Chapter 5 – Omens
"Well where was I? hmm.." Pawan started to think
"You had finished the funeral and had started about the school construction.." chirped Chavi who sounded extremely excited to be able to hear the rest of the story.
"Good then you remember" Pawan grinned at Chavi
"Of course I do! now stop joking and continue" Chavi almost shouted.
"These are just rumors and I don't claim to know the facts.... I am just passing on what I heard from the others..don't blame me for misrepresentation of facts.." Pawan was enjoying Chavi's desperation to listen to the remaining part of the legacy.
"I don't care if they are just rumors or real facts..just go on with it Pawan! sometimes you are just like my brother..." Chavi hissed.
"Ok here goes nothing" Pawan started
The ACE management had started the school's construction about 3 years after the horrible incident had sent shock waves across the sleep little village on the outskirts of Bangalore. The plot of land owned by one of the school's head trustee was far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, had a lake that proved as ideal nesting grounds for exotic & migratory birds. The villagers were simple and the area was free from crime. These were strong enough reasons for the trust who were also managing regular schools within the city itself to plan over a state of the art International residential school that would be built on the lines of the military academy school in Patiala and offered it's students curriculum as well as holistic development.
The trust was very well aware of the D'Costa incident and though they thought it was an unnatural incident they did not consider the fear of the villagers to be anything serious. Villagers always talk about spirits, omens and ghosts and they neither have head or tail in their stories.
However, contrary to their educated beliefs, things started going right from the day that the construction work had to start at the site. The trust members along with their families, the school campus architect, a few investors and their families had gathered on a particularly stormy day during the monsoon to perform a little puja at the ground before excavating the ground for the foundation. The state education minister was also present for the ceremony as he would be laying a symbolic foundation stone to mark the commencement of the construction.
A large pavilion was set up at the site where the guests and their families could enjoy the view of the magnificent bungalow and the expansive lake with the migratory birds and their nests. Tables were set up and a delicious fare was laid out.
After the puja concluded and it also drizzled a bit much to the delight of the investors and the trustees since it was a good omen, the guests were guided towards the pavilion.
The minister along with his tiny entourage and tag alongs was in an animated conversation with a few of the trustees and a couple of well-known investors just then something unimaginable happened.
"What?" Chavi was so deeply involved and the story was taking an interesting turn.
Pawan just gestured with his hands to hold on and he looked in the direction of the stage, Chavi and Disha both turned towards the stage in unison to see Peeya standing at the foot of the small flight of steps leading to the elaborate stage.
"Since when was she here?" whispered Praneethi
"No idea, I stopped when I saw her..guess she might have just entered.. quite a sneaky little..." Pawan was about to let out an expletive when he was stopped by Disha's discerning gaze.
Feeling uneasy with the sudden attention towards her, Peeya immediately scurried out of the auditorium.
"I wonder why she had come here alone?" asked Chavi to herself.
"Hey go on!" Praneethi told Pawan
"Yeah, the minister was chatting and the guests were all busy enjoying the feast, when there was a commotion at the sprawling fence that separated the school's property from the D'Costa bungalow.
The guests were startled to watch a disheveled old lady wearing an old torn knitted sweater, a thick rimmed pair of spectacles, a laced floral gown that dropped down just below her knees and a pair of white - red sneakers staring at the crowd, at least that's what they thought. Lily Mary D'Costa had never stepped out of the patio of her bungalow ever since Richmond met a tragic end, tragic to him, and had never dared to come close to the piered deck. But here she was at the fence, out of her cordoned off zone.
She was in fact staring at a little girl who had wandered off close to the face. The girl might have been just over 2 years old and she was the daughter of one of the school's investors. When the minister's attention was drawn to the commotion, he signaled one of his men to check into it. Just when one of his men had gone a step too far to shoo away the scary old woman, Lucifer and Gabriel were on their hinds with their fore paws resting on the fence bearing their canine fangs and spewing thick saliva, barking furiously at the man who had come too close to their mistress.
The hounds could have easily leaped over the fence and made mincemeat out of the man, but they were restrained, all by themselves. Lily Mary hardly spoke a word & did nothing to reign in her dogs. This was the beginning of several omens. The dogs behaved like they possessed human personalities.
Some say that the land on which the school was constructed once belonged to Richmond D'Costa. In fact, he had bought such huge swathes of land across the village that he practically owned more than half of the tiny village. The D'Costa family trust had sold this land to the ACE trust for a handsome price since the main source of income was from the art house and the galleries and without a caretaker, the business had flagged down and the trust had to sell this extra piece of land to earn just enough money to operate the bungalow's and the estate's expenses from the interest it earned.
Sometime after that weird incident, the architect came along with his blue prints, drawing board and surveying instruments and 25 odd workers and assistants, the second omen happened and this time the warning was more intense.
It was monsoon and it had been raining for quite some time now, the ground was all wet and soggy, but the excavation & other work could start without any hitch. The architect had stood where the girls' hostel stood now and had given his surveying instrument which was a special lens on a tripod which would spell out the ground's levelness against a reference. The main school structure would be a little far away and the very first construction had to be the girls' hostel which was closest to the D'Costa property. It also had easy access to the road and provided an excellent view of the lake. The girls' hostel was to be built in such a location that it would be closest to the school for obvious reasons.
