Episode four

La Grangeville

The glimpse I had through the casement was hard to depict. It was a horrendous view of a lady hanged to death. Her loosened hair was covering her whole face. I gasped and choked harder with disbelief. It was something which I never imagined to experience, even in my wildest dreams. I wanted to scream but something was disrupting my throat. All of a sudden I sensed a strong grip on my left shoulder, and the sheer suddenness of it. A shiver ran down my spine. I took a deep breath and slowly turned around. To my disbelief. It was that same old weird lady whom I came across in Hudson.

She still had the black stain on her forehead, and it was tied firmly with a torn cloth, and her face was immersed in bloodstains. Dreadfully I screamed out loud and it echoed throughout the place to far away distance. I couldn't remember what was happening. Someone was gripping firmly on my shoulder and I was shuttering. I saw Klein standing in front of me when I opened my eyes. I looked at him perplexed.

Currently, client said, “You could have missed your stop if I didn't notice we have reached Poughkeepsie. The train won't stop here for long. Come, let's get down, get your things.”

I got a grasp on reality and realize that it was just a nightmare. Quickly, we both got down in Poughkeepsie. I inspected the whole place but it was utterly different from the depot in my dream, but I was not convinced. My eyes took a raid to find whether there was any haunted building like the one in my horrible nightmare. The sight of that hanged lady and that old lady's face was haunting me still.

I looked at the clock on the display, it was 3:30. Immediately, I checked my phone. Still there was no indication of Michelle's message or call. I dialed her number again and her phone was still under no network coverage. Anger was infusing in me and everything was agitating me then I noticed Klein standing near the newsstand. I felt guilty for my earlier behavior towards him. I got a sense of realization , now, he is the only person who could do something. I went near him. Klein was lost in his phone and didn't even glance at me. So to break the ice, I tried to have a chit chat with him,

“Hey man, thanks for the earlier gesture.”

With a smile, he passed a look and again delved into his phone. I could read from his body language that he was in some sort of stressful situation. But I continued,

“Forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Leonard Smith, and I handle the accounts and finance in Raysons Enterprises.”

Klein positioned his body towards me and said, “Oh, sounds cool. So is this your first in La Grangeville?”

I wish I didn't choose to come but I saved my displeasure, so I replied vaguely, “Yes, I'm very much new to this place. But it seems you are quite familiar with La Grangeville. Have you been here before?”

While scrolling through his phone, Klein said, “Not much. I made a visit last year. It is really a small town but is always crowded. That place holds many mysteries and secrets which many are still unaware of,” Giving a deep sigh he continued, “So any interesting plans in La Grangeville? Why are you going there?”

And that was my chance to break the small secret to him, “It depends on you. I just follow you.”

I could guess that he was baffled with my response. So I clarified, “The head of the association MythBusters, Miss Michelle Cox is my bestie and she's the sole reason why I took this trip.”

Klein couldn't hide his excitement, “So why were you silent about until this time? We both could share the same cab then. But there is one thing to deal with, I couldn't trace Miss Cox yet I've been trying or since last night and yet she is unreachable.”

Klein was reflecting similar thoughts as mine. “Where is this girl from? Where would I figure out?”

In the meanwhile, I noticed Klein trying to reach Michelle's number. Even my message was still undelivered. Quickly, I asked him, “When was the last time you guys talk with each other?”

Clearing his throat, Klein said, “We talked last week. She asked me to come to La Grangeville as she had some things to be done there. She promised to pick me up from Poughkeepsie. Even I sent her details of my journey in the very moment when my tickets were confirmed. But now her phone seems to be in no network coverage area and no whereabouts about her is available.”

Damn, it instilled a curiosity in me. If Michelle contacted Klein before contacting me, that is a sure shot that she is in a quest of a new story. But if that was the case, then for what is my purpose here? She has a wide range of contacts and she could have called anyone, so it throws light to the fact that she wanted someone dear to her and I am the best option for her. Otherwise, she wouldn't be expecting me to come for her. What can I do for her? There is something more serious than I thought.

I was lost in thought and immediately Klein asked, “So when did both of you contact each other?”

Getting myself back to the moment, I said, “We both talked three days back, and after that we couldn't. Even though I tried to message and call her same as you, I couldn't reach her. I guess she is in big trouble than we imagined. Just tell me does MythBusters deal with any sort of risky business?”

With a slight hesitation Klein said, “Yes, Mr. Smith at times it is very dangerous and your life might be at stake.”

Listening to this, I completely lost my cool. I got really furious towards Michelle and didn't understand what kind of pleasure she gets by doing all this. The only assurance we both had was that Michelle was in La Grangeville and we had no other choice but to reach there. I shared my thoughts with Klein, “I guess now we don't have any other choice than leaving to La Grangeville,” I told him determinedly, “Whatever may lie ahead, now we won't back ourselves. We will find Michelle at any cost. But I am clueless on what to do. If it was anything related to any of my office documentation, I could have killed it. But this is all about Michelle. I can't risk it. We might need the assistance of any police force or detective.”

Soon we caught a cab and it took around 30 minutes to reach La Grangeville. We both were clueless about where to go. But luckily, a 24/7 coffee shop caught my attention and we both thought to go inside. As I was entering the shop, my phone started ringing. My phone flashed with an unknown number.