“I love it! Look at the view man. Amazing shit,” Karan said as he stepped out to the narrow balcony
of the flat the broker brought them to.
It had been two days of staying at the overly expensive, yet quite shabby hotel downhill at Royal
Palms. Apart from the hotel, Karan had thoroughly enjoyed his stay in Goregaon so far. He received a
warm welcome in his new company, one of the major post-production houses in Mumbai, and he was
already smitten by Diya, the gorgeous team-member who had been assigned to take care of the
newcomers.
Karan would have stayed in the hotel for a few more days if he hadn’t overheard Diya discussing
about ‘the poor newcomers’ who had to live downhill at the hotel. He had seized the opportunity to
strike up a conversation with her and here he was today, standing with her in a spacious apartment.
“But bhaiya, isn’t there a flat available on some other floor of this apartment?” Diya asked, and then
turned to Karan and explained, “I just don’t prefer the 13th floor.”
Karan was disappointed in her for believing in such superstitions, but he didn’t want anything to
discourage her from visiting his place. So, he said, “We can look at other flats.”
As they went about looking at other flats, Diya confessed something that made Karan judge her even
more. She said, “Actually, this place is supposed to be one of Mumbai’s most haunted. I’ve heard of
many suicide stories from the 13th floors of many buildings in this area. So, it’s better to avoid such
things if we can, right? Why walk into this willingly?”
Karan suppressed his smile, and with the best faked sincerity in his voice, he asked, “Do you really
believe in ghosts and all?”
Diya hesitated for a moment before saying, “Will you judge me if I say ‘yes’?”
It took strong willpower for him to shake his head in the negative. As they checked out the next flat on
the 18th floor, Karan reminded himself of the reasons why he liked Diya. Apart from being drop-dead
gorgeous with remarkable sea-green eyes, she was kind and helpful, fun to hang out with and she
always had some random yet interesting titbits to share with everyone. Just as she shared one when
they were on their fourth flat of the apartment hunting spree. “A huge number of Mumbai’s haunted
stories come from Aarey Milk Colony, the forested area that you have to cross to reach Royal Palms.
There is this lady with a kid asking for a ride and when you stop your car, they disappear into thin air.
So creepy! The driver usually feels their invisible presence in his car until he crosses the area and
drives back safely into the main Goregaon area. It’s uncanny that so many people, including the
residents of the colony, have reported the same incident.”
Believing that Diya was surely testing his patience, Karan now smiled and said, “A lady in white
asking for a lift? Most cliched story ever. Are her feet twisted backward too?”
Diya detected a hint of condescension in his voice and she answered back, “Well I don’t believe in
everything that people say. As for the 13th floor, I had an eerie incident that was validated by others in
our building too. It is said that every time the lift goes up or down through our building, it definitely
stops at the 13th floor even though nobody lives there. Once I found myself alone in the elevator when
I was going to my friend’s room on the 15th floor. The elevator suddenly stopped, and the doors flew
open. It was the 13th floor and there was no one around. I even stepped outside and checked the
corridors. No one. A cold chill went down my spine and I panicked. Ran all the way up two floors
without turning back even once. It was such a close call, but I can still feel the creepy chill every time
I think about that day.”
Diya shuddered visibly, and Karan smirked. Again, a classic old tale that he had heard about several
other buildings before .
Catching the smirk, Diya flared up and challenged him, “If you don’t believe me, go ahead and take
the first room we saw on the 13th floor. And don’t come crying to me about it anytime soon.”
And that’s how Karan landed there with his luggage three days later. The paperwork was a breeze,
almost as if the owner was in a hurry to sign the yearlong rent agreement at such a reasonable price.
At least that should’ve warned Karan, but he wasn’t one to believe in signs.
***
“I want to apologize for being harsh on you for your beliefs the other day,” Karan said when Diya
finally agreed to hear him out over a cup of coffee in the office cafeteria.
“You should be thankful that you aren’t the one experiencing these things. I was a nonbeliever too
before I encountered an incident myself,” Diya said, sipping her coffee.
Karan kept one of his foot over the other and pressed it hard, trying to stop himself from blurting out
anything that would destroy his chance with her. Even though she had been avoiding him, he had been
observing Diya from a distance for the last few days. The unusual sea-green eyes set her apart from
everyone in the office. And she was well-liked by her peers and drew a smile on everyone’s face
wherever she went. People had nice things to say about her, how she went out of her way to help
them, and made sure that everyone was having a good time while working. Her smile was infectious,
and he found himself smiling whenever he spotted her cheerful face in the office.
“Why are you smiling?” she asked, bringing him out of his reverie. “You are mocking me again, aren’t
you?”
“Oh no, no, no. I was just thinking about something else,” Karan answered hastily.
“So our conversation is boring? You definitely seem like you’ve other interesting stuff to think about.”
