Dhruv the Ghost Agent, a story of a ghost agent who has been seeing ghosts since childhood and why he is forced to become an agent because of his father's death. Read this story to find out what happens.<br />
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It was 2:00 AM. Heavy rain poured down with a strong gale. The weather was terrible. Amidst this terrible weather, a car swerved on the road, turning rapidly. The car's driver was panicked and kept looking back. In the back was a one-year-old child, happily playing and giggling.
"Just a little longer," the car driver said. He glanced in the rearview mirror and increased his speed.
About 15 minutes later, the car stopped in front of a house on a city street. The car driver quickly got out and opened the rear door. He looked at the child's face and was lost in the moment for a second. "You, I wasn't going to leave you like this at all," he said.
The car driver reached out to the child and picked him up. Soaked by the rain, he came to the front of the house and laid the child down at the door. So that the child wouldn't be harmed by the rainwater, he took off his grey overcoat and draped it over the child.
"Dhruv..." the car driver said, kneeling and looking at his face. "Remember... you are my son... the son of a Ghost Agent... and you... you are also a Ghost Agent... Dhruv, the Ghost Agent... I'm sorry for the life I'm about to give you. Before you were born, my mother and I had many dreams for you, but none of them will come true now. We won't be able to decide your future." He then looked upwards and said, "Fate has already determined your future." He said this and caressed the child's forehead. Then he stood up, rang the doorbell, and quickly ran back to his car. He started the car and drove away before the door could open.
The door opened, and a plump woman appeared. "Who is it at this late hour... Oh... there's a child here... Honey, come out quickly..."
"What happened... why are you shouting so late at night..." a stout man came out from inside.
"Look here... there's a child here..."
"A child...!! Who could have left him here...?"
"I don't know..."
"Who would leave a child like this...!! Didn't his parents have any sense...?"
The woman stepped forward and picked up the child in her arms. "Around his neck... there's a locket... there's a name written on it..."
"What name... let me see... Ah..."
"Dhruv..." the woman read the name.
"Let's go inside... it's raining heavily, he might fall ill..."
"Yes, let's."
The two of them went inside, closing the door. They continued talking inside, their voices gradually fading.
The woman was saying, "Let's raise this child. We don't have any children anyway. We'll name him Dhruv too... what a lovely name..."
"Stop it. What will we do if someone comes to take him tomorrow?"
"Then... then what... as long as he's here, he's ours. And when he has to go, he'll go."
_____
The car driver who had left the child was still panicked and driving the car at a very high speed. Tears streamed from his eyes due to leaving his child alone. While driving, he picked up a strange device lying on the passenger seat and looked at it. "You are a curse to me," he said, looking at the device. "If it weren't for you... I wouldn't have lost my wife and my child." Saying this, he rolled down the car window and mumbled something, then threw the device out. The device, with a Sudarshan Chakra mounted on a small trident, fell by the roadside and began to wash away with the flowing water. As it flowed, the device suddenly turned into smoke and disappeared. The car driver wiped away his tears and continued driving fast.
Within the next 30 minutes, he stopped the car in front of his house. He got out of the car and opened the trunk, taking out two cans of petrol. He went inside and opened them, spraying petrol everywhere. He was crying during this time. His house contained many strange devices, numerous old books, and photographs that looked like he was standing with someone, but he was not visible in those pictures. After spraying petrol on everything, he came out of the house. "I will erase all traces. They will never reach you," he said, taking out a lighter from his pocket and lighting it. "I won't leave anything that could be a danger to my child. He... nothing will happen to him. I lost my wife, but I won't let anything happen to my child." He threw the lighter towards the house.
As the lighter reached the house's doorstep, black smoke suddenly appeared, and a hand emerged from the smoke and caught the lighter. In an instant, the smoke took the shape of a person whose half body was charred. "Aren't you in a bit of a hurry, Divakar Sharma?"
Seeing him, Divakar Sharma's eyes widened. He started patting his clothes, searching for something.
"Are you looking for this...?" the half-charred person showed him a device. It was a V-shaped symbol attached to a stick about half an arm's length. "This... with which you chant spells and render us helpless, decide our fate. You Ghost Exterminators... you Ghost Exterminators have made our lives hell because of this..." He looked at the device angrily.
"You receive punishment for your deeds, punishment for your evil intentions. Those evil intentions in which you will never succeed..."
Hearing this, the man in front laughed and said stylishly, "Who worries about that now...?" He laughed a little more, then stopped laughing and said, "Come, let's not argue too much, and tell me like good children... where is the Hell Dimension Device...?"
"Do you think you can ask like this, and I will tell you the location of that device, the device with which you people will bring Doomsday, bring it here by releasing it?"
"Doomsday will come."
"But not with me here. I will die, but I will never give you the location of that device."
"Your life will continue until you reveal the location of the device."
"You cannot stop me... absolutely not..." Divakar Sharma said, showing confidence in his eyes, and ran towards him. He reached him, bent down, grabbed him, and jumped into the house. The lighter the man had was still lit. As soon as they jumped into the house, the lighter fell on the floor, the petrol caught fire, and the next moment the entire house was engulfed in flames. Both the man and Divakar Sharma began to burn in that fire.
As the house burned, the man coughed and stood up. His body was still burning, but it didn't seem to bother him. He was wearing a long robe. He picked up his robe and threw it over himself. As he did so, he became transparent. He lowered the robe and, in his transparent form, knelt down and pulled Divakar Sharma up by his collar. Divakar Sharma's soul came out of his body. "You will have to tell the location of the device..." he said.
"I... I..." Divakar Sharma said. "I will never tell its location."
"Then... in that case... good news for you... congratulations... now your soul will be tormented until centuries end, until eons pass." He stood up and, laughing, brought Divakar Sharma's soul out of the house. Outside, the man said, "This is not the end, but the beginning. The beginning of Doomsday. And Doomsday... no one can stop Doomsday from coming. No one."
The man turned into smoke and disappeared with Divakar Sharma's soul.
“Dhruv....”
“Dhruv......”
“Dhruv...”
The stout woman was calling Dhruv loudly. It was morning time. Breakfast was ready. Before starting breakfast, they were waiting for Dhruv, who was still in his room.
“Coming Nenu, just a little more,” Dhruv shouted from his room. He had turned 18. A thin, lean boy, about 5.6 inches tall. Innocent in appearance. He was trying to fix his hair. Today was his first day at college. He put some books in his bag, looked at himself in the mirror.
There was a hint of sadness on his face, as if he was troubled for some reason. He quietly said to himself, “Should I tell Nenu about this? I’ve been having strange dreams for a few days. Scary dreams, I don’t think this is normal.”
Then he came downstairs and greeted his grandparents, “Good morning Nenu, good morning Nanu.”
“What is this Nenu Nanu you keep saying…” the stout woman said, “Properly, you should say Nana Nani.”
Dhruv grabbed a chair and sat on it. “Nana Nani sounds very old-fashioned, times have changed, you should learn to change with the times, nobody likes all this nowadays.”
His grandmother extended her hand towards him, “Enough, what do we care about someone’s likes or dislikes, you say what we like.”
Dhruv smiled, “Absolutely not, I will say what I like.”
“You just keep insisting on your way…”
“And what else, Nenu, I will just keep insisting on my way.”
His grandfather said to his grandmother, “You keep quiet too, why do you always scold the child? Today’s children are not used to it, so why are you insisting?”
“You always take his side… Hmph…”
Hearing this, they both burst out laughing. Dhruv finished his food quickly, then stood up and said, “Okay, I’m going, it’s my first day at college today and I don’t want to be late on my first day.” Saying this, he started to leave.
“Oh, finish your food properly…” his grandmother called from behind.
“I’ve eaten as much as I wanted to,” Dhruv replied and came outside. Outside, he grabbed his cycle and started pedaling towards college.
After he left, his grandmother said, “I don’t even realize when he grew up, it feels like just a few days ago he was small, and now suddenly he’s this big.”
“Time flies, my dear.”
“Yes, indeed. These 18 years felt like 18 days. By the way, I should thank you.”
“For what?”
“I wanted to be his mother, but you explained it to me. We are too old, so we wouldn’t be good as his parents. We should be his grandparents. Since we are his grandparents, he has also never thought anything about it.”
“What’s there to thank? I just did what I felt was right.”
“Hmm, but…” the woman said, becoming sad.
“But what?”
“I always get sad thinking, if he ever asks about his parents, what will I tell him? I don’t know if I’ll be able to face it when that day comes.”
“He hasn’t asked about his parents until now, so keep hope, he won’t ask in the future either. We won’t lack in showing him love,”
He stood up, came to the woman, placed his hands on both her shoulders, and comforted her. “Whatever happens, it will be for the best.”
_____
This entire area was surrounded by hills. Cycling through the hills, Dhruv was on his way to college. Whistling and moving along at his own pace. One side of the hill was covered with forest, and the other side was a sloping hill that ended in a precipice. This area was beautiful, and also a little dangerous. The people who lived here were used to it.
For a while, Dhruv focused on cycling, but then he started thinking about his dreams again. He said to himself, “Is it common to have dreams like this? What is that place that keeps appearing in my dreams? That big door… those two demons standing in front of it… those weapons in their hands… as if they are guarding the door…”
After about 20 minutes, Dhruv reached his college.
“Why do I feel like I’m late…” he said, parking his cycle. He glanced at his watch. “Oh no, I am right, I’m a full 10 minutes late.” Dhruv quickly took out his bag and immediately ran towards the classroom.
The class had already started. A new student was giving their introduction. Juhi, a student, was giving her introduction.
“My name is Juhi… I am 19 years old and I live in the settlement below the slope in the city. I topped in a local school there.”
“Great Juhi…” the teacher said, and asked her to sit. “Next.”
The next student stood up. She was about to give her introduction when Dhruv reached the classroom door. “May I come in sir?”
“Certainly… tell me what you need… if you’ve come to get a dustbin, it’s over there…” the teacher said, showing an attitude on his face.
Dhruv panicked. He was late, and the teacher’s face clearly showed he was angry.
“Well… Sir… I am a student.”
“You are a student… but students don’t come after class time… only peons come after class time in this college.”
All the students started laughing at this. Dhruv lowered his face and stood there silently.
“Alright, come in, but pay attention to the time from now on,” the teacher said, letting him in. Dhruv nodded and sat down inside the classroom. The teacher gestured to the girl who was standing and asked her to give her introduction. All the boys sitting in the class were looking at the girl who stood up to give her introduction with great interest. This girl with light brown hair looked different from the rest of the class. She had a good height and a zero-size figure.
Aashu, after sitting down, looked at her and was mesmerized. He had never seen such a beautiful girl before. A thin girl wearing well-fitting clothes. She had an attitude on her face, as if she knew all the boys in the class were looking at her.
“My name is Annie,” the girl said. “I’m new to the city. My mom and dad are from Mumbai. I live here with my guardians. My mom and dad will also come here soon. I topped my studies at St. Hairine’s in Mumbai.”
“Very nice. It seems our college is becoming too popular that people are coming from outside. By the way, I don’t understand one thing, we live in a small town here, then why have you come here to study, leaving Mumbai?”
It was indeed strange. Compared to Mumbai, this town’s status was zero. Yet, a girl had left Mumbai to study here.
Annie replied immediately, “There are some personal reasons, sir, I cannot make them public. Just understand that my family and I will be staying here until graduation.”
Dhruv thought to himself, “What does this teacher want? If a beautiful girl has come to study in our college, let her study!”
The teacher asked the girl to sit down. He then started taking introductions from the remaining students. After a few students’ introductions, it was Dhruv’s turn.
Dhruv suddenly became nervous. As he stood up, his heart was pounding. Dhruv stood up and said, “My name is Dhruv…” He had only said this much when some children started laughing. Those children knew him from school time.
When it came to studies, Dhruv was clueless. He always got passing marks.
“Yes, tell us more, son,” the teacher said.
Dhruv looked at the students around him. They were all laughing at him. Dhruv glanced at Annie. All the students in the class were looking at Dhruv, but Annie wasn’t looking at Dhruv. Dhruv didn’t want his impression to be bad on the first day, but he didn’t have anything good to say. He looked at the teacher and said, “I live with my grandparents, that’s all.”
“Really!!” the teacher responded with surprise. “Tell us more.”
“I’ve told you. My name is Dhruv. I live in the settlement on top of the hill. I studied there at a small school…”
“Didn’t you top there?”
Dhruv shook his head in negation.
“Let the students who didn’t top their school raise their hands,” the teacher said, looking at the children in the class. Not a single child in the class raised their hand. The teacher smiled and said, “Congratulations, you are the boy with the lowest marks in this class. How does it feel to be the only one?” All the students started laughing again.
A student behind him mockingly said, “This will be the biggest joker in the class.”
Another student said, “Not a joker, he’ll be a top-class joker. There’s one boy like that in every class.”
Annie glanced at Dhruv. Dhruv immediately turned his face away and closed his eyes tightly.
He thought to himself, “What a shame, regretting not studying for the first time.”
Someone said, “Why did he even take admission here? Doesn’t he know that toppers get admission here?”
Someone else said, “He should have gone to some other college.”
Most of the students in the class were insulting him. The teacher also didn’t seem to be bothered by it. Dhruv stood there with his head bowed.
After the first class ended, there was an interval, and the students started going out. Some mischievous students, instead of going out, came towards Dhruv and formed a circle around him. There was a fat boy, and the rest were his friends. That fat boy wanted to impress Annie.
"Why, didn't you get any other college? Smart and rich boys study here," said the fat boy. "You even look poor."
His other companion said, "He's a clown for our college."
The fat boy brought his face close to Dhruv's and said, "I will make this college hell for you."
Dhruv got angry. He lifted his face and, looking into the fat boy's eyes, said, "Stay away from me."
"We won't, what will you do...?" The fat boy stepped back and started laughing. "Will you complain to your parents? What will you tell them," he said in a lisping voice, "You'll say... Mama, mama... Arlun teased me... He said this to me... ooh... tatat... lululu."
Dhruv got even angrier hearing this. He picked up his bag and slammed it hard on the fat boy's face. His name was Arjun. Annie was still busy with her work, but as soon as this happened, her attention shifted. Arjun's other friends shouted and attacked Dhruv all at once. They started beating Dhruv. Dhruv also started beating them in response, but he couldn't handle so many people. He was hitting the attackers less while getting beaten up more.
Annie stood up from her place. She went to Arjun and pulled him back from behind. When the other boys saw this, a strong slap landed on his face. Before one boy could understand anything, a kick landed on his chest, and he fell onto the bench, bouncing.
