Chapter 38 The Secret of the Cremation Ground
Two days had passed. The joy of Arushi's engagement still lingered in the house like a sweet echo but for Aarav and Kiyan that echo had now transformed into a constant ringing alarm. Arushi would talk to Aayush on the phone laughing innocently weaving dreams of the life to come. Every time the phone rang Kiyan's body would stiffen with a tension only he could feel.
We have to do something Kiyan whispered into Aarav's ear on the morning of the third day sitting behind him on the bike as they rode to college. We cannot just keep waiting.
We will Aarav said keeping his eyes focused on the road. After class today. I told you we will investigate.
The college campus had become a strange place for them now. Before it had just been about studies friends and ordinary worries. Now every corner every shadow felt like a potential threat. Karishma and Nayan were on alert too. Karishma's eyes had returned to normal but sometimes when she laughed too hard or got angry the tips of her fingers would flicker with an extremely faint golden glow for just a second. She would catch herself immediately and grab Nayan's hand. She was practicing. Mastering her power instead of becoming its victim.
All four of them sat together in the afternoon canteen. The air smelled of fried samosas and tea but the lightness was missing from their conversation.
So you really think that Aayush is not what he seems Nayan asked lowering his voice.
Kiyan thinks so Aarav said glancing at him. And I trust him.
Karishma turned her tea mug in slow circles. But what proof do we have. He seemed completely normal to me. A little shy a bit formal.
That is exactly the problem Kiyan said suddenly. His voice was so low that they all had to lean in to hear him. Completely normal. But fake normal. Like someone putting on an act. And last night I had a dream.
Everyone looked at him.
What dream Aarav asked.
Darkness. And inside that darkness laughter. The kind of laughter that sounds like crying. Kiyan took a sip of his tea as if trying to wet his throat. And this morning while we were coming to college I saw him.
Who Nayan asked.
Aayush. He was standing behind the library building. Alone. And he was staring directly at me. Like he knew I was watching him.
A silence fell over the table. Then Aarav spoke with a tone of finality. Enough. Today we follow him. We find out where he goes and what he does.
But carefully Karishma said. Her voice was laced with fear. If he really is something else.
We will be careful Aarav assured her. Kiyan and I will go. You two stay here. No one should get suspicious.
As soon as classes ended that evening Aarav and Kiyan began tracking Aayush. He did not head toward the hostel. Instead he walked toward the back gate of the campus the one that led into the old city. His stride was no longer polite and measured. It was fast. Certain. It had a strange rhythm to it as if he was walking toward a place where something was waiting for him.
They kept their distance following behind him. Aayush never once looked back as if he had no idea he was being followed. But there was a strange confidence in his carelessness.
He slipped into the narrow twisting alleys of the old city. The air here was heavy with the smell of ancient buildings open drains and kerosene stoves. The voices of people were muffled and distant. Aayush kept walking without hesitation as if he had memorized the route long ago.
And then the alleys ended. Ahead of them lay the cremation ground.
It sat at the very edge of the city along the banks of a dried up river. A few trees. Broken walls. And in the distance the flames of burning pyres. The air now carried the smell of wood smoke and something sweet and heavy. The smell of death.
Aayush stopped. He looked around with a vacant unseeing gaze. Then he walked toward a crumbling shed built near the burning pyres.
Aarav and Kiyan hid behind a broken wall. Their heartbeats were pounding in their ears.
Aayush stepped inside the shed. Minutes passed. Nothing happened.
Maybe he just wants to be alone Aarav whispered. Mourning someone.
Kiyan shook his head. His eyes were fixed on the shed. No. There is no mourning here. There is hunger.
Then the sound came.
At first it was muffled like someone choking. Then it grew louder. It was laughter.
But it was not the laughter of joy. It was a broken tuneless sound that spread through the air like thorns. It rose higher twisting into a scream then choked back down then erupted into laughter again. There was madness in it. A distortion that did not feel human.
Aarav's skin prickled with goosebumps. He grabbed Kiyan's hand. It was cold as ice.
They crept toward the shed and peered through a broken window.
The sight inside stopped their breath.
Aayush was sitting on the ground his back pressed against a pillar. Through the window the flames of a burning pyre cast a flickering orange glow across his face. And he was laughing.
His eyes were open but they were not seeing anything. They drifted in a strange unfocused emptiness. His mouth hung open and between bursts of that laughter he would mumble words.
Burn. Everything burns. Ashes. Everything to ashes. And then a new body. Fresh. Fresh death.
His voice carried two tones. One was Aayush's own voice. But the other was something deeper. Rasping. Ancient. It came from somewhere inside his throat as if someone else was speaking through him.
Kiyan's body shuddered. He tightened his grip on Aarav's hand and pulled him away from the window. They retreated quickly putting distance between themselves and that laughter which still echoed inside their ears.
When they reached a safe distance behind an old ruin Kiyan gasped Did you see. I told you. That is not him. Someone else is inside that body. Someone very old. And very evil.
Aarav's face had gone pale. What he had just witnessed was far beyond any mental illness. It was something supernatural. Something malevolent. What was he saying. A new body.
Kiyan buried his head in his hands. I do not know. But this feels worse than the Chhayagrasini (a witch like entity who drains age and life force). This is something else. Something that is still alive even after death. And now it has come back.
In the distance the laughter from the cremation ground stopped abruptly as if someone had flipped a switch. A silence fell. It was more terrifying than the laughter had been.
Aarav made a decision. We need to get out of here. Right now. We need to go back. And we need to tell Bhaskar Uncle. Everything.
They pulled back keeping their footsteps slow and silent. As they crossed out of the cremation ground Aarav turned to glance back one last time.
The entrance of the shed looked like a black mouth in the darkness. And inside that darkness he thought he saw two points of light flicker to life. Two cold red sparks. Staring directly into his eyes.
Then they vanished.
Aarav grabbed Kiyan's hand and started walking fast. There was only one desire left in them now. To get as far away from this place as possible. But they both knew that this threat would now follow them. That laughter. That darkness. And that voice that craved a new body. This was now their new reality.
And by the time night fell and they finally reached home only one question was echoing inside their minds. Who was inside Aayush's body. And what did he truly want.
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