Chapter 13: Secrets Revealed
The next day, the village bustled with the activity of the medical camp. The doctors and nurses set up stations, ready to attend to the villagers, while Sarpanch Mahesh supervised the proceedings. Meera and Jayesh decided to visit Neelu's house, hoping to gather more information. They wanted to bring Neelu and Nilesh along, knowing that they needed all the help they could get.
Neelu, still shaken from the previous day's events, was hesitant at first but agreed to join them due to Meera's insistence.
Nilesh, initially resistant to putting anyone in danger, eventually relented and joined them as well, despite his lingering anger over the last incident.
Back at the Sarpanch's mansion, they gathered in Sayali's room. After helping her mother, Sayali locked the door and joined them. They decided that they needed to learn more about the mysterious house.
"Before we go to your grandmother Sayali, I want to confirm a few things from Nilesh," Meera said, turning to him.
Nilesh looked at Meera but remained silent. Meera asked directly, "What do you know about that house? You didn’t tell us everything yesterday."
Nilesh sighed deeply, hesitating before he spoke. "I don’t know the full story. My grandfather told me bits and pieces. About seventy or eighty years ago, there was a family living in that house: a father, a mother, and a little girl named Shakuntala. My grandfather played with her during his childhood. Her father was a mysterious man who had come from elsewhere."
Nilesh paused, gathering his thoughts. "My grandfather said that Shakuntala’s mother was always angry and seemed involved in strange, tantrik practices. One day, when my grandfather and there some friends went to her house to invite Shakuntala to play, her mother came out with some occult items. She yelled at them to leave, and they saw Shakuntala at the window, asking for help. But they were too scared and ran away. After that day, Shakuntala never came out to play again."
Everyone listened intently, their expressions serious. "What happened then?" Sayali asked.
"A few days later, villagers found Shakuntala’s father dead in their garden. Inside the house, they found no one. They assumed her mother had killed him and run away with Shakuntala. But strange things started happening in that house after they left. Years later, some thieves hid there after robbing the village. They were found dead in the same spot as Shakuntala’s father."
Supriya gasped. "What happened to Shakuntala and her mother?"
"No one knows," Nilesh replied. "My grandfather avoided talking about it whenever I had asked them. But two years ago, when my friends and I visited that house, we heard a voice asking for help. One of my friends felt suffocated and terrified, saying someone was trying to kill him. I saw a girl at the window, and behind her, a woman with big, terrifying eyes laughing at us. My friend got very sick, and we had to take him to the village Vaidya(Panditji), who lives at the temple on the hill."
Nilesh’s voice trembled as he continued. "The Panditji asked me if I had seen them both. I said yes. He performed a pooja and tied a sacred thread on my friend’s wrist. Before we left, the Panditji told me that the woman was using me as a tool to capture another soul."
Everyone was shocked into silence. Meera finally spoke. "What did the Panditji say exactly?"
Nilesh stood up, clearly upset. "He said that the woman in the house needed me to bring another person to her. That’s why my friend fell ill. I’m not going to let anyone else get hurt because of me."
He stormed out of the room, followed by Neelu. They tried to calm him down, but Nilesh was too agitated. "I need some time alone," he said, walking away towards his home.
Meera, Supriya, Jayesh and Sayali returned to Sayali's room, their minds racing with the new information. Meera broke the silence. "We can't ask your grandmother about this. We need to visit the vaidya means Panditji at the temple."
Sayali, understanding Meera's determination, nodded. "We'll go after dinner."
To Be Continued............................
