Short Story: The House of None

Year 2002

For years, a man named David with his family lived in the house. Everyone knew them, personally. They were, what we say, good people, to be with. They hosted parties on weekends, went out on vacations, and were always happy. Hardly, people saw them in anguish. They also had a daughter. A little one, the one who always won hearts of people with her prettiness and innocence. She was an 8-year-old girl who was always seen playing with her dog, a mongrel. One Sunday night, he hosted a party for his neighbors. Next morning, local cops found 28 dead bodies from David’s house including his own family. All people present in the house consumed cyanide, which was obviously the cause of death. But, no poison was found in the food which people wolfed down, that night. After investigation of the case by the local police, the case was handed over to the crime cell of HP (Himachal Pradesh). They too couldn’t find anything significant which resulted in shutting off the case.   

Professor Roy read the summary of the case file and gave it back to his friend, Mr. Rohan Gupta. Rohan Gupta was a senior inspector in Shimla Police. At Roy’s request, the inspector had brought this case file summary.

“This is not a summary written by a Police Officer. The style is different.” Professor Roy said while he was pouring some green tea for Rohan.

“You’re right, sir. This is written by my 15-year-old son. The original file was in an unreadable condition. I told my son to rewrite it with whatever he found. This might be incomplete because some pages were entirely eaten by rats.” Rohan explained. This was not the first time Rohan had helped Professor Roy in garnering information about unsolved, mysterious, and closed cases.

“So nice of you, Mr. Rohan. Thank you for helping me get this information.”

“What are you going to do in this case? Hiring a person?”

“No! This time I’ll go myself to investigate this place. Make sure no one knows about it.”

“Don’t worry. I love my job too.” Rohan said and departed. But exiting the main door, he turned around and asked:

“Why do you keep on solving these mysteries?”

Professor smiled covertly and answered:

“I love to play with my mind. I like to go in depth of understandable cases. If I find the truth, I keep it to myself. If I don’t, I forget it. My brain has many mysterious that I have solved, much more are to come, and then one day, my brain will be a mystery itself.”

Confused by the words, Rohan left the place assuming Professor was insanely connected to criminal psychology. In other words, Professor deeply loved crimes, mysteries, and suspenseful elements.

Professor Roy, a tall man with a husky voice who had a personality to impress people in seconds had a very isolated existence. He was one of those people whom you’ll never forget but, wouldn’t be able to meet regularly. He worked as a helper in various NGOs which was the only job he had acquired ever since he was born. He never went to school but, he studied Science and Mathematics from his mother and father who left him alone when he was a 22-year-old adult. In a world of endless possibilities, stood a boy who had a nothing to lose, no goal to work on, and no desire to win. He chose nothing over everything. He spent to dedicate his life to those whom he can relate with!

He helped poor people, taught poor kids, and also joined an NGO which worked for old people. In the thick of surrendering and resisting, he discovered his love for the crime. He started reading crime and suspense novels, watching crime movies, studying about crime (criminology), etc. Soon he realized, crime was something – he craved to study but, in an unusual manner. Rather than reading books, he decided to take the non-theoretical way. He searched for unsolved news reports in newspapers and attempted to solve it. Initially, he failed terribly which left him doleful. Like everyone Roy too had to deal with failures, upsetness, and the idea of giving up but, he didn’t capitulate. He went on to track difficult cases; sometimes he solved them, sometimes faced problems and sometimes he left them for his own betterment.     

Once he got habitual with defeat, he stopped fearing to failures and solved some strange cases. He did not have friends to hang out with, no family, and no one to love. Marriage was never his cup of tea neither was he attracted to any women. Quite peculiar was his life. So was he.

“Make sure you don’t damage my car otherwise you’ll have to pay for it.” 

“Don’t worry, Sahib. Nothing will happen. Trust me and my driving skills.” Professor Roy said to the owner of the car. He had rented one for his long journey towards the northern part of Shimla, the capital of HP. The house in which David lived was near a valley, which was in between of Shimla and Kullu. It was not exactly in Kullu (a district in HP) but, on the way. The town was nameless but, people still lived there.

