Laughter in Darkness
A suspense, romantic and psychological thriller
By
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“Your mom. She has come with you people. She is now in this house itself. You did not imagine her voice. You really have heard it.” looking straight into the face of Sunanda, Emily said.
“What, what you are talking?” with a shocking expression in her face, Sunanda asked her.
“I am telling you the truth. She is trying to contact you. Don’t feel fear. Be open and receptive. Then your mom can contact and talk with you.” Still looking into the face of Sunanda, Emily said.
“How can you say this? How can you know that my mom is now in this house?” Sunanda’s heartbeat increased even more.
“I have the ability. If there are any spirits around I can know about their presence and talk with them.” Saying so Emily went out of that place leaving Sameera dumbfounded there.
&&&
“Oh, Neeru. You are appearing upset to me.” Looking into the face of Neeraja, Rose said.
Neeraja came into that room finishing her bath just then.
“I am not feeling upset. I am just as usual.” Neeraja forced a smile onto her lips.
“Don’t forget that you are talking with an experienced psychiatrist. Are you thinking that I cannot read facial expressions to know how a person is feeling inside?” still looking into the face of Neeraja, Rose said.
Wearily Neeraja went into an empty chair there and slumped herself in it. Rose also dragged a chair near to her and put her weight in it.
“If you have no objection, tell me what happened. I shall see I may be helpful to you.” Rose said.
“What is there to object in this at all?” then Neeraja explained to her about her experience in the bathroom.
“To this you are worrying this much! Surely you were subjected to tactile hallucination there.” Rose laughed.
“I am also thinking like that.” Neeraja’s cheeks became red. “I understood even psychologists and psychiatrists also are not barred to have hallucinations like these.”
“It is just because we also have got minds just like all the other people.” Rose laughed and said. “Forget about that. Don’t worry yourself that much for it.”
Neeraja nodded her head and leaned back in the chair.
“Where is Emily now?” Rose asked.
“She is with your smart phone in the verandah reading something.” Neeraja said. “She has just come there. Until now she was in upstairs with whom particularly I don’t know.”
“She is addicted to that smart phone. Always with it.” Rose nodded her head helplessly.
“Don’t think like that. What other time-pass she has in this house? Once you both go to your home, limit her access to it.” Neeraja said.
“You said it right.” Rose once again nodded her head. “I shall see that she would not have much access to her dad’s smart phone or laptop.”
As they both were talking like that Emily entered into that room.
“Come. We are talking just about you.” Looking into her face with a smile, Neeraja said.
“What that is, may I know?” knitting her brows together, Emily asked.
“You are spending too much of your time with the smart phone. You addicted to it.” Rose said with a serious expression in her face.
“Do I have any other time-pass here?” Emily also pulled a serious expression into her face.
“You are doing the same in our house also.”
“Oh, mommy.” Emily nodded her head helplessly. “If you don’t like I would limit my use of smart phone once we leave this place.” She said.
“Will you really do so?” Rose knitted her brows together.
“Ever I failed in keeping my promises?”
“That’s a good girl. Come and sit.” Rose said
“No, I am feeling sleepy. I want to take rest for sometime.” Emily said and got herself onto the bed there. She so easily slipped herself into sleeping.
&&&
The kitchen was quite neat to look at. It has been distempered in white and gas stove was in its usual place. But there were no tins and other things which she had seen in the kitchen on that day. There were low voltage bulbs in the kitchen then and they have been changed into high voltage bulbs.
“Very nice indeed!” Sameera thought in herself.
She remembered her visiting this kitchen on that day. She casually looked at the window and suddenly saw the cobra entering into the kitchen. She still could remember how much of fear she felt on that day. A small smile climbed onto her lips and she once again saw towards that window. That window was in open condition now also as it was then. She could see that window more clearly now as there were high voltage bulbs here. Remembering that day she just remained staring at the window. Then it happened.
It was just like on that day. Just like that snake. Same thick black! It was entering into the kitchen through the same window.
“What happened? Why you are yelling like that?” Tanuja put her right hand on the right shoulder of her daughter and jerked her strongly.
Sameera did not know that she was yelling like that loudly, it reached every nook and corner of that house and everyone in the house rushed into the kitchen.
“See there. That snake is here again.” Sameera yelled again.
“Where is.. where is that snake?” looking at her irritatingly Rajesh asked her. “Last time also you have created a scene like that.”
“It came through the window. It dropped onto the floor there. I have seen it so clearly with my eyes.” Sameera was gasping heavily.
“There is no snake either on the floor or anywhere in the kitchen. See yourself clearly.” Tanuja said put her right hand around the shoulders of her daughter. She has not got irritation on her daughter as Rajesh did.
