by Nag Mani
“Sirrr…” someone whispered in his ears, a harsh, dry whisper. He spun around and lost control of the wheel. He screamed and swung the steering. Something black crossed the road. Did he see a pair of yellow eyes? He steered and hit the brakes. His car skidded to a side and rolled over… into the lake.
He shouted for help as water began to fill in. His head was bleeding. He tried to open the doors. They were jammed. His car was going down. He rammed at the window. The water was filling in. He kicked at the door. The water was filling in. He was drowning. He shouted for help.
“Sirrr…” A whisper, its dryness sent a shiver down his spine.
She was sitting next to him, watching him struggle, drowning with him, as calm as dead. Lower and lower they went. He could not hold his breath any longer. He gasped. His lungs burned with water. It was excruciating. And she just sat there… watching him…
Rohan woke up sweating. He looked around. The sun had not risen, yet a few beds were empty. Students had already started studying. It was the last week of November and the air was bitter cold. The final exams were only three days away.
Anjali returned that evening. No sooner had the practice started than Rohan noticed that Ayush and Nipurn were continually taking turns to stand behind her while she was busy giving directions from her seat. “Stand and observe!” Ayush instructed, perceiving his perplexed look. Curious, Rohan casually stood behind and watched the play.
“Look down!” Ayush signalled.
Rohan did, and grinned. It was rude, vulgar, desperate, yet he continued to look down. Anjali had taken off her jacket and he had a clear view of her voluptuous cleavage. He lingered there for a while, taking all his time to explore her purple bra. And there, almost hidden, he saw an amulet. It was a bit surprising. Didn’t she say she didn’t believe in these things?
Anjali might have sensed something for she turned abruptly. But Rohan had developed a keen interest in the play by then, his innocent eyes fixed on the stage. “Here you are! What did you do to Chandni?” she asked. “I am out for one night and you end up locking her in here. And what happened to your cheeks?”
Rohan tried to avoid answering but she pulled him down beside her and examined it. “The seniors slapped me.”
“Oh, my dear! You couldn’t handle one practice?”
“No. It happened before you left. We didn’t have any practice after that.”
“I don’t remember you locking someone inside,” Anjali seemed puzzled. “She had gone back to her dorm that night.”
“No, she hadn’t. She was found on the stage the next morning.”
“She had gone back to her dorm.”
“No, she was in the Green Room or somewhere…”
“I know she had gone back.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because she went back to the hostel with me!”
Rohan stared at her in disbelief. Completely lost with words, he turned around and watched the play. What was happening? Why had Chandni lied? Neither Rohan nor Anjali had any explanation as to why she came back to the hall. Did she forget something? The blazer! But deep in his heart he knew she had not forgotten it. Then why? And how did she get locked inside? Even if she did, why didn’t she call out for help? Guards were always on watch at night.
Rohan sat on the semi-circular steps to the Auditorium and gazed at the deserted Junior School quadrangle. It was almost 8 PM. He could see little boys jumping on beds in their dormitories. A few faces would halt at the windows to look at him. They waved at him, but his mind was somewhere else. Why had Chandni said that she had been locked inside the hall, thus, put the entire blame on him? And more perplexing was the fact that she had actually come all the way from the Girls’ Hostel to the Auditorium. She had to cross two guard-rooms on her way and passing under their noses undetected was impossible. Maybe she jumped over the boundary-wall and made her way through the forest. But even thinking about it was insane! But wasn’t she insane? He remembered her sitting in the dark Green Room. What was so urgent? A dare? Yes! She, somehow, did manage to get away from her hostel campus, failed in her quest and lied to cover up. And he faced the consequences of her stupidity.
The Green Room flashed in his mind. He was panting against the wall. Chandni was sitting on the wooden chair, staring at herself in the dark mirror. What was she doing? She had made him flee in fright, hadn’t she? The way she was sitting… anyone could have got scared. She could have at least switched on the lights. Or… maybe, that was what she had intended.
