8. Who is the killer?

 FINAL EPISODE

‘Are you sure about this? We have solid evidence against Chandan. He is diverting the case, man.’ The inspector said. You didn’t reply to him. ‘Man, I am shouting like an idiot and you are silent. What’s on your mind? It is my case, and Chandan is the killer now just drive back to the station.’ he shouted. You remained silent.

Then you both reached the villa. It was three in the early morning. The entire place remained dark and silent. This time you had no fear to enter the villa. Instead, the inspector refused. You stepped out of the car and stood near the entrance of the villa and asked the inspector to get in with a smile.

‘I told you a local legend about this place, do you remember?’ You asked the inspector.

‘Yes, I do. Why are you asking that?’ he questioned you.

               When you touched the gate of the villa, he interrupted you. ‘Have you gone mad? Believing the words of a liar.’ He asked. You remained silent and opened the gate. Both of you entered the main hall. You looked at that broken chandelier and said, ‘This is where they found five dead people hanging according to the legend.’

               You both walked past the main hall. It was a big villa with more than three floors. Each floor was connected by a staircase. ‘The entire villa was built by a Mughal architect several years ago to present it as a gift to his beloved daughter. After her death, it was maintained by khans. They were the richest people of this locality.’ You said while walking through your way.

               You asked the inspector to have a look in the backyard. You sneaked away from the inspector and climbed through the stairs to the first floor. What you witnessed there was a setup for some ritual that was related to Blackmagic. You were shocked when you had a closer look. The setup consists of a skull of a goat in the centre. Surrounded by some inscriptions in Arabic. There were two bowls with a liquid. It had a scent of blood mixed with rotten meat and human hair. It seemed like women’s hair. There were two dolls punctured with needles on the head and the mouth of one doll and the area between the legs on the other. Those dolls resembled Rithi and Smrithi because Rithi was brutally attacked on her face and Smrithi was raped before death. There was another cup with blood. But there were no tissues or anything inside that cup and a doll was near that cup without being punctured by needles. It seems like the killer has to kill another person to complete his ritual.

               You suddenly realised someone standing behind you. The shadow of that figure resembled the man you saw in front of the villa. When you turned behind, you saw the inspector standing behind you and smiling strangely. He was holding an old rusty knife with bloodstains on his left hand. His face expressions turned demonic and stabbed on your hand heavily so that half of the knife pierced your hand. You pushed him down to the ground floor. Then you realised that you left your mobile in the interrogation room.

               The blood loss was heavy, you fainted halfway down the stairs and went unconscious. When you woke up, you saw that inspector in a strange outfit. He was half nude and you were surrounded by similar people. There you again saw that lady with her kids looking at you like a treasure. She suddenly stabbed your belly and collected the blood on the third cup, the inspector cut some tissue from your chest and plucked some hair and put inside that cup. All these rituals happened when you were alive.

               ‘Why are you doing this? Let me out, you bastards…. Let me out….’ You shouted at them. Two among them brought the bodies of Smrithi and Rithi. The lady examined their body. Suddenly she went crazy and stabbed the inspector in his mouth. ‘I told you not to kill them with fire. Our goddess will punish us for this. She called another person and asked him to patch those burned tissues in Rithi’s face. Another person brought Mr. Chandan’s body and said, ‘Mealtime!’

               Now, that Inspector came in front of you and said, ‘I am the killer and everything was preplanned. My primary target was you. I had to kill Smrithi and Rithi to bring you down here. According to our belief, the prey of our goddess should come to her place on its own. Smrithi and Rithi were like starters before a big feast. Oh! That Chandan? I told him not to speak out about this but, he didn’t so I had to kill him too. Welcome to ‘The Death Bed.’

               Then he covered your face with a black cloth. All you can hear was a group of ladies singing a ritual song and eventually, you felt the warmth of your blood splashing out from your neck.

 

Writer’s Note:

               This is my second series, the first was ‘Two Hearts’ a story of two young hearts. I inspired this series, ‘Who is the killer?’ from a weird dream I had. I wanted to give life to that dream. I have written this entire story in second-person perspective in which, the reader will be the protagonist. Hope you enjoyed it and thank you so much for your support. Only because of you I am here. If you want the second part of the series ‘Who is the killer?’ I am ready to entertain you with an entirely different crime thriller combo. Thank you all…