I switched on the lights of my humble abode and entered inside after a tiresome day. I longed for my wife who was coming from Mumbai, the next day. I dialed her number and went inside the kitchen to re-heat the meals prepared by the maid. I wanted to finish my dinner before I was greeted with the presence of the terrifying spirit of high and mighty Ansh Awasthy, a rich, spoilt brat who was an abuser in real life.
“Hi", my wife chirped at the other end while the microwave in my kitchen beeped indicating the food was ready.
As I ate my meals, I talked with my wife. The conversation was indeed, calming and relaxing to my chaotic mind. While she chirped about her successful meeting, I refrained to talk about the negative impact of Ansh Awasthy on our lives. I did not want to frighten my wife.
Once done with my dinner, I ended the conversation with Anvita and promised her to not drink whiskey. After a long day, I was myself willing to sleep and rejuvenate myself till the terrifying spirit of Ansh Awasthy graced its presence. Lying in my bedroom, I closed my eyes and drifted to my dreamland.
I suddenly received a harsh slap on my left cheek and I woke up horrified at the sudden assault.
“Mr. Ved, you cannot sleep leaving me clueless about my murderers”, the headless spirit whined and I rubbed my sleepy eyes groggily.
Glancing at the clock that had struck at twelve in midnight, I sighed in despair holding my cheek. I was fuming in anger. This guy had assaulted and abused his girlfriend throughout his life and his spirit was shamelessly harassing me every now and then despite, I was diligently doing my duties. I was frustrated beyond control.
“See, Ansh, this is ridiculous”, I protested as I sat on my bed.
“What?” he demanded sitting beside me.
“I am doing my duties as diligently I can. You cannot beat me and assault me. You cannot blackmail to kill me if I am clueless about your murderers. You cannot force me to do things your way.” I shrieked in agony.
“I am sorry but try to understand my frustration too. I did not die peacefully. I am stuck between this physical and the next spiritual world. I need to transcend to the spiritual world in fifteen days or I will be stuck in this physical world like a beheaded spirit. I don’t have time.” The spirit whined while I tried to comprehend his words.
Following my questioning gaze, he explained, “The bottom-line is, we need to find and cremate my body or my belongings so that I could enter the transcendental realm of spirituality. I might find some mental peace there. I am tired of this headless life.”
I nodded understanding the fact that the spirit of Ansh Awasthy needed to leave this physical world as soon as possible. “I will help you", I murmured.
“Whatever Priya spoke about our relationship is cent percent truth", the spirit confessed and the mercury-red liquid began oozing out of its heart-like organ. The spirit of Ansh Awasthy perhaps, regretted his deeds.
“You abused her and crushed her soul", I lamented.
“I loved her. I was elated to see her after so long. I followed her till her house today and it was bliss. I don’t have much time and I need to take revenge from those four monsters who are responsible for my death but all I want to do is, watch her and create memories with her so I could cherish her memories in the spiritual world.” The spirit confessed and I suppressed my urge to bang my head in the bedpost. I wanted to tell Ansh that this is not love but obsession towards a poor girl and I decided to take the risk.
“What is love?” I asked the spirit who chuckled, “I loved Priya from my heart and soul. I wished she could realize that I was running behind her out of love.”
Patting his back, I explained, “Love is about spreading happiness, Ansh. You were happy with Priya but your restrictions on her were not letting her breathe. She was getting killed from inside with every comment you made on her character. She was hating you when you stopped her from doing things she loved. You mentally harassed her in the name of love.”
The spirit was listening to me calmly and diligently so I chose to continue, “Love is an indescribable power that gives life to a drooping flower, Ansh. You killed the blossoming emotions of Priya. Love is about teaching someone to laugh in joy when he or she needs a shoulder to cry. You became the reason of her countless tears, Ansh.”
Like a big brother, I rubbed the back of that terrifying spirit while it hugged me and cried. I wondered the young man craved for love but owing to his obsessive ways, he could never find true love in real life.
“I always hated to be alone, Ved. I was all alone in my childhood. Atharv was there but he could not be a mother or father to me. When I met Priya, I realized, she cared for me. I never wanted to lose her. I wanted to keep her to myself.” The spirit lamented hugging me tight. I realized the vulnerability of the young spirit and I could my eyes getting soaked in unshed tears.
“Your love had turned into obsession, Ansh. You humiliated her character. No girl can ever fall in love with someone who brutally crushed her image in society.” I reiterated the matter of fact. It was important to tell Ansh that he was a harasser for Priya’s safety.
“I was selfish. I was bad. I was wrong. I was evil to hurt someone I loved.” The headless spirit cried in pain and agony.
“I am sorry, Ved. I am sorry to beat you, slap you and blackmail you. I am evil, Ved and still you decided to help me. I am so sorry.” The grieved spirit mourned loathing itself.
“Sh…sh… It is okay", I cooed the vulnerable spirit rubbing its back.
“I want to amend my deeds, Ved”, the spirit murmured determinedly as it sat straight on my bed.
I smiled. Caressing its back, I asked the spirit, “Will you cooperate in finding the truth of your death?”, to which the vulnerable spirit replied in affirmation.
“Do you know anyone amongst Raman, Varun, Shekhar or Prem Gupta?” I asked the spirit of Ansh Awasthy which was not frightening me today.
“No", he denied.
“They own a Stone Crushing Plant in Mahipalpur. They have a restaurant in Paharganj too.” I prompted.
After a short moment of silence, the spirit was still in denial mode. Reaching another dead end, I was tired of this cat and mouse chase.
“You need to help me, Ansh", I murmured and he nodded.
Quickly formulating a small plan to unveil the mystery lingering around Ansh’s death, I narrated a small plan to find the real culprits. I needed the help of the spirit to find the murderers of Ansh Awasthy. I was glad that the spirit decided to help me. Our plan was not foolproof but I expected positive results partly, because I had understood the psychology of Gupta brothers, Priya Vashisht and Atharv Awasthy; the three people I suspected.
We decided to implement the plan on the very next day and I hoped justice for Ansh Awasthy because he had made irredeemable mistakes, no doubts, but at the same time, he did not deserve to be beheaded and killed. Moreover, his family needed a closure and so did my investigation!
😎😎😎
Word count : 1290
Hi everyone
So, this was an emotional confrontation!
Now that Ansh has nothing to lose, he understood what love is!
I will update the climax soon, till then, VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE 🥰
With immense love
♥️
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Mystery / Thriller⭐ Among the winners of Indian ONC 2021⭐ ⭐ Featured in Reading List of @MysteryThrillerIN ⭐ I was standing in my balcony when I saw a silhouette of a man walking in my lane. The silhouette was terrifying because it just had two hands and two legs jus...