Diya finished the rest of her coffee in a gulp and stood up to leave.
Karan caught hold of her hand and said, “Diya, please. I didn’t mean that. Was just thinking about the
elevator story you said earlier. Please sit. I would love to hear more about such incidents because
honestly, I haven’t faced any such thing yet. And that’s why I don’t believe in the existence of
supernatural forces.”
Diya looked at him suspiciously but sat back down. “That’s understandable. But it’s not just me who
encountered such incidents. The other day my roommate Prerna got locked in the washroom while
having a bath. We tried everything to open the door because she felt claustrophobic inside with all the
steam from the hot shower she just had. Ultimately we had to call the maintenance guy and break
down the lock to get her out.”
“So how is that a supernatural encounter? The door lock must be messed up somehow.”
“It was fine just a while ago when I went in,” Diya said as if that explained everything. “And it is not
just that. We have been having strange occurrences in our flat for quite some time now. Once we
heard someone knock on our door and whisper out Prerna’s name at 3 a.m.!”
“Did you check out who it was?” Karan asked. “Maybe someone was pranking you guys.”
“I was the first one to be awoken by the voice. I woke Prerna up and it was so spooky that we didn’t
dare to go outside. We kept our eyes shut and prayed until we fell asleep again. The next day, we
checked with every one of our friends but no one was up that night.”
Karan had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Why would someone admit to a prank that was
clearly working? “Anything else going on in your apartment?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. Yesterday when Prerna and I walked in our flat nothing was working. The
fan, the refrigerator and even the plug points weren’t working. So, we called in the maintenance guy
again and it turns out that—”
Before Diya could finish her sentence, Karan budged in with the simplest logical explanation. “Let
me guess, a tripped fuse?”
“Exactly!” she exclaimed .
Now, this was getting ridiculous and Karan was almost regretting his decision of inviting her for
coffee. He tried reasoning with her one last time. “So you see there is a reason behind all these things
that you mentioned. Someone pranked you with the lift as well as the scary noise. And the fuse
tripped.”
With an intense look, Diya moved her face closer to his and whispered, “When the fuse was repaired,
everything shot back to life. The fan that I had turned off before we left and even the TV that had been
broken for the last three months.”
And that was the end of their conversation that day. Karan knew that the fan must be switched on
when they must’ve returned and were checking why things weren’t working anymore. As for the TV,
maybe something just snapped back into place when they were tinkering with it. That would’ve been
an odd coincidence but the more he thought about it, he began to suspect that she was making this part
up just to prove her point. And that was a huge turn-off for him. He decided to ignore his attraction for
her from then onward and focus on his work instead.
***
But the conversation had the opposite effect on Diya. She found Karan to be quite stubborn in a cute
way and she decided to make him admit that he was wrong about the paranormal stuff. So when she
crossed paths with him the next day, she invited him over for dinner at her place.
“Er… Are you sure? Wouldn’t your roommate mind?” Karan asked.
“No, of course not. She would be happy to meet you. And she cooks the best rajma chawal ever!”
And that’s what got him to come to her flat that night.
“Welcome home,” Diya greeted as Karan stepped in. Even though their flat was small, it was wellkept.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the small mandir on the right corner with photos of deities,
numerous small idols, an oil lamp and a few incense sticks. He hadn’t chalked Diya up to be religious
and it pleased him to find out more about her.
“And where is Prerna, the main chef of tonight’s famous meal?” Karan asked as he took a seat beside
their study table.
Diya looked around the flat as if noticing for the first time that Prerna wasn’t around. “She was here
just a while ago.”
“Maybe she is in there.” Karan pointed to the bathroom. Splashes of water could be heard coming
from inside.
“Oh, yeah. She must be showering.” Diya seemed distracted but then she focused her attention on her
guest and asked, “What do you prefer? Orange juice or chai?”
“Chai. I am always up for a cup of steaming hot tea.”
Diya excused herself and went into the adjoining open kitchen. Karan sat observing her in silence.
She looked cute in her simple T-shirt and comfortable pajamas. Karan decided that he was definitely
attracted to her, despite her naivety of believing in paranormal stuff. Maybe he could ignore this other
stuff and try making a meaningful conversation with her.
“Hey, Karan!” Diya said, a bit louder this time. “You are always lost in some faraway land. I was
asking whether you would like to have ginger in your tea. It’s good for the throat in winter.”
“Sure, go ahead.” Karan got up and began casually inspecting the room, trying to gather more
information about his crush. It pleased him to see a pile of books arranged neatly on the study table.
He was an avid reader too.
“You enjoy reading, huh?”
Before she could reply, Karan’s eyes went over the titles of the books and he was dismayed to see
some astrology and palmistry books there. But before he could react, Diya came and stood by him
looking at the books too. “Nah, I prefer spending time on Netflix. This is all Prerna’s stuff.”
