Laughter in Darkness
A suspense, romantic and psychological thriller
By
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
Aravind went near to Sunanda and put his right hand on her right shoulder. “Look into my eyes. Just look into my eyes.” With a soothing and mesmerizing voice, Aravind said.
Sunanda slowly turned and looked into the face of Aravind.
“You just stare into my eyes like that. You know very well what I would do if you don’t listen to me what I say. You obey every command of me.” Now with firm voice Aravind said.
Sunanda did not say anything but remained looking into his face.
“There is a sea in my eyes. I shall freeze you and throw you in the middle of it. I can make you non-existent. You just leave this body and go away.” Continuing the same firmness in his voice Aravind said.
“Now see. My dad is going to expel the devil from your mom’s body. All devils feel fear to my dad.” With a proud expression in his face, Arjun said.
Sameera heard that and there came a proud expression in her face also. She held his son and took him near to her.
For some more seconds Sunanda just looked like that in Aravind’s voice. Then there came an abrupt change in her. Without any warning she slapped both of his cheeks with both her hands as forcibly as possible and threw him back. “You cannot play that old trick on me you rascal! You cannot freeze me in the sea of your eyes. You cannot make non-existent. Get out from here.” Sunanda yelled.
Everyone was stunned for few seconds and they did not know what to say or to do. It has taken few seconds’ time to Aravind to understand what happened.
“No, I cannot do anything this time.” Covering both his cheeks with both of his hands, Aravind came away from that place.
“Oh, I am sorry. It is my mistake.” Taking him into her gentle hold and kissing on his left cheek, Sameera said. “How you have lost all your power I cannot understand.” She whispered.
“Your dad expelled the devil from my mom’s body.” Madhuri laughed. “Just see what happened. My mom is great. She slapped your dad left and right”
“It is not your mom. It is the spirit in her body.” Arjun angrily said.
“You said all spirits feel fear to your dad. Why not this spirit?”
“Will you both shut your mouths?” Sameera angrily yelled and looked into the face of Aravind. “Just relax yourself Aravind. Don’t feel too much.”
Once again Sunanda was with Tanuja holding her with her both hands. She was saying only one thing all the time. “I take you with me and no one can stop me.”
“This is not at all the way to take your lover with you, this is not at all the way.” Rose went near to Sunanda and said with a loud and firm voice.
Sunanda slowly turned and looked into the face of Rose. “Are you also trying to hoodwink me? You also would meet with the same fate that rascal has.” She angrily said.
“There is no necessity to me to hoodwink you.” With the same firmness in her voice and with the same loudness, Rose said. “You are a spirit and that Tanuja is a human being. How you can take her with you?”
“I do make her into a spirit. If she dies what remains except her spirit? Now itself I can kill her and no one can stop me. Then we both go away from here quite happily.” Sunanda laughed so loudly then. On hearing that Tanuja’s face became ashen pale with fear.
“Oh, god! It seems he can do something like that” Rajesh’s voice shivered while saying that.
“What is the guarantee that she comes with you happily? If her spirit does not come with you happily, what would be the use in killing her?” Rose asked her again.
“What do you really want to say to me?” knitting her brows together, Sunanda asked her.
“If you listen to me I will tell you how to make her spirit to come happily with you.”
Frowns gathered on the forehead of Sunanda. “Don’t you have any intention to cheat me? Do you really tell me the idea to make Tanuja’s spirit to come happily with me?” she asked Rose.
“Really I tell you. Just come with me.” Rose took Sunanda’s hand into her hands and took her into the verandah there.
“Sit in the chair. Make yourself relaxed.” Making her slump in one of the chairs there, Rose said.
“No cheating.” Still looking confusingly into the face of Rose, Sunanda asked her.
“No cheating at all. Now itself I am going to tell you the idea for it.” Rose paused for a moment and said again. “Just look into my eyes. Continue looking into my eyes so. Your body and mind completely obey whatever I say.” With soothing and mesmerizing voice just like Aravind, Rose said.
Sunanda remained staring into the eyes of Rose.
“Now you are falling asleep. You cannot remain awaken anymore. You are feeling your eye lids quite heavier. You cannot keep your eyelids open anymore. You are falling asleep.”
Everyone felt relieved when they saw that Sunanda slipped herself into sleeping.
“It is just like in Tanuja’s case. Everything will be alright when she wakes up.” With a smile on her lips, Rose said.
“I just cannot understand how that Sasank came onto her body. She did not even hear about him much. Even it is a subconscious trick, I just cannot understand how it forced her to behave like that when she has no knowledge of him.” With lot of surprise on his face Rajesh said. “This is the second time that she behaved as if possessed by that Sasank.” Saying so Rajesh looked into the face of Tanuja. Her face was blushed with shame.
