RAKTANCHAL DIARIES: HAUNTED PUPPET

 

Bhavna reached out for the door and squeezed the doorknob. As the door opened, Bhavesh stood in front of her.

"Why did you do that?" he growled.

"What? What did I do?" she said.

Bhavesh took her hand and then paced ahead in the living room, where a wall was filled with blood, and something written on it as a warning.

"What the hell?" she yelled.

There was a warning for them written in red for them which read: Leave this town now, or else you prepare to die.

Mom and Dad stepped into the room, and then glared at the warning on the wall, utterly bewildered. Mr. and Miss. Agnihotri was in their mid-40s. Mrs. Agnihotri was a tall, dark-haired woman, who sported a colorful gown, and Mr. Agnihotri had worn blue pajamas.

"Who did this? Bhavesh? Bhavna? Come on tell me..." Miss. Agnihotri asked.

"I don't know," Bhavesh said.

"I don't know either," said Bhavna.

Mr. Agnihotri slid across Bhavna and knelt on his knees, placing a hand on Bhavesh's shoulder.

"Tell me, son... Who did it? Did you do it?"

"What? No... I did not do it. Please Mom trust me, I didn't do it. And why don't you ask didi (sister) about it."

Bhavna's facial expression changed, and she gave him an angry look. "Don't you dare Stop lying and tell them all the truth or else I'll tell everything about last night."

Bhavesh gulped and swallowed hard. "I promise I didn't do it," he said lightly. Bhavna grinned.

"Fine. Mom, Dad, he went downstairs last night and was playing in the store room around midnight. When I caught him he started giving me excuses and today morning, he placed that stupid puppet in the bed next to me. Just to scare me," she confessed.

"No, I didn't keep the puppet. I didn't see it from last night," said Bhavesh.

Miss Agnihotri stepped in front of them.

"Enough you two. Breakfast is ready. Get dressed and come downstairs immediately I don't want you two fighting again," Miss Agnihotri said.

Mr. Agnihotri stood up, brushed Bhavesh's hair, and walked away toward the bathroom.

Outside the house, on the front lawn, the waste collector dumped the stinking black garbage bag into his green van's loading deck. He saw the dummy laying lifeless on the lawn, and tossed it down the dark and cluttered deck. The collector started the engine and the van veered ahead in the distance away from the roadway.

The sun descended from the blue sky and the dark shadows sprawled across the dazzling town of Raktanchal, now rigorously snowing on the streets. The cars were coated with snow, and the rooftops of the nearby houses were jammed with snow.

Bhavna walked across the street in her brown comfy coat, she had brought milk and eggs from the nearby grocery store. A boy presumably about 10 in the yellow mask and a plain brown shirt, scribbled something on his sketchbook.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked.

The boy turned, but did not respond to her question, instead, he continued to draw something on the sketchbook. As she peeked, the boy held the book toward his chest and walked off in a distance.

"Weird kid!" she whispered.

She turned toward the alleyway caked with snow, stepped over the sidewalk, and stumbled as her boots rubbed against the sloppy floor.

A boy in his teens grabbed her arm and saved her.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," the boy said.

She blushed and before she could say another word, he strolled past her.

"What's your name?" she yelled.

The boy turned around and smiled back at her.

"I'm Ayush. Ayush Chakravarti."

The boy started walking ahead and disappeared as the snow snowed in heavily, which blurred her vision, induced by the fog.

She exhaled and strode straight ahead toward her residence.

The garbage collector had arrived at his destination and parked the van, near the recycling site. He emptied the deck and plucked out numerous black garbage bags. The puppet grabbed his fist and crept onto his shirt like a spider. Terrified, the man tried his best to rid himself by ripping the puppet away from him. He clutched his hands and attempted to yank the dummy away. The puppet beamed at him and drew out a kitchen knife which he looted from the garbage truck, and instantly slit his throat. Blood spewed out of the severed wound, and the puppet chuckled. "Now, it's time to show the kids, who their real daddy is. Ha-ha-ha!" The nasty puppet back down opened the door and drove the van ahead on the highway, far away from the man who he had exclusively killed.