“I am just warning you. Don’t drive above 50 KMPH. It is an accident-prone area.” Owner of the car strictly instructed Professor Roy.

“Don’t worry, Sahib.” Professor Roy said and nodded his head twice in confirmation.

It was a long 8-hour journey by road. Professor had been on such journeys many times, and according to his prediction, he would reach David’s closed house by night. The house was rather deserted as there were rumors of ghostly activities such as – telekinesis. However, initially, the rumors were not believed by the people living around but, a strange fact was also that, no one purchased David’s empty house post-incident. A year after the incident, the houses which were nearby David’s house got acquired. In a little while, things got nastier and out of the hands of people residing there. The limitless disturbance was caused by the house. People experienced uncanny things such as banging of door during night time, some heard people talking, during daylight it’s door got opened and at night it got closed on its own. The most famous rumor about the house was – it had a life of its own. No one lived there but, still, the house never got old. It remained unchanged.

Professor Roy believed it was all nonsense. He didn’t believe in evil powers, and he often said, “I too look like a demon”. Though that might be true, somewhat! Professor checked the signboard of the route on the corner of the road. The bridge ahead was very narrow and at a time only one car was able to pass through. Professor Roy’s estimation could prove wrong because of this particular bridge. Now, he would reach near David’s house by midnight.

That night, there were 29 people in the party. 28 died. One survived. I need to find that one man! Thought the Professor. 

It was 1.30 a.m. by the time Professor Roy reached the small town. He parked the car on the rear side of someone’s bungalow. He had one of his friends living here. He had already informed him of his arrival. Professor stood in front of an unknown house and scanned the entire surrounding. Unsurprisingly, it was a very quiet place. There were few shops nearby which were closed. His friend had told him to wait near the bus stop by 8.30 but, he was too late.

“Roy, my friend”, A loud and clear voice came from the back of Professor. He turned back and saw his friend standing right behind him.

“Hello, Niraj. Glad you came here otherwise it would have been difficult for me to locate your house.” 

“Yeah! Here the houses are quite identical. Let me help you with your rucksack.” Niraj insisted to help.

“No, everything is tickety-boo. I wish to see the house right away.”

“I don’t think this is the suitable time to go around that house. Perhaps, we should go there tomorrow. There is a…” Niraj was telling something but, Professor interrupted him, and said:

“Unsuitable businesses take place at this time. We’ve to keep a watch on that house”

“But what if something happens to us?”

“What can happen to us, Niraj?” Asked Professor Roy.

“Anything. Most probably something bad.”

“Let’s find out”, Professor said.

TIME: 2.30 AM

There was darkness around David’s house. No street lights were on. The lane was wholly empty, people living in the same lane were sleeping with fear in their mind. Standing in a silent street, in front of the so-called haunted house, Professor Roy felt no different. The darkness around the house hardly had any impact on him.

“Is there any other entrance to this house?” Professor inquired and looked towards Niraj expecting his answer.

 “No… But there might be one on the backside. Not so sure.”

 “Wait here. I’ll be back.”

 “Be careful,” Niraj said.

 From one of the sides, Professor Roy walked towards the back side with a torchlight in his hand. The torchlight was not in its prime condition. The light was extremely dim. Professor reached the rear side of the house, which was filled with discarded things. Professor noticed most of the items were old. Mostly from the house, thought the Professor.

Due to lack of brightness, Professor found it harder to view other small articles so, he decided to return back. As he turned around, he saw something written on a wall towards his right side. He flashed the light on the wall to get a clear view and read in his mind:

She and him

It was written in a very dirty handwriting. It might have been written by a small kid. Professor ignored it and departed. A few minutes later, someone else also came there. But, shockingly, couldn’t see what Professor Roy saw. The backside had nothing. No scarp was there. Only Professor could see it. Only him. But why so?

NEXT DAY

Professor Roy woke up with a jerk. He didn’t sleep well last night. He came back to his friend’s house by 3 a.m. Without having his tummy fully filled, he was unable to sleep until 4. Now, he woke up @ 8 but still, wasn’t feeling better. He already was sneezing due to cold but, he felt no weakness. He had a simple breakfast of Aloo Paratha and marched out of the house in a hope to discover the truth behind the mass-murder. His plan for today was not very complex, he was going to ask questions to people staying nearby that house.

