The Fourth Floor

If you should believe only what you see, then your nightmares should be your truest reality.






"Hurry up, Shreya. We will be late!"

I heard my mother shouting at the top of her voice as I finally zipped the big fat bag and headed downstairs where my family was already waiting.

It was almost after a year that we were all going out together, though not somewhere far but still, somewhere.

The fact that it was going to be just a two-days outing didn’t keep me from having a heavy bag. Fashion obsessed, they call me.

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Asansol wasn't a new place for us. Our extended family stayed there. Not that the place held something fascinating, but anything away from Kolkata's heavy crowd was always a welcome change for me.

"Come on now, you kids get inside the car."

Dad ordered us and we followed that earnestly as we got inside the white Scorpio waiting outside our house.

Being in a joint family has its own set of merits and demerits. For now, only the merits counted. The utmost of which is enjoying with your cousins and siblings.

Although I am the only child of my parents, I never felt alone. The reason is of course the bunch of trouble makers in the name of cousins that I have at my place.

No, I am not complaining. It's really fun to have them around. Especially, when you had to spend two days away from town.

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I tucked the headset of my phone into my ears as I browsed through my playlist. Ayaan and Mishti left no stones unturned to prove they were the youngest of all as they continued their silly fights even in the running car.

"Hmph! No doubt they are just 12 years old!"

I thought to myself.

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Right next to me sat Ananya Di.

She's my paternal uncle's only daughter. A perfect synonym for geek.

There hadn't been a day in my life where I had seen her without a book in her hand. It was like a perpetual prop meant to stay with her forever. In other words, her true soul mate.

She was good at heart, but god knows what in words, for I hardly heard her talking. It was hard to tell that all these years, we shared the same house! But given the strict ambiance in my house, I never dared to question her about something even out of curiosity. She was three years elder to me, in her final year of graduation. Moreover, I was complacent mingling with the younger kids in the house, so anything else didn't really appear needful to me.

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"Huh!"

I sighed as I heard the constant chitter chatter of my family members, simultaneously looking at the passing objects from the glass windows as our car sped.

Still browsing through the playlist, my finger finally halted on a desirable song. Sparing a second I took another glance of the atmosphere around me..

Talkative family, Violent kids, Nerdy elder cousin, carefree driver and then Me..

I pouted as I concluded how jobless I was and hence, without a second thought I tapped on the precious song from my playlist, finally falling oblivious to my surrounding as the loud volume occupied my senses entirely.

But in the back of my mind, one thing was still ringing.

".. It's gonna be a long, long day.."

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"Unbelievable"

I gritted through my teeth as I heard my mother say the words which I started resenting since the past 24 hours!

"Get ready. We are going to visit Kaka and Kaki."

For heaven's sake, it had been a day that we reached Asansol and the entire time was utilized only for visiting a pool of relatives!

It was my mistake to think that adventure would be a part of this trip because all it was turning out to be was Relatives- Reconnecting- Programme.

I mean, seriously, what the hell is Facebook for?

But there was no point in arguing with my mother. She would corner me in no time bringing the Ananya Di se kuch seekho phrase! Thus, there was no point in initiating a battle which was already a lost one for me!

Having no other choice, I went to the washroom to dress up for the day.

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Since the past 24 hours the only thing that had appeared worthwhile to me was when we all went for dinner to a Dhaba the previous night.

Other than that, it was only about visiting some or the other relatives.

In that boring set of affairs, another thing worth mentioning was Ananya Di exchanging some words with me. Although the words only revolved around subjects like 'How are your studies going on?' and 'When are your classes resuming?,' I consider those more than expected considering her communication graph with me ever since the beginning of time.

Clutching my hair into a tight bun, I grabbed my cell phone and proceeded with my family (now including added members from Asansol) to visit a new sea of Chachas and Chachis who unfortunately happened to share the same bloodline as me. Err.. Vice-Versa.

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'Don't be so judgemental'

For some reason the quote rang in my mind as I walked through the premises of R.N. Buildings where we were supposed to meet our relatives.

