Shadows In The Dark and Other Stories
Manoj Nair
Shadows in the Dark and other Stories
Copyright 2015 Manoj Nair
Table of Contents
Shadows in the Dark
A Night in a Haunted House
The Dark Staircase
The Mystery of the Disappearing Milk Bottles
About the Author
Shadows in the Dark
The ringing of my cell phone woke me up. I kept my eyes closed and fumbled for the phone in my jacket pockets. It was not there. Then I turned over to check my trouser pockets and fell down on the carpeted floor. The thickness of the carpet prevented any serious injury. By the time I managed to get up, people all around me were laughing.
“There is a lesson in that. Don’t fall asleep while taking calls!” It was Gaurav the Incoming-Call team-leader.
“There were no calls coming in,” I mumbled.
“Calls are few during the holiday season. That does not mean you fall asleep. Utilize your free time to read up on your manuals,” said Shekar one of my team members, and always looking for an excuse to suck up to Gaurav.
“You ok, man?” Marvin was my friend and the only person who sounded concerned.
“Yes, I am all right. I just slipped and fell,” I said. The phone, which was on my desk, was still ringing. I picked it up. The display was showing an unknown number.
“Hello?”
“ Mr. Hari Iyer?” the voice on the other side sounded familiar.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Hello Sir! Kishore Bhai here Sir. Real estate broker.”
“Yes, yes..Kishore Bhai..tell me.” I spoke in Hindi. Kishore Bhai as always replied in his version of English. Kishore Shah was a Guajarati and by default, all of them got the prefix ‘bhai’ or brother.
“I have been ringing for some time, but you not picking up, Sir”
“Ah yes, I was ….working. Did not hear the cell ringing,” I lied. I could hear Marvin laugh at his desk.
“Ok sir ok.. no problem. I found right house for you. From you office it is just six kilometers distance. Just a five-minute walk to the bus stop from flat. Five thousand rupees per month, Sir! No advance or down payment required. Available for immediate occupancy.”
“That’s good! How did you manage that? A two bedroom flat for five thousand is a bit difficult to imagine. What is the catch?”
“No catch, Sir. The house owner is abroad - in the US. He is keen on giving it on rent. Not sure if this would be a problem, but it is on the top floor of a building and rest of the flats are all unoccupied.”
“No neighbors, that's even better! There will be no one to disturb me!”
“That is the spirit Sir! So, should I start the paperwork?”
“Ah, yes. However, there is one small problem; I can pay you your commission, only by the first week of next month. I have to wait for my salary.”
There was silence for a few moments then Kishore Bhai’s voice came back. He sounded a bit less enthusiastic, but still managed to say,” No problem, Sir. I will get the paperwork ready.”
Even before I had put the cell down, Marvin jumped up from his chair. His desk was opposite mine. Between the two desks, there was a partition, so when we needed to have a face-to-face talk, one of us had to stand.
“At least have a look at the house before agreeing to the terms, you clown!” he said.
“Who cares? I need a place to sleep. As it is in the night, we are here taking calls. Five thousand rupees, no down payment, available as of today, Isn’t that great?”
“There must be something wrong about the house. Mr. Iyer, no one gives a flat on rent for five thousand in a city-like Mumbai, that too a furnished one. That broker is hiding something from you.”
“Honestly, I don’t care. All I am going to do is, go there, and sleep”
I moved in over the weekend. The house was one in a group of four flats on the eighth floor of the only completed building in the complex. Construction work was in progress on the other buildings. Huge craters, mound of earth, half-constructed structures with metal rods sticking through them, were everywhere.
“How many buildings are going t come up here?” I asked Kishore Bhai. We were meeting in a hotel some distance away from the complex. He had brought along the documents which needed my signatures.
“ In all I believe, they are planning ten buildings in that complex. All flats would be of the same type as yours. Four flats on one floor. So that would make it..how many... four into eight is thirty-two and that into ten is...?”
“320, wow that is a large number of flats, all together in that one complex.” I said.
“Right Sir! Once these buildings come up, that area would be one of the prime locations in the city.”
Kishore bhai was reluctant to come with me to the house, so I went on my own. ‘Sunshine Builders’- a rusted sign-board announced in peeling paint. There was a road map drawn of the proposed complex on the board. ‘A’ Wing was the only one standing, so I had no difficulty finding it. The first thing I noticed when I reached the entrance was that the lift was not working. I had to climb up the eight floors to the top. By the time I had reached the flat, I was out of breadth.
‘For someone just twenty-four years old, I am in bad shape,’ I thought.
Kishore Bhai had given me the keys to the house, and I had no problem getting in. I noticed all the other doors on the floor had locks on them.
“ That is proof that I am the first and only occupant in the building,” I said to myself.
The flat was sparsely furnished. There were a couple of chairs and a table in the hall. I was happy to see a bed in the bedroom.
“ That is all I am going to need,” I said to myself and smiled.
The owner of the flat, a software professional was in the US. He started furnishing the house planning to have some of his relatives stay there. The relatives never moved in, and he decided to put up the flat on rent. The place was neat and very quiet.
“Why is the lift not working?” I asked as I entered the office set up by the builders for the complex. The two men sitting there had not noticed me coming in. I must have startled them for both jumped out of their chairs and stood there staring with their mouth open.
“ Lift, what lift?” one of them finally asked.
“ The lift in ‘A’ Wing,’ I said. “I have taken 803 on rent. The lift is not working, but the electricity and water connections are ok.”
“ You are going to stay in that building?” the man asked.
“ Yes, from today. Please can you get the lift started? Climbing up eight floors was not easy. Luckily, I didn’t have much luggage.”
“ Nobody stays in that building. So we kept it switched off.,” the other man who was slightly younger replied.
“Sab, why have you moved to this building?” the older man asked. He sounded concerned. I found that an odd question and was about to reply when my cell started ringing.
“ Switch on the lift,” I said as I came out of the office. It was Kishore Bhai calling.
“ Kishore Bhai; the lift is not working. I was just talking to the people in the office and asked them to switch it on.”
“ Did they tell you anything else?” Kishore Bhai asked.
“ Anything else…like what?”
“ Anything about the building or about your flat..anything?”
“ Is there anything that I need to know?”
“No, no, nothing. Just go ahead and make yourself at home. I thought you would be in office by now?”
“I was just leaving.”
“What are the office hours?”
“I work from 9 PM to 4 AM. I work in the support
center for an US-based bank. We work their hours, we also get US holidays.”
“So it would be holidays for you soon, right with Christmas approaching?”
“No. We will work in shifts. Half the staff works during the holidays taking calls!”
“Oh ok. So how is the house?”
“It is nice. Great view, clean and very quiet.”
“See didn’t I tell you ’you would like it’?”
Returning the next morning, I found the complex enveloped in complete darkness. Luckily, there were some streetlights burning at a distance, which helped me find my way home. I had to walk carefully to avoid the open pits. I always had breakfast in office, so all I had to do at home was sleep during the day.
The lift was working, which was great news. I could not imagine climbing eight floors at four in the morning. My feet were still hurting from the climb the previous day. Reaching my flat, I threw myself on the bed, and slept until five in the evening.
