Laughter in Darkness
A suspense, romantic and psychological thriller
By
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“You are right, Vinod also said the same thing many a time.” Rajesh laughed. “I wish this one day stay to you and that Neeraja would be quite enjoying and thrilling!”
“I already started enjoying my stay here and I hope the rest of the day also will be so to me.” Rose smiled and said “I want to know how my daughter is feeling here, where is she?” She turned her head.
“Your daughter is quite busy with my grandson and Vinod’s granddaughter. Just see how she is entertaining them both.” Showing them three Rajesh said.
Arjun and Madhuri were on the either side of Emily who was explaining something to them both.
“Your daughter is very much active and sociable! There will be no problem with Arjun and Madhuri to us.” Rajesh said “And you need not ask her how she is feeling here. She is feeling just wonderful I can say.”
“You are right” Rose said and once again her charming smile took its place on her lips.
What all of them have acknowledged as soon as they entered into that house was the beginning of an uneasiness in them. What any of them at that moment did not know was that everyone there was feeling that uneasiness just like him or her.
&&&
“One thing I cannot understand” Sameera, who reached her thirty years age just one month back said. “how the climate turned into the same way as it was nine years back when we entered into this house.”
“What do you want to say dear?” looking into her face, Rajesh asked her.
Tanuja, Rajesh and Sameera also finished their bathing and other routine, entered into their room and started that chitchatting.
“Just try to remember dad, try to remember.” Sameera said. “Climate was just like this when we entered into this house then. Cloudy, gloomy and raining little, is it can be just coincidence?”
“What else then it would be in your opinion?” hearing her mother Tanuja’s voice on the back of her, Sameera turned back.
“I thought that you have been sleeping in the chair, when you woke up?” Rajesh turned towards his wife and asked with a smile covering her face with his gaze.
“I did not sleep” she hissed out heavily. “I am just thinking in myself and listening to your conversation.”
“Eaves dropping expert” Sameera laughed. But suddenly her face became serious. “Mom, I am not thinking it is just coincidence. Our coming here like this, the turning of the climate in this way are not appearing coincidence.”
“Oh, just stop it. Don’t make me feel more and more fearful” Tanuja said with a whisper like voice.
“What the bloody hell you are talking? You are feeling fear here? Then why did you encourage me to renovate this house like this? Why did you encourage me to invite all those people to come here?” looking at her angrily Rajesh asked.
“Yes, mom, what is this? You are the main element in making dad renovate this house and invite all those people also here. Now you are talking in this way!” looking irritatingly into her mother’s face, Sameera said.
“You shut up. It is you who started this. If you don’t say like that, I would not have said like this.” Tanuja also has become angry.
“It is not the point why you have said it like that. It is the point why you are feeling like that.” Still looking irritatingly into his wife’s face, Rajesh said.
“Rajesh, my dear” she transferred herself onto the bed beside her husband put her hands around his neck and placed her hand on his shoulder. Looking at them both Sameera smiled little. Her mother never would bother who were there whenever she wanted some comfort from her husband or wanted to express her love and affection on him.
“I agree it was I who encouraged you to renovate this place. It is also I who made you to invite all these people to come here to stay and enjoy. But until I entered into this house, I felt thrill, I felt a sort of joy in making you doing all that. I have forgotten completely the experiences we have had on that day here. I thought it was our property and it need to be protected and enjoyed like this.”
“So far you are absolutely right and you did a nice thing.” Rajesh interrupted her and said. “As I also have thought in the same way, did all what you asked me to do.”
“But once I have entered into this house, I have been feeling uneasily.” Tanjuja said as if she did not hear what Rajesh said at all. “In the same way I have felt on the day when I first entered into this house.”
“Oh, mom. It is quite natural to feel in such a way in a place like this” Sameera said. “Even dad made it quite enjoyable and comfortable, it is a big odd house in a faraway village to our usual residence.”
“As mom said you have started this. If you have not said it like that her uneasy feeling would not have become this much.” Once again looking into his daughter’s face who sat in a chair opposite to him and his wife, Rajesh said.
“It is not so Rajesh” Tanuja once again transferred herself into the chair in which she previously sat. “I expressed myself so as Sameera said like that. In fact I am feeling little ease after talking with you both like this.” She hissed out heavily.
“If you think that we are not alone here and some more people also in company with us, you do feel even more ease.” Rajesh said.
“Yes, you are right.” Tanuja laughed and said. “Those psychiatrists Rose, Neeraja and Rose’s daughter Emily are in addition to us who came into this house nine years back.”
“Yes, mom. You are right. All of us are here who came here last time, except Malathi aunty.” With a small voice Sameera said.