Dhruv's eyes widened in astonishment seeing this. Despite being a slender girl, Annie was beating boys stronger than her as if she were a secret agent.
Annie shouted, "Now stop it, guys, what are you doing like animals." Everyone stopped in their places and looked at her. "Go and sit in your places," she said in an ordering tone. Arjun and his friends' faces became strange. They all quietly went to their seats and sat there. For Arjun, this was an insulting moment. Then, Annie had thrashed them in the blink of an eye. After they left, Annie started staring at Dhruv. "What..." Annie shouted at Dhruv, "What do you want... Sit quietly in your seat."
Dhruv sat down in his seat in one go. Annie looked at the entire class, where silence prevailed on everyone's faces, then she also sat down and started her work. There was no disturbance until another teacher came to the class. Then the teacher came and all the students got busy with their studies. Whatever Annie had done had an effect until the end of all the classes. No one even thought of standing up and speaking, let alone misbehaving. The class ended, and all the students headed towards their homes.
Dhruv was taking out his bicycle from the stand. Arjun and his friends passed by him on their bikes. Arjun stopped his bike near him. All his friends also stopped one by one near him. "You will be punished for what you did today, you will see, you won't escape from us. I will take revenge for the insult I suffered because of you."
Dhruv said from the front, "What will you guys do..."
"Meet us alone, then we'll tell you," Arjun threatened. "You'll be in such a state..." He was about to say the rest of the words when he saw Annie coming towards them on her scooter. Seeing this, Arjun quickly started his bike and got out of there. His friends also turned their bikes and fled.
Dhruv watched at first, wondering what was happening, then when he saw Annie, he understood the whole matter. Annie stopped her scooter near him. Dhruv hid his face and pretended to adjust his bag, avoiding her gaze.
Annie said, "If anyone does this to you again," she said in a deep and motivational tone, "give them a tight slap on their face. Whatever happens, we'll see later." Saying this, she left. Dhruv didn't look up at her even once until she stopped. But after she left, he did watch her go. He shook his head and smiled.
He said to himself, "A beautiful girl spoke to me. She should thank Arjun, because of her, Annie came to talk to me. Oh, how lucky I am today."
Dhruv's day wasn't good today. While riding his bicycle on the road, he was thinking about this. But still, he was happy. Whatever words Annie said at the end had made his entire day good.
Dhruv reached home. He told his grandparents about coming home and then went to sleep. It was around 8:00 PM, and everyone was sitting and eating dinner.
While eating, his grandmother asked Dhruv, "It was your first day at college today, wasn't it? How was it? I forgot to even ask about it."
"It was okay," Dhruv said while eating. "Not too good, not too bad. Boys were asking me about myself, which I didn't want to answer. Also, I had to write my parents' names on the college form, you forgot to write them, what should I write there?"
Hearing this, his grandmother looked at his grandfather. "That..." the grandmother searched for words to explain.
"Leave that 'that that,' Nanas," Dhruv said normally. "Nanas will go and fill it themselves tomorrow..."
His grandfather replied, "Yes, I will fill it."
It was around 9:30 PM. Dhruv was reading a story novel in his room upstairs when his grandfather knocked on the door.
"I forgot my account register at the shop, will you come with me, we'll get the register."
Dhruv said from inside, "Nanas, bring it in the morning, what will you do with it so late at night?"
"No, son, I have to settle the salary of the employees in the morning. I am already 3 days late, I cannot delay them any further."
"Oh, Nanas, you too..." Dhruv got up and came out, "Let's go." He told his grandfather to go.
Both were going down in the hilly area in an old Mercedes car. Dhruv's grandfather had a business supplying goods to local shops, for which he had hired many employees. After 20 minutes, their car entered the most crowded settlement here. Most of the city's population lived here. The whole atmosphere was cheerful, and people were enjoying street food amidst the lights. At the end of the settlement, in a deserted place, there was a warehouse, in front of which his grandfather parked the car.
"You stay here, I'll get the register," his grandfather said.
"Okay. As you wish," Dhruv said in a bored tone.
His grandfather got out of the car and went to get the register. Dhruv sat in the car and started listening to songs. He was bored, so he played songs to entertain himself. While listening to songs, a football came towards the car, bouncing, slightly behind his car. The football was coming towards his car alone. The football reached near the car. The football hit the car's bonnet with a thud, there was a noise, and Dhruv was thoroughly startled. The music player also turned off with a crackling sound.
A football leaped onto the car's roof and landed in front. A chilling silence descended, creating a terrifying scene.
Dhruv opened the car door and stepped out. He looked around. A light was on in front of the warehouse, casting a long reach. As far as the light extended, he saw no one. Dhruv walked towards the football and bent down to pick it up. But as he straightened up with the ball, he saw a girl in front of him. Dhruv was startled and stepped back. The girl's hair was disheveled. She looked around 19 years old. She appeared strange and was looking at Dhruv with an odd gaze. She looked frightening. Dhruv was also afraid of her.
"This is mine," the girl said, extending her hands forward.
Dhruv threw the football towards her. The football fell and rolled away. The girl walked towards the football and picked it up.
"What are you doing here alone?" Dhruv asked, stammering slightly.
The girl repeated his words strangely, "I... alone... here..." She fell silent after that.
"Yes, you are alone here?"
"What are you doing..." The girl uttered the remaining words and started running, playing with the football. She was about 19 years old, but her actions were childish. She was wearing a school uniform: a white shirt, a red skirt, and a red tie.
"Here so late at night, this is no place to play, and not her age... This crazy girl doesn't know she should be at home right now..." Dhruv ignored his fear and spoke to himself like any normal boy.
The girl stopped. She turned back and said, "Where should one go when their house has burned down?"
Dhruv was frightened by her words. "Ah... Look, girl, what are you saying, you..." As Dhruv was talking to the girl, his grandfather came out of the warehouse with a register.
"I've got the registers, let's go," his grandfather said. As soon as his grandfather spoke, Dhruv looked towards him for a moment.
"Yes, let's go, but this girl..." He turned towards the girl, but she wasn't there. "That... girl..." He fell silent after saying that because he couldn't see the girl.
"What girl?" his grandfather asked.
"There was a young girl here playing football," Dhruv said, thinking about the girl.
"Are you alright? You're outside the city at this hour, and no one comes here. You're talking about a girl. This place is scary, so everyone is afraid to come here at night."
"But I just saw a girl here. She must have been about 18-19 years old and was wearing a school uniform." Dhruv couldn't understand if what he saw was real or if he was imagining things.
"Enough, it must have been your imagination. You're growing up," his grandfather said, chuckling, and got into the car. Dhruv was still looking around outside, trying to find the girl. But he couldn't see
No response from Groq.
Dhruv was looking at the girl. The girl was not paying attention to him yet. Suddenly, the girl looked up. As soon as she saw Dhruv, Dhruv took a step back and ran towards his bicycle. He grabbed the bicycle and rode towards the warehouse. He didn't look back.
Upon reaching the warehouse, he said to himself, "Something really big is going wrong with me."
He hadn't even finished his sentence when his maternal grandfather saw him. "Oh, Dhruv, son, you're here, and after so many days! What's the matter? Did you forget the way today that you took the trouble to come here? You hardly come here even to deliver tea and snacks, and now you've come here without any reason."
"Oh, Nana, I wasn't feeling good at home, so I went for a walk, and while wandering, I thought of coming to the warehouse."
His grandfather was happy to hear this. He looked at a car parked at a distance, whose driver was waiting for him, and said to Dhruv, "Now that you're here, deliver one order. Rajesh knows where to deliver the order. Just make sure the customer doesn't have any problems. Here's the bill." Dhruv's grandfather handed him the bill.
"But Nana..." Dhruv made a dejected face because he didn't like any of this.
"No 'buts'. Quickly finish this task, and I'll finish the work inside the warehouse. On this pretext, I'll come home early today."
Dhruv parked his bicycle and then left with Rajesh to deliver the order. Rajesh was around 50 years old. With a dark complexion, Rajesh was wearing a checked shirt. While delivering the order, their car was passing by the burnt house where Dhruv had seen the same girl again whom he had seen before.
Looking at the house, Dhruv asked Rajesh, "This house... why is this house like this... what happened here?"
"This..." Rajesh looked at the house and said, "Don't ask. A very horrific accident happened here. The whole family was sleeping at night. Suddenly, due to a cylinder leak, the house caught fire. No one got a chance to escape, and the entire family of 5 people burned to death."
"A family of five?" Dhruv showed a questioning expression on his face.
"Yes, 5 people. The grandmother, the husband and wife, their two children, one son and one daughter. The man's name was Ayush Sharma. They lived in Mumbai. It was ancestral land, so Ashish built a house here. They hadn't even been in the new house for a month when this accident happened."
"Oh..." Dhruv glanced at the house again. The house hadn't been painted yet. "That's why there's no paint here yet," he said.
There was no further conversation between them. About half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a bakery shop. Rajesh went inside to call the shop owner outside and deliver the goods. Dhruv waited outside. After a while, Rajesh came out with a girl. The girl was wearing a suit. She had gloves on her hands and a cover on her head, as if she were making bread.
Dhruv was surprised when he saw the girl. "Oh Annie, you're here...!!" Dhruv said with surprise.
"Yes, but what's so surprising about it?" Annie asked.
"Why are you here... I mean, what are you doing here? And why are you wearing these strange clothes?" Dhruv asked, extending his hand.
"Well, this is my guardian's shop, so I often come down in the evening to help them. They are elderly, so they can't manage everything properly."
"Wow, that's a very good thing," Dhruv said and read the shop's name.
Meanwhile, Annie asked him, "And you?" She asked Dhruv the reason for his being there.
"Well, the things you people ordered, my grandfather does the work of supplying such items. I came to visit the warehouse today, so they asked me to deliver this order, and I came to you."
Annie showed a smile on her face and started checking the goods. Rajesh had taken the goods out and placed them outside.
"Everything is proper," Annie said. As soon as Rajesh heard this, he started putting the goods inside. Annie said to Dhruv, "My guardians told me that they have been ordering goods from your grandfather for many years. So far, there have been no complaints about the goods. Your grandfather is truly doing a great job. In terms of product quality checks, he himself comes along and checks the products in front of us."
"My grandfather has no match when it comes to certification. Even if the work is less, it should be good; that is his only aim."
"Come on, I'll show you the bakery here," Annie said and took Dhruv with her.
She brought him to the basement where the baking work was being done. Four women were engaged in baking, and she herself, who was helping earlier, was now with Dhruv. Annie made him taste some bakery items.
After about 15 minutes, Dhruv came out with Annie. "Wow, the cooking here is amazing. I still can't forget the taste. See, I'll come here every day from now on."
"Absolutely, you are most welcome."
They both said goodbye to each other, and then Dhruv, along with Rajesh, started back towards the warehouse. After reaching the warehouse, he updated his grandfather about the order delivery and then took his bicycle and started on his way back.
On his bicycle, he was passing by the same house. But now it was dark, so silence had spread all around, and the house was barely visible. There were streetlights on the road, so there was no difficulty. Dhruv's gaze was on the house even in the darkness. He was trying to see the house despite the darkness. During this time, his attention was not on the front.
He looked ahead and immediately applied the brakes of his bicycle. In front of him, the girl he had seen was standing with a football. Completely still and staring intently at Dhruv.
Dhruv got off his bicycle and slowly started to push it forward. The girl remained in her place. Dhruv's heart was pounding, but he couldn't run away. He passed by the girl, lowering his head. After Dhruv moved ahead, she turned to look at him. Dhruv was also looking back at her. After looking back for a while, Dhruv stopped looking at the girl and turned his face forward. But as soon as he turned his face forward, a boy was standing right in front of him. Dhruv stopped in his tracks. He was a boy of about 20-21 years with short hair.
The girl dropped the football, which rolled and stopped at Dhruv's feet. Dhruv looked at the football and then at the boy. He bent down and started to pick up the football.
When Dhruv picked up the football and raised it, the boy said to him, "You can see us, but how?" Dhruv heard this, and his fear lessened a bit.
"Well..." Dhruv said, breathing shallowly, "Yes, but I don't know how. And not just you, but many people. For the last two or three days, I've been seeing many people whom I shouldn't or shouldn't be able to see."
"If you can see us, then please help us..." The boy came forward and said to Dhruv, "I and my whole family used to live in this house." He gestured towards the burnt house.
"But this house caught fire," Dhruv said.
"Our house didn't catch fire, but our house was set on fire. Four people came to our house in an old car. They first stabbed everyone with knives, then set the house on fire. I saw those men doing this from the stairs. They didn't kill me. They locked me in the house, after which I died due to the fire. My sister was also with me. Those four people killed all of us. They didn't spare anyone. My father was killed most brutally. Please help us. No one knows what happened to us. Everyone thinks we died due to the fire. Tell everyone the truth and expose those four people. Tell everyone that those four killed all of us."
As the boy spoke, Dhruv felt as if silence was engulfing him. A silence that was drawing him in. Dhruv was completely lost in the boy's words. As soon as the boy finished speaking, darkness descended before Dhruv's eyes, and he fainted and fell there.
Drops of water fell on Dhruv's face and his eyes fluttered open. Looking around, he found himself in his room. His grandparents stood on either side of him, looking at him. As he regained consciousness, his grandmother came to him and hugged him.
"What happened to you, my son? How did you suddenly faint?" his grandmother asked.
His grandfather said, "I was coming back when I saw you on the road. I brought you home immediately. You were babbling something in your unconscious state."
Hearing this, Dhruv asked his grandfather in surprise, "What? What was I babbling?"
"I didn't understand everything clearly, but from what I could understand, you seemed to be saying, 'There was no fire there, they were killed.'"
"That... this... that," Dhruv stammered, flustered. "Those were the dialogues for my college act. I had been repeating them since afternoon, perhaps they came out of my mouth on their own." He tried to brush it off.
"But how did you faint?" his grandmother asked.
Dhruv thought for a moment and said, "Well, Grandma, I went to deliver an order in the evening. There was a bakery shop there. I ate a lot of bakery items there, after which my stomach felt heavy and I felt dizzy. Perhaps that's why I fainted."
"Thank God your grandfather arrived there. No more bakery for you from today," his grandmother said and hugged him again. "I will take care of your food and drinks and feed you light meals."
Dhruv said nothing. All that was on his mind were the words of that boy. Whatever it was, it was no ordinary matter for him.
The next day, Dhruv left for college much earlier. Because he left early, he reached college early too. Annie had just parked her scooter and returned. When her eyes fell on Dhruv, a faint smile appeared on her face.
