The Malhotras

Episode 6

Rasika’s body was sent for Postmortem. Arun and Suyash arrived. Suyash was shocked, tired and was in deep sorrow. Akshita and Amrita were forlorn. They were miserable with their Mom’s loss.

Arun was at a loss of words, thoughts, feelings, everything. Sukumar kept on reading the message on the screen of his phone. Rasika’s last message was that she wanted to say something about Maya. What was it? Supriya came to Sukumar and said, ‘Uncle, I wanted you show a text message which Rasika Aunty had sent moments before she died.’ Sukumar was taken aback. He looked at Supriya and said, ‘What? You too?’. Startled, Supriya said, ‘Means? You too?’. Sukumar showed the text message to Supriya. Supriya was shocked. She showed Sukumar the text message which Rasika had sent her. Sukumar stood up. ‘Why Maya?’,Sukumar questioned. Supriya touched Sukumar’s shoulder and said, ‘I have no clue uncle. But, we have to do something before it’s too late.’ Sukumar said, ‘You are right. But what do we tell Arun?’. Supriya said, ‘ We don’t have to tell anyone anything. It has to be a hush hush affair. I did not believe in anything the Guruji had said the other day. But now I feel, we must call someone who knows about negative energy and invite him/her here.Everyone must be present and we must get this done without anyone knowing about it. If the process prolongs, we might lose another life.’ Sukumar froze. He knew what Supriya was telling was right.

The postmortem report of Rasika came. She had died of poisoning and she had the same bite marks which Kasturi and Sulochana had.

Next day, early morning, at around 6:00 a.m., the doorbell at the Malhotra mansion rang. One of the househelps opened the door. There stood a man, clad in a black robe, messy hair and beard, wearing a necklace and bracelets made of Rudraksha beads. He had a black bag in his hand. Sukumar came hurriedly and said, ‘ Welcome Baba. Come in please.’ The ‘Baba’ said loudly, ‘Summon everyone in the house. I need to see all of them and close all the doors and windows of the entire mansion.’ Sukumar instructed all the househelps to close all the doors and windows of the mansion. The ‘Baba’ then chanted some hymns and sprinkled water. He said, ‘Now nothing can get out of this house without my permission.’

Everyone came out. Suyash, Sujay, Ansh, Laksh, Akshita, Amrita, Supriya, Arun, all the househelps, cooks, drivers, all of them were there, except Maya. Sukumar looked at Supriya. Supriya also had the same question. Why was Maya not there? Sukumar looked at Arun and said, ‘Where is Maya? Call her.’ Arun said, ‘Maya is down with fever. She is unable to get up from the bed. But, what is this happening here?’ Before Sukumar could answer, the ‘Baba’ smirked and said, ‘Everyone will know soon.’ The ‘Baba’ then lighted a fire in a tiny iron box, added some herbs and threw in some seeds. The fire started burning voraciously. As the flame increased, the smoke reached every corner of the house. Maya wriggled on the floor and crawled out to the room where everyone was there. Seeing Maya in that condition, everyone gasped. Arun was astounded. He rushed to Maya, tried to pick her up and said, ‘Why are you here? You have fever. Your body is burning. Let me take you back to your room.’ The ‘Baba’ laughed hysterically and said, ‘She can’t go anywhere. COME HERE YOU EVIL SPIRIT’. Maya crawled to the ‘Baba’. Everyone in the house froze. Arun stood there dismayed, not knowing what is happening. He ran to hold Maya. The ‘Baba’ threw some ash on Maya. Maya started screaming. Arun shouted, ‘STOP THIS NONSENSE. WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?’. Sukumar rushed to Arun, held him and said, ‘Arun, please bear with this. You will know the truth soon.’ In a fit of rage, Arun screamed, ‘WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY MAYA????’.

