Laughter in Darkness
A suspense, romantic and psychological thriller
By
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“You have come here again. Where you were until now?” looking at her daughter, Rose asked her.
“Did not you see, she was in the room of that Rajesh and Tanuja. That Sameera, those two little children and our Emily passed their time in it.” Neeraja said.
“Its alright” Rose nodded her head. “But what is this rain? Suddenly that thunderclap! I really felt fear.” Rose said.
“Have not you seen rain like this before? It is surprising!” with a smile on her lips, Neeraja said.
“I saw rains and heard thunderclaps many a time in my forty six years Neeraja.” Looking at the rain through the entrance of that room Rose said. “But I cannot say why this rain is appearing something special.”
“I just cannot understand what you are really trying to say” Neeraja said.
“You both cannot understand anything. You are just blind.”
Hearing Emily’s voice both of them turned towards her.
“Yes, this rain is special. If you people are not here on this day, there would not be this rain either.” Emily said once again while Rose and Neeraja were looking at her surprisingly.
“Shut up! I slap you left and right if you talk like that again.” Rose angrily said.
Neeraja put her right hand on the right shoulder of Rose and when Rose looked into her face, she cautioned her with her eyes. “Let her talk” with a small voice Neeraja said.
“You just don’t know what you have got on to you by coming here.” without bothering with the expression on their faces, Emily said.
“You tell me what we have got on to us by coming here.” Neeraja asked her.
“Disaster! Death! None of you leave this place alive. Just wait and see.” Emily’s voice was firm and even. She was not feeling any embarrassment or fear.
“How that happens? Who would kill us so here?” while Rose observing them both with uneasiness, Neeraja asked again.
“That spirit. The spirit of that person who killed all those people on that day here would kill us also.”
“Alright. If death is inevitable, we face it. No one on earth remains alive forever. On one day we all have to die, are not we?” looking straight into her face, Neeraja asked her.
“My god….my god…I am not ready to die…I don’t want to die…” saying so Emily about to fall on her left side. Rose got off from her chair and held her in her hands. Spasm after spasm started taking place in her body.
“Emily, Emily what happened to you?” looking anxiously into her face, Rose said.
“Nothing happened to her. You don’t worry.” Neeraja said. “We have to take her onto this bed and lay her on it.”
Slowly both of them laid Emily gently on the bed and Rose was still anxious. “My god! This is that split personality again.” With the anxiousness filled voice, Rose said.
“Rose what is this? Come out of that mother’s role and try to think like a psychiatrist again. It is not that split-personality at all.” looking into Emily’s face, Neeraja said.
“What you are trying to say?” irritating a little, Rose asked her.
“Your daughter read enough horror books and saw enough horror movies. In most of the horror books and horror movies every one dies in the end. Those books and movies have their influence on your daughter. Quite involuntarily her obsessive subconscious thinking is making her behave like this.” Neeraja said.
“Is it is only that?” settling herself on the side of her daughter, Rose asked Emily.
“You yourself tell me what it is then?” Neeraja asked her.
“My daughter suffered from split-personality at one time.”
“Just because she has suffered from split-personality at one time, there is no necessity that she should suffer from it again and again. Anyhow one thing is sure here.” Neeraja paused a moment and said again. “Because of her suffering from split-personality at that time, her psyche became prone to disorders like these. That is why she has been influenced by the books she read, environment here and talked like this.”
“You are right and I must agree with you.” Rose said while still feeling anxiousness. “But…but what should I do now?”
“As I said just now, first you must stop behaving like an anxious mother and think like a professional psychiatrist.” Neeraja said firmly. “Then you can see the solution very easily.”
“Alright” Rose nodded her head and looked at her daughter. Emily was observing them both then “Emily how you are feeling now?” taking her daughter’s right hand into her hands and smearing her face with a smile, Rose asked her.
“I cannot understand” Emily’s voice was weak. “Did I behave oddly again?”
“Nothing at all. You just relax yourself.” Looking into her face Neeraja said.
“No, I am feeling fear that someone may kill me. Someone may kill all of us. None of us may leave this house alive.” Once again there was anxiousness in the face of Emily. “Just like in that book ‘And Then There Were None.’
Neeraja and Rose once again exchanged glances but there was no anxiousness on the face of Rose then. “Why you are feeling like that?” Rose asked her with an even and firm voice.
“The environment here is like that. Everything is insinuating that. Just see the rain, how it is?” Emily said.
“That rain is just like any other rain. I have seen rain like this many a time before.” Rose said.
“But you yourself have felt fear to rain before, were not you?”
Then Rose understood the mistake she did. She should not have expressed her fear like that towards that rain. Her mother, a reputed psychiatrist, feeling fear like that influenced Emily, made her also feel fear and talk like that.
