Shh.. hh.. hh..

As the clock struck twelve, a heartbreaking scream filled the air, and the door slammed shut. Slightly opening the door, she saw the newcomer from top to bottom and before the newcomer could say anything, she put her finger on her nose, made a squeaky sound, grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. The newcomer noticed that most of the room was dark. A small flickering bulb in the middle of the ceiling was trying to somehow defeat the darkness. In the dim light, the newcomer noticed that there was a cot on the front wall, with a rug lying on the bed. A middle-aged man is crying next to the bed.

"Somla! My friend, my brother! What have you done? You should have believed once! I can sacrifice even my life for you, then why such a betrayal? Oh my brother!"

Hearing the middle-aged man's cry, the newcomer also felt bad. But when he saw the young lady, Khallas! He was shocked. The young woman who opened the door had a revolver in her hand. There still was a puff of smoke coming out of its muzzle. Now he noticed that a red circle was spreading around the man's chest lying on the bed!

There was an incomprehensible expression on her face. The newcomer tried to say something, but again the young woman shook her head in denial and refused to say anything. The mourning of that middle-aged man was still going on. After a while, the middle-aged man got tired, so the young lady slowly approached him. She took the newspaper from his hands and put it aside. Supported by the arm, she got up and took him to the inner room leaving behind a strange silence.

After the middle-aged and young lady moved inside, the newcomer took the newspaper and looked at it. Nothing was readable in the dim light, but it was apparent that the paper was years old. The newcomer blinked and tried to read the date, but in vain!

"Can't read?"

A lady’s voice said; as if, hundreds of bells rang together! Such a melodious tone! The newcomer looked up and saw the same girl standing in front of him.

She spoke again with a light smile, "It's a very old newspaper. The letters have been faded. Don't bother yourself for that."

The newcomer handed the paper to the young woman with outstretched hand. Hesitantly, he started talking.

"What was all this? What happened to that old man? I didn't understand anything."

"And you won't be able to even if you try." The young lady spoke with an enigmatic smile. Then she asked, "Who are you by the way?"

"Yeah! I… me, Virat Singh. My car… There… Down-"

"Punctured, right?"

"Yeah, but how do you know?"

"And you must be angry. You may have hit the wheel. May be some cursing too."

"Absolutely. But how do you know all this?"

"I heard noise of that tire burst. What can I do? Each and every sound is audible to me in this silence."

"Oh! If any help-"

The young woman raised her left eyebrow and gave such a look that Virat literally lost his words. After a second or two, he said, "I don't get signal in mobile. Help me, if you have a land line or if you know someone with a garage. Actually I'm going to Abu for the first time. To buy a property, but I started my journey too late. I just thought to reach there by two am, but now I don't think I can."

"Well, Mr. Virat. Sorry, the land line is also dead. And Abu is still a little far from here. In such a cold night, a mechanic coming at midnight to help you doesn't seem possible. But, don't worry. You can stay here till morning. And then-"

The incomplete sentence of the young lady softened with the weight of huge thanks.

"Would you like to eat something?"

The young woman showed formality and Virat said nay in a discreet manner. The curiosity in his mind overcame his hunger.

"If you don't mind, all this, right now, whatever happened here-"

Again the enigmatic expression appears on the young woman's face. She waved her hand and went out. He followed her and they sat on a swing in the courtyard.

And a strange thing surprised him. At once, the cold in the atmosphere was disappeared. He shrugged and thought that just a few moments ago when he walked from the car to the bungalow, he was shivering like hell, but now, the air was warm and comfy. As though the winter had just took off!

However, the fog still was there. Nothing could be seen clearly through it, not even the face of that young lady sitting a little away from him. Even his own hands looked obscure to him!

With a slight thud, the swing moved and the young woman's voice was heard.

"Somesh Prajapati, my father, whom you have seen inside."

He stared at her vague face in amazement. Somesh Prajapati; he heard this name somewhere, but couldn’t remember anything. He listened to the young woman.

The young woman again handed him the newspaper. He tried to read in full moonlight. The date on the newspaper was fifty years ago!

"This- This one is-"

"Hmmm, what you see is correct. This tragedy happened fifty years ago, and I have to live that every day. I have to repeat it every single day."

Virat couldn’t understand anything. His ears were concentrated on her words, but his eyes were fixed on the newspaper. The headline was:

FAMOUS LAWYER SOMESH PRAJAPATI'S MURDER. THE CULPRIT IS MRS. PRAJAPATI.

At the same time, the words of the young lady were also heard.

"My father Somesh Prajapati and his naughty friend Riaz Vohra, they were like brothers to each other. Both of their faces looked very similar. Even their dressings, hairstyle, the way they walk and a small dimple on the cheek while smiling were similar. If you look at them one by one, it was hardly recognizable. You can see the difference between two only if you look at them together! And then came Urmi. A special feeling more than a friendship for Urmi was taking shape in both of their minds, but before they could express their feelings, Urmi's father choose Somesh as her groom.

This shock was unbearable for Riaz. He became Devdas. Somesh noticed this change, but he was so engrossed in the lawyer's business, that he couldn’t find time for his friend, who had his own image. So this task was handed over to Urmi.

When Urmi realized that she was responsible for Riaz's condition, guilt surrounded her. No one realized when and how Urmi fell in love with Riaz in an attempt to get him out of depression."