For unknown factors, the anguish in my mind abruptly seemed to fade away as the isolated ambiance of that area intrigued me, the cold winds hitting me constantly, creating a new wave of reaction in me as I felt a sudden shiver in my body despite it being the hot summer month of May.

"Wow! This is so beautiful. Secluded, windy and pleasant."

One of my aunts stated while the others replied and nodded affirmatively in approval.

For a change, I couldn't deny the statement either. The place was far from the main city and hence, it was bound to be secluded. But the magnificent essence of the place was certainly undeniable.

It was indeed beautiful.

Soothing.

Pleasant.

But weird too.

I don't know why at that point the last adjective clicked my mind, but some how it just did.

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I could see from a distance there were many buildings still under construction. All of them were mostly 8-storeyed. The lush green surroundings just added to the charm of the place.

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"..It's so nice, na?"

To my surprise, I found Ananya di addressing her question tag to me. Normally, she would just keep to herself and therefore, I considered it to be a real pleasant surprise that she had initiated a conversation by herself.

Or maybe it was just the magic of the place!

"Yup.. It's too good."

I replied with a smile while our parents ushered us to Block E- where the estranged Chacha-Chachi resided.

Once again it was back to square one!

Same old family talks with the usual "Oh! You were so small when I saw you last" coming in regular intervals from people who were so alienated to me.

I mean for heaven's sake, we are living beings! We are supposed to grow not shrink as time passes! So, how the hell can I stay small forever in their version of when they saw me last?

Well, nothing made sense but one had to be an expert in the field of endurance when it came to dealing with relatives, I believe!

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"Yeah, Yeah. Many flats are under construction here."

"The place is really nice."

"So spacious, so open.."

"We have booked one of the flats there. It's under construction. The promoter is Mr. Pal. Remember?"

.. And the chitter chatter of our family and extended family went on for what it seemed like forever.

Taking a deep breath, I glanced at my wrist watch.

4.25 pm

It had already been approximately forty minutes that we came to this place and it already started spiraling out of my bearing limits.

I bit my lower lip as I swapped the screen of my phone, playing and toggling with random keys, struggling hard to kill the boredom when suddenly I discovered I wasn't the only one being adversely affected by the boring family talk!

Right beside me, I found Ananya di playing some silly game on her cell phone which undoubtedly didn't appeal her even a bit. For a change, I couldn't see any novel in her hand.

A satisfactory smile tugging at the corner of my lips, I asked, "Getting bored di?"

I predicted she would answer me with a straight No, but today she was hell bent on surprising me at every step.

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"Umm.. Yes. Kind of."

She replied, still hitting random keys on her cell phone playing that hell knows what absurd game!

There was a moment of silence again between us. For this time, I was headstrong that I wouldn't ask her anything else. I wasn't always buying the monosyllables that she threw to me. I was about to turn away and resume the pointless activity on my cell phone when suddenly she asked me, "Let's roam outside!"

That came as a package of thunderbolt to me if not anything less.

There was a certain enthusiasm in her voice which ignited the adventurous side in me and without any second thought I immediately replied to her with a Yes.

She reciprocated the smile and stood up in the next second and I followed her like a typical younger sister.

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"Maa, we both are going outside."

She said to her mother while some pairs of eyes stared at us as if we both were convicted of some issue!

"Where Beta?"

My aunt asked her back, stuffing the hot samosas into her mouth simultaneously.

"We will just roam in the complex Maa. Not to worry."

Ananya di replied casually while her mother took another bite of the samosa in her hand.

"Okay. But don't go far and take your cell phone."

She uttered incoherently, thanks to her samosa filled mouth.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure," replied Di in a hurried tone, while we both started wearing our shoes.

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I looked at my mother once before stepping out of the house and she was as usual busy talking to her sister in law. In any case, if Ananya Di's mom had no problem in us going out, there could be no way that my mother would have any problem.

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"Yes, of course. We will also go downstairs in sometime. There's a satsang at 5.30 pm."