"Oh wow, Dhruv! It seems the sun rose from the west today. You've arrived before class started, and quite early at that."
"Well, I thought it wasn't good to be late every day, so I left early today."
"If you had thought this for the past two days, you wouldn't be a highlighted child in class today," Annie said teasingly.
"Luck isn't that good every time," Dhruv replied, forcing a smile.
"There's still plenty of time, so let's go to the canteen," Annie said.
Dhruv nodded in agreement. They both went to the canteen and sat at a table with tea and samosas.
Dhruv looked sad. This was because he was thinking about what had happened last night. Annie noticed his expression and asked, "What's wrong? You seem troubled."
"N-nothing," Dhruv didn't want to tell Annie about his problem.
Annie placed her hands on his and said, "You can consider me your friend now, a good friend. If you're going through any kind of problem in your life, or something you can't tell others, you can share it with me. Believe me, what you tell me will remain between us." Annie said this in a very friendly manner, so friendly that anyone would want to share everything. But Dhruv was still confused.
Dhruv shook his head and said, "No, it's nothing special. I was just thinking about Arjun."
"Don't worry," Annie said. "As long as I'm with you, he won't do anything."
After the canteen, they both went to class where they sat next to each other.
The teacher entered the class and, seeing Dhruv, made a strange face and said, "What's the matter, Your Highness Dhruv? You've arrived before time today. Seems like you've got a new watch."
The whole class laughed. Dhruv said nothing, and the teacher began his lecture.
After teaching a few topics, the teacher said, "After negative energy, if there's another interesting topic for science, it's the topic of dimensions. It is believed that there are thousands of dimensions in this universe. We live in one of these thousands of dimensions. Various types of dimensions have been imagined, among which the most famous is the parallel dimension." The teacher looked at the students and said, "Does anyone among you know what a parallel dimension is?"
"Yes, sir," Annie raised her hand.
"Alright, tell me about it."
Annie stood up from her place. "The theory about parallel dimensions is that they are exactly like our dimension, and things are also exactly the same. If there's a slight difference, it's just that if something has happened in our dimension, it's not necessary that it has happened in our parallel dimension. For example, if I am speaking here in this class right now, telling you all about parallel dimensions, it's not necessary that I am doing the same in another dimension."
The teacher applauded, "Very good! The theory of parallel dimensions is one of the most complicated theories within dimensions. The main reason for this is that if parallel dimensions exist, they will be different for every single person. Now, this creates a problem: if there are billions of people in our world, it means there are billions of parallel dimensions. Here, everything starts to seem impossible. But do you know what science says? It says nothing is impossible in this universe."
The teacher continued the class in the same manner and completed his topic. After finishing the topic, he said at the end, "In the next lecture, we will learn about some more dimensions in this dimension world. All of them are quite interesting, and you will all enjoy them a lot."
All the students showed happiness on their faces. The class lectures continued like this, and after all the lectures, college ended. After coming out of college, Annie and Dhruv shook hands and said goodbye to each other, heading towards their respective homes.
After reaching home, Dhruv didn't sleep. He picked up a cube and lay on the bed, thinking about the boy's words. Thinking, he said to himself, "Looking at it, they have suffered a lot. Whoever did this, they shouldn't have. I don't know how these people take others' lives like this. Taking a life is not an easy task. When taking a life, why don't their hands tremble? Or why don't they feel pity for the other person? They are also humans, whose lives they take." After thinking all this, Dhruv paused, and after a few moments, he said to himself, "But how will I do this? How will I help those people? I don't think I can help them. No, no, I can't do this." He was confused.
At night, Dhruv ate dinner and went to sleep. He hadn't slept during the day, so he didn't even realize when he drifted off. It was around 2:00 AM, and Dhruv had strange expressions on his face. He was having some kind of terrifying dream. In this terrifying dream, he was running down a street lit by streetlights. Behind him, the streetlights were going out one by one. It looked as if a terrifying darkness was chasing him. Dhruv started to get restless. The expressions on his face also became heavier. His breath started to stop. His face was covered in sweat. Before his condition worsened, his eyes opened, and he sat up abruptly. But as soon as he sat up, he looked forward and screamed loudly.
Dhruv woke up from a scary dream. As soon as he opened his eyes, he screamed loudly seeing someone in front of him. The girl with the football was standing there. Stopping his scream, the girl said, "Why do you always scare me? Do you want to give me a heart attack? I've already died once, I don't want to die again."
Just then, his maternal grandparents came near the room and knocked on the door. The grandmother asked from outside, "What happened Dhruv? Are you alright? Why did you scream so loudly?"
Dhruv got worried because his grandparents were standing at the door. The girl said from the front, "Don't worry, they won't be able to see me, only you can see me."
Dhruv got up and opened the door. The girl was visible only to him, so he wasn't worried. He said to his grandmother, "Yes Nains, I am fine. I just had a scary dream, so I screamed a little when I opened my eyes..."
"A little!!" his grandfather exclaimed in surprise, "You screamed very loudly."
"I don't know what has happened to my son," the grandmother said worriedly, "Today first he fainted and now this. This time I will take you somewhere on the holiday to find out what's wrong with you. Maybe there's some evil spirit on you."
"What are you talking about Nains? Go and sleep, I am fine. Scary dreams don't come every day, and there are no such evil spirits. I don't want to go anywhere," he said, closing the door.
His grandparents went to sleep, while Dhruv went to the girl. The girl said, "Look, first stop staring at me, second, stop scaring me.”
Dhruv said in a low voice, "You also don't appear in front of me so suddenly. If you have to come, first knock on the door or window or give some signal so that I know."
The girl nodded in agreement. Dhruv was taking deep breaths. "Really, you scared me a lot." He sat down and asked, "Well, was your hand in the dream I had?"
The girl shook her head no.
"Okay." Dhruv sat back. For a while, they looked at each other. The girl standing in front of him, even if she was a ghost, was very beautiful. A girl of about 19 years old, one year older than Dhruv. She had fair skin. Her hair was short but silky. Her eyes were blue. If a ghost looked like this, no one would be able to get properly scared.
Dhruv had been sitting at home for a long time. The girl said again, "Stop staring at me."
Dhruv tried, but it felt strange. The girl said, shaking her head, "You won't be able to do it, leave it."
Dhruv asked her, "What is your name?"
"Rii...ee...vaa..." the girl said, stretching the words strangely.
"Reeva..." Dhruv said, "Nice name. Such a nice name, then how did you become a ghost like this?"
"Yes... because a name has nothing to do with dying," Reeva said abruptly. "I don't know what is so special about you that in this entire world, only you and my brother, who is not here right now, can see me. But for us, this is no less than a lottery."
"I am also surprised why this happened," Dhruv said.
Just then, the girl's brother appeared. He first asked, "Will you help us?"
Dhruv recoiled. "Oh... you!! After all, is scaring in your blood? Can't you people make a normal entry?"
"I apologize for that..." the boy said, "This is how we come and go. I didn't know you would get scared."
"I am scared for now, but I'll get used to it slowly. You guys are ghosts," Dhruv said normally. Then he asked the boy, "What is your name?"
"Siddharth..." the boy said.
"Your name is also nice," Dhruv said.
The boy nodded yes and asked, "What is your name?"
"Dhruv."
"Your real name?" Siddharth immediately asked.
"This is my real name," Dhruv said, widening his eyes.
"But this sounds like a child's name," Siddharth said.
Dhruv put on a sad face. "My name isn't that bad..." he said with overacting.
There was silence for a while. Then Siddharth asked, "I want to know, will you help us or not? Our killers have not been caught yet. This bothers me a lot, but I can't do anything. Now all hopes are on you. Tell me, will you help us?"
Dhruv looked at Siddharth. He was confused. After thinking for a second, he said, "Yes, I will help you, I don't think I have any other option. Besides, I also want to know how I can see ghosts?"
Reeva and Siddharth became happy. Siddharth said, "We will never forget this favor of yours. We will help you too. Maybe you have some special power?"
Dhruv smiled, "There's no such thing as special power." Reeva, handing the football to Dhruv, said, "Thanks for helping us."
Dhruv caught the football. "You're welcome... this football... how did it become a ghost?"
"We don't know," Siddharth said, "Whatever it is, it's in front of you."
Half an hour had passed. Dhruv was walking around the room, looking at the football. He asked Siddharth, "Tell me, how can I help you now? Do you know who those four people were?"
Siddharth shook his head no. "They were wearing masks on their faces."
"Then how will they be found?" Dhruv asked.
Siddharth thought and then said, "I don't know, you are helping us, so you figure out how."
"I am not a detective," Dhruv said and started wandering again. "If I were a detective, maybe I would have found a way." He was thinking about how to find the killers. "I don't know how detectives do their job." After thinking a little, he asked, "If you didn't see their faces, then did you see anything that could help identify them? Anything at all, big or small, anything."
Siddharth remembered something. He said excitedly, "Yes, there is one thing! All four of them came in an old Maruti car (1990 model). There are very few such cars in our city. I noticed the car carefully, if I see that car again, I will recognize it. This will give you a lead."
Dhruv thought. Then, confused, he said, "Don't you have anything else?"
Siddharth shook his head no. Dhruv asked Reeva, "You?"
She also shook her head no.
Dhruv asked both of them, "Don't you both have any power that could give another lead? Like time travel power, that would be something..."
Both shook their heads no.
"No... meaning we only have the car as a clue," Dhruv drooped his face. He shook his head and said, "Alright, from tomorrow I'll become a detective and find out... about your killers..." he said confidently. "But still, this is not a good clue."
Dhruv had arrived at college early again that day. This was because he hadn't slept at all the previous night. First, he talked with Siddharth and Reeva. Then, after both of them left, he started thinking about finding the killers. The only piece of information he had as a clue was the car's details, which he had to use to find the killers.
Anne met him again in the parking area. But this time, Dhruv was already there. He was standing, holding his bicycle, lost in thought. Anne stopped her scooter near him. Dhruv didn't react; he was deep in thought, so Anne honked her scooter. Dhruv jumped in shock and came back to his senses.
“What's the matter? Where are you lost?” Anne asked.
“Uh… uh… I was thinking about the assignment.”
“But no sir gave any assignment yesterday,” Anne said and started parking her scooter.
“I wasn't thinking about yesterday's assignment, but the day before yesterday's.”
“Yes, but sir didn’t give us any assignment the day before yesterday either.”
Dhruv looked around and said, “What do our college teachers do then?”
Anne came near him, “Now tell me, what were you thinking about?”
“Oh, I was just thinking about the assignment; I mean, why no teacher is giving us any assignment.”
“It's the beginning of the college, so there are fewer assignments. See after seven or eight days, there will be so many assignments that you won't have time for anything else.”
Both of them started walking towards the classroom. Anne asked him again, “If something is bothering you, tell me. You seemed troubled yesterday too. I’ve told you, we are good friends now, so you can tell me anything without hesitation; I won't share it with anyone.”
“Oh, it’s nothing; if there was something, I would definitely tell you.”
“But your face doesn’t suggest that. Your face is always pale, which is not normal.” Anne was now realizing that Dhruv was hiding something from her, and she wanted to know what it was.
Dhruv didn't say anything. Both went into the classroom. The first teacher arrived and continued his previous lecture.
“So, dear students, yesterday we were studying about dimensions, and I had told you all about parallel dimensions. Now I will tell you about many more interesting dimensions. After parallel dimensions, another interesting dimension is the Void Dimension. It is also called the 0 Dimension. This is because it is believed that in this dimension, there is nothing except space. It is a form of parallel dimension, but one where nothing had begun; no Big Bang, nothing else.”
All the students were listening attentively to the teacher. “After the Void Dimension, there is another interesting dimension, which is the One-Way Dimension. A dimension where a particle can go, but cannot return. Children, all the dimensions I am telling you about are not imagination; all these dimensions have come out of Schrödinger's equation; Schrödinger, whom you all might know. His cat experiment was the first to discover dimensions. After that, he gave the energy equation, which revealed many types of dimensions to the world. He was one of the greatest scientists, and thanks to him, we know so much about dimensions today that there are entire books written about them.”
Dhruv’s attention was less on the class lecture that day, but despite that, he paid quite a lot of attention to certain parts of the lecture. As the teacher was about to conclude his lecture, something suddenly struck Dhruv, and he raised his hand and stood up, “Sir, I have a question for you.”
“What, Mr. Dhruv?” the teacher said humorously, “Looking at your expression, I thought you were feeling sleepy in class. Now you have a question? Come on, ask, what do you want to ask?”
“Sir, this question is related to the topic taught two days ago; about negative energy.”
“Okay, so you’ve always been late when it comes to time; asking about an old topic after two days. Come on, no problem; tell me, what do you want to know about it?”
“Sir, can negative energy include matter as well? I mean, in cases of ghosts and spirits, a person converts into negative energy. Can a matter, meaning an object, also convert into negative energy in the same way? Like, for example, this bench…” he said, pointing towards the bench in front of him, “…or your lecture stand, or a football.”
The teacher kept looking at his face. “Where did you get such a question from…” the teacher said strangely. Then he sighed lightly and said, “Yes, it is possible. Negative energy is a form of energy. Now, if energy creates particles, then naturally, negative energy will create negative particles. When these negative particles combine, negative matter will be formed. It is possible for anything to convert into negative energy. Meaning, a bench or my lecture stand could also become a ghost. Yes, the problem is that no one can figure out how the conversion works. Negative energy itself is still a question mark, so what to say about further things.”
Dhruv nodded; he understood things, although he hadn't grasped much clearly. After this class ended, the other classes continued. Dhruv decided to go to the library during a class gap. Anne saw him going, so she followed him.
The library was empty at that time. After entering the library, Dhruv started walking towards where the computers were. The atmosphere of the library was different. Despite it being daytime, there was such silence that it felt like midnight. Suddenly, Dhruv felt a strange pull.
He slowed down his steps. He felt a darkness behind him. It was as if the books in the library were flying in the air behind him; ready to pounce on him like a dangerous animal, to hunt him.
Dhruv stopped his steps and suddenly turned around. As soon as he turned around, the scene behind him was exactly as he was feeling. Amidst the darkness, the library books were ready to pounce on him like mad animals. One of the books lunged at him like an animal, and Dhruv stepped back and fell down.
The rest of the books reacted similarly and lunged at him like animals. Dhruv quickly moved backward. He hit the computer table behind him and lowered his head, placing his hand in front of his eyes.
“Dhruv…” Anne said as she approached the door, seeing him fall. When Dhruv moved his hand, everything was normal; there was no darkness, nor were the books ready to pounce on him like mad animals. Anne came to him, “Are you alright? Why are you lying down like this?”
