Chapter 14

 

EPISODE – 26

 

She opened her eyes, still half-asleep. In a blurred vision from half open eyes she could see Rajveer siting right in front of her, sipping coffee and fiddling with his mobile. She got up and sat. She was trying very hard to open her eyes but she was too sleepy for that. With a wide yawn she asked,

"Meri coffee kahan hai?"

"Main sleeping beauties ke liye coffe nahin banata.... jaa ke khud bana lo!"

"How mean?" She again collapsed on her pillow cribbing something else after it under her breath that was neither audible nor clear. She held her pillow tightly and buried her face into it to ward off the light falling on her face.

 

"What's so mean in that? Ek to maine tumhein beauty kaha... Pata hai kitna mushkil kaam hota hai itna bada jhooth bolna!"

She clutched the pillow tightly and threw it on him with all her force and returned cosily to her sleep. Rajveer didn't expect her to react since she was too sleepy for that.

"NAINA!!! What did you do?"

The pillow had hit directly on his hand spilling the entire coffe over him.

She looked at him with just one eye that she could manage to open with loads of difficulty and a huge smile ran over her face.

"Good Morning!" She got up laughing.

 

"Yeah right...A very good morning for you!"

He left to change and Naina also dragged herself down the bed towards the kitchen to get a glass of water. She opened the fridge and to her surprise found a mug of ice tea for her. She returned with it to her room. Couple of minutes later Rajveer returned to find her sipping her tea.

 

"Raj... I really hate you! Pehle nahin bata sakte the sharafat se my tea is ready... Bekar mein apni Good Morning kara li."

"To isi khushi mein now get me a cup of coffee. Waise bhi mere haath ki banayi coffe most of the time main khud bhi nahin pi pata hoon."

"Oops...Right...I'll get it!!" She answered in her sleepy tone.

"Rehne do! You are still sleepy. Pata laga coffee banate-banate saare ghar ko aag laga di."

"Main itni bhi careless nahin hoon!"

"I still don't want to take chances. Waise, by the way, meri good morning aapne nahin aapke Bhai sahab ne ki thi!"

"Bhaiyya ne!" She freaked out "Hum pakde gaye kya?"

"Agar pakde gaye hote to tumhari aankh, hell or heaven, I donno but upar hi khulti."

"Hmmmm..... point! Lekin tum fighting mode mein kyun ho?"

"Don't ask...Ek to subah subah Navin ke bachche ne jaga diya...upar se apne hi haath ki coffe peeni padi aur woh bhi tumne mere hi upar gira di."

"What an aweful start!" She said in pretentious upset tone hiding her smirk.

"Shut up!"

"Okay. But Bhaiyya ne phone kyun kiya?"

"Yeh batane ke liye that our plan is working."

"Matlab woh darr gaye?"

"Nahin bas chidha hua hai.... Main to yeh soch raha hoon agar pakde gaye to pata nahin woh hamara kya karega! Waise maine use bata diya hai ki jab Dad ne yeh jagah kharidi thi tab it was quite popular as a haunted house because someone was murdered here and his spirit was supposed to be lingering around the place."

"Ek kaam karte hain... Aaj un dodno ko baksh dete hain."

"Haan... taaki unko lage ki mujhe sab kuch batate hi sab band kyun ho gaya aur unhein mujhpe shaq ho jaye!"

"Again you have a point!"

"Waise dono sight seeing ke liye nikal chuke hain... Shaam ko aayenge. So we have lot of time for next prank!"

"Wow." She clapped her hand in excitement and literally started jumping on her seat."

"Shararaton ke naam pe madam ki neend kitni jaldi gayab ho jaati hai... Uffff!"

 

She gave him a silly grin and left to make a cup of coffee for him.

 

********

 

Navin and Neetika returned in the evening in a rather cheerful mood. Out of this 'Haunted Bungalow' their day has been wonderful but they were expecting something uncanny to happen again. And, well, Rajveer and Naina were more than happy to fulfill their expectations and rather exceed them. Everything was set. Naina was wating for Rajveer in the backyard and Rajveer was hiding behind a tree in the lawn. It was dark when they returned.

 

As Navin and Neetika entered the main gate, Neetika's phone rang. She stopped on her way and answered the call.