After hearing her daughter so, Rajesh and Tanuja’s faces became serious and gloomy. She knew that her parents would become like that if she said about Malathi but she could not remain without saying about her. Malathi also would have shown lot of interest to come to that house, if she was alive on that day.
&&&
“Oh, you!” as soon as Sameera entered into their room Aravind got off from the chair he sat, went near to her, put his hand around her shoulders and kissed on her right cheek. She reciprocated smoothly by placing her both hands around his neck and kissing straight on his lips.
“Where is our son?” still holding him so and looking into his face she asked him. Even at that thirty two years of age also, Aravind was as he was when they first entered into this house in the year 2011. He always would appear to him handsome and attractive.
“In the room of your friend Sunanda. He got his friend there Madhuri.” Enjoying her beauty as he would always enjoy in the proximity of her, Aravind said. Having a child of five years and reaching the age of thirty years, instead of diminishing her glamour gave it a new angle. She was as much interesting and enjoyable to him as she was in the beginning days of their marriage.
“Madhuri, the loving daughter of that couple” she released him and gently relieved herself from his hug, went near to the bed there and slumped herself on that. “That Anand and Sunanda are simply adoring her.”
“We also love and like our son that much” Aravind dragged a chair near to her and put his weight on it.
“Not as much as they both are doing to their daughter, I am afraid” Sameera sighed. “Madhuri is just like a flower, like her mother. Our Arjun is not so.”
“Arjun is a boy and a boy is supposed to be more rough than a girl” Aravind laughed. After few seconds’ pause he said again “Anand was in with me till two minutes or so before to your coming here.”
“Alright” Sameera nodded her head and went near to the wall there and leaned on it. “I want to ask you something and you have to give your answer to me frankly.” She suddenly said.
“Dear, I always be frank with you and you too know about it.” Aravind leaned back in his chair and said.
“Of course, I know” Sameera nodded her head and sighed heavily before asking. “How you are feeling after you have entered into this house?”
“Why you are asking me like that?” knitting his brows together, Aravind asked her.
“Just answer my question. Is there any difference in your feeling after you have entered into this house?”
“Little uneasily, I have to say.” With an uncomfortable expression in his face, Aravind said. “I can say you are also feeling in the same way. Otherwise you would not have asked this question.”
“Assumption right” Sameera nodded her head.
“Just wait until we say this to Vinod uncle. He would give the correct explanation to our uneasy feeling.” Aravind smiled. “In addition to him we have got two psychiatrists also here. They also do say the same thing.”
“No Aravind, I am not thinking like that. I agree that they sure do say that we are feeling like this only because of the oddity of this house and the place. Even I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, I am educated and I can understand the different feelings we usually be subjected to in different types of places. But the feeling I am having now is not appearing just like a feeling, it is a premonition! A subconscious signal! I am afraid something drastic may happen during our stay here.” Fear clearly masked the face of Sameera at that time.
“Then why did not you stop it all? Why did not you stop your dad from doing all this?” Aravind once again knitted his brows together.
“I have not have the feeling like this until I entered into this house. I just felt thrill and happiness to come here and stay here. How I have forgotten the experiences we had on that day here, I cannot understand. Fate, it is leading us, I think we cannot escape from it.” the fear in her face thickened even more.
“Oh, you are thinking too much dear” Aravind went near to her and sat beside her. “Nothing is as you are thinking about. We came here only to enjoy. It is indeed a big break to our boring and daily routine. Now our main duty here is to enjoy as much as possible.” After saying so, he put his both hands around her neck and kissed on her both cheeks perfunctorily while making her laid gently on the bed.
He thought only one thing could change her mood completely then and put himself fully in it. It took nearly half an hour or so to complete that to both of them and by then not only they both were satisfied to the maximum and exhausted but Sameera’s mood also was substantially changed.
Then he went near to the doors of that room, unlatched them and opened them wide which he closed and latched before starting his romantic aerobics on Sameera.
&&&
“Yes, we came here only to enjoy. There is no other purpose than that in it. In this brief period of our stay here, we have to enjoy as much as possible.” Rajesh said “Now I want to thank Dr.Rose, her daughter Emily and Dr.Neeraja as they graciously agreed to come and stay with us like this.”
“It should be the other way around” Rose said. “We have to thank you as you gave the opportunity to us to come here and enjoy. This house is indeed very much big, impressive and enjoyable!”
At that time, except Anand, his daughter Madhuri, Aravind’s son Arjun, Rose’s daughter Emily, everyone else were assembled in that big hall.
(I hope that you enjoyed upto here. I shall publish the next chapter as soon as possible. Please don’t forget to rate and review.)
