ILLUSION OR MYTH

Chapter – 3 “The school spoke” 

“NO ONE CAN LEAVE THIS PLACE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION”, a loud voice came from behind me.

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It didn’t sound human. The accent was a bit British, and the manner was such that it could terrify any human being. I was so petrified that I could not even move an inch. I badly wanted to turn around and see the source of that loud and terrible sound, but it seemed as though someone was holding my neck from behind,

It was as though it had got jammed. However, it did not feel like a hand at all. And then I felt myself going into a deep sleep, a slumber. My eyes were feeling heavy, and I couldn’t keep them open.

All I could remember later on was that I fell on the floor, and then it was all dark. I woke up perhaps a couple of hours later. It was still dark everywhere. I could not see much. I wanted my phone and so started looking for it. Unable to find it, my eyes fell on the carpet, but this time the finger was not there, “Was it a dream?” I asked myself, and if it was not, then something was wrong. I turned around to look for Rajveer, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly I recalled those words, “NO ONE CAN LEAVE THIS PLACE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION” what was that?

But wherever Rajveer was, was he safe?

My mind was all alert now, and I started moving towards the staircase that led to the curved structure of the first floor where there were classrooms. As I climbed the stairs, the school seemed more haunted than I had imagined before coming here.

As I reached up, it was evident that the place had not been visited for decades. It all looked spooky and eerie. But I had to look for Rajveer, so I kept walking, and then I saw something move behind the curtains. I rushed towards it. My heart was in my mouth, I was shaking with fear, but I had no choice. I needed to know what was behind those curtains?

I moved to draw back the curtains, and I felt a hand on my shoulder!!

I froze!! Who was that?

And then I heard someone say, “Are you Okay, Deepika?”

It was Rajveer!!

I turned around. He was standing there in his usual manner, calm manner as if nothing had happened.

“Where were you, Rajveer?” I exclaimed loudly.

He remained silent. His silence was getting to me, and then when I was just about to shout at him, I noticed that something was wrong with him.

His gaze was fixed at a place that seemed to be a door leading to one of the classrooms. I could sense that Rajveer knew something about this place and had some sort of connection with the building. But what?? Before I could say something, Rajveer pointed in a particular direction, which seemed to be the classroom towards which he had been looking all this while.

“Follow me”, he said and started walking in that direction.

I was scared as hell but having no other option; I had to follow him. So I walked behind him, and within a few moments, we were in that old dark and dust-laden classroom, full of spider webs. It was so dark in there that no average person would be able even to walk a step. But this strange companion of mine was confidently walking on and guiding me into the room. I doubted if he was normal like us or something else. Whatever, I was just supposed to follow him as this person perhaps was not interested in answering my questions.

“Please sit down here; I will just come back in a few moments!”, With these words, he left the room.

I was once again left all alone and shaken to the core.!

Chapter – 4 

“Please don’t do this to me!” 

My eyes were darting all over the room, trying to look for a way out, a way to get out of the building.

I was still sitting on that old desk where Rajveer had asked me to sit before leaving the room. The room was quite spacious with big and airy windows on both sides, providing enough ventilation. But, unfortunately, the moonlight sneaking in through the curtains was not enough to see anything else in the room other than the curtain.

It had been a while since Rajveer had left me. The edgy me was now getting more nervous as, since childhood, I had always been afraid of the dark. The fear rose again as I heard the sound of footsteps, which were slowly coming towards me. I first thought that it was Rajveer. I called out his name, but there was no response. And then the footsteps stopped, and there was complete silence.

I was sure that these mini-shocks would undoubtedly lead to my death. I slowly started moving towards the door, trying to make as little sound as possible. As soon as I reached the door, suddenly Rajveer appeared in front of me, ” Almost out of nowhere”.

“Where were you going?” he asked.

“Nowhere, I was just looking for you!” I told him. (I didn’t say anything about the footsteps)

This time the usual serious expressions of his was missing.

There was a hint of a smile on his face, which was unusual, as I had never seen him smile since the day we had met for the first time. It seemed as though he had found something that he had been looking for for years. He looked smug.

But then I realized that he was carrying a first aid box in his hand. When I asked him why he looked at me and said,

“Rather than questioning me, if you would look at the wounds on your hand and face, you will realize that you need first aid.”

I was shocked to see them. “How and when?”, these questions started troubling me. In the meanwhile, he pulled my hand and began to apply medicines to my wounds. His hands were as cold as ice as though they belonged to a dead man. I tried asking him the reason, but somewhere I knew that, as always, he wouldn’t answer my questions.

After he had finished, he began to speak.

He said, “I know you want to know many things, and if I am not wrong, they have to do with this building and its history, right?”.

I nodded my head in the affirmative.

“But,” I said, “I would first like to know about you!”

He looked at me for some time.

“You will get to know about my story when I tell you the story of this school”, he said gently.

The keen me was all excited and all ears. I wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery.

“Let me tell you something about the history of this school. As you might know, this school was set up in 1945 by Lord Vivian. It was meant for the children of the elite and the privileged of the nearby states. With all privileges and facilities provided to them by the school’s managing board, the school had become quite famous among the rich class families. A hostel had also been set up behind the main building to house those students who could not travel regularly. Lord Vivian’s daughter also used to study there. Her name was Maria. She…..”

“Isn’t she the one who……..?” I said.

The way he then looked at me was more frightening than anything else. But he grinned and said, “Yes! You are right! But will you let me complete? Stop interrupting me,” he said as if he were a teacher scolding a student.

He continued.

“She was a girl with a disability, a disability that she had had since her birth. She could not see. But she was an extremely beautiful girl with a kind heart which everyone appreciated. She had only one close friend, Suryadev Singh. He was the prince of a nearby state. Both of them spent a lot of time together. Their closeness was always a topic of discussion for the whole school. Both of them knew about it but never paid much attention to it. But it was apparent that they shared something more than a normal friendship, which was not hidden from their families either.

Since Maria had come back from her last visit to the prince’s state, everyone had noticed a change in her behaviour. Someone who was usually all over the place all day was nowhere to be seen. The jolly nature had got lost somewhere, and that glow on her face had also disappeared. No one knew the reason……”

“Were they in love with each other?” I wanted to know.

“Yes”, he said.

“One day, when the two of them were in her room, people could hear loud voices, as though they were arguing about something. And then came the sound of her bursting into tears and saying, “Please don’t do this to me!”…

Next: Chapter 5 & 6

Previous: Chapter 1 & 2

About the Author:

I am Ankit Kumar, a 19-year-old undergraduate currently pursuing my undergrad. I love reading, learning by reading and then writing. I am fond of thriller and horror stories. So I have tried writing one! I have a YouTube channel “weird kumar“.