bus jerked to a stop in the middle of the main road.  The conductor looked at the guy and nodded towards the exit.

  

Grumbling, the guy got off the bus.

***

- Rejo John

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Dolly - Short Story - A Horror Parody

Finally finding a spare moment, Sanjay quickly logged into his Facebook account.  A few seconds later, he found himself cursing and sharing a photo onto 5 of his friend's walls, failing which, the photo said, bad luck would befall him.  As he did this, little did he know that a pair of bloodshot eyes were staring at the back of his head.


These eyes belonged to a ghostly form which then began to slowly float towards Sanjay.  Getting a feeling that he was being watched, Sanjay turned around and cringed in fear at what he saw.  It was a girl, but her skin was that of a 100-year-old woman.  Wrinkled with hundreds of cuts on them.  Crusted dry blood everywhere.  As Sanjay sat there looking back at her in horror, she slowly grinned showing her rotten black teeth.


“Who are you?” Sanjay finally mustered the courage to ask her.

“I live here.” she said in a hoarse voice and tilted her head a bit as if she was amused by him.

“Well, in case you didn't know, we just bought this house!” Sanjay said after clearing his throat.

“I have been living here for more than 2 centuries, and I dont remember selling it!” she said sarcastically.

“Arre yaar!  Ok, I am calling up Shankar right now and giving him a piece of my mind!”  A furious Sanjay pulled out his phone and called up Shankar, the house broker who had found him the house.

“Arre yar, what is this?”

“What sir?”

“There's already someone living here, and you told me the house is empty.”

“Who sir? Nobody's living there, sir. You got the papers, na?”

“Ya, but I got this lady here who's telling me that she has been living here!”

“Probably some homeless person, sir, just send her away with some money, na?”


Sanjay put away the phone and sat fidgeting for a moment.  The white form watched every one of his movements.


“Ok, listen.  I am the owner of this house now, so you have no choice but to leave. Dont you have anybody else? Family?”

“I am a ghost.  I have been here since I died 200 years a...”

“Ya, ya! Listen, I am a reasonable guy, okay? I understand that you are a ghost and all!  But I just bought this place, and I got a wife and a daughter, and I don't think we have enough room for you, you understand me, na??” said Sanjay starting to get furious again.

“There are 4 bedrooms here, and I am taking one of them!” the white form said, turned around and started to float away.

“Will you be paying rent?” called out Sanjay hopefully.


***


Sanjay couldn't keep it to himself.  At dinner, he decided to tell his wife and his daughter.

“Ok, guys, listen, I need to tell you something.”

“Hmm, chalo.” his wife said.  His daughter nodded whilst making sure she didn't slow down on her messaging on her phone.

“Ok, listen, this house is haunted.”

His wife looked at him stunned.  The piece of allo paratha in her hand fell back on her plate.  His daughter nodded whilst making sure she didn't slow down on her messaging on her phone.

“What? Did you say haunted?” his daughter exclaimed a few seconds later.

Sanjay nodded in agreement.  “I.... I met her today morning.”

“Is she scary to look at?” his daughter asked excited.

“Wha.. Reshma! Listen, how many times have I told you not to judge someone by their looks, huh?!!” Sanjay sounded furious again.

Sanjay's wife turned around getting a feeling that they weren't alone.  They all followed suite and saw an apparition.  It was she.  Poking her face inside the door and staring right at them with a hideous grin on her face.

“Dad, she looks just like that possessed girl in The Exorcist!” Sanjay's daughter exclaimed unable to contain her excitement.

“Arre, chup!” Sanjay's wife quipped Reshma, then got up and pulled out a chair beside Reshma and said,

“Come, sit down, betaa.”

After a bit of hesitation, the apparition floated over and sat down on the chair, grinning all the while.

“Whats you name, betaa?” Sanjay's wife said forcing out a big smile.

“Dolly.” she said and Sanjay's wife noticed Dolly's cracked lips and thought how painful they must be.

“How old are you, Dolly?” Sanjay's wife asked, now trying not to look at her lips.

“Two hundred an..... ah.. about 250 years! Opps! I lost count!” she said and started to laugh crazily almost falling off the chair in the process.  Everybody waited in silence till she was done laughing.

“But how old were you  when  you  died?” Sanjay said the words slowly.

“I was 15!” she said excitedly.

“Oh good! I guess you will be good company for Reshma.  She just turned 14 last month.” Sanjay's wife said.

Reshma and Dolly looked at each other with huge smiles.

“You know what? You need some fixing up.  I got this new make-up kit in my room which I think will get the job done!” Reshma said excited.

“Ok, listen, guys, finish ur dinner first” ordered Sanjay after clearing his throat.


***


Thirty minutes after dinner and a lot of fixing up later, Reshma brought Dolly into the living room.  Sanjay and his wife were impressed with the work.  Dolly looked just like any other teenage girl now, except for her grey hair and the old shabby dress.


Reshma lend Dolly some of her clothes and Sanjay's wife dyed Dolly's hair.  After the transformation, Reshma secretly got a feeling that may be Dolly was now more attractive than her.  This tinge of jealousy made her realize that may be she had just found her new best friend.


Over the next few days, they got more comfortable with Dolly.  They got her into a routine of doing things instead of her just watching people do things.  At the top of the routines list was brushing her teeth.


Then one day, Sanjay decided to enroll her into Reshma's school.  Dolly had never been to a school, and Sanjay promised her that it would be a new experience.


Dolly and Reshma had the best of days.  When playing hide and seek, Dolly would turn herself invisible.  Or when playing tag, she would vaporize herself just before getting tagged.  She was the naughtiest student in the class too.  Teachers would send her out of the class, but a moment later, she would walk right in through the walls and start making trouble again.  Once a furious teacher had tried to hit her, but of course Dolly floated away with a taunting grin, and the poor teacher had to chase her down the corridor to no avail.  Oh the way the class erupted in laughter at these antics.


