Link to the 5th chapter : https://www.tellyupdates.com/where-secrets-lie-chapter-5-shattered-dreams/
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She was aimlessly walking in an unknown dark alley. She didn’t know why she was doing that. But her heart was heavy and her brain was too befogged to think straight.
It was eerily quiet there. The only sound came from the water dripping from the cracked roof, and this was enough to startle her every now and then.
She squinted her eyes and saw a figure in black curled up at the far end of the alley. A chill ran down her spine when she realized who it could possibly be.
Nonetheless, she ventured ahead mustering enough courage. His back was turned to her and his head was buried deep in his hands.
When she was at an arm’s distance from him, she placed her shaking hand on top of his shoulder.
He recoiled and immediately turned towards her, his eyes turning menacingly dark with rage.
“Told you to stay away from me!” His booming voice sent vibrations throughout her body causing her to tremble further.
She wanted to run away from there but she was too stupefied to do so.
This cannot be my Vansh. His mere presence used to calm every tensed fibre in my body. This is not HIM…, she wondered painstakingly.
All of a sudden, Vansh’s features softened and a lone tear escaped his eyes.
“I’m broken, I’m ruined. I have no place to go to, no one to find solace in. You are my only hope. Please help me…”
Her heart ached so much to see him in that state that she felt she could even die from that pain.
She grasped his hands tightly in his and cried.
“I’ll help you, I sure will. I promise you that.”
Riddhima….
A distant voice made it’s way into her ears.
Riddhima wake up. Are you listening to me?
But how could she leave Vansh in this state? He needed her.
Riddhima!
She woke up from her sleep breathing heavily. She touched her forehead only for her hand to be moistened with droplets of sweat. Her eyes landed upon Seher who was sitting right beside her.
“Are you okay?” Seher ran her fingers through her hair. “You were mumbling something in your sleep…”
Riddhima scanned her surroundings. She was in her own room and not in any queer place.
What was happening to her? Why was she getting such kind of dreams? When Vansh has already been dead since a long time, then what was all that her eyes had seen, her ears had heard and her skin had touched?
She started feeling immensely sorry for herself and within no time her eyes were brimming with large pools of tears.
“I cannot understand anything, Seher. Why me? Am I going mad?” she weeped.
Seher looked at her sympathetically. Riddhima was her bestfriend since the days of high school. And seeing her so vulnerable was making her feel really bad.
She tried to calm her down by asking her to take deep breaths. It did seem to have a positive effect on Riddhima temporarily, but still she was far from being completely fine.
“There’s no use crying over something which we cannot change or isn’t in our control. Vansh is dead, and it’s high time that you accept this reality.” Seher chose her words carefully trying her best to not come across as insensitive.
“There are only two possibilities here. Either it was all your hallucination. Or…”
“Or what?” asked a visibly tensed Riddhima.
Seher inhaled sharply. “Or else the one whom you encountered and fell in love with wasn’t a person but a spirit.”
Riddhima’s eyes widened in shock.
Seher understood what she was thinking.
“Look, I know that you don’t believe in all these things. But spirits do exist. I know it sounds scary, but this must be it.”
Trring!
The sudden sound of the doorbell made both the girls to jump up in fright. And why not? It was freaking 1AM in the night and they had been literally talking to each other about spirits.
Seher assured her already traumatised friend and went to see who it was. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Riddhima’s dad, Ajay standing at the door.
Throwing a hurried greeting in Seher’s direction, Ajay straight away headed into Riddhima’s room.
“Papa!” Riddhima let out a short squeal and went up to him taking him in a hug.
Ajay gently caressed her head. “As soon as Yash informed me about this over the phone call, I booked an emergency ticket and came back.”
“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” mumbled Riddhima.
Ajay made her sit on the bed and spoke in as compassionate a manner as possible.
“Don’t worry. This is a pretty normal scenario with many psychiatrists. When you keep seeing all types of eccentric psychiatric patients day after day, this is bound to happen. Here,” he handed her some medicines. “Take them. I’m sure you’ll find some relief.”
Riddhima read the name on the tablets. These were the same that she used to prescribe to her patients. She never expected that a day would come when she’d have to take them.
Sighing, she popped a tablet into her mouth and gulped it down with a glass of water.
“The problem is that you are working excessively and inflicting unnecessary stress upon yourself in the process,” said Ajay. “That is why I’ve decided to take you to America. Move to a new place, meet new people and see how fast you recover.”
“A-America?” she stammered.
“Yes! We will leave within the next two-three days or so.” It looked more like an order from Ajay.
“But Papa, I don’t want to…”
“Enough. It’s already late. Get some sleep and we’ll talk about it tomorrow,” said Ajay.
He turned towards Seher. “And don’t leave her alone even for a second. I hope I can trust you on that.”
“Of course, Uncle. I am not going anywhere until Riddhima becomes completely alright. I’ve even brought my luggage along to stay here itself,” she pointed towards her suitcase.
“I was also thinking of staying here for a few days,” added Ajay.
