Trembling Shadows
A romantic, psychological thriller
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“There were a lot many things that I cannot explain about my grandmother. She is a very surprising thing on the earth.” There was little irritation in Rajesh’s voice.
“Then why did you want to suddenly come here like this?” Vinod asked him again.
“Did not I say anything about that to you?”
“Not to me particularly. I want to hear. Why did you want to come here this suddenly?” Vinod asked once more.
“A sudden feeling. It is like someone urging me to come here. I just cannot remain myself without coming here.” Leaning back in the chair closing his eyes Rajesh said. He understood that Vinod was trying to get something out of this. He knew his psychological mind very well. He would fix it all with something in psychology in the end.
“Ever you have got this type of feeling before?” Vinod continued.
“If I have got this type of feeling at any time in the past I would have come here then itself.” Opening his eyes and looking at Vinod, Rajesh said.
“Is it is not surprising that you have got such a strong feeling to come here and by the time you came here that your grandmother is in this condition?”
“Surprising, a lot surprising! But I don’t know how to get answers to my questions.” Vinod could find some irritation in the face of Rajesh.
“In my opinion there is a reason for your coming here like this. There may be some purpose behind this” Vinod did not want to bother with Rajesh’s feelings.
Rajesh tried to say something then but stopped as Aravind came there. “It seems some interesting topic is going on now here” looking at the people there Aravind said.
“Yes, of course, it would be more interesting to you than to anyone else.” Vinod explained to him what they were talking until then. He knew about Aravind and his interests. Aravind was a peculiar boy to Vinod.
“Certainly there would be some reason then. Something has purposefully created such an urge in uncle to make him move like this to here” Aravind said.
“What we should do then?” Rajesh asked him.
“We need not do anything in particular now. That power which has created such an urge in you to come here would decide what should be done.” Aravind replied
“An easy way out, is it is not?” with a smile Rajesh said. “But Vinod you surprised me this time. I thought you do find a psychological angle in my coming here like this. But you are trying to see something paranormal in all of this.”
Vinod was about to say something but then Sunanda and Sameera came there. “What you both did until now upstairs?” looking at them Malathi asked.
“Just talked, what else we could do?” with a smiling face while looking at Sameera, Sunanda said.
“How are the upstairs rooms, are they good?” Rajesh asked them.
“Very nice, it is very surprising how the rooms are kept like that, even our grandma is bed ridden like this” Sameera said.
“She became bedridden just two or three days before. Until that moment she was good in condition.” Rajesh said.
“Even then too it is difficult to an old woman like grandma to keep this much of a house clean and neat like this” Sunanda said.
“That is what surprising to me too. How an old woman of her age can manage a big house in this way?” Malathi said.
“I many a time have said and still I am saying that there are so many surprises in my grandma’s life. It is one of them.” Rajesh in a firm voice said.
“But one thing dad.” Looking straight into the face of Rajesh, Sameera said. Sometimes she would forget her animosity and talk with her parents in a friendly way. “Are you really thinking that granadma did not keep the dead bodies of her husband and lover in that upstairs room? Is it is just a rumor in your opinion?”
“I don’t know dear. I just cannot say anything about it.” with a fearful expression in his face, Rajesh said.
“I think she has. Otherwise what is the necessity to lock that room so?” Sunanda said.
There was silence once more. None of them could think of any to say then.
“What if we do open that room and see what is really inside?” breaking that silence Sameera suggested.
Suddenly there was an ear-splitting thunder and a heavy downpour started.
“Please don’t ever suggest something like that. I am feeling fear even to think so.” Rajesh said while his voice was shivering.
Even in the sound of heavy downpour also, those people there could hear him clearly.
***
“ Aravind, I want to talk to you. You know many a thing I don’t know” Coming near to Aravind, Anand said. Anand came to know Aravind for quite sometime. Unknowingly he developed an interest and fascination towards this guy. He would talk much about paranormal matters and those were quite interesting to Anand.
“Whatever I have known are very simple matters. With a little effort anybody can know about them. Anyhow I am feeling very happy that you want to talk to me. I really cannot think how to get rid of my boredom here.” Aravind said to him.
“How did you come to know about this black magic, witchcult matters? First of all why did you get such an interest in them?” The curiosity in Anand’s voice was genuine. For the first time Anand decided to enquire about that.
“I cannot explain why I have got an interest in them. It is mostly because of my surroundings in which I have grown up”
They both were talking in the upstairs middle room. First Aravind came into that and then Anand followed him into it.
