Trembling Shadows
A romantic, psychological thriller
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“There is something we have to do with this all.” In his small attractive tone Aravind said again.
“What it is? What new ideas you are going to create in us now?” the irritation in Tanuja became more. There were occasions like this when Tanuja would feel irritation towards Aravind in this way however much she liked and loved that boy. They were mostly when he tried to make extraordinary things out of ordinary and paranormal out of normal.
“Why did you have suddenly wanted to come here?” Aravind asked without bothering with what Tanuja said. But that infuriated her even more.
“A strong urge of course” Rajesh said quite thoughtfully, “It was as if someone commanding me to come here” scratching his head with his right hand Rajesh said.
“It is all a big psychological thing it seems.” Anand said “My uncle must be here to analyze. Where he is and what he is doing?”
“Both your parents-in-law engaged in a big conversation downstairs. However big psychological thing it is, don’t try to disturb them now.” Rajesh said
“Not necessary to disturb your uncle at all. It is not such a thing. It is a super-psychological thing in fact.” Aravind said.
“You are creating new words in psychology” Rajesh said.
“No I am not” Aravind said “Just look at this. You had got a strong urge and came out of the car and saved your life. You had got a strong urge and came here with all of us. Have you got this type of an urge any time in between? Is this type of an urge is quite common to you?”
“Not at all. As far as I can remember I got urge like this only on these two occasions.”
“I want to have a clarification now. You are trying to make everything confusing to us. More over you have to say why you are making this enquiry,” looking at Aravind, Sunanda said.
“I shall say, no problem” Aravind said “But what type of clarification?”
“You have said some evil power caused the car accident on the road. At the same time you have said that some other power caused the strong urge in our uncle to come out of the car and saved his life. What are those two powers? Don’t they had any other work except that to them to do then?” in the end there was a sarcastic note in her voice.
“Sensible questioning in fact” Anand applauded.
Sunanda felt surprise and looked into his face. Recently he never has tried to appreciate her like this. There was an amicable expression and smile in his face. Anyhow there was a strange quality in this house. In the morning at breakfast time also, Anand talked amicably with her. Otherwise with the influence of some paranormal, there would not be such a change even temporarily in him. That might be the good power which saved Rajesh uncle. Even she was talking like that, subconsciously she was convinced with what Aravind has said. There was a purpose behind her talking like that then and she was forcing herself not to burst into smile.
“How can I say if you ask like that” Aravind said with a smile. “There were those two powers like that then one saved our uncle’s life and one killed his parents so.”
“If that is all the clarification you can give, then whatever you have said until now is just absurd.” Sunanda said while observing Sameera.
Sameera was looking at her angrily and Sunanda never have found Sameera that much angry ever before. It made only one thing quite clear to her. Some love like feeling was so strongly established in Sameera towards Aravind. But it was not just observed by Sunanda. Tanuja also was observing her daughter without her knowledge. The change suddenly had taken place in her daughter was not only surprising but fearsome also to her. Why Sameera could not tolerate when Aravind was criticized so?
“Remember grandmother’s story” Aravind said. “There were two powerful characters in it. One is her husband Semanthakam and the other is that villan Nagaraju. We shall take her husband as divine power. That Nagaraju as an evil power. While the divine power saved the life of our uncle, that evil power took the life of his parents”
There was a big thunder in the sky again deafening their ears once more. The violent rain started once again. It was just like giving a confirmation to what he said.
“Don’t talk like that. It is creating an unknown fear in me” Sameera said with a fear filled voice.
“I am so sorry indeed if I have got you people feel fear. My intention is not at all that” Aravind said with an apologetic voice.
“It is not all so that you have made us feel fear.” Rajesh said. “Whatever you have said as well need to be considered”
“I have one question then if you don’t mind” Anand said
“No one restricted from asking questions here” Aravind smiled.
“Why that divine power did not try to save our uncle’s parents lives and why that evil power not tried to take off our uncle’s life.”
“Very complicated question I cannot answer” Aravind said with a helpless expression. “Anyhow a similar question was asked by Tanu aunty and I answered that. I have made this enquiry mainly to see if there are any dangers to us here. But I cannot know much.”
“Oh, don’t trouble him so with such type of questions” Sameera irritated. She noticed that she had become a subject of keen observation of her parents then.
