Meera Ahluwalia laughs a little after hearing the whole incident that occured with Mr. Ahluwalia, whilst mixing the sugar in his cup of tea, sitting around the centre table.
"Arey koi mazak kar raha hoga.",
says Meera and extends the cup towards Mr. Ahluwalia.
Mr. Ahluwalia whilst accepting the cup, looking towards Meera, asks,
"Acha kon mazak karega aise? Humare siwaye yahan aur hai hi kon?"
As soon as he asks this the tubelight at the sitting area starts blinking. Mr. Ahluwalia and Meera look towards the blinking tubelight.
"Lijiye, ye tubelight bol rahi hai ke Prakash ji hum bhi hain zara humari taraf bhi dhyan de dijiye.",
jokes Meera, laughing.
Prakash looks towards the light, his looks serious.
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Prakash gets busy in repairing the fused light. Whilst doing so he hears Meera humming a song in the kitchen, the frequent variation in the clarity of her voice tells Prakash that Meera is working in the kitchen and singing simultaneously. The fused light gets repaired and Prakash collects the instruments used in the repairing. While doing so he suddenly hears the revolving of the nut bolts of the tubelight. The slow creaking sound of the nut bolts being removed halts Prakash, he slowly looks up towards the tubelight, the filaments burn again in front of his eyes. The room again turns dark. Prakash now hears Meera's humming coming from the room which is adjacent to the wall where he was repairing the tubelight. He starts sweating out of fear.
"Mee...ra ji...??",
Prakash calls out slowly, trying to keep his heartbeat under control.
"Haan!!",
comes Meera's reply, from the kitchen as well as the bedroom!
Prakash's heart thumps inside his chest. Terrified upon getting the reply from both the rooms.
Before he could decide which one is his wife for real, they ask him,
"Hum kuch der kahin bahar ghoomne chalein kya? Main ghar par baithe-baithe bore ho rahi hoon!"
"Waise to mujhe aapki company yahan bhi achi lag rahi hai akele iss ghar mein!",
they laugh a little in shyness, saying that.
Prakash stares straight ahead of him, numb out of shock!
Slowly he walks towards Kitchen instead of bedroom as he was sure she had gone to kitchen and not bedroom. His steps slow, and he turns to look behind every now and then. Finally reaching the kitchen he in a trembling voice, trembling out of fear, calls
"M...Me...era...??"
Meera turns to look towards him and asks,
"Haan?"
He stares her in horror.
Witnessing his situation, tensed Meera walks to him and asks,
"Kya hua? Aap itne ghabraye hue kyun hain?",
her brows knit.
"Agar... tum yahan ho to... to bed...bedroom mein kon hai?!",
exclaims Prakash in horror.
That comes as a surprise for Meera.
"Bedroom mein?!",
says Meera, knitting her brows.
Determined to solve the mystery, Meera begins to walk towards the bedroom when the electricity fails.
"Uuf ye light bhi na!",
curses Meera and continues walking.
"Bataiye...",
she says in the process of opening the door of the room.
"...kon hai ander?"
And before she could open the door, she gets the reply to her question - no not by Mr. Ahluwalia but by the one who is inside the room -
"Main hoon yahan!"
Mrs. Ahluwalia freezes at her spot.
Mr. Ahluwalia stares towards the room in horror, as dumbstruck as Mrs. Ahluwalia.
"Suna tumne?",
asks Mr. Ahluwalia, in hushed voice, his eyes transfixed at the door.
Mrs. Ahluwalia turns her head with a jerk to look towards the door.
Both of them stare towards the door in horror.
Bending down a little Prakash whispers into Meera's ear,
"Sunna tumne?"
"K...kon hai?",
asks Meera, trembling in horror.
The loud knock at the main door makes both of them to shout of loud.
"Koi... koi aya hai...!",
says Meera.
The door gets knocked loudly again.
Prakash walks towards the door carrying a torch in his hand. Unleashing the door he peeps out and finds a man standing outside.
"Ji? Kya kaam hai?",
asks Prakash, not entirely coming out from behind the door.
A man who is around Naveen's and Rajveer's age, rubbing his hands together asks,
"Kya aaj raat ko sharan mil sakti hai aapke ghar mein? Wo darasal kohra barh raha hai to kuch dikh nahi raha aur thand ke maare haath bilkul sunn hue parhe hain.",
he laughs a little, hesitantly.
"Nahi... nahi hum yahan aapko rehne ki ijjazat nahi de saktein!",
says Prakash.
"Arey!!",
he says, helplessly.
"Aap... aap kya yahan akele rehte hain?",
the man asks, whilst trying to peep inside through the ajar door but Prakash becomes a hindrance.
"Main aur meri Patni yahan ghoomne aye the.",
says Prakash.
"Haan wohi main sochun aisi sunsaan jagah par aap apni zindagi kaat bhi kaise rahe hain.",
the man says, looking to his right, rubbing his hands together, warming them up.
"Ahmm... Uncle ji agar bura na maane to kya main yahan ruk sakta hoon?",
he asks again, hesitantly.
Prakash looks towards him skeptically.
Immediately the stranger adds, smiling,
"Yahan aas-paas aur kahin rehne ki jagah nahi hai warna main aapko takleef nahi deta apni maujudgi se."
Meera reaches Prakash after having heard the conversation. She peeps out and finds the man fine enough to be allowed in. Meera rests her hand on Prakash's shoulder. Prakash turns to look towards Meera. She blinks her eyes and nods her head - an indication to allow the man to get in.
Prakash turns to look towards the man who was smiling by now looking towards Meera upon getting her approval. He again turns towards Meera and whispers to her,
"Main humare saath saath ek ajnabi ki jaan khatre mein nahi daal sakta Meera, samjho."
Meera lowers her eyes, understanding.
"Par kya pata Bhagwan ne isse humari madad karne ke liye hi bheja ho?!",
suggests Meera.
Prakash's heart skips a beat as he realises that she could be right. They both turn to look towards the man. The wind blows ferociously.
"Tumhari gaadi kahan hai?",
asks Prakash, just to assure himself he needs to know if not everything but a little bit about him for sure.