“That…” Dhruv didn’t understand; what had just happened. He couldn’t tell Anne about it either. His heart was pounding. “I don’t know why I felt like I was hallucinating,” he said normally, looking at the books.
“Hallucinating…!!” Anne exclaimed in surprise, “What do you mean by hallucination…?”
“I just felt like it was dark in here and the books wanted to eat me,” he told Anne about what had just happened, as he couldn't control his fear.
“But there was nothing like that here,” Anne helped him up.
“I can see that too, but before you came, the atmosphere here was completely different. I don’t know why this happened, this hallucination; why am I having these hallucinations!!”
“Did you have any other hallucinations before this?”
“Yes… when I was in the water, I felt like something was pulling me in… a woman, whose half body was rotten like a corpse.” Dhruv decided it was better to share this too; to reduce his fear, he shared this as well.
Anne’s face was blank. She didn’t understand what to say or not say in response. She placed her hand on Dhruv’s back and said, “Don’t worry, everything will be alright. Come to the shop in the evening; we will sit there and talk about it. Come on, let’s go to class now; it’s time for class.”
Anne took him to class so that he could forget all these things and focus his attention elsewhere. After all the classes ended in the afternoon, both were coming out of the parking area together. Dhruv appeared calm.
After coming out, Anne said to him, “Don’t think too much about it; the more you think, the more troubled you will become. Get a good night’s sleep after going home, and meet me in the evening; we will sit there and discuss it calmly.”
“Hmmm,” Dhruv nodded dejectedly. Both left for their respective homes.
Dhruv was cycling up the hill. Just then, Arjun and his friends arrived there on their bikes. Arjun stopped his bike in front of his cycle. One of his friends stopped his bike behind his cycle, while another friend stopped on the right side of his cycle. On the left side was a steep slope filled with thorny bushes that went down quite a bit, so no one went that way.
Arjun got off his bike, put the stand down, and walked towards Dhruv, saying, “Hey smarty, you roam around with the top girl in class? You have so much courage? With a childish name, you’ll make friends with the top girl in class?”
“What business is it of yours…” Dhruv said, looking at him angrily.
Arjun’s friend, who was standing to his right, said, “Stay away from that girl; she is Arjun’s choice; Arjun wants that girl at any cost.”
Arjun came close to him, “If you still try to go near her, you will suffer a fate you never imagined.”
Dhruv landed a strong punch on Arjun’s face, “Stay away from me, you scumbag!” Dhruv said angrily.
Arjun’s friends got off their bikes and lunged at Dhruv. Dhruv and his friends started a brawl.
Arjun touched his mouth and saw blood on his hand. Arjun’s mouth started bleeding from the punch. He became furious. His eyes were filled with anger. He didn't think twice. He went towards Dhruv, grabbed him by the shoulders from behind, and threw him towards the slope. Dhruv fell on the slope and rolled down; so far down that he disappeared from sight.
Dhruv's eyes opened about an hour later. He got up and found himself on the road; the same spot where he had been thrown down. He looked around; no one was visible in the distance. Dhruv was confused. He clearly remembered Arjun throwing him down, so how was he back here now?
He saw his bicycle; his bicycle was parked a short distance away. Dhruv went towards the bicycle and rode it home.
After opening the house door and entering, his grandmother asked him while watching TV, "Why are you an hour late today?"
"That... Grandma, there was an extra class today... that's why I was late."
Dhruv quickly went into his room and stood in front of the mirror, looking at himself. There wasn't even a mark of injury on his face. He clearly remembered that in the scuffle, he had received some punches to his face, which had caused bleeding. He looked at his wrists; when he had fallen into the bushes, his wrists had been quite grazed due to the thorny bushes, but at this moment, his wrists were also clean.
"Now, what is this all about?" Dhruv said to himself in surprise, "Why is all this happening to me?" he questioned.
He looked at himself in the mirror for a while; after that, he freshened up and went to sleep.
Around five in the evening, he stopped his bicycle in front of Annie's shop. He went inside and said "Hi" to Annie.
"Hi..." Annie replied, "Give me just five minutes; I'll serve the customer."
"Yes, okay..." Dhruv went and sat at a table and waited for Annie.
Five minutes later, Annie came with a butter cake and placing it in front of him, asked, "Now tell me, how long has this been happening to you?" She sat down right in front of him.
"What?" Dhruv reacted as if they were discussing a topic he knew nothing about.
"What what? Your hallucinations! You told me about this in the library. I called you here this evening so we could talk about it."
Dhruv wanted to evade the topic, "Well, I didn't sleep last night, so it must have happened because of that. Don't worry; everything is normal."
"Everything is not normal." Annie said from the front, "Your face was pale with fear. Come on, tell me quietly now, how long has this been happening to you?"
"I can't tell you exactly, but it feels like this has been happening to me for the last three-four days." Dhruv thought it best to reveal some things, "Now, why it's happening, I don't know."
"What happens to you in this?"
"I just see strange things; things I shouldn't be seeing. For example, I saw that woman inside the swimming pool; today in the library, the darkness and books that bite like animals."
"Anything else?"
A silence fell over Dhruv's face. There were still a few more things he could tell; like seeing Uncle Waseem, about Riva and Siddharth, and also about today's incident with Arjun. Dhruv took a light breath and shook his head no, saying, "No."
"Can you say with complete certainty that you are not seeing anything else besides this; someone... someone who died a long time ago?" Annie said, pausing her words.
"I just saw a woman, whom I don't know if she is alive or dead," Dhruv said while eating the cake, as if making a joke.
Annie stared at him, "This is not a laughing matter." Annie said, "If you see ghosts, then tell me about it."
"No, I don't," Dhruv flatly denied.
An odd expression appeared on Annie's face, showing her anger. "You're telling the truth, right?" she said with slight anger.
Dhruv said while eating cake, "You're asking me questions as if I've murdered someone."
Annie calmed herself, "Well, you get quite strange, so I asked."
Suddenly, an old uncle came and placed another plate of cake, "Children, here, eat this too."
Annie gestured towards the old uncle and said, "This is my uncle; my guardian."
"Oh, hi Uncle," Dhruv said.
Annie's uncle nodded and left. Dhruv and Annie talked a little more, about college. After that, Dhruv stood up and saying he was leaving, said, "Okay, I'm going now."
"So soon? You've only been here twenty minutes."
"Well, I have to go to the cyber cafe too; that's why."
"Okay." Annie stood up and started walking with him to see him off. After coming out, she said, "If you have this kind of problem again, let me know. For now, neither you think too much about it, nor will I. Sometimes it happens due to lack of sleep or eating and drinking, so just ignore it and don't overthink."
"I think you are overthinking more than me," Dhruv said, "I am not as worried about these things as you are." Dhruv said his piece without any expression, which made it cool.
Annie gave no reply and just smiled. They both said goodbye to each other, and then Dhruv headed for the cyber cafe.
Upon reaching the cyber cafe, he started checking the profiles of the townspeople on the internet. He was checking Facebook profiles. The townspeople were quite involved in social life, so it was possible to find out what most people did through Facebook or similar applications. Dhruv was looking at photos on everyone's profile. After a lot of surfing, he saw the same car in one photo that Siddharth had mentioned. Although it couldn't be said for sure that it was the same car, in his surfing so far, he had only seen this car with this man. Dhruv read the man's name: "Rajveer Mehta."
He stopped surfing and rode his bicycle towards his home.
At night, he sat down to eat with everyone. His grandfather initiated a light conversation and asked him, "How are you feeling now? Did you feel anything again?"
"No, Grandfather; I'm fine."
"And how is your college going?" his grandmother asked, "How are the teachers teaching, and what have you studied these days?"
"It's going okay," Dhruv said, making a wry face, "It's the beginning of college, so things aren't settled; but soon everything will be fine and things will improve. As for teaching, nowadays the focus is more on topics of negative energy and dimensions; everyone likes it too."
"Why? What's so special about it?" his grandfather asked.
"What's special, I can't say; people just like everything related to the universe. The secrets of the universe are such that no one can remain uninterested."
"We found it boring," his grandfather said, making a strange face as he ate. After that, there was no conversation, and Dhruv went to his room after eating.
Around eleven o'clock, Dhruv was doing his college homework when a football suddenly appeared with a thud to his immediate left. Dhruv was startled, but this time he wasn't scared.
"Riva..." he said a little louder, "Meaning, you won't reform." He was looking at the football. After looking at the football, he turned, and Riva was standing on his bed in front of him. She had changed clothes today. She was in a one-piece party dress. It was black and revealing. Riva looked attractive in it.
Riva said in her robotic manner, "You said to make some noise before coming; I just did that."
"The noise should be such that it doesn't scare; not by throwing a football from the roof next to it. How did you change clothes today?"
Riva shrugged and said, "A girl had an accident and died. After dying, her soul attained salvation and her clothes were left behind as if I took them. When salvation is attained, the soul goes without clothes."
There was a sound by the window. Dhruv looked in that direction, and Siddharth came out, emerging from the window's wall, "Is my arrival okay? Aren't you scared by this?"
"Yes, this is still less scary; teach your sister the same way," Dhruv stopped doing his homework.
He stood up and said to both of them, "Regarding the car you told me about yesterday, I tried to investigate it today. I will tell you both about it, but before that, you both have to help me."
"What kind of help?" Siddharth asked.
"You both are not normal; something abnormal has been happening to me for the past few days. I think you both can tell me something about this."
"Tell me, what do you want to know?" Siddharth asked him.
"This afternoon, I had a fight with a boy named Arjun. The fight escalated, and he threw me down a hillside. The hillside was quite deep, after which I should have been seriously injured. As soon as I fell, I fainted, but when my eyes opened, I saw I was on the road; completely fine; not even a mark of injury. How is this possible?"
Siddharth fell into thought, and Dhruv kept looking at him. After thinking for a while, Siddharth said, "I apologize; I have no idea why this would have happened."
"Let me tell you something that happened this afternoon; in the afternoon, I was going to the library to surf on the computers there to find more clues about the murderers from the leads you guys gave me; but there, I felt as if darkness was chasing me and the books in the library wanted to eat me. When I turned, that's what was behind me. Do you guys understand anything here?"
Siddharth started thinking again. After thinking a little, he shook his head no, saying, "I apologize again, but here too, I don't know why this is happening to you."
Sadness appeared on Dhruv's face, "You both cannot help me in this matter either; I don't know who in this whole world can help me with these things." He sat dejectedly on the bed.
Riva picked up her football and came towards him, saying, "But we can help you in the case of Arjun..."
As she said this, Dhruv looked towards her. His eyes widened.
It was 2:00 AM. Arjun was sleeping like a madman on his bed in his room. One side of his face was swollen; Dhruv had punched him hard there.
Siddharth phased through the wall and entered the room. He opened the window. Dhruv, who was waiting outside below, climbed up through the pipe and entered through the window.
Dhruv was wearing white clothes. Siddharth and Dhruv exchanged some gestures, and then Dhruv stood away.
Siddharth went near Arjun's bed. He grabbed Arjun's blanket and yanked it off. Arjun sat up abruptly. He looked around; no one was in the room. Then he looked at the blanket; it was lying on the floor.
He drank water from the bottle on the table. Then he stood up and reached out to pick up the blanket. But as soon as he reached out, the blanket slid towards Dhruv.
Arjun's gaze fell on Dhruv. Seeing Dhruv, his courage failed him.
"Y-y-you..." Arjun stammered.
"Yes, me," Dhruv replied.
"B-b-but you... you..."
"I fell down the hill. That's what you want to say, right? Yes, I fell down the hill. So far down that I didn't survive. Now I've become a ghost."
"But this can't be... ghosts aren't real..."
"Why not? Didn't you study the topic of negative energy in class with Ashutosh sir?" The teacher who gave the first lecture was named Ashutosh. "He clearly stated that if negative energy exists, then ghosts also exist." Dhruv looked at the blanket near his feet. "And ghosts... ghosts can do anything..."
Siddharth picked up the blanket and waved it around in the air. Arjun was terrified seeing this. Just then, Riva entered the room. She picked up a water bottle and threw it away. Arjun recoiled.
Dhruv, stepping towards Arjun, said, "You shouldn't have done this. You weren't scared at all when you took my life. You didn't even think once about what would happen next if something happened to me...?"
"I-I-I thought you'd just get stuck in the bushes, get hurt, and then be scared of us."
Dhruv started acting like a ghost, laughing. Riva and Siddharth stared at him for his acting. Dhruv stopped laughing and said to Arjun, "Then something very bad happened to you, because now you'll be scared of me. I will come every night and scare you like this for the rest of your life... I won't just scare you, I'll make your life miserable..."
Siddharth tried to grab Arjun from behind and pull him, but his hand passed through Arjun. This meant he couldn't grab a human. He had no idea how these things worked. He looked around the room. A cricket bat was lying nearby. He went towards the cricket bat and picked it up. He could grab the cricket bat, or anything else in the room.
The bat flew through the air and hit Arjun hard in the stomach. Arjun clutched his stomach.
"Please forgive me..." Arjun groaned in pain. "I didn't know doing this would happen... If I had known even a little, I would never have done this..."
"But now it has happened... you won't get any forgiveness now... You like Annie, right? Watch, I'll disfigure your face now... I'll make your face so ugly that besides Annie, you won't be liked by any girl in the world."
Riva picked up a knife from the fruit basket. Dhruv looked at the knife and continued his dialogue, "I'll change the map of your face with this knife... I'll write in big letters on your face... 'You are my killer'..."
Siddharth, staring, said to Dhruv, "What are you saying... you can't write all this in big letters on his face..."
Dhruv continued, "This will teach you a lesson. After this, you won't bother any child in college. This is what should happen to you."
Arjun clasped his hands and sat down. "Please don't do this to me, just give me one chance, just give me one chance. You'll see, you won't have any complaints from me, I'll become a good boy."
"Chance? I don't think you're worthy of it. You're saying all this now, but I know very well that tomorrow you'll go back to how you were."
"I swear on my parents... I'll completely reform myself from today..."
"Meaning you won't bother any child from tomorrow... whether they are new or old..."
"Yes, I won't," Dhruv said, touching his throat.
"You'll stay away from Annie... you won't even think of going near her."
"Promise, I don't even know her from now on."
Dhruv thought about what else he could make Arjun do. "You'll tell your friends to reform too, so that you don't reform, but your friends keep doing the same things you guys were doing."
"Definitely... you won't have any complaints from them either..."
"And I also want that all this happened because of me, you won't tell anyone about it."
"It will be done, something else..." Arjun was scared, so he was ready to obey Dhruv in everything here.
