He had been foolish. He had thought that the Versova house had been haunted, and by moving out of it, he was getting rid of his horror. But now it had increased a hundredfold. It wasn't the house; it was he who was haunted.
Unable to face Shanaya and the inevitable questions that would follow—what if she saw the black marks on him?—he rushed out of the multiplex. He came out in the parking area and was attempting to get into a cab somehow, when he spotted Shanaya running up to him.
"Is something wrong, Anay?" she said. "What behavior is this? Why are you leaving without telling me?"
He pulled his shirt down, tugging at it so that she did not see even a smear of that black monstrosity that was on him. He thanked his lucky stars that he had worn a black shirt for this evening. But he still could not bear to look at her. For the first time, he saw something akin to anger in her eyes.
"Shan, no, no..." he said, trying to push her away from him as if he had the plague. "Do not step any closer. You don't know... I am not well. Something terrible is happening to me. In fact, you should stay away from me."
Shanaya kept staring at him with her mouth agape.
"I am going through a horrible time; please believe me," he implored. "Everything around me is getting snatched away, hurt, destroyed. I... I cannot tell you the kind of horror I have been plunged in. I don't want you to come to any harm."
"You just poured your heart out to me, Anay. What happened all of a sudden?"
"I thought I was safe. I thought I left it behind in that house. But I did not. That thing... he will only rest after killing me. Stay away from me, Shan. He will get you too, the way he got Renee."
"You believe in such things? I never thought a guy with a modern outlook like you could think..."
"What do we really know about things, Shanaya? We only know what we are told, what we read in books, what we see with our eyes. But what about the things that our eyes don't see? Wouldn't it be arrogant of us to think that only what we can see with our eyes is the truth? We know of our limitations; we know that we can see only a part of the spectrum, we know of things invisible that are lurking around us, and yet we are obstinate enough to think that the things we see are the only things there are?"
"What gibberish are you talking? I don't understand..."
Anay lowered his head. He had done the most difficult thing. He was not even breaking up with her, just asking her to stay away for a few days. But how does one do that without respecting the other person enough to tell them the truth? And, yet, he could not tell her the truth. He could not tell her that she was dating a man who was being stalked by some invisible entity. Heck, he could not tell her the truth because he did not know the truth himself.
"Just stay away, Shan, please!" he said as he got into an auto-rickshaw. He left her there then, as she stood dumbstruck, staring at him like a goldfish in a bowl.
***
Anay was in the hotel room, lying passive on the bed. It was yet another day. He did not know how many days had passed. Was it his third day, or fourth? All he knew was that he was out of touch with reality. And alone. Extremely alone. He had no courage to message Shanaya again. She hadn't called either. He wept for the loss of her. Now there was truly no one he could reach out to.
The phone call from Salil that he was dreading had also arrived. "Anay, I don't think you are fit to come back. Sen has withdrawn the cat-food deal. The project is gone. The entire team has been dismantled. I don't think under the circumstances I can afford to—"
That was it then. His job had been taken away. Homeless, and now jobless. Was there anything left that was his anymore?
He sat for hours on the floor of the hotel room, not bothering to even wear clothes, his head buried in his hands, trying to think about his situation. What had gone so wrong for him, a man of 29 in the prime of his life? How could he take stock of the situation? And, right then, it was like he had an epiphany—
—he had to take stock of the situation.
He remembered his teachers from school, for in such situations, that's what one remembers—the guiding people from their childhood. He thought of his Principal Mistry in particular, who had egged him on once when he had developed cold feet just before a competition, "But you are a brave kid, Anay! Of what use is your bravery if you cannot face your adversary?"
That one line stood out to him now.
He had always thought he was brave. He had committed to himself that he would take on the world. What was this, then? Would he admit defeat so easily?
Of what use was his bravery if he could not face his adversary?
That line, when it washed over him, made him rise. He rose, and all of a sudden, it was as if he was infused with a new spirit. Standing in the middle of the room, he looked around himself and he said, "You, out there, whoever you are! You have played with me enough, you understand? That's all of me that you will be able to shatter. I will have it no more. Do you hear me, motherfucker? You are not hurting me anymore. I am going to fight you. I don't know who you are and how I will do it, but I will fight you till one of us is no longer on the face of this earth."
He stood in silence after his words stopped, after he had bared his soul, and he felt the cold breeze rising around him. He knew that the entity was there, whoever it was, and that he had heard. His bold words had probably stunned him now and he was shrinking away into a corner of the house.
A curious lopsided smile of satisfaction came to his lips.
***
Dear readers,
I like this Anay, the Anay who is ready to fight. So what if he cannot really see his adversary or know what he's after? The intent to fight is all that is needed sometimes.
Do you think, though, he'll be able to get to the bottom of this mystery? Do let me know!
Keep reading on, guys...