Trembling Shadows
A romantic, psychological thriller
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“It seems his nature is like that. He might be interested in these odd matters from his childhood itself. But Rajesh we have to see that it would not harm our daughter” now she was not bothering about Aravind as her full concern turned to her daughter. Aravind was a favorite boy to Tanuja too but she could not like and tolerate him if he affected her daughter bad in any way at all.
“At his childhood he had been left with his grandparents. Until he reached his thirteenth or fourteenth year he had grown up with them. The village in which he had grown up is like that. Almost all the people in that village adore bad angels. There is no surprise if this boy as well had got inclined towards those bad angels.” Rajesh thoughtfully said. “What really worrying me is why his father preferred to leave him with his wife’s parents rather than with us. If he had grownup in our family it would not have happened like this at all.”
“It is his mother in fact” Tanuja said. “You too know about her nature Rajesh. She was little mad. She had got lot of love and affection on her parents. She liked their village a lot. She too might be interested in this witch-cult. That was why she persisted that this Aravind must grow up in her parents’ house”
But there was no response from Rajesh. It had become evident to her that he was struggling to think on that matter even a little deeply.
“I am not going to give that much of thought at all to this, Raj” the firmness in Tanuja’s voice surprised Sameera and Rajesh as well. “But I am not going to allow him to spoil our daughter’s life.”
“Mom, how he would spoil my life” Sameera said with a voice filled with anguish and surprise.
“I have noticed the sudden interest you are showing on that boy Sameera. It would be better that you cut off immediately if there is any feeling in you started towards him.” Instead of explaining how it would be Tanuja said. The firmness and rigidity was not lost in the voice of her.
“Sorry mom, I am not a puppet to do as you ask me now and then.” This time there was the same rigidity and firmness in the voice of Sameera too. “There has some feeling already started in me towards him and it reached such a level that it cannot be terminated at all now. I am afraid that feeling is nothing else but love.”
“Sameera” Tanuja almost yelled. “I am your mother and I always wish your good. Just forget about him and we shall make the arrangements to send the boy out from our house once we reach it.”
“That is not possible Tanuja” Rajesh intervened. He was quite confused and could not understand what was happening. “Whatever the problem may be our daughter and you are facing, I am not going to let out that boy from our home.” he too managed some firmness in his voice.
“But your own daughter’s life is at stake, when you can understand that?” in fact that was the very first time after their marriage that Tanuja raked up a quarrel with him like this. “You just have heard what our daughter said. Would you allow our daughter develop her relationship with a queer like him?” she did not know that she was yelling.
“Aravind is not a queer and it is quite possible to change him.” Rajesh said. “I shall talk to him personally. And I shall make him come completely away from that black world.”
“It is certainly possible dad and I like you very much for this.” Sameera said as her voice filled with a new found joy. “I also try my utmost level best to change him.”
Tanuja remained in silence and she did not know what to say or do then. There was not anger but an unknown fear in her then. As the father and the daughter were talking like that she thought that she could do very little to severe the connection between her daughter and Aravind. It was still quite surprising to her how and why that her daughter started loving him so. Until coming into this house she detested him so much. However much she and Rajesh told her to be little friendly with Aravind, she never did like that. But why such love started in her now? This was just because, Tanuja thought in herself, of the evil power in that house itself.
&&&
Sunanda was in the downstairs room where Sameera just stayed before admonished by Aravind and went out. Sunanda too as much restless and uneasy as Sameera then and it seemed that no one could be happy and relaxed in that house. Then she remembered what Sameera talked with her on that day. She had got very much anger when Sameera said that there was an illicit intimacy between her mother and that Rajesh. But there was no necessity to Sameera to tell a tale like that to her. The way in which her mother was always talking with that Rajesh! She got her own doubts and Sameera’s saying so just confirmed them. It might be necessary to her mother to maintain such closeness with Rajesh while they were in the hospital. But what was the necessity to maintain such closeness and talk always with him so when they were not in hospital too? Whoever saw them so would think that Rajesh and Malathi were the wife hand husband. Her father Vinod always would maintain aloofness observing his wife and Rajesh furtively. She was getting irritation on her father too. Why he had allowed in the first place such an intimacy between her mother and Rajesh? There was no surprise at all that her mother and Rajesh were spending sometimes on the bed together.