"Ji wo rahi.",
he points out towards his car which is standing right in front of their home.
Prakash nods his head and allows him to get inside.
Smiling, he gets inside and shows his gratitude,
"Thank you Uncle."
Prakash stares him skeptically still, in doing so he forgets to close the door, which shuts with a loud thud thanks to the stormy weather outside. All the three who are almost standing in a queue - Meera, followed by the boy and then by Prakash, turn to look towards the closed door in unison. All the pairs of eyes opened wide.
Slowly, the man turns to look towards Meera. Prakash too turns and looks towards the man and Meera, but none could see each other because of the darkness prevailing.
Prakash asks Meera,
"Jaiye jakar mombatti jala dijiye."
Hearing that Meera gets scared, her rate of heartbeat increases by the mere thought of walking all alone to the kitchen or to any other room.
"Mom...batti...??",
asks Meera, terrified and hesitant.
The man suddenly ignites his lighter. This was unexpected for Naveen's parents, hence they widen their eyes out of fear.
"Bus lighter hai.",
says the man upon realising that he scared them by igniting it suddely.
His audience smile a little.
"Ahmm... mujhe laga Aunty ji ko madad mil jayegi kitchen tak jaane mein.",
smiles the man.
Gush of ferocious cold wind enters the main hall through an open window which later shuts because of the air pressure with a loud thud. As a result of the blowing of the wind the lighter extinguishes.
"Oh! Oh!",
he says and reignites the lighter.
"Aap... aap ye le jaiye.",
he smiles and extends it towards Meera.
Meera looks towards Prakash. He nods his head and permits her to do so.
Upon getting the encouragement and permission, Meera slowly accepts the light and shows gratitude,
"Thank you!"
He nods his head in affirmative, smiling.
Meera turns to leave for the kitchen, still fearful. She starts taking slow steps towards the kitchen. Behind her, Prakash rests his hand on the boy's back and asks,
"Beta naam kya bataya tumne?"
The boy in the darkness turns to look towards Prakash and introduces himself,
"Ji Naveen!"
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The moment he introduces himself all the windows spring open and close themselves at quick successions non-stop and at a non-uniform motion. The loud thud sound of the window panels' opening and closing feels like the growling of the windows at the three of them and especially Naveen. Naveen glares at the windows as if challenging the weather and the windows alike. But his glare seems to have zero effect on the windows and they continue springing open and close in non-uniform motion like earlier.
Prakash's little smile that was on his face by now, vanishes immediately upon hearing his name. Meera turns with a jerk, shocked to hear his name! They both stare at Naveen in the light of the lighter.
"Naveen!",
exclaims Meera, knitting her brows. Her eyes well up immediately.
Meera and Prakash look towards each other.
Cascading her eyes out of hesitation, Meera says,
"Main... main candle lekar aati hoon.",
and leaves for the kitchen, hiding her tears that roll down her cheeks the moment she turns.
Quickly she walks to the kitchen, walking to where was seeming to her like a big task, suddenly turns so easy.
When we don't focus on the negativity that a situation brings with it, it becomes easy to sail through. Meera, who was earlier terrified to walk to the kitchen all alone, doesn't in her state of melancholy realise that she has already reached kitchen without giving it a second thought and the best part - she is fine!
She quickly begins searching for the candle, crying profusely. Her speed - accelerated due to the aching of her heart as she remembers Naveen.
On the other hand, Prakash emphasizes on addressing Naveen by his name, and says,
"Aao Naveen, andhera hai magar main tumhe raasta dikhata hoon."
Naveen smiles hearing that.
Naveen, returning back to his previous mood, turns to look towards the windows that are still causing disruption in the otherwise quietness prevailing inside the house.
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Sitting at the sitting area, still in the darkness, Prakash says apologetically,
"Ahmm... Meeraji pata nahi kahan reh gayin.",
looking towards the kitchen area, inside he is tensed about her well being.
"Aa jayengi!",
says Naveen, in a careless way, as if he is absolutely sure about her well being and security.
Prakash turns to look towards Naveen and smiles a little.
"Aur batao beta kya karte ho tum?",
he asks, smiling.
Absent mindedly, looking towards a room, door of which is slightly ajar, Naveen replies,
"Army mein."
Prakash gets shocked hearing that! These uncanny similarities between this Naveen and his Naveen, Prakash fails to understand how to accept them.
Naveen realises the blooper made! He widens his eyes and stops abruptly in his process of staring towards the room and turns to look towards Prakash and quickly rectifies by adding further,
"Army mein jana chahta tha par ja nahi paya. Business... businessman hoon."
Prakash, after the initial shock, smiles a little, trying to calm down his nerves the blood rush in which accelerated after listening to Naveen's reply.
"Oh... acha acha!",
smiles Prakash, a little, accepting his work profile and the fact that he is not his Naveen.
"Tum ja kahan rahe the beta iss mausam mein?",
asks Prakash.
"Wo darasal main kaam ke silsile mein hi bahar nikla tha. Ghar ja raha tha wapas magar phir mausam kharab hone ki wajah se socha kahin ruk jaata hoon. Aapka ghar nazar aaya to socha pooch loon agar mujhe aap apne saath rehne ki ijjazat de dein to.",
smiles Naveen.
"Acha kiya.",
smiles Prakash.
His smile vanishes when he feels someone's presence behind him as if someone is hovering him. Prakash rotates his eyes to his right. His every nerve ending stands erect. In the brief moment since Naveen knocked the door uptil the previous moment when he said 'acha kiya' he had almost forgotten about the presence of an unknown entity in their home. His sudden realisation fills Prakash's heart with fresh horror, magnitude of which is little more than before.
When we stay in a negative situation for a while, we get accustomed to it. Disconnecting ourselves from the negative situation gives us peace. But if the disconnection is for a brief moment and we are forced to return back to the previous situation of negativity that is a torture at its extreme level! Psychologically that affects us a lot. Such is the case with Prakash at the moment.
Naveen doesn't fail to notice that. He glares at the empty space behind Prakash.
