Cursed

Episode 08

The entire village was in a state of shock. The entire bungalow was engulfed in the fire. There was no chance of anyone surviving this fire. The villagers were still trying to extinguish the fire while the rays of the sun-filled the entire sky. The elders of the village stood in the corner and looked at the building. They informed Pyare Mohan about the fire. He came to the spot with Suraj, Rohan and Swayam. No one spoke a single word. There was a smile on the faces of Suraj, Rohan and Swayam.

'Sarpanch ji, I don't think anyone would have survived this fire. We need to clean this place up and look for bodies.' said a villager.

The expressions changed on the face of Suraj, Rohan and Swayam. That can't be good.

'You can start cleaning up the place and looking at the ferocity of the fire, I don't think finding the bodies would also be possible.' said Pyare Mohan.

Pyare Mohan looked grim. This was the first time something like that happened in their village. 'Find out whether this fire was an accident or has been set up. Innocent people died in that house.' thundered Pyare Mohan.

Innocent? They had blood on their hands. chuckled Suraj but remained silent as he did not want to hurt his grandfather.

The villagers cleared the debris and tried to go inside when suddenly, a huge piece of roof fell, leaving no chance of any survival. All the remaining parts of the ceiling collapsed, and, in a moment, it reduced the entire bungalow into a pile of rubble. Everyone stood and looked at the horror being unfold in front of their eyes. A group of people slowly removed the debris so that they can get inside. It was a clear morning as the birds chirped their way to their destination while some people in the village fought their way into the destroyed building.

Pyare Mohan decided to stay till all this is not over. All the elders also decided to stay. Suraj, Rohan and Swayam left the place, giving the reason that they were not comfortable seeing all these things. As they turned around and moved away, they could see Shyam standing at a distance and looking at them. There was a faint smile on his face which represented the approval of the act.

The building was situated on the other end of the village. No one ventured to that part of the village. People believed it to be haunted. With large trees, covered with thick vines and different sounds of birds, the place painted an eerie look. In between all these horrors stood the small house. It looked very old. There was no one around. Creepers have grown all over the house. The glass panes were broken and have been covered with newspapers. The house looked deserted, but a small light coming out from inside proved otherwise.

The leaves rustled as some people were moving towards the house. They were covered, and their faces are hidden. They reached near the house and knocked on the door. They had a special knock by which the person inside could know. It was three long knocks followed by two short knocks. The door opened, and both looked at each other. After a brief while, they hugged each other, and all went inside.

'Where are they?' asked Suraj as he removed the hood from his face.

'Inside that room. We had to keep them in a separate room.' said Dilip.

Suraj again wore the hood and along with Swayam and Rohan went towards that room. Dilip unlocked the room. The room was dimly lit. Nothing was visible inside the room. Dilip came inside and clicked on a switch and another light brightened the room. They tied all the middle women, and they sat in the corner. They were whimpering in fear and their gagged mouth, sweat on their forehead only spoke of fear.

Suraj came near them and said, 'I hope you realise why we brought you here? The entire village thinks you are dead, except for us. We are not cruel like you all. Even though you are not innocent, we did not want to kill you. So, until the issue is resolved you all would be locked here and after that would be handed over to the police. The women spoke nothing. Their muffled cries were the nods of their approval.

'What next, Suraj?' asked Shyam.

'A letter.' smiled Suraj.

Everybody looked at him. Slowly a smile spread across everyone's face.