The Turn Of The Night

Chapter 19

The grasses became shorter as Aarush and Darsh came closer to the building in front of them. Had it been day time, had there been sun, it would have been a tranquil atmosphere. However the absence of sun, though did create an eerie ambience, Aarush and Darsh by now had already been accustomed to such skylines and to them it did not feel eerie anymore. While skimming through the grass, Aarush had looked at the other buildings on either side.

It was hard to believe still that they were in another realm for everything looked so much similar. The road winded upon the field forming a path to the building. It was coloured in a shade of sand brown and deep brownish orange. However the colour along with the cement were falling off in many patches. The stairs to the different floors were weared. The building had two portions, one on either side of the stairs. This trend was followed in all other buildings. Aarush while walking, had also seen the top of another building poking its face behind a mass of trees. There were one or two garages however they were mellow and the doors were moth eaten. Small grasses with pink wild grass flowers grew in patches and mosses covered parts of the building. Medium height gulmohar trees grew on the side of the circling road which also extended straight to the left of the building. The trees though had grown out of proportions but nevertheless were covered with red and yellow plumage.

' There was a path Darsh, why did you make me walk across that field with such long grasses?' panted Aarush as he covered the field's long stretch of the field and came to stand beside Darsh. Darsh tilted his face to look at the top of the building, pretending not to hear what Aarush just said. Aarush followed his gaze and found him looking at the fifth floor of the building. In contrast to the other floors, this part looked cleaner and less shabby. 'Wonder how the place would look from up there?' Aarush wondered. 'If we want to know that, then we gotta go up there.' Darsh reasoned as he loftily jumped on the stairs and started his climb. 'Wait it may not be safe….' Aarush said but Darsh had already climbed the first fleet of stairs. 'Hmmft.' Aarush grunted as he too went ahead upon the stairs though more cautiously. After he climbed the first fleet of stairs, he found Darsh waiting for him on the corridor between. There was one door on each turn of the stairs. 'What is taking you so long, huh?' Darsh asked fidgeting. 'Whats taking you so fast then? Aarush taunted. 'Whatever.. Let's go. ' Darsh said as he turned back to go up to the top.

Aarush was positively panting when he came upon the fifth floor but Darsh didn't seem to even break a sweat. 'Benefits of swimming .' Darsh smirked looking out of the walls of the corridor. 'Disadvantages of Asthma.' Aarush corrected as he came to stand beside Aarush to look in the distance.

Small fragments of forest were visible but the other building almost covered the view of the places they had trodden by. They could see the place they were, had bungalows and other two storied houses in rows. There were also patches of forest here and there. But to their disadvantage, the dark climate didn't make it possible for them to look far away. However the horizon seemed to be covered by boughs of tree though one cannot be sure in the darkness.

'Not much to see eh?' asked Darsh. 'Yeah and I thought I would be able to see your mysterious lab from here.' longed Aarush. 'Well then no point in wasting anymore time , we need someplace to rest.' he said as he came in front of the closed door of the fifth floor. The door though surprisingly had some scratches but both of them did not give the matter any thought. 'Let's break it.' Darsh exclaimed as he hunched back preparing to ricochet the door with his elbow. Just the moment he was about to strike the door , it opened and Darsh unable to adjust his motion fell head first onto the floor and was instantly met with a giggle of laughter from Aarush.

'Ooohh , ouch!' Darsh said as he carried himself up. 'You idiot.' he glared at Aarush still sitting on the floor. 'You didn't even see if the door was just latched or not.' Aarush reasoned 'And don't say ouch dear, you don't feel pain.' 'Whatever..' Darsh gruntled as he stood up grudgingly and looked at the rooms.

The room they barged into was painted a light green and had a small balcony on its right side with three large windows. The floor was tiled with mosaics, though layered with dust. Another room with a large dining table in its centre was adjacent to it. There was a corridor extended from the drawing room which opened into two rooms on either side. Both of them had small similar balconies and the latter even had a bed though moth eaten . The boys proceeded to the uncovered terrace with cemented floors. There were railings guarding the terrace and it also provided an excellent view of the place from the top though not much could be seen in the dark. The grasses of the field shone like ripples of water under the pale violet hue.

'It's beautiful.' Darsh said as he stood by the railings looking into the distance. Aarush was however scouring the rooms for reinforcements. However everything here was worn out. 'Hey Aarush this is a perfect place for us to crash onto. The view is majestic and there's that bed too. ' Darsh said dreamily as he emerged from the terrace into the room with a bed. 'Well that is, if you don't want the bed to collapse along with you. ' Aarush said as he inspected the wood. 'Okay but we can sleep anywhere here… there's no one to tell us what not to do.' he said with a joyous face.

Aarush however became nostalgic remembering his family . His mom and dad had died long ago, but this was the realm of the dead , his parents must be here.

'Hey Aarush..' Darsh shook his friend. Aarush blinked as the fog in his head cleared. 'What?' demanded Darsh . 'Umm nothing.. but hey lets coop up on the terrace and take some rest there, as you said , nice view and also I hate being encumbered by old rooms.' Aarush said as he went back to the terrace . Darsh set his backpack down on the floor of the terrace and rested his head upon it. 'Ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight' he said .

' A: you are quoting joker from batman and B: there's no moonlight.' Aarush replied as he himself rested his head upon the wall.

'Well there's the violet hue…' Darsh said dreamily. In a moment Aarush could hear his friend snoring and smiled to himself and closed his eyes.