Meera walks out of the kitchen carrying cups of tea and some snacks in a tray and covering the little space left in the tray with two ignited candles. Smiling, she walks towards them and offers the tea to Naveen first, after placing the candles at the table.
That distracts Prakash and he realises that even in this darkness - just in the candle light, when cooking would have been a difficult task, Meera managed to speed cook few of their Naveen's favourite dishes, his heart clenches seeing that.
The slight movement of the dining table chair distracts Prakash next. He gets terrified. The dragging of the chair surely was audible to the three of them. They turn to look towards the chair. While the focus of the three lie on the chair, the door of a room shuts lightly. But in the silence of the room even that little sound of shutting of the door was clearly audible to all. Meera who was offering the tea and snacks to Naveen doesn't realise how she spills the tea on Naveen's clothes, maybe her getting distracted by these paranormal activities are the reason. Or is it someone else doing it?
Meera looks towards Naveen in horror.
"Sorry beta... maine dhyan nahi diya...",
Meera immediately begins apologising, widening her eyes out of guilt.
"It's... it's okay! Main main... dho leta hoon.",
whilst saying so he immediately gets up and leaves for a room where there is a washroom attached, when Prakash says,
"Ye jo koi bhi hai humein yahan chain se jeene nahi denge!"
Meera gets nervous.
Naveen turns his right hand into fist; his brows furrowed. He resumes walking, his speed doubled out of anger.
Meera and Prakash suddenly look towards retreating figure of Naveen.
Meera slowly looks towards Prakash and asks in horror,
"Isse... isse kaise pata uss room mein attached bathroom hai?!"
Prakash who himself was wondering the same, stares back at Meera with no reply to give to her!
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The Panditji was heading towards Neelu and Yudi's home in the evening around eight for performing the havan, when a giant tree falls down exactly in front of him due to bad weather. Havan was especially arranged at the late evening hours as during the late evening/night hours the dark powers - supernatural powers, are everywhere and hence are easily found. Well that is only about finding them, capturing them is a different story altogether. Darkness not only attracts them and hence they could be found easily but it gives them strength too. Feed their power. Hence capturing them has exactly opposite story to narrate!
"Ye... ye kya apshagun hai?!",
exclaims the Panditji in horror, staring towards the fallen tree.
He looks towards the next tree in horror where he finds a lady suspended upside down from the tree. Her face remains hidden from Panditji as she faces the opposite direction. Her hands look dirty and nails long and uncut. She doesn't face Panditji at all. The sight terrifies Panditji. His speed increases. The sight stays till that point only but as soon as he crosses by the tree he gets a feeling of being followed by someone. He turns every now and then to search for the one who is following him but finds no one. Well that doesn't come out to be a shock for him. With the profession that he is into, he is habitual to these weird experiences. He has overcome such situations many times earlier but even having experienced it several times before, none of the new experiences seems to be the repetition of the old ones! As if, if he is smart to learn by experience, then the rooh(s) is/are smarter to introduce to him a brand new horrific experience each time! Creative spirits!
The necklace of Rudraksha beads get pulled from behind suddenly, such that his throat gets strangled. As a result of it his tonsils get pushed hard, his eyes pop out. He tries to cough to give a little relief to his strangled throat but alas! even coughing didn't turn out to be an easy task for him. He makes many weird noises whilst trying to free himself from the strangle by the stranger but fails. The Kalash he had been carrying with him filled with uncooked rice covered with a red cloth, drops out of his bag and the thread used to tie the red cloth itself loosens as if someone has pulled the thread with an aim to let the rice spill, only that no one could be seen doing that and as a result of it the rice falls down on the floor, scattering around.
While Panditji is still trying to help himself, the scattered rice which were packed in the Kalash after few mantra chanting, begins to turn black! The turning of the white uncooked rice into black indicates the presence of negative powers around. The faster they change - either the more powerful the spirits are or the spirits are in huge number lurking around you!
Panditji who has closed his eyes to use his full power to free himself opens his eyes wide upon hearing some mantra chanting. Mantra that doesn't purify but contaminate everything and everyone! Mantra that has the power to destroy! Mantra whose tod the Pandit does know but in the given situation he finds himself helpless.
In his current state Panditji tries once... twice... thrice and finally gets his hand into his bag and into a small iron box inside the bag which he opens somehow and brings out a hand full of the white powder that it contains - binded with mantra. He throws it in front of him by using as much power as was possible for him to put in the given condition of his. The moment he throws it on the evil spirit, he feels the Rudraksha necklace being unheld. He coughs out loud, profusely, holding his throat, bending forward. Easing his pain a bit, he turns to look that what has become of the spirit. In front of his eyes a whirling wind in black, appears and it just vanishes into the thin air as if someone has snapped his fingers and its magic... its magic!!
He stares towards the side in the sky where he saw the whirling wind to make sure that it has left for real.
Once satisfied, Panditji collects his belongings, leaving behind the scattered rice and carrying the Kalash he walks towards Sahani's home.
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Looking at the weather outside, a tensed Vandana Sahani, says,
"Panditji abhi tak aye kyun nahi? Mujhe badi chinta ho rahi hai.",
pulling her chain lightly, out of nervousness.
"Arey aa jayenge Vandana tum chinta mat karo.",
Mr. Sahani tries to explain.
"Bahar ka mausam dekhiye aap! Aisa lag rha hai jaise puri kayenaat saazish kar rahi hai mere bachon ke khilaf!",
says a tensed mother in Vandana.
"Tum jakar dekho Panditji ne jo jo samagri mangvaye the unn subka bandobast hua ke nahi.",
says Mr. Sahani in order to distract Vandana.
"Ji!",
saying so Vandana gets busy in cross checking the arrangement.
"Lo aa gaye Panditji.",
says Mr. Sahani.
A smile of satisfaction comes on Vandana's face. She quickly runs towards the door to get a glance of Panditji and shows gratitude to God for sending him.
"Aayiye... aayiye Panditji. Mausam aisa ho raha tha ke hum to pareshan ho rahe the ke aap kaise pohnchenge yahan tak.",
says Mr. Sahani, smiling a little.