Strange mysterious things began to happen too.  Like, one morning, a teacher walked into the staff room to find vomit sprayed all over the walls.


One day, Sanjay got an urgent call from the school.  He rushed over and ran into the classroom to find Dolly sitting at one of the corners of the roof.

“Mr. Sanjay, you daughter has been sitting there for 2 hours.  She wont come down,” a disgruntled old lady wearing gold framed glasses told Sanjay.

Sanjay walked to the corner, looked up at Dolly and pleaded,

“Dolly, listen, come down, na?”

Sanjay couldn't even see her face.  Her dyed jet black hair was all over her face and all he heard was her hissing.  She slowly lifted her hand and pointed at the window where a small kitten sat staring at her.

Sanjay shooed the kitten away, and Dolly came crawling down the wall and into his arms.

“Mr. Sanjay, she's too in-disciplined.  I can't teach her anymore.” said the disgruntled teacher and walked away.  As Sanjay and Dolly watched her walk away in slow motion, a dramatic music was heard from the music room close-by where students were having a rehearsal.


Sanjay took Dolly and Reshma home.  After a brief family discussion, it was decided that Dolly would be homeschooled.  By day 3 of homeschooling, Dolly had mastered the TV remote and could remember the names of up to 100 channels.


That day evening, Sanjay came home from work very excited.

“Listen, guys, guess what!” he said.

“Arre, what happened?” Sanjay's wife said sounding a bit irritated.

“Ok, listen, remember Sharath? My friend?” he said, but suddenly his face had a mixture of different emotions.

“Hmm...” Sanjay's wife said nodding.

“He's coming over tomorrow and will be staying over for a few days.  Can you believe it? After 20 years!” said Sanjay excited again.

Sanjay's wife smiled and said, “Accha, chalo, I will prepare one of the extra bedrooms for him.”


It was next day evening by the time Sharath had reached their place.  Sharath was a very thin guy of average height.  His growth had halted after the accident; the accident they never talked about.


It happened 20 years ago.  Sanjay, Sharath, Carlos, and Dhanush were college buddies and had gone on a trip.  Drunk and overspeeding, they had met with an accident that changed their lives.  Sanjay was in a coma for a few months.  Sharath was in the hospital for a long time undergoing surgeries.  Carlos and Dhanush got discharged sooner and went back to their hometowns.  After coming out of the coma and spending some time in the hospital, Sanjay went to stay with his grandparents.  Sanjay lost contact with the others.  And out of the blue, Sharath had called him.


As they sat in the dimly lit dinner room, Reshma walked in with Dolly, who had her makeup freshly put on.

“Ok, Sharath, listen, this is my beautiful daughter, Reshma.” Sanjay said.

“Hello.  And who is this?” said Sharath looking at Dolly.

“She's eh.. a family friend. Her name is Dolly.” Sanjay said.

“Dolly.... A beautiful name for a beautiful young lady.” Sharath said with a flirtatious smile.  Dolly blushed.

Reshma giggled.

“Listen guys, lets have dinner, na?” said Sanjay after clearing his throat.


During his stay, Sanjay noticed how Sharath and Dolly were getting along well.  He saw them sitting together in the living room sofa and chatting for hours together.  He heard Sharath say things like,

“Oh my god! You are soo good with history.  You know? History was my favorite subject in school!”


Sanjay wanted to tell Sharath that Dolly was different and that he might not like her if he knew the truth.  But before he could say anything, the day for Sharath to leave had come.


While Sharath was leaving, Dolly didn't come out of her room to say goodbye.  Sanjay realized that they had gotten pretty close, and he was secretly happy that Sharath was going away.


That day, at dinner, Dolly wasn't at the table too.  They all waited for sometime, then getting worried, went up to her room.  But the room was empty and Sanjay and his wife turned to Reshma for some kind of an explanation.

“I overheard them planning to run away together,” Reshma said finally.

“Oh God!” Sanjay exclaimed in horror.

Just then his phone began to ring,

“Hello, Sanjay?” said a vaguely familiar on the other side.

“Ha, who is this?”

“Are, Sanju, this is Carlos!!”

The conversation went on for sometime until Carlos suddenly sounded serious and said,

“Buddy, we are getting together on this 17 th.  You know why, na?”

“Ehh..,” Sanjay was scratching his head.

“Sharath's dead anniversary, buddy.  It has been 20 years.”

“What are you talking about??  Sharath was just here.”

There was a pause for a few minutes, then Carlos said,

“Are you feeling okay, buddy?”


Then it hit Sanjay.  The only time Sanjay had seen Sharath after the accident was 2 years later in a public library.  Sharath had told him he had been admitted for 6 months after the accident undergoing surgeries.  But he never said if he had survived the surgeries.


Sanjay found everything that happened quite amusing.  Later that night, he logged into his Facebook account and opened the only photo of Dolly they had.  It was a family picture with Dolly standing behind them.  The photo only had one comment which said,

“OMG dude! There's something standing behind you guys!!”

Sanjay smirked and then commented,

“LOL! It's just Dolly.  The lighting was bad!”

Just then, Sanjay heard his wife swearing and struggling with something in the kitchen.  He rushed to the kitchen to find his wife pulling at something inside the kitchen cupboard.

“Whats happening?” He exclaimed.

She didn't answer him, but kept pulling and a tiny arm came into appearance.  Then as she pulled harder, a young Chinese boy fell out.  The boy quickly got up and ran out of the kitchen screaming at the top of his lungs.


“Dont just stand there. Catch him!!” Sanjay's wife shouted running after the boy.


 ***

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