I heard the vague words spoken by someone in the house as my mind was totally away from their discussion. Tightening the laces of my converse, I followed Ananya Di and headed towards the Elevator.

"Phew thank god."

I murmured softly, thanking my stars for sparing me out of the suffocation that I was going through seconds ago and I heard Ananya Di chuckle at my remark!

I couldn't control a chuckle in return either as without any further delay, I pressed the Ground floor button on the number board.

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Fresh Air.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we stepped out of the building and walked through the huge campus that was surrounded by tall trees, small gardens.

The suffocation was simply gone in the blink of an eye and it was the soothing atmosphere once again! I quickly took a snapshot of the beautiful flowers from my phone's camera while we continued walking.

There were small kids playing cricket, some feet away from us.

The whole place was a newly created one and it was completely evident in the infrastructure and the ambiance there.

What surprised me the most was I could not feel the sun's heat at all! Perhaps, it was because of the greenery all around, but for some odd reason the winds were exceptionally cold.

Tossing away my pool of thoughts, I began humming a beyonce song when Ananya Di cut me in the middle of the melody as she said, "I like such places. So calm. No disturbance at all."

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For a second, I didn't know what to reply. But mustering up some dare, I finally answered back, "Yeah. It's good for the studious people. No one to disturb so people can come up with good theories and discoveries."

I added a chuckle at the end of my sentence to maintain a light humor and avoid getting her offended under any case.

But once again contradicting my estimated words, she gave a completely different answer.

"No, no. Not all that. I meant it's so peaceful at the same time so adventurous. So many things to discover. So isolated.."

She spoke straightaway, as I looked at her, astonished.

However absurd it may sound, but today was the first time I properly got to know how her accent was!

For she never spoke so much previously. At least not to me.

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"True that."

I replied after a period of brief silence, both of us continuing with our walk.

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"Hey! Let us go there.."

She said in a tone of excitement while I followed the tip of her index finger to figure out which place she was referring to.

To my surprise, she pointed towards the set of the tall 8-storeyed under construction buildings that I had taken a glimpse of when we came to this place an hour back.

"There?!"

I replied instantaneously making the exclamation evident in my tone while I stared at her, amused.

"Yeah.. Come on!"

She answered back enthusiastically, hitting me with back to back surprises, though on a positive note, but still totally unexpected.

I always loved exploring new places. It was a type of adventure for me.

Just that due to extreme restrictions I couldn't exercise those hobbies well.

However, today I had no barriers and under any circumstance, Ananya Di was the in-charge. So even if someone had to get the scolding, it would be her.

I acted reasonable as we proceeded towards the path that led to those under construction buildings.

For a formal addition, I asked her, "Mom dad won't scold na?"

As if I really cared! But it's good to be on the safer side.

"No Shreya. Worry not. We will come back in some time. They won't know."

She replied positively.

Whoa! I never knew she was an adventure lover. Al these years I thought her to be the genius geek but she turned out to be a genius in hiding too. She was so casual about not letting out parents know where we were going, it coaxed me to wonder what else did she hide from them!

Controlling the typical evil grin of being the younger sister slash Detective, I accompanied her as we walked through the isolated path towards the buildings.

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Those buildings were a little far from where our relatives lived. It took us a fast seven minutes walk to reach that area and if I considered the previous place to be cold and soothing, this was on the alternative cold and eerie.

Eerie, because of the emptiness that the place possessed.

With no soul around us, we both stared at the extreme height of one of the buildings, till the 8th floor. The cold winds continued to play around us while the tall trees swayed in uneven directions due to the forceful winds.

For a strange reason, I felt reluctant to continue with my adventurous mindset and couldn’t come to terms with what I thought I was feeling!

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“What are we waiting for?! Let’s go!”

Di almost shouted in excitement while I raked my fingers through my hair, still having second thoughts.

Well, those second thoughts couldn’t develop any further as in the next second Ananya Di grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her inside one of the buildings.

