After years of hard work, Dad finally got promoted. Scent of freshly prepared sweets floated through the room. The doorbell rang. I ran to the door expecting more relatives coming to congratulate Dad which would mean no studies for the day. Our neighbour stood at the door with a wide smile and a key in his hand. He handed over the key to my Dad and congratulated for the new flat on behalf of the company. I was the happiest because it would mean my personal room as I was 17 and too old to share a room with family.
After finishing a few rituals, we finally moved into our new flat. Given the first chance, I chose the room facing the quiet backyard. After having dinner, I was too thrilled with my new room that I couldn't sleep. So I kept playing with Kumar Ashish, my pet rabbit. He loved his unique name and so did I. At about 2.30 a.m. I heard footsteps on the roof. What could be more disgusting when you can't sleep and the neighbours children decide to play in the night! I somehow overcame the night but I couldn't stand it the next night. The next morning I met our new neighbours who stayed on the first floor above our flat but couldn't gather the courage to question. Dad then decided to build a storeroom just beside my room. That day onwards, we would get pungent smell gushing into the house from my room or the store room beside. Sometimes I would get angry in the afternoon when I decide to take some rest and the children threw stones on the roof of our store room. I ran out many times but found nobody.
That summer vacation, we decided to visit my dad's younger sister. After having a fulfilling lunch, she took us to a nearby house where lived a lady who could converse with God. As we reached, she suddenly started staring me and shot questions at me. And then she concluded that there was a bad spirit dwelling in our new house and hates everyone. She also gave my dad a pouch with 'something' like sand that she asked to bury at every entrance of the house including windows. The day was very entertaining because I never believed in spirits. After returning home, I was given the option to sleep in a different room until the 'something' was buried. I didn't believe but decided not to take chance of encountering any evil spirit. That was my decission until dinner and then I don't remember a thing. Next when I opened my eyes, I found myself in the same cold pungent room. It was again about 2.30 a.m. This time the footsteps on the roof were very loud. No sign of rain or storm but very strong wind left the windows banging. Dogs somehow jumped the boundary that day and reached my window. Nothing could scare them or make them stop barking. I felt a hand gently run through my hair. I sat up and looked behind. I could see no one. The total darkness in the room added to my fear. I clutched Kumar Ashish tightly and forcefully shut my eyes. I felt the cold wind now chilling my spine. I slowly opened my eyes. I couldn't believe when I found myself on the road and a gate in front of me. After getting a hold of myself, I realized it was the gate to our home. I opened the gate and kept walking. A lady sat on a chair in front and kept crying. When I tried to console her, she said, "Go save her". I heard someone screaming inside the house. When I was running into the house, I could recall that its the same house where I now live. The screams came from the room which was now mine. I entered the room and stood near the window. A lady in white dress who appeared to be in her early twenties, kept screaming. A middle aged man held her neck tightly. She kept pleading for mercy for her unborn child. The man again slapped her for deciding to keep their illegitimate child as he was already married. I just held the grills of the window very tightly. Before I could utter a word, he pulled out a long sharp knife and chopped off her head. Everything was silent again. She lay there, in front of my window in a pool of blood. Suddenly everything was dark now and I could see the store room in front. When I looked around, I found that I was standing in front of the window of my room. Now I knew what had occured in that house. I had no strength in my feet to move away or move my hands away from the grill. After a few terrifying minutes, I finally felt my legs. I rushed to the opposite room and jumped on my Mom.
Next morning I told her the story. Dad was equally terrified but hesitated to accept. Neighbours came running to tell us that an underground pipe in our backyard had burst. We lodged a complaint but before anyone could come to fix it, the contractor who was building the nearby flats came to have a look. He removed the lid of the big manhole but there was no water overflowing. He thought maybe he could go in and explore to find out the exact location of the burst pipe. It was a few feet deep and concrete at the bottom. His workers carefully lowered him but something bit the hands of a worker and the rope slipped. When we ran towards the manhole, the contractor lay dead at the bottom as he hit his head on a stone. We did some research and found that the contractor who built the flats lived in that house before us. And more shocking was the fact that the contractor who died in the manhole was the same person whom I had seen the last night.
After that I never heard anything from the roof. The pungent smell had also stopped. I never again felt scared to enter my room. I felt someones presence but it was friendly. She got her revenge and now she is happy. She died untimely death but now she still lives there ..