Trembling Shadows
A romantic, psychological thriller
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“Both you stop quarreling.” Sameera said. “Father please try to do in the way uncle asks you. I don’t want much time to be wasted in arguments.”
There was silence for some time. All of them were present there except the grandmother in the downstairs room. They were all quite eager to see how this hypnotism would work. Rajesh was appearing quite comfortable in the chair he sat then.
“You need not do anything in particular. Your organs obey whatever I am going to say. Leave your ears to me. That is enough” Vinod said. Rajesh nodded his head agreeably on hearing that.
“Now I start” Vinod said. “Everybody please stay calm. Any type of noise is forbidden.”
His order was immediately obeyed.
Then Vinod positioned himself before Rajesh and bent himself to put his face near to his face.
“Rajesh” Vinod said and paused for a second. “You just listen to me carefully. You need not do anything intentionally. Your body and mind automatically follow my suggestions. All the time there may be thoughts of all sorts in mind. Just don’t bother about those thoughts. Leave them on their way and they cannot hamper our hypnotism. Understood?”
“Yes, understood” Rajesh nodded his head.
“Now you are closing your eyes slowly and slowly.” Vinod said. Rajesh eye lids immediately obeyed that suggestion. They smoothly closed.
“Yes in such a way. Now you are feeling your eye lids heavier…. heavier….heavier… You cannot open them until I ask you to do so.”
Rajesh’s face became calm completely and the change was noticed by everyone there. Vinod felt happy that Rajesh was responsive like that to his directions.
There was no sound from anyone. Outside environment as wall has become completely silent as there was neither downpour nor drizzle then. All of them were watching them quite interestingly as they never have witnessed a thing like this until then. They were surprised seeing the change so in Rajesh. Especially Tanuja was watching him with a sort of fear rather than surprise and thrill.
“You are feeling so peaceful……….. so calm……….there are no unnecessary thoughts in your mind now….. Your mind is fully concentrated on what I am saying to you…..”
Rajesh found surprisingly that his mind following what Vinod was saying. There were no unnecessary thoughts in his mind and it had become like a mirror. Only whatever Vinod was saying getting reflected in it.
“Your eyelids are becoming more and more heavier….. Your head is becoming heavier….. Your whole body is becoming heavier….. You are feeling sleepy” giving a gap in between Vinod said in a lulling tone. There were no sounds whatsoever from outside. Vinod’s voice was soothing and surprising to them all. In fact they all as well were feeling good on hearing it. None of them wanted to say anything except watching what was going in before them with rapt attention.
“But you would not fall asleep. Your mind just follows my instructions. It obliges me completely. No reason or logic. No questions whatsoever. It just simply follows my instructions” he paused a few seconds.
The silence continued painfully until Vinod started again. “Now we are going back to three days. Just to that day before the day we have started to come here. Your mind going to remember what happened on that day and night” Vinod paused a moment and asked “Do you remember anything?” with the same soothing voice.
Rajesh did not say anything. His face was with the same calmness and peace.
“You cannot remain calm. You answer my questions. Remember it and tell me.” Vinod’s voice was still with the same smoothness.
“Yes I remember.” Rajesh replied with a sleepy tone. Now there was little struggle in him. He was appearing as he was fully drugged.
“Tell me what you have remembered.” Vinod asked him.
There was no answer from Rajesh. It appeared that he was about to slip into full sleep. “You are going to answer my question. You would not fall asleep. Tell me what happened on that day?” Vinod asked him again
“I…I… cannot remember perfectly” there was struggling in the voice of Rajesh
“You can remember. You have got the ability. You try. You try unintentionally. Now you are going to tell me what happened on that day.”
“I woke up in the morning as usual on that day too.”
“Then…” looking into the face of Rajesh, Vinod asked. He had got some confidence that his hypnotism with Rajesh would work.
“I have finished my daily routine and went to the hospital” Rajesh said with the same sleepy voice.
“Have you gone immediately to the hospital after you have finished morning routine?” Vinod asked him.
“No…” Rajesh forehead frowned. It seemed that he was struggling a little again.
“What you did in between then?” Vinod asked again.
“I went into the room of Tanuja and kissed her as usual” Rajesh replied.
There was laughter immediately around. “Oh, Rajesh” Tanuja’s face reddened with shame. “If you give answers like these I shall stop it now itself” she angrily said.
“Then what you did?” the sounds stopped completely when Vinod asked the question. It was surprising to all of them that Rajesh was responding to hypnotism so.
“Then I went straight to the hospital”
“Anything special, anything specific on that day?”
“No, everything is as usual” Rajesh gave an easy reply. There were no frowns on his forehead then.
“How did you feel on that day?”
His forehead was creased into frowns again. His both palms turned into fists. It seemed that a struggle started in him again.
“Tell me how did you have felt on that day and that night?”
“Not good. Not very much good.” The reply surprised all of them there and they looked at each other’s faces.
