Weird, isn't it?

Part two

6 years ago

" What's so special about this haveli anyways? " Latika asked her boss, Yami Gupta, who seemed a little too excited.

"This haveli is so special itself. I can't wait to make a cover story about it, people are going to love it", she cooed, which irritated Latika even more. Since last fifteen minutes her boss had been gushing about some old mansion situated in some remote village. Yami wanted to make a cover story about the haveli, though idea didn't seem very appealing to Latika.

" Do you know what is so special about the place?", her boss asked her. She sighed before replaying, " That is exactly what I have been trying to ask you since so long." Yami seemed to ignore what Latika had said as she continued further, " From some very reliable sources of mine, I have come to know about a hundred and twelve year old mansion, Kesari Baug Haveli. It is present on the outskirts of Kherva village in Rajasthan. It is known that anyone who visits this place experiences something really wierd and unimaginable."

Latika's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, as her mind tried to sink in the words of her boss. As she nodded in understanding, Yami started again, " Now listen very carefully, I want you to go to this place, visit the haveli, note everything that you observe, take pictures, collect any information that you can and come back with a finished article as soon as possible."

As the newly acquired information finally settled in, Latika quizzed, " So I have to actually go there?", as Yami nodded, she continued, " So when do I have go?"

Hearing this, a grin stretched on Yami's face and she replied enthusiastically, " You don't have any problem in going, right? I knew could trust you on this." Latika smiled as she mentally prepared herself for a new adventure, " Of course I will go, I am really very excited." Smiling in satisfaction, Yami replied, " Ok then, you have to go on monday, that is day after tomorrow..."

For the next hour, her boss explained her how she had to take a train from Mumbai in the morning to reach kherva by six in the afternoon. As the village was extremely small, there was little to no means of transportation from the railway station to the village. There was only a horse cart which offered ride to and fro, the last ride being the one at six thirty. So that was the only option she had, for making it to village safely, otherwise she would be sleeping on the railway station for the entire night.

Throwing a pair or two of jeans and two or three tee shirts in her nike backpack, Latika started collecting other items that she thought she would need. Camera, charger, First aid kit, toothbrush, comb, notepad, pen, etc had been already packed along with a bunch of snacks, who knew, if there even was a restaurant or something in the village, because she definitely didn't think so and considered it wise to be already prepared of it. After being convinced that she had nearly packed everything, she switched off the lights and went on to get a peaceful sleep before adventurous trip tomorrow.

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Latika grunted in frustration, the train was already an hour and half late. Firstly, she had to travel by train, as if it was not already enough to get her mad, now it was not even showing up and the waiting was getting on her nerves. Just then, she heard the whistle and grunting of the engine, indicating the arrival of the train. "Finally", she mumbled before getting her backpack and climbing on the train.

As the train came to a stop with a slight thud, Latika was woken up from sleep. Hearing the voice of the TC as he said something she could not clearly make out, she glanced out of the window, and saw that they had arrived to a station which looked quite abandoned, dirty and dark. She noticed a board hanging by a pillar with the name 'kherva station' written on it. Realising that she has finally arrived at her destination Latika hurriedly grabbed her belongings and made a rush out of the train. Just as she set a foot on the platform, the train started moving and she heaved a sigh of relief.

Glancing around she found that there was no other person in sight apart from her own. Confused she took a look at her watch and gasped when she saw that it was already nine. Holy shit, how could the train be three hours late?!! Not only had she managed to miss the horse cart ride to the village but was also stuck in this fucking station for the whole night all by herself.

Extremely tired, infuriated and worried, she started looking for something that could help her. As her gaze landed on a small, office like room, she started advancing towards it with a hope of getting some help. It was the station master's office and as a slight ray of light was coming from inside, she could tell that there was definitely someone inside.

Knocking on the door, peeking inside, she saw a young man, probably in his mid twenties sitting by a desk immersed in a file. Upon hearing the sound, he looked up. He looked startled upon seeing Latika, probably because there were not many people who visited this small village, even lesser at this time.

Latika straight away started, "My train got three hours late, I missed the sole source of transportation that could take me to the village and now I am stuck here. Is there any other way of getting to the village at this time, is there a hotel anywhere nearby?", she asked with a worried expression. He looked amused for a moment at her urgency, but taking in her tired features, he replied, "Um...actually I don't think there is any way you can get to that village now unless you are prepared to start walking right now, you will get there by one in the morning & talking about hotels, I don't think there's one even in the village." She glared at him, "Can you please suggest something that can help me, what should I do now?!" "You can sleep here in my office, I am going to my staff quarters and it's not like people actually come here anyways", the man replied with a shrug.

Latika almost groaned in frustration, "Please, I am already in a really shitty mood, I don't need this right now. You are supposed to be the station master so help me out", she said pleadingly. The poor guy racked his brains trying to think of something to help the damsel in distress. Meanwhile, Latika looked around the office, "Akash Verma...?", she mumbled looking at the nameplate on the desk. The station master looked up at the mention of his name and nodded. "Look, I need to go home now but since I can't let you stay here alone, we need to look for a place that you can stay for the night."

Latika looked thoughtful for a moment, and then turned to him with a pleading look, "Can't you let me stay at your quarter tonight? I could just sleep anywhere and I promise I won't cause any trouble for you", she asked desperately.

Akash was against the idea of an unknown woman spending night at his place , "I don't even know your name", he said. "What if you are some serial killer?", he asked to which she turned to him with a furious expression, "Do I look like one to you, and I am the woman btw so I should be the one having these doubts." Lastly Akash sighed giving in and turned to her with a solemn look, "Fine, tell me your name at least." Latika beamed at him, "Latika Singhal, journalist, India times".

After having a fairly decent meal after the long tiring day, Latika told Akash about her assignment, the haveli and the supposedly weird encounters that she heard of. "I too have heard about that. The villagers talk about things like this often, but I never actually got a chance to visit it myself. If you want, I can accompany you there, I have got a motorcycle we can take to the village and also I can get to actually see the Kesari Baug Haveli myself ." Latika liked the idea as well and the two of them decided to go to the village early in the morning.

Latika got into a peaceful slumber, unaware of what the next day had in store for her and the events that were going to unfold.

I am not very happy with this chapter, but I hope that it's fairly decent. If you like the story, please share, vote or comment, it would really mean very much to me.

Aaliyah