Rohan felt dizzy, but somehow, more awake. She had been waiting, waiting for anyone to come down to look for her. And from where did she get this puerile idea? Of course, from the three juniors who tried to scare Surbhi. But wait, wasn’t Chandni also in the Basketball Court! It was far more likely that she knew about the doll than the three newcomers. “Akshay?” Rohan called.
“Yes?” Akshay came stamping down the stairs from the control room.
“That day, when Surbhi saw that doll in the Green Room, what were you doing in the Baski?”
“We were,” Akshay looked confused, “watching a match.”
“And did you see Chandni there?”
“Of course,” Akshay said at once. “She was the one who sent us upstairs.”
Rohan told him to leave.
It hurt. Then a rage flared through his body. He had respected her, more than anyone else, and she just blamed him for her mental games. He looked around, clenching his teeth. A cold breeze blew, bringing with it a sweet smell from the mountains. It somehow reminded him of her and damn, he still missed her!
7. PAPER PLANES
With the final exams on, most of the students carried a book wherever they went. It was more of a tradition than any useful resource. Classes had been suspended and students could be seen lazing around in the sun almost everywhere, of course, with a book in their hands. And also came the festival of paper planes! Rohan watched a group of juniors from the Auditorium balcony as they flung paper planes off the Stadium Steps. The Field was littered with waste planes; every now and then someone would run down to fetch one and re-throw it from the steps.
The play party now spent the entire day in the hall and this meant being cut off from all their friends. But new bonds had been made in the past few weeks and all of them, except him, were enjoying a cricket match in the Basketball Court. Rohan was alone in the balcony, but he liked it that way. He felt low. He just wanted to be alone. It was past noon and he savoured the full heat of the winter sun.
“Hi!” Chandni was back and was beaming at him.
“Hi,” he replied. “When did you return?”
“Just this morning. Here,” she held out a small box of Ferrero Rocher.
Had it been some other time, Rohan would have tuned a somersault off the balcony, but somehow, neither the chocolate nor her presence did anything to brighten his mood. “What is this for?” he asked.
“To apologise!” She waited for him, her fingers unconsciously curled around her sleeves. It reminded him of the time he had first seen her.
It’s fine that was what he would have said, even if she ripped his heart and stamped on it. “What were you doing in the hall that night?” he asked, ignoring the still held out chocolates.
“Excuse me!” Her face hardened.
“Or rather, why did you come down to the hall that night?”
Rohan half expected her to turn around and leave, or rather, tell him to turn around and never show his face again. She didn’t like being questioned, at least by a junior. But she just held the chocolates out for him. “You won’t understand.”
“Really? So you expect me to understand by accepting these chocolates?”
Chandni immediately withdrew her hand. Rohan at once knew he had made a mistake. Her mere presence had begun to pacify him. She seemed as perfect as she had always been; and he was almost intimidated by her beauty, fuelled by the guilt of his obnoxious thoughts. “Look, I did not blame you,” she said. “You do
n’t know what I went through. I was only trying to defend myself.”
“And that is why you said I played a prank when you fell down from that chair, just to defend yourself, to hide your embarrassment?”
“I never mentioned that to anyone. Why would I say such a thing?” Chandni raised her voice.
“Because we were screwed for that. All four of us.”
Chandni opened her mouth to speak but stopped midway. Apparently, she had no idea that they had been beaten because of her. “I am really sorry about what happened. I did not know about it. But I never meant to drag you into this.” She turned away and watched the juniors on the Stadium Steps. A paper plane was gliding above the Field, slowly coming towards them, till a sudden gust of wind swept it away and crashed it into a wall. “And I was not embarrassed,” she said after a few moments, “I was scared!”
“Of what?”
“I told you, you won’t understand. And I don’t want to explain either.” Her voice had lost its softness. She was deliberately looking away from him. “Where are the others?”
“Look, I…”
“What time does the practice start?”
