" The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man."
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Truly said, amidst of all the technical modernisations and advancements, a thought lies stillnot fully justified or proved by science or it the stories of Bhangarh fort of Rajasthan or mysterious screams ofKaka, mala wachwa ( Uncle, save me.)belonging to Narayan rao Peshwa out of Shanivar wada, Pune. The thought of god and demon lies unexplained.
Yes, god and evil both exist. Call it satan, demon, spirit, ghost or anything. People tend to accept the existance of god and decline from accepting that ghost exists -existanceis the word, if god can exist for watching over us or rescuing us from trouble, why can't the demon exist to hunt us?
The bottom line being, god and evil both have their fair share of occupance in this world, it's upto ushumanswhich one's path we follow.
CID Inspector Kavin and Purvi totally rubbished the hearsay from various people regarding their new home before moving in after their wedding. The rumor of the house being haunted by the caged spirit of a lady named Resham. Kavin and Purvi, the newly weds worked in CID Mumbai, their job was to stop people from believing in such stupid ghost stories. The couple didn't believe in ghosts or witches, niether did they believe in god. They were hard coreatheists. Anything which is not visible to eyes or can be heard by ears, does not 's what the husband and wife believed.
The old wooden door flapped open with a couple of creaks as Kavin carried his wife inside their new abode, the newly weds laughing at an inside joke known only to them.
" Finally! All yours, madam." Kavin told before gently letting Purvi down on the floor.
Purvi's eyes immediately scanned the whole living room before turning to her husband.
" This place needs some fixture. We got to paint the walls, buy some new furniture, get new wooden flooring and-"
" Wait a minute, weren't you the one who wanted a vintage kind of house? I've put an amount of time to find this place only to fulfill your requirements. A big house, country side, vintage?" Kavin interrupted her.
" Alright, fine. Let's leave the vintage feel alone. It's better the way it is. Let's just get it cleaned up and then move in."
Couple of days post the cleaning and pest controlling, boxes were moved in. Kavin and Purvi took a day off specially for setting their home up as per their liking. Both of them extremely happy about everything.
" There's a lot of scrap in the basement. We better get that removed before it gifts us mice and other ugly insects."
Kavin walked in the bedroom where Purvi sat in front of the dresser applying some moisturizer.
" Did you go down there?" She asked.
" I'd pass out if I did, it smells horrible down there, like a thousand mice rotting for years. Actually, it smells like something getting burnt." Kavin told before walking into the shower.
Purvi had just closed one of her favourite books keeping it aside when she saw her husband walking out of the shower, drying his hair.
" Are you tired?" Purvi questioned, climbing down the bed.
"Very." Kavin replied, putting on a t shirt over his head.
" I don't care though."
Purvi whispered in his ear seductively before reverting the shirt off his upper body, letting it rest on the floor. Her lips picked on his, starting off tender but taking not much time to catch fire. Kavin guided their bodies to bed before pushing her underneath him, clothes were taken off, hands set free to roam wherever they wished and lips savouring every ounce of each other. The couple made love to each other till hours before both of them finally worn out, letting the sheets cover their naked bodies before they drifted into sleep.
Somewhere around middle of the night, Purvi felt herself waking up to a wierd sound. As if someone was walking across the hall in circles, the old wooden floor creaking was clearly audible to her. It wasn't Kavin since the man's arm was wrapped around Purvi's waist, pressing her against him under the sheets.
" Kavin, dekho jara shayad koyi billi andar ghus gayi hai." She lazily asked him to shoo away the cat.
" Jaane do na, bhag jayegi apne aap." Kavin wasn't even half awake while saying that.
" Arey, kitchen mein gayi toh sab kharab kar degi. Kavin, are you even listening to me?"
Purvi let out an exhausted sigh before helping herself out of his grip, she pulled on his t shirt covering her naked body before walking out of the bedroom. Her thighs still felt sore due to the vigorous love making, she grabbed a torch from nearby cabinet and searched for the cat. To her dismay, there wasn't anyone outside the bedroom. Next moment, she checked the kitchen just to make sure that everything was on it's place. Relieved, she turned around only to spot a shadow quickly passing across the stairs, followed with the sound of footsteps climbing the staircase.
" Aye! Kaun hai?"
Purvi hurried her way out towards the staircase and scanned the entire area, up and down, left and right. Not a single fly to be seen. She was quiet sure about hearing the footsteps though. Being the cop she was, she searched the whole house for another ten minutes, finally returning back in the bed next to her husband to get back asleep.
Next morning, Purvi woke up to the aroma of hot coffee before finding her husband seated in front of her with her morning coffee.
