That Night Or Nighmare

By Disha Dave

Shankari is walking towards her home alone. For the first time, she is walking alone because her friends wanted to stay at the party for some time, but Shankari was exhausted, and her parents gave her a time limit till 10 o'clock, and it's already 11:15. Her parents will definitely be angry with her.

She is returning home from her very good friend Avantika’s birthday party. It was a simple birthday party; little decorations, some food, a big cake, friends and family.

They are a group of soul sisters—that’s the name they gave to the group of five girls—Shankari, Avantika, Rekha, Meena, and Isha. They were friends from 2nd standard till today, when they are finally in their most important year, 10th standard.

She loves to study. She can spend days and days studying. That’s why she is on the topper's list. Her parents are very proud of her. It's her dream to study more and more and become one of the most successful journalists one day. She knows she will achieve her dream one day.

Usually she will refuse to go to any party or outing because it will mess up her study schedule, but since it was Avantika’s birthday and she was so excited that Shankar didn’t want to disappoint her, she went there with her girls, enjoying, dancing, having some good music and an enjoyable evening!!

She decided to leave early because she wanted to revise today's chapters, and she always did that at night in a peaceful atmosphere.

Sheragadh can be called a village but a modern village because it has a big and respected school and a college for graduation. It has a small mall and a Cineplex outside, a beautiful temple, and the well-known Shreeji hospital, which has all the modern techniques and machines and doctors with good education and skills, and restaurants just like any other city. It has the luxury of a city as well as the simplicity of a village. People in Sharegadh are a mixture of traditional and modern thinking, where they believe in always living the life of villagers but also believe in walking step by step towards a new generation.

Luxury houses are opposite of the village where most of the builders live. Shankari and her friends live in the middle of the village, within walking distance. Avantika’s house is just 20 minutes' walk from her house, and from Avantika’s house, their school is just 5 minutes' walking distance. As a result, they walk to school and back home every day.

Between the walk to her home and Avantika’s house, there is a big haveli. old, dirty, and dust gathered all around. A lavish, colourful, diamond-encrusted mansion is now lifeless.

Samkha Singh is a king with all the money, diamonds, and gold. The owner of the lavish haveli was a respectful and kind man, always helping villagers and giving them money, food, or whatever they needed. He was the kind of king everyone desired to have. He was loved by all, adored by all, a happy man having property worth crores and crores, but one day, villagers found him hanged in one of his rooms, just yesterday. He was happy because his children were coming to see him after years, but the next morning he was dead, and his children never came, even after knowing about their father’s death. The villagers performed a funerary ritual, locked the haveli, and decided to never visit it again. The haveli was dear to Raja Samkha Singh, and the villagers believe that his spirit will remain at the haveli and cause harm to anyone who comes near it.

Builders from that village rubbish the news of spirits and try to sell the haveli at the highest price. Three builders try, but all of them are found hanged in the same position and time as Raja was found dead. From that day till today, people have had that fear that the haveli is haunted and forbid everyone to go there.

People in today's world do not believe in ghosts or spirits, but the people of Sheragadh do; no one is allowed to walk on the road that connects to Haveli; everyone takes a longer route because they are afraid of losing their lives.

Shankari doesn’t believe in ghosts and spirit stories. They are all typical and created by humans to hide something. All these stories have no proof or evidence, and yet people are terrified for no reason.

So today she took the route that went through Haveli because today she had no strength to walk on a longer route. Today was exhausting for her.

As it is November and freezing cold outside, Shankari pulls the sweater closer to her body, but the cold is still too much.

She was there right in front of the haveli. She paused and looked at it, trying to understand what the real face of this haveli was. What kind of secrets has she been hiding underneath it for years? Are the things people are talking about true? What happened to those builders? What happened to Raja? Why did his children never come here?

This haveli always looked like a monster standing in the dark, ready to bite anyone that came near. Shankari was alone there, as it was November and freezing cold. People were already in their houses, seeking warmth.

She lifts her leg to move forward when she hears a whisper of her name. "Shankari," the voice says, "come here, beta." Shankar looked at the gate, trying to find who had called her name just now...but no one was there, no one anywhere.

She felt a shiver run down her spine. Suddenly, she was not cold anymore. She was sweating badly, but Shankari controlled herself, because she still believed that there was nothing like ghosts or spirits. Slowly, like a turtle taking a step, she took her steps carefully, trying to find the voice. She looked in through the metal gate into the garden of the haveli. No one was there.

She exhales slowly, taking a breath of relief, turning around but again so slowly that she again heard her name as a whisper... Shankari beta comes in"... I am waiting for you..."

She freezes. Her heartbeat is at full speed right now. Maybe her heart will come out at any moment. She turns again, looking in the garden. Still, no one was there. What is happening? She asked herself, even if she had no answers.

She touched the metal gate. As soon as she touched it, something happened. She didn’t know what, but something switched, and she pushed the metal gate and it opened to the wide, dark haveli. It felt like revelling in an unknown face.