The ‘Baba’ laughed out loudly and said, ‘This is not your wife. This is an evil spirit?’. Arun yelled, ‘STOP YOUR MUMBO JUMBO. NOW!’. The ‘Baba’ smirked and said, ‘You don’t believe me, do you? Wait and watch?’. The ‘Baba’ threw more ash on Maya. Maya’s eye balls turned white. Her skin turned pale. She had cracks all over her body. She then started laughing hysterically. Her voice became hoarse. She roared, ‘ HAHAHHAHAHAH. I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO. YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING NOW.’ Everyone in the room stood there stunned. Arun became a statue. Seeing, this avataar of Maya, the entire household froze. The ‘Baba’ then questioned Maya, ‘WHAT DID YOU DO?’. With her sharp teeth leaking blood, still wriggling with pain on the floor, Maya roared, ‘I KILLED THEM. I KILLED SULOCHANA, KASTURI, ISHITA and RASIKA.’. The ‘Baba’ further asked, ‘HOW DID YOU KILL THEM AND WHY?.’ Maya laughed frantically and roared, ‘ THEY DESERVED TO DIE. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.’ A chill went down everyone’s spine at the Malhotra household. The ‘Baba’ chanted something and threw more ash on Maya. Maya screamed in misery but she did not stop laughing. The ‘Baba’ continued, ‘WHY DID YOU KILL THEM?’. Maya roared, ‘ MY CREATOR TOLD ME TO KILL THEM. SULOCHANA HAD POISONED ANITA, ARUN’S BIOLOGICAL MOM, SO THAT SHE COULD MARRY SUKUMAR. SUKUMAR WAS POISONED TWICE BY SULOCHANA BUT BY SHEER LUCK HE WAS SAVED. KASTURI TRIED TO KILL ARUN BY ADDING SLEEPING PILLS IN HIS BREAKFAST SO THAT WHILE DRIVING TO WORK HE WOULD DIE IN CAR CRASH. RASIKA PLANTED HATRED IN HER DAUGHTERS’ MIND AGAINST THE MALHOTRAS SO MUCH SO THAT THEY FOUGHT WITH ARUN, THE BROTHER WHOM THEY LOVE THE MOST. ISHITA HAD TRIED TO FRAME ARUN OF RAPE ONCE SO THAT SHE COULD MARRY HIM AND GET ALL THE PROPERTY. THESE WOMEN HAD TO DIE.’ Suyash stared at Maya bewildered. Sujay was trembling. The ‘Baba’ asked, ‘HOW DID YOU KILL THEM.’ Maya roared, ‘I CREATED AN ILLUSION. POOR RASIKA THOUGHT HER HUSBAND MADE LOVE TO ME. KASTURI SAW ME MAKING LOVE WITH HER HUSBAND. HAHAHAHAHAHAH. POOR MEN. THEY WERE NOT EVEN THERE. I JUST WANTED TO HAVE SOME FUN BEFORE KILLING THEM. SULOCHANA SAW ME SIPPING BLOOD. ALL I DID WAS BITE THEM. MY VENOM KILLED THEM.’ The ‘Baba’ then sprinkled holy water on Maya and said, ‘WHO IS YOUR CREATOR?’. Maya roared, ‘ YOU WILL NEVER KNOW THAT. YOU CANNOT DESTROY ME. I AM DONE WITH MY JOB. YOU CAN TRAP ME. I WILL GO BACK TO MY CREATOR WHO CREATED ME WITH SOME HELP FROM SOMEONE LIKE YOU. BUT NOBODY WILL KNOW WHO CREATED ME.’ The ‘Baba’ knew Maya was right. She was created by someone. She did what her master had asked her to do but she will never reveal her master’s name. The ‘Baba’ chanted something again, Maya screamed and became a tiny vampire bat. The ‘Baba’ kept a tiny bottle beside the fire. Maya flew into the bottle and the ‘Baba’ closed the lid.

The ‘Baba’ then asked Sukumar to have all the windows and door opened. The ‘Baba’ then said, ‘ This bottle will reach the creator of this vampiress. However, you don’t have to worry again. She accepted that she had finished her tasks. Now she will reach her creator. Sukumar asked with fear in his voice, ‘What if she comes back?’. Arun was still in a state of shock. Akshita and Amrita sat in one corner hugging Supriya. The ‘Baba’ replied, ‘ She was here to protect the Malhotra family. She will be back again only if her creator releases her.’ Sukumar asked again, ‘Who is her creator. We must know. This is not safe.’ The ‘Baba’ sighed and said, ‘ We can never know this. But trust me, no ill will befall in this mansion again.’

After 6 months

Breakfast table was laid. Arun was about to leave for work. With her red bangles and golden anklets jingling, Supriya rushed to the dining table. Served breakfast to Arun and said, ‘ I will come to the hospital by 1:00 p.m. Papa will be home from meeting by 12:00 p.m. I will serve him lunch and then come to the hospital.’ Arun said, ‘ Oh yes, Dad will be home by 12.’ Just then Akshita came and said, ‘Supriya Bhabhi, I need breakfast too.’ Supriya gave a warm smile to Akshita and said, ‘ Just one moment sweetheart.’ Supriya went to the kitchen. On the pretext of getting a glass of water, Arun followed Supriya to the kitchen, held her waist, kissed her on her neck and said, ‘ See you wifey.’ Supriya blushed and pushed Arun. Arun left for work.

After everyone finished breakfast, Supriya went to tidy up the living room. She cleaned the entire room. She then took the books and went to the study room downstairs. She kept the books properly in the library adjacent to the study room. She then went to the closet to keep the books. At the corner of the closet, something glittered. Supriya almost screamed. It was Maya in the tiny bottle. Supriya quickly, clumsily closed the closet door. She hurriedly walked out of the room. She was petrified. The creator of Maya was someone from this house. But who? Just then Supriya heard a thud. Someone had come to close the lock of the closet. When she saw the person she could not believe her eyes.

Supriya went back to her room in a daze.

To be continued………………