“I am sorry.” He didn’t know if he had actually been rude or whether her indignant behaviour was justified. But he knew he had annoyed her. “But don’t you think, after all the beatings I took because of you, Ma'am, I deserve an explanation… and of course, these chocolates!”
Chandni passed him a smile. But he knew it was fake. She had been faking it all along. She seemed troubled, her eyes gave her away. Rohan too leaned on the railing beside her and watched paper planes flying over the Field.
“I don’t know,” she broke the silence at last, still avoiding eye contact, “but…”
“What is going on, Chandni?”
“I am scared.” She paused to study him. He remained grave, listening closely to everything she had to say. He, somehow, understood her. “Something terrible happened at this place.”
“Yes I know. There is a story that a girl disappeared from the Green Room.”
“Kajal.”
“What?”
“Her name was Kajal.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is not a story.”
“What do you mean? It actually happened. She just disappeared? And no one went looking for her?”
“No. She ran away into the forest… and a leopard took her away.”
Rohan thought of the screams he had heard in the Green Room. There was a wide, unguarded entrance to the forest below the back door of the Green Room even now. “But how do you know this is true?”
Chandni hesitated for a moment, and then whispered, “Because I saw her!” She studied his reaction again. He still believed her. His eyes were wide, yet comprehensive. “I didn’t believe it either. But I saw her again and again. Something happened here. These school people are trying to hide something.”
“Hide what?”
“When Kajal died, her body was not found. There was no trace. She just went missing. There was a rumour that a man-eater had been spotted in these forests and some believed that she had been taken away. A forest officer was called from Jim Corbett and he confirmed it. A few weeks later a guard shot down the leopard near his village.”
“But how do you know all this?”
“I went through old newspapers and contacted a few people when I went home. But there is more. The then principal, what was his name… Adam Smith Williams, yes, Mr. Williams… resigned after this incident… in 1989. And a few years later, I think in 1993, he died.”
“How?”
“Road mishap. His car fell into a lake. He couldn’t come out.”
Rohan felt a splash of cold water. He was drowning, going deeper, as she sat next to him, watching him…
Sirrr…
1993. It was the same year the play had been cancelled.
“Even the forest officer died that very year,” Chandni went on.
“What happened to him?”
“Committed suicide.” A moment’s pause. “And this does not end here. The guard who had killed that leopard died this very year!”
Rohan did not ask any question this time.
“Killed by an animal, probably a leopard. He was returning home, but never made it. His body was found in a forest outside his village. The animal attacked a fully grown man, but left his dog alone. And it was not a man-eater. It did not eat him… just ripped him apart and left.”
Rohan did not need any confirmation from Chandni. These creepy accidents were related to the death of Kajal. He looked back at the door to the hall. It was black and all of a sudden he was scared of it. The juniors in the Stadium Steps had left. They were all alone. Everything was quiet. “Why did you come here at night?” he whispered, scared to disturb the silence.
Chandni lowered her head. She was uncomfortable. “I don’t know” she said, “I saw her in my room… and I followed her.”
“Followed her?”
“I had seen her many times,” Chandni’s voice rose in defence. “Felt her… every time I entered this hall. That day I fell, I saw her in the mirror; actually, I saw myself as her!”
Rohan tried to say something, but the horror of what she had just said made his mouth dry. He tried to imagine it, looking in a mirror and seeing someone else stare back at you.
“And that night, I saw her standing by my bed. There was a thick fog all around. I don’t know why I did that… but I followed her. It was strange. It was as if something was pulling me. And then all I knew, I was on the stage. It was pitch dark. And suddenly, Kajal was screaming. I couldn’t hear anything else… only her screams. I was terrified! And I think, I fainted.”
“But I had locked the Auditorium.”
“I don’t remember how I opened it. Anjali had given me her key when she went away. Maybe that’s how.”
