The Other Side(18)

“It must be that cursed cat again,” Nirbhay said out aloud, thinking about venturing out to shoo it again. The sound came again. No, cats don't make such sound; this was the noise of footsteps, human footsteps! He could hear them clearly now, slowly ascending the stairs from the lower level. He could make out the distinct 'thud-thud' of the feet on the hard oak flooring, they seemed to come right up to his door and suddenly, the sound stopped. Nirbhay was pretty sure there was an intruder in the house, so he decided to investigate cautiously. He swallowed the trepidation rising in his mind, stood up and walked towards the door. He fished out the torch in his pocket but did not switch it on. He had to wait till he peered outside. Inch by inch, he opened the door and stared into the darkness outside through the gap. Switching on the torch, he shone it outside covering the stairs with the light beam and then the entire empty corridor.

“Who is it?” Nirbhay mumbled, the perspiration picking up steam again. All of a sudden the torchlight began to flicker. It did so thrice before going out with a pop and plunging the corridor into the darkness.

“Looks like the battery went out. I might be having a spare one in the bag,” Nirbhay consoled himself and turned to step inside the room. The moment he did, a strong gust of wind passed through the door, pushing him back as the seven candles in the room, went out together.

“Whoa, what the…” Nirbhay rushed to check on the candles. None of them had burned down completely. He bent over to inspect the wicks. The feeling of being watched suddenly returned and he turned to look at the door. There was someone standing there.

“Ahhh… wh… who are you?” Nirbhay asked, staggering back and bumping into the bed. The girl had shoulder-length cropped hair and her skin seemed to showcase a strange sort of glow in the darkness. Nirbhay could make out she was wearing a white nightgown that brushed the floor. She looked up slowly from the ground, unfolding her hands and signaling him to come close with her index finger. For a second, Nirbhay's heart hammered in his chest but the fear soon gave way to something inexplicable when he looked in the eyes of the girl. Nirbhay felt himself being pulled towards her, her deep brown eyes melting his tumultuous emotions. As he neared the door, the girl pushed him lightly and he toppled over. He could hear her running away, her laughter ringing in the corridor.



“Hey, wait. What's your name?” he shouted behind her, getting on his feet and stepping outside in the darkness. “Akshi,” came a voice from further ahead, soft and baby-like. “Don't run away, please come back. I want to know what you're doing here,” Nirbhay said, walking ahead cautiously in the dark.

“I live here.” This time the voice came from somewhere behind him. Nirbhay turned.

“B… but no one lives here since a long time,” Nirbhay argued. “We have always lived here.” Nirbhay turned again. This time she was standing right behind him, staring at him with a bewitching smile on her lips. The glow of her face seemed to illuminate the corridor and Nirbhay almost had to shield his eyes from looking at her, but she was a spectacle he would not have missed. For a moment, he lost his voice and Akshi laughed, soft yet loud enough for it to echo in the corridor. His heart was pounding against his ribs and he felt a desire burning in his chest of holding Akshi in his arms and talking to her all night.

“Ak… Akshi, you have a beautiful name,” he stuttered. “Thank you,” she nodded.

“Y… you are too beautiful.”

“Thanks again.”

“A… Akshi you said 'we have always lived here.' So who else resides here?” “My family?”

“Where are they?”

“In that room on your right.”

Nirbhay narrowed his eyes and could just about make out the locked room he had seen earlier.

“But it's locked,” he protested.

“Not every lock has a key,” Akshi said in her mysterious saccharine-like voice.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Nirbhay asked but Akshi didn't respond. She just smiled and turned away. “Hey, wait. I'm sorry, sorry for trespassing on your property but when I came here in the evening, no one was here, not a single soul,” Nirbhay said.

“Souls are everywhere around you, Nirbhay. You just don't notice them,” Akshi said slowly.

“Huh? You know my name? Went through my bag? Alright, alright… but I mean you must have come here during the night while I was sleeping,” Nirbhay surmised.

“I come here only during the night,” Akshi said.

“Ah, I thought so. So you must be studying somewhere or working during the day. A princess in such a royal mansion shouldn't work, she should just rule,” Nirbhay flirted a little.