Mind Your Business - Part 5

It was time for dinner. All the family members gathered at the dinning table. The unofficial head of the house, the mother sat at one end of the table. She had spinal disorder which made her life like vegetable. It was one unfateful day when she was trying to save her mischievous little Vicky from falling from the balcony that cost her life. Since that day, Vicky has been very close to her. 

Sakshi and the eldest brother Shekhar were the official caretaker of the family until Sheila came into Shekhar's life. Sheila single-handedly took the reigns of managing the family from Sakshi and Shekhar. She was important part of everyone's life. Mother was hugely dependent on Sheila. Sheila was like her right hand. Sometimes Sakshi would take time from her busy schedule of managing her work and being single mother to her kids. Shekhar focused completely at work. There were times when Shekhar would assist Sheila and advised her to start her career. But Sheila was Sheila , she found solace in taking care of every small needs of the family. 

It was one big happy family. Now with Vicky being present, the family was complete. Everyone waited patiently for Vicky. He had not arrived. "Did you call Vicky, Shekhar?", Sheila asked. "Yes I did. He said he would come and asked me to go.", Shekhar replied. "I will bring him.", Sakshi said. When she reached his room, she heard some muffled voices inside. She didn't waste time to get inside the room. It was biting cold. She switched on the light and was about to switch off the fan. She was surprised. The fan was not switched on. She wondered, "Why is it strangely cold?"

She looked for Vicky. Vicky was not on the bed. He was lying on the ground in fetus position.  He had covered himself completely inside the blanket. He made soft weeping sounds inside the blanket. She tried to pull the blanket from him. He held it very tightly. "It's me, Sakshi.", she said gently. He pushed blanket from his face.

"Why are you sleeping on the ground? ", she asked, gently helping him to get on his feet. "He has become so weak.", she thought, while remembering his fitness freak days. He was healthy. "There is something on the bed.", he said, while trying to avoid eye contact on the bed. She felt strange. She looked at the bed. "There is nothing on the bed.", she said  "Come, you must be hungry.", she continued as they walked out of the bed. 

As they switched off the light and closed the door behind them, the lights were switched on itself. A black apparition circled on the bed. Vicky was greeted by the rest of the family with smile and eagerness. His nephew and niece fought for his attention and who was going to sit next to him. Shekhar hugged him. However Vicky didn't hug. After the hug, he simply rushed towards his mother. He lay his head on her lap and said, "Ma, help me." Tiny drops rolled out of his eyes.

(To be continued)

Mind Your Business - Part 4

Vicky got out of the car. He stood still. He watched the house whilst remembering the times he spent as the kid. The walls of the house was painted fresh but it showed how much it overbore the hard times. Each windows and door spoke stories of love, mischief and pain. Vicky felt pinch of grief of staying away from his family abode. Staying away from home helped him achieve his dreams, but he was faraway from his loved ones.

Now he was home. He was safe. He thought so.  Suddenly, cold breeze blew gently across Vicky.black apparition was behind him. It wasn't going to leave him so easily.  He crossed his arms over his chest tightly to overcome the freezing cold. He shivered continuously.  Sakshi rushed out of the car towards him. She held him and walked towards the main door of the house. After quick ring on the bell, their sister in law, Sheila opened the door with warm smile.

But her warm smile disappeared, a concerned look took over her face. "Why are you shivering so much? Let me check whether you have fever.", she said. Sakshi helped him to sit on the couch and offered a glass of water. Sheila bought the thermometer to his mouth to check his temperature. When she took out the thermometer to read, she threw it down due to extreme heat. The contains of thermometer spilled on the floor. Everyone were shocked.

"I will call the doctor", she said, rushing towards the phone. Sakshi helped him towards his room and laid him on the bed.She helped him change clothes to night pyjamas. She covered him plenty of blankets to help him from constant shivering. She left him to rest. After an hour, Sakshi and Sheila arrived with the doctor. The doctor performed a check up and prescribed medicines and diet for high fever. He asked them to give him complete rest.

Sakshi and Sheila never left Vicky's side. They constantly gave him food, water and medication whenever he woke up. When he slept, they sat on the sofa in living room and discussed about his issue. "It's good you bought him here. He will be okay now.", Sheila spoke.  "I hope so. He has become lifeless. He keeps blaming himself for his friend's death. We should have not let him stay alone at that time.", Sakshi said. " We can't change what has happened. Now he's with us. We will help him get back his old self.", Shiela said with warm smile.

As they discussed, a black apparition circled Vicky madly like a scavenger. Vicky could feel it's presence.  He couldn't scream. His voice was held by the mad demon. He cried softly, eating his tears.

(To be continued)

Mind Your Business - Part 3

He had huge dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were red due to lack of sleep. He had slight hunch on his back. His lips were dry. He looked ghost himself. The woman shrieked, looking at his physical condition. "What happened to you, Vicky?", she asked, as she touched his face.Her touch was motherly. Instantly he almost fell over her.