Riddhima immediately refused, “No Papa. You must be really tired from your trip. Plus I know how you like all your things and routine to be prim and proper. Seher is here with me. We’ll manage.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Papa.”
“Okay. No one can ever win an argument against you. You always have to remain this stubborn girl that you are,” Ajay sounded a little miffed.
With that, he quickly left from his daughter’s house. Seher was swift enough to securely bolt the door after him.
She saw Riddhima in deep thoughts and wondered what she was thinking about.
“Can you do me a favour, Seher?”
“Friends aren’t supposed to be requested to. They should be literally ordered around,” said Seher.
Riddhima couldn’t help but smile a little. She realized how lucky she was to have a friend like her.
“Can you get me a picture of Vansh from somewhere? I want to see if he really looks the same as how I had imagined him.”
“It’s not an easy task. But I’ll try looking up police, hospital or even the cemetery records,” said Seher.
At the mention of the word ‘cemetery’, Riddhima shuddered a little as she remembered her recent visit to Vansh’s grave.
Seher patted her back. “Everything will be fine soon. Just relax. And no matter what happens, I’ll always stay by you. And that’s a freaking promise.”
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The next morning Riddhima woke upto a delicious breakfast of crispy potato wedges, scrambled eggs and mouth-watering pancakes with had a pinch of glistening sugar sprinkled over them.
“Wow what is this extraordinarily grand breakfast for?” she asked amazed.
Seher did a little bow in “Of course, for you Madame.”
As Riddhima took a bite of the syrupy pancake, she closed her eyes enjoying it’s every crumb.
“It tastes like heaven!”
Just then, Jeh entered the scene.
“Hello girls! Having fun without me?”
He was about to pick up a piece of wedge when Seher smacked his hand.
“Stop fooling around and tell me if you did the work I asked you to do,” she said sounding understandably cross.
“Oh yes, I did. The police records did have a photograph of Vansh with them. But it’s of his dead body, so they were hesitant to share it with me. But…I asked one of them to get a sketch drawn and guess what, they did that!” Jeh seemed really proud of the feat he did.
“Where’s the sketch?” Riddhima asked desperately.
Jeh pulled out a scroll from his pocket and rolled it open revealing the drawing on it.
Riddhima was totally aghast. The same chiselled jaw, the same neatly trimmed beard, the same almond shaped eyes and the same straight nose. It was the same Vansh she had seen time and again.
“Not going to lie, but I feel a little jealous of this man. It’s illegal to look so good,” said Jeh.
“For heaven’s sake, just get serious for once at least!” Seher reprimanded him.
Riddhima started walking backwards until her back hit a wall. Words barely came out of her mouth.
“This…is the…same Vansh…how is this possible?”
“Riddhima…”
“If what Papa said was true and all this is in my head, then how did I know his name correctly? How does he look the same as that in my imagination, especially when I never met him before?” she gasped.
Seher signalled Jeh with her eyes to leave them alone. Not wanting to earn his girlfriend’s wrath, he left.
“Then it simply means that the one whom you met was Vansh’s spirit,” mumbled Seher.
Riddhima quivered at this thought. “But why does he only come in front of me? And whenever I met him, why did I feel that I knew him from before? Whenever I spent any time with him, why did it seem like déjà vu? All these things just do not make any sense!”
“There’s only one solution to get to the depth of the matter” said Seher slowly. “And that is a séance.”
______________________________________
“So this is the house you were talking about?” asked the middle aged woman.
She was of short height with few grey hair here and there, and had spectacles awkwardly perched atop her nose. But those glasses couldn’t hide away the sharp and quick eyes that lay right behind them.
“Yes, Mrs. Sanders. I did tell you about what exactly happened with Riddhima, right?” said Seher.
“And I hope whatever you told me was nothing but truth. Because even I can’t do anything if you people lie or hide things from me,” said Mrs. Sanders.
She took short, shuffling steps ahead accompanied by her assistant, a young girl about the same age as Riddhima and Seher.
Riddhima looked at the sky as she nervously tagged along. The sun had already begun to set, and within no time it would completely disappear into the horizon rendering all of them into darkness.
As she walked further ahead towards the house, she could remember all those moments that she had spent here with Vansh. The very house that emanated peace and serenity at one time, was giving off sinister vibes right now.
Mrs. Sanders pushed open the door to enter inside. She began closely scrutinizing everything in her sight, from the walls to the minimal furniture to everything.
“Mary, set up the ambience for the séance,” Mrs. Sanders ordered her assistant.
Mary nodded her head in obedience. She pulled the table to the middle and began placing few candles and some bread on it.
They waited until the last few calls of the birds were heard, indicating that they were all heading to their respective nests and that the day had been completely replaced by the night.
Mrs. Sanders peered outside the window.
“It’s a full moon night today. Even better for the séance to be carried out.”
Upon her instruction, all the four women sat around the table holding hands and closing their eyes.