"No, that's all..."
Siddharth picked up the blanket and went towards Dhruv. Then he started going in circles around Dhruv. Riva pulled the bedsheet and also went near Dhruv, starting to go in circles around him.
Dhruv, looking upwards, said, "What is happening to me... I can hear a voice from the sky... Is... it not my time to die yet, so my soul is being sent back into my body? Is... I am a returned soul... Is... because of this... if anyone tries to bother me, they will be called upstairs immediately." He looked at Arjun. "Close your eyes, Arjun, because my soul is going back into my body... But remember what I told you... You are going to get a new chance, a new life... don't waste it... Come before everyone tomorrow as a good person..."
"You'll see... you'll see, it will happen like this now..." Arjun said and closed his eyes.
Dhruv immediately went to the window and climbed down holding the pipe. Siddharth gently closed the window. Then they both left from there. When Arjun opened his eyes, the room was completely silent. He was scared. Even his face was covered in sweat. His condition was dire. He looked down; his pants were also wet.
It was 3:00 AM. Dhruv was stealthily looking towards a bungalow from behind the bushes. Riya was playing with a football on the grass field behind. Siddharth was hiding right next to her, also looking at the bungalow. The house was in a secluded area near the city. There were only 7-8 houses here, belonging to VIPs and influential people.
Looking at the house, Dhruv said, "Because of you guys, I have to do all this. If someone sees or catches me, we'll be in such a mess that you all will remember it for the rest of your lives, let alone me."
"You know for sure that this is Rajveer Mehta's house. Why and how are you so sure it's his house? It could be someone else's?"
"When I saw his profile, I carefully noted down his home address. His house is here. We just need to find the garage somehow. Once we see the car there, we'll have confirmation."
"You wait, I'll go and check." Siddharth came out of the bushes and walked towards the house. It was a moonlit night. Dhruv watched him go for a while, and then, after he left, he turned to look at Riya.
"Does your love for football never end?" he said, looking at Riya. Riya still looked beautiful today.
Riya looked at him and shook her head no. "No."
Siddharth had found the garage. It was on the right side of the bungalow. He peeked through the garage door and looked inside. There were eight or nine cars parked inside. This included the car he had seen. He turned back and came to the garage door, pressing a button there. The garage shutter slowly began to open.
Siddharth came out and looked around. He couldn't see anyone in the distance. Seeing this, he called out to Dhruv, "Come on, there's no one here, the car is right here. You see it with your own eyes too."
Dhruv said softly, "Yes, but why do you need to shout so much? If someone hears..." He started walking towards the garage. "Seriously, this guy is like a ghost, no matter how much he shouts, no one will hear him."
He entered the garage and went near the car, looking at it. He asked Siddharth, "Is this the same car you saw?"
"Yes, it's the same car."
"And how can you say that with such certainty?" Dhruv stared at him.
"It seems you're taking revenge on me. You asked this because I questioned you about the address of this house, didn't you?"
"No, no, I'm just asking normally," Dhruv said. "Tell me, how can you say this with such certainty?"
"This sketch of a sunflower on the car's window, I saw it. I forgot to mention it earlier because I didn't pay attention to it, but when I saw it, I recognized it immediately. That's why I can say with confidence that this is the same car."
"Okay, so we've found the clue you gave us. Now that this car is parked at Rajveer Mehta's house, there's a 110% possibility that this person has some involvement in your murders. Or that he ordered your murders. Now, all we need is something to prove it. Some evidence or something."
Siddharth silently kept looking at the car. After looking at the house for a while, he said, "I am completely confident that you will find the evidence too. When I met you, things reached this point in our case. You will take it further as well."
"I will try my best, and whatever happens next will be seen." Saying this, he looked outside. "Let's go from here now."
"Yes..." Siddharth nodded. "You go, I'll close the door and come."
Dhruv went out. Siddharth pressed the button and started closing the garage door. Dhruv rubbed his hands together, looking ahead. It was cold, and he was now feeling the chill.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Suddenly, a girl's voice came from the right, and Dhruv was completely startled.
To his right stood an 18-year-old girl. She was wearing jeans and a leather jacket. Her hair was tied back. With her chubby cheeks and small eyes, the girl looked quite unique – smart, cute, and capable of stealing anyone's heart at first glance. She had both her hands in her jacket pockets.
"Uh..." Dhruv didn't know what to say.
"Speak..." the girl said again. "What are you doing here...?"
Just then, Siddharth came out of the garage door. He was behind the girl. Seeing the girl, he also got scared and jumped back. The girl turned and looked at him. "You... what are you two doing here?"
"You can see us...?" Siddharth said in surprise.
"I can see you... What do you mean, you can see me... You two are right in front of me... Tell me, what are you two doing here...? Did you come to steal...? Wait, I'll call my father right now."
As the girl looked up to call her father, Dhruv said to her, "Please don't call your father. We didn't come here to steal, we just..."
"You just what...?" the girl asked in a stern tone, like a teacher.
Riya's football rolled over and stopped at Dhruv's feet. Dhruv looked at the football, picked it up, and said to the girl, "We just came to get this football. Riya threw it here, she..." He looked at Riya and said, "She wanted to play football, so we were playing football on the road. It came here from there." He hadn't thought much before saying this. Whatever came to mind, he just blurted it out.
"Are you guys crazy or are you trying to make me crazy?" the girl said, widening her eyes. "Who plays football this late at night? Nobody does. Tell me the truth, what are you guys doing here? I'm sure you came here to steal."
"We didn't come here to steal..." Dhruv said, raising his voice slightly. "Even if we wanted to steal, tell me, what would we steal here? There's nothing around to steal. There are garages, but we don't know how to drive to steal your cars." He looked at Riya and Siddharth and said to both of them, "Let's go from here. If she doesn't believe us, let her not believe. Let her call whoever she wants."
Dhruv started to leave with the football. Riya and Siddharth followed him. Dhruv, muttering prayers to God, said, "God, please don't let this girl call her father. Oh God, help us. Don't let her call her father."
Siddharth, looking back at the girl, said to Dhruv, "You saw she could see us too. You should have talked to her about it."
"Right now, I'm just thinking about getting out of here safely. You have no idea what will happen to me in the morning if the police catch me here. I won't even be able to show my face to Nenus and Nanas."
"Nenus and Nanas... What is that now?" Siddharth didn't understand. He had never heard such strange words before.
"Oh, grandparents..." Dhruv said.
The girl standing near the garage watched the three of them leave. She kept looking up intermittently, thinking whether to call out or not. The three of them quietly passed by the bushes and headed towards the road, then walked towards home. The girl by the garage did not call out.
The morning alarm rang and Dhruv's eyes snapped open. As soon as his eyes opened, he sat up. Riva was sitting cross-legged in front of him. She was spinning a football in her hands.
Dhruv tilted his neck and asked her, "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here at this hour?"
"My brother told me to stay with you," Riva said in her usual manner.
"With me!! But why?" Dhruv asked, raising his eyebrows.
"My brother said he has some work to do, so I'm to stay with you until his work is done."
"But you can't just stay with me like this. I have my own things to do, college to go to, meals, snacks, everything," Dhruv said, spreading his hands.
Riva shrugged and said, "I can't do anything about it. This is what my brother told me."
"Shush... your brother..." Dhruv fell backward.
Dhruv took off his clothes and went into the bathroom to shower. He closed the door and turned on the shower when Riva phased through the door and came inside.
"Hey, you idiot! You can't come in here... I'm showering."
"But my brother told me to stay with you," Riva continued in her robotic tone.
"Yes, he did, but that doesn't mean you barge into someone's bathroom. Come on out, this is a private place."
Riva stood her ground and didn't turn to leave. Dhruv made an angry face. Riva lowered her eyes and pouted before leaving. This meant she was upset. Dhruv finished his shower after she left, got dressed, and came to the dining table for breakfast.
Dhruv was having breakfast. His grandfather said, "We haven't gone out for an outing in a long time. I'm thinking we should go somewhere this Sunday."
Dhruv's grandmother immediately said, "You can forget it. You just keep talking about going out, but you never do. You've been saying you'll go for the last five years, and you still haven't."
"Oh, why haven't we gone...?" her grandfather said, glaring, "We went just six months ago."
"That was a Satsang. Going out is a different thing."
Dhruv looked at both their faces, "You two, don't argue. When Sunday comes, we'll see what to do."
"Yes, we'll see..." the grandfather said, "I'll also talk to the warehouse and finalize where to go for the outing."
Riva phased through the middle of the dining table and went out. Dhruv widened his eyes and looked at her. Without paying attention to his grandparents, he said to Riva, "You can't just come in here like this..."
"Can't come in like this...?" Dhruv's grandfather asked, looking at him.
"Uh... uh... nothing, Grandpa. I was saying... why are you involving your friends in this? You should find a good location for us to visit on your own... we'll all go there together then."
"I'll go for the outing too," Riva said. Dhruv said nothing. He just kept looking at her angrily.
After breakfast, Dhruv was cycling down the hilly path. Riva was walking alongside him.
"Do you go to college like this every day, dragging the cycle...?" Riva said, "We can also ride it sitting down."
"Oh... thanks for telling me... I had no idea it could be ridden sitting down... my general knowledge has improved thanks to you." Dhruv got on the cycle and started riding it. Riva was left behind.
Dhruv turned back and shouted, "Now you know why I was riding the cycle like this."
Dhruv kept cycling forward. After a short distance, he looked back and saw that Riva had gotten on the back of the cycle.
Riva said, "You're forgetting, I can come anywhere."
"Oh yeah..." Dhruv said with disappointment, "I wish I had this power too... it would be so much fun."
Dhruv had reached college, but he hadn't seen Annie yet. Dhruv started waiting for her in the parking area. After about ten minutes, she still hadn't arrived.
Riva asked, "Who are you waiting for?"
"Man, there was a girl, she should have arrived by now, but she still hasn't."
"Is she your friend...?"
"Yes... just a friend."
"A good friend?" Riva asked innocently.
"What does 'a good friend' mean?"
"She's... your girlfriend..." Riva said.
Dhruv shut her mouth, "Who teaches you all these things?"
He walked with her towards their classroom. On the way to the classroom, Riva said, "My brother and I used to go to the park when we were bored. Many boys and girls used to come there. My brother would keep saying, looking at them, that this is his boyfriend and this is his girlfriend. I asked my brother there what a girlfriend is? Then he told me it's a good friend."
"Oh... I'll have to sort out your brother today... at such a young age, he's telling you too many things."
They both went into the class. Today, Arjun was sitting in a corner like a good student in class, as if there was no more well-behaved child in this class than him. When Dhruv entered the class, Arjun stood up, bowed his head, and welcomed him in his typical manner. Dhruv looked around and then nodded, asking him to sit. His friends also seemed quiet today, just like him.
Soon, the first teacher of the class arrived and began his lecture. Dhruv's mind wasn't on the lecture because Annie wasn't there.
The class teacher, while explaining a topic, was saying, "Things about wormholes are not yet clear. Therefore, not many articles are found about them. It's also difficult to say what it can do. Some scientists say we can travel through time using it. Some scientists say it can take us from one place to another in space. Some scientists say it is a way to go from one dimension to another." All the students' ears perked up. "I knew that when I said this, all your attention would be on the lecture. We learned about many dimensions just yesterday. When it comes to dimensions, we normally ask ourselves, can we even go into these dimensions? Scientists are always trying to find answers to questions. Here, a wormhole is something that can make this possible." The teacher said, looking at all the children, "Wormholes are tiny holes present in a place... they are so small... that they can neither be seen nor felt... they are much smaller than an atom..."
The teacher drew two circles on the blackboard. One circle was large, and one was quite small, like a dot. "The theory of wormholes originated from black holes. The large circle you see is a black hole. Everyone knows about black holes. It's a monster in the universe that swallows everything that comes near it. Scientists also believe that when something goes into a black hole, anything is possible. That thing could go to another place in the universe. Time travel could happen. Or it could go to another dimension. Exactly like in a wormhole. Black holes are quite large and are found far apart in the universe. But wormholes... they are quite small. They can be found in every possible place in the universe. Even in this room. To some extent, it can also be said about wormholes... they are a smaller version of black holes... But the reason it is more important than black holes is its possibility of being found anywhere."
A student stood up and asked, "But sir, if wormholes are so small, how can we go from one dimension to another through them? Meaning, our size is so big, and theirs is so small."
"Technology... it can be made possible through technology. In the case of black holes, when we talk about technology, we imagine a spacecraft traveling at the speed of light. Through this, we can reach near a black hole and enter it. Whereas in the case of wormholes, we imagine a technology that can enlarge its size by giving it energy to match ours, and then we can go through it to a dimension."
The teacher continued his lecture. Riva, who was sitting there, said to Dhruv, "You guys don't get sleepy coming here. I feel like sleeping, even though I don't sleep."
Dhruv nodded and said, "Don't even ask what happens when you come here. Your brain switches off. Anyway, this is science... it doesn't enter your brain easily."
Siddharth, who was working, was none other than keeping an eye on the house of the girl he had gone to last night. He was specifically keeping an eye on the girl. He wanted to know how she could see him. What was the reason behind it.
Siddharth was under a tree, looking towards the house. On the top floor of the house, there was a glass wall, through which what was happening on the other side was visible from here. Right in front of Siddharth, the girl was setting the dining table. There was a man there, only his back was visible. He was sitting at the dining table, waiting for the food. After a while, he started eating. The girl also sat there and started eating. Siddharth couldn't understand anything properly. He lifted his legs and started peeking.
Suddenly, he felt a rustling behind him. It was the sound of someone stepping on the leaves of the tree. Siddharth turned around, and a heavy wooden stick hit him hard in the face. Siddharth fell unconscious right there. He was a burly, stout man. He was wearing a black coat and pants. He grabbed Siddharth's leg and dragged him away from there.
When Siddharth regained consciousness, he was in a dark room. The room appeared to be some kind of library. He was tied to a chair with ropes. He tried to free himself, but the ropes were so tight that he could only shift his position. Usually, if he wished, he could pass through objects, but with these ropes, he couldn't pass through them.
Siddharth looked around the room. Along with books, he also saw some pictures in the room. These pictures showed men wearing overcoats. Judging by their age, it seemed that one picture was of his great-grandfather, one of his grandfather, and then there was a picture of a man around forty years old. The faces clearly indicated that all the pictures belonged to the same generation. To the left, there were stairs leading upwards.
Dhruv was in the canteen, eating samosas. Riya was sitting in front of him. Arjun arrived and tried to sit on the chair opposite him, where Riya was seated.
