Short Fiction : Aishee Karan

A Phantom Presence

The wind whirled softly, the leaves swayed furiously, and a girl of sixteen or seventeen strolled down the street under the overcast sky.

“Romsha! Should I help you with your luggage?” She heard a feminine voice from behind her.

“No Ruchi, I’m fine! Besides, it’s just my bag-pack and a side-bag.”

Romsha Agrahari was heading over to her uncle’s bungalow for a week-long break from school.

She spotted a cab driving towards her and recognised it as the one she had reserved.The ride probably took around an hour, but she couldn’t quite tell because she was so engrossed in the beautiful scenes outside.

As the cab dropped her down in front of a two-story bungalow, she wondered how she would spend her brief break while her uncle and aunty were away on business.  Though she got along well with her cousin sister Isha, who was eighteen years older, she was still concerned about simply the two of them staying at the bungalow, because none of them were “brave” if she was being completely honest.

“Romi!” she was greeted by a hug from her sister as the front door opened.

The day passed in a whirl of chatter and sumptuous cuisine, yet something inside her nagged her.  She sensed there was something weird about Isha or their surroundings.

She sighed and dismissed her thoughts, assuming it was because they were alone.

—————————————————————

She woke up in the middle of the night to some whispering sounds and her heartbeat peaked in a moment. Fear prevented her from lifting the cover from her face.

“Ishu di!” She called out, sweating profusely.

No reply.

She tried calling out for Isha once more, but there still was no reply.

She somehow managed to put herself to sleep again, partly out of fear and partly due to her exhaustion.

—————————————————————

Next morning at the breakfast table she finally opens up to Isha about last night’s events.

“Ishu di, yesterday I heard someone whispering in the middle of the night.”

“What are you talking about Romi? You must’ve been dreaming. It was probably just a vivid dream.” Isha laughed it off.

She sticks around Isha the whole day, but the fear of someone watching her every move, never leaves her alone.

“I promise I wasn’t dreaming,” she pouts while speaking with Isha before retiring for the night, her eyelids almost heavy with sleep.

“It’s okay Romi, sometimes dreams do feel real, besides I’m right here by your side.” She felt Isha’s hand on her head.

But wait, was that a smirk just now? She thought she saw Isha smirk right before Isha’s hand reached for her head.

It can’t be, right? Her drowsy eyes must be deceiving her, for that smirk appeared “evil”.

———————————————————————-

She was walking back from the washroom around 3 a.m., and that’s when she heard it again: the whispers.

She accelerated her pace and nearly sprang forward to reach the bed quicker. She slid under the blanket swiftly.

She felt something move, and peeked from under the blanket. It was Isha. She was sitting up straight, whispering, or more like talking to someone in a low voice, but there was no one else in the house except for the both of them.

Was she sleep-talking? Romsha wanted to be sure, but then she noticed something that made her heart skip a beat.

Isha’s eyes were wide open.

A rush of adrenaline overtook her.  She gulped as she noticed Isha mumbling and pointing fingers as if she were speaking to someone non-existent.

Isha carefully glanced towards her to see if she was awake; Romsha quickly closed her eyes.

She was certain now that Isha was not just babbling in her sleep.

She noticed something through her partially closed eyes. That smirk. Once again.

She didn’t sleep a wink, until it was 5 a.m. in the morning, and Isha finally stopped blabbering.

She tried all morning but couldn’t have the guts to bring up the matter.

She asked nonchalantly, “Ishu di, do you sleep-talk?”

She was met by a furious Isha, just as the question left her mouth. She regretted her words immediately, but her suspicions grew due to Isha’s extreme reaction.

She decided to make an excuse and leave for school, cutting her vacation short. She knew now that she had to get out of here somehow.

Isha apologized and asked her to stay but Romsha pretended that it was an urgent matter, and she had to leave.

About three hours later, she was ready to leave the bungalow.

As she walked down the gravel path in front of the bungalow, leading to its main gate, she finally summoned the courage to call her uncle and tell him a little bit about the issue, so he could help Isha with her mental health.

“Hello, Romi?”

“Hello, uncle, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah what is it?”

“Uncle, about Ishu didi-”

She was cut short by her uncle. “Yeah, about that Romi, I sincerely apologise that you couldn’t come over to our bungalow this time, please visit next time. I’m sorry Isha had to leave the house so abruptly and join us for an emergency situation, that too the day before you arrived.”

“Um- what?”

“You did receive Isha’s text, right? Although she did tell me that her mobile network wasn’t working properly here, it has been two days since she sent you the message, so you must’ve received it.”

She fell silent for a moment, but still her feet continued guiding her towards the front gate, where a cab was waiting for her.

“Romi? You there?” She heard her uncle’s voice from the other side of the phone.
“Yeah um- uncle wait, I’ll call you back later.” She ended the call.

She hastily got into the cab.

As she heard the car engine whir, she received a notification on her phone.

A text from Isha sent two days ago, apologizing for leaving the bungalow the day before her arrival due to an emergency, and asking her to visit next time.

Her eyes widened; she couldn’t believe her eyes.

As the car drove off, she turned to look at the bungalow, one last time.

Her heart raced when she saw Isha standing on the bungalow’s front porch, with that almost-evil smirk on her face, before vanishing into thin air.