Shadows - Chapter 5

Story so far:

Chapter 4
Chapter 3
Chapter 2
Chapter 1



The children were back in their bedroom after finishing the meal. They were quite infuriated with this sudden change in Aunt Padmini's behavior. She was behaving extremely friendly with them when they arrived. However, since the time Sapna told her about those red eyes, there had been a drastic change in her attitude. The softness in her manner was no more visible. It was now replaced by a brashness which they didn't expect from her.

True, Aunt Padmini had behaved in unusual fashions a few times that they had met earlier. Once, at their own residence, in the middle of the night, Aunt had suddenly started uttering rhythmic chants while asleep, which sounded oh-so-ghostly. Sapna, who was sleeping besides her at that time, had shaken her up until she was awake. However, when confronted by Sapna, she avoided the question by saying it was a usual prayer that she speaks out loud before going to sleep.

Sapna didn't believe her then, 'cause she had clearly heard a few words of the chants, which sounded like "death", "blood", "skull" and "Satan." How could these be parts of a prayer?

Sapna tried to rid these thoughts out of her mind. They were negative thoughts, and wouldn't help them in any way. They had to stay positive now, and try to unravel what was going in this house. Perhaps, Aunt was trying to hide something from them. What that something was, she had to find out.

She looked beside her. Swapnil was already deep asleep. Probably, Aunt Padmini too had slept. This was the right opportunity when she could go out of her room and search for clues for the reasons for Aunt's ill-manners. She got out of bed, wore her slippers, and then kept it aside, as slippers would make noise on the ground. Instead, she walked with barren feet, opened the door of her room, and trudged out in a tip-toed manner.

The drawing room was still devoid of electricity, a long candle fought wearily, radiating the area around. Everything seemed to be in place, but Sapna still felt a nudge of discomfort. Somewhere, something was wrong. Terribly wrong. How would she find out the missing link? Immediately, Aunt's last words resonated in her mind - "Do not play with shadows."

She now knew what could help her find the truth. It might look stupid, but it was definitely worth a try.

She went to the wall where they were making animal forms with shadows. The light was still bright, a perfect canvas for her to exhibit her skills. However, this wasn't about her skill. This was about finding the truth and the mystery surrounding this place.

She joined her fingers, and started making patterns out of them, each reflected perfectly as shadows in the wall. She made a few patterns, but nothing seemed unnatural. Everything was perfectly fine. Disheartened, she started to leave and go back to her room.

Just as she was about to depart, she heard a strange sound. It was eerie and unearthly, and she wasn't able to identify it. She tried looking all around her, but couldn't find the source of the sound.

Suddenly, her eyes darted towards the ceiling, and what she saw froze every part of her body. Her heart stopped beating, and her skin suddenly felt cold. She wanted to run, but couldn't. Her legs gained weight, fixing her to the ground, rendering her immobile.

Her eyes traced the dark shadows that were crawling in the ceilings. To her shock and horror, these were the same forms she had created - dog, fish, rabbit and cat. Each of these forms had now combined together to form one big mass of cloud, spreading across the ceiling.

Sapna tried to scream, but no voice came out. She opened her mouth again, giving her full strength, when suddenly the shadows came out of the ceiling like a thick bunch of clouds, and dived straight into Sapna's open mouth.

What happens next:

Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9