Ghost hunting-Book 1 (Part 3)

The air was chilled and an aura of eeriness prevailed inside the house. Patches of red were vaguely visible on the walls.

"Dry blood." thought Randalf grimly. He looked at the girl walking next to him from the corner of his eyes and noticed a sort of blank and slightly scared look on her face. Her fists were tightly clenched as if in an effort to gather courage and appear brave. His thoughts had been full of the beautiful and attractive girl, Elizabeth, who he had rescued a few moments ago. He tried clearing these thoughts out of his head again and again but without much success.

“I need to think clearly! Focus Randalf, focus!” he said to himself sternly.

Two minutes passed by.

“Didn’t you know this house was haunted?” whispered Randalf to Elizabeth. He had abandoned the attempt to clear his mind.

“Not really” whispered back Elizabeth. “You see, we are new here. We had heard some stories about a house which was inhabited by ghosts. But we did not know this was it!”

“Oh,” replied Randalf. He remained silent for a minute.

“You know, I lost my best friend in this very house 5 years ago,” he murmured.

“Really? How sad! I’m sorry!” said Elizabeth remorsefully. “Was he.....?”

“Yes.” replied Randalf heavily. “He was like a brother to me! We...” he said and broke off.

“I’m so sorry Randalf!” said Elizabeth softly.

“I can never forgive myself. It was entirely my fault! It was my idea to come to this cursed house. If only we had stayed away from it, he would still have been alive!” said Randalf sorrowfully.

“Come on Randalf. You can’t blame yourself for everything!” said Elizabeth. “What has happened has happened. You cannot do anything to bring him back. You have to let go of your past! Start a new life!”

“You are right, Elizabeth.” said Randalf. “I sorry I broke down like this. I have carried this burden with me ever since that day, and it just came pouring out suddenly!”

“That’s okay, Randalf.” replied Elizabeth. “I’m glad I could help ease your burden.”

“Thanks, Elizabeth!” said Randalf gratefully. “I won’t let Rasool’s death go in vain! I’ll have my revenge! This ghost has troubled so many people, destroyed so many lives! But now it’s payback time. I’ll make sure they pay for what they have done!” said Randalf fiercely.

He looked at Elizabeth and saw her staring at him.

“Are you ok?” he asked her.

“Yes, I’m fine.” replied Elizabeth. “You know what Randalf? You are the bravest person I have ever met!” she said smiling.

Randalf smiled back as they started walking again. He looked into his radar.

“We are nearly there!” said Randalf looking at the blinking red light. “Your sister must be in there.” he said pointing at a room.

“Oh! I hope she’s safe!” said Elizabeth worriedly.

They made their way towards the room cautiously, looking around for any sign of disturbance. Randalf opened the door softly and flashed his torch inside the dark room.

Elizabeth stuck her head inside the room and gave a squeal.

“Rosaline! There you are! Are you okay?” She ran inside and made her way to the corner of the room where a dishevelled, scared looking girl was huddled against the wall.

“Oh, Elizabeth! I’m so hungry! Help me!” said Rosaline sobbing.

Randalf stepped inside the room and looked at the girl. She seemed to be in her teens. She had a pretty face which was currently dirty and streaked with tears. Her hair was messed up and her clothes were stained with blood.

“Is she ok?” asked Randalf with concern.

Rosaline noticed Randalf for the first time and stared up at him.

“Randalf, this is Rosaline my younger sister.” said Elizabeth smiling at him.

“Rose dear, this is Randalf. He has come to rescue us!” she explained quickly.

“Oh...” muttered Rosaline. “I’m so glad you're here, sir!” she said to Randalf.

“I’m glad I could be of help.” said Randalf gravely. “Are you hurt? You have got blood stains on your clothes!”

“Yes she’s fine,” said Elizabeth. “There are no injuries as far as I can see.”

“Oh yes, I’m fine!” assured Rosaline. “This whole place is so bloody and dirty! I think it must have stuck while I ran to hide here. I was running blindly!“

“Oh... Ok.” said Randalf. "Anyways, we need to get out of here as quickly as possible!”

Randalf consulted his map to plan an escape. They made their way out of the room warily, carefully proceeded to the ground floor of the house and then towards the back exit. Randalf was focussing completely on getting the sisters out of the house safely.

He checked his radar again. The two red lights representing Elizabeth and Rosaline were still blinking. There was still no sign of a blue dot.

“Where could the ghost be?” Randalf wondered as they were passing by the bathroom on the first floor. The surprising lack of ghostly activities was getting on his nerves.

“The sooner we get out of here the better,” thought Randalf grimly.

“Excuse me! What’s that you have in your hand?” enquired Rosaline, pointing at the radar.

After Randalf explained how it works, Rosaline asked, “So it points out ghosts with a blinking blue light and humans with a red one?”

