Whispers of Hate

by Sanchit Garg

  “What did you say? Vijay! Calm Down. Just think of everything that happened as a bad dream.”

  “I am awake. It’s you who need to wake up!”

  “Whaattt! Okay, leave it. Just hold my right hand tightly and keep moving with me.”

  Unlike his shoulder, which felt a little bit cold due to his shirt covering it, his hands were chilling me.

  I questioned, “Why are you so cold? Is this because of the recent cold wind, which I experienced too?”

  He didn’t reply.

  “No, problem! Let’s get you back home.”

  We were just about to exit from the room when the strange wind passed again, and I felt something drop down on my head.

  I screamed, “What’s this?"

  I felt dizzy.

  “Ohhh! It’s just a small brick.”

  My eyes started to close now. I called out to Vijay, but he had already left my hand, and I just fell.

  I tenderly opened my eyes and found myself lying down on the floor, with my back towards a wall.

  Where am I? This is an unfamiliar place.

  I shouted, “Vijay!!! Vijay!!!”

  There was no response.

  Did someone attack us both? I just wanted to save him and didn’t think much. I was way too careless. I should have taken more time to prepare. No! I can’t give up. I still got him somewhere here, or maybe he brought me here and then went away to bring help. I should try to stand first.

  It felt like most of my strength was already gone. This is the first time I have felt this heavy. I need to listen to Nandana and cut on all the sweet things that I keep on eating daily. That thing apart, I should try moving first and find out exactly where I am.

  Running my gaze through the room, I was in; it felt like some sort of a dining room with a large table and 16 chairs to accommodate people. Maybe a big family lives here? Also, there were two sofas, a cupboard containing dinnerware and showpiece items, and on one side was a plain-looking chest, but uncanny somehow. I walked towards the gate to exit from this room. I tried to open it, but it wouldn’t open.

  It seems like it's locked from the outside.

  I was about to call out to Vijay again when I heard some noise. Putting my ear close to the door, I was able to listen to it a bit more explicitly.

  “Father, we should hurry to the dining room. Mother has already served lunch on the dinner table, and it’s going to get cold. Come on, everyone!”

  Food! Cold! But I don’t see any food here. What is going on?

  Suddenly, I hear the sound of a lock opening.

  They are coming inside, but I don’t know who they are. Maybe I should hide. The dining table seems like an excellent place to hide. I should bustle now.

  I rushed to reach below the dining table and hid. The table cloth was big enough and dropped down to the leg level of a person who would sit on the chair. Overall, it was a good hiding place. I could hear steps and people coming inside the room, laughing. Then, it felt like the sound of chairs moving and people commencing to sit. I was just staring down at the floor and focusing on keeping myself hidden. The air was pervaded with laughing voices and the sound of crockery pieces touching each other.

  “This is awesome!! Mother, why don’t you make this sort of food daily?”

  “Well! Today’s a special occasion. We are going to get a new member in our family.”

  “Really, Mother? Who is it?”

  “It’s a surprise. You need to wait till the night to meet him.”

  “No! No! Please tell us, who is it? We can’t wait that much.”

  “Okay! I don’t know who it is. Only Vijay knows about the guest.”

  Vijay! This means that he is here! But, how come these people know about him? And, why didn’t he reach out to me till now? Should I get out of this table and surprise them all or should I wait for Vijay to explain precisely, what is going on in here? Where the hell am I? I don’t know these people. It would be better to wait here.

  “Hey! Stop hitting me with your leg! Father! Chandan is being mean. Please scold him, make him stop.”

  “Chandan! Apologise to her.”

  “No, she started it.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Liar! You teased first!”

  “I didn’t.”

  He shouted, “Stop! Stop it! Both of you. Amrutha, don’t worry! I will give him a good beating after lunch.”

  I was now trying to figure them out. Where did the sound come from? Oh! There. Let’s see. I looked at their feet. At the moment, eight people were sitting on the chairs. Th ree of them had tiny feet, so they were plausibly kids. Two of them were wearing a saree, and the rest of them were men. As I was figuring them out, how would they look, I inadvertently hit my head on the top of the dining table. Though the table didn’t rock, it still made quite a sound.

  Someone shouted, “Hey! Where did this noise come from?”

  Oh No! Why the hell did I have to do that?

  “Was it from underneath the table? I should check it out!”

  “No! Leave it! Perhaps it was Chandan again, hitting his leg onto something.”

  “No! It was not me.”

  What is going on with this place? I need to find Vijay and ask him some questions.

  I was sweating and panicked when one of them was about to lift the table cloth and look below. Suddenly, someone banged on the gate and entered, making them stop lifting it. A sense of calm came over me.

  “Hi, Vijay! We didn’t know you were going to come before the night. Would you fancy eating something?”

  “No Problem! I already had my fill in the morning.”

  “Hey, Vijay! What about the guests? When are they going to come?”

  “It’s just my brother. I already left him here in the morning. Didn’t you see him?”

  “No! We didn’t see anybody.”

  “Maybe, he went to some other room or the outside. No issues! He’s a kind person, and he would stay with us forever.”