" Good morning, Misus Khanna." Kavin smiled before pecking her lips.
"Morning." She smiled back.
" Aap ke liye coffee, batana kaisi bani hai?" He handed her the mug.
After taking the first sip of her coffee, Purvi nodded her head in approval.
" Seekh rahe ho, Kavin. Not bad."
Kavin chuckled before pulling her in his arms. Although he made a number of efforts to get that morning coffee right, he still didn't her finish it as they found themselves making out already. It was only three months past their marriage and the couple wasn't ready to get out of the honeymoon mode.
Kavin and Purvi met each other in CID, he was her senior and she kind of had a crush on her since day one. Seeing each other everyday and random talks only brought them closer, eventually making them fall for each other. Kavin made it very clear to her that she washis meant everything to her and she felt no different. After a year of dating each other, Kavin and Purvi got married.
" Duty pe bhi jaana hai, chalo bohot hua." Purvi chuckled before pulling away from him.
"Shower sex?" Kavin raised an eye brow at her.
" Are you crazy?" Purvi laughed.
" It's a real time saver."
Purvi couldn't help but laugh out loud as she let him take her to the shower.
Couple of nights later, Purvi stired in her sleep uneasily. For an early January night, the bedroom felt unusually humid to her. Purvi turned to Kavin, who slept like he didn't feel the heat at all. Purvi sat straight in bed, trying to get rid of the humidity. That's when she spotted something crawling across the passage outside of their bedroom. Instantly, her hand went to the drawer where rested their service guns. With her gun clutched firmly in her hand, she walked out of the room to shoot dead what ever it was.
Sudden intense banging of door startled her as it came from downstairs. Seemed like the crawling creature got stuck somewhere. Purvi carefully climbed down the staircase, aiming the gun in front of her. She followed the banging which lead her towards the locked basement door. A huge metal lock assured zero possibilities of anyone being inside of that door.
Considering the whole incident as one of her random wierd hallicunations, Purvi turned around to go back to her bedroom. In front of her, right at the corner near staircase, a woman sat staring at Purvi without batting an eye lash. It took a moment for Purvi to realise that a woman was actually sitting in the dark few inches away from her, staring right at her with her white dead eyes.
Purvi's hand tightened on the gun as she brought it forward, aiming at the woman in front.
" Kaun ho tum? Aur andar kaise aayi?" Purvi questioned.
The woman in front of her just stared back in answer.
" Suna nahi maine kya pucha? Kaun ho tum? Kya chahiye tumhe?" Purvi repeated, a bit of anger mixed in her voice.
What Purvi saw next sent a chill down her spine. The woman moved her hand around her body, hooking both of her arms around her own legs as she started sobbing. The woman started sobbing and the sound of her sobbing echohed in Purvi's ears. The woman started crawling towards Purvi, revealing her brutally burnt face and hair, sobbing nerve wreckingly.
Purvi screamed before shooting bullets at the woman crawling towards her.
" Purvi!"
Kavin came running downstairs as he found his wife standing near the basement door with a her gun in hand, shaking terribly.
" Purvi, kya hua? Tum theek toh ho? Tum goli kyu chala rahi thi?" Kavin asked, embracing her in his arms.
" Kavin, w-woh, waha-waha"
Purvi pointed towards now empty corner near the staircase.
" Waha kya? Kuch nahi hai, Purvi. Tum, tum theek toh ho? Tumhe kahin laga toh nahi?"
Purvi's eyes didn't leave the spot where she encountered the crawling woman as Kavin picked her in his arms to take her back in the bedroom. It was real, it happened for real. She wasn't dreaming nor hallucinating. The question was how did the woman get inside their house? What happened to her? Where did she go? Why was she sobbing and most of all,who was she?
" Jaan, are you sure about staying all by yourself? I can ask Shreya or Tarika to stay with you till I come back."
Kavin glanced at Purvi while putting on his black leather jacket.
" I'll be fine. Don't worry. Tum bas apni conference pe dhyan do aur jaldi wapas aao."
Purvi smiled before throwing her arms around his neck, eliminating the little distance between them.
" Pichle kuch dino se tumhe ajeeb ajeeb ehsaas ho rahe hai, Purvi. Aise mein mujhe tumhe akela chodna sahi nahi lag raha. Main Shreya ko bula leta hu na, ya phir tum chali jao uske ghar?" Kavin wrapped his arms around her waist.
" Kisi ko bulane ki zarurat nahi hai, baba. Main theek hu. Ek din ke liye kyu kisi ko pareshaan karna. Tum bas jaldi se jao aur jaldi wapas aao."