The puppet couldn't reach the brakes. "Oh God, I forgot my legs are too short for them, ha-ha-ha."

He jumped out of the van before it slammed down into the grocery store. His eyes mirrored the fiery explosion of the collision and demolition of the grocery store, and the shards of glass splintered on the sidewalk. Not enough? He wanted more destruction, which now directed him to Mr. Agnihotri's residence, and the sweet vengeance from his sister, Bhavna.

Bhavna brushed her teeth and changed her clothes, a black-and-blue dress.

Miss Agnihotri hurried into the kitchen, and Bhavesh helped her wash the dishes.

"Mom? Why do I have to do this?" he asked.

"It's your punishment. You destroyed the wall and broke the rules."

The doorbell jingled, and Bhavna swung the door open. A female doll pounced on her body. She slipped backward and fell. "Dad? What are you doing?"

Her father lowered the doll and handed it over to her. She took it happily. "A doll? Do I look like a kid to you, dad? I'm sixteen, OK."

"I know, Bhavna. But, it's a gift for you. You took care of the house, you handled Bhavesh well, and this doll is not an ordinary one, it's a ventriloquist puppet. My boss gave it to me yesterday. He wanted to gift us something."

"What about me?" Bhavesh asked.

"Sorry, Bhavesh. But sir didn't have much time. He bought it for her, he thought Bhavna's some young girl. You know, the boss is sensitive about these things. He lost his daughter in a car accident a few years ago. You are like a daughter to him."

"Ok, ok. Fine," Bhavna said.

"But what about me? Did you bring me something? A toy? Remote-controlled car?" asked Bhavesh.

"Sorry, son. Next time we go out we will get you something nice."

Bhavesh frowned and got back into the kitchen, his face pale and gloomy.

Bhavna and Bhavesh were grounded, and they could not go out until they cleaned the entire room themselves, and of course, Bhavna was forced to wash the dishes, while Bhavesh was cleaning the red paint on the wall with a bucket and a dirty cloth. Frustrated, Bhavesh rubbed the cloth against the rough surface of the wall, and the paint started to dissipate slowly, only the red marks were partially visible on the wall.

"We're are going out, honey," Miss Agnihotri called out.

"Ok, Mom!" she replied, from the kitchen.

Miss Agnihotri and her husband went out, sat in their car, and rode away in a bleary distance.

"Where is Dad?" Bhavesh asked as he passed into the kitchen.

"Mom and Dad went out. They are invited by Dad's boss to a party."

"Really? They simply left us like that and took off away to a birthday party. Why did they leave us at home, by the way?"

"We are grounded. We can't go out until we together clean the house, plus I have to wash out the dishes, so don't disturb me, okay?"

Bhavesh let out a frown and strolled out in the hallway.

Bhavna heard the deafening scream of Bhavesh and sprinted out into the hallway.

"What? What happened? Bhavesh!"

"Who did this?" asked Bhavesh.

The clothes, shirts, gowns, and underwear lay on the fan overhead.

"Is this a joke? My dear sister? You told me you threw it. And, you told me he was useless, and garbage!"

"What How is he here? I remember throwing it out of the window. He didn't give me any positive vibes, and he also looks like a creep anyway. Look at him, the puppet is terrifying."

He spun toward the evil puppet, who lay motionless on the cupboard in a corner of the hallway.

"Come on, Dummy. Talk to me. Come on, are you afraid? See, he's nothing to be scared off. He's just a toy," said Bhavesh, turning toward her.

The puppet suddenly kicked Bhavesh on the back, and he fell to the floor.

Bhavna gripped his hand and pulled him up. "You didn't say please, did you?"

Bhavna and Bhavesh in unison uttered a soft gasp. The puppet, Bobby jumped down from the cupboard and raised his arms wide.

"What is the matter? I am Bobby, nice to meet you. We are going to be friends, right?" the dummy said, in a hoarse voice.

Bhavesh and her sister rushed out, and Bobby pursued them.

They reached the living room, and the puppet yanked the carpet hard, and the kids collided on the chilling floor. Bhavesh hid behind the sofa and Bhavna behind his father's wooden work table.