  What is Vijay speaking? Why would I stay here forever? I have my family to go back to. Maybe I would tarry down some more, and then catch up to him.

  After having their food, everyone started to stand up and left the room. I let some more time to pass, and when I was sure that there were no more sounds, I came out from under the table.

  It was time I moved out of this room. I touched the room’s door and pushed it outward, slowly. Suddenly, I had a flashback of me walking out of the old-abandoned house holding Vijay’s hand and everything else was vague.

  What was that?

  I went outside. It was a big open hall. It looked like a double story setup with rooms arranged in a U shape. This seems too familiar.

  Baffled! Where did I see it? Maybe before asking Vijay any questions, I can take a look outside the house and know exactly where I am. It looks like a lot of time has already passed since, as the people had lunch and my family would be scared of my whereabouts by now.

  I reached the main gate taking baby steps. Luckily, no one was around at that time. Facing the main entrance, I opened it’s latch and took hold of the door handle to open it.

  It didn’t budge. What!!! I tried it again. But, nothing. It was still not opening.

  A minute passed, and I was still standing there, pondering about what to do now. All of a sudden, a thumping sound came from the outside of the door. I hastily raced back to the dining room.

  A voice came from somewhere inside the house.

  “Coming!”

  Someone opened the door, and all I heard next were outraged voices yelling at everyone and someone screaming, "Please don’t kill me! Please! Father! Mother!"

  I felt like someone just died.

  I overheard people rushing out of their rooms, out into the hall and crying in frightened voices.

  “Where is the money? Tell us now, or we will kill you all?”

  “We don’t know what you are talking about. We don’t have any money.”

  “Don’t lie to me. W
e know your family has been holding on to a lot of gold coins from your ancestors. Give them to us, or you all die.”

  “If we had the money that you are talking about; we wouldn’t be living in this petty village. Please, leave us alone. Don’t kill anyone else.”

  “It seems like you won’t tell it easily.”

  I heard sword slashing sounds and some more cries.

  “No! Don’t kill anyone. Please! I beg you!”

  But they didn’t stop.

  Someone spoke to what it felt like to be the head of the family now, "Only this small child and you are left. This is my final warning- if you want to save what little of your family is left, tell us where it is?"

  There was a pin drop silence. He didn’t speak up.

  “Okay, Guys! Kill both of them.”

  He still didn’t speak anything at all.

  “We will find the treasure on our own.”

  He was about to yell, "Okk!" when someone killed him.

  “You Idiot! I was trying to frighten him into giving it all, and just when he was about to; you killed him.

  Okay! What's done is done.”

  “So child, do you know anything about the money?”

  He answered, weeping heavily, “Money! What money? I don’t know anything. If you want my toys, take them all. Just make my parents wake up from sleep.”

  It seemed like the kid rushed towards the dining room’s door and was murdered too.

  “Okay, guys! Spread up! Don’t leave any corners unattended.”

  Oh, no! They are going to come in here. At that instant, I knew I was going to die too. Maybe I can find something to protect me, like a knife or hide somewhere where they wouldn't be able to locate me. I looked at the dining table and the cupboard, but there wasn’t anything sharp. I thought of hiding below the dining table but was puzzled about whether it would work this time or not. Just as I was about to look further, another flashback hit me.

  This time, I wasn’t in it. Instead, a kid was playing in the same house, and then he went inside the chest and disappeared.

  What! How did this happen? Where did he disappear off to?

  I came back to my senses and sped towards the chest. I opened it. There were a few clothes lined up inside it. I threw them all out, but there was nothing else. Somehow, there was this feeling that something wasn't right, that there was more to this chest. In a fit of rage, I hit the bottom of the chest with my fist, and it shook a bit.

  What?

  I removed the board at the bottom of the chest to find another board with a hook attached to it. I hoisted it by the hook, and below it was a staircase.

  I exclaimed, “A staircase! How is this possible? Who made this? And why would anyone make it here?”

  I heard a sound on the dining room’s gate, and without pondering, I just went inside it, shutting the chest and the board as I moved inside. Once there, it was completely dark. Anyhow, I kept on walking. There was less space, just enough for one person to walk. I could feel the walls on both my right and left sides.

  I kept on walking and walking.

  inally, I stopped when my foot hit something. I touched it, and it felt like an earthen pot. I ran my hand nearby to find a lamp. I checked my pockets, and the matchstick was still in it. I quickly tried to lit it. After a few failed tries, it was finally lit. Something glittered near the earthen pots, and then I had a flashback again. In the flashback, I was in the same place, 5-6 broken earthen pots were lying on the ground, but this time it didn’t end. I could touch and feel the pots; I could even control myself. I felt a lack of air, so I started to walk back to the outside. I thought dying here was worse than dying outside. At least there was a slight chance that I could sweet talk the bandits and make them let me go.

  I reached the top of the staircase, pushed the board and finally exited the chest with a certain uneasiness inside me. Once out, I was back in the same room where I saw Vijay in the old-abandoned house. I was about to walk out of this room when one more flashback hit me. A bandit was standing in front of me. Seeing him, I forgot all about the sweet talk thing and just ran towards the hall.

  Someone shouted from my back.

  “Hey! There is one more. He is escaping. Catch him fast.”