Vandana folds her hands in front of him to seek his blessings. Panditji doesn't react to it. Vanadana's smile fades and she looks towards Mr. Sahani. Mr. Sahani blinks his eyes asking her to relax.
Together they walk inside. Panditji looks around, all serious. They all settle down for the hawan. Yudi's and Neelu's parents feel relaxed that finally their children will stay safe. Panditji begins to chant mantra. But the kind of mantras he begins to chant, Mr. and Mrs. Sahani find them sounding weird. They look towards one another, feeling that something is fishy. But none could show the courage to interrupt the mantras.
Once the mantras begin to show their power, Mr. Sahani and Mrs. Sahani feel the presence of someone around them other than the Panditji. They could feel the heaviness on their respective chests.
Mrs. Sahani's eyes wander towards the temple situated in their home. The ignited deeya begins to flicker even when there is no air blowing inside to extinguish it.
"Pandit ji... aap.. aap ye konse matra parh rahe hain?",
interrupts Mrs. Sahani, hesitantly.
"Tera beta kisi buri aatma ke qaid mein hai.",
says the Panditji, his voice deep, his eyes unblinked.
Mr. and Mrs. Sahani get shocked hearing that.
"Aur wo ussi ke qaid mein rahega!",
says the Pandit, smirking.
Mrs. Sahani covers her mouth with her hands, shocked!
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Huda somehow manages to free Ali's hand. It bleeds profusely.
"Ali!",
Huda exclaims, feeling bad for Ali.
Huda quickly brings out his handkerchief and wraps it around Ali's injured hand tightly to stop its bleeding.
Once done Huda and Ali stare at the body whose head is turned upside down and how he is glaring them. After the initial shock Ali exclaims,
"Yudi bhai!"
Huda shouts,
"Yudiiii!!"
They find Yudi looking horrible in the current state.
Yudi laughs looking and sounding horrible.
"Apne dost ko lene aye ho?",
asks Yudi, and laughs.
Ali and Huda stare Yudi in shock.
"Ja nahi deta tum dono ko tumhara dost!",
mocks Yudi.
Ali's and Huda's heart skip a beat each hearing that.
Yudi looks towards the rows of bricks standing at a corner. And through his supernatural power he makes them fall on and around Ali and Huda. Ali and Huda immediately shield their faces with their respective arms. The sound of this incident echos all around.
Due to falling of the innumerable bricks a lot of dust evolves which makes Huda and Ali to close their eyes to protect their eyes. After a brief moment they open their eyes and push the dust particles away by waving their hands. The moment the air around them gets cleared they find Yudi gone.
Shocked!
Suddenly they hear a laughter that is a mixture of laughter of two people - one Yudi and the other of the one who has possessed Yudi.
"Yu...di..",
Huda calls him out, in a state of shock.
"Mujhe yahin acha lagta hai Huda. Chale ja yahan se.",
replies Yudi, indicating towards the place.
"Dekho... tum... tum jo koi bhi ho... please... please humare Yudi ka peecha chorh do.",
pleads Huda, his eyes turned teary.
Yudi slowly with a devil smile on his face turns to look towards Huda and asks,
"Kyun? Itne waqt tak isne tujhse dosti nibhayi. Ab ye mujhse dosti nibhayega."
And laughs, an evil laugh, throwing his head behind.
Huda and Ali stare Yudi in utter shock!
"Yahi mera ghar hai. Aur main tumhe ijjazat nahi deta yahan aane ki. Na to tumhe yahan aane ki ijjazat hai aur na... isse mere qaid se aazad hone ki ijjazat hai.",
says Yudi, loudly for the entire place to hear him along with Huda and Ali, hitting Yudi's chest with his index finger to point out Yudi.
He runs like a maniac to a wall and starts scratching it with his nails creating weird sounds from his mouth. Sounds that would make any human being to shiver in fear. The sound gets stretched for a long time and there are very little intervals between two sounds made. Each sound sounds so different from the previous one and hence Huda and Ali fail to get accustomed to the sounds, as a result of which they get mini heart attack every now and then. Yudi then runs to another wall and shocks Huda and Ali as he starts climbing a pillar. The pillar has some pipes snaking around them, Yudi climb those pipe, jumping from one pipe to another like some monkey. But hell Huda and Ali cannot even joke about it that Yudi has turned into a monkey! Because nothing at the moment seems to be like a joke to them. Horror, is the word!
After having climbed up to a great height, Yudi faces them, holding the pillar with his hands that are turned behind him, his legs opened wide and feet positioned properly. It takes Huda and Ali to tilt their respective heads a lot towards the back. Their eyes opened wide and throat drying. Their brain not even in a state to anticipate what could be his next move. Yudi stares them straight into their eyes. He laughs - evil laugh. And he free falls!
Huda and Ali shout in unison.
"Yudiiiiiii !!!!"
"Yudi Bhaiiiiii !!!!"
Reaching down Yudi falls with his face up.
Apparently in such situation he might either have suffered from Brain Hemorrhage or something alike but here he is absolutely fine as if it is his everyday work to do that.
While Huda and Ali stay in shocked state, staring Yudi with their eyes wide opened, Yudi laughs like a maniac who thinks he has succeeded in terrifying his friends.
Yudi gets up and runs here and there in such a velocity that even before Huda and Ali could spot Yudi at a place he suddenly appears in another place. Laughing at times and crying at others. He takes Ali and Huda's name from different places, making them to turn every now and then. The frequency of their names increases so much that their names hardly remain audible individually. When intermingled the name sounds something else altogether - as if some demon is crying or shouting. Yudi deliberately stretches their name at times
"Hudaaaaa.... Aliiiii.....; Aliiiii...... Hudaaaa....."
And then suddenly laughs followed by a loud cry. All of it mix together forming a jingle - a jingle of not bells but HELLS!!!
While Huda and Ali get confused in all this, feeling suffocated. Yudi suddenly comes and grabs Huda from behind by his upper arms. Huda fails to stay alert because of the ongoing fiasco.