“But it was there. I saw it so clearly.” There came a confusing expression in her face. “Otherwise there is no necessity to me to trouble you people like this.”
“We can understand it that much.” Rose said.
“Anyhow there is no snake now. That much is clear. There is no necessity to search through the kitchen as it is all so clear without any articles now. We may better go away from here.” Rajesh said.
“I am sorry” Sameera’s cheeks were blushed with same. “I made you all people feel tension like this.”
“Never mind” Neeraja put her right hand on the right shoulder of Sameera and squeezed her there. “All of us sometimes subject to hallucinations like these.”
Sameera sighed heavily, remained silent for few seconds and then said. “I want to take rest in the upstairs room.” She got off from the chair.
“Are you sure? Don’t you want any company?” looking into her face, Tanuja said.
Sameera smiled troublingly. “No problem. I am feeling confident now. There shall be no more hallucinations.”
“I also be with you if you have no objection. I too want to take some rest there.” Sunanda got off from the chair and said.
“With pleasure. I welcome you.” Looking into the face of Sunanda, Sameera said.
Then they both went away from that place.
&&&
“I named my hospital Rajeswari Hospital. Even she did not like me much, my grandmother did most for me. If she has not helped me I never could have constructed that hospital.” Rajesh said.
“You misunderstood Rajesh. It is not that your grandmother did not like you. She just could not show her love and affection on you for the reasons only best known to her.” Tanuja said.
“What can be those reasons that a woman cannot let her own son and grandson come near to her I cannot understand.” Sighing heavily Rajesh said.
“Cannot we guess them at all? Cannot we understand what they are looking deeply into your grandmother’s story?” Rose asked.
“I did that. But I just cannot find any reasons for her peculiar behavior like that.”
“Your grandmother subjected herself to strong delusions and hallucinations I can say.” Neeraja said. “She loved that warlock Nagaraju but could not marry him. She has to marry some other person. She might have undergone through lot of mental turmoil in those days.”
“I am not thinking that my grandmother loved that warlock at any time. It is just a rumor all the time.” Rajesh said.
“I agree with Rajesh on this. I too don’t think any woman can love a rogue like Nagaraju.” Vinod said.
“How can we say that Nagaraju is a rogue? We cannot call him rogue just because he is a warlock. Having interest on paranormal is not absolutely wrong.” Aravind said.
“You may be right.” Vinod said and nodded his head.
“Moreover he did not do any bad thing before killing those five persons on that day. There was a strong reason for his killing them also.”
“You are once again right.” Vinod said.
“But he has got a violent nature. Just because grandmother married someone else instead of him, he need not kill that many people even they both were great lovers.” Neeraja said.
“He did not intend to kill all those people. His targets were only grandmother and her husband. As the other people came across him he had to kill them.” Aravind said.
“Still can we support him? Even he killed only grandmother and her husband, can we support him? Do we have right to take the life of a single human being?” Neeraja knitted her brows together.
“Neeraja is right. That Nagaraju’s behavior was quite atrocious! True love wants the other person’s welfare and well being all the time. It never does prompt to take the life of other person, however ghastly his or her mistake may be.” Rajesh said. “Moreover there is no proof whatsoever that grandmother loved him. It is only a rumor. Being a relative to her and powerful, Nagaraju just wanted to marry her.”
The climate there once again became quite gloomy. They understood that the sky was enveloped with thick black clouds once again.
“Semanthakam was with her father from the very beginning? Did she know him for a long time?” Rose asked.
“Yes, he is.” Rajesh said. “He used to work at her father. A good person, educated and intelligent! In my opinion the person whom my grandmother truly loved was Semanthakam.”
“That Nagaraju tried to impose her wish on her. He made her and her family members quite fearful to him. He made Rajeswari agree to marry him. He might not have been known about the love affair between Semanthakam and Rajeswari.” Neeraja said.
“We cannot say about it like that.” Vinod said.
“But I can say about it so.” Neeraja said. “Nagaraju did not know the love affair between them both. If he knew, he would have been careful. Quite oblivious of that fact, he went out of station. Rajeswari’s family was just waiting for an opportunity like that and performed her marriage with Semanthakam. Nagaraju could not tolerate it so at all and did it like that.”
“Even we never can support Nagaraju’s killing that many people, it would have happened like that.” Rose said. “He did not expect at all that Rajeswari’s marriage with Semanthakam. Semanthakam was just an ordinary clerk at Rajeswar’s father who is a very rich person. How he could expect something like that? He shocked first and when he came out of that shock became enraged. That much enraged he could not control himself from aiming to kill Rajeswari and her husband. Then his aim ended like that.”
There was ominous silence and they heard a thunderclap at a faraway place. A small drizzle started without any delay.
(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.)
