The Haunted Nights

 Ajit was a young IT professional and worked in one of the big IT firms in the city. He hailed from a small village and was well educated and was liked by everyone because of his charming nature and an inherent desire to help others always. He was unlike others of his age who believed that “Life gave you multiple chances and opportunities and it is up to you to recognise and grab those opportunities.” He was also trying his best to bring his family to the city so that they could stay all together. His family consisted of his parents, two sisters and one younger brother. He was also looking for more affordable accommodation from the place where he stayed for the moment.

It was on a Sunday when one of his friends, Hari, gave him the address of a place not from where he lived right now. Hari said “you can go and talk to this guy, Vithal Rao. He is the landlord.”

Ajit “okay but where and how is this place?”

Hari “this is not far from here. Though I have to warn you that Vithal Rao is a cranky old fellow and he doesn’t like much haggling. Also, he is a very strict disciplinarian.”

Ajit “that’s okay. But how much will he charge?”

Hari “that we will have to go and find out.”

So without delaying any further they went to check this place out in the next possible time they had. Indeed, Vithal Rao was a cranky old fellow as he was waiting impatiently for these two for a long time. So as soon as Ajit and Hari arrived he started shouting at them.

Vithal Rao Why are you so late? “I have been waiting here for the past two hours. You people have no sense of responsibility or commitment.”

Hari and Ajit exchanged glances between them and could not utter a single word in defence. They were cowered in front of this old man who despite his advanced age was ramrod erect. Though he wore glasses his eyes seemed to bore through them and also his white flowing beard also seemed to play an important part in his tirade against them as he kept his head bobbing forwards and backwards. Finally, Hari gathered courage and said “Uncle Please don’t be so angry with us. We were caught in traffic and we are extremely apologetic to have kept you waiting.”

Ajit also summoned his courage and said “Please uncle, we are truly very sorry and it won’t happen twice.”

Vithal Rao was still not satisfied but Hari somehow managed to calm him down and asked “now, uncle would you kindly show us the room?”

Vithal Rao though somewhat calm gestured them to follow upstairs. Here he showed them the room which was quite big for both of them. It was quite spacious and airy, with colonial-era ceiling fans and windows. Both Ajit and Hari were just dumbstruck looking at the size of the room and were wondering that it must be quite expensive.

Hari whispered “this is huge. Must be as big as a mess.” Ajit just nodded.

Ajit’s eyes while surveying the room fell on another room which was within this room. This room was, however, locked. So he asked, “uncle there is another room here and why is it locked?” Vithal Rao gave him a glare and said “no one is supposed to enter that room. That is why it’s locked.”

He also said that “if you ever try to break the lock or ask unwanted questions about it, or, I will break the contract and throw you out.”

 Both Ajit and Hari exchanged curious glances but kept quiet. Next came the question of rent and here also it proved quite true that Vithal Rao was adamant on the price.

He said “if you find it expensive you can leave. I have a couple of more clients who are interested to take this at the current price.”

 Ajit was about to say something when Hari interrupted him and said “wait, this is quite cheaper than the place we are living right now. You have to save money and bring amma, baba and the whole family. So don’t argue with him as I had warned you earlier.” Ajit had to reluctantly agree and both of them shifted to that room the same day.

 That very night Ajit returned home late at night after working on a project and went straight to bed at around half past midnight. He had barely slept for half an hour or so when he suddenly woke up on hearing a loud scratching sound coming somewhere from the apartment. At first, he was too tired to get up but when the sound grew a bit louder, he got up and looked around but couldn’t find anything. Meanwhile, Hari was sleeping quite peacefully. So Ajit thought “must be rats” and went back to sleep.

  After a few minutes, the sound of scratching seemed to have come nearer to where Ajit was sleeping. So he again got up and woke Hari up. He asked Hari “did you hear that?” Hari, in mid-sleep, just yawned and said “what?”

Ajit “the scratching sound what else?”

Hari “I can’t hear any sound. Go back to sleep and let me sleep also.” Ajit thought “I must be hearing things in my sleep” with that he went back to sleep.

 However hard Ajit tried to sleep the incessant scratching noise would not let him sleep throughout the night. The strange thing was that noise seemed to come throughout the apartment and when he tried to focus on the source of the sound, it would stop abruptly. This whole night ordeal made Ajit grumpy and irritated the next morning. The next morning he asked Hari “did you hear the scratching noise?”

Hari “What scratching noise?”

Ajit “the one which kept me awake the whole night.”

