Episode 15
Mr Sharma carried the plate to the room where his wife was sitting. As he entered the room, he was shocked by seeing the events in front of his eyes. The entire room was grim. He saw ominous shadows flying across the room and surrounded Mrs Sharma. The room reeked of burnt flesh mixed with burnt furniture. A strong pungent odour of chemicals filled the room, and he felt something beneath him. As he saw, he was shocked by seeing a pool of blood which has filled the entire room. His feet were dipped inside the pool of blood. In fear, the plate fell from his hand and he ran away and went to Abhay's house for help.
As the bell rang continuously, Abhay went to open the door. He was surprised to see Mr Sharma. He came inside hurriedly and sat on a chair. He took some time to calm himself as he was out of breath. Madhav and John looked at him in surprise. Abhay introduced them to each other.
'What is it, uncle?' asked Abhay.
'I.... I saw so.... some.... something in the ro.... room.' stammered Mr Sharma.
'Let us check it out, John.' said Madhav.
Abhay stayed with Mr Sharma as they both went ahead to check. The entrance door was open. Madhav pushed the door slowly and entered inside. The house was silent and there was no sign of any disturbance. They moved around the house slowly and checked all the corners. John slowly opened the door of the bedroom and he saw Mrs Sharma sitting on a chair silently.
'Are you ok, ma'am?' enquired John.
There was no response from her side. He came ahead slowly and as soon as he moved inside the door closed. He turned around to open the door, but it was locked. As he turned around, his eyes froze. He looked with his eyes wide open and he mumbled something. A lady was standing in front of him. Her feet were on air. She was wearing a hospital uniform which was covered in blood. Her hair was all ruffled. Her eye sockets were empty. She screamed at John. The sound was unbearable, and John shouted in fear. The room was grim, and the reeking smell hit his nostrils. He could not believe what he was seeing in front of him. The lady did nothing. As John opened his eyes, he found the room normal and Mrs Sharma was sitting on the chair staring at him with no expression.
He dragged himself to the wall and looked around. Madhav opened the door and came near him.
'Are you all right?' asked Madhav.
'I know what Mr Sharma saw here. We need to take Mrs Sharma out of here.' said John.
As they moved towards her, a powerful force stopped them and, in a moment, they were out of the room and it locked the room. They tried getting inside but failed to do so. They heard strange gurgling sounds from inside. They ran to Abhay's house to inform him. Vipul had already arrived there.
'Call Surender Chakradhar. He is the key to all of it. He can resolve all of it.' said Abhay.
'What about your vision?' asked Vipul.
Episode 16
Madhav was trying to reach Surender. He was busy in some meeting and was not available.
'John and I are going to the centre. Meanwhile, be ready for everything.' said Madhav. With it, they both left the place.
'Uncle, if you are hiding anything, please let us know now. It is no coincidence all this is happening to you.' said Abhay.
Mr Sharma looked at both of them and slowly started speaking.
Meanwhile, Madhav and John reached the centre. They requested an urgent meeting with the doctor.
'Sir, I am sorry, but Dr Chakradhar is very busy today. Please take an appointment for tomorrow.' said the receptionist.
'Tomorrow would be too late. Inform your doctor. If he does not come with us now, it would not be helpful for him. We are waiting for him. Please inform him.' said Madhav sternly.
The nurse called inside and, in a few moments, Surender was out in the reception to meet them.
'What is it, sir? Is everything all right?' asked Surender in a tensed tone.
'Till now it's fine, but you have to accompany us. There is something you need to know. We are not here to arrest you or take you by force. I am giving you an address. Please come over with us. You must know the address.' said Madhav.
'Can I start after some time? I have an important appointment with the patient. It is important.' requested Surender.
'Ok, but do not avoid it. We are here to help you, and if you do not follow our instructions, it would not be suitable for you.' said Madhav with a smile.
'Can we have your card, please?' said John.