Karan could never confess what a relief he felt after hearing those words. That explained a lot. And
he ended up asking her whether it was Prerna who first introduced her to the paranormal observations
around them.
“Yes. I didn’t believe it at first but Prerna pointed out so many incidents that I had to accept their
existence. ”
“And let me guess. Prerna must be living here before you did, and she was the one who informed you
that the TV wasn’t working?”
“Hey, how did you know that? Actually Prerna owns this place, and I moved in with her a few months
back. The TV wasn’t working even then.”
Karan smiled at the cunning roommate of hers who was just fooling this innocent girl. Judging by the
books and the mandir in the room, Prerna seemed like the kind of girl who liked her peace in the room
and that included no noise from the TV. And, unfortunately for her, the maintenance guy blew her ruse
of the broken TV.
“So Diya wasn’t lying to prove her point after all,” Karan thought, happy at the discovery.
“Why don’t you go to the balcony and I will bring over the tea when it’s ready,” Diya said, heading
back to the kitchen.
Karan stepped outside onto the balcony. It was a pleasant evening with a cool breeze sifting through
the lush green tree of her building compound. Soon Diya joined him and they sipped the hot tea while
watching the sun glimmer above the opposite building. Karan was pleased every time he could
make Diya laugh at his silly jokes. They stood there with empty cups in their hands for a long time.
The sound of someone unlocking the door from outside interrupted their conversation. Noticing the
worried expression on Diya’s face, Karan asked, “What’s wrong? Who is it?”
Before Diya could answer, the door opened and a young lady walked in with a grocery bag.
“Prerna? If you were outside, who was showering in the bathroom then?” Diya asked, her
mesmerizing eyes now wide with shock.
They stared at the closed door of the bathroom. There wasn’t any noise coming from inside anymore.
Karan had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach because he had definitely heard someone
splashing water inside before. Ignoring his increasing heartbeat, he cleared his throat and said, “Let
me check.”
When he opened the door, a swift of moist air hit his face. Clearing his spectacles off the mist, he
poked his head in and looked around the empty bathroom. There was water on the floor and mist in
the air, indicating that someone had been taking a hot shower in there not long ago.
Karan’s eyes met Diya’s shocked ones and they stood staring at each other silently.
***
“We appreciate the contributions from everyone in the company. The fire had destroyed everything we
owned. Now with the help of the insurance money and the generous contributions, we will be able to
settle down in another flat soon. Thank you once again for standing with us during these testing
times,” Diya said before handing over the microphone to her senior.
Along with Prerna, she stepped down from the platform and joined the crowd. They had been
receiving warm sympathy and support from everyone ever since the fire destroyed their flat a week
ago. The investigators from the insurance company were unable to find the cause of the fire but they
would soon proceed with the paperwork and pay the amount to Prerna, who owned the flat.
Meanwhile, Karan had been kind enough to let them stay at his flat until they could settle down in a
new place.
“I don’t know what we would have done if it weren’t for you,” Diya said to Karan while they were
having dinner together at his flat that night.
Prerna chipped in, “Yes, thank you so much for letting us live here for a few days.”
“It was the least I could do. I still can’t believe that you guys lost everything in that fire,” Karan said,
shaking his head.
“The whole place comes back to my mind when I close my eyes.” Diya sighed. “My jewellery, my
degrees and certificates, all the important documents… my expensive dresses and shoes. Nothing
could be saved.”
Prerna added, “My TV, refrigerator, washing machine… All my idols and books too.”
Karan looked at her with narrowed eyes. He could smell something fishy about Diya’s roommate
from day one. And the insurance claim gave him more reasons to believe that Prerna wasn’t as
innocent as she seemed. And poor Diya had to suffer because of her.
“Thank God you arrived in time and could get the gas cylinder out somehow. Otherwise, the fire
would have blown up the other flats around us too.” Diya said, horror widening her sea-green eyes.
“Nah, the spirit just wanted to wipe out our flat. We were encroaching its space and because of my
religious chants every day and the mandir in our room, it could not coexist in that space with us.
That’s why it drove us out by lighting that fire,” Prerna explained.
“What rubbish! How can you believe this nonsense after being so educated?” Karan asked, turning to
Diya for validation. Upon seeing her bite her lower lip in hesitation, he exclaimed, “You can’t be
serious about this. You believe this nonsense too?”
“Shh Karan. Even if you don’t believe in paranormal stuff, at least don’t say anything negative about
it. You never know who you could end up offending,” Prerna warned him in a hushed tone.
Karan felt exasperated and he simply got up with his empty plate and went to the kitchen. Diya joined
him soon and helped him with the dirty dishes in silence. Later on when Prerna fell asleep on the
couch of the living area, Diya motioned Karan to join her on the balcony. “You have got to stop
opposing the supernatural elements. Prerna was right. What’s the use of mocking it even if you don’t
believe it. Just let it go. Stay silent whenever the topic comes up.”