“It was a village. There were people who practice black magic, witch-cult. We were very rich people in that village. I could do whatever I want. Some of our servants used to have connections with those people who practice black magic. They introduced me to those practitioners” He did not intend to tell to Anand then how he really acquainted with those matters and practiced them.
“So naturally you are not having any interest in those matters. Because of your surroundings you have got an interest in them” Ananad reasoned out.
“May be you are right.” Aravind nodded his head. “But I cannot say at what age that interest has started in me. From very early age itself I have got associated with those matters.”
“How it would be?” Anand really felt lot of surprise.
“Because of my parents busy life they had left me at my grandparents’ village in my very early age itself. That was a village full of such people who were interested in the shadow world which I said earlier.”
“Is there no restriction on such type of matters there?”
“We have not faced any restriction” Anand said “And those people even might not be known that they should not practice such type of things.”
“It seems that your grandparents as well not having much aversion to such type of matters”
“You are right. But they did not practice it.” Aravind said. But he lied completely.
There was silence for few moments. As Anand had fallen in thought looking at something else Aravind considered him minutely. There was some struggle in him. While observing Sunanda and Anand, Aravind found that matters were not fully going smooth between them and something was wrong.
Anand looked at Aravind again. They both were seated in the chairs in that room face to face. Talking like this with Aravind was indeed a good time pass for Anand. He was facing a problem of passing time in that old house. At the same time he had got lot of interest in these types of matters like black magic etc.
“I am really feeling a little creepy here.” Anand said. “This place is really different from other places.”
“I am as well feeling like that. But I think it is only because of the strangeness of this place to us. There is nothing more than that in this place for our feeling so” looking at Anand, Aravind said.
Aravind was appearing strange to Anand. He was not just handsome but there was some peculiarity in him which Anand could not define himself clearly.
“I am afraid there may be some danger to us here” Anand said.
“There is no danger here to us.” Aravind said with a small voice.
“I cannot understand why it is not dangerous to us? It appears to me so.”
“But it is not appearing to me so.” Aravind got bored with that conversation. He forced a smile onto his lips.
“What I can say is you are not a master in those black world things. You are just knowledgeable about them” fixing his stare directly on the face of Aravind, Anand said.
“Why did you have come to such an opinion?” Aravind asked continuing the smile.
“Why should not I come to that opinion? You are not saying things clearly. You yourself are feeling doubtful about them. I have heard so many disturbing things about this house and old woman. After hearing them so, anyone can sense danger here. But you are saying that this place is not dangerous to us.”
“You are right. At the same time I did not say to anyone that I am a master in those matters” Aravind stopped smiling and said.
“Alright then. We must find something to pass our time quickly here. Think something. Are not you getting bore to stay here like this without doing anything?”
Aravind looked at Anand once again. Even Anand was not very handsome he was tall and manly. Sunanda was quite attractive and youthful. She could get better choice than Ananad if she wanted. There might be some dissatisfaction in that girl towards her selection of her bed partner.
He could not say to himself why but he was feeling a strange closeness to Anand. He wanted to solve his problem if he could. First of all he wanted to know if there was indeed a problem with the couple.
“You are thinking something, what it is?” Anand asked him.
“I cannot say why, but I am feeling a peculiar closeness to you. I am feeling as if we are very good friends.”
Anand laughed loudly and said. “What is wrong in it then? I too want a good friend like you to me.”
“As you have said I am not a master in those black world matters. But I can find out if a person is feeling or worrying about something.” He looked straightly into the face of Anand said. “I can say you are feeling bad for something.”
“You are a better psychologist than my uncle too, it seems.” Anand said. “Yes, I am suffering with a problem and I don’t know how to get rid of that”
“Here I am to help you with whatever problem you are facing”
Anand did not say anything immediately. His forehead frowned and by the expression on his face it could be said the he was thinking seriously.
“Why you are still hesitating? I just want to help you. Tell me your problem.”
“Some problems are so that we cannot share them with our close friends too.” He averted his glare from Aravind. “Sorry my friend I cannot say my problem to you now”
“If it is so I am not going to pester you about it.” Aravind said and he paused for a moment. “Before we came here, your wife and that Sameera spent time in this room. It seems that they rumpled this bed enough. They did not bother even to set it right before going out of here.” Moving himself onto the bed there Aravind said
“Those girls are so. Especially my wife is spoiling that Sameera”
‘I have got some confirmation’ Aravind thought. “Why you blame your wife alone? Both those girls are alike” he said.
(I hope that you enjoyed upto here. I shall publish the next chapter as soon as possible. Please don’t forget to rate and review.)