Purvi pressed her lips to his, engaging them in a short but passionate kiss. Kavin left for a conference with ACP and few of his fellow team members. That evening, Purvi was determined about finding out the truth of that woman. She litreally stired the whole house upside down to find a clue about her but in vain. She expected some thing! Some photograph or a paper or any identification but no, she found herself in nothingness. Exhausted, she made herself a cup of tea as the clock hit eight of the evening. While sipping the tea, it clicked her that the only place she didn't go through was the basement.
Damn, how did she miss the basement!?
Finishing her tea, she reached her room and opened Kavin's drawer where he had kept the key to basement's door lock. She was well aware of the fact that Kavin wouldn't like it at all if she walked herself onto the bed of thorns, but she had to find out the truth.
" I'm sorry, Jaan."
Purvi mumbled before walking to the basement. With a torch and gun in her hand, Purvi inserted the key in keyhole and unlocked the door. The moment she pushed open the door, this awfully foul smell hit her nose, making her cover her nose with her duppata. She walked down the basement with her torch, it was pitch dark. A few rats ran past her feet, startling her a bit as she reached the bottom. It was pin drop silence before she felt a tap on her shoulder from behind.
Purvi came across a young girl dressed in red lehenga-choli, red chuda and sindoor on her forehead.
" Tum yaha kyu aayi? Tumhe yaha nahi aana chahiye tha. Bhago! Jaldi bhago!" The bride yelled at Purvi.
Another tap was felt by Purvi as she directed torch in the direction, another woman stood with a mangalsutra tangled around her neck.
" Resham nahi chodegi. Woh tumhare pati ko maar dalegi. Tum bhi humari tarah yaha kaid ho jaogi."
Suddenly, the dark basement was lit up by a bulb hanging from a wall. Purvi wished the darkness was better as she found herself standing in a place surrounded by eight to ten women, screaming and howling to death.
" Tumhe yaha nahi aana chahiye tha."
" Bhaag jao yaha se."
" Woh aa rahi hai."
" Woh tumhare pati ko cheen legi."
" Usne humare pati ko bhi maar dala."
" Woh maar degi."
Purvi's gun fell down from her hand as the screaming of women became too loud, so loud that was beyond hearing capacity. Suddenly, the basement felt extremely hot, as if it was set on fire. All the women in basement started banging their bangals on the ground, crying their lives out. Purvi's brain stopped working as she felt herself backing away, she ran towards the door wanting to get the hell out of there. Right when she thought she made it, the door slammed shut right in front of her face.
She was locked.
She was trapped.
Drenched in sweat, shivering to death, Purvi banged on the door trying to open it, hoping someone would listen to her. All of a sudden, she felt all the noises and screams die down behind her. With much courage, Purvi turned around to find the basement pitch dark. No women, no light, no screams, nothing. Tears rolled down her eyes as she couldn't understand what was going on with her.
A faint sound of sobbing grabbed her attention, the same kind of sobbing she heard that night. Only the voice was different. Purvi, with the last ounce of courage left in her body, walked downstairs holding the torch in her shaking hand. Entire basement was empty, nobody to be seen. In an aloof corner sat a female figure, draped in white saree. Purvi couldn't find her voice to ask her who she was, her feet kept taking her closer to the weeping girl.
When she was right behind her, the weeping girl turned her head and Purvi went absolutely cold. Plain dead.
Purvi saw her own self in front of her, draped in a white saree, her forehead void of sindoor, her hands completely empty as shattered pieces of red bangals surrounded the weeping girl. Purvi saw her own self, sitting in front of her as a widow.
The girl on floor pointed towards the wall, Purvi's heart almost stopped as she heard the widow say,
" Resham ne maar dala..."
On the wall, hung Kavin's lifeless body with a rope tied around his neck, blood dripping out of his nose and mouth, his chest brutally scratched with knives.
Purvi felt a loud scream escape her mouth before she felt everything spinning around her. She collapsed on the ground before everything went black.
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A/N : So, this was the first half of two shot! Let me know how was it? Also, I'd like to appeal all of my readers to turn an absolute blind eye towards Batman/Samaira Raichand/Nimmi who ever it is. Trust me, it'll only result in good! It's not like the first time we've had these kind of maniacs on ff, we've handled it before and we'll handle it now too.
Let me know how was the shot! One last thing, unneccessary negativity will be deleted straight away, if I delete your review, the only reason will be that I DISAGREE with your opinion. If you want to question my guts, you're free to do so. I know my gut way better than you and I don't need to prove it to you ;)
Thank you.
- Divyaa26 :)