“How can you be so naïve, Diya?” Karan asked, looking in her eyes. A lock of hair escaped from
behind her ear and swayed in the wind. He wanted to reach out and tuck it back like they showed in
the movies. This thought made him realise how close they were standing. Should he lean in to kiss?
Their first kiss out on the balcony with the wind blowing her hair. It was picture perfect. But then he
remembered Prerna and his libido dropped.
Even though it killed him to do so, he stepped away from Diya. Clearing his throat, Karan said, “It’s
late. Let’s go back in.”
** *
“I have to confront her,” Karan decided when it was too much to handle. It had been two days since
that dinner of disagreement with Prerna, and every day since then Karan found erratic disturbances in
his flat. Once he found all the lying on the floor of the kitchen. Although he found it odd that his guests
would do this, he had brushed it aside as Prerna’s or Diya’s forgetfulness. Maybe they were searching
for something in the kitchen and couldn’t find it.
The other day he came back to find all the lights turned on and appliances running even when no one
was at the flat. Thinking about the electricity bill, he had regretted giving them the spare keys that day.
When he mentioned it, both of them denied visiting the place during office hours. It puzzled him, but
he had to let it go, reminding himself that Prerna would leave as soon as the insurance money came in
and they could pay for their own flat. But today, when he saw some pages of his favorite books torn
and tucked beneath his laptop, it was the last straw. This was a deliberate attempt to bug him and his
dear books had to pay the price for someone’s malice intentions.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Karan,” Prerna retorted when Karan finally confronted her. “It is
understandable that you are regretting your offer to help us in our time of need because it is taking
longer than expected for the insurance guys to clear our claim. We have extended our stay here due to
unforeseen circumstances and now you want us to leave. Just say so directly. Don’t cook up stories
and blame me for silly things like these.”
Diya was looking at him, waiting for his denial. But Karan had had enough of Prerna and her antics.
“Now you are being ridiculous. There are just the three of us here and it’s logical that I wouldn’t do
this to my books. So, who did it?”
“If none of us did this, then there is only one explanation. I told you not to offend anyone with your
mean words,” Prerna said in all seriousness.
Karan lost his cool completely. “What the fuck? Are you out of your mind? You did all this to make
me believe in some supernatural bullshit?!”
“Karan, please. Don’t say anything right now. Your anger is making you say things that you don’t
mean.” Diya tried her best to handle the situation.
“Of course, I mean every word that I utter.” Karan seethed with rage, giving Prerna a murderous look.
“There is no such thing as a ghost or spirit. All this supernatural bullshit is for duffers like her to
believe in.”
Just then the door behind Karan flew open and slammed against the wall with a bang, making
everyone jump in surprise.
“Who’s there?” Karan asked after a brief pause which was needed to calm down his pounding heart.
No one replied and before he could go and check, Diya whispered, “Did you see that? They are angry
with what you said. Karan you must apologize. They are listening.”
Karan turned to look at her. “Are you fucking kidding?”
Prerna panicked and she started gathering all her stuff. “Come on Diya. We need to leave this place
immediately. Karan, you better leave too. Whether or not you believe it, but this place is haunted and
the spirits are mad at you right now.”
Diya grabbed a few of her belongings and stuffed it in her suitcase. “Come on, Karan. Let’s get out of
here before something else happens.”
“I seriously can’t believe you guys. You are terrified of staying here now? I rented this place for a
year and I am not going anywhere. This is my home and the so-called ghosts and spirits can go to hell
for all I care.”
“Karan! Please don’t say another word. These spirits can be very dangerous,” Diya said as she joined
Prerna in the hallway.
“Oh yeah? Then I dare these spirits to make me move out of here. Let them do what they can but I
won’t budge from this place,” Karan challenged, raising his hand in the air in an attempt to point at
the so-called spirits. Then he looked at Diya and said, “As for you, I have nothing more to say.
Goodbye!” He slammed the door shut when they left. Cursing loudly, he held his head in his hands
and dropped down on the bed. Every moment he had spent with Diya came back to his mind. He
didn’t realize when he drifted off to sleep.
***
Karan woke up disturbed by the cool wind. His head felt heavy. He shivered with cold as he opened
his eyes. His heart pounded in his chest when he realized where he was. Hanging upside down in the
air from his balcony, he didn’t even get a chance to scream as he fell down thirteen floors and hit the
concrete ground. As he lay in the pool of his blood, Karan couldn’t move a muscle. His eyes fluttered
open in a last attempt to understand what actually happened to him. He saw a pair of sea-green eyes
staring back at him from the bushes.
“Never deny our existence.” The soft hissed voice coming from the bushes was the last thing he heard
before the paramedics arrived and declared his death.
