The journey

Ravi was on his bike, riding into the darkness and the fear of unknown. As soon as he took a turn to the shortcut, he sensed the shift in the air. It was unusually cold. The road too was unusually dark. It was around 8:45 pm, but the road told Ravi that it must have been past midnight. There was no street lights.

The road was unusually quiet. The chilling silence felt like a curse to his ears. He had been just a few meters away from the densely crowded national highway, but the road felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, far away from civilization.

The trees looked lifeless bearing on flowers, leaves, or fruits. It was not even autumn but the tress had no leaves on them. They looked like giant thorns.

To his surprise, there were no stray animals. There was no barking stray dogs. No cats suddenly crossing the road in front of his bike. No glowing eyes of animals in the dark. It felt like he was in an abyss. The road felt like a different world. As if the laws of universe did apply there.

Ravi continued on the road. Despite the unsettling atmosphere, not once Ravi felt to turn around and go back to the main road. He felt like the road was in charge of his journey and he had been following the orders. He thought that he had lost his way.

For a moment Ravi felt that his bike got heavier. As if someone had been sitting at the backseat. As if he was not riding alone, but someone had been sitting with him. He looked in the mirror, but saw nobody. Still he continued to ride.

Then he saw the glimse of street lights from meters away. Ravi felt relieved. The signs of civilization gave him hope that he had been on the right path. Maybe he was late for the study session but he was not lost. As he rode further, he saw buildings, store, houses telling him he was in Sagar's neighborhood.

Within minutes he was at Sagar's doorstep. He saw that Sagar and his friends had gathered. But they looked worried. As Ravi parked his bike, he saw his friends running frantically towards him. Sagar was first to speak, "where have you been? We were worried about you. What took you so long?"
"Sorry. I think I got a little lost. In the dark, all roads looked the same. Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere. But I am here now. Let's start the study session".
"Ravi, it is 10:30. What took you so long?" Asked another friend.
Ravi was shocked with that question. Sure, he took a little longer to reach but it should not have taken one hour. Something was not adding up.
"Your phone was not reachable too. Your live location was off. We were so worried. We were about to call your parents and then saw you here. Thank god you are fine," Sagar had been relieved that his friend was fine.

Boys decided to waste no more time and begin the study session. Sagar asked Ravi in private, "did you take the shortcut?"
"I accidentally did. I entered the area and forgot you had told me not to take it. I am sorry for wasting your time," Ravi felt guilty for wasting his friends' time.
"As long as you are fine, let's go," Sagar took him to the home.

What friends did not know what that everything was not fine.