She held him still as well as close the door behind them. She helped him towards the sofa where she laid him there. She poured glass of water from jar on the dinning table. She helped him to drink like a mother helping her small child. He was like her child. He was her little brother and youngest in the family.

In this hassle, she had forgotten to notice something. She felt strange chill inside the house. It wasn't winter yet. The AC wasn't switched on. There was no windows open for cold wind to pass through. "Are you fine, Vicky?", she asked. He stayed quiet. She sat next to him and touched his hand. "You are not meeting anyone. You are not talking to anyone. I heard that you left your job. You are not even picking my call. What's wrong?", she said. There was no answer.

"I am your sister. You can share anything with me. I am here for you.", she said. Vicky broke into tears. He cried like a baby. She didn't stop him. She rubbed his back gently to let him relax. When he stopped, he spoke,"I feel there is something wrong with me, Sakshi. I lost my best friend because of my silliness. Now nothing is going right in my life. I can't go out of this house. Something is not letting me leave. It's trapping me inside. It's killing me slowly."

Sakshi felt bad for her brother. She knew how he adored Ronny. They were like two pods in a pea. Vicky was blaming himself for Ronny's death since six months. He had not forgiven himself. He had confined himself in the house. She thought that he would come out of his shell if he was surrounded with people than walls. She decided to take him home with her. She felt he would slowly let go of his guilt if he was with his family.

"You are coming home with me.", she said. "But ..why?", he asked. She said, "No buts! No why! You are just coming." She helped him pack his bag. As he reached the door, he tried to twist the knob with fear. He looked tensed and turned behind to see several times. Sakshi sensed that something was wrong with Vicky. He had become extremely fearful. "There is no one. Let's go.", she said, helping him open the door. She was wrong. A black apparition followed them as they left the house.

(To be continued)

Mind Your Business - Part 2

                                                               **** 6 months later ****

It was already past 3 am. Sleep didn't seem to favor Vicky tonight. He counted the numbers from backward, sang lullaby to himself, walked to and forth from his bed to bathroom etc to get back to sleep.

After many trials, he decided to watch some slow videos to get back to sleep. He surfed through YouTube to watch some videos. He zeroed on the slow romantic song. It was a sensual video where a beautiful girl was draped in only white satin cloth, sitting on the wooden patio while waiting for her lover. A soft song played in the background.

Sleep began to possess him slowly. As he was about to close his laptop, he felt someone breathing next to him. He turned slowly to see who it was. It was the same lady who was in the video he watched few seconds back. She was sitting next to him and smiled at him

He turned white and numb. "I am dreaming!", he thought as he pinched himself. The pinch stung him. It was real. Suddenly she disappeared in thin air. "What was that!", he thought. He began to perspire due to fright. His laptop switched on itself. The images of the girl in the video reflected on the Google image page while the song played in the background.

Vicky pushed his laptop aside and jumped out of his bed. He rushed towards the door of his bedroom. But something caught his leg, making him fall to the ground. He cried due to pain. He rose up slowly.As he touched the door knob to open the door, something pulled him back and shut the door. His loud shriek could be heard from behind the door.

Next morning, a woman arrived at his doorstep. She wore plain salwars with mismatched sandals and no make up. She looked concerned. She banged the door. There was no answer. She called his phone. There was still no answer. Suddenly he opened the door.

(To be continued) 

Mind Your Business - Part 1

The room was dark, eerie and cold. There were few furniture covered with dust laden cloth. The air spoke the story of past to the visitors who dared to step inside. The visitors were ameteur ghost busters.

As they explored the room, they searched for the hints of the hauntings. They had heard from old folklore that demonic spirit was haunting this unfortunate  room of abandoned house for many years and it would capture the one who ventured inside.

The room was heavily  locked by metal locks and chantings. However it was easily broken by  Vikas, the brave one amongst these ameteur ghost busters. His friends were against the idea of breaking the lock. But Vicky was blinded by his hunger for adventure. He didn’t realise the danger lurking behind the door.

After few minutes of investigation,Vicky joked, “You guys were simply getting scared. I think, there is no such spirits here. It's just an old abandoned house and nothing else."  Everyone agreed and decided to leave except his best friend, Ronny. Ronny's face was bent down. He was unusually quiet. "What's the matter, Ronny?", one of his friends asked.

Suddenly Ronny raised his face slowly. He screamed in unrecognizable voice. His voice was coarse. There was mixture of feminine and masculine tone. Everyone covered their ears in quick reaction to the unbearable sound. In few minutes, he stopped. What followed after strange silence shook everyone. He twisted his neck, breaking the source of life connecting his brain to his body. He fell instantly to the ground.

Vicky was more shocked than others after watching his friend die in front of him. He stood still until one of his friends dragged him away from the room.  They thought they were safe. Unfortunately something was following him.

(To be continued)