Surender handed over his business card to them, and he left the place, assuring that he will be there just after completing his session.
Madhav and John left the place. It surprised Surender on seeing the address. He realised something was not right. He had to check it before confiding with anyone.
Episode 17
The rays of the sun were slowly turning red. The light cut across the trees and fell on the balcony. Abhay, Vipul, Madhav, John and Mr Sharma were waiting. It was more than an hour, and there was no sign of Surender.
'Are you sure he won't run away?' questioned Vipul.
'Do not worry. I had asked out control centre to track his number. His number is still in his centre. We would get to know if he makes any movement.' said John.
'But Abhay, you never told us about your latest vision?' questioned Madhav.
Mr Sharma looked at Abhay surprisingly.
'I will talk about it once Surender Chakradhar is here.' said Abhay.
'Check for updates and if there is no movement, call him.' said Madhav.
John got up and called the control centre to check. After some time, he came back.
'Surender has moved from his centre. Looking at the location tracker, he would come over here.' said John.
Mr Sharma got up and left for his home.
'I don't know if he would recognise me or not. I do not want to stay here when he comes. Also, I have to check on my wife.' said Mr Sharma and left.
As time passed, it got dark. The doorbell rang. Abhay opened the door. It was Dr Surender. A tall, lean guy with a neatly trimmed beard and thin frameless specs which rested on his sharp nose. He wore a white shirt and a black pant with a black coat on it. He looked at Abhay and introduced himself.
'Please come inside, Dr Chakradhar.' said Madhav as he got up to greet him.
He came inside, and his expression looked uncomfortable. Abhay asked him to sit and asked for any refreshments.
'No, thank you. I am still confused about why you had asked me to come over to this place. Can we please get to it?' said Surender.
'Sure, we can start. You must be aware by now why we called you over here.' said John.
'I had discussed everything and told sir everything I knew. What more do you want from me?' asked a visibly worried Surender.
'About the patients. We got to know that there were reports about some patients being sexually assaulted and some of them being mistreated. What do you have to say about it?' asked Madhav in a stern tone.
The colour of Surender's face changed to pale yellow. He could not think of anything. His expression told everyone that he was hiding something.
'Wh.... What are y.... you talking about?' stammered Surender.
'So, you have no idea who Meenakshi is?' questioned Abhay.
Everybody looked at Abhay. Surender's facial expression changed. Beads of sweat started dripping from his forehead. His throat turned dry, and he gulped hard to digest what he just heard. He looked with an expression of fear.
Episode 18
'What happened, Dr Chakradhar? It seems you knew her.' asked Abhay.
'Y.... yes, I did. She was one of my patients. She died in that accident. Why do you ask about her? She was recovering well. She was a victim of sexual abuse, and when she had come, she was in horrible shape.' said Surender.
'Really? So, she was not a murder accused. Do you remember all your patients, or is she someone special?' questioned Madhav.
'No, sir. I remember all my patients. I stay in touch with them after they are released from my centre. I was heartbroken and could not practise for some time after that incident as I was too close with my patients.' said Surender.
'So close that you thought sexually assaulting them was ok for you.' said Abhay.
'What are you saying?' thundered Surender. 'First of all, who are you and how dare you to accuse me of such heinous acts?'
'Please answer my questions?' said Abhay in a low tone.
'I am not answerable to you. Actually, I am not answerable to any of you. If you think I am guilty of anything, come with a warrant next time.' shouted Surender.
He got up from his seat and turned to move, and suddenly the lights went out. He could hear the scratching sounds, and as he turned his head, he could see nothing. Abhay and Vipul stood at one corner while Madhav and John stood at the other. They said nothing.
The room smelt of rotten flesh and Surender could see the walls covered with soot and blood was flowing on the walls. He turned around and screamed in fear as he saw a woman standing in front of her. Her legs were on air. Her hair was messy, and when she slowly turned her face up, Surender could see that her eye sockets were empty. A centipede came out of her empty eye sockets as she opened her mouth and screamed loudly at him.
