Whispers Behind the Wall Matured

SoSo

@So-So

Asha's hands trembled as she turned the key in the lock of her aunt's haveli. After living in London for 10 years, she came back to Delhi for her aunt's funeral. Back to the house she had often visited with her parents. Now she was the owner of the house. Her aunt, the last relative in her family, had bequeathed it to her. The lawyer's words echoed in her head: “You are the last of the Chouhan line. The haveli - and its secrets - are yours now.”

The door creaked open. It groaned as if it had awoken from a deep slumber. The air inside was thick with dust, swirling in lazy motifs that danced in the fading light. A musty odour enveloped her, reminiscent of old books and forgotten memories. With a deep breath Asha stepped inside, her footsteps muffled by the thick layer of dust on the wooden floorboards.

The hallway was full of shadows and decades of neglect. She reached the staircase. Asha's fingers touched the banister. She hesitated for a moment and glanced up to the dark second floor, where shadows lurked just beyond her sight. The air felt heavy with untold stories. The silence enveloped her like a shroud.

As she walked on, Asha found herself drawn to a door at the end of a narrow corridor. She remembered that this door used to always be locked. Her aunt had always forbidden her to go near the door. She felt an inexplicable pull, an urge to reveal what was hidden behind the threshold. With every step she took closer, her heart beats faster. Suddenly, a cold breeze blew through the room, making Asha shiver involuntarily.

Her breathing quickened as she sensed an invisible presence surrounding her. Shadows flickered at the edges of her field of vision, and she could almost hear a soft whisper carried on the wind. A chorus of voices from another time calling to her. The atmosphere thickened, as if time itself was holding its breath. With trembling hands, Asha reached for the doorknob, but hesitated when she felt a shiver creep up her spine. But something deep inside her urged her onwards! In that moment of uncertainty, she realised that there was more to this house than just dust and decay. Stories that were woven into its structure. And as she stood there in the dimly lit room full of shadows and whispers, Asha made a decision. She would uncover these stories or be engulfed by them.

She pulled herself together and ran from window to window to open the shutters. The sun shone through the windows and the swirling dust danced in the sunlight. The eerie effect of the old haveli lost its horror.

Sighing, she went into the kitchen and looked for a bucket and cleaning utensils. She climbed the stairs to the room where she used to stay when she visited her aunt. Here, too, she opened the shutters. Everything was just as she remembered it. She pulled the fabric off the furniture and set about cleaning. She found clean bed linen in the wardrobe and laid it on the bed. The sun had long since set and, tired from the journey and the appointment with her family's lawyer, she flopped down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Something had woken her up! Confused, Asha opened her eyes until she remembered that she was in Delhi at her aunt's haveli. She closed her eyes again, but a noise startled her. She listened intently and heard a soft scratching coming from inside the walls. “Rats”, she told herself. “Just old house noises.” With this thought, she fell asleep again.

But hours later, a child's laughter echoed through the empty corridors. Asha started up with a pounding heart. The laughter stopped and was replaced by the muffled sobs of a woman. Asha froze. But there was nothing to hear. “It was just a bad dream. It's been a hard day,” she said to herself reassuringly. She lay down again and fell asleep after a short while.

The next morning, Asha set about cleaning the first floor. When she got close to the locked door, she felt an inexplicable urge to go there again. As she turned to leave, a floorboard creaked under her feet and seemed to move. She knelt down, picked it up and discovered an old brass key. Her heart raced. Could this be the key to the locked door? Her breath caught in her throat as she realised the same faint scratching sound she had heard during the night.

“I really need to buy some traps or poison to get rid of the rats!” She sighed. She grabbed the key and weighed it in her hand. She was sure the key belonged to the forbidden door. Should she open the door? Her aunt's urgent warning rang in her ears.

“Come on, Buaji is no more! There's nothing to stop you opening the door!” she encouraged herself with loud voice.

She put the key in the lock and turned it. She pulled on the door and it swung open silently, revealing a narrow staircase that led down into the darkness.

Asha was overcome with an unfamiliar feeling of fear. Her rational mind screamed to turn back, to close the door. But something pulled her forwards, step by step, trembling. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and switched on the torch. The deeper she descended the stairs, the colder the air became. The walls seemed to pulsate.

Downstairs, Asha's torch illuminated a scene from a nightmare. Chains hung on the walls. Old bloodstains littered the floor. And in the centre, a stone altar with unspeakable symbols carved into its surface. Suddenly, the torch on her phone went out. In the pitch-black darkness, Asha heard breathing. Definitely not her own!

A match flickered, held by a figure in the corner. The face that greeted her was impossibly old, its eyes glittering with malignant hunger.