“That’s right,” confirmed Randalf. “Ghosts have a cold aura around them. This machine detects it and the blue light blinks. Humans, on the other hand, have warmth inside them. So it detects that and the red light starts blinking,” he explained.

“That’s wonderful!” exclaimed Rosaline. “You seem to know a lot about ghosts.”

“Well, I did do a little bit of research before coming here.” confessed Randalf.

He turned back and saw that Elizabeth had stopped in front of the bathroom.

“Hey! We have to leave quickly! You can wash up later when we’re out of here!” said Randalf urgently. His anxiety had reached its peak.

“I had heard a rumour about ghosts too,” said Rosaline.

“That’s good!” said Randalf irritably. “What was it?”

“That ghosts change the polarity of the area around them or something,” said Rosaline.

“What?” asked Randalf confused.

“Nothing much. It's just that the presence of ghosts make electronic instruments go haywire,” said Elizabeth sadly.

The atmosphere was unnaturally chilly. Now that he thought about it, the air had been colder ever since Rosaline had joined them. Randalf blew out air and saw vapour swirling out of his mouth. He looked up at the two girls and saw them smiling at him ironically. Their words sunk inside his head slowly: “the presence of ghosts make all electronic instruments go haywire.”

His mouth dropped open.

It was 9.00 p.m. and darkness had settled outside. A passerby was hurrying past a creepy-looking mansion when he suddenly heard a loud scream coming from the house, followed by an eerie silence. Only a thick dripping sound issued from the house thereafter.

To be continued......

                        In BOOK 2

Ghost hunting-Book 1 (Part 2)

Randalf jumped into the back yard of the mansion and proceeded to the door. The mansion was the most feared place in the locality. A lot of people had strayed inside this mysterious mansion and nothing had been heard of them thereafter. Most people believed that they had been gruesomely killed by the ghosts of the house. This was the reason why they preferred to stay away from it. But Randalf was here for a purpose. He was here to avenge his friend’s death.

“This is it.” muttered Randalf gravely. He walked determinedly to the battered door and pushed it open. The old rusted door creaked at the hinges and opened grudgingly. He took out an instrument from his backpack. It was an ordinary looking radar with a big box attached to it. But there was more to it than that which met the eye. He pushed a few buttons and the instrument whirled into action. Hidden panels opened up from the box and a dozen lights started blinking and beeping. Only then did a hint of a smile pass on Randalf’s face.  The instrument was working perfectly.

He dragged the machine inside and inspected his surroundings. The mansion was sparsely furnished. The whole place was covered with dust and cobwebs. The construction was that of a 16^th century mansion. Broken chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Dry smudges of blood were splattered here and here. A portrait hung crookedly from a wall. “Definitely not a place to be” thought Randalf grimly. It reminded him of the painful memories from the past and his head reeled for a second. He shook his head hard and took control of his thoughts. The air inside was chilled. Just as expected. Randalf had made an extensive research on ghosts. From all the crap and loads of useless information, he had managed to gather some substantial facts. One such fact was that the presence of ghosts always had an aura of coldness and numbness around them. Randalf knew about this fact from experience too. Again his mind got flooded with the past memories. He resolutely brushed them aside with some effort and carried on with his mission. His instrument was designed such that it distinguished the cold regions and the warm regions. The warm regions were marked with red lights (which would also signify the presence of life) while the cold regions were marked with blue lights. That was where the ghosts would be. He looked into the LCD screen of his radar and was surprised to see a red light blinking. Could there be someone alive inside? Two girls had strayed inside the house that week and nothing had been heard of them ever since. “Perhaps it could be one of them” thought Randalf and made his way towards the spot. He climbed the rickety stairs carefully and moved towards the third floor with his eyes glued to the screen attached to the radar for any suspicious activities. 

“Ow! Drat these stairs!” cursed Randalf as a stair creaked under his weight. He managed to reach the room without any further trouble and peeped inside. The room was dark. Randalf called out softly-“Hello! Is anyone there? I’m Randalf! I’ve come to rescue you! Do not be afraid!” there was no response. Randalf flashed his torch inside the room and saw a beautiful girl lying on the floor. She was in her mid twenties and her lovely face was dirty and streaked with tears. Randalf quickly made his way inside and secured the perimeter of the room. There was no sign of any suspicious activity. He took out the water bottle from his backpack and splashed some water on the girl’s face. The girl coughed and sat up slowly. She blinked her eyes and looked around.

“Don’t worry! I’m a friend. I’ve come to rescue you.” said Randalf reassuringly.

“Uh huh... Where am I?” asked the girl in a dazed voice.

“We’re at the haunted mansion” explained Randalf. I think you....” he said and trailed off.

“Oh yes! Now I remember! My sister and I were playing with our favourite ball. She threw it a bit hard by mistake and it landed inside this house through the window. So we came inside to get it back and...” she broke off and started crying.

“Hey! Please don’t cry! I’m here now. There’s no need to be afraid. I promise I’ll get you out of here safely. Trust me.” said Randalf. “Here drink some water. It’ll help.”