“No matter what happens, no one would break this circle. Under no circumstances are you allowed to either leave hands or to open your eyes. You may do so only when I say so,” warned Mrs. Sanders.
Riddhima complied but from inside she was panicking. She couldn’t believe that being a doctor she was involving herself in such stuff. But it was also true that whatever had happened with her, was far from being logical.
Mrs. Sanders was a psychic medium with supposedly years of experience in dealing with spirits. Seher had explained their entire ordeal to her and she had agreed to help them.
Riddhima came back to the present when Mrs. Sanders started speaking in a deep and scary voice.
“We pray for protection from beings that would do us harm. We ask God that only good spirits be allowed in our circle tonight.
“Dear Vansh Raisinghania, we bring you gifts from life into death. Commune with us, Vansh Raisinghania, and move among us.”
They all waited with bated breaths but nothing happened.
She repeated in a louder and crisper voice this time.
“Commune with us and move among us.”
Little by little, it started growing chilly around them. Riddhima had an urge to drape her arms around herself to stay warm, but she was weary of breaking the circle.
Suddenly, the candles started flickering and all of them went off. The closed windows opened on their own and began beating against the wall due to the strong gust of wind. Furniture began to creak as if a strong, invisible force was pushing them around.
All this made the hair on Riddhima’s skin rise and she began shivering, partly due to the cold and partly due to the fright. And what made it worse was that her long tresses got scattered all over because of the air that circled around it.
“Vansh Raisinghania, is that you?” Mrs. Sanders spoke in a low voice.
After a long pause, she asked, “Why are you here? What do you want?”
There was yet another pause. But it felt like something or someone moved right past them this time.
“What is the solution to Riddhima’s problems? How can she find all her answers?”
Yet again, Riddhima felt something whisk past her. She understood that this was the spirit’s way of communicating with them.
“Thank you for joining our circle tonight. We appreciate you for sharing your guidance,” said Mrs. Sanders. “The spirit has left us. Now you may all open your eyes and break the circle. And now, we must leave immediately.”
The four women hurried out of the house. During their quick walk through the equally scary forest, Mrs. Sanders filled the two girls in with whatever information she was able to procure from the process.
“I don’t know if the spirit I encountered was that of Vansh or not, because it did not give reply to that question. But one thing I can definitely say is that it wasn’t a malevolent one. In fact, it seemed relatively harmless and peaceful.
I also don’t know if that spirit belongs to this very house or flew by from a surrounding area, but it did say something very vital.
“Riddhima, apparently the way to get all your answers lies in this house itself. So if you really want to get to the bottom of the matter, you must search this house thoroughly. If you intend to go ahead with it, I’d rather you do it in broad daylight when the spirits are relatively weaker. Rest lies up to you.”
Soon they managed to get out of the forest and reached their respective cars.
Mrs. Sanders was about to sit in her car when she turned around for one last time.
“Also, if you need any more help in the future, then you can count on me.”
Seher thanked her while Riddhima stood silent as she was busy in her own thoughts. At a far off distance, the wolves howled in all their mighty, but in spite of that Riddhima remained unfazed as a new determination began to rise inside her.
______________________________________
“Don’t be stupid, Riddhima. You won’t do anything of that sort. Do you think after what happened today, I’ll let you even enter that wretched house ever again?” said an annoyed Seher.
Both the girls were back in Riddhima’s appartment and were discussing about what Mrs. Sanders had said to them.
“But you don’t understand. I need to find out everything. And that is only possible if I go back to that house again,” Riddhima protested.
She took out the leftover lunch from the fridge and microwaved it. After that whole séance fiasco, none of them were in a mood to cook something fresh for dinner. Also they had barely any appetite left.
Seher scowled, “Seriously, you are one crazy woman! We literally witnessed a spirit entering the house and messing with the surroundings. You know I literally felt it move right past my body! I’m thankful that I came out alive and there’s no way I’m putting my life in danger again.
In fact, I’m doubtful if I’ll even be able to get any sleep tonight. Or even if I will, I’m sure that the same ghost would haunt me in my dreams for quite a few days!”
Riddhima tried to convince her, “But Mrs. Sanders did say that the spirit was a harmless one. And I trust her on that. Because I was alone with Vansh so many times, but he never hurt me even a single time. In fact, he saved my life not once, but twice in a row.”
“Why don’t you just forget all this and make a new start, damn it?” said Seher annoyedly.
Riddhima seemed hurt by her inconsiderateness. “Forget it? Do you think it’s that easy? You will never understand what I’m going through because you aren’t in my place.”
“But…”
“If you don’t want to come, I won’t force you. But I’m going there back again in the morning. And that’s final,” said Riddhima unshakably.
Seher whined for some more time but not before giving into her demands.
“Fine, I’m coming too. But if something happens to me in the process, it’s on you. Okay?” she joked.
Riddhima assured her, “Don’t worry. Nothing will go wrong, I’m sure that.”
*
Hello everyone! That is it for today guys. Things will begin to get clearer from the next chapter onwards. So stay patient.
Do comment.
Peace out!