6
Mridula smiled. "I am a wandering soul."
"So that is why you contacted me. You want me to find out what happened to you. Or, how you died." Joyce was getting a clear picture.
Mridula shook her head. I need you for more. You are going to live as long as my Rajeev lives. I want to love him through you.
“You want me in return.” She continued. “I don't understand what you do mean by that.”
“I told you that you won't understand. I just need you to accept me.” Mridula was calm though her mind was turbulent.
“Are you going to kill me?” Joyce looked straight into her face. But because of the darkness her facial expressions weren’t visible. She wasn’t afraid of death but by a ghost she never anticipated. She wanted painless quick death. A string of fear entwined her.
“No, I will never do that. You should live.” She pouted her lips. I am going to live through you.
“You need my body. Now the picture is clear. But I am unable to guess what you are going to do with it.”
Mridula didn't utter anything further. You are smarter than I thought. She waited for her to say more.
“I will help you to find out what happened to you. You will help me to get my revenge. We are equal. So I am not surrendering my body to you. After my revenge I want to leave this planet.” She was adamant in her decision.
Just accept once and give me access. And I will be the one who decides whether you leave or not. She needed some way to let her inside Joyce's body, just one word of acceptance or a positive nod.
“If you want your revenge I want you to accept me inside your heart.” Mridula tried to hide her eagerness. Inside your body to be precise.
“Okay.” Joyce accepted willfully.
Finally. Mridula grinned sinisterly.
“You can have me. I don’t know what you are going to do with my body but till I have my revenge I am yours.” Her brain said yes but her heart was against the decision.
That was enough. No further invitation was required for Mridula. Her spirit form was inside Joyce before she knew what was happening, ready to explore every human desire. And poor Joyce, she did not have any idea of what she has done, she will never know. Her spirit, freed from her flesh will have to go to a place of no return and will have no knowledge of what is going to happen with her body. She will never know how and when her revenge will be done unless Mridula decides to keep her spirit along with her until the vengeance is fulfilled.
Mridula gently caressed her new body. She heard her new heart thumping rhythmically inside her chest. Her new skin prickled and everything she felt was indescribable. Rajeev I am new and fresh now. She had a sultry smile on her face. Let’s start again afresh. A new life. A new beginning. She felt the unquenchable thirst for lust slowly spreading throughout the body. Five years was a lot of time.
*-*
Mohini looked sat her mobile phone again. Network was dead. She really wished her friends to find her soon. Come on guys. Please get me out of here.
Winds have seized but the drizzle was still there. Atmosphere was calm and silent. Mohini lowered the window glass and looked outside. She thought that it’s been quite some time that he has left her. Darkness was heavy outside the car. Mist has started spreading the vicinity.
Shall I take the car and go? She asked herself.
At that moment a mighty lightning struck the earth. In that silver light, she saw a dot like image far away in the rearview mirror.
It might be him. She sighed with relief.
As she looked at it, the image grew bigger. It was walking towards the car. She genuinely prayed that he would reach as early as possible.
But, as it got closer, she realized that it was someone else. Small rays of light flashed in between. She looked at him, going into the woods, following Arun’s footsteps. She saw a shadow-like figure behind the man. A dark silhouette of smoke!
A shadow at night? She doubted. She recognized it was a shape formed by the fog and it was moving with him. This night is getting creepier.
He was walking as if he was in a dream.
What’s happening around me? She could feel the dread surrounding her. It was eating her from inside. Even in the cold weather she perspired profusely. Along with fear, an aura of excitement embraced her. As if in a dream she opened the door. She kept the car keys inside the pocket of her jeans and tiptoed behind the man. Flashes from the sky showed her the path.
Arun opened his eyes.
Where am I? What happened to me? He was lying on the ground.
All his drunkenness has been lost. His head was straight with full sense. He tried to remember the events happened before he collapsed.
Mohini, a baby’s cry, and fetuses all over the ground… he thought he was in some fantasy world. He looked around. Even in the dark he recognized the place. It sends chills through his spine.
He never wanted to come to this place again. And yet, he is here. Is it coincidence or has someone purposely took him here? Only Mohini could answer that.
His head scorched in pain as if hundreds of nails were struck into it. He pressed his head with both the hands.
What the hell is happening to me?
He could feel the pain slowly fading away. He rubbed both sides with his thumbs.
Then he heard, cracking sound of the dry leaves. Someone was coming. He could understand that person is not so far. He turned and looked at the direction of the sound. A person, blinded by the dark! He couldn’t see the face, but two yellow orbs of fire. Behind him, black smoke transformed into some shape was moving as if it was his shadow.
“Who is it?” He asked.
There was no reply.
He came closer to Arun and kneeled before him. A lightning struck heavily in the sky. Arun saw the man in front of him in the blue light. His face became blunt.
“You never expected to meet me again, right?” The voice felt like it was coming from a cave, disrupted but majestic. “When you killed me, you never thought I will come back, did you?”
What the fuck are you saying?
“No, I haven’t killed you. You are very much alive.” Arun’s voice was dead inside his throat.
“Shalln’t I be the person to avenge my death?” A hard, rustic voice asked crittering like a thousand moths.
Arun was wondering where this was going. Why is someone who is alive talking to me like this? I haven’t killed anyone.
He wanted to scream his innocence but as if someone has tied up, his voice was frozen. His tongue was cold and stoned.
“Revenge is divine and I am the angel who came to carry out the task of revenge. The unborn angel.” The man in front of Arun laughed like thunder but he felt the voice is coming from behind, from the shadow.
Is he really dead? Is he a ghost now?
A chilly breeze caressed Arun as it passed through sending chills all over his body.
It stood up in front of him and the black mist moved vigorously creating curls behind the figure.
Arun tried to convey his message by shaking his hands that he hasn’t done anything. It’s not me. I haven’t killed anybody. Please spare me.
She wanted to run away from there but she couldn't. She felt she is been glued to the ground and she could feel the fear engulfing her. She was clueless about the whole thing but she knew that whatever she was witnessing is unearthly and illogical. There cannot be any sensible explanation to this.
As she watched the man in the black cloak with all the dark fumes rises up. He torn away Arun’s clothes and raised him up from the ground by groping around his neck. She could see there was no resistance. He then threw the man down and Arun landed on his back. Then he grabbed both of Arun’s legs.
Is he going to rip him into two?
She took out her cell phone from her pocket and checked. There was no reception. Why aren't they here yet? She wondered.
This wasn't what she expected. It should have been easy money. Just go with the guy and direct her friends to his home. A drunken guy is easy to tie up somewhere and they take whatever they can from his home and elope. The plan was so simple but it is now more than complicated. She was about to witness a cold blooded murder.
She was expecting her friends to come and pick her up but they were nowhere to be seen. They should have been tracking her GPS signal of her phone. Now she doubted whether they were even able to track her.
She heard a deafening scream and she saw the most horrifying sight of her lifetime which will be haunting her all her life.
******-------******