Meanwhile, all this time, these four stood in one corner and could only imagine what must go with Surender. The room looked normal to all of them.
Surender fell back and dragged himself towards the door. The lady slowly flew towards him. As he reached near the door, he could feel something wet all over. As he looked below, he was shocked beyond his imagination. The entire floor was filled with blood. He could see many heads floating inside it. He kept on screaming and tried opening the door, but it did not open. He turned left and curled himself up, keeping his head in between his knees, and did not lookup.
Slowly the door opened. Everything looked normal. Surender got up visibly shaken. All the classy gentleman looks had gone away. He was completely drenched in sweat, and as he opened the door, he could not blink his eyes and stared in shock.
'It's Mrs Sharma.' informed Abhay.
'Why is he so shocked at seeing her?' questioned Vipul.
'I think he saw someone else.' said Abhay.
Meanwhile, Surender was shocked beyond his imaginations and tried to fall back. Suddenly the entire lights in the corridor went off. Now everyone could see what was going in front of them. The hair of Mrs Sharma was flying as heavy winds were blowing all over. Her face was covered with hair. The door closed behind, and she started coming towards Surender. Her face was covered with injury marks, and blood was dripping from many parts of her body.
There was a heavy knocking on the door, but Mrs Sharma ignored the knock and started coming towards Surender. He was shaking while crawling back. An ominous shadow flew past Vipul and stood near Mrs Sharma. The shadow stared at him. The face was burnt, and pieces of flesh were hanging from her face. Blood was dripping all over. In a flash, many shadows flew around. Everyone wore the same patient uniform, and it was stained with blood and the burn marks. The howling and the scratching sound grew as these four guys closed their ears as the sound was unbearable.
Suddenly, Surender rose and ran towards the door. The door opened, and he ran outside. Mr Sharma was shocked by seeing what was going inside. The sounds vanished, and so did the shadows. Mrs Sharma fell on the ground unconscious. They all ran towards her and put her on the bed to rest.
'We need to catch Surender.' said John.
'It would be too late.' smiled Madhav.
Episode 19
There were many police vehicles and an ambulance which had surrounded the place. The fire brigade had just extinguished the fire. The fumes of the extinguished fire rose in the sky. The sky was already dark, and it became darker with the onset of black clouds. It drizzled slowly. The team from the ambulance waited near the crash site as the team of fire brigade dragged out the body of the victim. The body was burnt beyond recognition. The team covered the body and carried it to the ambulance.
Madhav and John arrived at the spot. They looked at the surrounding. It was an empty road. The traffic of vehicles is very thin during this time as it falls in the outskirts of the city. Madhav went to the officer-in-charge and asked about the details.
'We checked the CCTV footage near the junction. The car was over speeding, and suddenly it lost control and skidded across, rolled and fell on the side. We were lucky there was not much traffic, and also the car skidded to the corner. I can update you after the postmortem and the detailed investigation of the car.
Madhav nodded in approval and checked the surrounding. John was already near the crashed car talking to the team who were trying to collect evidence from the remains of the car. Madhav messaged Abhay, He is dead.
Abhay, Vipul, John and Madhav were sitting in Abhay's living room. Mr Sharma joined them in the room. No one spoke anything.
Abhay cleared his throat and started, 'I think there are a lot of many questions to be answered. I should clear things. I would like to talk about the visions I had in details.'
Abhay continued, 'Initially it took me a while to understand. I was confused and afraid. This time the visions were more real, and it affected me. But as you know, I do not control it. Sharma uncle, this must sound odd, but you will understand when you listen to the entire story. We were confused when I described the visions, but we clarified it when we came to know about the hospital. But why were the visions coming? It was something to be looked into. We all looked into different angles. Finally, after some research, we got a common link which John sir and even Vipul found out.'