“No its ok.. I’ll be fine!” said the girl weakly. “Just help me to get up please. So what’s your name?”

“I’m Randalf.” he said.

“Oh.. I’m Elizabeth. Thanks for the help Randalf! I can’t tell you how grateful I am!”

“That’s ok” he replied. “I’m glad I could help.”

“Hey, what’s that?” asked Elizabeth noticing Randalf’s machine.

“It’s a radar” said Randalf and explained its purpose.

He looked into his radar screen and saw another red light blinking. “There’s another person here in the room at the far end of the floor.” he said.

“That must be my sister!” exclaimed Elizabeth. "Please help me rescue her too!” she pleaded.

Randalf could make out the urgency in her voice. He felt a strange attraction towards her. She was truly beautiful and brave. He saw an image of himself in her. He had lost his best friend too in this very house and he knew the pain of losing a loved one.

“Ok then.” he said. “I’ll help you to rescue your sister.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much” said Elizabeth gratefully.

Randalf modified his plans and quickly thought of a way to rescue Elizabeth’s sister. He checked his radar once more to confirm the red signal and proceeded to the room at the far end of that floor to rescue her sister.

(To be continued..........)

Ghost hunting- Book 1 (Part 1)

It was indeed a glorious day! Randalf had made a path breaking discovery and had finally managed to finish the machine on which he had been working tirelessly for years. He had worked day and night making modifications, checking accuracy and adjusting it according to his needs. It had become an obsession with him. And today, finally, all his toiling and hard work had paid off. The machine of his dreams was ready. It was an ordinary looking instrument but was actually quite sophisticated. It looked like any other radar would look like. But it had been modified and tweaked to perfection by its maker until it was perfectly ready to serve its ‘purpose’. The purpose in itself was quite an extraordinary one. It had received both criticism and applause in ample measures. People had branded him as a maniac, an insane person who had lost his marbles. They called him a crack minded weirdo who was wasting his time and immense talent on that fruitless purpose. But there were many others who were in awe of his objective. They considered him to be the bravest person there could be and secretly applauded his feat. His machine had been condemned as diabolical and dangerous by the clergy men. A strained atmosphere prevailed throughout the village.

His purpose was radical. He wanted to hunt ghosts.

Randalf had been an aspiring mechanical engineer. He did his M. Tech from the renowned University of Edinburgh and passed out with flying colours. But that one incident changed his whole life. He had gone to visit his Granma during the Easter break like he always did. He always looked forward to those visits as he loved his Granma and her wonderful cooking. His Granma was an aged lady and no one knew how old she really was. He had never seen her eating as such but she had once told him that she was too old to have an appetite. But she loved cooking for him and Randalf enjoyed the delicacies she made for him. He also looked forward to meeting his friend Rasool. They had been born on the same day and co-incidentally had a similar look. And as fate would have it, they shared similar tastes too. They were considered to be the bravest bunch of boys in the village. Their tales of pluck and daring were spread throughout the village. But when they became 18, they had to separate. Randalf chose to pursue his dream of becoming a mechanical engineer and joined University of Edinburgh. Rasool, on the other hand, decided to stay back and help his old father with the farming. They parted with each other with heavy hearts and smiles on their faces but promised to meet each other every Easter. They also stayed in touch through telephone and kept updating each other with the latest news.

On that fateful Easter when Randalf returned home for his holidays, he and Rasool hatched up a plan to visit a supposedly ‘haunted’ mansion. Without disclosing their plans to anyone, they made a rendezvous at the back gate of the ‘haunted house’. They scaled the wall, jumped into the back yard of the house and went inside through a battered old door. There is no solid account of what happened after that. All everyone knew was that Randalf came out screaming with a panic stricken face. All he managed to explain in an incoherent voice was that Rasool had been captured by the ghosts of the haunted house. Then he fainted. The people blinked for a minute and it was only then that the horrific news sunk into their minds. An immediate pandemonium issued among the people and it took a full hour for the village head to calm them down. A rescue party was quickly organised and the search for Rasool began. No one dared to go inside the mansion. So they scouted the perimeter but found nothing. The next day they found a few blood stains on the porch of the house.

 Randalf became mad with grief. He had lost his best friend. His brother. He swore to avenge his friend’s death. He set upon making a machine which would enable him to hunt down the perpetrators and take his revenge. He worked tirelessly for three years with little success. He lost track of night and day and continued working on his mission. Finally in the fourth year he managed to get a break through and achieved what he wanted. The machine was ready.

 He fixed the exact day on which that tragic incident had taken place 5yrs ago. Soon the fateful day arrived. Randalf walked to the same place from where his misfortunes had begun. He stood resolutely in front of the back gate of the mansion with a fiercely determined expression on his face and a slightly maniacal glint in his eye. He stared at the gates for two minutes and then started climbing the wall.

(To be continued..........)