"Bhoot! Ghost! Yahi bulate ho na tum log mujh jaise ko?",
Yudi asks Huda, teasing him.
Huda stays numb, his heart beating at a great acceleration. His eyes opened wide.
"To le tera DOST bana GHOST!",
saying so, Yudi laughs out loud again, throwing his head behind, still holding Huda.
Ali throws an empty tin towards Yudi. He understands that it would hurt Yudi too, but he stays helpless.
Yudi's laughter dies immediately and rage fills his eyes.
Huda and Ali wait for Yudi's reaction, holding their respective breath.
Leaving Huda free Yudi with his supernatural speed zooms towards Ali and strangles him, pulling him up in the air.
"Ali!!",
shouts Huda, staring him in horror.
Within a moment along with Ali, who is raised up in the air by Yudi, Yudi flies in the air too, glaring Yudi throughout. The sight looks horrible to Huda.
"Yudi... Yudi chorh Ali ko!!",
shouts Huda, crying in fear.
"Bohot shok tha na mujhe maarne ka. Aa maar!! Maar!!",
shouts Yudi in his horrible voice, still flying in the air with Ali.
Tears roll down Ali's cheeks out of fear.
Huda tries to think of an idea to save Ali, but finds none. After all this is not human they are dealing with, it is a spirit! And not just a spirit but an evil one!
Ali's hand instantly goes to the tabeez that he wears and he begins chanting mantras, murmuring them. In moments he realises that his chanting is affecting Yudi. His face expression begins to change. Ali's heart skips a beat upon realising it. The initiation of seeing the results gives motivation to Ali. His cheeks which were burning out of fear and terror; now burns out of satisfaction of seeing results to his try.
"Mat kar!",
Yudi warns, in his horrible voice that succeeds in sending chills running down Ali's body but he stays put to his agenda and doesn't deter.
His saying so boosts Ali as he finally feels that something is affecting Yudi for good!
Huda stares the exchange between Yudi and Ali in shock! He sweats profusely out of fear. He wants Ali to stay safe but at the same time doesn't want to lose Yudi as well.
Yudi turns his head left-right-left, inside fighting with Yudi's soul, not ready to give upon his dominance over Yudi's soul yet! He growls first with a motive to shake Ali with fear and force him to give upon suffocating him by these chantings. Which soon changes into a growl of suffocation over powering the growl with the motive to terrorize Ali and Huda. With the constant suffocation, he slowly starts losing his control over his powers and he feels as if some other entity is over powering him. The other entities he understands are the ones that have arrived to protect Ali as he chanted. And Ali being the friend of Yudi, deep down they are connected, hence the angels - the entity are protecting him as well! Yudi and Ali now begin to fly downwards. Yudi still fighting inside doesn't stay powerful enough to focus on harming Ali.
Once down, Ali quickly runs towards Huda, coughing all his way, his legs turned jelly. How he manages to run in a disordered way, he has no idea. Huda holds Ali as he falls into his arms. Huda's eyes opened wide; heart thumping inside his chest.
"Ali... Ali tu theek hai na?",
asks an impatient and shocked Huda.
Ali, not in the condition to speak nods his head to convey to Huda that he is fine.
"Yudi Bhai....",
he mumbles, asking Huda to focus on Yudi than him.
Huda turns to look towards Yudi immediately and finds Yudi still wrestling with Yudi's soul. Yudi falls on the floor with his back hitting the floor. Now that Yudi inside Yudi has turned weak, it turns easy for Yudi to push Yudi out of himself with the little strength left in him. During this process he slithers on the floor.
Huda and Ali stare Yudi in horror. Yudi's eyes roll up. He makes weird voices. Finally he leaves Yudi's soul and body free. Huda and Ali stare at the almost transparent figure that forms in front of them in the air, as if someone has drawn an outline of a figure in the air with the help of smoke. It soon vanishes and everything turns absolutely quiet!
Huda and Ali focus on Yudi and runs to him to help.
"Yudi!"
"Yudi bhai!"
Huda helps Yudi to stand, wrapping his arm around himself.
Despite himself being injured, Ali helps Huda to carry Yudi, wrapping Yudi's other arm around himself. They walk out of the place.
Once out, they turn to look towards the place and realise that indeed it was haunted! But now it is free of the haunting soul. They breath in satisfaction.
Outside the weather turns calm with only chilling wind blowing.
They walk towards the academy.
Reaching a certain spot, Huda says,
"Ali, Yudi ko aise nahi le ja payenge. Tujhe bhi chont lagi hai. Aur...",
he looks around and says,
"Yahan aas paas na to koi nazar aa raha hai na hi koi gaadi guzar rahi hai. Academy mein batana parhega."
"Haan par kaise Huda bhai?",
asks Ali.
Huda and Ali look around in search of any medium to inform someone in the academy. Ali points towards his left where he discovers a booth (booth, not bhoot👻), but even to reach there they need to walk further,
"Wo raha phone."
Huda and Ali finally smile looking towards each other, their eyes shining with this victory which might seem to be a small one to others but is a big one for them!
Reaching the booth they call in the academy. An orderly receives the call who was arranging few files in Brigadier Chandok's cabin.
"Hello! Hello main Cadet Huda, main yahan apne dost Cadet Ali aur Cadet Yudi ke saath academy ke peeche wale raaste se kuch durri par jo ek khandhar hai uske aas-paas hoon; ussi khandhar tak pohnchne ke raaste mein main milunga.",
Huda then looks towards Yudi and Ali and speak in a concerned tone,
"Yudi aur Ali ki halaat theek nahi hai. Please aap kisi ko bhej dijiye humein academy tak le jaane ke liye."
"Huda bhaiya. Aap... aap theek hai na?",
asks orderly Suresh.
"Suresh?",
Huda recognizes his voice and feels relieved.
"Ji... Ji bhaiya.",
says Suresh.
"Yaar Yudi ki haalat bohot kharab hai. Ali bhi academy chal kar aane ke haalat mein nahi hai. Agar tu kisi ko bhej sakta hai to bohot acha hoga.",
requests Huda.
