A new place

THE NEW PLACE!

  Hannah entered the house with her mother & dropped the heavy bag on the floor all of a sudden, stretching her arm back she rubbed her hand on her neck. Her mother looked back at her having an idea she might be tired from the journey they just had. Moving from Sydney to Melbourne was a time taking journey indeed! Her mother started looking the rooms and walking through the house while Hannah prefered to sit on the cosy sofa for some time. She felt pretty exhausted after 11 hours of drive. Hannah and her mother was living in Sydney for quite some long time, her father died in an accident when she was a toddler. Her mother was a psychiatrist there in Sydney while Hannah was a law student! Since, her mother got a better job here in Melbourne she started thinking of moving there and Hannah also took admission in a law college in the same city in those days so they both took a house on rent here in the city. The place where the house was actually located was not in the central city but a few kilometers away from the hustle bustle with a few other houses nearby! No wonder why the rent was cheap than they expected it to be. Hannah called out "Ma! when will you be finished with the exploring of house? I'd like to change and jump into my bed." Marla, her mother who stood in a dark room trying to use the torch she was holding to have a better look at the slighty cracked wooden floor took a deep breath and answered loudly "sure honey! get fresh and I'll show you the room." Getting out of that dark room, she locked the door, tightly gripping the keys in her palm and unlocking the other room just a few steps ahead! "Perfect for Hannah" she happily whispered. This room was adjacent to the room she just checked earlier; it had a wooden floor as well but in a good condition, two windows, a comfortable looking bed, a number of racks & shelves too with a large mirror on the wall. Marla examined the room and went downstairs knowing exactly where she'd be sleeping downstairs.

  .....

  Hannah put on the slippers while wrapping the bathrobe around her, she stepped out of the bathroom, and there was a store beside. She held the knob rotated and entered and as she was in, she felt an air of cold around her. Big boxes were placed on the floor and she could see some stuff in it. She turned the light switch on and she started going through the stuff. She couldn't believe her eyes, there were fire matches, a few dolls with needles in it, some masks for Halloween, one or two books, she took one in her hand and she could see that the cover was tearing apart, it didn't smell less than some rotten egg. Hannah could feel the strange cold air even into her Goosebumps. She put the book down, went to put on the clothes then washed her hand thoroughly but the smell didn't fade away with ease.

  Her mother had the dinner ready so they both enjoyed the chicken she just baked. Exquisite much to their delight & appetite! "So you liked the house Ma?" Hannah questioned. "Umm yes I think it's a good place, a new place though but we'll adjust sooner than later." Marla answered. "Ma!" Hannah spoke while thinking of telling her mother about stuff placed in those boxes she saw earlier in the storeroom, she could feel the weirdness of those worn out suspicious looking things but also feel that her Ma was tired after cooking so she shook that thought away. "I loved the food. Thanks Ma!" Hannah spoke with a smile and Marla patted on her back. "If I weren't a psychiatrist, I'd be a chef. Loved Chef" They both exchanged looks and cracked up laughing. Soon Marla was in her bed and Hannah went upstairs to her room. Lights were soon turned off and both the ladies got lost in the dreamy world and the house: quite silent & dark!

  .....

  Light was all over in the house with the rising sun, a next day arrived. Hannah stretched herself & opened her eyes and could hear no sound from downstairs and suddenly realizing her Ma had her first day to work at some hospital here in the new city while Hannah still had a week or two before kicking off her law studies. She walked down the stairs and went straight into kitchen, made herself a cup of coffee with a toast and as she turned to sit on the sofa placed in the lounge, TV seemed to be on 'standby mode' , "What the hell...!" she silently said. She stood there stunned recalling that TV they bought in yesterday still had to be fixed then how come? She turned her back on TV, to put the dish into sink, moved forward to the TV again but she could not believe her beguiling eyes once again. Thinking if she was dreaming she stepped closer and TV was dead just as she saw it was yester night. Abstaining herself from thinking anymore such things, she decided to see the location around the house, meet the people residing nearby. Grabbing the keys, she put the jumper on, stepped into bathroom and tidily combed her hair, suddenly dropping the comb down, she bent to get it , stood straight again, looked in the mirror, a shadowy figure was standing behind her.. she could see no face but feel the blood thickening as if blocking the veins and about to explode, gasping badly she tried to get some oxygen turning around, she saw no one. She shut her eyes and opened them again, held her head in her hands, still unaware of what just had happened to her or what she just saw.. Taking the pony in her hand, she neatly combed her hair in a ponytail, rushed out of the house.