Professor Roy’s first destination was the house opposite to David’s house. He assumed the people closest to the house might be able to answer his questions more accurately. Before knocking the front door, Professor gandered at David’s house. He observed something which left him puzzled. The door of the house was open.

 Yesterday night, it was closed.

Professor waited for a few more seconds and knocked the door. A woman (presumably a housewife) opened the door. “Yes, how may I help you?” she asked him. 

“I am from the Police department. I need to seek some answers regarding David’s case.” Professor lied. He was not from the Police department.

“Why are you asking me?” The lady questioned.

“Because you stay quite near to his house. There are rumors of paranormal activities inside that house. I want to know everything you’ve experienced until now.”

“Come inside.” She invited him in and pointed towards a wooden chair. He sat down observing her house and asked:

“Do you stay alone here?”

“Half of the year my husband stays away from home. He works as a cook in the Indian Army.” She said and looked at Professor Roy with pride. She offered a glass of water to Professor Roy. He refused her offer and told her to settle down.

 “What’s your husband’s name?”

 “Prabjot Singh,” She said.

 “Oh! You’re Punjabi. One of the reasons behind your beauty.” Professor complimented and her reaction was no different than any other woman on this planet. She blushed a little.

 “You’re Mrs?” Professor asked her name.

 “Pooja Singh”

 “Mrs. Singh, this 1992 case has been reopened and I am pointed to investigate this case, again. I did not receive any detailed file related to this case but, one of our seniors revealed that – there was a very unusual incident here. 28 people were found dead in David’s house. Am I right?” 

 “You’re absolutely right, sir! That’s what I have heard. All the people living here were found dead in that one house. They were all poisoned. Something of that kind happened. Perhaps, the house was cursed by someone.” She said.

 “Is the house cursed? By whom? Why do you say so?” Professor fired some questions at her.

 “The house has evil existence. I have heard people shouting out during night time. The door of the house closes automatically. I once, fearlessly, tried to enter the house and what I saw was something you would never believe. The house is closed for 10 years but, it is very clean from inside, unlike its outside appearance. Cursed was the wrong word I guess. It never harms anyone. It just disturbs you.” Mrs. Singh said and made a horrible expression.

 “Thank you, Mrs. Pooja Singh, for providing me some information.” He said and got up to leave.

 “Do you know why this house never harms anyone?” Mrs. Singh said. Professor turned around and saw there was altogether a different look on Pooja’s face. He shook his head.

 “The house is disturbed.”

 “For what reasons?”

 “I don’t know,” She said and slammed the door on his face. Professor called Niraj from a telephone booth and gave him a very simple task yet, it was very important. He also made one more call. He talked for a minute and disconnected it.

 If I am correct about this one, then probably the case is solved, thought the professor.

 Do you think it is the right solution? Professor questioned himself.

  I don’t know but, it makes sense.   

Professor Roy knocked the door twice but, there was no response for one entire minute. It was the house next to David’s house. He again knocked. After waiting for another minute, he thought no one lived there but, before he could go away someone opened the door. He saw an elderly man peeping from the door.

“Namaskar, uncle”, Professor Roy said loudly. He worked with old people all time and he was aware of the fact that, with age, listening ability declines.

 “HA! Namaste. What do you want?” the old man asked.

 “I want to talk to you about 1992 case.”

  “Come inside and talk.”

Once they were inside, Professor Roy again gave his false introduction and asked: “What do you think about this house? Do you believe in rumors?”

“This house is devilish. During night time, we hear weird noises. Sometimes someone sings, someone makes bleating sound to tease us, someone runs, shouts, etc. My wife is bedridden. One night, I went to take a glass of water for her. When I returned, she told me, she saw a man climbing the house through this window. She got so frightened that she didn’t sleep for next few days.” The old man coughed after completing his statement.

 “Do you stay only with your wife?”

  “No! My son and daughter-in-law go out to work. They’ll return by night.” He said.

  “Did anyone cause any harm to you, ever?” Professor asked.

 The old man got up, silently and went towards the door without answering Professor Roy. He opened the door and said: “I have to give medicines to my wife. You may leave now.”