“I said that just casually. In fact I am not feeling fear either to this rain or anything else here.” Rose said.
“Is it is so? Is it is really like that?” with gathered frowns Emily asked her.
“Certainly it is so dear” Rose laughed and pinched Emily’s right cheek with right hand fingers. “It is really equal to insulting me if you think that I am feeling fear to any of these.”
“I am sorry mommy” looking into her mother’s face apologetically Emily said.
“First you come into this chair Emily. I want to have some talk with you.” Neeraja said.
“Alright” Emily nodded her head, came near to that chair and slumped herself in it. “Talk whatever you do want to talk.” Looking into the face of Neeraja, Emily said.
“Do you see movies also in the smart phone besides reading ebooks?” Neeraja asked her.
“Yes, I do.” Emily nodded her head.
“But I think you said that you don’t have much interest in watching movies?”
“I am not having as much interest in watching movies as I have in reading ebooks. But I do watch movies also sometimes.” Emily said.
“What movies you do prefer to see mostly?”
“Horror movies.”
“Why particularly horror movies?”
“I cannot say. But I do have sort of thrill while watching those horror movies.” Emily said.
“Surely you do have some sort of thrill while watching those horror movies. But they are making you behave oddly later on. I am thinking that your odd behavior recently is only because of reading those horror books and watching those horror movies.” Neeraja said. “You better stop reading and watching those horror things.”
“I am not thinking like that. Those horror books and horror movies are so much interesting to me. I cannot refrain myself from reading and watching them.” With a disliking expression in her face, Emily said.
“There are other types of very useful entertainment also, why do you stick only these horror things? First try them too and if you don’t like them, then you switch yourself again to this horror entertainment.” Neeraja said.
“What Neeraja aunt said is hundred percent true dear. While you have been behaving like that I am feeling fear that split-personality disorder revived in you again. Please stop watching those horror movies and reading those horror books.” With a pleading expression in her face, Rose said. “Switch yourself to some other entertainment.”
“If you request me so, I sure do so like that mommy. I stop spending my time with those horror entertainment things.” Kissing on the right cheek of her mother, Emily said. “I try other things.”
“Very fine idea indeed.” Looking appreciatively into her face Neeraja said.
There was silence between them three suddenly as they did not know what to talk immediately. But they saw that the rain stopped completely.
“Mommy may I go out again. The rain also completely dwindled.” Looking into her mother’s face, Emily asked her.
“Sure dear, go no problem.” Rose said.
Then Emily got off from the chair and went away from that place.
“Thank you Neeraja. You have solved the problem very easily.” As soon as Emily went out of that room Rose said hissing out heavily.
“What, you are saying that I have solved the problem, is there any problem at all?” looking into the face of Rose, Emily asked her. “Your motherly emotions are becoming too strong sometimes that you cannot think rationally Rose. That is the only problem here I am thinking.”
“You are right Neeraja. I try to be reasonable and rational from now on. Then there would be no problem at all.” with her usual charming smile on her lips, Rose said.
“If you have chosen like that, there will be no problem at all to you. Just think Emily’s problem is solved completely.” Neeraja said.
“But how she is managing to watch those movies and read those books I cannot understand. She cannot get access to our smart phones until we come to home in the evening.” Rose said.
“Do you have laptop or desktop in your home with internet connection?” Emily asked her.
“Yes, I forgot. Williams has laptop with internet connection in his room and he never locks it. Emily can have access to that laptop all the time.” Rose sighed heavily. “Anyhow I shall see that she does not see such horror things anymore in future.”
“Don’t force her. That would have negative impact on her. You just have to see that she would not watch them all by herself with her own volition. Even after our saying so also if she prefers to watch them, let her watch. But whenever she behaved oddly again just say her firmly it is just because of her watching those horror movies and reading those horror books. You don’t need to feel even a little bit panicky.” Neeraja said.
“Alright I do so.” Rose said sighing heavily.
“I am feeling like to have a bath now. I do go and have it.” getting off from the chair, Neeraja said.
“Did not you take your bath as soon as you have entered into this house? You want to have one in this cool environment?” looking surprisingly at her, Rose asked her.
“I cannot say but I am feeling giddy. I am thinking having a full-fledged bath once again may be helpful to me.” Going away from that place, Neeraja said.
Rose just remained staring at the disappearing figure of Neeraja.
&&&
“We are trapped here. Just see how the rain is now.” Looking at the forcefully falling rain Sunanda said.
“How long this rain goes? Not more than an half an hour. We stay here itself until it dwindles completely.” Looking at the rain Anand said. “More privacy to us to talk more things.”
“You are right.” Sunanda transported herself from the chair onto the bed again. “I agree with you.”
There was some seconds’ silence until it was broken by Sunanda. “Trapping ourselves in this room and seeing at that rain, don’t you remember anything?”
(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.)