  .......

  Marla sat in her new office, she could certainly breathe the smell coming from the new papers and desk, rustling through some files, she thought about the call she received earlier.. "Hmm! a busy day it's going to be but interesting too" She knew exactly who she'd be meeting today. A new patient? With a history as if she had some arcane that Marla would have to make herself aware of! She shook her thoughts away as the phone rang, "Oh! she's here? Yes it's 8am. Yes, I know! Just send her in. Authorities of hospital? Okay just send that Doctor along with her, I'll meet them both anyway. Sure" she hung up and door creaked open, there she saw a man in his late forties, holding a lady tightly as they both stepped in, that lady ; she had those curly brown hair all over her face, two of her fingers were broken, Marla noticed carefully, that lady : her new patient could barely walk but the doctor was just pulling her on her bare feet. Her clothes much worn out & she could see the scars on her skin where that lady had patches on her clothes. They sat as Marla offered them to sit. "Hi Doc.Mathews! what's with the anomaly you described over phone? Shall we begin?" Marla spoke , still couldn't see face of her patient. "Yes! Certainly! here's our patient, name umm Rebecca Anthony, age 32, surgeon in past and" Mathews started talking but Marla cut him off "Sorry? Surgeon in past?" Mathews took a deep breath and then started explaining "Yes that's what I was once myself ambiguous of! She practiced medicine, became a surgeon and did a few cases but that was from where things took adverse turn" Marla eyed that lady, she could see some rage & vengeance in her eye through her hair on her face, "Please carry on Doc.Mathews"

  .......

  Hannah liked the surroundings as she started walking by but she couldn't get rid of her thoughts from earlier incidents, there she saw an old aged women sitting outside her house, knitting a sweater, so she moved forward to that lady and introduced herself. "Ah so young lady you just moved here? I see. You're alone?" old lady eyed her 'top to bottom.' "Umm! my Ma as well. There! that's our new house. We're your new neighbors" Hannah tried to explain with a smile but as she did she could see shifting of emotions in that old lady. "Dear young one! Aaah whatever your name is, excuse me, I've got to go, forgot almost the stuff i left in the kitchen." Old woman hurriedly moved towards the front door and went inside. Hannah shrugged! Weird things would happen in this place? Who had thought of it earlier? No one! Firstly that stuff in the store room, TV on standby mode, then shadowy figure appearing, last but not the least ; an old woman in the neighborhood avoiding her like anything. Sliding her hands in the pockets, she started thinking harder about the earlier occurring incidents and all she could think of was that there was something definitely wrong. Either with the place or the house itself. She moved towards her house briskly.

  .......

  "So, that's how it all started. Who knew she could use scissors to cut someone as
well? Someone who had no need of surgery! Can you believe it? She left not a single day when she could not do any harm to her family members. No doubt her hearty thanks would be to the money she collected in those days when she was a bit in her senses and did not seem to be an anathema! It doesn't end here you know?" Doc.Mathews spoke with an emphasis. "Some dreadful serious issue. What happened then?" Marla asked in confusion. "Her family knew that she wasn't worth the asylum or any such place. She was in her senses but just a few times when she tortured her young brother by any means, by showing him scissors or by giving him some slight bruises on his back, that was the time when they realized something was wrong. Even when everyone used to sleep at house, she used to move to his room silently at night to give him such pain. Her family told me when they got suspicious of her, I even visited her a few times but I couldn't make out the whole situation in my head." Doc.Mathews added. "Then what??" Marla questioned. "I don't mean to scare you or anything but she was the one who had that house on rent before you, in which you