"Hey Naina! How are you?"

"Meri chodo aur apni batao. By the way, I hope main aap dono ko disturb nahin kar rahi hoon."

"Oh not at all."

"Cool... Bhaiyya wahin pe hain kya?"

"Haan."

"To phir side mein aana!"

"Kyun?"

"Arrey private mein baat karni hai.... Girly talks you see!"

"Okay!"

 

She asked Navin to carry on and herself stayed back strolling in the lawn.

"Haan ab bolo....Bhej diya maine Navin ko."

"Good.... So tell me... kaisa chal raha hai aapka honeymoon."

 

When Raj saw Navin going inside all alone he came out from behind the tree. He was wearing a black overcoat over a hooded tee. He had put that hood over his head and has kept his back towards Navin so that he can't see his face. He started strolling leisurely and hit the braches of the tree with a stick on purpose to draw Navin's attention and he successfully did.

 

Nain saw a dark figure moving in the darkness.

"Kaun hai wahan?" He yelled.

Rajveer, maintaining a not so fast pace continued to stroll towards the backyard without paying any heed to Navin's yelling. Guard came running and held Navin's arm to stop him from going there. Neetika realised some disturbance behind her back so she asked Naina to hang up but according to plan, Naina had to keep her busy for next 2 minutes.

 

"Kya baat hai Saab?" Guard asked Navin.

"Koi hai wahan pe."

"Kahan pe?"

"Arrey udhar!" He pointed towards Rajveer.

 "Kahan pe Saab?"

"Tumhein night blindness hai kya? Raat mein nazar nahin aata... woh...wahan."

"Lekin wahan koi bhi nahin hai Saab."

"What rubbish... tumhein wahan ek poora ka poora insaan nazar nahin aa raha?"

"Lekin...."

"Shut up and let me see."

"Kya hua Navin?" Neetika came running.

"Niti, that man over there... aur ise koi wahan pe nazar nahin aa raha."

"Kaun Navin?"

"Neeti... There!"

 

He turned to point out the direction but there was no one. Rajveer had rushed towards the backyard as Naina gave him the signal that Neetika is coming.

"Koi nahin hai Navin."

"Abhi tha wahan."

"Saab... aapne sach mein kisi ko dekha tha?"

"To kya main jhooth bol raha hoon?"

"Iska matlab yahan sach mein bhoot rehte hain! Mujhe to laga tha afwaah hai. Saab main jaa raha hoon."

"Kahan?"

"Naukri chod ke... zinda reh gaya to doosri dhoondh loonga."

"Cut the crap... Kuch bhoot-woot nahin hota! Wahan ek insaan tha."

"To mujhe dikhayi kyun nahin diya? Mujhe yahan kaam nahin karna saab. Chalta hoon."

 Saying this he ran away from there.

 

"I don't believe this man."

He was badly irritated. He turned to Neetika only to find her going pale.

"Ab tumhein kya hua? Now don't tell me you believe all this nonsense."

"Lekin yahan kuch to weird hai na."

"Weird but definitely not spooky... Anyways I think we should go and check."

 

They checked the entire lawn and the backyard but could not find anything or anyone. The time wasted by the guard was more than enough for Rajveer and Naina to enter the bungalow from the back gate. When they found nothing they decided to return to their room.

 

Rajveer and Naina were already in their hide-out. As Neetika opened the door of her bedroom, with shaking hands, as if expecting something uncanny one more time, a loud scream escaped her lips.

 

"Oh god! Lagta hai yeh kuch zyada ho gaya!" Naina whispered to Rajveer feeing bad for Neetika.

"I think so... Kal kuch acha sa sochenge to lighten their mood."

"Matlab tum ek din bhi inhein nahin bakshoge."

"Jaise inke honeymoon pe saara time main yahan rukne wala hoon. Just a mater of couple of days more... that's it!"

"But poor Niti! Woh sach mein darr gayi hai."

 

Navin and Neetika were shocked at the sight. It was a dagger suspened from the ceiling of the room. It was soaked with blood with a tiny drop still dangling from its sharp edge. There was a lot of blood already on the floor covering a massive area. It was a dreadful sight and it did shook Neetika deep down.