For Part I, click here
For Part II, click here
Continue to Part III -
"I will stop you," the voice screamed in his head as he fell back.
He snapped his eyes open and found himself surrounded by white. The only thing that told him he was alive still was the pain that shot through his body. He felt needles poking him all over. Not needles, shards, he corrected himself. He tried moving but a gentle hand restrained his desperate efforts. "Please calm down." He looked at the woman speaking to him and for a minute, the white she was dressed in made her look like an angel. But instantly he identified her as a nurse.
He lay back blinking, organising his thoughts. He should be dead. He was meant to die when the chandelier fell. How had he escaped?
"What happened to Vikas, to my friend?" he asked with an urgency in his tone.
"Unfortunately...," the nurse said with as much gentleness as possible. But it still was not enough to soften the blow.
The door opened and Ila walked in. "So good to see you awake," she said in the correct sombre tone.
Over the days, he would realise that he owed his life to Ila, who had stopped by to make a routine follow up visit about the movie. She had heard the crash of the chandelier and the shout of the two men. She managed to get the security to break the door open and enter the house. Vikas had died on the spot due to the fall as well as a shard piercing his abdomen. Shekhar had been lucky. He was farther from the spot and the few shards that pierced him were in non-critical areas.
He was up and running in a few weeks, but his heart still lingered on that day, on that voice that had spoken to him just a moment before the chandelier crashed. It had made him step back and escape grievous injury. The media was curious about the sudden deaths around him. The police was investigating the possible reasons of the two deaths and he was being suspected. The ideal time to make the movie, but the deaths had left a bad taste in his mouth - the fact that he was probably the main target of the 'accidents' did not escape his notice. And what scared him the most was that voice. These were not mere accidents, but being engineered by someone. Who? A dead woman? A..g-ghost?
It was a clear sign that the family was still watching over this secret, but how? The answer unnerved him, sending shivers down his spine.
He had to abandon the movie plan, there was no doubt about it. His instincts protested against such a drastic decision. Probably he was imaging the cause for the events - there must be some simple explanation for the accidents. But the voice... No, the anger, the hurt, the fierce protectiveness... He couldn't have imagined all that!
"Sir, that movie...?" Ila called him the nth time.
"Abandoned. Too many omens telling me I should not proceed," he said mildly.
"The artists have sacrificed their lives for it," she pointed out gently. "Even that villager..."
He looked at her sharply. "What villager? Who told you?"
"You, don't you remember?" she asked coolly.
He shook his head slowly, watching her closely. Her smile remained unchanged and he had to be content with that. But her eyes flashed with a knowing look, tempting him again to cast her in the role of the daughter-in-law.
"I don't want any more deaths," he said, forcing himself to look away.
"You are being superstitious..."
"So be it..."
"What are you afraid of?" she taunted him. "Death?"
He got furious, "Mind your business!" But as she got up to leave, he said, "I will make a romance. You will be the heroine, don't worry..."
She smiled and nodded, but didn't look happy. "It was a chance of a lifetime," she said cryptically and left, leaving him puzzled.
Proceed to Part IV
For Part II, click here
Continue to Part III -
"I will stop you," the voice screamed in his head as he fell back.
He snapped his eyes open and found himself surrounded by white. The only thing that told him he was alive still was the pain that shot through his body. He felt needles poking him all over. Not needles, shards, he corrected himself. He tried moving but a gentle hand restrained his desperate efforts. "Please calm down." He looked at the woman speaking to him and for a minute, the white she was dressed in made her look like an angel. But instantly he identified her as a nurse.
He lay back blinking, organising his thoughts. He should be dead. He was meant to die when the chandelier fell. How had he escaped?
"What happened to Vikas, to my friend?" he asked with an urgency in his tone.
"Unfortunately...," the nurse said with as much gentleness as possible. But it still was not enough to soften the blow.
The door opened and Ila walked in. "So good to see you awake," she said in the correct sombre tone.
Over the days, he would realise that he owed his life to Ila, who had stopped by to make a routine follow up visit about the movie. She had heard the crash of the chandelier and the shout of the two men. She managed to get the security to break the door open and enter the house. Vikas had died on the spot due to the fall as well as a shard piercing his abdomen. Shekhar had been lucky. He was farther from the spot and the few shards that pierced him were in non-critical areas.
He was up and running in a few weeks, but his heart still lingered on that day, on that voice that had spoken to him just a moment before the chandelier crashed. It had made him step back and escape grievous injury. The media was curious about the sudden deaths around him. The police was investigating the possible reasons of the two deaths and he was being suspected. The ideal time to make the movie, but the deaths had left a bad taste in his mouth - the fact that he was probably the main target of the 'accidents' did not escape his notice. And what scared him the most was that voice. These were not mere accidents, but being engineered by someone. Who? A dead woman? A..g-ghost?
It was a clear sign that the family was still watching over this secret, but how? The answer unnerved him, sending shivers down his spine.
He had to abandon the movie plan, there was no doubt about it. His instincts protested against such a drastic decision. Probably he was imaging the cause for the events - there must be some simple explanation for the accidents. But the voice... No, the anger, the hurt, the fierce protectiveness... He couldn't have imagined all that!
"Sir, that movie...?" Ila called him the nth time.
"Abandoned. Too many omens telling me I should not proceed," he said mildly.
"The artists have sacrificed their lives for it," she pointed out gently. "Even that villager..."
He looked at her sharply. "What villager? Who told you?"
"You, don't you remember?" she asked coolly.
He shook his head slowly, watching her closely. Her smile remained unchanged and he had to be content with that. But her eyes flashed with a knowing look, tempting him again to cast her in the role of the daughter-in-law.
"I don't want any more deaths," he said, forcing himself to look away.
"You are being superstitious..."
"So be it..."
"What are you afraid of?" she taunted him. "Death?"
He got furious, "Mind your business!" But as she got up to leave, he said, "I will make a romance. You will be the heroine, don't worry..."
She smiled and nodded, but didn't look happy. "It was a chance of a lifetime," she said cryptically and left, leaving him puzzled.
Proceed to Part IV
No comments:
Post a Comment