*Disclaimer: The reader who doesn't actually read this story but either ignore this or comment on this story "anything" meaningless. I would rather suggest them to just ignore this. We writers , always expect that , our readers have read our works and have enjoyed so far.... This story is based on Bengali Culture and Perspective...The names used here is just hypothetical, real matches of the names is just coincidental.....Thank you for reading so far....Do enjoy by reading the story and don't forget to like and share your valuable comments.....Shall we continue ?
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ᑕᕼEᑕK ᗰᗩTE 
ᗷY 𝚂𝚊𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚢𝚊 Mukherjee

[Translated to English from Bengali by Sahitya Mukherjee]
Chapter 1 — Identity

When they reached the grand gate of that ancient royal residence (Raj-Baari) , it was already night. Ananta glanced at his wristwatch. Aditya checked his mobile phone. The clock struck nine.

Aditya turned to his two friends, Ananta and Onir, and said, "Well , guys it's just 9 'o clock."

Onir chuckled, "What you said! Looking at the atmosphere here, it feels like midnight, even though it's a rural area! For some city dwellers like us , we call this time as our evening."

Ananta remarked, "Oh, Onir, look at Param! He's sleeping like the people here."

Onir, with Param on his shoulder, woke him up a bit and whispered, "P-OROM, POROM..."

Param woke up abruptly. "What? What happened? Where am I? Did they take me?" he exclaimed, sitting up in the car.

Aditya sarcastically remarked, "What, having another horror dream, huh?"

Param, annoyed, said, "Oh, shut up, Adi! Your constant sarcasm, what's the point...ugh!"

The four friends began to laugh among each other.

Amidst the conversation, they were unaware of the presence of two shadow figures infront of their car.  Param firstly glanced at them and screamed mildly ," By the way , who are they ? "
(Pointing at the figures). Others noticed two figures outside. Both wrapped in emergency blankets.
The mysterious figures slowly ascending towards their car , step by step. This maked everybody shocked and nervous that even Anantya , being a responsible prompt police officer, had forgotten to take an action. Adi carefully took out his revolver and pointed at them.

They observed one figure, a tall man, approached the car's glowing headlights, took out something resembling a very small box, and the other person lifted a long scale like cylindrical object towards the tall guy. The first person ignited the rod-like thing, with the help of the box, which caught fire on it like a torch. They realised that the guys just lit a candle. Then, much to their surprise, the tall guy moved towards the car window with the torch (candle). Aditya raised his revolver towards him.

As the figure approached the car, he used his blanket to shield the torch flame and pointed it towards his face.

Param recognized him and said, "Oh, it's Rinardho !" Aditya relaxed his grip on the revolver, and smiled at Rinardho with a mild sigh.

Rinardho asked, "Hey, what's going on? Gun?"

Aditya, feeling embarrassed, quickly hid the revolver, "No, just nothing."

Rinardho inquired, "Why are you carrying guns here? Okay, forget it, now you all come inside."

Aditya inquired,"And Who is this guy Rinardho ? (Pointing at the second figure)"

Rinardho replied, "EA means hey, come on! Later, I'll tell you everything." Then he whispered to his friend, "Tell me your name, I can't recall."

Param chuckled, "EA again?"

The second person, now stepping forward, said, "I'm Samapon, and I work here, sir." Then, they discussed for a while before entering the gate of the house through a small gate near the main gate.

Finally, saying goodbye to Samapon, the four friends headed towards Rinardho's room.

Rinardho: "Bro, you know, I am just like a new bride in this house plus  but you guys' desire to stay here have  created a great impact to the mood of the house owner 'ginni maa' , even after a thousand begging to her , she has ultimately allowed you all to stay here in my room. Please dont mind if you face some dreadful insulting behaviour from her and her gang.

While Rinardho was expressing his thoughts, everyone entered his room.

Rinardho: "You must be tired, Ananta. And today is the day ,the heck , it happens for a loadshedding."

Ananta: "Brother, please don't bother us, we'll manage."

Param: "Yes, Ananta is right, his words are sensible."

Rinardho: "No, there are many reasons to worry. As , its written in the contract that  I can't leave  this house unless  six months are covered , or else I would have left it long ago."

Aditya: "You keep repeating the same thing, whether in chats or calls, about leaving this  house. Now it's been almost three months...what's up?"

Rinardho: "Bro, it's too late at night, that's why..."

Aditya and Ananta: "Go on. Dont be afraid..."

Rinardho: "Everything about the house seems strange! Quite mysterious."


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Param: Strange?

Rinardho (with a smirk): Strange indeed! There are weird occurrences in this house. Sometimes at night, someone plays anklets, sometimes a strange light appears from the window, sometimes there are whispers, as if someone is whispering, suddenly laughter or crying is heard. All these mysterious things happen at night. Like cold water pouring from a geyser. Then vanishing of the fish from the frying pan while making fried fish.

Ananta chuckled and began to laugh.
Param, feeling uneasy, turned towards Rinardho.

Rinardho: "Bro, you're laughing!!" (He became agitated and restless) You think these are baseless lies right ?

Aditya: Calm down, calm down, relax! Have you not told your owner anything?

Rinardho: Yes please , I have told them the words which should have been told immediately after those incidents. Okay, I've already told them, I'm going to leave the house soon. Besides , none can stay in such a haunted house like this ever !

Ananta: Rinardho, so you and those who live in this house are ghosts?

[Ananta laughed again]

Rinardho [agitated]: Don't joke about it, damn it!

Aditya: We've come because you said so. The mystery of this house seems quite interesting to us. For now, let's not disclose our true intentions to anyone, especially for Ananta's work or identity; everyone will just know Ananta as our friend, okay?