"Main abhi driver Gopal ko bolta hoon. Apna khyal rakhiyega bhaiya.",
says Suresh and quickly puts the receiver down.
👻👻👻👻👻
Alekh and Neelu were riding on Alekh's bike towards the academy where Alekh thought he would put the situation in front of everyone his group and they might come up with suggestions to deal with this situation.
Neelu was finally feeling secured now that Alekh is present with her. She is finally smiling. She hugs Alekh tight, sitting behind him on his bike while he rides at full speed. She rests her head against his back and closes her eyes, smiling throughout. This feeling is new for both Neelu and Alekh alike. They never before this moment have held each other this way. Neelu gets closer to Alekh so that there is left no space between them. Alekh too adjusts shifting a little behind, whilst driving the bike, enjoying the closeness. None says anything to the other. Though riding his bike, but Alekh's mind partially stays on Neelu.
Engrossed in thinking about Neelu's well being Alekh suddenly realises the sudden heaviness on his bike. He knits his brows immediately and gets a proper hold on the handles and the breaks. Neelu too raises her head as she too realises the heaviness on the bike. She slowly turns her head a little to her right, knitting her brows, when she feels like someone is hovering her. Upon turning her head to look behind her she gets shocked to discover the man who raced with her in her dream - if it really was a dream, sitting behind her.
While Alekh was wondering about the sudden heaviness on the bike, Neelu shouts looking at the man,
"Alekhhhh.....!"
This drags Alekh out of his thoughts all of a sudden and it results in his imbalancing of the bike. The bike skates down the road. To a distance Alekh could keep his hold on the handles of his bike, but soon his hold loses and Alekh and Neelu go rolling down a valley along with Neelu's back bag filled with her clothes, which she was carrying. Upon reaching down, they fall there unconscious.
👻👻👻👻👻
It turns dark when Alekh finally gains consciousness. He slowly opens his eyes . Upon gradually getting back to senses Alekh feels dizziness, followed by a sharp pain in his head and forehead. He holds his head with his hands to deal with the pain. His eyes kept shut. He suddenly remembers about Neelu and opens his eyes quickly, wide out of shock and concern. He looks here and there, his all pain forgotten as soon as he remembers Neelu and gets concerned about her.
"Neelu! Neelu!",
he shouts.
"Nee...",
he stops abruptly as he finds her laying behind him, at a distance.
He crawls to her and pats her face lightly, staring her shocked,
"Neelu! Neelu uth! Uth Neelu."
He gets anxious when she doesn't wake up.
He gets down to rest his ear on her chest to check for her heartbeat. A little smile of satisfaction comes on his face upon discovering her heartbeat, which vanishes soon when he realises that she still is unconscious and he needs to do something about it. He unzips her bag and brings out a bottle and splashes water on her face.
Neelu slowly gets her consciousness back.
A smile of satisfaction, gratitude, love stretches on his face.
He keeps the bottle aside and holds her, supporting her.
"Neelu!",
he smiles at her.
"Alekh!",
smiles Neelu looking towards Alekh, feeling weak.
They both smile further staring deep into each other's eyes.
👻👻👻👻👻
Slowly Alekh helps Neelu to get up. They both realise that it's too dark and lonely and almost impossible for them to find their way back. They look here and there to find a way. Neelu holds Alekh by his upper arm to give support to her body as they move forth, holding the bike along with them as they realise that they need to find a place somewhere around to stay this night.
Walking to a distance for around fifteen minutes, they discover the light emitted by a lit lantern in a thatched mud house. Having no other place to go in the given scenario, they decide to go and seek for help and shelter there. Reaching there Alekh parks his bike at a side and walks to knock the door of the house.
The place where Neelu stands it is not possible for her to see who is Alekh talking to - firstly because of the distance; secondly because of the darkness and thirdly because of the angle Alekh is standing in, that entirely covers the person he is talking to. She does try to peep but fails, she finally gives up on her try.
Alekh finally walks to Neelu and says,
"Chal rehne ka intezaam ho gaya hai."
Neelu smiles a little, in relief. But inside she gets negetive vibes about staying at that place and spending the night. She keeps looking here and there suspeciously as she walks ahead with Alekh. Maybe whatever has happened with her and with them is taking a toll on her.
Reaching in front of the entrance with Alekh as soon as she turns to look towards the owner of the house, she opens her eyes wide out of shock!
The man in front of Neelu smiles warmly at Neelu. But Neelu fails to reciprocate the gesture of politeness, such was the level of her shock.
Alekh walks into the house. Neelu follows Alekh but her eyes stare at the man suspeciously.
Right from the moment when they enter the house, Neelu begins to get negative vibes.
Alekh and Neelu look around the house. Neelu meets with another shock upon discovering photo frames all around the house containing pictures of the man with his wife and their son.
Alekh too looks around and smiles looking at the photo frames holding the family pictures of man.
"Aayiye aayiye baithiye.",
the man asks them to be comfortable, politely.
"Lagta hai aap dono ko kafi chont lagi hai.",
he says, concerned.
"Rukiye main abhi dawayi deta hoon.",
he adds.
Alekh smiles in gratitude.
"Shukriya humari madad karne ke liye.",
says Alekh whilst taking his seat on a cot with Neelu.
Neelu stays busy in looking around, whilst sitting.
"Aapne... aapne apna naam nahi bataya?",
smiles Alekh politely.
Neelu turns to look towards Alekh in utter shock, followed by looking towards the man.
The man looking straight into Alekh's eyes, introduces himself, confidently,
"Akash! Main Akash hoon!"
Neelu gulps the saliva out of nervousness, shock and uneasiness.
Alekh's smile vanishes for a brief moment and he turns to look towards Neelu to gauge her reaction. Neelu by now has cascaded her eyes. Her heart beating at a tremendous speed.
Slowly Alekh turns back to look towards Akash and smiles politely, repeating Akash's name,
"Akash!"
Akash walks inside his room to fetch the first aid box for them.
Alekh again turns to look towards Neelu and discovers her staring the retreating figure of Akash, suspeciously.