“Welcome home, child,” it rasped, “we've been waiting for you.”

Asha's blood froze! Other figures emerged from the shadows. Pale, twisted creatures that had once been human.

Asha screamed, but the sound was swallowed by the thick stone walls. She stormed up the stairs while the things behind her shrieked with unholy glee. The chase had begun! She flew up the stairs as the creatures' claws scratched the walls just inches behind her. Asha slammed the hidden door shut and fumbled with the key. The lock clicked just as something massive crashed against the other side. She gasped for air as an invisible force pulled her into her aunt's study. She stumbled into the room and the eerie pull led her straight to a drawer. She opened it and found a leather-bound diary. With trembling fingers, she reached for it and opened it. Shivering, she began to read.

The pages revealed a terrifying truth. Generations of Chouhans had fed their own children to the creatures in the cellar. Ancient, hungry creatures that demanded sacrifice. Asha was the last Chouhan and was to be the next victim!

Asha's heart pounded in her chest as she realised the terrible reality. Her eyes widened, staring at the damned words before her. A wave of nausea overcame her, and she stumbled backwards, the diary slipping from her trembling hands.

Her breath came in short, ragged gasps as her mind tried to process the unimaginable truth. Generations of her family, her own flesh and blood, had committed unspeakable atrocities. And now she was to be the next victim. Now she understood why her aunt wanted the door closed! She wanted to protect her from the impending danger and break the cruel curse! Her legs gave way! She collapsed on the floor, her body shaking uncontrollably. Tears streamed down her face as a mixture of fear and loathing coursed through her veins. She wanted to scream, to run away, to deny the reality of what she had just discovered, but her voice caught in her throat.

As she realised the gravity of the situation, Asha's survival instinct kicked in. She scrambled to her feet, her heart racing as she contemplated her next move. The knowledge that she was the last of her family to suffer a cruel fate filled her with a desperate will to break the cycle.

With shaking hands, Asha reached for the diary and clutched it to her chest. Questions and disbelief swirled around in Asha's head. How could her family have kept this a secret for so long? Who were these ancient, bloodthirsty creatures? And most importantly, how could she end this curse?

She ran up the stairs to her room. What should she do? She knew virtually no one in Delhi. Her childhood friend Mohit? No, she didn't want to expose him to any danger. Call the police? They would declare her crazy! Her thoughts and nerves calmed down and her stomach slowly began to settle. She continued cleaning the house and as night fell, she heard the scratching in the walls again. It got louder and louder. The house itself seemed to groan with anticipation. Asha stood in front of the forbidden door; the brass key heavy in her hand. She could flee, burn the house down, try to forget! Or she could open the door and face her family's legacy. She made a decision!

She put the key in the lock and turned it with determination. She opened the door and tapped on her phone to open the flashlight. She began to descend the stairs. Asha found herself trapped with the creatures, reality began to distort around her. What on earth has she done! The chamber seemed to be breathing, its walls pulsing with malevolent energy. Shadows danced at the edge of her vision, taking on grotesque shapes that disappear when she tried to focus on them.

Visions of her own death, killed by the creatures, flashed before her eyes. A scream escaped her mouth and, horrified, she turned to run back to the stairs. What was she thinking opening the door again! But this time the creatures were quicker than they appeared! She had barely reached the first step when clawed fingers reached for her. One lunged at her from the darkness, its claws grazing her arm. She stumbles and falls hard onto the stone floor.

The whispering gets louder.

“You can't leave us!”

She regained her footing and began to storm further up the stairs. The staircase seemed to drag on endlessly, each step felt like a mile. The walls of the narrow corridor seemed to close in, threatening to crush her, and clawed hands grabbed at her clothes and hair. Asha's mind shattered under the onslaught. Memories of her childhood visits to the house mingled with horrific visions of the misdeeds of her ancestors. Her own identity began to blur, and she wondered if she was truly escaping or becoming one with the evil of the house. The creatures began to play their final card.

“Asha,” her father's voice called softly from behind her. “It's me. I've been waiting for you.”

Tears streamed down Asha's face as she hesitated.

“Papa!” she breathed.

The voice became more and more desperate: “Please... don't leave me here.”

She paused for a brief moment.

“No,” she whispered through clenched teeth. “You're not real.”

The illusion shattered like glass, revealing one of the creatures crouching behind the door, its mouth twisted into a grotesque grin.

Asha made one last, desperate attempt to open the door. As her hand closed around the handle, she feels the house itself struggling to hold her, its malevolent presence trying to invade her soul. With a scream that was part defiance, part terror, she ripped the door open and plunged back into the world of the living! Forever been changed by her ordeal in the depths of the haveli!