The laborer who was carrying the survey instrument on the tripod was a little hyperactive and kept running about the ground, just to get off with his work soon. The architect would guide him from a distance and the laborer would place the tripod there. After a good 30 minute of this exercise, the architect had wanted to position the instrument near the fence and he directed the laborer to do so.
The over enthusiastic laborer was jogging over to the fence when within a fraction of a second, he slipped & fell. He was impaled in the neck on the fence and this was the exact same spot Lucifer & Gabriel had barked warnings at the crowd of onlookers. The laborer died instantly.
The management pooh poohed this incident as an accident and went on with the construction of the school. The laborers were all from the city and therefore were unaware of the dangerous past of the estate.
The construction of the school did go on without any incident and the school even got completed as planned. The unsavory incident was soon forgotten and the school was thrown open for admissions. This all happened about 9 years back.
"So it has been 12 years since Richmond's death now" Chavi calculated.
"Yes Einstein. It has been. Now let's go to the ground. I am bored. Rest for later" Praneethi played spoil sport and Chavi had to wait, God knows till how long until she got her feed of the real life horror thriller.
After an hour of fun and frolic with other 9th and twelfth graders, Chavi returned to her room with a view and threw herself over the bed.
It was but wrong to presume that the omens had subsided though it had taken quite a long break after the freak accident that impaled the laborer. For twelve long years there had not been any untowardly incident at ACE.
Maybe, the unknown force that had manifested itself into something extremely vicious had waited in long anticipation for this moment in time.
It had now been a good month since Chavi had joined ACE and she had made some other friends primarily from the Mayura house thanks to her proximity to the house head girl. The school had preached about some extra ordinary facilities for its students in its glossy and highly attractive brochure. ACE had lived up to its promises
The school announced the resumption of the equestrian classes for all students from 8th to 12th graders. The notices were sent across to the individual laptops of all students while keeping their parents in the loop.
The classes however were mandatory and Chavi could not feign any excuse to avoid mounting a horse.
Chavi received her equestrian ensemble 15 days after the school memo was circulated.
“Not quite bad” Chavi praised herself as she observed her image with the suit on. A jockey’s helmet, a pleated blazer, cream lycra leggings and ankle length boots with cowboy spurs.
“This is your first time too, right Peeya?” Chavi had still not given up on her roommate.
“Obviously! This is the first time in 8th grade for me too, isn’t it?” Peeya was at her obnoxious best.
Dressed for the occasion, Chavi was accompanied by Peeya who had no choice but to follow the hostel warden’s instructions to come out in twos in accordance with the room numbers.
The equestrian ground was a makeshift one designed on the lines of amateur competitions and the circuit had only 7 obstacles as compared to the standard of 10 - 16.
The highest steeple was a mere 4.5 feet high, not even a challenge for the experienced thoroughbreds that the school management had managed to acquire at a decent price from a nearby stud farm.
Chavi’s horse was a black mare with a streak of brown running vertically on its broad forehead, while Peeya’s horse was a brown – white stallion.
“HEEL BOY!” shouted the stallion’s handler.
Peeya’s stallion was behaving strange and quite frankly it’s handler had never seen him behave so gruff. The stallion’s anxiety seemed to grow large as Peeya approached him with a whip and she looked quite resolved to tame him.
How often have we come across incidents where the mute creatures of the animal kingdom have heightened senses to sense lurking danger while the most evolved creature of them all does not carry the slightest ability for the same. May be it this disability could be man’s unbecoming in the near future.
The handler was having a harrowing time in controlling the agitated animal and he lost total control just as Peeya came within arm’s reach of the beast. The stallion raised on its hinds with a blood curdling neigh and it came down with all its fury and strength upon the unsuspecting handler. The iron clad hooves of the stallion broke through the man’s rib cage and a shard of his bone ripped through his lungs and heart, bleeding him from inside and killing him instantly.
After 2 omens in quick succession, the third one had taken a patient 12 years to show up and it was deadly.
Peeya was unperturbed by all this. While a commotion & a crowd gathered to witness the misery, Peeya coolly left the scene without expressing a hint of shock or fear and Chavi had watched all along. For an eighth grader and a girl, it was easy to scream, shout and even faint when such drastic events had taken place right under her nose, but Peeya exhibited a stoicism of a veteran crime scene investigator who was used to seeing human carcasses in the most inhuman of conditions.
All her life, Chavi had the nicest things for company and her departure of her home and hamlet had suddenly exposed the naïve yet brave girl to a world that was unknown about which even the adults were unsure.
“Mumma & papa will be disturbed if I tell them about the school’s past and about today” Chavi confided with her trusted three friends, Pawan, Praneethi and Disha.
“The adults will never believe if you are gonna tell them a story about ghosts and omens. They will only dismiss your plea as a child’s excuse to get out of this prison!” spoke Pawan as if logically.
“I guess you are right. But I really think that there is something strange about my roomie”. Chavi had been almost correct with her suspicions.