No one had entered the haveli in so long, but Shankari put the first step in it, and it felt like something was pulling her right into the haveli. She took the steps slowly and very slowly, terrified that a slight mistake and something bad would happen.

She doesn't know why she is going into that haveli in the middle of the night and that too, alone, but something has switched in her and she doesn’t stop herself.

Her fear is increasing with each step. She is sweating and shaking continuously, but she doesn’t stop until she reaches the main gate of the haveli, which will lead her into the haveli.

She glanced around the garden, a dead silence. She took a deep breath, pushed the handle, and the haveli’s large hall was in front of her eyes.

She could assume that dust settled over old pieces of furniture. It was like the colour of the haveli had drained out over the years.

No colours are there on the walls of the haveli, just a bit of brown and black everywhere; spiders are making their home; she can hear mice’s little noises somewhere in the haveli. It's dirty and dull, but a weird type of energy or strength she feels forces her to step into the hall, like the haveli itself is calling for her. In her mind, that sentence didn’t make any sense to her, but it felt true.

As soon as she took a step, she heard a creepy laugh, as if someone was mocking her for being so stupid and entering the haveli despite the villagers' warnings. She ignored it and went ahead and stood in the middle of the hall, trying to figure out what was going on.

She glanced around, trying to see if anyone was here, but there was no one, not at least human, but from the front gate to the middle of the hall, she felt constant eyes on her, like someone was watching her. She had been in the haveli once, with her parents for one of the festivals, taking blessings from the Raja. At that time, the haveli was alive, laughing beautifully with colour and people, but now it is dead!

She looked at her watch; it was 12:01 a.m. It was too late, and she was hesitant to come here; what if the villagers discovered she had reopened the haveli? when no one is allowed to do that. She will not tell anyone; she will make any excuse to her parents for being late, and nobody will know about this.

She walked to the front door to leave the haveli when suddenly a coin rolled down right into her feet from nowhere. It was a small coin, silver. The dust settled on it like on the rest of the haveli. Shankari bent down and looked at it closely. It was Raja’s money (coin). Shamka Singh was very kind and always helped the poor, and he had that ritual of giving money, jewels, and food on his birth anniversary every year, and he always gave these coins as a prize. It was his own money, worth more than his entire property.

Even Shankari’s parents have one of these coins. That’s how she knows about it. But this haveli is empty. All the cash, coins, Jewells, diamond pieces, and gold are taken out of here. There are only a few furniture pieces remaining. So how did this coin come out of nowhere at this point of time?

Shankari studied it, turning it in her hand again and again, until that coin jumped from her hand and dropped at the end of the wall on her left side, where Raja’s big portrait was hanging. The dust settled over there too. It turned into a brown shade just like the rest of the haveli, but Raja’s eyes spoke something else. It was like they were gliding with an unknown light, like he was the one watching her the entire time.

Shankari flinched, her mouth grasped, as the coin dropped there by itself. What if what she was seeing right now was true? jumped out of her hand by itself and dropped where it belonged? Shankar’s mind went blank. How is all of this happening? It is not true logically.

She ran out of the haveli, trying to escape. She just wanted to get out of here as soon as she could. It was a mistake to come here. Whatever is happening is something dangerous and unusual. Something was wrong with this haveli, but while running, she stumbled upon her face and fell to the ground, landing on her head.

As soon as she hit, she got up from her bed with a loud groan, trying to breathe. She was scared to death. Whatever happened felt like a dream and she hit her head pretty badly, but why could she not feel the pain? She collapsed and found herself in bed. Wait, what is she doing on her bed? She looks everywhere; sunlight is coming into her room in different shades through curtains; the clock on the wall shows 8 o’clock; she can hear birds chirping outside; her mother is cooking breakfast as she can smell the pohaa being made.

Shankari sat there for five minutes trying to figure out what happened. If she was at Haveli and it was after 12 a.m., how and when did she arrive at the home? Was all that a dream?

A headache is coming. She can feel it. She tries to remember something, but her head is thrumming loudly. She fails to remember anything. She gets up, slowly goes downstairs, where her mother greets her normally.

Shankari asked her mother; " Mummy, when did I return home last night?"

Her mother replied with a raised eyebrow; " around 11.30, why do you ask? "Shankari, you were really late last night, and your papa was upset; please don't do it again, okay?"

She replied with a nod, but her mind was racing. She thought, if yesterday she was still at Haveli past 12 o'clock, then how could she have reached home before that? Was all that happened really a dream? How did her mother not suspect anything? What about that creepy voice, that creepy coin?

With a confused mind, she went upstairs to freshen up, and as soon as she opened her room's door, something rolled down right in front of her feet, and in a second her face became pale, and she began to shiver and shake terribly, because if everything that happened yesterday was all a dream, then how come the same coin she found at Haveli yesterday, which she last saw in Haveli, is right here in front of her, in her room, in her home?

She takes the coin in her hand and this time the coin doesn’t jump out but stays there and she figures out, after a minute, that something is wrong with her and her life, and that thought terrified her more than anything before she fell unconscious holding that coin.

What really happened? Does anyone know?

By Disha Dave