Rohan observed her. It was certainly terrifying. He had himself been there once. She tried to maintain her composure, but again, her eyes gave her away. He wanted to comfort her… hug her… but he stood rooted to his spot. There was a long silence. A troop of monkeys was creating havoc in the tress along the Field. A black dog was hopelessly chasing them, barking at the swaying trees.
“I woke up in the Infirmary,” Chandni continued. “I was surrounded by people. I didn’t know how to explain. So I told everyone that I had dozed off in the Green Room and when I woke up, the doors had been locked. What else could I have said? There were so many people around me. I was nervous, rather, freaked-out! Mr. Lawrence believed me. He suggested I take leave.”
“Did you try to talk to Lorry?”
“I did. I tried to talk to him about these incidents during our practices, and he immediately came up with a solution.”
“What?” So these people were actually doing something about it.
“Throw you out of the play!” Chandni grinned. Rohan sighed and looked away. “But chill. He won’t. Here,” she offered him the chocolates again, “let’s not think about all this. Just half a month left. It will be over soon.”
The smile on her face lifted his spirits. They shared the chocolates. She was more charming than he had ever imagined and he simply loved watching her speak. He tried his best to make her laugh and, surprisingly, she did, even at his dumbest joke. The sky grew dark and students began to sprinkle in. The practice started and it was time to depart. He left her with Anjali and took a seat at the back of the hall and quietly watched her from there.
Chandni sat in the first row pretending to read a novel. Anjali had decided to attend to other characters that night. She could have gone back to her hostel, but her heart totally disapproved of it. She couldn’t see him, but she knew he was watching her. She enjoyed the warmth of his gaze. She somehow liked his company. And she was even embarrassed that, maybe, she had started to like him. She had decided to resist. But then that day, he gave her a chocolate. She knew he didn’t do it just because the girls were teasing. He had always looked at her with respect. But
that day, there was a strange spark in his eyes, and it made her heart melt. And the way his eyes had popped out when he saw her that night; it was as if he would have pounced on her any moment.
“Oh, damn!” she heard Anjali curse, “I forgot my bag. Rohan? Please come here.”
Chandni tried to ignore his footsteps and concentrate on her book.
“Yes?” Rohan asked.
“Please can you go to my house and bring me my bag?”
“I don’t know your house!”
“It’s in the girls’ campus. Take left from the main gate… Never mind! I’ll send someone with you.”
Chandni’s face became warm. She was the only girl free. She buried her nose deeper into her novel, pretending not to have heard anything and waited for her name to be called out.
“Ma'am, can we go with him?” It was Surbhi and one of her friends.
“No, you still have your part on stage.”
“Ma’am, please! We have to submit an assignment tomorrow. Our teacher said he will grade us on that for our final result.”
“But I had planned to work on you girls today.”
“Ma'am, please!” The girls began to plead.
“Okay, fine… fine!” Anjali turned to Rohan, “I’ll write you a gate-pass. It’s probably on my dining table… brown leather bag.”
Bitch! Chandni threw Surbhi a disgusting look. How she wanted to lock her in the Green Room with that pretty doll! Rohan left and she furiously turned the page of her book. Her face was burning. She felt like marching up to Surbhi’s dormitory and stripping her locker bare… or punish her for wearing her kohl too dark… or… What’s wrong with me! She turned her attention back to the novel.
Five minutes later, with not another page turned, she heard Anjali complain again. “Oh dear! I forgot to give him my key.”
Chandni held her breath.
“Chandni, are you free?”
“Yes, Anjali?” she looked up, as if awoken from a deep reading session.
“How careless of me! Can you please give this key to Rohan?”
“Ma’am, you can call the guard-room and ask them to return, or they can arrange for a spare key,” Akshay interrupted. “They might not have reached the main gate by now.” He looked at Chandni, expecting appreciation for rescuing her. But she didn’t look pleased at all. No, she didn’t, for she was glaring at him, her fingers clenched. If eyes could kill, she brutally slaughtered him. “But I don’t have… number…” he gulped and trailed off, trembling under her gaze, wondering what went wrong.