He took a deep breath and continued, 'When Madhav sir spoke with Surender and took it forward, no one ever doubted him. During this time, we were faced with a new mystery of Sharma aunty. Initially, we thought there was no connection to it, but when we came to know about Sharma uncle's past, Vipul and myself came to an outcome that the incidents happening to aunty is linked to this case. Last night, I could finally see it.'
'Surender had joined the hospital after completing his studies. He was the youngest doctor and was famous among the staff. But he had a darker side, which he kept to himself. He had a serial addiction of assaulting his patients. For him, this asylum was the perfect place as no one could ever complain against him, and many would never realise it. It kept on continuing for some years till they admitted Meenakshi to the hospital.'
'Meenakshi?' asked a confused John.
'Yes, she was one patient who was admitted to the hospital after a court sentenced her for mental imbalance in a murder case. Her lawyer proved it in the court that she was not mentally stable and was ordered to be sent to the mental asylum.' said Madhav. 'But why is she connected to the case, and why had you asked me to look at her case history?'
'She was actually mentally stable. I do not know how she could manage it, but she escaped going to prison and ended up here. Maybe she was planning to escape from here. But fate had other plans for her. From the day they brought here her, Surender had an eye on her. He knowingly assigned himself as her doctor. He got to know about her. He never focussed on treatment but found out ways to be near her. Meenakshi understood it but stayed quiet as she did not want any spotlight on her.' Abhay stopped for a moment.
'The evil practice of sexual assault started with Surender, and as John sir and Vipul informed about some employees and some families of the patients talking about it, I am now confident that it was not a wrong accusation. Either they were accomplice, or they knew about it but said nothing about it. Coming back to the story, Surender continued with his advances towards Meenakshi. But one day he realised about her secret. He blackmailed her and promised her to keep quiet and let her spend her time if she would sleep with her. She was shocked but did not agree. But one evening, he sedated her and sexually assaulted her. Surender broke all protocols of life, privacy, and honour of a human being.'
There was stunned silence all over. Mr Sharma asked, 'So, how is my wife connected in this case?'
'I will come to it. Surender lied to all of us in our face about she is admitted because of sexual abuse. She was abused in the hospital. Meenakshi was not the only lady who had faced such a horrendous experience. As I had mentioned, there were many. Just because a person is mentally challenged, that does not mean that person can't understand that his or her body is being violated against his or her wishes. I do not why, but it was Meenakshi whose struggle I could visualise and after days of skirmish, last night finally I could see the entire vision. It was scary and disturbing. I would never even wish it for my enemy. It was sad by the management and other involved that such a heinous person was roaming freely in our town. It was a collective failure during that time.' said Abhay.
'Did Meenakshi caused that accident?' asked John.
'Yes. She was responsible for the fire. She was mentally unstable, or else no one would ever try to burn down the entire hospital. She knew about the details of the circuit and found her way to the main circuit and conducted a short circuit which resulted in the fire. She thought of escaping, but the fire grew so rapidly that she could not escape. No one could describe their pain, but killing so many people was never right. Many innocent people died, and the prime culprit was not on the premises during that time.' said Abhay.
He continued, 'Initially I thought it was Meenakshi who used to roam around and helped me in knowing the entire situation, but when I heard the details, I could feel that Meenakshi never helped me. Even she wanted to kill us all. She had possessed Sharma aunty all the time. But the other souls who were still stuck here helped me. Meenakshi hated everyone, but others believed in justice. Hope they got their justice and now can rest in peace.'
'You mean to say, there were others.' asked John.
'Yes, and I am not sure they would be here now. But with Surender's death, I am sure they have got their revenge, and I hope even Meenakshi would have left aunty.' said Abhay.
'I am not sure, but she was normal before I came here. She spoke to me, but she remembers nothing that had happened. I hope things come to normal.' said Mr Sharma.