The next day’s newspaper headlines read, “Man commits suicide from the 13th floor in Royal Palms.”
of the flat the broker brought them to.
It had been two days of staying at the overly expensive, yet quite shabby hotel downhill at Royal
Palms. Apart from the hotel, Karan had thoroughly enjoyed his stay in Goregaon so far. He received a
warm welcome in his new company, one of the major post-production houses in Mumbai, and he was
already smitten by Diya, the gorgeous team-member who had been assigned to take care of the
newcomers.
Karan would have stayed in the hotel for a few more days if he hadn’t overheard Diya discussing
about ‘the poor newcomers’ who had to live downhill at the hotel. He had seized the opportunity to
strike up a conversation with her and here he was today, standing with her in a spacious apartment.
“But bhaiya, isn’t there a flat available on some other floor of this apartment?” Diya asked, and then
turned to Karan and explained, “I just don’t prefer the 13th floor.”
Karan was disappointed in her for believing in such superstitions, but he didn’t want anything to
discourage her from visiting his place. So, he said, “We can look at other flats.”
As they went about looking at other flats, Diya confessed something that made Karan judge her even
more. She said, “Actually, this place is supposed to be one of Mumbai’s most haunted. I’ve heard of
many suicide stories from the 13th floors of many buildings in this area. So, it’s better to avoid such
things if we can, right? Why walk into this willingly?”
Karan suppressed his smile, and with the best faked sincerity in his voice, he asked, “Do you really
believe in ghosts and all?”
Diya hesitated for a moment before saying, “Will you judge me if I say ‘yes’?”
It took strong willpower for him to shake his head in the negative. As they checked out the next flat on
the 18th floor, Karan reminded himself of the reasons why he liked Diya. Apart from being drop-dead
gorgeous with remarkable sea-green eyes, she was kind and helpful, fun to hang out with and she
always had some random yet interesting titbits to share with everyone. Just as she shared one when
they were on their fourth flat of the apartment hunting spree. “A huge number of Mumbai’s haunted
stories come from Aarey Milk Colony, the forested area that you have to cross to reach Royal Palms.
There is this lady with a kid asking for a ride and when you stop your car, they disappear into thin air.
So creepy! The driver usually feels their invisible presence in his car until he crosses the area and
drives back safely into the main Goregaon area. It’s uncanny that so many people, including the
residents of the colony, have reported the same incident.”
Believing that Diya was surely testing his patience, Karan now smiled and said, “A lady in white
asking for a lift? Most cliched story ever. Are her feet twisted backward too?”
Diya detected a hint of condescension in his voice and she answered back, “Well I don’t believe in
everything that people say. As for the 13th floor, I had an eerie incident that was validated by others in
our building too. It is said that every time the lift goes up or down through our building, it definitely
stops at the 13th floor even though nobody lives there. Once I found myself alone in the elevator when
I was going to my friend’s room on the 15th floor. The elevator suddenly stopped, and the doors flew
open. It was the 13th floor and there was no one around. I even stepped outside and checked the
corridors. No one. A cold chill went down my spine and I panicked. Ran all the way up two floors
without turning back even once. It was such a close call, but I can still feel the creepy chill every time
I think about that day.”
Diya shuddered visibly, and Karan smirked. Again, a classic old tale that he had heard about several
other buildings before .
Catching the smirk, Diya flared up and challenged him, “If you don’t believe me, go ahead and take
the first room we saw on the 13th floor. And don’t come crying to me about it anytime soon.”
And that’s how Karan landed there with his luggage three days later. The paperwork was a breeze,
almost as if the owner was in a hurry to sign the yearlong rent agreement at such a reasonable price.
At least that should’ve warned Karan, but he wasn’t one to believe in signs.
***
“I want to apologize for being harsh on you for your beliefs the other day,” Karan said when Diya
finally agreed to hear him out over a cup of coffee in the office cafeteria.
“You should be thankful that you aren’t the one experiencing these things. I was a nonbeliever too
before I encountered an incident myself,” Diya said, sipping her coffee.
Karan kept one of his foot over the other and pressed it hard, trying to stop himself from blurting out
anything that would destroy his chance with her. Even though she had been avoiding him, he had been
observing Diya from a distance for the last few days. The unusual sea-green eyes set her apart from
everyone in the office. And she was well-liked by her peers and drew a smile on everyone’s face
wherever she went. People had nice things to say about her, how she went out of her way to help
them, and made sure that everyone was having a good time while working. Her smile was infectious,
and he found himself smiling whenever he spotted her cheerful face in the office.
“Why are you smiling?” she asked, bringing him out of his reverie. “You are mocking me again, aren’t
you?”
“Oh no, no, no. I was just thinking about something else,” Karan answered hastily.
“So our conversation is boring? You definitely seem like you’ve other interesting stuff to think about.”
Diya finished the rest of her coffee in a gulp and stood up to leave.