Bobby chuckled and noticed Bhavna hiding behind the sofa. "Ha-ha-ha Oh-ho-ho-ho I Got you," the dummy declared.

Bhavesh pulled out the sofa's leftover curtain over the puppet, and he slipped over. Bhavna and her brother rose and seized his wooden arms and legs. "Hey? Hey? Wait... Stop Are you even listening to me," Bobby yelled.

"Shut his mouth!" said Bhavna.

Bhavesh stuffed the stained and dusty curtain in his wooden mouth, the puppet gagged but didn't cease to convey something to them.

Bhavna shoved the puppet, into Mr. Agnihotri's greasy suitcase, and they sat on it for a while until the puppet stopped banging from the inside. Then, they hurried out of the house, in the shady starless night, and tossed the suitcase in the empty well, which was abandoned a long time ago.

The puppet screamed, and it resounded in the empty hollow well, and they turned around satisfied after they listened to the banging sound of the suitcase against him on the floor of the well.

Bhavesh and Bhavna came inside the house and started walking over the staircase.

"I say, we should not tell our parents about this," Bhavesh suggested.

"Whatever it is... it was, is over. He's gone and not going to come back ever. So, we should stop talking on the subject. And, go to bed," said Bhavna.

Lightning crackled in the gloaming street, and shadows of the trees encircled Mr. Agnihotri's residence. The winds howled and whipped against the trees sharply.

Bhavna was in her bed, reading her favorite book, 'Conquering your Fears.' Her eyes started shutting down, and her hands lost their grip on the book. She yawned and twisted in her bed to place the book on her cupboard. Bobby appeared in front of her, bending over her cupboard. She backed out and ran out of bed. "Ha-ha-ha," the dummy chuckled. She opened the door and yelled again, her brother was standing in front of her bedroom door with a cricket bat gripped in his hand.

"What happened?" Bhavesh asked.

"It's him, Bobby is back."

"Really?" Bhavesh questioned.

In her bedroom, Bobby, the puppet leaned against the female doll, and let out a green malevolent breath filled with negative energy from his mouth. The female doll came to life, sprang upright, and hugged him tightly.

"Welcome back my love," Bobby said.

Mister and Miss Agnihotri parked their car in front of the house and stepped inside unlocking the door. Bobby and his new doll girlfriend sprinkled kerosene across the house and lit a fire with a match. Bhavna and Bhavesh rushed out into the living room and saw the puppet seated with the doll, hand in hand. Before the kids could say anything, their parents started burning in flames and wailing in agony. Bhavesh grabbed Bhavna's hand, and they rushed out. Bhavesh rushed back in, and the fire doubled and wholly destroyed the house. "Nooooo!" Bhavna screamed, and fell unconscious on the lawn.

Her eyes opened after she heard the twittering birds, and sat on her bed. Bhavna sat upright, and raised her eyebrows. "Where the hell am I?" she yelled.

A lady wearing white dress, which was her uniform walked past her, opened the white curtains and the sunlight crept inside the dull white room.

"Good morning, dear. I am a Nurse, Monica. Hope you are feeling better now."

"Wait a minute? Where am I, ma'am?" she said, gripping her head.

Pain shot across her body, and she started to stand upright.

"Wait, Bhavna. You are in Raktanchal Hospital and sit down. You are unwell," the nurse said.

"What about Bhavesh? Mom? Dad? Where are they?" asked Bhavna.

"Who? What are you talking about?" said Monica.

What? No Parents? No brother? What had she just witnessed?

Bhavna laid on the bed, and wrapped the blanket till her neck.

Nurse Monica put a puppet next to her pillow. "Take care, sleep for a while. I will call you when food is ready."

Bhavna turned and backed off in her bed. Bobby, the puppet lay motionless in her bed. "Nooooooo!" she screamed, but the puppet didn't move. Bobby's blank eyes glimmered in the strong sunlight, he didn't flinch. Instead, he stared into the bright light, his eyes glaring on the dusty cobwebbed wall overhead.