Ranjit was not willing to concede the point yet.
“Where are the keys?” He asked.
“They are in my cottage at the end of the garden but I am not going to fetch them now.”
Ranjit was still unconvinced and he insisted on getting the keys and checking the bungalow. They opened the door but there was no one in there. He even checked the windowsill for the remnants of last night's candle but could not find anything, not even wax circles. The entire house was devoid of any human presence and a thin layer of dust bore mute testimony to the fact that it had been unoccupied for quite some time.
Ranjit merely shook his head in bewilderment and made his way to the local teashop. He needed to think. While he waited for his tea, he idly turned the pages of yesterday's newspaper lying on the counter. His puzzled attention came to rest on a small news item on page seven of the paper.
'Couple on motorbike die in an accident on Kalka –Shimla road,' the headline said. Ranjit felt a tremor in his hands as he went through the sketchy news item.
A holiday turned into a tragedy for a couple when they met their end in a ghastly accident on the Kalka-Shimla highway. The couple, identified as Mr. Sachin Vaswani and his wife Shikha from Delhi were riding up the hills on a Motorcycle when a speeding truck rammed into them. The accident threw the motorcycle and its occupants into the deep valley next to the road. The driver abandoned the truck and absconded, apparently unhurt. The bodies of the couple, who, incidentally were dressed in red could be recovered only late in the evening.
“Though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil, for I am the evilest motherfucker in the valley.” ¯ Alex Garland
The Man Who Did Not Fear
N
irbhay banged his hands on the table, “No such thing as ghosts. There are either people beneath white sheets or it is some figment of their imagination.” “So you're not scared of them?” Samir was ready with the rejoinder.
“Heck, no. What's there to be scared of something that doesn't exist in the first place? They are just old wives tales aimed at getting children to sleep.”
“They are better than the 'sleep otherwise Gabbar will come visiting' type threats, I suppose,” Sushant cut in and everyone laughed. As the sound subsided, Samir crossed his legs and took a large gulp from his mug of beer.
“I don't know about whether ghosts exist or not. But there is this place I was really scared of as a child,” he said.
“Tell us,” Sushant said.
“Tell him!” Nirbhay sneered, looking away.
“Hmmm, it's a palace-like mansion near our farm in Lonavala. No one has lived there since a long, long time. They say it is jinxed and any family that has lived there or at least tried to has been driven away by an unseen force. Accidents, unexplained deaths and events, you know…”
“Are you talking about the 'Moonlight mansion?'” Sushant asked suddenly.
“Yes, yes. That's the name. How do you know?” Samir questioned.
“It's quite a popular tale. It is said that whoever stayed a night there went crazy witnessing the evils that took place there,” Sushant said.
“I guess so, they say a man brutally murdered his wife and children in that cursed place before slitting his own throat and since then that place has never been the same. No one has managed to own it since twenty years,” Samir said.
“I don't think anyone ever will,” Sushant said.
“My mother never allowed me to go outside after the sunset whenever we were putting up at the farm-house. She maintains that evil lurks even in the shadows surrounding that house,” Samir said, suppressing a shiver.
“Woh-oh, guys! Relax, ghosts, evil spirits are by-products of a fanciful imagination. These are cooked up tales to usurp the property in the long run.” Nirbhay said, finally deciding he had taken enough of bull crap.
“It's an exquisite mansion, Nirbhay but cursed. I have seen it and trust me, by the looks of it I'm sure no one would want to go inside that place. In fact, I'm very sure even a person like you, who is so brave, will think twice before facing the spirit there,” Samir said.
“Haha, I would neither look left nor right before challenging your so-called spirit,” Nirbhay mocked.
“That would be the ultimate showcase of your guts, what say, Samir?” Sushant said and his friend gave a small affirmative nod.
“I would love to but unfortunately I have more important things to do than bothering to fight 'evil spirits,'” Nirbhay said, putting down his mug with a look of disinterest.
“Five thousand bucks if you can spend a night there,” Samir said, giving him a challenging look.
Nirbhay sat up in his seat.