Episode 20
The reports on the accident arrived on the desk of Madhav. He went through the details. He was waiting for Abhay and Vipul. John was on his desk working on some files when Abhay and Vipul arrived. They were directed straight towards Madhav's chamber.
'The post-mortem reports suggest that he had a cardiac arrest and lost control of his car. What led to the cardiac arrest is still not known. The car had no forced entry from any side, and he was the only person inside the car. Even the brakes of the car were intact. No one would ever know what was he doing on that road while his house was in the opposite direction.' said Madhav.
He took a deep breath and continued, 'He should have been punished through the legal process. I would have eventually gathered evidence against him, and he would have paid for his sins.'
'I know it is wrong, but you and we do not control it. They had waited for years for someone to fight and give them justice. The case was closed, and all the pieces of evidence were also destroyed. But not all was lost. Sharma uncle handed me this file, which contains all the details. I hope this might help you.' With it, Abhay handed over the file to Madhav.
'I hope justice would still prevail. We would like to take your leave, sir.' saying Abhay and Vipul got up, shook hands with him and left.
That night
Surender left the apartment in fear but made everyone realise that he was angry. No-one stopped him. He felt that his past has come back to haunt him, and it is just a matter of time when the police would knock on his door. He decided to leave the town. With this, he took the route and took the highway. He had reached the outskirts of the town when his mobile pinged.
He looked down to check the mobile. It was just a message from a hotel with some offers. He kept the phone back and looked ahead when suddenly his eyes froze. She was sitting in the back. Even though the majority of her face had melted away and her eye sockets were empty, he could realise that it was her. He could never forget her and not what he did to all the female patients in the hospital.
In a flash, he tried to push the brake but realised the brakes were not working and he looked and suddenly saw there was no one in the back. He let out a huge breath and realised even the brakes were working fine. He moved slowly.
He played the radio and drove when there was a disturbance in the radio and suddenly; he heard some shrieking sounds. He tried changing the station, but it was same all over. As he looked up, he screamed in fear as he saw her suddenly pouncing upon him and attacked his throat. He could not take the shock and slipped into a cardiac arrest and died instantly. The car lost control and tumbled away to the corner. A white apparition escaped from the car and vanished in the thin air.
A few days later
Abhay, Vipul, Mr Sharma, John and Madhav were sitting in the living room. Madhav had finally connected the dots and could frame evidence against Surender. His father could not take the accusation against his son and slipped into coma. His wife left the town in shame. Whoever knew Surender could not believe because he could commit such a heinous crime. The case was closed, and they withdrew the case against the builder. They informed the entire details to the ones who had filed a case against the builder.
'Never in my career, I would have thought that I would be a part of the team who would solve the infamous mental asylum case which had horrified the entire town till date.' said Madhav.
'I had one query. Who was trying to clean up all the details about the incident? Surender was not aware of why the accident had happened. So, I do not think he must have done that.' asked Vipul.
'You are right, Vipul. After the incident, many media tried covering the incident, and it was becoming a matter of shame for the family. So, it was Laxman on the request of Dharam, used his connections, and tried to remove all the evidence. He was behind Mr Sharma's removal from the job. Currently, I have no evidence against it. But once I gather any evidence, I would surely arrest Laxman Senapati.' said Madhav.
'We should thank Mr Sharma specifically for helping us with the evidence and for Abhay and Vipul you have always been an expert help.' said John with a smile.
'I was just doing my duty which I should have done long back. Even though he was not punished according to the law but still he got his punishment.' said Mr Sharma.
'But, Abhay, from next time you need to cut a deal with them, so they do not kill the accused.' said Madhav with a big laugh.
Everybody started laughing and continued with their tea as the sun slowly was returning to his abode, and the red rays filled the sky.
**** THE END****
The team of Abhay, Vipul, Madhav and John would be taking a small break.
There are many more mysteries to be solved, and they would return soon with many more supernatural adventures.
Until then, keep on reading and stay safe.