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With only two flats on each floor, the building comprised of a huge corridor at every floor.

Still dressed in bricks and cement, the fresh smell and being an under construction aspect of the surrounding was totally evident in the air.

It was so dark inside.

As if the place was completely deprived of sunlight. Maybe, any sort of light.

Or perhaps the tall trees guarded the sun for that matter.

Whatever it was, something was so uncanny about that place. I just couldn’t figure out what!

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“It seems like we are some ghost hunters in a haunted building.”

I joked in a soft voice as we climbed the steep stairs of the 2^nd floor of the building. My voice echoed as I spoke and so did Ananya Di’s as she replied with a light laugh and cautiously climbed the stairs towards the next floor.

Life’s indeed full of surprises. Sometimes, we are so judgmental that we tend to forget that there can be multiple dimensions to a single thing. Here, all these years I called Ananya Di names, believing her to be an only-limited-to-studies edition, but today she turned out to be a savior as she helped me escape from a type of mess called Family Drama.

I considered it to be a baby step towards a budding bonding between both of us.

Little did I know life was waiting with yet another surprise for me at the very next moment!

Enjoying the new found bonding, I took the next step after Di and we both finally stood still as we reached the Fourth Floor.

My eyes grew wide as I stared at the walls semi coated with white paint, making the letters marked on it more prominent.

“What the hell!”

I muttered to myself in disbelief as I looked frantically at all the walls in that floor.

A

A

A

A

A

A

Everywhere!

It seemed as if someone had marked the entire walls on that floor with some black substance, making the letter ‘A’ relevant in every way possible!

Someone, in the state of anger and vengeance.

Perplexed and worried, I looked at Ananya di, looking for an answer but she seemed to be equally confused like me. The difference was that she found it confusing on a positive note for her.

“..It’s-“

She was about to say something when a sudden jolt shocked us both. Within a fraction of second, I could feel tremors as the entire floor shook at an uneven pace without any forewarning, making us stumble as Di held my hand tightly, preventing me from falling down the narrow staircase.

A shiver ran down my spine as I clutched her hand tightly, my mind clouded with fear and uncertainty.

Was this an Earthquake?

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If this was, then we had to run out of here immediately!

But to my surprise, as I sighted outside the window for a brief second, I could see everything around standing still. No movement at all! The trees, the other buildings, everything.

How could this be possible?

My mind gave me no answer as I struggled to stand still, still holding onto my sister who was herself getting unbalanced due to the constant shakes.

Giving up on any further thoughts, I shouted at the top of my lungs, “Di! Please Let’s go!! This is getting scary!”

I anticipated her to not waste any time further in words and get down ASAP but no, she did exactly the opposite!

“What? Are you mad? This is such a discovery! This place must be truly haunted! Come on, let’s explore this place some more! Let’s record a video!”

She replied without a pause as if hypnotized by some unknown aura of that uncanny place.

It felt as if time was ticking out and she was getting drowned into a magnetic pool that made her so rigid that she kept on strengthening her hold on me, begging me to stay with her.

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My breathing became uneven as my mind and body urged me to get out of that deadly sight.

And that was it.

Having my pleas and requests go unnoticed by her, I finally gave up as I forcefully pulled out my hand from her grip and shouted as loudly as I could, “Do whatever you want! I’m going out!!”

I don’t know whether my words had any impact on her.

But at that point, those were all that I could utter!

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Not wasting another minute, I turned away from her, hurriedly running downstairs, being cautious of the steep stairs at the same time as I felt like running for my life, stepping down the fourth floor.

All the thought processes were blocked in my mind as that time the only goal set in my mind was: The Exit Door.

I had to get out of there.

I thought about myself, I did.

I liked adventure, but that wasn’t on the verge of risking my life.

But why was it so hard for Ananya Di to understand?

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“Forget it”

I spoke to myself running like a prisoner set free as I finally found the ray of hope, reaching the ground floor and hurriedly stepped out of the building at a rapid pace.

It was like an all time run for life!