Rinardho: Understood! But what's your purpose?

Param: Listen? Then...

Aditya noticed a shadowy figure in front of the door, stopped Param and pulled himself  towards the door slowly. Before shadowy figure could understand, the Aditya grabbed his hand, dragged him inside. By that time the rest of our boys have surrounded him in an instant. There was no way to escape.

In the light of the torch (candle), it was revealed that the figure was a female ! She covered her  face with a blanket (shawl). She was overall wearing a long skirt and some kind of top which was again wrapped by a shawl. Seeing her, everyone was shocked ! They stared at one another's face. Specially, the expectation of the arrival of a girl in the boy's room at night hours was beyond of their thoughts . The girl , agitated with her wrist pain , Aditya had shown her a full power. While she was busy in checking her further injuries at her wrist , at a glance the cover from her mouth got slipped off and everyone could see her face now.

Suddenly, Rinardho exclaimed, "Mili? What are you doing here at this time of night?"

Mili replied in a agitating soft voice, "Uff! Who else can come to your room at this time, Rinu?"

Param said, " hey , I mean , we are terribly sorry for this behaviour..."

Mili made a serious laughter and said, "Rinu, your friends are terrible! Behaving like this with a girl! Learn to respect women!!"

Aditya: Sorry dear lady, we didn't know you were Rinardho's acquaintance, we thought someone else would come at this late hour. And then, we thought you were a male figure.

Mili: Aww! Shut up! What a lame excuse! (Then she turned to Rinardho) Oh! By the way, Rinu, this Professor Shonku book, which I borrowed, I've brought it back.

[Mili handed Rinardho the book]

Rinardho: (examining it) Whats your review about it ?

Mili: It's fine! Today, I became the fan of this book series. (She pointed towards Adi) And hey you triple gods ! I am sparring you as you are Rinu's friends, by the way, what's your name? I'm Mrinalini, everyone calls me Mili, you will be too okay.

Aditya: Great, great! I'm Aditya, or Adi, and Miss Mili...

Mili: "only Mili ... You have to keep it in mind, okay?"

Aditya: Yes, meaning , Mili , you see the guy standing on your right, the boy with the glasses, he's Paramjeet, or Param. And... [Then he said, patting Ananta's shoulder] this guy you're seeing, a typical rustic, dacoit-looking boy, he's Ananta.

Suddenly, as Onir  entered the room with a sort of winds, he put his hands up like those during roll-call sessions in school ,  saying, "And I'm Animesh, Onir in short."

Aditya [applauding]: Wow! Perfect timing, Onir! So, this is our group of five including Rinardho.

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Rinardho whispered softly and was about to say  that  it would be the group of four, and Ananta wasn't their group member as he is still temporary member , only for this time, suddenly  Param nudged Rinardho's face with his hand, he chuckled.

Milli asked, "What happened?"

Param: "Nothing, just a joke!" (Chuckling)

Adi: " Onir , where have you been , coming so  late? And why the delay?"

Onir: "Actually the driver had a good  debate with me regarding the fare, negotiated, and finally agreed to 2500 rupees.......And you all hurry up, be ready , a woman is eager to come this direction."

Milli: "Disaster! That must be Aaroti aunty! She must have seen me coming here ! What do I do now? What do I do?... Hmm, let's hide under the bed! And yes, you guys, tell her you didn't see me, okay?"

Thr boys silently settled at their position; Rinardho assisted Milli to hide there. With everything settled, all of them  took their positions and was ready, telling Onir to close the door.  Just within  five seconds , as Onir was about to close the door , he was fearfully stepped back due to , an angry, ferocious, feminine figure, who appeared outside the door, draped in a bengali widow saree.

Approaching ,Rinardho with determination in her eyes, she exclaimed, "Hey you, tell me, where you've hidden Milli ? Today is her doomsday !"

Rinardho, calmly, replied, "Madam, there's nothing about hiding anyone, tell me, who am I to hide her?"

Madam/Aarati: "You're the most mischievous! In the dead of night, you're sneaking around with a girl for your stealthy ,chicky, affair along with your bastard friends !!

Adi: "Mind your language, we're not interested in hearing such obscene talk, so leave now!"

Aarati: [Turning towards Adi with a fierce look] "Hey! Who are you? I will see you later" [Glaring at Rinardho] "You won't speak up, huh? Okay, I'm looking for her by myself.

Saying this, she grabbed Milli's hair from the dark space under the bed, dragged her, and then slapped her twice hard on her face, "Damn you, shameless girl! What are you doing hiding under the bed ! You're caught today!" [In a fierce tone] "Let's go , your doom is near my darling" and then she dragged her out of the house.

Rinardho was stunned.

Then, Oni, Adi, and Param together asked jokingly , " [ Leg-Pulling Musically] Riiinuuuu....., how did it go my darling ....?"

Rinardho, feeling extremely embarrassed, let out a laugh as if trying to hide his embarrassment and said, "You shouldn't interfere in this matter anymore, she cant Pronounce this heck name Rinardho hence she calls me Rinu in short, that doesn't change anything , what happened to that?"

Param said, "Okay, Adi, how did the madam know the exact location of Milli , She must have had been hearing our conversation!"

Adi: "it's possible. She is quite clever and nosy and also very sharp . Besides it's a fact that , there's nowhere to hide in this room except under the bed. She had already guessed that Milli would stay in this room. Ananta, you must avoid her , and surely take a  glance everywhere , as she will may be a danger for you and your identity. Everyone, be careful to proceed your foot steps. We have to be more careful, more careful."



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© 𝐵𝑦 𝑆𝑎ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑦𝑎...✒️
[Poster Cover is Designed by Sahitya]
#sahitya #Mystery #suspense #Love&love


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