Tom's ordinary life turns upside down, revealing secrets and terrors from a fateful rainy night. What drove his closest friends apart, and what lurks in the silence that followed?
“What the hell! Now I have to wait on the platform until morning. What could be worse than this?”
Sundar Lal Ghosh, a well-established businessman from Bombay in the 1960s, had come to Calcutta for business. But the train, being late, reached Calcutta at 12:47 a.m., and there was no one on the platform. He was supposed to be picked up by his Bengal subordinates, but when he stepped out of the station, there was not a single soul waiting for him. Losing his temper, he cursed his fate and decided to search for a local hotel where he could stay the night. So, he jumped into action.
Sundar found a taxi nearby the station. He asked the driver to take him to a local hotel where he could stay for the night. The driver, a dark-complexioned man who looked somewhat drunk with a shaved face, had a name tag reading “Pritam.”
As Sundar settled into the taxi, he noticed the smell of alcohol and felt a chilling sensation. Ignoring it, he continued. The taxi ride was eerily silent except for the hum of the engine. Sundar, feeling awkward in the silence, tried to engage Pritam in conversation, but Pritam remained taciturn. Sundar requested Pritam to drive faster, and Pritam complied.
After a few minutes, the taxi stopped at a small, shabby hotel. Sundar, with a hint of sarcasm, remarked, “Wow! What a beautiful hotel! Look, there are rotten flowers in the garden, and the roof tiles are falling off... ugh! What a beauty! Can’t you take me to a better hotel, you idiot? Now take your payment and leave!”
Pritam took the payment, gave Sundar a cold, unsettling smile, and drove away. “Strange! Is he mad or just drunk?” Sundar thought.
Entering the hotel, Sundar found a person sleeping at the reception desk. Sundar woke him up, and the man introduced himself as the manager. Sundar requested a room for the night, and the manager agreed, handing him a key.
When Sundar entered his room, he was repulsed by the sight. A disgusting smell hit him, nearly making him vomit. The walls were a sickly white with reddish and yellowish stains, and most parts were covered with damp patches. The bed cover was filthy. He complained to the manager, but it was in vain. Sundar thought, “It’s just for tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll leave this horrid hotel. Ugh, it’s a disgrace!”
Exhausted from the day’s events, Sundar turned off the lights and went to sleep. Surprisingly, he fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. Might be his exhaustion.
Suddenly, he was jolted awake by a chilling scream. Sweating with fear, he realised the scream was familiar. He followed the sound to the room next door, which was not locked. Inside, he found a girl lying dead, her head severed from her torso with no blood around. The head was missing. Sundar’s memory was triggered, and his sixth sense told him that he had experienced a similar incident before. Panicked, he sprinted outside the hotel. The streets were eerily empty, devoid of any living things—plants, animals, nothing.
In his desperation, Sundar went to a well-known crematorium. There, he saw Pritam with an Aghori, performing a ritual with the girl’s head at the centre.
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What was happening? Sundar understood everything but couldn’t believe it.
The driver was none other than Sundar’s past self. Sundar’s real name was Pritam Chowdhury, and he was once a poor taxi driver. Desperate for wealth, he had turned to an Aghori for help. The Aghori had promised him riches in exchange for a sacrifice—his love. Sundar decapitated his lover as a sacrifice in a dark ritual, and in return, he gained immense wealth but lost his memory. He became a thief, eventually stealing jewellery and becoming rich overnight.
As Sundar grappled with this horrifying realization, he suddenly felt a chilling breath on his neck. He spun around, but the crematorium was now suddenly empty, with no one in sight or any sign of the ritual. Panic surged through him as he tried to move, only to feel grip of hands on his legs. Desperate, he struggled to escape, but with every effort, the unseen force seemed to pull him deeper into the ground. His attempts to break free only made things worse, and soon he felt himself sinking further and further. Overwhelmed by fear and exhaustion, Sundar's hope dwindled, and he realized he was trapped, with no way out…
Two days later, news bulletins reported:
“SUNDAR LAL GHOSH, THE FAMOUS BUSINESS TYCOON FROM BOMBAY, IS MISSING. HE WAS IN CALCUTTA TO SET UP A LARGE SUPERMARKET IN EASTERN CALCUTTA BUT VANISHED EN ROUTE. BRITISH POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING THE MATTER…”
That's it.
The room fell silent for a moment. I was still shaken, trembling with fear. Piu and Reena tried to comfort me, and it took me a little while to regain my composure. Once I finally calmed down, we all applauded Reena for her thrilling story. Even Sayan straightforwardly praised her without any sarcastic remarks.
We agreed she was the clear winner of the game. But as the game required, it was now my turn to tell a story…