Sometimes her parents’ behavior towards her as well surprising and astonishing to her. They did not protest with her much when she had taken boyfriends to home. Neither of her parents scolded her when she spent out time with her boyfriends. It would not all be so in other parents houses she knew. Why she had been allowed that much of freedom by her parents? That meant they too had spent a life like that as she had spent. This thinking made her even more irritating and angrier.
She sat up as she could not sleep or rest herself on the blanket there anymore. She stood up and came out of the room and thought what would be better to do then. She thought all the people might went into the upstairs room again as she could not see anyone in the verandah but when she concentrated she heard talking of Rajesh, Tanuja and Sameera in grandmother’s room. It seemed that they were discussing about something seriously and that could not create any interest in her. When she drew a long breath and saw straight the kitchen in that house came into her sight. She had decided to go into the kitchen and see what was in it.
She slowly walked into the kitchen and when she entered into it she had got an uneasy feeling and suddenly felt a little sick. She could not understand why she had got such type of sick feeling all of a sudden but persisted herself to see whatever in that kitchen then. Malathi and Tanuja did not turn off the electric switches before going out from that room. Not clearly but Sunanda could see whole kitchen in those forty waltz bulbs lighting.
The kitchen was a very big hall and she was surprised seeing the length of it. Was this much big of a kitchen necessary to the old woman? She wondered in herself. She started observing the things there and there were rice, gas stove and pickles, etc in that room. She could see only a small window there. She walked slowly the whole length of that kitchen all the time trying to observe what was more in it. She was hoping something strange related to the grandmother would be found by her if she carefully searched the kitchen.
Then, suddenly then, she felt as someone standing just behind her. She had felt hot breath on her neck. She immediately turned back to see who it was but could not find anyone at all. A cold fear gripped her heart. ‘Why I had felt like this?” she questioned herself. ‘Is this only my imagination as Sameera imagined a cold touch on her body in that room’, she thought further. There was no surprise whatsoever if people imagine things in places like these. She closed her eyes and tried to relax herself by taking deep breaths and telling herself strongly that it was only her imagination.
Then she felt a cold touch on her body too. First it was on her hip. Even she was petrified completely with the feeling like that on her hip, her mind noticed that it was touch of a hand. That hand was moving slowly and it reached her navel. It was so cold like the hand of a dead man. Then she had felt as if some finger like a cold stick inserted into her navel. Then the hand started moving slowly down her navel under her clothes.
Then she had come into her senses and started yelling. She did not know how loudly she was yelling but her voice reached every nook and corner of that house. Almost all the people including Rajesh, Tanuja and Sameera rushed into kitchen where she stood.
She stood like a statue in the middle of the kitchen shivering all over while covering her mouth with one hand. Malathi ran towards her and put her hand around her shoulder dragging her near to her. Then Sunanda stopped yelling and came into this world again. She looked into the eyes of her mother and there was full of fear in the eyes of Sunanda.
“What happened Sunanda? Why you are yelling like that?” cajoling her like a small child Malathi asked anxiously.
“What happened?” Sunanda muttered as if she could not understand fully what she had been asked.
“Yes, that is what I am asking. What made you to yell like this?” loosening her grip around her a little asked Malathi observing her daughter’s face carefully with anxiety.
“Malathi first we should go out of this kitchen. Take her into the upstairs room again. There we shall try to extract the details from her” Tanuja advised to her
It appeared that the idea was good to all those. Without any further discussion they left that room and entered into the upstairs middle room again. Then they made her slowly sat on the bed and then Malathi asked the same question with the same soothing voice. This time too Sunanda looked into the eyes of her mother but the fear in her eyes was lessened a lot. With a faltering voice, in bits and pieces, Sunanda explained to them what had happened in the kitchen. Whether it was just her imagination or real they could not decide but it was cleared that she feared a lot with that experience.
Everyone there breathed deeply. There was surprise and irritation in all of them. Most of them there then had taken it as her imagination only. But none of them expressed their opinion on the face of her then as they knew it would make her feel irritated.
“Could not you see anyone in flesh and blood while you had that experience?” Tanuja asked.
“Of course, no. I could not see anyone at all.” Sunanda said. By this time some colour returned to her face and the voice strengthened. “But it was so real a touch. Without anyone present there, I could not have such type of a feeling.” Sunanda said firmly.
“But how it is possible that someone present there without a body?” Rajesh asked.
(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.)