  I was stopped in the main hall by a dyad with swords in their hands. I looked towards their rear, and I could see the exit gate open. So, I ran as fast as I could towards the door. But one of them hit me with his sword, cutting my right hand off by the elbow.

  I shouted, “Ahhhhh!!! I’m bleeding! My hand! Someone save me.”

  I screamed in pain but kept running anyhow, stopping the blood flowing from my right hand with my left hand. I finally exited the house. Once out, I still kept on running. I knew they were coming after me. After running some 150-200 meters, I glanced behind me, and there was no one following anymore. I came to a halt to take deep breaths. I looked to my right and saw familiar houses.

  I shouted as loud as I could, "There are bandits here. Everyone come out and help me!"

  Someone replied, “Why are you shouting?”

  I shouted again, “I just ran away from a house wherein the bandits killed the whole family, and they are now going to come for everyone else.”

  Everyone kept quiet. No one replied. It felt as if they were about to laugh at me.

  “Don’t you believe me? Okay, pick up some arms and come with me. I will show you the place.”

  Everyone came with me, and I lead them to the house.

  Someone stated, “This is the haunted house. No-one lives here.”

  I was startled, “The Haunted house?”

  I gazed at it closely to see that it was the same old-abandoned house. But how is this house in the same place as that house? Maybe it looks the same.

  “No, you are mistaken! There are people there lying dead inside, and bandits are there too. Just open the gate, and you would know.”

  “We are not going to open this gate. We already know what’s in there. Nothing! Except for ghosts.”

  “Okay! I will open it. You are all scaredy-cats.”

  I pushed the door to open it and peeped inside. There was nothing there.

  “Maybe the bandits already robbed everything and moved the bodies somewhere inside. You would know I am telling the truth once we check each and every room out.”

  I went in, and only a few other people followed me. We went through every room, and there was nothing there, except dust.

  Someone shouted, “Wait! There’s a slipper here.”

  Looking at it, I found it to be familiar.

  “Okay, I will take it with me. What exactly happened here! Just what did I see?”

  “Maybe you had a nightmare, that’s all. Don’t ever waste our time like that. We are busy people.”

  I looked at my right hand now.

  There was no blood. It was still there, all perfectly fine and working.

  I was bewildered, “Maybe it was a dream. I am sorry, everyone. Let’s go back to our homes.”

  With a poignant face, I walked back to my house, taking baby steps. It was not a dream. I know that very well. But then what was it? There was no one at that house: no dead bodies, nothing. Maybe I am just going insane.

  I went inside my house. Reaching the hall, I saw Nandana and Mother weeping.

  “What happened? I am okay!”

  Mother responded, “You are okay! This is not about you. Jai is nowhere to be found, since the morning. We have searched the whole house.”

  I hollered, “Jai? Where is he? What happened to him? What time is it?”

  “It’s 7 in the morning.”

  I stuttered, “7!!! How is this possible? Are you sure?”

  “Are you mad? First, you went away somewhere in the morning, and now you are telling us it is not 7 am. And, you don’t even know where your child is. He’s been missing since the time we opened our eyes. Did he go out with you?”

  “No! I went alone. I can’t take a kid alone at midnight to some old house
.”

  What! What did I just say? I am an idiot.

  Father spoke in an aggressive voice, “You went in the night? Where did you go? What old house?”

  I was scared, and so, I spoke out everything, “I went to the old-abandoned house to check if it had some link to the recent events.”

  Father roared at me, “Are you out of your mind? That place is not something you visit in the night. Are you that hell-bent on getting us all killed?”

  I lamented, “But, I needed to see for myself.”

  “Look, what transpired? Maybe, he woke up and followed you there. Come with me to check that house. He may be hiding there, somewhere.”

  “I already checked it out just now with everyone else from the village. There was no one there. Did Vijay come back to the house?”

  “Vijay? He’s long dead and departed. Why are you bringing him up now?”

  “But, I just met him at that house. He was a little cold, but everything else looked fine.”

  Mother wailed, “My God! You know what they say about dead people, that their bodies turn cold after they die. It was not Vijay; it was his ghost.”

  “Mother, don’t you say anything. It was Vijay, not a ghost. He even talked with me.”

  Father cut in between, “Then, where is he now?”

  “I don’t know! Everything happened too fast.”

  Amira came to me and took hold of the slipper from my hand, “Mother, this is brother's.”

  Nandana commanded her, “Bring it to me.”

  “Okay!”

  “Yes, this is his slipper. There is no doubt. Why are you holding your Jai’s slipper in your hand?”

  I sighed, “This can’t be his slipper. I found it in the old-abandoned house, in one of the rooms. It is not plausible... or maybe it is his.”

  A tear dropped down from my eyes.

  Mother ranted, “That house ate him. I know it. These ghosts attack innocent kids first. My poor child.”

  Father bellowed at me, “You have caused a lot of grief to this family. Promise us you will never do anything like this again. And we are leaving this place as fast as possible. Something is wrong with that house, and now I believe it too.”

  Tears came rolling down everyone’s eyes. We had lost the smallest and cutest member of our family. The pain was unbearable.