Whispers of the past

chapter 2 - Echoes of the past

It's a dark, quiet night in a distant place far from Hyderabad. A large house looms, all the lights switched off. In one of the rooms, a boy, around 20 years old, is fast asleep under his blanket. Suddenly, the blanket begins to move-dragged slowly by an unknown force. The boy stirs, instinctively pulling the blanket back over himself. But again, the blanket is yanked away. Startled and confused, the boy wakes up.

His eyes widen as he watches his blanket being pulled from him once more, slowly and mysteriously. Scared, he gathers all his courage and decides to check beneath the bed. He chants something holy under his breath, dragging himself closer to the edge. With his heart pounding, he peeks under the bed.

Nothing.

Sighing in relief, he turns back around, but freezes in terror-standing right behind him is a monstrous figure! Overwhelmed with fear, the boy screams at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, the lights flick on, and the terrifying figure vanishes. Behind him, he hears laughter. As he looks around, he sees his two elder sisters, Saima and Saira, laughing uncontrollably. His elder brother, Arhaan, stands behind them with his arms folded, a smirk on his face.

"How mean you are!" Azan, the boy, shouts at his sisters. "You scared me half to death, and now you're laughing?"

Saira chuckles. "Mean? Us? You're the one who pranks everyone all the time. Now that we've pranked you just once, we're mean? How rude!"

Azan, still shaken, exclaims, "At least my pranks don't give people heart attacks! Do you even know how scared I was?"

Saiba grins. "Oh, our little brother, don't be so dramatic. It's your birthday, and we just wanted to wish you in a 'special' way."

"Special?!" Azan replies. "Really, this was your special way?"

He turns to Arhaan and pleads, "Bhai, why didn't you stop them?"

Arhaan shrugs nonchalantly. "I had no idea about this."

As they banter, their parents, Ameena and Zakir, along with Nazreen, enter the room holding a cake. The family gathers to wish Azan a happy birthday.

"Thank you," Azan says with a grin, but he can't help glaring at his sisters. "Just wait till I tell dadu about you two. He'll see."

Zain, their dadu, enters just at that moment and asks with a chuckle, "What will I see?"

Azan launches into a complaint about his sisters, but Zain just laughs. "You got what was coming to you, Azan," he says kindly.

Azan frowns in frustration while everyone else bursts out laughing. Ameena chimes in, "Alright, that's enough. It's time to cut the cake."

Azan's mood brightens again as he teases his sisters. As he's about to blow out the candles, he suddenly pauses. "Where's Ruhan Bhai? I'm not cutting the cake without him."

Arhaan sighs, "He's not home yet."

Nazreen, concerned, adds, "That boy doesn't care about his health. When he gets back, I'm going to give him an earful."

Azan crosses his arms. "I won't cut the cake without him."

Saira reassures him, "Don't worry Azan, Bhai will be here by the time you blow out the candles."

She begins narrating dramatically. "Ruhan Bhai must've entered the lawn by now. The gatekeeper has opened the door..." As she speaks, we see this happening. "And now, he's walking into the house..."

She glances at Azan. "Now, count to three."

Azan begins to count down. "One... two... three..."

Right on cue, Ruhan suddenly appears behind Azan and surprising him with a big smile "Happy Birthday!"