Taking it as her reaction to his name, Alekh lets it go, without worrying about it much, taking it that she would soon get out her reverie - where Alekh is sure she is revisiting the moments spent with Akash. Sighing, Alekh gets engrossed in checking the interior again.
Neelu knits her brows when she discovers him limping.
Walking out Akash forwards the first aid box in front of Neelu, smiling. Neelu accepts the box from him, hesitantly. Her finger brushes Akash's finger. She immediately looks towards Akash in shock. Akash maintains the smile on his face. They stare each other for a brief moment - Akash smiling and Neelu staring him out of shock.
"Aap log dawa laga lein, tab tak main zara aata hoon kuch saaman lekar.",
smiling, saying so he leaves the house for the nearby market place to fetch groceries.
Neelu again notices that he is limping.
"Tu theek hai?",
asks Alekh, resting his hand lightly on Neelu's shoulder.
Neelu gets scared by Alekh's sudden touch and looks towards him in horror.
"Haan? Haan!",
she asks initially followed by her reply.
She drowns into deep thought.
Whilst applying the medicine on Neelu's wound at her right foot, Alekh says,
"Agar ye accident nahi hua hota to iss waqt tak apun dono academy pohnch chuke hote."
And the moment Alekh mentions about the accident, Neelu's mind drifts towards the accident after what feels like eternity. Neelu's every nerve ending stands erect for the second time in such a brief time post the accident.
"Pata nahi achanak bike mein ek bhaaripan sa mehsoos hua apun ko. Sambhal hi nahi paya. Aisa laga jaise koi jaanbujh kar apun ko bike se girane ki koshish kar rha ho. Jaise koi nahi chah raha ke apun yahan se jaye.",
says Alekh, wondering, knitting his brows.
Neelu stares Alekh in shock.
"Wo mere peeche baitha tha!",
states Neelu, staring Alekh in horror.
Alekh, his brows still knit, turns to look towards Neelu and asks,
"Kon peeche baitha tha?"
Neelu slowly turns to look towards him and discloses,
"Wohi jisey main sapne mein dekhti hoon!"
Now it is Alekh's turn to feel the shivers running down his spine!
👻👻👻👻👻
"Wo mujhe chain se rehne nahi dega Alekh. Nahi rehne dega chain se.",
says Neelu, her eyes turn teary.
"Tu hostel se to mujhe nikal laya Alekh, magar uske qaid se nahi bacha payega. Wo kon hai; kyun aisa kar raha hai main nahi jaanti.",
cries Neelu.
"Agar, agar wo iss waqt yahan bhi aa gaya na, tab bhi tu nahi rok payega.",
adds Neelu, her throat choking out of fear.
"Aur... aur kya pata wo yahin ho?!",
Neelu words her fear in the form of a question.
Neelu and Alekh stare each other in utter shock as they realise that this could be possible.
"Koi nahi hai yahan mere alawa!",
comes Akash's reply.
Neelu's and Alekh's hearts skip a beat each upon hearing him.
They turn to look towards Akash.
Neelu trembles in fear upon realising his return.
"Aur na koi yahan aa sakta hai mere ijjazat ke bagair.",
says Akash, staring Alekh, as if warning him; challenging him.
Neelu knits her brows tight hearing him, as she gets negative vibes from his words.
Neelu adjusts herself, taking her foot down on the ground which was resting on Alekh's lap.
Neelu and Alekh stare Akash. Akash stares back.
"Aap dono chinta mat kijiye. Aap dono yahan mehfooz hain.",
assures Akash.
Alekh smiles a little but Neelu stares Akash serious.
Akash walks to the kitchen area with his shopping bags. Neelu stares him serious.
👻👻👻👻👻
"Boley to aapke yahan bohot shanti hai.",
says Alekh, looking out side the small window.
"Haan mujhe shant mahaul pasand hai. Shor se ghutan hoti hai mujhe.",
replies Akash, working in the kitchen.
Neelu, sitting at her place turns to look towards Akash as his words come as a surprise for Neelu. She realises how much has he changed.
"Aapka... aapka parivaar kahan hai?",
asks Neelu, unable to resist herself anymore, knitting her brows.
Akash stops abruptly, hearing her, his back turned towards Neelu. His eyes lifted and staring to his front.
"Jungli janwaron ki bhookh mitayi hai unhone!",
says Akash, controlling his emotions of anger and sadness, his teeth clenched.
Neelu covers her mouth out of horror with both of her hands.
Alekh widens his eyes briefly out of shock, then shuts his eyes briefly, praying.
"Bachane gaya tha unko. Magar... shayad kismat ko kuch aur hi manzoor tha.",
says Akash, his tone intact.
"Ye mere paun ki chont, apne parivar ko bachate hue hi ghayal hua tha uss janwar ke haathon.",
adds Akash.
Alekh stares at Akash's leg out of shock.
Tears roll down Neelu's cheeks.
Alekh walks to her to comfort her. She wraps her arms around Alekh's neck and rests her head on his chest.
Smirking, Akash continues,
"Tabse issi jagah ko apna ghar bana liya. Yahin paas hi mein ek jungle hai wohin hua ye sub."
"Waise to ye jagah sunsaan hi milegi aapko. Magar uss taraf log jaate hain. Kuch log wahan ke khunkhar janwaron se anjaan; to kuch logo ki diljaspi unhe ek nazar dekhne ki.",
smirks Akash.
Neelu and Alekh look towards Akash. Neelu's arms still wrapped around Alekh's neck.
👻👻👻👻👻
Rajveer closes the door, still thinking about Suriji. Walking inside, he places the candle on the table, briefly after doing so, the door gets knocked again. Rajveer knits his brows and looks towards the door.
Holding the candle again, he walks back to the door to open it for the guest.
Upon opening the door, Rajveer gets surprised to find Suriji there again, holding yet another candle.
"Ae le Rajveer puttar ye rakh...",
as Suriji was about to continue, he realises that Rajveer is already holding a candle in his hand.
Rajveer gets shocked upon discovering Suriji holding another candle for him.
"Arey tere paas to pehle se hi hai! Chal theek hai, ye main hi rakh leta hoon.",
smiles Suriji.