“Why did you have felt like that?” Vinod asked him again.
There was no answer from Rajesh. But the uneasiness was still continuing in him.
“Rajesh I am asking you. You will give me the answer. Your mind obeys me. How did you have felt on that day and night?” Vinod asked him maintaining the same softness in his voice.
“There was an uneasy feeling in me. I have a strong feeling to go to my grandma’s house. It was like someone telling me to go there fast. There started a strong urge in me to come here. I could not resist that feeling and urge at all.”
“Is that why you have taken all of us here?”
“Yes” a simple reply came out from his mouth without much difficulty.
“Have you got any dreams on that night?”
“I cannot remember.” it seemed that Rajesh might slip into sleep.
“You can. You just remember and tell me. Have you got any dreams on that night?” Vinod’s patience was surprising all of them around. It seemed that he was indeed an accomplished hypnotist.
“I have got some dreams.”
“What are those dreams?”
Rajesh’s forehead once again creased into frowns. It seemed that he was trying to remember something heavily. Tanuja felt lot of pity towards her husband. It seemed to her that they were making him unnecessarily suffering.
“Tell me whatever you can remember” Vinod asked him.
“Please don’t press him. It seems he is struggling” Tanuja said.
“Please don’t come in between. No damage happens to your husband. It seems that it would work out.” Vinod said and paused for a moment before asking him again “Now you are going to tell me what are those dreams.”
“In one dream some person came near to me and yelled to me that he would kill my grandmother. His eyes were quite red in colour. His hair was upto his neck. He was in complete black colour. He yelled at me for a long time and came onto me running. Then I came out of my dream” surprisingly in one stretch Rajesh said.
“Did that person tell his name to you?”
“No, I cannot remember whether he said his name or not.”
“Vinod, why you are asking all these unnecessary questions? Just go straight to that day and ask necessary questions.” Malathi said.
“It would not work like that. I just cannot take him at once more than fifty years or so back and expect him to answer my questions. We need to be patient.” Momentarily looking at his wife Vinod said.
There was silence again. No one preferred to talk. A small drizzle started once again but it was not that much disturbing.
“Now we are going some months back. You will remember and tell me what happened on that particular date. You have got the capacity. You can do that” There was no response from Rajesh to that. But it seemed whatever Vinod said then was sunk into him.
Vinod said a particular date two months back and asked Rajesh similar questions. With a little difficulty Rajesh gave correct answers to those questions too.
“Now we shall go two years back. You will try to remember what happened on a particular date two years back and tell me.” Vinod said.
“You are jumping too fast it seems” Sunanda said.
“I have to take him nearly fifty years back. I need to take that much of jumps.” he replied without looking at his daughter. “Are you ready?” he addressed Rajesh.
“Ready, of course” Rajesh said.
Then Vinod told him a particular date of more than two years back and said “Tell me what happened on that day?”
There was immediately a struggle in Rajesh. After a moment he said “No, I cannot”
“Yes, you can. It is quite an easier task to you” Vinod encouraged him.
He groaned helplessly but his forehead creased again as deep thinking was going inside.
“Now you are ready to give me a brief report of that day Rajesh. You are quite willing and enthusiastic to tell me about that”
Then Rajesh told him in little sentences what he did on that particular day. Whatever he said appeared quite convincing to all of them.
“Now we are going to the major episode Rajesh. I shall take you to your childhood. We are going to collect some information from the very depth of your mind. Are you ready?” Vinod asked him.
Rajesh nodded his head positively. “I am ready” he said.
“It is indeed a very big jump dad” Sunanda said again. “I don’t think Rajesh uncle would succeed. Why don’t you go in small leaps?”
He looked at Sunanda and other people there for a moment. There was surprise and excitement in all their faces except in Tanuja. Her forehead was with frowns and there was irritation in her face and eyes. He understood she was not much liking her husband to suffer so. “It takes too much of time and his struggle would become more. I shall try this long jump and if it does not work then I think”
He turned his gaze towards Rajesh again and said. “You need not use force. It happens automatically. Your mind has got the capacity. You are believing completely that your mind is that much capable.”
There was no answer but it seems that some process was going inside of Rajesh mind.
“Now you are going to remember about the day you have come here with your parents. How long ago it had happened?” Vinod asked.
“Very long time back” Rajesh replied to him
“How many years?”
“More than fifty years back.” Rajesh was speaking as he was in trance.
“Why did you people have come here on that day?”
“I don’t know. My parents had taken me to my grandma’s house.”
“You were in this very house while your father and mother talking with your grandma?”
“Of course, yes”
“What your father and mother talked with your grandmother?” a big struggle started in Rajesh again on hearing that question.
“Oh, I cannot” expect that no other sound had come out of his mouth.
“You can tell. Tell me. You have heard clearly what your parents and grandma talked. That is all recorded at some place in your mind. Try to remember. Just try. What your parents and grandma talked?”
(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.)