Once outside, I bent down automatically, my heart thudding unevenly, a slight pain taking over my chest due to an undecided and unexpected escape scene that kept flashing in my mind without any gaps.

I looked at the building from outside where I was trapped minutes ago and how peculiar it was that it displayed no sign of any shaking or disturbance.

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But Ananya Di was still in there!

What the hell was she doing?

Had she lost her mind?

Wasn’t she afraid of being there alone?

Was she so brave to face anything and everything?

The questions created a whirlpool in my mind, giving me jitters of something Unknown!

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Giving a break to my dilemma, I screamed as loud as I could,

“Di!!!!”

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No reply came my way.

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The sun was almost disappearing into the endless horizon and my heart kept racing having no answers coming my way.

Should I get inside?

A part of me raised that question, but I was too scared to face that terror all over again!

“Ananya Di!!!”

I shouted once again, but once again disappointment greeted me.

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Fed up with everything, I motioned towards my relatives’ complex, afraid of what I was going to answer to my family if they asked me about Di’s whereabouts.

I covered the seven minutes walk distance in five minutes, playing random party songs from my phone on loud speaker mode to confide my fears within me and not let it show.

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I closed my eyes and exhaled as I finally reached the familiar complex where the kids were still playing and to my surprise, I also found my cousins Ayaan and Mishti playing with the other kids.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it felt like victory seeing the two known faces after a series of uncanny sequences that I underwent just sometime back!

Stopping the loud music, I ran up to my younger cousins doing absolutely nothing but pulling their cheeks and hugging them, just to subside my fear and forget the anxiety of whatever had happened with me some time ago.

As my heartbeat finally appeared to return to its normal rate, I glanced at my wrist watch.

5.21 pm

“Darn it!”

I gritted helplessly as I prayed fervently in my mind, hoping for Di to return, the vague words of Satsang at 5.30 pm still echoing at the back of my mind.

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My eyes grew wide as I could sense the approaching steps of our family members from the opposite direction, as their voices seemed so near to my ears.

I began to palpitate, my brain not working for any excuses to put forward for justifying Di’s absence, when suddenly God seemed to answer my prayers.

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My fingers curled into fists, I looked at my right side as I saw her approaching.

Ananya Di.

There she was!

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One part of me felt like abusing her for putting me into such a trouble that I grew panicky regarding what to tell our parents!

The other part of me was just happy that she was back!

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And for some reason, the second part was more dominant.

As she came closer to me, I just wanted to run and hug her, but all of my happiness vanished in a second as she neared me and said in a voice barely audible, “You left me, right?”

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A strange tinge of guilt overshadowed all my emotions while I stared at her innocent face, helplessly trying hard to justify what I did, but I just couldn’t.

Was she right?

Was I that selfish, that I just left her there?

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But I was scared.

And I had asked her to run with me, but she was all enthralled by the haunted essence of that place.

Was that really my fault?

I struggled hard to reason with her words but I observed keenly that her face displayed absolutely no sign of emotion! She was totally blank.

Was she scared too?

Was she badly affected?

Oh! How I wished to have found those answers but by the time I mustered up some courage to ask her something, our family and relatives were already surrounding us. The never ending talks taking over the atmosphere, we all proceeded towards the small club within the complex where the said satsang was going to be held.

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I sat with my mother and she sat with hers.

There was a peculiar tension in the atmosphere, the magnitude of which only I could feel.

There was so much to know, so much to say, but nothing appeared appropriate.

She was sitting some feet away from me, certainly in my reach but she appeared to be so engrossed in the function that she was totally oblivious to my presence.

How could this be possible?

One minute, she was all jovial and friendly and now, she was herself again!

The silent spectator.

Was she really hurt by my deeds?

Was I supposed to say sorry to her?

.. I had no idea what the reality was.

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It was 7.30 pm in the evening and we were getting ready to depart for Kolkata.

I couldn’t believe the two days were already over, but much to my surprise I had this sudden urge for getting back home at the earliest.