“That Sasank used to kiss me just like that on my ear, how could she know about it? Last time also she did in the same way.” Tanuja mumbled.
“It is just happened accidentally. When she tried to kiss you your ear might be more convenient to her to kiss. Nothing more than that.” Rajesh said.
“I don’t think so. It is not an accidental kiss.” Her cheeks were still red with shame.
“Then she might have come to know about it also somehow. Dr.Rajesh, was there any moments that you and your wife talked about that Sasank in between yourselves?” Neeraja asked him.
“Yes, on some occasions we discussed about him a lot without any emotion. My wife used to say everything about him and every characteristic of him also.” Rajesh said looking into the face of Neeraja.
“Then was there a chance that Sunanda could hear what you both talked without your knowledge?”
“My daughter and this Sunanda are great friends. I cannot rule out completely that Sunanda’s overhearing our conversation.”
“Then by hearing your conversation Sunanda came to know about Sasank, how much he loved Tanuja and how he died. She might have thought subconsciously a lot about that Sasank. When the last time she entered into this odd house, she involuntarily and accidentally remembered that Sasank and her subconscious imposed Sasank on her and she behaved like Sasank. It is just like split personality.” Rose said.
“Why should her subconscious give such importance to Sasank? He is nothing to her. Even my wife also is not thinking much about him.” Once again surprise came onto the face of Rajesh.
“I already told you and I am telling you again. Mind is most complex thing in the entire universe. We just cannot say why it makes us behave in a certain way sometimes.” Rose smiled and said.
“Anyhow I can think a small explanation for it as I read that book ‘A Mansion of Illusions’ thoroughly and know the story full.” Neeraja said.
“I just cannot wait to hear that” looking curiously into her face Rajesh said.
“She knew that Rajesh and her mom were so intimate at one time and her mom wanted to become the wife of Rajesh but Tanuja took that place. She knew it also very well that her mom felt very bad for it. She married Vinod only as there was no chance to her to marry Rajesh. Sunanda has got lot of love and affection on her mom and she could not tolerate that her mom suffered because of that Tanuja. So without her knowledge she developed rancor on Tanuja for that and subconsciously she wanted to make her feel bad.” Neeraja paused for a moment. “In odd places like these our subconscious forces these types of desires onto the surface of our mind and make us behave like this. We just cannot consciously know what we are wishing subconsciously.”
“Your explanation is appearing quite reasonable Dr.Neeraja.” Tanuja said with a small voice. “Moreover there is no wrong in poor Sunanda’s thinking like that.”
“How I am here? I have to be in the upstairs first room?” Sunanda suddenly opened her eyes and asked looking confusingly around.
“Mommy” Madhuri came running towards her and put her both hands around her neck.
“Oh, dear! Please come.” Sunanda kissed on her right cheek and took her into her lap.
“You threw me back when I hugged you in the upstairs room. I would have fallen on the floor heavily if Samee aunt did not hold me.” Looking angrily into the face of her mother, Madhuri said.
“What happened? Did I behave oddly again?” with a shocking expression in her face, Sunanda asked looking into the face of Sameera.
“Once again Sasank came onto you. But this time Dr.Rose dealt with him so graciously.” Sameera said with a smile on her lips.
After seeing Sunanda so, everyone there was quite relieved.
“Why did not Aravind involve this time? Last time it was he who exorcised that Sasank from me.” Sunanda asked looking into the face of Aravind.
Aravind once again put his both hands on his cheeks remembering the slaps he received from her. There came smiles on the lips of all the people there remembering that.
“I have decided not to involve in this exorcising job anymore.” Then Aravind explained to her what happened when he tried to expel Sasank from her body.
“I am sorry, Aravind. I am really very sorry. I did not know why I behaved like that.” With a regretful expression on her face, Sunanda said.
“No, it is not you, it is that Sasank made you behave like that.” Aravind said. “This time it was Dr.Rose who quite cleverly expelled that Sasank from you.”
“No, it is not that Sasank. There is no Sasank in fact. I am sure it is the trick of my subconscious. Last time and this time also, only my involuntary and accidental subconscious thinking about that Sasank made me behave like that.” Sunanda said.
“If you think like that I can say that you have come out of your problem more than half. Under hypnosis, I can make you come out of it completely.” Rose said.
“One thing Sunanda” Tanuja said. “Ever you have heard while Rajesh and I were talking about that Sasank?”
(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.)