Karan caught hold of her hand and said, “Diya, please. I didn’t mean that. Was just thinking about the
elevator story you said earlier. Please sit. I would love to hear more about such incidents because
honestly, I haven’t faced any such thing yet. And that’s why I don’t believe in the existence of
supernatural forces.”
Diya looked at him suspiciously but sat back down. “That’s understandable. But it’s not just me who
encountered such incidents. The other day my roommate Prerna got locked in the washroom while
having a bath. We tried everything to open the door because she felt claustrophobic inside with all the
steam from the hot shower she just had. Ultimately we had to call the maintenance guy and break
down the lock to get her out.”
“So how is that a supernatural encounter? The door lock must be messed up somehow.”
“It was fine just a while ago when I went in,” Diya said as if that explained everything. “And it is not
just that. We have been having strange occurrences in our flat for quite some time now. Once we
heard someone knock on our door and whisper out Prerna’s name at 3 a.m.!”
“Did you check out who it was?” Karan asked. “Maybe someone was pranking you guys.”
“I was the first one to be awoken by the voice. I woke Prerna up and it was so spooky that we didn’t
dare to go outside. We kept our eyes shut and prayed until we fell asleep again. The next day, we
checked with every one of our friends but no one was up that night.”
Karan had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Why would someone admit to a prank that was
clearly working? “Anything else going on in your apartment?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. Yesterday when Prerna and I walked in our flat nothing was working. The
fan, the refrigerator and even the plug points weren’t working. So, we called in the maintenance guy
again and it turns out that—”
Before Diya could finish her sentence, Karan budged in with the simplest logical explanation. “Let
me guess, a tripped fuse?”
“Exactly!” she exclaimed .
Now, this was getting ridiculous and Karan was almost regretting his decision of inviting her for
coffee. He tried reasoning with her one last time. “So you see there is a reason behind all these things
that you mentioned. Someone pranked you with the lift as well as the scary noise. And the fuse
tripped.”
With an intense look, Diya moved her face closer to his and whispered, “When the fuse was repaired,
everything shot back to life. The fan that I had turned off before we left and even the TV that had been
broken for the last three months.”
And that was the end of their conversation that day. Karan knew that the fan must be switched on
when they must’ve returned and were checking why things weren’t working anymore. As for the TV,
maybe something just snapped back into place when they were tinkering with it. That would’ve been
an odd coincidence but the more he thought about it, he began to suspect that she was making this part
up just to prove her point. And that was a huge turn-off for him. He decided to ignore his attraction for
her from then onward and focus on his work instead.
***
But the conversation had the opposite effect on Diya. She found Karan to be quite stubborn in a cute
way and she decided to make him admit that he was wrong about the paranormal stuff. So when she
crossed paths with him the next day, she invited him over for dinner at her place.
“Er… Are you sure? Wouldn’t your roommate mind?” Karan asked.
“No, of course not. She would be happy to meet you. And she cooks the best rajma chawal ever!”
And that’s what got him to come to her flat that night.
“Welcome home,” Diya greeted as Karan stepped in. Even though their flat was small, it was wellkept.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the small mandir on the right corner with photos of deities,
numerous small idols, an oil lamp and a few incense sticks. He hadn’t chalked Diya up to be religious
and it pleased him to find out more about her.
“And where is Prerna, the main chef of tonight’s famous meal?” Karan asked as he took a seat beside
their study table.
Diya looked around the flat as if noticing for the first time that Prerna wasn’t around. “She was here
just a while ago.”
“Maybe she is in there.” Karan pointed to the bathroom. Splashes of water could be heard coming
from inside.
“Oh, yeah. She must be showering.” Diya seemed distracted but then she focused her attention on her
guest and asked, “What do you prefer? Orange juice or chai?”
“Chai. I am always up for a cup of steaming hot tea.”
Diya excused herself and went into the adjoining open kitchen. Karan sat observing her in silence.
She looked cute in her simple T-shirt and comfortable pajamas. Karan decided that he was definitely
attracted to her, despite her naivety of believing in paranormal stuff. Maybe he could ignore this other
stuff and try making a meaningful conversation with her.
“Hey, Karan!” Diya said, a bit louder this time. “You are always lost in some faraway land. I was
asking whether you would like to have ginger in your tea. It’s good for the throat in winter.”
“Sure, go ahead.” Karan got up and began casually inspecting the room, trying to gather more
information about his crush. It pleased him to see a pile of books arranged neatly on the study table.
He was an avid reader too.
“You enjoy reading, huh?”
Before she could reply, Karan’s eyes went over the titles of the books and he was dismayed to see
some astrology and palmistry books there. But before he could react, Diya came and stood by him
looking at the books too. “Nah, I prefer spending time on Netflix. This is all Prerna’s stuff.”