"Oh no, no, not here..." Dhruv stopped him. "Don't sit here..."
"Why? What's the problem here...?" Arjun asked, staring at him.
"There's no problem, I want the chair opposite me to remain empty."
"Yes, but what's the reason for that? Why do you want the chair opposite you to be empty?" Arjun asked him.
Dhruv didn't know what to say. Riya was looking at Arjun. She wasn't moving from her spot. "Well... well, I'm imagining someone is sitting here... that's why I don't want you to sit here."
"And who is sitting here?" Arjun stared at Dhruv with even sharper eyes.
"Oh, you sit somewhere else, why do you have to sit in the chair opposite me?" Dhruv said flusteredly.
Arjun went and sat on the chair to his left. He looked around and then slowly asked Dhruv, "I've come here to ask you something. Well, tell me one thing, what does it feel like after you die? Does it feel like we're dead? Is there any sensation?"
Dhruv looked at Riya. Riya shook her head in negation and said, "I... I don't feel anything, I don't know pain, or anything else."
Dhruv looked at Arjun and said, "No, there is no sensation, neither pain nor anything else."
"Oh..." Arjun started thinking. "So, you get peace after death."
Riya looked intently at Dhruv and said, "Not at all, after death, you just get stuck in one place."
Dhruv said nothing. Arjun sat there for a while longer, and then everyone went to their classes.
Dhruv was walking slowly. College was over, and he was returning home. Riya was with him. Dhruv hadn't enjoyed the day much because Annie hadn't come to college.
Walking, Dhruv asked Riya, "I don't understand why you said that, after death, you just get stuck in one place. Isn't that a good thing? People generally say we should remain in the same state, just as we are, for our entire lives, so what's the problem with that?"
Riya said in her robotic manner, "For some time, it feels good, but after that, you get bored with it, then you start hating it, after which you writhe like a fish in your state. Change is essential, we don't want change, but if it doesn't happen, you endure the worst things in your life until the end."
"Oh my goodness..." Dhruv said in surprise. "Looking at your age, I didn't think you would say such wise things."
Dhruv showed a robotic smile. "You probably forget, I've seen the world, and my brother..."
"Yes, yes, I understand. My mother. Your rambling has your brother's hand in it the most."
It was around eleven o'clock at night. Dhruv was busy doing his college homework. Riya was playing with a football in the room. Dhruv closed his homework and asked Riya, "What kind of work has your brother gone on that he hasn't returned yet?"
"He didn't tell me. He just said he needed to know something."
"And what did he need to know?"
"I don't know..." Riya shrugged. "He's been saying this since last night, then he said it this morning and left."
The mention of last night brought the incident with the girl to Dhruv's mind. "Last night he was... last night he was talking about the girl..." Dhruv realized where Siddharth was. "I know where your crazy brother is right now and what he needed to find out."
"What?" Riya asked.
"He's gone to find out about the girl we met last night. She could see both of you. He needed to know why that girl could do that."
Riya didn't react and went back to playing with the football. Dhruv was lost in his own thoughts. He said, "But if he went to find out about that girl, he should have returned by now. How much spying can one do?"
It was almost midnight. Dhruv was looking towards the window. He was waiting for Siddharth to return, but Siddharth hadn't come yet. Below, he saw Uncle Waseem, going towards his house in his usual manner. Dhruv turned back and said to Riya, "Come with me..."
"Where?" Riya asked.
"To see your brother..."
Half an hour later, Riya and Dhruv were in front of the same bungalow where Siddharth was keeping watch. Both were looking around, trying to find Siddharth, but they couldn't find him. Just then, a burly man came out from behind the house. He was wearing a black coat and trousers. He was heading towards the woods on the left side of the house. This was the same man who had hit Siddharth with a stick. Dhruv and Riya looked at each other.
Dhruv said, "Who is this guy going into the woods so late at night? Is he crazy? He must be the father of the girl we met last night. She also seemed crazy, and if she was crazy, then her father being crazy is bound to be."
"We should follow him," Riya said.
"Let it be, who knows, he might have some work in the woods, let's stay here and look for Siddharth..." Dhruv paused and the next moment said to himself, "But what work would he have in the woods at this hour? You're right, we should follow him."
He moved back and started following the man from the other side. Riya also walked with Dhruv to follow the man.
It was a moonlit night. Both were hiding behind trees, following the man. The man kept walking forward. After walking for a long time, he stopped and looked around.
Dhruv and Riya hid behind a tree. The man lowered his face and lifted a lid that looked like a manhole cover. Then he went inside.
Dhruv and Riya waited outside. Just as they were about to come out from behind the tree and move forward, Siddharth's scream was heard. Hearing this sound, both Dhruv and Riya's ears perked up. Riya flew into the air and immediately headed towards the lid. Dhruv also ran after her. Both Riya and Dhruv entered. In front of them, Siddharth was lying on the floor. The man had punched him hard, after which he had fallen. The man was still there. He turned and looked, and saw Dhruv and Riya.
The man with the deep black mustache had a dark complexion. He looked scary. The scary man made a strange face and said, "And who are you two?"
All three were tied to chairs. Siddharth and Riva sat calmly, while Dhruv kept fidgeting. The man had tied Dhruv and Riva there as well before leaving.
Dhruv said while fidgeting, “Why aren’t you both using your superpowers? Are you waiting to die sitting quietly?”
Riva spoke in her robotic tone, “You’re forgetting, we can’t die.”
"Oh, that means you guys just want to stay tied up like that." Dhruv said, glaring at both of them.
“It’s not like that,” Siddharth said, “We can’t free ourselves from these ropes, no matter how hard we try. I don’t know what kind of magic this is. It’s never happened before. We’ve never been seen before.”
Riva added, “And now, more and more people are seeing us.”
Dhruv looked at Riva and said, “This girl talks so much! When I first met her, she couldn’t say a word.”
There was a moment of silence. Then Dhruv asked Siddharth, “You came to find the girl, right? Did you find out anything?”
"No," Siddharth replied, "I saw her from a distance. She seemed normal to me. She was cooking, eating, and serving food.”
“Were you looking at her or her food...” Dhruv said. Then, looking around, he added, “Don’t you think she might be a girl like me? Just like I can see you guys, maybe she can see you too.”
“If that’s the case, then that fat man might be like you too.” Siddharth said. “If you don’t mind, may I say something?”
"Yes, go ahead."
“Maybe she’s not just any girl, but perhaps your long-lost relative, and that girl is your sister?”
Dhruv looked around, then his eyes fell on the photos hanging in the room. “Whose are these pictures?”
"We can't say for sure, but they seem to be from the same family,” Siddharth said.
“They all wear strange clothing, who wears such long coats?” Dhruv's eyes fell on an axe near a wardrobe. “I’ve found a way out!”
He said and slid his chair towards the axe. After much effort, he reached the axe and used it to free himself. Soon, all three were free. Siddharth and Riva moved towards the gutter and crossed it to exit. Dhruv followed but accidentally hit his head on the gutter door.
“Ow, shit! I'm a human... you guys do crazy things too.” He lifted the lid and came out. “Before that useless man returns, we should leave this place quickly.”
Both nodded in agreement. As they walked away from the bungalow, they passed through a small slope with a grassy field that led to a road. Dhruv glanced back at the bungalow and saw something strange through the glass: a large shadow. A man stood in front of the shadow, his head bowed. The shadow was cast by a chimney in the room, and the two figures standing in front of it.
Dhruv watched for a while, then turned his attention forward.
As soon as he arrived home, Dhruv collapsed onto his bed. Riva began to spin a football. Siddharth sat on a chair. Dhruv let out a deep breath and said, “Don’t do this again; don’t go anywhere alone.”
“Don’t worry about me so much,” Siddharth said, “This is the first time this has happened to me, but next time I’ll handle it.”
“I’m not saying this because of you, but because of your sister. She’s very troublesome! Never leave her alone with me again.”
The next day, Dhruv arrived at college, and Annie was already there.
“Where were you yesterday?” Dhruv asked Annie as he approached her.
“Nowhere, I had to stay home for some important work.”
"Yes, but what was that important work? There must be a name for it.”
“Never mind, you won’t understand.” Annie brushed it off. “Tell me, how are you? Has your mental problem been fixed?”
“Excuse me...” Dhruv stretched his ‘A’ out, “I don’t have a mental problem.”
“That’s not what I meant; I was just asking if your confusion has stopped.” Annie looked down, her face melancholic.
“Yes, it seems to have stopped. I haven’t had any confusion since yesterday.”
“Good, then. Whatever was happening to you must have been due to stress or depression.” Annie murmured to herself.
The lecture began, and the teacher discussed new topics. He introduced the concept of people from other worlds.
The teacher explained, “We call these people ‘Normal Aliens.’ I’ve talked about a vast universe and many other things, so we can’t ignore this possibility. If we exist, it’s possible that others exist too.”
A student raised his hand and said, “I don’t think such a thing exists. Life on our Earth was created with great difficulty; this is just normal imagination.”
The teacher smiled and said, “Before the discovery of continents, people on one continent thought they were the only ones on Earth. One day, a man built a sea vessel and traveled across the ocean. When his journey ended, he reached another continent where he saw more people. They were different from his world; I mean, different from his continent. If he were to give them a name today, he would call them aliens. Until we know about something, we ignore it. But one day, we face reality. Then, we can’t ignore things in front of us.”
The students understood what the teacher meant. The classes ended, and everyone headed home. Arjun greeted Dhruv before leaving.
Annie and Dhruv walked towards the parking area together. Annie was quiet, her face showing a hint of sadness.
Dhruv noticed her expression and asked, “What’s wrong? You seem lost; is there a problem?”
"No, nothing.” Annie said and quickly walked ahead, carrying her bag. Dhruv stayed behind.
Annie rode her scooter home. Dhruv shrugged and said, “What’s wrong with her? Is she angry with me? But I didn’t say anything. I just asked about her problem. Does asking about someone’s problem make them angry?”
Annie parked her scooter outside her shop and quickly entered, placing her bag on the counter. It was lunchtime, and only her uncle was there.
“Why are you angry now?” her uncle asked.
"I had an expectation for the first time in so long, and it got crushed. I thought I could do what no one else could, but Dhruv ruined everything. I had to face so much criticism in yesterday’s meeting because of him.”
“There’s no fault of that boy; you should have been more thorough in your investigation. If you make such a big mistake, you’ll face criticism, right?” her uncle said.
“It’s never happened to me before. Yesterday, all the people who hate me were so happy! They were thrilled to see me make a mistake for the first time; it was like they got a chance to catch my throat. Ugh!” She hit her head on the table. “I don’t know when my search will end.”
“You’re not the only one searching; everyone is. Just keep hoping that someone will find him.” Her uncle said and left. Annie remained at the table, her head still on it. She let out a sigh and said, “Yes, there’s hope…”
Dhruv entered his room to find Siddharth and Riya already there. Placing his bag down, Dhruv said, "Sometimes I just don't understand girls. One moment their mood is one way, the next it's completely different."
"What happened?" Siddharth asked.
"I have a friend, and today I asked her, 'If you have a problem, tell me,' and she, well, I don't even know how to describe it, she just pouted and ran off like I had snatched her favorite teddy bear."
Siddharth nodded. Dhruv sat on the table, adopting a thoughtful expression, and said, "Whatever happened last night, we didn't get time to think about it. I had to go to college early, that's why. But now we can think about it properly."
"I've been thinking about it since morning. Whatever happened, it has raised several questions for us. The first question, how can they see us? The second question, what was that car doing there? The third question is, who was that girl? I mean, is there something special about her?"
Dhruv interrupted him, "I think the first and third questions are the same."
"Then the third question is, if the car was there, does someone from there have any connection to our murder?"
"Connection? You're using such old-fashioned Hindi!" Dhruv stood up and poured water from the jug into a glass, saying, "Even detectives wouldn't easily solve the mystery of your deaths. What a complicated case this has become!" He drank the water. After drinking, he said, "But we have to find the answers to all the questions."
"Now it's not that easy. We can't take advantage of being ghosts, and you're human," Siddharth said, looking at him.
"And that man has already seen me. If we go around the bungalow like this, he'll recognize us immediately," Dhruv said.
Dhruv started pacing the room, lost in thought. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and said, "Maybe I know what I need to do."
Both of them looked at him. Dhruv was smiling to himself.
It was around 4:00 PM. Dhruv, in an old, tattered overcoat, was walking down the street with an ice cream cart, calling out loudly, "Ice cream, get your ice cream... get it..."
He looked down towards the lid. Inside the large box where the ice cream was kept with ice, Siddharth and Riya were also present.
Riya said in a muffled voice, "I can't breathe, move over a bit." She said this to Siddharth.
"Where am I supposed to move? I told you to stay home, but you wouldn't listen. Now that you're here, you'll have to endure this."
Dhruv quieting them both, said, "You two, don't make any noise. Who knows who might be listening to you. This entire street feels strange. I've been shouting for twenty minutes, but no one has come to buy ice cream yet."
Just then, a house door opened, and a little girl ran out. "I want ice cream," the girl said.
Dhruv immediately said to the girl, "Come, come, dear, I was waiting for you."
The girl came closer and asked, "But why were you waiting for me?"
"Oh, what I meant was, I was waiting for someone to come buy ice cream from me. I've been calling out for so long, but no one has come yet."
"Oh..." the girl exhaled softly. Dhruv started making ice cream for her. While making it, he looked towards the bungalow he had been observing for the past two or three days and asked the girl, "So, this big house in front, do you know anything about it?"
The little girl looked at the house and said, "My mom says it's the mysterious house here. The people who live in this house are never seen outside; they all stay inside. But even so, they are seen in the city."
Dhruv feigned surprise. "What do you mean?"
"It means these people are never seen going out of the house, but despite that, they are seen in different places in the city."
"Oh," Dhruv said. "And what else do you know about this house?"
"This is all I know."
"There's a girl living in this house too, do you know anything about her?" Dhruv asked.
"Anushka..." the girl said, her eyes widening. "She used to be my good friend. But after her eighteenth birthday, she also stopped going out of the house."
"And why is that?" Dhruv handed the ice cream to the girl.
"I don't know. For two or three days after she came out, she seemed scared, but after that, she stopped coming out at all." The girl ran off after saying this.
Dhruv tried to stop her, "Hey, wait, we need to know more..." but the girl didn't stop.
Siddharth said from inside the ice cream box, "This girl has only increased our confusion. What does this mean now? Those people don't go out of the house, but they are still seen in the city."
Dhruv turned his gaze back to the bungalow. He was quiet for a moment, then said, "I don't know."