Perhaps, I just needed some time, some quality time to think about stuff properly in leisure. Adding to that, I also wanted to talk to Ananya Di, but only when we reached home.

Having early meals in the late evening, we headed towards the Car, all set to return home. That is when we came to know that few of our relatives were also accompanying us to Kolkata for a couple of days.

I was indifferent about the learnt information and remained unaffected until our parents told us that we kids could travel by the Open roof jeep, which would be driven by Chacha and rest of the family members will be coming by the Scorpio.

At that minute, anything suited me well.

I just wanted to get back home. Nothing else.

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“Yay! We will go by the Jeep then!”

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For a moment, I thought that would be Mishti in her typical girly tone exclaiming her joy, but to my utter surprise, it was Ananya Di.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

Her behavior scared me to the core.

Those mood swings.

Those fluctuations.

I couldn’t fathom anything that was happening with me, around me since the past few hours.

Not saying anything further, I sat inside the Jeep while Ananya Di, Ayaan, Mishti and my paternal uncle followed and Chacha took the driver’s seat.

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Two hours were gone, but I couldn’t conclude anything significant or sensible.

With the two elders present inside the vehicle, I couldn’t even dare to ask her anything.

Just when I tried to put forward a topic to at least begin a conversation with her, she said in a weird tone, “Chacha, please play some song na.”

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“Sure, Ananya.”

The elderly man readily agreed as he tuned into one of the radio stations and a loud, chic song started playing.

My eyes seemed as if they would pop out of their sockets as I saw Ananya Di swaying her hands and hair, trying to match up with the rhythm of the song, much to Uncle’s dislike.

“What the hell is she doing?”

I mumbled to myself, totally clueless about what was happening as to she was never like this before. She could easily study the dislike in Uncle’s face but she appeared to be completely unaffected by everything.

Uncle couldn’t say a single word due to the estranged chacha’s presence and hence, I thought it was right for me to intervene.

Grabbing one of her hands with my right hand, I made her halt as she directly looked into my eyes intensely, her face just appearing to be like my sister, but someone else from within.

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Clearing my throat, I whispered as softly as I could so that I was audible only to her,

“Di! What are you doing? Bade papa is getting angry.”

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I thought maybe my words could have poured some senses into her, but she ditched me once again as she got herself free from my grip and replied back in an unusual tone,

“Don’t worry Shreya. No one will recognize me from tomorrow.”

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Her words sent a shiver down my spine as I kept staring at her, willing to get some answers but she didn’t even look at me even for once after that, just engrossed with her.

My calculation skills betrayed me as I constantly made efforts to comprehend the situation and get something out of her, but she wasn’t herself anymore.

The gravity of the situation was getting deeper and deeper, but I just couldn’t do anything rather than wait for Kolkata to arrive.

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Home Sweet Home

I never knew the true meaning of these words until today. I breathed a sigh of relief as I finally entered my room, throwing my bags on the floor, as I lay on my bed.

I stared at the ceiling fan trying to analyze the events one after another.

It had been such a long day.

The tedious journey.

The family drama.

The weird place.

The creepy atmosphere.

And then, Ananya Di.

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Was that really an earthquake?

If it was really an earthquake, then why wasn’t there any damage?

Why was everything else around so still and immobile?

What did those ‘A’ marks mean?

Who could draw such stuff?

And why?

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My mind crossed thousands of possibilities but none seemed vital to be a strong hold. I was exhausted. The journey had already started taking over my health. Besides, there was no way I could miss my early morning tuitions the next day. The tuitions were the only place I could meet my boyfriend Vedant and if I didn’t make it tomorrow, then he was going to taunt me for that forever.

I couldn’t risk that.

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My mind, still not completely out of the impact of heavy events wanted some rest, and so did my body.

And some things were better engraved in life, weren’t they?

Satiating the boundless curiosity in my mind for the time being, I tried to relax my muscles as I decreased the temperature of the Air Conditioner and within a few seconds, everything around me turned black as the darkness took over and I fell into the oblivion’s curse.