Karan could never confess what a relief he felt after hearing those words. That explained a lot. And
he ended up asking her whether it was Prerna who first introduced her to the paranormal observations
around them.
“Yes. I didn’t believe it at first but Prerna pointed out so many incidents that I had to accept their
existence. ”
“And let me guess. Prerna must be living here before you did, and she was the one who informed you
that the TV wasn’t working?”
“Hey, how did you know that? Actually Prerna owns this place, and I moved in with her a few months
back. The TV wasn’t working even then.”
Karan smiled at the cunning roommate of hers who was just fooling this innocent girl. Judging by the
books and the mandir in the room, Prerna seemed like the kind of girl who liked her peace in the room
and that included no noise from the TV. And, unfortunately for her, the maintenance guy blew her ruse
of the broken TV.
“So Diya wasn’t lying to prove her point after all,” Karan thought, happy at the discovery.
“Why don’t you go to the balcony and I will bring over the tea when it’s ready,” Diya said, heading
back to the kitchen.
Karan stepped outside onto the balcony. It was a pleasant evening with a cool breeze sifting through
the lush green tree of her building compound. Soon Diya joined him and they sipped the hot tea while
watching the sun glimmer above the opposite building. Karan was pleased every time he could
make Diya laugh at his silly jokes. They stood there with empty cups in their hands for a long time.
The sound of someone unlocking the door from outside interrupted their conversation. Noticing the
worried expression on Diya’s face, Karan asked, “What’s wrong? Who is it?”
Before Diya could answer, the door opened and a young lady walked in with a grocery bag.
“Prerna? If you were outside, who was showering in the bathroom then?” Diya asked, her
mesmerizing eyes now wide with shock.
They stared at the closed door of the bathroom. There wasn’t any noise coming from inside anymore.
Karan had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach because he had definitely heard someone
splashing water inside before. Ignoring his increasing heartbeat, he cleared his throat and said, “Let
me check.”
When he opened the door, a swift of moist air hit his face. Clearing his spectacles off the mist, he
poked his head in and looked around the empty bathroom. There was water on the floor and mist in
the air, indicating that someone had been taking a hot shower in there not long ago.
Karan’s eyes met Diya’s shocked ones and they stood staring at each other silently.
***
“We appreciate the contributions from everyone in the company. The fire had destroyed everything we
owned. Now with the help of the insurance money and the generous contributions, we will be able to
settle down in another flat soon. Thank you once again for standing with us during these testing
times,” Diya said before handing over the microphone to her senior.
Along with Prerna, she stepped down from the platform and joined the crowd. They had been
receiving warm sympathy and support from everyone ever since the fire destroyed their flat a week
ago. The investigators from the insurance company were unable to find the cause of the fire but they
would soon proceed with the paperwork and pay the amount to Prerna, who owned the flat.
Meanwhile, Karan had been kind enough to let them stay at his flat until they could settle down in a
new place.
“I don’t know what we would have done if it weren’t for you,” Diya said to Karan while they were
having dinner together at his flat that night.
Prerna chipped in, “Yes, thank you so much for letting us live here for a few days.”
“It was the least I could do. I still can’t believe that you guys lost everything in that fire,” Karan said,
shaking his head.
“The whole place comes back to my mind when I close my eyes.” Diya sighed. “My jewellery, my
degrees and certificates, all the important documents… my expensive dresses and shoes. Nothing
could be saved.”
Prerna added, “My TV, refrigerator, washing machine… All my idols and books too.”
Karan looked at her with narrowed eyes. He could smell something fishy about Diya’s roommate
from day one. And the insurance claim gave him more reasons to believe that Prerna wasn’t as
innocent as she seemed. And poor Diya had to suffer because of her.
“Thank God you arrived in time and could get the gas cylinder out somehow. Otherwise, the fire
would have blown up the other flats around us too.” Diya said, horror widening her sea-green eyes.
“Nah, the spirit just wanted to wipe out our flat. We were encroaching its space and because of my
religious chants every day and the mandir in our room, it could not coexist in that space with us.
That’s why it drove us out by lighting that fire,” Prerna explained.
“What rubbish! How can you believe this nonsense after being so educated?” Karan asked, turning to
Diya for validation. Upon seeing her bite her lower lip in hesitation, he exclaimed, “You can’t be
serious about this. You believe this nonsense too?”
“Shh Karan. Even if you don’t believe in paranormal stuff, at least don’t say anything negative about
it. You never know who you could end up offending,” Prerna warned him in a hushed tone.
Karan felt exasperated and he simply got up with his empty plate and went to the kitchen. Diya joined
him soon and helped him with the dirty dishes in silence. Later on when Prerna fell asleep on the
couch of the living area, Diya motioned Karan to join her on the balcony. “You have got to stop
opposing the supernatural elements. Prerna was right. What’s the use of mocking it even if you don’t
believe it. Just let it go. Stay silent whenever the topic comes up.”
