Unexpected Knock

That day, I was disturbed from my deep sleep.

"What are you going to do?" That was Amma's voice.

"Going to check!" Appa replied.

"No! Don't Open the door!" That was loud enough for Anu to open her eyes.

"I'm not going to open!" Appa said low.

I asked, still lying on the bed, "What happened?" Not sure if it was audible to them.

"Excuse me! Open the door, Sir!" 

There were a few knocks that followed that voice. I got up from the bed shocked. I rubbed my eyes and realized the background. It was night 1:00 am, Amma sitting on the bed beside me, and Anu had returned to sleep, Appa was standing beside the bed.

"Sir! Open the door!" It wasn't a familiar voice. it was spooky, scary, and suspicious.

Now even I got up. By this time Appa reached our room door.

He stood in silence for some time.

'Knock-knock'.

"Yes!" Appa, trying to be bold.

"Open the door, sir."

"Who are you?"

"Room service sir!"

"Why are you here?"

"You called me sir!"

We three looked towards each other.

"No!" Appa got angry, "We didn't call you!"

"No sir!" He said sweetly but creepy. "Chips and juice. You had ordered sir. Open the door!"

"What's your name?" That was the brave me trying to figure out the face through the keyhole.

There came no reply. But there was again a knock.

"Do you have their number?"Appa whispered to me.

"Whose?" I responded.

"Room boy's-No-Umm...what do you call them? Management or so, I forgot." He was tensed, I could see him sweating.

"No I don't have, they didn't give us."

Or their visiting card?"

"No Appa" Still whispering.

"Sir!"

"We didn't call you, go back!" 

"How sir?"

We three stood in silence.

"Ohh! What to do?" Appa stood confused.

"Ignore him!" Amma shouted still on bed hands together.

"Don't shout!" Appa scolded.

"I told you that this lodge is not good! We should have gone to the other one!"

"What is the use of telling it now Amma?"

"You all never listen to me!"

"Sir!" there was a louder Knock, "Open the door."

"Krish, help me!" Appa quickly went near the bed and started lifting a small stand meant for keeping lamps.

I hurried towards him, we placed the stand attached to the door. Then over it, we placed another similar stand. Our hotel room wasn't so big. It had only a few pieces of furniture. Appa then fetched a wooded chair and placed it attached to the stand, that was facing the door.

All this while it was silent but that would be a lie. He kept knocking and calling ‘sir’.

"Ignore him. Go back to sleep." Appa calmed us.

"But what if-" I wanted to ask my doubt.

"Nothing! Go to sleep." Appa interrupted.

I climbed the bed and covered myself completely with the thick white bedsheet.

Appa continued to stand, Whereas Amma and I was lying beside me. There came no more knocks and Sirs.

There was sufficient silence and I slept.

The next time when I opened my eyes it was 8:00 am. It was Amma who woke me. Anu was combing her hair, Appa was missing.

"Where is Appa?" I asked.

"He has gone to reception to ask about yesterday's room service."

On finding me awake, Anu looked at me,

"Krish! You know, Yesterday night Amma and Appa heard some--"

"Even I was awake." I smiled.

"Ohh! What had happened?"

"Today when we get bored from the train I will explain to you that horror scene."

Later As per Amma's instruction, I hurried and took a hot water bath, wore a new set of clean clothes, and headed to the reception carrying my side bag and a cover.

As we climbed down the stairs I spotted Appa sitting on the sofa waiting for us. I ran towards him.

"What did they say?"

"Let both of them also come."

Amma and Anu hurried towards us.

"Got any information?" Amma' asked.

"No! They say that yesterday night they did no room service. They don't even have CCTV camera, I even talked with all the room service boys but none sounded the same as yesterday's."

"What if someone had pranked us?" I asked.

"Don't know! Leave it. Let's eat and reach the station before the due time."

Later that day we didn't speak anything about that incident. We got our seats. I sat near the window. Appa beside me. Just in front sat Amma and Anu. The express train was in its full speed when I decided to write my diary. I was also hearing to my favorite song with my earphones plugged to my ears. I took out my only pen, then my diary and started flipping its pages. I was sunk in that song that I couldn't even hear the train's sound.

I kept flipping the pages when suddenly everything turned dark and black. I looked all around but I could see nothing, I got goosebumps, I began to shiver. I began to sweat, my eyes went to the window, that's when I noticed that we were passing through a tunnel. But still, I wasn't relieved. I got my smile only when I spotted the sun back again. I looked at my diary. I had flipped enough. It was the last entry page dated yesterday.

It said- Open the door, sir! Chips and juice sir!

I was shocked! It was less a writing, more a scribbling, with a black pen not of the sort I use. I got more shocked when I remembered that I hadn't touched my diary yesterday at all!

I looked beside me but I failed to find my Appa. I couldn't find any passengers except for two. One was me the other sitting just in front of me, with a scary face, not of a ghost but a haunted clown smiling at me holding a drilling machine.