The mail

Out of my regular habit of checking mails after I woke up, that day was no different. I checked my mails as soon as I woke up , replied to some and then looked at the clock to notice that I was fashionably late. I was unable to check the mails for the last few days as I had a pretty busy week in office. As I was heading towards the top I noticed a mail from an unknown resource saying noreply, dated 15th June i.e. 7 days ago from today. I opened the mail and what it said, made me sweat from head to toe and miserably happy . The mail was written (as it said) by my friend Maria' ,who was missing since the last 2 months. We're friends since childhood and were together till high school. Despite our busy working schedules we managed to keep in touch until one day she disappeared. She didn't had a family as such but she had an old aunt living in New York. I tried contacting her after her sudden disappearance quite a few times but, no result. Her aunt wasn't even in touch with her. The mail was dated 15th June and she disappeared before 2 months. The mail said -

Dear Cyrus,

I can't stay in Denmark anymore and that has got several reasons. As you know, I never actually had a lot of friends but just you. I don't know how you acted to my sudden disappearance. Did you freak out or did you turn silent? Well well you need not be worried as I'm living a well settled life here and I left Denmark for good. Since my childhood, you've always been my secret keeper so here goes my another secret. On a chilly March night, I was returning home from my office when my car had a major breakdown near the Ellen Woods and I checked my watch only to add to my grief that I was pretty late. I decided to leave the car there and walk . As you know , Ellen Woods has got a far more shorter route to my house than the road. Overworking made me quite weary and I decided to take the route through the forest. As I entered the woods and the road was out of my view,I was a bit afraid of the silence around. I could hear some insects singing their songs and it added to my fear somehow. Suddenly, I came to a stop as I noticed a black figure standing there right in front of me holding something shiny high above. A part of me told me to escape from the scene whereas a part of me asked me to wait and watch. Holy Jesus! That's a knife. No sooner did I realise it to be a knife, than the black figure stabbed it onto something or maybe someone. A small shriek escaped my lips and the black figure turned round to face me. Not sure if he saw my face or not. That night I ran to home for dear life and was safe. Next morning I found my car outside my house with a note sticked to it saying- "Keep it a secret." I was horrified but were OK when I was amongst people once again. That night as I was returning home, a truck tried to hit my car and the same followed for several days. Finally one morning, I found a note in my kitchen and it was easily understood that the note was passed through the window. I opened it and what I saw made me nauseous. "Your end is near" was written on it with red ink and horrified I decided to leave the town and accepted the job offer in Paris. To be honest I'm happy and safe here and I'm typing this mail to you while enjoying a latte` creme` in a famous cafe` here. Take care and if possible visit me here once and see for yourself the way I'm living.

Yours lovingly,

Maria' .

I was miserably sad that she was gone so far. I was sad that she wouldn't be in touch with me anymore. Saddened by this, I rang up Smith. He wasn't a regular friend but was kind of a shoulder to cry upon. He was a chief executive in one of the towns renowned news office.

"Hey, I'm sad! "

"Woah! Who dared to do this to you? "

"Smith I'm not kidding! It's about Maria' ."

"Hey you mean the one who disappeared 2months ago? "

"She hasn't disappeared Smith! She's in Paris, well settled and safe! "

"Safe? Hey, do you mind revealing everything? "

I said all I knew and Smith decided that it'd be the headlines of tomorrow's news paper and I was horrified!

No sooner did the news came out, than the media got excited. Smith was in the limelight for the past few days and was kind of happy with it, until, one night at a party I saw the same black figure standing behind Smith as he was on the dance floor. What followed thereafter was enough to make Smith regret his actions. I saw that black figure raising that same shining knife and as he was about to stab - I jumped right upon Smith and dodged the knife quite skillfully. That man fled away as everyone was busy with Smith.

The news of the attack occupied the headlines for some more days, until one day the headlines said -

"Dead body found in the Ellen Woods."

It was a bright sunny day, yet, I felt something stuck in my throat. I felt a strange feeling creeping up my legs and arms and twisting itself around my whole body. I drained my green tea into the sink - I was losing my appetite. The whole town was horrified and the police were searching for the criminal and anyone who could be of some help. I was here, in my kitchen, knowing an answer something that the whole town was searching for. This secret was becoming unbearable. Smith was no better than me! We decided to leave the town and come back once all this is over.

The next thing I did was to apply for a month's leave and book the very next flight to Paris. 2 tickets please! Denmark was not safe anymore .