“How can you be so naïve, Diya?” Karan asked, looking in her eyes. A lock of hair escaped from
behind her ear and swayed in the wind. He wanted to reach out and tuck it back like they showed in
the movies. This thought made him realise how close they were standing. Should he lean in to kiss?
Their first kiss out on the balcony with the wind blowing her hair. It was picture perfect. But then he
remembered Prerna and his libido dropped.
Even though it killed him to do so, he stepped away from Diya. Clearing his throat, Karan said, “It’s
late. Let’s go back in.”
** *
“I have to confront her,” Karan decided when it was too much to handle. It had been two days since
that dinner of disagreement with Prerna, and every day since then Karan found erratic disturbances in
his flat. Once he found all the lying on the floor of the kitchen. Although he found it odd that his guests
would do this, he had brushed it aside as Prerna’s or Diya’s forgetfulness. Maybe they were searching
for something in the kitchen and couldn’t find it.
The other day he came back to find all the lights turned on and appliances running even when no one
was at the flat. Thinking about the electricity bill, he had regretted giving them the spare keys that day.
When he mentioned it, both of them denied visiting the place during office hours. It puzzled him, but
he had to let it go, reminding himself that Prerna would leave as soon as the insurance money came in
and they could pay for their own flat. But today, when he saw some pages of his favorite books torn
and tucked beneath his laptop, it was the last straw. This was a deliberate attempt to bug him and his
dear books had to pay the price for someone’s malice intentions.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Karan,” Prerna retorted when Karan finally confronted her. “It is
understandable that you are regretting your offer to help us in our time of need because it is taking
longer than expected for the insurance guys to clear our claim. We have extended our stay here due to
unforeseen circumstances and now you want us to leave. Just say so directly. Don’t cook up stories
and blame me for silly things like these.”
Diya was looking at him, waiting for his denial. But Karan had had enough of Prerna and her antics.
“Now you are being ridiculous. There are just the three of us here and it’s logical that I wouldn’t do
this to my books. So, who did it?”
“If none of us did this, then there is only one explanation. I told you not to offend anyone with your
mean words,” Prerna said in all seriousness.
Karan lost his cool completely. “What the fuck? Are you out of your mind? You did all this to make
me believe in some supernatural bullshit?!”
“Karan, please. Don’t say anything right now. Your anger is making you say things that you don’t
mean.” Diya tried her best to handle the situation.
“Of course, I mean every word that I utter.” Karan seethed with rage, giving Prerna a murderous look.
“There is no such thing as a ghost or spirit. All this supernatural bullshit is for duffers like her to
believe in.”
Just then the door behind Karan flew open and slammed against the wall with a bang, making
everyone jump in surprise.
“Who’s there?” Karan asked after a brief pause which was needed to calm down his pounding heart.
No one replied and before he could go and check, Diya whispered, “Did you see that? They are angry
with what you said. Karan you must apologize. They are listening.”
Karan turned to look at her. “Are you fucking kidding?”
Prerna panicked and she started gathering all her stuff. “Come on Diya. We need to leave this place
immediately. Karan, you better leave too. Whether or not you believe it, but this place is haunted and
the spirits are mad at you right now.”
Diya grabbed a few of her belongings and stuffed it in her suitcase. “Come on, Karan. Let’s get out of
here before something else happens.”
“I seriously can’t believe you guys. You are terrified of staying here now? I rented this place for a
year and I am not going anywhere. This is my home and the so-called ghosts and spirits can go to hell
for all I care.”
“Karan! Please don’t say another word. These spirits can be very dangerous,” Diya said as she joined
Prerna in the hallway.
“Oh yeah? Then I dare these spirits to make me move out of here. Let them do what they can but I
won’t budge from this place,” Karan challenged, raising his hand in the air in an attempt to point at
the so-called spirits. Then he looked at Diya and said, “As for you, I have nothing more to say.
Goodbye!” He slammed the door shut when they left. Cursing loudly, he held his head in his hands
and dropped down on the bed. Every moment he had spent with Diya came back to his mind. He
didn’t realize when he drifted off to sleep.
***
Karan woke up disturbed by the cool wind. His head felt heavy. He shivered with cold as he opened
his eyes. His heart pounded in his chest when he realized where he was. Hanging upside down in the
air from his balcony, he didn’t even get a chance to scream as he fell down thirteen floors and hit the
concrete ground. As he lay in the pool of his blood, Karan couldn’t move a muscle. His eyes fluttered
open in a last attempt to understand what actually happened to him. He saw a pair of sea-green eyes
staring back at him from the bushes.
“Never deny our existence.” The soft hissed voice coming from the bushes was the last thing he heard
before the paramedics arrived and declared his death.
The next day’s newspaper headlines read, “Man commits suicide from the 13th floor in Royal Palms.”
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