Please note, that this chapter contains supernatural things. If you are not comfortable with it or are scared then kindly skip this chapter.

Third Person's POV

Numb. That's what he felt after hearing those words from his brother's mouth.

"I know." followed by Nahush's hardly noticeable sad smile.

Nishant's body went cold suddenly.

'Sunnnn... (सुन्न)' a sunn voice rang in his head. And then everything went silent. His mind went to some happy memories of their trip to Jejuri. Maybe that's what a person looks for always, happiness.

Kindly note, that the past will be in Italics. I shall not write 'Past starts' or 'Past ends' but the sentence before the starting of the past would indicate in some way that the past begins and similarly, the sentence after the past is over shall also indicate it. For example, here, before the beginning of the past, I have written as 'His mind went to a part of memories of their trip to Jejuri.' 

They left Jejuri to go to Pune Airport and this time their mode of transport was a mini bus which was pre-booked by them.

Their holiday mode was not yet over. They were not in the mood to stay quiet even on the bus. The early morning fresh air was just making it more refreshing.

"Bhoothachya goshti (Ghost stories)!" Exclaimed Noor with excitement.

"Yes!"

"Masta idea ahe (It's a nice idea)!"

"Majja (Fun)!"

Came the voices of Mallika and her siblings. Ghost stories were always their favorite thing to do whenever they were together.

"God, you guys believe in such Ghost stories? Seriously?" Mocked Ovi.

Nahush and his siblings never believe in supernatural things. They do watch horror movies but that's it. It's just for entertainment and they never took it seriously. In this century people would not believe in it. That's what they think. So seeing this excitement to listen to such stories was a bit shocking for them.

"Ha, mothi." (imagine this in Samir Choughule's tone), Murmured Rushi, but Anvi heard it as she sat beside him. Supporting him she murmured as well, "Ha na, aale mothi shani."

"Oh hello, excuse me! What do you take Agraja More (अग्रजा मोरे) as? Do you think Agraja More would be interested in any lame things? Do you even know how interesting Ghost stories are?!" A furious Noor turned towards Owi. Taking her real name along with her Surname is something she does when she is very serious about something. Well, everyone in their family loves her real name, Agraja. But everyone in her family calls her Noor only. It's her nickname. Don't know why.

"Exactly" agreed Rishi and Avni together.

"You —" Before Ovi could complete her sentence Vedant interrupted her telling her what's the harm in listening to stories and that anyway, kids are already sleeping as the cold and fresh morning air fell on them.

"Yes, Vedant Jiju is right. Let us listen to what stories they have to tell us." Nishant said with a small smile but his eyes were rooted on Avni making her smile as well.

And that's how the series of ghost storytelling started.

"I'll go first!" Jumped an excited Kanak.

"So when my mom and her siblings were kids, they had come to Jejuri with their parents and other relatives. They were going to the Karepathar fort but it was evening, almost turning dark. There were no lights. The mountain routes also were not easy to climb. As there was darkness everywhere, they were not able to see things clearly. Then suddenly they saw a couple coming in their direction out of nowhere. The man wore a traditional thodi, kurta, and topi and the lady wore a nauvari saree which was adored with traditional pieces of jewelry. They told them why they were going there. There is no route in this direction. Do not go any further and come back tomorrow morning. Our grandparents thought that it was better to listen to the local couple and go back. Just when they turned back, the couple was already gone."

"Where did they go?" Questioned Trupti.

"No idea. Even though they did not know where they went, the next morning when they came back through the same route they went last night, they saw that there was a dead end. If last night they would have continued to go further then they would have fallen off the mountain. They were thankful to the couple. They saved them last night. After which they went to the Karepathar fort through the correct route. When they came back home my grandparents thought that there was no way for anyone to come from that side as there was no route then from where did they come? After discussion, they assumed them to be a good spirit who helped them or the God themselves came to help them."

"Wow, nice story!" Nahush said with interest. He actually liked the story.

"What story? That really happened with them!" He turned to an angry Mallika with a pout at the lack of belief her husband had in the story.

"How cute you are!" Nahush pinched her cheeks with amusement. He always liked how cute his wife looked when angry.

It was the first time Nahush pulled her cheeks. His expressions were saying how genuinely he felt that she looked cute, making her lower her gaze and smile.

"Now my turn." Avni stretched her right hand up.

"Avi, tell them about the incident that happened when you were doing an internship in a hospital." Rushikesh (Rushi) advice.

"Yes, that! So I was doing my internship in a hospital. A girl was admitted that day and she was being very violent. We came to know that this family came from Karnataka to attend someone's wedding. They had an elder son and a younger daughter. She might be around 14 years old. They said that she started behaving weirdly from the time they came back after exploring the village. Suddenly the girl started talking in the Marathi language with the proper accent of that village. The interesting thing was that none of them knew the Marathi language. She was saying some weird kinds of stuff like 'My wife killed me and is living with her lover. I don't care about her but my kids are not safe with her. Please give my kids to my parents.' She was crying and requesting. No one was understanding what was happening. The Doctor was about to give her an injection when she grabbed his hand in a tight grip and said, "Go to the address I'll tell you, and dig the center of the ground of that home. There you will find me. Promise me that you will safely hand my children to my parents and I will go from this child's body.' You won't believe how scared I was to see all this happening. But obviously, I did not show that. Don't know what happened to the Doctors. They informed the Police about it and the Police went there to search. And you know what happened?" Asked Avni building suspense.

"What happened?" A scared Owi asked.

"The police did find a man's body in the same place where the girl said. It took some days for them to investigate and whatever the girl told was proven to be true. That man's kids were handed over to his parents and the girl was back to normal." Avni completed with a smile.

"You got to be kidding me. It cannot be real." Said Nishant not believing her.

"Yes, yes. Obviously, it's not really. It's a story only. Chill!" Laughed Avni making Ovi and Trupti release a breath of relief.

"I almost thought that this was not just a fictional story," Nahush said while circling his hand around Mallika's shoulder, pulling her closer to her. She just smiled at it.

°°°°°

Namaskar!

I know you all are waiting for the chapters and I am so thankful to all of you for being with this story even after my not being consistent in posting chapters.

There is no excuse for it. Just want to let you all know that I can only write when my heart tells me to. Every time I try to write but I'm not able to. Believe me, if I write even after I'm not feeling to then it won't turn out to be good.

I have a job which takes all of my time and during my holidays the only thing I wish to do is sleep.

Someone told me to delete my book if I am not posting. I understand the frustration but even if I want to, I am not able to write chapters in consistency.

All I am saying is that I will complete the books which I am writing. It may take time but I will surely complete it.

I have stopped asking to vote the chapters 4 years back. I know many read the book but do not vote or comment. I have never forced people to follow me by setting a target or anything of that sort.

Obviously, like a common person I want people to vote and comment on my chapter and to follow me. But I know it is something that the readers do by their heart.

Please be with my book, with me is all that I request to you all.

Another thing. priyanka3 Akka suggested me to save my books in some other apps as well because Wattpad deletes books. So I have published my books in Inkitt and Stck .me

Thank you, Akka!

Inkitt and Stck .me Username: ksemalaxmi

Kindly follow my book there so that you can read it only on any of these apps.

Do read my another book 'Lost Like Never Found'. This story is want I have been dreaming since I was in School and is very dear to me. Do give it a try.

Published on: 07-Apr-2024, 4 AM