 Hari “well, I did not hear any noise

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. In fact, I was so tired that I fell asleep instantly.” Ajit was irritated to respond and decided to talk to Vithal Rao instead.

So the next day, Ajit was in an irritated and confrontational mood, so he went and asked Vithal Rao that” You have rats in the apartment, and they made such a ruckus that I could not sleep properly”, the landlord looked at him with a confused look and said that he had specially got this apartment cleaned and renovated before their arrival and there couldn’t have been any rats, but he would still look into it.

That day Ajit was in a foul mood throughout the day, and even in the office people were surprised by the way he spoke with them. Though, in the latter half of the day, he apologised for his behaviour and explained the reason for it.

 That night again the same ordeal continued and Ajit was literally in tears as to why was he being tortured like this.

Meanwhile, Hari was also surprised by Ajit’s behaviour and asked him “Ajit, bro, what’s the matter?”

Ajit looked at him with a painful expression and said “can’t you see that I have not been able to sleep for the past two nights?”

Hari, on the other hand, could not understand what ordeal Ajit was going through. That night something terrible took place that shook Ajit to the core. As he was about to go to sleep he heard a faint whisper “Ajit........” At first, he did not bother and went about doing his thing. But then age same faint whisper “ Ajit......” He looked around but could not see anyone. He even tried waking up Hari, thinking he might have taken his name. But Hari was fast asleep. The third time again someone called “Ajit.....” and gave shrill laughter. This time Ajit was shaken up and he decided to go outside and sleep on the bench rather than sleep in the room. 

The next morning Hari got up early and was surprised to see that Ajit was not in the room. He looked everywhere but could not find him anywhere in the house. When he went outside, to his surprise Ajit was sleeping quite peacefully on the bench. Hari woke him up and asked, “why are you sleeping here?”

Ajit “I could not sleep in the room.”

Hari “what happened?”

Ajit “You wouldn’t believe me.”

Hari “Try me.”

Ajit “as I was about to sleep I heard someone calling out my name.”

Hari “What! You must be hearing things.”

Ajit “See, I told you wouldn’t believe me.” 

This time, however, Hari took Ajit seriously, as he could see how miserable his friend was. So he said, “Let’s go to Vithal Rao and find out what is this all about.” Ajit just nodded and looked away. That day, however, they could not go and see Vithal Rao as both of them were really very busy the whole day. That night surprisingly went uneventful and both of them slept peacefully.

It was this night that was so decisive in changing both Ajit and Hari’s minds about this place. It so happened that as both of them were just talking and preparing to sleep when all of a sudden they could hear a loud banging coming from inside the locked room! At first, they thought it must be coming from outside. Then again, the banging grew louder. Ajit looked at Hari in a panicked state and asked “did..... you hear that?”

Hari “yes.”

Ajit “look..... It’s banging again!”

Both of them were quite terrified and unsure what to do. Somehow gathering courage they went near the door. From inside the door, they could a loud voice saying “get out of my house if you want to live! “Don’t you ever dare to come here ever again!”

His time Hari and Ajit barely escaped the room alive as all of a sudden all of the lights started flickering on and off all at the same time. Things started flying all across the room. There was also a strong wind blowing inside the room despite all the windows being closed tightly! Now, both Ajit and Hari were too scared for their lives and ran from the room

 The next morning, both of them went straight to Vithal Rao and asked “what are hiding from us?” “Why have you not told us that this room is haunted?” Vithal Rao looks at them with a confused expression and asks “what are you talking about?” Then Both Ajit and Hari recount the past few days experiences. At first, Vithal Rao is a bit uneasy, but then with stern glances he gets from both Ajit and Hari, he tells them the whole story.

He then recounted the story that “ 2years a loving family had moved into the house, and at first everything was okay but six months down the line things started deteriorating as there were constant quarrels between the husband and the wife, the kids were scared and used to run to his house, many times neighbours had complained about them”. Then one day in a fit of rage the husband killed his whole family and committed suicide.

 From that day, no one wanted to stay in this apartment as Vithal Rao had tried once earlier also to rent it out, but the tenants ran away from the house the very next day and no one had ever dared to come since then. Ajit just looked at him with rising anger. Hari also was very upset and furious with Vithal Rao. Both of them decide to leave the room right then and there. Before leaving the place, both of them gave a suggestion to Vithal Rao that “kindly arrange for some kind of a ritual and cleanse the place if you want to rent it out to someone else.”

With that, both of them went away from that place without giving it a second glance.