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The mornings were always a busy time at my place.

People going for work, walks, tuitions, just that during the summer months the colleges and schools were off, hence, a little less haste.

But in any case, tuitions took over the place of school and college.

By the time I woke up, Ananya Di had already left for her coaching.

“Nerd!”

I muttered to myself as I sat on the breakfast table, munching some dry cornflakes out of joblessness.

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Slowly recollecting everything from the previous day, I thought to myself,

“Evening.”

“I will talk to her in the evening.”

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..

Tuitions were always a happy place for me. Meeting with college buddies and utmost of all, Vedant. We had been in a relationship for six months now. The fact that we are friends first makes everything so much better between us.

There hadn’t been a single thing that I kept from Vedant and today, I didn’t want to hide stuff about Ananya di either.

But for some weird reason, there was something that didn’t let me spill about this incident to anyone. I felt as if even the walls could hear me if I thought about it loud.

I decided that I would speak to Di first and then tell Vedant about it.

At that time, it certainly appeared legit.

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After the tuitions were over, we headed to the mall to celebrate a birthday of a friend, followed by a movie. Despite all the strict rules at my house, hanging out with friends was something that my mother never had a problem with, for she knew them since a very long time and I definitely considered myself lucky enough on that front.

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I didn’t realize how the day had passed.

Yesterday, it was so dark and gloomy and today was so fast and happy.

One could never tell how one’s life was going to be the next second!

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Happy about today’s happenings, I rang the door bell of my house, aiming for the next big step in my mind: The talk with Ananya Di.

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I was processing all the questions in my mind when suddenly the door was opened and a deafening silence greeted me.

I was taken aback as I couldn’t hear the usual chitter-chatter and noise in the house that would be audible every other day.

Slinging the bag on one side of my shoulder, I entered while the maid closed the door behind me.

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“Where is every one?”

I asked her, confused by the sudden change in atmosphere of my own house.

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“Don’t know baby ji, they went in a hurry. Asked me to stay here as Ayaan and Mishti would be alone otherwise.”

She replied casually, genuinely not aware of the reality.

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“Where are Ayaan and Mishti?”

I questioned, to which she replied that they were upstairs.

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I thanked her for being there and asked her to go home as I was back now.

A strange feeling took over me as I walked upstairs, an unusual wave of emotion hitting me at an unbeatable pace.

Was everything fine?

Was everyone okay?

Why wasn’t Ananya Di back yet?

It was already 8.00 pm.

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I took out the cell phone from my Jeans’ pocket, swapping the screen to dial my mother’s number when the sudden ring of the landline halted my activity.

The loud ring of the telephone echoed in the house while I ran towards it and picked up the receiver.

“Hello?”

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“Mom?”

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“Where are you all?”

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I asked at one go, without any break as the silence from the other end hit my nerve painfully.

.

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The ticking of the wall clock appeared extremely loud to me as my breath sped up with every passing second, my heart pounding out of my chest.

.

.

“Shreya-“

.

I could feel the salty ache of tears forming at the back of my throat as a pool of water brimmed in my eyes and my mother’s tearful, inconsolable voice broke down,

“An..Ananya is no more.”

..

.

.

It has been two years now.

So much has changed.

But the spoken words can never be changed.

The words that still ring in the back of my mind.

“You left me, right?”

“No one will recognize me from tomorrow.”

.

.

That night my family members were informed about an accident at Lenin Sarani, Kolkata, where a girl in her early twenties was crushed over by a speeding Bolero.

Funny thing?

The girl was walking over the footpath.

Of course, it was none other than Ananya Di.

.

.

What had she meant when she said no one will recognize her from tomorrow?

.

.

Did she know what was coming?

Did she know she would be dead?

What was there in the Fourth Floor?

Was she my Ananya Di, when she came out of that building?

Was it my fault that I left her there?

Will the mystery of that place in Asansol ever unfold?

.

.

Even if I find the answers to these questions, what’s the point?

It’s already too late.

***