DEHLIJ

Rijusmit Biswas

Escaping Times



That was gloomy day over star plaza, a tiny board of nameplate is even gloomier as it was implanted over the door of the clinic ‘Simon & Simons’. In the chamber of Dr Simon sits his third recurring patient for the day named Brady. As his second patient leaves, Brady enters, and his session begins. Doctor asked how Brady is doing, as takes a sip from his cup and blinks. Eventually Brady opens up with a bit reluctant node.


“Do you believe in ghosts?” asked Dr. Simon.


Brady with a triggered and a lost consciousness replies “How can one not and still believe the reasons of science in spite of all the tricks that your mind sometimes plays on you?”


Brady is a simple VFX designer and leader of a team that makes CGI. He works in a studio in Browne square and with few other freelancers.  A screenwriter Glenn McCauley hired Brady’s team for his film a year ago. Glenn had humongous tasks of filming and very tight schedule to complete it. He has put a set of conditions and completion criteria which must not lapse. Glen emphasized that if this film doesn’t complete in next 4 months he will go in loss and his film company will be taken over. So, completion of task is extremely necessary and if the task is not completed, there are serious consequences. However, Brady agreed to take up assignment though.


Brady sat with his team to complete the prerequisites for this assignment. In a few days, in a fine morning, he met with a girl named Jenna who was keep to team for the job. They discussed the plan and schedules, skillsets, and job requirement. They met again in a Browne square. As Jenna looked like a promised prospect, Brady thought to offer her a job role. While returning to apartment, he promised a her a job and left the premises by driving his newly bought car Camry.  The day was overcast – though that did not pose any threat. The climate is cozy and grey, that paused the time.


On his way in a busy road, Brady saw a detective named Ashton who is an acquaintance of his. He stopped his car for a while and queried Ashton about the new case where he is working on. They talked and nodded for a while about that case and departed for own destinations.


As Brady arrived at Glenn’s house, he is told that Glenn is out with his wife. The person shut ups the door and disappeared. Brady thought a while, looked here and there. He then makes mind to drive to Browne square. On his way to his office, Jenna called up. He picked up the phone while driving, he saw Jenna on phone crying as he is distracted for a moment and a car abruptly crashed into Brady’s car. A violent car accident injuring all 6 people, the car was badly broken and all of sudden the place was occupied by crowed and local traffic police took over the accident area. The gloomy day became a dark even and ended with a slur on the traffic history.


 

After 6 months.


Brady arrives at his office only to find that he is replaced by someone else. He is now placed as a subordinate in his own office. He left office for his home. On his way he met Jenna on near Crown Plaza. They sat for a coffee break and had a few hours of conversation for next assignment of work. The day looked bright and clear blue sky, Brady drove back to at his apartment. When he entered on home, the lights are turn on, he astonished to see that Glenn is seen sitting on his couch.


Glenn told him about how his team had to call a quit and his film was dropped. Now his company has been taken over. Since, Brady is not able to complete the assignment so as per the completion criteria, Glenn would kill him. But he would like to give him another chance instead, he handed over a list of items, Brady needs to collect and bring these items in 48 hours. There are 3 conditions he needs to follow:  Number one, He can’t purchase anything. Number two: If he takes 1 second more than 48 hours, he dies. Number three: No outsider can be involved in this. All he has to do of his own. Glenn left the house.


After 48 hours Glenn comes to Brady’s apartment and brought an empty box with him. Brady completed and put all collected items in the box. Glenn showed no emotions, tells Brady that he would be out of city for a week and left the Brady’s home.


Feeling a bit relieved, Brady met Jenna again. They hang out every day and go for long drives. Eventually, they become friends and get closer. One fine day, Jenna tells Brady that she has got another job she was looking for but must leave the work.


Next week, Glenn came back with another list of tasks. And this time the assignment are more complex and weirder as he had to steal a drug vial from a local war-house. Brady wanted to refuse and disagree. Glenn was followed by the gang and as he left. He made an ultimatum that Brady must complete all the task in 24 hours. However, Brady took up the work and accomplished all the assignments in stipulated time.