Peeya’s parents had not died a natural death and their demise was mired in controversy and it was a great riddle as to how Peeya alone survived the ghastly car accident that the Mukherjees were involved in.
Her maternal uncle and his wife had been kind to adopt her into their family and raised her as their own. She had a normal life until she was nearly around 11 years old – Puberty.
Chavi got back to her O Toole thriller Lasting Fondness just to divert her attention from the day’s incident and to avoid making eye contact with her strange roommate. But hardly had she anticipated the how closely fiction and facts were linked and how Déjà vu would change her perception about this forever.
Guss was leading a good life, he was practically high society, the crème de la crème. His spouse was the most celebrated member of the Hollywood fraternity and he basked in her glory but seldom had his share of the fame and fortune. Augustine Schessman Schneider’s huge fortune was looked after by her trusted accountant and manager Teddy Birmingham. Though Guss was earning quite well for his age and skills as an assistant to his wife, he was not content. His disagreement with life’s plan for him had made him move out of the ghetto long back and quite frankly he never had second thoughts of returning to his family. He had elected to purge his frugal past and was married to the thought of aristocracy and fame. In the modern era, the rich & the famous were the new royals and the ones who ruled the hearts and controlled the minds of the people, possessed the ultimate weapon. Power. Power to influence
Three years into the marriage and the huge age gap notwithstanding, Augustine bore Guss his first child, a daughter.
“How could I make such a frivolous error! I must have been on my guard!” cursed Guss at his fate. He had never wanted his relationship with Augustine to progress to the next level and was wary of committing to the family life. His conscious was still not totally corrupted but was in every way vulnerable.
Nevertheless, Guss displayed signs of fatherly affection towards his daughter Priscilla Schneider though he vowed that he would never falter again.
“Honey! Look at what we have got here, an invitation for the 15th annual Hollywood Studio gala and we have the front row seats!” exalted Augustine.
“Splendid!” Guss was excited too but soon his face was crestfallen when he noticed that the invite had been in Augustine’s name and she could bring along a plus one. Guss wanted to be ‘The one’ and not a mere plus one.
Though he had not deserved it, his ego was bruised very badly. This was the beginning of Guss’s moral decline.
“Good Evening My lady! Most charmed to welcome you Ms. Schessman” greeted an old acquaintance of Augustine who received her at the gala event while the press snapped away at free will when the distinguished lady director and the famous socialite rubbed shoulders. All this while a grinning Guss Schneider was standing behind his famous lady and was grossly snubbed by the highly biased media men.
Augustine was so consumed in her own world that she completely forgot the basic etiquette of introducing her husband of 3 years to the people who came to wish her at the event. At this point, Guss’s ego had taken a massive beating and his self-esteem had taken a nose dive.
After the gala event, Guss maintained an uneasy silence throughout their drive to their Beverly hills residence. Guss sulked while Augustine gushed about the grandeur of the event. It had never crossed her mind that she was distancing her husband from this childish indulgence of hers. Not that Guss was truly in love with his lady.
“Good Morning my lady, Good Morning Sir! I presume the both of you had a marvelous evening at the gala” spoke Augustine’s manager & accountant Teddy Birmingham in a polished English manner.
“Oh It was fine, just fine! Wasn’t it honey!” Augustine was still gushing about the previous evening.
“If you say so darling!”Guss said it in a matter-of-fact manner.
“What brings you all the way in the morning Teddy?”Guss interrogated Teddy.
“Well, it’s about Augustine’s accounts, I had to discuss a few tiny issues with her”
“Oh my! Please spare me from all the numbers! They all look like Greek and Latin to me! That’s why I hired you Teddy!” Augustine joked.
“Augustine, its nothing major, there were some bills to pay off and I need your signatures on the cheques here. No pain”
“Alright, get them here”, Augustine trusted Teddy since he had been with her for a long time now and she had no reason to suspect as she was doing quite well. Augustine signs half a dozen leaves without even allowing them her glance.
Ted would usually time his meetings with Augustine when Guss wouldn’t be around, but this time, he had faced Guss who was quite not amused with the way his wife trusted an outsider.
“Honey! Don’t you think you should be a little more pragmatic about how you deal with your money?”
“Oh no dear, Teddy is a good hand and I trust him completely. Nothing wrong has happened for the last 10 years he has been with me and I can’t imagine if I should be trusting him less”
“You are not the same person you were 10 years back Augustine!” asserted Guss trying to assert that he wore the pants in the house. Taking Augustine’s name in a conversation should have been an indicator that all was not right in the Schessman – Schneider household.
“Well that’s why I got married to you, Guss Schneider. You will take care of me!” mocked Augustine playfully not taking him seriously.
Guss was not convinced of Ted’s honesty and had decided to put him to test, may be it would have something for him as well.
A few days pass and Guss had devised a plan to extricate information from Ted and lookout for probable avenues from which he could benefit as well.
Guss got his opportune moment when Augustine had to fly to Beirut to shoot for her next film based on a bestseller which had the male protagonist falling in love with a Bedouin girl on his expedition to the lawless lands of the Horn of Africa.