Sometime passed in silence.
“You have said that you came here twenty years back too. Why did you come here the second time? Did you have taken anyone with you then?” Sameera asked her father.
“No. I have come here all alone, all by myself. I so strongly wanted to see my grandmother. There was no urge. There was no hunch. It was just I felt strongly to see her since she was my only blood relation alive.”
“Had you met her? Talked with her? What she did say to you then?”Sameera asked him curiously again.
“Yes I did. But after meeting with her, I deflated completely. There was no expression in her eyes or in her face. There was no love or affection at all in her. So strongly she asked me not to come here again. She did not let me stay here more than one hour. All that one hour, I had stayed here expecting that she would talk something affectionately with me. She talked very little. That very little was asking me not to come here again. Nothing else. I felt very much angry towards her. I had decided in myself not to take her help anymore from then on. Then I said the same to her too. There was no expression even then on her face. She nodded her head and said ‘As you wish. But don’t come here again’ That was all what she had said to me.
I went out of this house then. I said so to her but I did not know how to continue my studies. How to look after myself. Then Aravind’s father started helping me. Only with his help, I could do whatever I need to and want to from that moment onwards,”
There was that pathetic silence again. In the rotating cycle of violent rain and drizzle, drizzle took place again. They were not struggling to speak loudly. In the little sounds around whatever they were talking was heard clearly.
“But she could not remain long without helping me. She did not hear even I said to her sternly I would not take her help. In fact my hospital has been constructed with the help of my grandmother. What all she wanted was I should not come to her or try to be with her.” Rajesh said.
“How you have been communicated? How she has provided her help to you?” Sunanda asked him.
“Through Ratnakar. He is a very important person to grandmother. Everytime he came to me, he used to say how good grandmother is and how much love and affection she has on me. But however much I pressed him, he never told the mysteries associated with her life.” Rajesh said.
“What a surprising woman? Why did she say so? Why did she keep herself away from everyone and kept you away from her? Why she led and still leading such a secluded life?” Aravind said out while thinking deeply in himself “She is not insane. In keeping her relations away from her and here, there may be strong reasons. We should try to know about them” he further said.
“What you have said may be true. But she would never say that to us. We cannot get the answers to those questions easily” Rajesh pathetically said.
“I understood that.” Aravind said. “But there is a necessity that we should know the secrets”.
“Something we should notice here.” Sameera said suddenly and everyone looked at her “If she is trying to keep her loved ones away from her and from this place, it must be with a strong reason as Aravind said. Both this place and she are dangerous to us. We may face serious problems if we stay in this place near to grandma.”
“Oh, please don’t say like that” Tanuja said with an increased heartbeat. Her daughter’s words made her fear even more. In fact her words appeared reasonable to all of them and had the same affect.
The ominous silence followed again until it was broken by an ear-splitting thunder followed by a heavy downpour.
***
After spending that much of time with the other people in the upstairs middle room, Tanuja came downstairs and she was now in the room of the old woman. Her room as well was spacious and neat like the upstairs room. It seemed whatever said about her was completely true. There were no disease signs in her. She was just like sleeping on the bed. It was difficult to say whether she was breathing or not. While looking at her so Tanuja had got an unknown fear in herself. There was no one else in that room except her and the old lady then. All the others were still in the upstairs room. Malathi and Vinod as well went there.
It was creating an eerie feeling that Rajesh was the grandson of this woman. But he was not intrigue like this old woman. His nature was just like a child. He was quite open every time and she liked him because of that nature. Luckily he did not inherit this quality of the old woman. How he happened to be her grandson she could not understand.
She still could remember the day they both shared their bodies for the first time. He wanted her fully naked. She did not object. He did so many mischievous things to her after undressed her completely, explored even very objectionable parts as well in her body. It was not just he, she too did many a thing on his body. Both were behaved equally in giving and taking while satisfying their sexual urge. Her body and mind once again filled with pleasure at the memory of it. In fact sex was not new to her. She experimented with it even before she got her puberty. But it was not tasted this much good at any time before.
But he was like a child starving for love and affection searching for the same which he could not get anywhere else until then. She had given it to him in full measure, treating him as if he were her child. She could see the satisfaction in him when the urge and desire in him fulfilled.
(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.)
