The Girl & The Ghost || Arshi FF

Chapter 3 - Guest

The ring of the doorbell woke Khushi up with a start. She was semi-sitting, semi-lying on the sofa. She had slept on it the entire night – the affect of which could now be felt on her aching neck and shoulder.

She opened the door, yawing, to find an apprehensive Payal who was trying her best to smile.

"Good morning, Payal," Khushi rubbed her eyes.

"Morning? It's 1 pm, Khushi," Payal corrected her.

Khushi's eyes opened wide, "O my God! I am so sorry. I forgot to set the alarm. I wasn't planning on sleeping."

"I take it you haven't cooked anything. It's okay. I can come some other day," Payal spoke from the doorway, looking relieved.

Khushi put her hand on her hips, "No, we are doing this today. You'll see there is nothing to fear. Come in."

Payal gulped, putting one foot in. Khushi gestured with her hand to come in. Payal put her other foot in and closed the door behind her.

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"... nothing to fear." These words caught Arnav's attention. So this other girl Payal was scared to come in the flat. He knew that she was the landlady's daughter. Ever since he found himself stuck in the house, Payal had never entered it. He had never done anything to her, nothing that he could recall but she was wary from the start. She would always stand at the entrance.

Earlier her mother would come in but after some time even the landlady stopped coming, especially after hearing unsettling tales from her previous tenants. Once the landlady, whom he knew was Garima, had got a priest to perform an exorcism. This was when the two college boys were residing in the flat, much before the couple came.

Arnav had rolled his eyes as the priest sprinkled water in every corner of the house and muttered some incantation. The next day, the boys had complained again. Garima decided to get another priest. This kept happening a few times over a period of weeks, even after the boys had given up and left.

Arnav didn't like the intrusion of the random priest who'd sprinkle water all over his space, sometimes light a fire even; hence he was careful with his actions. - too much of shenanigans and who knew maybe one day someone would actually get rid of him. Not that he didn't want to get out of this prison; he was just worried what the next place would be like – what if it was worse than this?

He kept his activities pertaining to scaring away the tenants limited – just a little dose everyday so that they'd depart and not so much that Garima would call upon specialists.

Khushi went in the washroom to freshen up and Arnav noticed that Payal was uneasy. She kept looking here and there. This girl was so easy to scare – Arnav thought - Only if Khushi was like that. It struck him that it was the first time he had used her name. He did find out moments ago when Payal was talking to her.

He could hear the faint voice of Khushi singing in the bathroom. It looked like she had gotten over the glass-breaking episode of last night. For some reason, it made him feel better.

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The girls cooked and ate well into the evening. With each passing minute Payal seemed to relax more.

Arnav waited patiently for dusk. The darkness outside helped set the mood for a good scaring. He was happy that Payal was with Khushi. Fear was contagious. On her own Khushi didn't seem to notice the unusual activity around her. With a jittery Payal, he had a much better chance.