Annie was in her room. In front of her was a laptop. Facebook was open on the laptop. She was looking at the profiles of every eighteen-year-old boy and girl in the city. Whether it was a boy or a girl. Next to her was a list that she was marking down. After marking one more, she got up and went out. Her uncle was attending to some customers in the shop. Seeing Annie, her uncle approached her.
Annie said, "I've reviewed the list again. There are only 45 boys and girls in this city who have turned 18 in the last three months. 44 of them have been investigated. Dhruv was the closest. The chances of him being it were high, but he wasn't. Now there's only one girl left, named Anushka. She's from a VIP family here. There's no trace of her on the internet. Her details weren't found in schools or colleges either. Now... I don't know what to do with her? This girl, we can also ignore her."
"You can't. Because no one knows if it was a boy or a girl. The one who knew isn't here anymore. So, find out more about her. Who knows, she might be the one we're looking for."
"But the data I have mentions her parents. The one we are looking for has no parents."
"She could also have been adopted. This information won't help. You continue your search."
Annie smacked her head and walked away.
Evening was approaching. Dhruv had returned. After returning, he went to meet Annie at her shop. Siddharth and Riya had stayed at home. As soon as he entered the shop, Dhruv went to the counter and asked the uncle, "Hello Uncle, where is Annie?"
The uncle gestured upstairs and said, "She's upstairs in her room. Go and meet her."
Dhruv nodded and headed towards her room. When Dhruv reached the room, no one was there. Annie's laptop was open. Nearby lay a yellow book with a picture, and below it, a bio-data of the person in the picture. Dhruv looked around and then went towards the book. The book contained his own picture. Below it was written his bio-data.
"What is this..." Dhruv exclaimed in surprise. Just then, Annie emerged from the bathroom and her gaze fell on Dhruv.
“What is this…” Dhruv exclaimed in surprise. Just then, Annie came out of the bathroom, and her eyes fell on Dhruv.
★★★
“Wait…. What are you doing here?” Annie exclaimed loudly.
Dhruv was startled by her raised voice and stepped back, pressing himself against the table. Annie came forward and, standing before him, asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I came to meet you. I spoke to your uncle downstairs, and he told me to come up.”
Annie realized she was overreacting. So, she calmed herself down and said to Dhruv, “Oh, Uncle! I was just coming down. He could have told you to wait downstairs. You had to come all the way up for no reason.”
“Well, I don’t have any problem coming here,” Dhruv said, making a strange face. “You’re acting as if there’s stolen goods here, and I’m some inspector who’s going to catch them.” As he said this, he remembered the book he had just seen. “And why do you have my picture…” He turned around to look at the book again.
Annie immediately stepped in front of him. Their faces were so close that they could feel each other’s breath. They stood like that for a moment. Then Annie turned and, closing the book, said, “I brought this from my college. Uh, I’m thinking of contesting the college elections, so I brought everyone’s profiles to learn a bit about them. It will be easier when I ask for votes.”
“You’re amazing! You’ll contest elections? Wow, you think so far ahead.”
Annie smiled and then put the book back in the cupboard. As she went downstairs, she told Dhruv, “Let’s go downstairs and talk.”
They sat at a table downstairs and chatted. After a few minutes of conversation, Dhruv asked her, “So tell me, what happened to you this afternoon that you ran away? You’ve never done that before.”
“This afternoon…” Annie started to recall what she had done that afternoon. She remembered she had unintentionally ignored Dhruv and come home. “I was very hungry and wanted to eat, so I came home quickly.”
“Understanding you is not just difficult, it’s impossible,” Dhruv said, shaking his head.
Annie remained silent for a while. Then, after glancing at her uncle, she asked Dhruv, “So, did anything strange happen to you again? Are you still seeing things here and there?”
“What do you mean, things here and there?”
“The things you used to see before.”
“No,” Dhruv shook his head. Annie’s face fell again. “Why do I feel like you’re more interested in whether I’m seeing something strange or not? I haven’t paid as much attention to it as you are.”
“Because I’m worried about you. If the things happening to you hadn’t improved, I would have taken you to a doctor.”
“I don’t like doctors,” Dhruv said, making a grimace. “I’ve always avoided doctors since I was a child. Even when I was sick, I recovered at home by drinking Nenny’s herbal concoction.”
“And I don’t like herbal concoctions,” Annie said, laughing. “And I don’t have grandmothers who would make me something like that.”
“Speaking of grandmothers, when are your parents coming? You said in your introduction that they would be arriving soon.”
“I don’t know myself. It might take them more than a month. Their work in the city isn’t finishing. They’ll come when their work is done.”
Annie’s uncle brought two cups of coffee and placed them in front of them. Dhruv thanked him. After he left, Dhruv asked, “What does your father do?”
“He’s a chartered accountant. He also has a good business. This business is in the pharmacy field.”
“If you don’t mind, may I ask, if your family has a substantial business in the city, why are they coming here? Do you have any property here?”
Annie shook her head. This meant they had no property there. Dhruv waved his hands in the air and asked, “Then why?”
Annie didn’t feel comfortable answering this. She glanced down, then to the side, and said, “It’s a bit of a personal matter, so I can’t tell you why we are settling here. Yes, I’ll definitely tell you when I feel more comfortable.”
“Okay, no problem. Tell me when you feel it’s right,” Dhruv said and started drinking his coffee. After finishing his coffee, he stood up to leave. “I should go now. I just came to ask if you were having any problems because you behaved quite strangely this afternoon.”
Annie also stood up and walked with him towards the door. “I apologize for that. I shouldn’t have done that. I’ll be careful in the future.”
After coming outside, they said goodbye to each other. Dhruv picked up his bicycle and started heading back home from the city. It was evening, so it was getting a little dark. He was cycling alone on the road. Suddenly, he felt a strange disturbance behind him. Dhruv didn’t look back. After going a little further, the disturbance behind him intensified. There was silence in the atmosphere, but due to this disturbance, it felt as if this silence was also an illusion.
Dhruv went a little further and slowly looked back. The moment he turned around, the ground seemed to vanish from under his feet. His face contorted with such terrifying fear, as if death stood before him. The scene behind him was a horrifying dread. Directly behind Dhruv, in the dark atmosphere, the road was rising upwards like rippling water, coming towards Dhruv. Dhruv looked ahead and pedaled his bicycle faster. As he rode his bicycle, the road behind him kept rising. He reached a turn and quickly swerved his bicycle. As the bicycle turned, a truck came from the front. Dhruv narrowly avoided a collision with the truck.
As the truck sped past him, he looked back. The truck, astonishingly, emerged from within the elevated road. Dhruv was surprised by this. He stopped pedaling and stood still on the road. The road continued to rise towards him. The road reached him and crashed into him. The moment the road hit him, everything became silent, as if nothing had happened. The road was normal. Dhruv was standing normally on it. There was no sign of any disturbance in the surrounding atmosphere. It felt as if it was all Dhruv’s hallucination. Dhruv looked around. Then he put his bicycle on the stand, sat down, and touched the road.
His face showed great surprise. Dhruv touched the road with his other hand as well. After touching it, he pressed down on the road. Everything was normal. Dhruv lessened the surprise on his face and said, “What is all this? I saw it all with my own eyes, and then…? I don’t understand anything. This… whatever this is, it’s mysterious.”
★★★
Dhruv arrived at his house and went into the room, picked up a pillow, and threw it hard against the wall. He was angry.
He said, "Why do I feel like I was born in the wrong world? So much never happens in a normal world."
Just then, Riva emerged from the front wall. She walked past Dhruv, playing with her football.
Dhruv turned towards her and said, in a slightly angry voice, "Will you stop that noise?"
Riva turned around. "What's wrong with you?"
Dhruv sat on the bed. "Don't ask, life is going to hell."
"We aren't as bothered by our lives as you are."
"You guys aren't even alive..." Dhruv said, and silence fell on Riva's face.
Riva said nothing and flew upwards, disappearing. Dhruv watched her go and lowered his face again. There was a strange calm on his face. He looked frustrated.
It was around 10:00 PM. Everyone was eating dinner. His maternal grandparents were talking to each other, but Dhruv's attention was not on them at all.
His grandmother looked at his face and asked, "Dhruv, what is it? You look quite upset. Did something happen?"
"No, nothing happened. I'm just stressed because of college assignments," Dhruv replied rudely.
"Your mood is quite bad," his grandfather said. He stood up and went towards a cupboard lying there. He opened the cupboard and returned with a large box. "I thought I'd give you this gift two days later, on the weekend. Perhaps it will improve your mood a little."
Aashu looked at the gift for a moment. "If you wanted to give it to me on the weekend, then give it to me on the weekend. Don't change your plans because of my mood."
"Oh no, no, that was just for saying. I was going to give you this gift today anyway. Nothing is finalized for the weekend yet."
He placed the gift on the table and handed it to Dhruv. Dhruv unwrapped the box and then opened it. Inside was a laptop. Dhruv's face lit up slightly upon seeing the laptop.
"A laptop! Thanks, Nans!" Dhruv said with a smile.
Everyone started eating again. After finishing dinner, Dhruv came into the room, placed the laptop on the bed, and went towards the roof. He looked around the roof. He was looking for Riva.
"Riva, where are you?" he called out to her. "Riva... come back..."
Riva gave no response. Riva was hiding inside the chimney wall on the roof. Dhruv looked up at the sky and said in a slightly muffled voice, "I shouldn't have said that to you. I'm sorry. I was just angry, and I took it out on you. Please come back. I promise I'll never do that again. Even if I'm angry, I won't take my anger out on you."
Riva was listening to all of this, but despite that, she did not come out of the chimney. Dhruv blinked with a feeling of regret and slapped his thighs, walking back towards the room.
Entering the room, he picked up a notebook and sat down in front of his laptop. "Nothing will happen by being upset like this. I have to think of solutions for the problems I'm facing."
He opened a page in the notebook. "I'll write down all my problems one by one. Okay, so my first problem is finding Siddharth's killers, and also Riva's, who is upset and sitting aside. The second problem is solving the mystery of that scary house. How can those people see ghosts? That's the main thing here. The truth about that girl will also come under this. The third problem is the reason for whatever is happening to me. I have two questions for this. The first question is why I'm seeing ghosts. The second question is why scary incidents suddenly start happening in front of my eyes."
After writing all this, he picked up his laptop and started searching about Rajveer Mehta's house. As soon as he searched for his house, a lot of details about the house appeared before him. All the details that appeared were presented as if a person had kept an eye on the house for many years and then published a report.
"I didn't know so much was written about a house on the internet," Dhruv said while looking at the details. He started reading them. After reading a lot, he said, "Dangerous. Is this a house or a web of puzzles? How can so many incidents happen in one house?"
"What incidents have happened?" Siddharth came up right behind him and whispered in his ear. Due to his sudden speech, Dhruv got scared again. Jumping up, he grabbed the laptop and moved to the other side, saying, "How many times have I told you not to come so suddenly? You guys will take my life one day."
"Oh, sorry, it slipped my mind. I'll be careful next time."
Dhruv sat back down. Placing the laptop in front of Siddharth, he said, "The house in front of us is no ordinary house. It's a house full of puzzles. This house was built in 1795 by an Englishman. He was a VIP and wanted to live in a quiet place away from the bustling world. When he built the house, there was no one around for miles. In 1800, that Englishman suddenly died. His body was found in two pieces in the forest. The upper part of his body was hanging from a tree, while the rest of his body was near a waterfall. No one knew how or why this happened. In 1805, it came to light that the Englishman had transferred the house to Shobhnath Mehta before his death."
"Shobhnath Mehta?" Siddharth looked at Dhruv with a questioning gaze.
"You'll be surprised to know that he is one of those men whose picture we saw on that wall."
"Oh... It... This is dangerous."
"Yes, listen further. Shobhnath Mehta was only 22 years old at the time and didn't have enough money to buy a luxurious house, yet the house was named after him. Five years later, two more people occupied the place and started building a house. But within 3 months, everyone had died. Everyone was killed in the same way that Englishman was killed. Over the next 3 years, some other people came to live there, and they also died. Except for Shobhnath, no one else remained alive in that area."
"This clearly shows that Shobhnath did all this," Siddharth concluded immediately.
"I thought so too. But four years later, Shobhnath was also killed. He too in the same... way..."
"This is too much."
"The situation in India at that time was not good. The British were busy suppressing rebellions, so they considered these incidents minor and paid no attention to them. Then, for several years after that, no incidents occurred, and people started settling there. However, the population was still not large. In 1845, this house was put up for auction, where a new owner emerged. It was Shobhnath's son, Divya Bhaskar Mehta. A dangerous detective. He worked a lot for the British. Generation after generation, the owners of the house changed along with their descendants. And the surprising thing in all this was that more than 40 people were killed in the same way during this period. In 1980, after so many incidents, a search operation was conducted in the forest. It was discovered that there were many packs of man-eating wolves in the forest. All of them were killed. After this, no such incidents occurred."
"So, whatever happened was because of those man-eating wolves."
"But the person who wrote this report wrote, if it was all the work of wolves, then why didn't they eat the carcasses after taking their lives? Why did they just tear them into two pieces and throw them away?"
"Brother, don't scare me... I feel like this report was written by someone high."
"He wrote that there are many secret places in the house, many secrets are buried in them. This family is not a normal family. The people of this family... these people are beasts... some kind of monsters... If the secret places of the house are searched, all the buried secrets of the family will come out. This report was published in 2010, and the reporter died in 2011. Rajveer Mehta was the first to refute the report. In response, he said that it just sounds like a fictional story. The house was built during the British era, so there are some secret prisons in the house, but there are no buried secrets in them; there are just walls or bars."
"He answered in a very filmy way," Siddharth said, getting up.
"Rajveer Mehta gave many interviews, and slowly, he removed this thought from people's minds. Now people don't even know that something like this happened here. Very few people in the area know all this about Rajveer Mehta's house. Yes, people consider him strange, so no one goes near his house. Rajveer Mehta also just appears in the city occasionally for work. Otherwise, no one even knows how he lives, how he leads his life, or if he is even here."
"Ufffff..... Along with the house, Rajveer Mehta is also a mine of mysteries... Man..." Siddharth was looking at the screen. "Man... our murder is so complicated. So many things are coming to light in this." When Siddharth pressed the laptop button, a picture of Rajveer Mehta appeared, which he had already saved.
"It's more than complicated... The old questions don't get answers, and new questions arise. It feels like this is a case with only questions. And the biggest question is... this Rajveer Mehta..." Dhruv looked at Rajveer Mehta's picture with great interest. "This guy doesn't seem normal to me either."
