THE UNTOLD STORY OF 1st BLOCK

DISCLAIMER: All details mentioned in this piece are loosely based on
common rumours and facts, and otherwise are of figments of
imagination.

As shadows coalesced under the moonlight, their glazed eyes dared not
gaze into the other. As she fell into his embrace and soaked up his
heat, her eyes closed as she drifted into a reality rift when their
lips met. The fervent passion and intimacy of the moment overwhelmed
her senses as she sunk into a chasm of insatiability. All of a sudden,
she felt a void and opened her eyes to see an abyss gaping at her. The
blinding ecstasy from seconds ago had mutated into a darkness and
desolation that swamped her.

When sanity’s eclipse finally abated, she woke up conscious of herself
surrounded by concerned friends and matrons. A devious grin crept
across her face as she jubilantly recounted her night with her beau.
Her friends were aghast by this story, and tried to convince her that
she had just been rolling on her bed and talking to herself before
passing out. She was too engrossed reminiscing a night that never was.
Days passed and her infatuation for the guy only grew. Many thought it
was just an estrogen overdose and hormonal changes manifesting as
hallucinations. Some of her friends deemed her mad and avoided her.
One Sunday morning, as the leaves of the old oak rustled to the tunes
of the wind, a white clad humanoid figure lay in a pool of blood. A
note in her pocket read “In death shall I find my love”. When the
authorities got to know about this incident, they tried to bury it,
stating that she was probably undergoing depression or facing
psychiatric problems. And they had all the proof. Her lover never
really existed in reality. It was all termed an illusion of her mind;
A made up personality who used to solve her problems and be the left
hand of her otherwise lonely life.

Life moved on, new students, new rooms. The new occupant at 002 was a bubbly and smart girl with a 100-watt smile. She first laughed at the
story of the mysterious lover and the suicide. On April 14th, a year
after that fateful Sunday, she too slept eternally on the crimson pond
of Lucifer.

This time, black magic was alleged. The supernatural were touted to
be too powerful to oppose. The infinite rituals and pujas could never
tantamount to restoring faith among students. The Manipal University
(At that time MAHE) intervened and it was decided that Room no 002
shall remain locked. It is believed that MAHE still pays MIT to keep
the basement out of bounds. As we all sit and copy workshop notes on
the ledges encompassing the mechanical workshop, we do but take a
furtive glance at that towering gate against locked away from human
access. Whatever lies in those murky depths has been imprisoned within
walls, but hasn’t been purged.

Backtrack time 10 years ago, when I Block was a boy’s hostel. A boy in
room 002 was flogged mercilessly by peers for being a social outcast.
His possessions were robbed and his dignity was desecrated. The girl
he loved shunned the sight of him, and insulted with the worst
profanities. He was suddenly getting under depression and this started
to take a toll on his studies. One day, Things took an even more ugly
turn when he was beaten badly by some of the bullies of his block. The
tormented soul eventually resorted to suicide on April 14th. There was
a note that read “Love eludes, in love shall I redeem, and with love
shall be an Apocalypse “.

Is his vindictive soul still searching for solace or has it been
vindicated of all its misgivings? The happenings suggest that the
former could be true.

Is this the comeback Romeo that is driving girls mad, and how many
more will he devour? Or is it just a hat-trick of arbitrary suicides
in the same room? Ideally, we’d like to be optimistic but the morbid
spirit of the boy may never rest until salvation.

Compiled by-

Girish Kumar and Anubhav Shrivastava

Edited by- Prannay Jha

Also Read: Untold Story of 12th Block (Fiction) and Untold Story of 13th Block (Based on strong rumors)