The young woman looked down at Virat and said, "Aren't you bored?"

And Virat looked right in front of her.

"No, no! You talk so nicely that everything seems happening before my eyes. I was just visualizing. Please, carry on."

The young woman resumed the story.

"Over the time, Urmi's feelings also began to flow towards Riaz. An unreasonable relationship developed between those two."

"Love triangle, right?"

"No, not love! Triangle of Disgust!"

Virat did not understand what the girl was saying so he decided to listen to the whole thing in silence.

"For years, they maintained their relationship, but one day they were caught red-handed. Somesh's anger skyrocketed. He took his licensed revolver and went to remove a fork named Riaz. Riaz tried to explain that his intention was not to deceive Somesh. On the contrary, every time he met Urmi, he felt a huge guilt, but despite many attempts, he could not separate himself from Urmi. Despite many persuasions, Riaz failed to persuade Somesh. There happened a big fight between Somesh and Riaz and at one point, Urmi tried to stop them. That was the time when revolver triggered and the bullet pierced Riaz's heart."

"But, the murder was of Somesh, wasn't it?"

"Now, I would say the same thing. I said that Somesh and Riaz looked very similar. Just, Somesh took advantage of that. He showed himself dead instead of Riaz and punished Urmi in that case. Urmi kept crying and begging that it was not her. ‘I am not the murderer. No, I did not commit the murder!’ But, no one listened to her. Somesh made the whole arrangement in such a perfect way.

But now, the loneliness had taken over Somesh. It became impossible to live in the separation of an integral part of a brotherhood and a beloved partner in the distance. Gradually, his depression worsened to the point that he began to feel reluctant. The game he had created had now become a reality for him.

Gradually, his mental state deteriorated. His guilt began to dominate him. There was only one way to overcome this guilt. The melee and the death of Riaz have to be recreated every day. Every day I have to act as Urmi and kill Riaz."

"Oh! But who plays the role of this Riaz? No one else appeared except you. Maybe with your father, inside- Wa- Wait a minute! You said all this happened fifty years ago! And now your age still is-"

“Shh.. hh.. hh..”

Putting her finger on her nose again, she gestured him to be quiet. Then she looked at the redness in the distant sky, "The morning would arrive very soon. I think you should rest for a while."

The young woman got up and stepped inside. Virat also followed her in awkwardness. First, the young lady entered and the door got closed again.

A huge thud knocks on the door, and he enters inside after opening the door. He sees that the roof light still is trying to cover the darkness. He looks around but the girl is nowhere to be seen. When he thinks to call her, he realizes that the girl did not even tell her name!

What to do now? He thinks. His eyes fall on the bed there. The person who made the rehearsal still is asleep with back facing to him. Extremely surprised, he goes to wake him up. Despite few attempts, the person does not respond, so Virat turns his body over. As soon as he gets a glance of that person’s face, a shock passes through Virat's body.

Then at once, there appear loud noises of crying and laughing of many people inside that room. Virat gets frightened and falls down.

He quickly got up and rushed outside to save his soul.

For once, he dares to look back and finds that the building, which was standing just there few moments ago, is now completely turned into ruins. The door, windows, walls, everything is on the edge of getting collapsed.

He ran down the slope and came to his car. Now the sun had risen and it seemed, as if someone was coming in this direction. Virat hoped for help. The man came closer and Virat asked for help and told him the whole story.

The man laughed out loud. Then he turned around smiling. Virat stared at him in surprise. Laughing for a while, he said, “then you too got wrapped up, eh! Hey brother, it's a haunted mansion. Years ago there were scuffles and even murders. Since then, the mansion has been haunted by ghosts. The soul of every deceased dwells there.”

Virat didn't understand anything.

"Every dead person? How many murders have been committed?"

"It's hard to calculate, see, in the event that is repeated every day, Riaz is new every day."

"What? Are you- How this even- I mean, how do you know all this?"

Another laugh and the man patted Virat on the shoulder and said, "My car was also punctured here at midnight on a rainy day. The tire burst with a loud bang! And I also went there to ask for help."

"Then?"

"Then," He laughed again like a crazy person, "then I was rehearsing on the day before yesterday and you were rehearsing on yesterday."

Virat felt a zest. It was hard for him to believe his ears right now. He thought of one incident after another.

The tire burst with a loud bang at around midnight. He got down and angrily kicked the tire. It felt like a dim light a little farther away, so he went there for help. Reached the door and knocked on the door. Someone with a delicate hand pulled him inside and something hit him… right in the chest!

Yes! And the smoke was coming out of the girl's revolver. And just a few moments ago, he saw his own face instead of Riaz when he turned over the person resting on the bed!

The whole incident was fifty years ago, even though, the young lady still was beautiful and fresh like a daisy. Virat's head was aching. The night was over and morning was approaching. The light had been spreading; however, his hands still looked vague to him. 

"Come with me."

The man said and laughed again. He grabbed Virat's hand and walked him towards the ruins. At the same time, the words of his friend were ringing in Virat's ears:

"Dude, the property you are going to see on Abu Road, make sure that it's not of Advocate Somesh Prajapati. Years ago, for some inexplicable reason, the whole mansion was burnt down. No one survived."

***

"Somla!"

As the clock struck twelve, the door slammed shut.

"Hello, is anyone there? My name is Akash. My car got punctured. Can anyone help?"

“Shh.. hh.. hh..”