It was about 4:00 in the evening the next day. Dhruv was sitting in front of a stage, dressed in a black coat and pants. He kept adjusting his tie. “I feel like this tie is a noose, I don’t know why people start wearing it as soon as they put on a coat and pants, why is it compulsory with a coat and pants?”
“Don’t do such things, people will think you’re crazy,” said Sidharth, sitting next to Dhruv. He was in a t-shirt and capri, as if he were at home. On his other side was Riva, eating popcorn. “When will this movie start?” Riva asked in her robotic manner.
Dhruv and Sidharth both stared at her. Dhruv said, “We haven’t come here to watch a movie, we’ve come to see Rajveer Mehta.”
“Is he in a movie?” Riva looked at both of them.
Sidharth stared at her and said, “This is a speech function. Rajveer Mehta is coming here to give a speech.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? The way you guys were talking in the room, I thought we were going to watch a movie,” Riva said and then picked up the popcorn box and started eating popcorn from it.
Dhruv and Sidharth remained silent for a while. Then something came to Dhruv’s mind and he came close to Sidharth’s ear and said, “I think one of us should have kept an eye on his house too. This would have told us whether he comes here after leaving home or reaches here directly through some other means.”
“You are right. How did this slip our minds?”
There was a loud applause, and Rajveer Mehta appeared on the stage in front. The other people present on the stage stepped forward to welcome him. They were welcoming him with bouquets of flowers and various gifts. Rajveer Mehta shook hands with everyone and moved towards the microphone. He was one of the prominent people in the city. He looked smart and young. He was wearing a grey coat and pants, which were quite expensive. He wore glasses, which made him look even more serious. In terms of seriousness, he seemed like a composed and experienced person. He came to the microphone and tested it. He looked at the people for a while and then addressed them, saying, “I am happy to see all of you here. I didn’t expect so many people to come to listen to me.” It was an open invitation, and at that moment, except for a few seats, the entire hall was full till the back. Approximately 1500 people could easily fit in this hall.
“People in the city know me more as a businessman. Yes, a little bit for my mysterious house and my mysterious story…” He said with a slight hint of humor, “Although people have forgotten it, and so have I.” He paused for a moment. “We are currently part of a world that is creating new feats every day. We are developing. Science is discovering something new every day. This is a world where you only have to think about two things all the time, first, what to do today, and second, what new thing are we giving to the world? Both things have their own separate value. The first thing is important for us, and the second thing is important for our children, our future generation. I have seen that not much has been happening in the city for the last few years. Perhaps I am a bit wrong here. Not for the last few years, but since it was built. There can be many reasons for this. The population here is not that large. We are located amidst mountains. People from outside the city don’t pay much attention to us. If I count, I can give many more such reasons. This is truly surprising. Anyway, I don’t want to dwell on this too much. I will get straight to the point. As a well-known businessman of the city, I have decided to take steps for the development of the city. Although I should have done this much earlier, the circumstances were not like that then, but now I don’t want to delay it. I will do for the development of this city what no one has done so far. And you all know what my first task will be…” He stopped after saying this. He had left a question for the people in front, on which all the people in front started thinking and whispering amongst themselves.
Dhruv said, “Man, his way of speaking is so captivating. I was completely engrossed in his speech. He decorates every word he speaks so beautifully that if he were to contest for Prime Minister, he would win easily.”
Sidharth was also engrossed. “Truly, man,” he echoed the same sentiment.
They both turned towards Riva, and she was asleep. People had done as much whispering as they could. Now everyone was waiting for Rajveer Mehta to answer. Rajveer Mehta gave a slight smile on his face and said, “I am going to bring the first train to this city!” Everyone’s faces lit up hearing this. “I have spoken to the state government, and they are also supporting me in this project. We will excavate the mountains located north of the city and lay railway tracks by creating a path through them. Until now, trains haven’t come here because the mountains obstruct the way, but now we will make it possible.” He raised his hand and, like a good motivator, exhorted the people, saying, “Now this city will see a new era of development.”
The entire hall erupted with applause. Dhruv also extended his hands and clapped a few times, slowly.
Rajveer Mehta's speech was over. People had started leaving for their homes. But Dhruv was still there, looking intently at Rajveer Mehta. Rajveer Mehta was talking to other people on the stage. Suddenly, Dhruv’s attention was drawn to the entry in the backstage area of the stage. The same girl he had seen that night was standing there. The same garage girl. Her attention was not on the three of them, and she was also looking at Rajveer Mehta. She was wearing a black coat and pants, just like Rajveer Mehta. He hadn’t seen her face or her properly that night, but today he was seeing her clearly. She looked like a girl from a foreign country. Very fair complexion, chubby cheeks that were slightly pink, and hair that was neither black nor brown, but a mix of both. At that moment, she had left a section of her hair loose in the front, while the rest was tied back with a rubber band. This made her look even better than that night. Wearing a coat and pants also made her even more attractive.
Dhruv nudged Sidharth. “What is it…” Sidharth said, turning towards Dhruv. He was looking ahead, so he also looked ahead and saw the same girl there. Dhruv’s senses were completely awakened after seeing that girl, and the same happened with Sidharth.
“It’s the same girl,” Sidharth blurted out.
Rajveer Mehta, while speaking on stage, gestured towards the girl. The girl nodded in agreement and immediately came to Rajveer Mehta. Rajveer Mehta was introducing them to some guests present there. After a brief conversation, the girl moved to the side of the stage. There, she started looking around, and her gaze fell on Dhruv. She also saw Sidharth and Riva. As soon as she saw them, Dhruv immediately ducked under the seat and started hiding his face. Sidharth also started doing something similar. Meanwhile, Riva was asleep.
“Man, she saw us…” Dhruv said.
“She must have recognized us too. God, I wish this girl had a weak memory. I wish she had a disease like Ghajini. She couldn’t remember things for a long time,” Sidharth muttered bizarre lines.
“Shut up, let’s get out of here,” Dhruv stood up and immediately started to leave. Sidharth picked up Riva, held her hand, and started leaving. The girl looked around on the stage and then she also left from there.
Dhruv and Sidharth were exiting the hall with Riva through a door on the right side of the hall. This door was not the main entrance. The main entrance was on the other side. Therefore, there was no crowd here, and not many people were visible here. As Dhruv and Sidharth stepped out of the door, the girl was standing right in front of them. Both of them stepped back as soon as they saw her and pressed themselves against the wall. When Riva saw the girl, she made a grumpy face. “My football got lost here too,” Riva said with her grumpy face. Sidharth shook her and told her to be quiet.
“What are you guys doing here?” the girl asked, also in a stern tone. “First you were at my house, and now here at this function…”
“Well, we… we…” Dhruv was searching for words. “We found out that your father was going to make an announcement about the city’s development, so we came here to hear it.”
“Don’t lie. Nobody knew what he was going to say here.”
“Well… well… we knew. A tantric told us beforehand what was going to happen here,” Sidharth said, flustered.
Dhruv stared at Sidharth. “He means to say that a friend of your father told us about it.”
“You guys are lying again. He didn’t even tell any of his friends about this. Tell me, what were you doing here?” The girl maintained her stern demeanor.
“We are getting late to go home. We’ll talk to you later,” Dhruv grabbed Sidharth and Riva’s hands and left immediately. He couldn’t think of anything else, so he thought leaving was the best option.
The girl stood in her place for a moment, then started walking behind them. She had only moved a little bit when Rajveer Mehta’s voice came from behind, “Where are you going?”
The girl stopped as soon as she heard this. Her facial expressions changed. A hint of fear appeared on her face.
Rajvir Mehta was in his house. The girl was kneeling right in front of him.
“Were you thinking of running away?” Rajvir Mehta asked, putting both his hands in his pants pockets.
“No, Dad,” the girl replied.
The well-built man, whose face was disfigured on one side, looking rotten, was also present. He had his hands behind his back.
“Then why were you going outside?” Rajvir Mehta asked.
“Th-that…” the girl didn’t know what to answer.
“Tell me, Anushka…” Rajvir Mehta said her name loudly.
Anushka became very nervous. “I saw two boys there. I was just following them.”
“Which two boys…?” Rajvir Mehta leaned towards her.
“I don’t know them. But I’ve seen both of them before. They were standing in front of our garage a few days ago at night. So I just went to ask them why they were watching us.”
“Really?” Rajvir Mehta said slowly.
“Yes,” Anushka nodded.
Rajvir Mehta stood up. The fat man standing nearby thought for a moment and asked Anushka, “Was there a little girl with them?”
Anushka nodded. The fat man said, “Perhaps she’s talking about the people I caught and locked in the old library. They’ve been watching us for days. I told you about those three, and you said you’d see them after your speech. Two of them are already dead. Meaning, they are ghosts.”
“David…” Rajvir Mehta took the fat man’s name. “If that’s the case, find out who those people are and why they are watching us.” He looked at Anushka and said, “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”
“Th-that…” Anushka was still nervous. “I thought they had come by mistake, so I didn’t suspect them.”
“But you know our rule. If anything strange happens in or around our house, I must know about it.”
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“You won’t be forgiven.”
Anushka started crying. Her nervousness turned into tears. “Dad, I’ll be careful from now on. Please forgive me. I won’t make this mistake again.”
“You will be punished for this,” Rajvir Mehta turned towards the wall. His back was to Anushka.
“Please, Dad, I swear to you, I won’t do this again.”
Rajvir Mehta showed no mercy on his face and ordered David in an authoritarian tone, “Go and lock her in that room downstairs. She will stay there for a full 24 hours.”
“No, Dad… Please don’t do this…” Anushka’s face showed many expressions of fear.
Rajvir Mehta gave no reply. David came and picked her up. Anushka struggled. “Please, Dad, believe me, believe me, I won’t do this again.”
Rajvir Mehta didn’t even turn to look at her. David was taking her down the stairs. The stairs circled around the wall, leading to the dark space below. Anushka was still screaming and struggling to escape. David came down, opened a room door, and pushed Anushka inside. As soon as Anushka steadied herself, she tried to run out, but David pushed her back inside and closed the door. Anushka came to the closed door and banged on it, shouting, “Please open it… Open it… Please…” David didn’t listen and left.
The little light there was from a small bulb. David took a remote from his pocket and began to turn off the lights of those small bulbs. As David moved forward, the place became darker. Anushka’s loud screams could be heard from downstairs. David came up and closed the heavy door leading to the lower part, after which Anushka’s voice stopped coming from outside.
Dhruv and Siddharth reached home quickly. As soon as Dhruv closed the door, he ran towards his room. Seeing him, his grandmother called out, “Oh son, where are you running? Come and eat something.”
“I don’t want to eat, Nanas…” Dhruv went into his room, quickly closed the door, and stood pressed against it. He was taking deep breaths. Siddharth phased through the closed door and Dhruv, came and stood next to Dhruv, taking deep breaths. Riva slowly entered, hanging upside down from the ceiling.
“You two look as scared as if you’ve seen a monster… She was just a girl… a human girl… not some kind of witch or monster,” Riva said.
Dhruv and Siddharth said nothing. Dhruv took deep breaths for a while and then said, “Man, that girl scared the life out of me. Did you see her attitude…”
“Yes, very scary,” Siddharth said.
“We have to stay away from this girl. I don’t think we can find out anything about her.”
“I think so too. The further we stay away from this girl, the better for us.” Siddharth came and sat on the bed. There he said, “Because of that girl, I don’t feel like I’m dead anymore.”
“Me too…” Dhruv said, and he also came and sat on the bed, but as soon as he sat down, he made a strange face and said, “But why would I feel like that? I’m alive.”
Both of them fell onto the bed. It was around 11:00 PM. Dhruv was eating at the dining table. His maternal grandfather, talking about Rajvir Mehta, said, “I heard Rajvir Mehta’s speech in the warehouse today. He will now bring a train here.”
“That’s a very good thing. If that happens, our town will develop a lot,” Dhruv’s grandmother said.
“Yes, indeed. Rajvir Mehta is doing very good work. It seems he will contest the mayoral election in the city soon.”
Dhruv was listening to all this quietly. After listening for a while, he asked his grandfather, “Grandfather, what kind of person do you think Rajvir Mehta is?”
“What do you mean by what kind of person?” His grandfather looked at him.
“I… I mean, is he a good person or a bad one… I’ve heard that rich people are often mostly bad.”
“Umm…” His grandfather thought. “I don’t know him well, but I had some acquaintance with his father. His father often used to come for walks in the mountains behind the warehouse. I spoke to him there several times. He liked those mountains very much. But his talk was very strange.”
“Strange, meaning…” Dhruv showed a little surprise on his face.
“Umm… it’s a bit difficult to explain to you. He used to talk as if he thought there was another world.”
“An-an-another world…”
“Yes, another world. He used to say that in this world, humans have nothing but helplessness and powerlessness. Whereas there is another world where there is peace. There are no rules or laws. Everyone can live as they please. Live as they wish.”
“Oh… interesting. Then what happened?”
“Nothing happened. After that, he stopped coming to the mountains. Four or five months later, I found out he had suddenly disappeared. His son came into the limelight. Then he held a press conference and announced that his father was no longer in this world. He passed away from a heart attack just 2 months ago. He didn’t want to spread the news, so he performed his final rites at home with his family.”
“But how can that be… I mean, how can his father die so suddenly… What if this is some conspiracy by Rajvir Mehta, and he killed his father? Otherwise, if someone dies, people find out and they have to be told.”
“It’s not our job to find all this out now. Either the police will know, or Rajvir Mehta himself. Besides, I don’t think Rajvir Mehta needed to kill his father. He was his father’s only son, and all the property was already in his name. His father also used to visit the mountains because he had handed over all responsibilities to his son. There must be a reason to kill someone.”
“That’s true too…” Dhruv said and quietly started eating. After this, no one spoke further. Everyone ate and then turned off the hall lights and went to their respective rooms.
It was around 11:00 PM. Riva was playing football in a deserted alley in the city. She was a ghost, so she would play football anywhere. Siddharth was in Dhruv’s room with him. Suddenly, the football slipped from Riva’s hand and rolled down the alley, stopping at someone’s feet. Riva ran to get the football, but as she ran and looked up, her steps halted. David was standing right in front of her. Riva quickly turned back and tried to run, but David took a strange device out of his black coat and held it in front of Riva. White light emitted from the device, and all of Riva’s ghost powers vanished. Riva was trying to disappear, but she couldn’t. David moved forward and came near Riva.
“Wh-wh-what did you do…” Riva hadn’t even finished speaking when David punched her hard in the mouth, and Riva fell unconscious on the road.