Rajveer looks towards his own candle in shock.
"Aaj to light ki sitti-pitti gul ho gayi hai. Raat ko sone bhi dena isne.",
saying so Suriji yawns.
"Suriji aap yahan...",
Rajveer trails off, unable to word his thoughts.
"Aaho puttar mujhe hi aana parha. Mujhe laga ye khoteya orderly Pawan, ab bhi kharrate maar raha hoga itne andhere mein bhi.",
saying so Suriji laughs and adds,
"Magar usne to apna kaam kar liya.",
Suriji gets impressed.
Smiling, he adds,
"Bada mehnati hai wo bachcha waise."
Rajveer who has been in state of confusion finally asks Suriji,
"Aap abhi to aye the candle de kar gaye."
That comes as a surprise for Suriji.
"Main? Magar Rajveer puttar main to abhi aya hoon. Main kaise tujhe candle de sakta hoon?",
laughing a little, Suriji asks,
"Kya puttar raat ko zyada...",
Suriji indicates about drinks, gesturing with his thumb and laughs.
Nothing sounds funny to Rajveer though. He stares Suriji in utter shock. He still is unable to understand how can this be possible.
"Suriji ye mera veham nahi hai aap...",
Rajveer begins to explain in desperation.
He suddenly remembers Suriji's weird behavior. He stares Suriji skeptically, indicating his index finger towards Suriji, he asks,
"Aap mere saath mazak kar rahe hain na Suriji?"
Suriji's heart skips a beat and he widens his eyes,
"Actually, in fact, darasal puttar sochne ki baat ye hai ke main aise mausam mein; iss andhere mein; apni ankhon mein neend bharkar tujhse mazak karne kyun aunga?"
Now Rajveer's heart skips a beat realising Suriji's serious tone.
"Ab to tu ye bhi kahega ke ye light bhi maine fail ki hai aur khud apni neend kharab ki hai. Ye baadal jo bahar garaj rahe hain...",
Suriji shivers as the clouds growl suddenly, as if scolding Suriji.
Suriji and Rajveer look towards the clouds both scared, the only difference is in their magnitude of scare, where Suriji got scared a lot; Rajveer got scared little.
"Ye bhi Suriji ne hi kiya hai Waheguru se special request karke?",
scolds Suriji, who is feeling drowsy and is not in his senses to understand what he is saying.
Mumbling, Suriji leaves leaving behind a Rajveer who is filled with doubts. Rajveer peeps to look towards departing Suriji.
"Agar Suriji nahi aye the, to maine kisse baat ki?",
wonders Rajveer, whilst closing the door.
"Aur wo candle....!!!",
Rajveer immediately turns to look towards the candle and gets shocked upon finding it extinguished. That surely didn't happen because of the wind, this Rajveer is sure. Upon extinguishing, the smoke evolves. Rajveer looks here and there as he now starts getting a weird feeling of someone's presence there inside his room. He suddenly begins to feel the drop in the temperature inside his room.
The curtains blow as suddenly the cold wind hits against them. The way the cold wind enters his room ferociously, it creates a weird noise that sends chills to run down Rajveer's spine.
👻👻👻👻👻
Pooja and Naina are sitting absolutely quietly in their room. Naina rotates her eyes left-right-left often to feel the presence of the spirit around herself but feels nothing.
Pooja, to distract her mind gets up and takes the book that contains chantings and mantras in order to perform planchette.
Naina widens her eyes out of shock.
"Ye... ye kya kar rahi hai Pooja tu? Teri tabiyat theek nahi hai na? Rakh isse! Ye... ye sub nahi karenge hum.",
Naina tells her seriously, indicating towards the book with her finger.
"Arey main theek hoon. Bus thodi kamzori feel ho rahi hai. Magar such kahun to ye book dekh kar wo kamzori bhi 9-2-11 ho gayi!",
laughs Pooja, silently.
That shocks Naina further as she realises that Pooja is determined to do this.
"Pooja dekh ye galat hai.",
says Naina, inside the pace of her heartbeat begins to increase.
"Kya galat hai? Arey jis tarah se bulayenge ussi tarah se unhe bhej bhi denge. Konsa hum unhe rokne wale hain.",
says Pooja, excited.
"Aur agar wo nahi gaye to?",
asks Naina, irritated, raising her voice a little.
"Shhh... tu chilla kyun rahi hai?",
asks Pooja, resting her index finger on her lips.
"Aur kyun nahi jayenge? Ye jo hum darte hain na bhoot-woot se ye sub bekar ki baatein hain. Sub bhoot burey nahi hote.",
smiles Pooja.
"Haan tu ne to PhD ki hui hai na bhooton par?",
says Naina, still with her raised voice.
Pooja laughs a little and asks in surprise,
"Hota hai kya iska koi course? Oh wo Paranormal activists ki baat kar rahi hai?"
Making a sad face, she says,
"Haan army mein aane se acha to ab lag raha hai main wohi kar leti."
Then with her twinkling eyes she says,
"Magar wahan mujhe tu nahi milti na. Aur Ali, Ali se bhi to mera connection judna tha.",
laughs Pooja.
Naina rolls her eyes.
"Chal chal chal, ye karte hain.",
says Pooja, excited, rubbing her hands together.
"Karna kaise hai?",
asks Naina, looking towards the arrangement that Pooja is making.
"Dekh ye board hai aur isse Ouija board kehte hain....",
she places four candles around the board.
She places an indicator at the center of the board.
Naina picks it up and gives it a questioning look, knitting her brows and asks Pooja,
"Ye kya hai?",
still check it out.
"Wo indicator hai. Usse hi aatmayein jo humein jawab dengi humein pata chalega.",
informs Pooja, widening her eyes a little.
This little fact succeeds in sending shivers running down her spine.
She looks towards Pooja and thinks, then asks, her tone turning deep,
"Pooja kya main isse Naveen bhaiya se baat kar sakti hoon?"
Pooja's smile of excitement vanishes when she realises that yes, it is indeed possible!
Pooja goes numb and just stares Naina, serious. Naina stares her back with a smile on her face that says that she has got a plan!