Chapter 1

Nevada City, California
13th April 2014

It was a windy night. A man was walking home after a day's hard work in the field. He couldn't wait to get home and lie down on his warm bed. He quickened his pace. The street was dark. A sole street lamp flickered somewhere in the distance. But the man was not scared. The street and its surroundings were quiet familiar to him. He used the same route everyday to reach home.

Suddenly he heard loud music. It seemed to be growing louder. He wondered who that could be. A loud honk made him jump. He turned. A red Porsche was coming straight towards him. He covered his ears to shut the blaring music. The driver seemed to have lost control over the car. It was going zigzag and any moment it would hit him. He seemed to be frozen in place. The car was about to hit him but then he heard screeching of the brakes and the car swerved away just in time.

'Bloody teenagers!' he yelled loudly. The car didn't stop.

The man waited till his heart beats returned to normal. He let out a sigh of relief. It was a close call. He was about to die. He thanked the lord and continued his journey homeward.

The occupants of the Porsche were all in their twenties. 'You could have killed him!' a girl was yelling at the guy who sat in the driver's seat next to her. She shut the music angrily.

'But he didn't die, did he? Relax!' said the guy coolly.

All her friends except the girl were drunk. They were heading home from a club. She would miss them a lot. She had come to California to study criminal psychology. Now that her two year course was complete, she was going to head back home. She had enjoyed two years with her best friends to the fullest. He glanced at Amanda and Edward in the backseat who were fast asleep and then to Jasper who was sitting next to her driving the car. They had shared joys and sorrows and they would stay forever in her memory. The car took a dangerous turn and she was jolted back from her thoughts.

'Jasper stop the car! Right now!' she yelled.

'Why? What's wrong?' Jasper asked lowering the speed. The car came to a halt and she got out. She took the wheel and Jasper got in next to her.

'Scaredy cat!' he said laughing.

'Shut up! I want us all to reach home safely' she said.

Jasper kept looking at her for next few minutes.
'What?' she asked.

'I am really going to miss you. In fact we all are. Can't you just stay here? Why do you need to go back?' Jasper asked.
She didn't want to cry but she failed to stop the tears.

'I am going to miss you all too! But I can't stay here forever. You know that. But I promise I will come to meet you all for Christmas' she said smiling.

'Yeah! And we will be in touch through calls and face book too' said Jasper.

She drove in silence for some time. There was still time to reach home. Jasper covered her eyes with his hand. 'Jasper stop it!' she said angrily trying to throw off his hand.

'Oh come on it's a dare! You have to drive like this for five minutes. I have my eyes on the road. I will guide you' said Jasper.

'No!' the girl said and shook off his hand. You are going to pay for this when we reach home. Her eyes were not on the road. She and Jasper were arguing and then Jasper suddenly yelled, 'Look out!'

The girl's eyes went wide with shock as she saw a man in the suit ahead. He was standing still in the middle of the road. He was apparently drunk and he had not noticed their speeding car. She honked but he was not in her senses. Jasper turned the wheel violently but this time they were too late. A scream escaped her lips as their car hit him and he was thrown a few feet into the air. His body fell down like a rag doll and he lay still on the street.

Amanda and Edward too were wide awake by the sudden commotion. They hot down from the car and ran towards the man.

It was the most gruesome sight they had ever seen. The man's face was distorted and they could see blood on his face. His face was beyond recognition.

'Oh my! What's happened to him?' Amanda whispered.

Jasper checked his pulse with trembling hands.

'He - he is not breathing' he said softly.

'No- no please don't say that' the girl said sobbing.

'He is dead' said Edward. He too had checked the man's pulse.

'Oh my god! I killed him! I - what do we do?' the girl cried helplessly.

'But how did this happen?' asked Amanda.

'It was my entire fault' said Jasper.

He narrated all that had happened. 'We should go to cops' said the girl.

'No! Are you out of your mind? They will sentence us for murder!' said Edward.

'Wait a minute. And I don't think he was killed because of us. He was already injured. I mean look at his face!' said Jasper.
'But nobody would believe us' said Amanda in a terrified voice.

Edward looked around carefully. He scanned the surrounding. Not a soul except them was present.

'Listen to me now everyone! He is already dead. Nothing can be done now. Nobody has seen us. I say we will dispose the body somewhere nearby and get the hell outta here. We certainly can't go to the cops. No one would know we were here.' said Edward.

'Are you crazy? We can't do that!' said the girl in alarm.

'He is right! Let's just do it. We don't have a choice' said Amanda.

'But what if you guys land in trouble because of me? I am leaving this country tomorrow. But what if someone has witnessed this accident? I will confess my crime to the cops. I can't land you guys in trouble' said the girl.

'Nothing's gonna happen. We are going to dispose this body somewhere. And you are not going to the cops. That's decided.' said Jasper with a note of finality in his voice.

'But -' the girl protested but her friends paid no heed. They carried the dead body and put it into the trunk of the car
'Where do we go?' asked Amanda.

'I know a place. There is a lake out here. A farmer used to live there in his hut. But he died drowning into the lake and after that the place has been abandoned. No one knows of that place. We can bury him nearby' said Jasper.

'I will drive' said Edward.

They arrived at the lake pretty quickly. They saw a wooden hut. Edward checked it out to make sure no one was around. He came back with a satisfied expression. They set to work. The ground was soft. They dug a pit quickly and big enough to accommodate the dead body. They lay the body inside and covered it with mud. They stood staring at it for a few minutes.
'I don't have a good feeling about this' said the girl in a shaky voice.

'Forget it. It was an accident. Besides, the man was at fault too. He was standing in the middle of the road!' said Jasper.
'Guys let's leave before anyone spots us. And remember one thing. This secret is buried right here with him. We will not talk about it ever. And none of us should tell it to anybody. Understood?' asked Edward.

They nodded and marched back towards the car. They rode back home silently shaken from the night's events.
They stayed together for the night. None of them could sleep.

The next day the girl boarded her flight back home. Her friends had come to see her off at the airport. They hugged her telling her to forget last night's events. She bade them a final teary goodbye promising to return soon to meet them.

O-o-o-o

Days passed. Eventually all four of them forgot about the accident. So far they had not heard of the accident. There was no news about the man or the accident. No missing complaint had been filed. Life went on as if nothing had happened. They were convinced that nobody had seen them. They were all safe or so they thought.
It was a new moon night.

The lake looked beautiful and calm. Ripples were created on its surface due to the light breeze.
The wooden hut stayed dark and silent by its side.

Suddenly a blackened hand rose from the ground. It was burnt black and shrivelled. Too bad they didn't take the accident seriously. Little did they know that a new horror was slowly making its way towards them.