Chapter 20
Missing link found?
"Okay, I will tell you the truth. Yes, Akshar suffered a serious head injury when he was in Joynagar. He was riding a motorcycle, and his motorcycle hit a tree. He almost died of his head injury. He was in coma for 10 days. Eventually, he came out of coma, but the doctor told us that he might have lost some memory. We didn't tell him about the incident as per the instruction of the doctor. He doesn't remember the accident at all."
I again felt a sharp pain in my head while thinking about the incident. Like a negative of a photograph, I could see some scenes. I was riding a motorcycle. It was a dark night. There was no light on the street. I was riding at 100 km per hour. Then suddenly the scenes went blank.
From the expression on Tara's face, I knew that she got extremely excited. She asked, " Where was he going? Tell me about his girlfriend."
"What? Girlfriend? No, I don't think he had any girl-friend. He would have told me about her, had he had one. We also don't know where he was going. He had no motorcycle. It was someone else's bike."
There was a complete silence for few moments from Tara. She was extremely disappointed, I could tell that from her facial expression.
She again asked, " Are you sure?"
Mother said, " He doesn't hide much from me. Surely, I would have known about it, had he had one."
Then Tara looked at me, "Akshar, you have heard it all. Do you now remember anything?"
"Yes, very faintly! I saw that I was riding a motorcycle at a very fast pace. I was probably fleeing from somewhere. But, I can't remember more."
As I told her, Tara's phone rang, and she talked with someone very nervously for a couple of minutes. Her face turned pale.
Turning towards me in a broken voice she said, " The ghost has struck again. Dhuni baba was coming with 2 other people. But around 1 km downhill from here, a flying creature suddenly appeared in front of their bike, and Dhuni Baba's grandson, who was riding the bike, lost control, and the bike hit a rock. They all got injuries, but considering our desperate situation, they are coming. It will take another 20 minutes for them to reach here."
I was really sad to know the news. Looking at my morose face, Tara said, "But, there is a huge news. Dhuni Baba saw the ghost for a brief period. It's a female ghost."
"What, female ghost? What else he could see?" I cried in astonishment.
"That's all he said. Now, you please try to remember about the injury."
Mother didn't know much about the accident. But, some people in my first place of posting, Joynagar 1 block, could know about it. Was there any intimate friend? I tried hard to remember. But, it resulted in only an enormous pain in my head without any success.
Bahadur and his family had been chanting holy mantras even after the evil spirit seemed to have left. 15 minutes ago, they stopped. They were anxiously listening to our conversations.
"Do you have phone number of anyone in Joynagar?" Mona asked.
I checked my phone, even if I knew that the possibility was very thin. However, I found one name, Raju Das, which seemed rather unknown to me. Out of desperation, I rang him. The call was answered within few seconds and Bingo, the person knew me. He asked me about my health. I told him to introduce himself as I had difficulty in remembering the past. He said he was my landlord in Joynagar-1.
"But, Basab babu was my landlord. How come you became my landlord?" I was completely taken aback.
"Yes, you shifted to Basab babu's house in Baharu after your accident. But, before that you lived in my house for one year."
"What do you know about my accident?"
Chapter 21
The ghost enters the room
"Accident! What do you know about it?"
"How could you forget about that accident? You almost died."
"Somehow, I forgot about it Raju! Tell me how did I suffer that accident."
"You took my motorcycle, and went to the Islampally alone. Some frenzied mob attacked you. You were fleeing at a very high speed. Your bike hit a tree, and you got a severe head injury. After spending few days in coma, you survived. Then, you shifted your house to Baharu. Your father came to take your belongings. You never came back. But, your father didn't tell me about your memory loss!"
"Tell me why did I went to Islampally?" I cut him short, and came directly to the most important question.
Before he could say anything, the mobile network went off, and the call was cut.
"Holy mess!" I exclaimed, and tried frantically to call him again. But there was no network signal.
Tara, too, was extremely disappointed. She said, "Sometimes, the network goes off for hours. You try my phone."
Only two service providers were available there. But in that hour of crisis, the other one came to no help; it, too, was unavailable. At that moment, a thunderous gust of wind came from no where, and broke the glasses of the window panes. The force of the wind was so great that even the door began to shake so violently that I thought it would break into pieces.
These signs were not unknown to me. I shouted, "Everyone careful, the ghost is coming."
The suddenness of the attack took us by complete surprise. Bahadur and his family had successfully prevented the ghost from entering the house last time by chanting mantras. But, this time they had been caught off guard.
To make matters worse, the lights began to flicker, and within seconds, the power went off, and suddenly the room was filled with that fetid smell. But, this time, for a change, the emergency light, very dim in intensity, though, lit on.
For the first time, I saw the ghost. Though I had never seen any thing more frightening than this, I was a bit surprised about Dhuni Baba's observations about its gender. The creature almost looked like a giant bat with wingspan about 2.5 meter. Its deepest eyes were burning red, the face was not like a bird's face, as it had a shape of its own which resembled no known animal's face. But, it had a long sickle like beak, it's knife-like claws were big and almost straight. The colour of the creature was tar-black, and the fetid smell emanating from its body made breathing extremely difficult.
Bahadur, who had recovered from a stroke just a few days ago, probably got another attack, as I could see him lying on then floor, writhing in pain with a hand on his chest. The frightening sight was too much for young Mona, who became senseless within few seconds.
The ghost now turned its attention towards Tara. After making another hellish screech, which was extremely painful for my eardrums to tolerate from such a close distance, the creature seemed to be pouncing on Tara, who was completely dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. I, too, was undecided about my course of action. But, Champa remained alert, and she began to chant Hanuman Chalisha.
To be continued
Picture taken form the Internet
Missing link found?