Now Brady decided to finally end all these demands. Glenn is too much demanding and greedy. Brady needs to stop that. He went to detective Ashton to his normal stakeout and explained him about happening and hope for a solution. Ashton tells him that Glenn is a ghost now and it will be hard to find him. Ashton needs a few months to think for more solutions.


A month passed by, there is no sign of Glenn. Assignment looks easy and comfortable. Brady meets Jenna again. She tells him that she is here only for a few weeks. They start hanging out again. They get more closer eventually and start sharing everything.


Brady tells her that he is depressed with his VFX job and is deciding to leave the crew and start working on his film editing career. Jenna on the other hand tells him that her mother is disappointed in her as she was supposed to give her all the money she had been earning through her job. Brady said that he remembers her mother saying that when they worked at Baskin Robbins.


After that day they started walking to work together and eventually Jenna tells him about her fantasy about an open car and an open road living freely no stress, no society.


Brady takes her on a Road trip on his new convertible. She then persuaded and motivated Brady to leave his VFX job and start film editing for good. Brady finally mails his manager a resignation letter and Jenna leaves for her work.


As he returned home, he saw Glenn with a real gun and a brand-new list of tasks. Glenn says that he was promised to complete the task but as Brady broke a condition and he involved a detective and now he has to pay a penalty. Either he dies and collect all the items of the list in 12 hours of time.


Brady had to put it to endless demand. He went to detective Ashton and argued him to arrest Glenn now. This is sheer set of unethical and illegal demands.  However, Brady had given a last try to collect two items mentioned in the new list.


Brady collected the first item in an hour, but he found the last item to be at a residence near China town where Jenna’s mother lived. Brady went there, she welcomed him in. As a last task, all he had to do is to take her family pictures. Brady conveyed the thanks from Jenna and talked about how some advice from Jenna changed his life. Jenna is his best friend now. But in reply, her mother said that she is dead for almost a year. She further described that how she was died in a car crash near Browne square where a total of 6 people got injured.


Brady took the family photos and escapes in hast. As he arrived at his apartment in hurry. He also saw that Ashton and Glenn are already there arguing over a topic and Jenna is present there too intermediating that. It is raining outside; the roads are slippery. The apartments looked wetlands and darker.


It stroked in the deep corridor on brain, Brady soon realizes that Jenna, Ashton, and Glenn are dead and the people he has been seeing and meeting were nothing but a figment of his imagination he remembers that. In the said accident he suffered a great head injury which he barely survived, which must have resulted in these hallucinations. Brady fainted, when he woke up and he found that there are 3 boxes on the table. There are some addresses written on the boxes, those must be sent to owners. Brady was surrounded by few more people around him. As per Mrs. McCauley, Police Precinct, and Jenna’s mother respectively and attach a note saying that those people died on car accident wished to send those items to respective addresses. Three box respectively contains a diamond ring for Mrs. McCauley, A drug vial as a piece of evidence for the frug case Ashton was working on, and 5,000 thousand dollars for Jenna’s Mother.


“But the ghosts does not have mind , not they do strike together” Dr Simon explain. He wrote on his notebook about the case study: “Brady did this thing as an act of Fear, Desperation, and Courage to confront their loved ones he may have killed.”


The next fall in Browne square. Brady is now taking therapies and seeing doctors resulting in the improvement of his condition. Dr Simon says that his condition seems to improve but always seems a bit sad. He asks if it was heartbreak or simply guilt.


A week later, when a junkie raided Brady’s apartment for missing drug. A cop has been waiting for this junkie as well. The Cop followed junkie there were a fights between two. Brady could see junkie kills the Cop with his kitchen knife. Brady was scared and tried to run away from the scene.   As he approached to main road and has been crossing the road, he realized a cop is piling on him. He kept on running on the road and felt safe for a minute. But as he looked back a truck blows him away. Lying on the street he watched his entire timeline of his, frame by frame of a series of virtual visualization, a minute before he died. 




 

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