"Okay, I will tell you the truth. Yes, Akshar suffered a serious head injury when he was in Joynagar. He was riding a motorcycle, and his motorcycle hit a tree. He almost died of his head injury. He was in coma for 10 days. Eventually, he came out of coma, but the doctor told us that he might have lost some memory. We didn't tell him about the incident as per the instruction of the doctor. He doesn't remember the accident at all."
I again felt a sharp pain in my head while thinking about the incident. Like a negative of a photograph, I could see some scenes. I was riding a motorcycle. It was a dark night. There was no light on the street. I was riding at 100 km per hour. Then suddenly the scenes went blank.
From the expression on Tara's face, I knew that she got extremely excited. She asked, " Where was he going? Tell me about his girlfriend."
"What? Girlfriend? No, I don't think he had any girl-friend. He would have told me about her, had he had one. We also don't know where he was going. He had no motorcycle. It was someone else's bike."
There was a complete silence for few moments from Tara. She was extremely disappointed, I could tell that from her facial expression.
She again asked, " Are you sure?"
Mother said, " He doesn't hide much from me. Surely, I would have known about it, had he had one."
Then Tara looked at me, "Akshar, you have heard it all. Do you now remember anything?"
"Yes, very faintly! I saw that I was riding a motorcycle at a very fast pace. I was probably fleeing from somewhere. But, I can't remember more."
As I told her, Tara's phone rang, and she talked with someone very nervously for a couple of minutes. Her face turned pale.
Turning towards me in a broken voice she said, " The ghost has struck again. Dhuni baba was coming with 2 other people. But around 1 km downhill from here, a flying creature suddenly appeared in front of their bike, and Dhuni Baba's grandson, who was riding the bike, lost control, and the bike hit a rock. They all got injuries, but considering our desperate situation, they are coming. It will take another 20 minutes for them to reach here."
I was really sad to know the news. Looking at my morose face, Tara said, "But, there is a huge news. Dhuni Baba saw the ghost for a brief period. It's a female ghost."
"What, female ghost? What else he could see?" I cried in astonishment.
"That's all he said. Now, you please try to remember about the injury."
Mother didn't know much about the accident. But, some people in my first place of posting, Joynagar 1 block, could know about it. Was there any intimate friend? I tried hard to remember. But, it resulted in only an enormous pain in my head without any success.
Bahadur and his family had been chanting holy mantras even after the evil spirit seemed to have left. 15 minutes ago, they stopped. They were anxiously listening to our conversations.
"Do you have phone number of anyone in Joynagar?" Mona asked.
I checked my phone, even if I knew that the possibility was very thin. However, I found one name, Raju Das, which seemed rather unknown to me. Out of desperation, I rang him. The call was answered within few seconds and Bingo, the person knew me. He asked me about my health. I told him to introduce himself as I had difficulty in remembering the past. He said he was my landlord in Joynagar-1.
"But, Basab babu was my landlord. How come you became my landlord?" I was completely taken aback.
"Yes, you shifted to Basab babu's house in Baharu after your accident. But, before that you lived in my house for one year."
"What do you know about my accident?"
Chapter 21
The ghost enters the room
"Accident! What do you know about it?"
"How could you forget about that accident? You almost died."
"Somehow, I forgot about it Raju! Tell me how did I suffer that accident."
"You took my motorcycle, and went to the Islampally alone. Some frenzied mob attacked you. You were fleeing at a very high speed. Your bike hit a tree, and you got a severe head injury. After spending few days in coma, you survived. Then, you shifted your house to Baharu. Your father came to take your belongings. You never came back. But, your father didn't tell me about your memory loss!"
"Tell me why did I went to Islampally?" I cut him short, and came directly to the most important question.
Before he could say anything, the mobile network went off, and the call was cut.
"Holy mess!" I exclaimed, and tried frantically to call him again. But there was no network signal.
Tara, too, was extremely disappointed. She said, "Sometimes, the network goes off for hours. You try my phone."
Only two service providers were available there. But in that hour of crisis, the other one came to no help; it, too, was unavailable. At that moment, a thunderous gust of wind came from no where, and broke the glasses of the window panes. The force of the wind was so great that even the door began to shake so violently that I thought it would break into pieces.
These signs were not unknown to me. I shouted, "Everyone careful, the ghost is coming."
The suddenness of the attack took us by complete surprise. Bahadur and his family had successfully prevented the ghost from entering the house last time by chanting mantras. But, this time they had been caught off guard.
To make matters worse, the lights began to flicker, and within seconds, the power went off, and suddenly the room was filled with that fetid smell. But, this time, for a change, the emergency light, very dim in intensity, though, lit on.
For the first time, I saw the ghost. Though I had never seen any thing more frightening than this, I was a bit surprised about Dhuni Baba's observations about its gender. The creature almost looked like a giant bat with wingspan about 2.5 meter. Its deepest eyes were burning red, the face was not like a bird's face, as it had a shape of its own which resembled no known animal's face. But, it had a long sickle like beak, it's knife-like claws were big and almost straight. The colour of the creature was tar-black, and the fetid smell emanating from its body made breathing extremely difficult.
Bahadur, who had recovered from a stroke just a few days ago, probably got another attack, as I could see him lying on then floor, writhing in pain with a hand on his chest. The frightening sight was too much for young Mona, who became senseless within few seconds.
The ghost now turned its attention towards Tara. After making another hellish screech, which was extremely painful for my eardrums to tolerate from such a close distance, the creature seemed to be pouncing on Tara, who was completely dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. I, too, was undecided about my course of action. But, Champa remained alert, and she began to chant Hanuman Chalisha.
To be continued
Picture taken form the Internet
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