Professor felt insulted but, couldn’t argue with an old man. While Professor was moving out, he tried asking one more question: “Did everyone died that night?”

“Yes! Everyone died.” The old man said and closed the door behind Professor’s back.

  Why did he behave rudely with me? Professor thought.

EVENING: AFTER 6 PM

It was time to enter David’s house. The house which had a life of its own, which never got old, and the one who never harmed anyone. The door of the house was open. He just had to enter the house but, there was a problem. The door of the house got closed on its own at night. Professor was in a great dilemma. He could go back to Shimla peacefully but, he also had another choice, he could enter the house at his own risk. The decision was to be made by the Professor. He stood outside the house and closed his eyes.

What are you thinking, Roy? – A question popped into his mind.

I am thinking whether I should go inside that house or not? If the door gets closed, I am trapped. – He answered. Why do you think the door will get closed? – Another question came to his mind.

People here say so – He said.

That’s your only mistake. – His heart said.

In a world of endless possibilities, stood a man who had nothing to lose, no goal to work on, and no desire to win. Professor Roy had faced this situation back then when he was a 22-year-old boy. The only difference between then and now was – what people said. Back then, he didn’t listen to people and followed his own heart. Now, he had a bunch of scary stories about the house he stood in front of. He had to make a choice.

He kept his hand on his heart and thought for a minute. An image of 28 dead people appeared in front of him. That is when he realized, he had no other option but to enter David’s house.

The House of None. 

Without wasting another minute, Professor Roy stepped inside the house. He switched on the torchlight to see the interiors of the house. As heard, the house was neat and tidy. It felt as if someone cleaned the house regularly and stayed there. The house still had furniture which was covered by white sheets. Professor Roy walked through the corridor and entered the kitchen. It was also clean. He tried switching on the tube light but, there was no electricity. He searched every nook and cranny but, didn’t find anything worth. He thought the rumors about the house were untrue, and people here were definitely imagining things.

  Someone comes here every day and cleans this house. Professor assumed.

 He turned around and looked towards the door thinking of getting out of this house because his visit was nothing but just waste of time. He was walking towards the door when in front of his eyes, the door got closed on its own. After watching this, Professor Roy did not move an inch. It took him few seconds to perceive what had just happened.  This was his biggest fear before entering the house. And his fears often came true. Quietly, he moved towards the direction of the door. He tried opening the door, forcefully but, he failed. He was trapped. He shouldn’t have entered the house after listening to those stories. Inside his head, he was constantly blaming himself.

 He stood there for some more minutes thinking of getting out of David’s house. Within a minute, he saw windows of the house closing automatically as if they were preprogrammed. He ran towards a window and punched it with thrust but it was of no use. He ended up hurting himself. He looked outside from the glass of the window. He got a blurry view of the wall. He rubbed the glass of the window and again tried to see outside. Again, he was unable to see clearly. Tired of trying again, Professor turned around to check if there was a door on the backside. What he saw next, left him astonished. The furniture which was kept in the drawing room had disappeared. Professor Roy found it hard to digest this fact but, it was true. Then he remembered what he saw at 2 a.m. that night. The used furniture was kept on the backside. He entered the kitchen in a hurry and saw from the window. Whatever he had seen that night, had already disappeared. All he could do now was – laugh.  He laughed out loud, running his fingers through his hair. He knew he had no other option but, to face the reality. And the reality was: he was dealing with spirits this time. Not human beings.

 In a hope to find a way, he walked around the house peacefully observing the walls. He entered one of the bedrooms and saw there was something drawn on the wall. It was a drawing of an elephant. This used to be their daughter’s room, he thought. He sat on the floor predicting what might happen next. This house had a habit of throwing unexpected situations on people. Professor Roy never used to believe in ghosts but, now, he has to believe in them. He had seen everything with his own eyes. He closed his eyes to reduce the fear which was deeply unnerving him. That is when he heard a noise. It was coming from the same bedroom. He opened his eyes slowly to see what was happening. He saw a newspaper lying next to him. It was one single paper which had news reports on both the sides. Professor Roy flashed the light on it and read the headline in his mind:

5 more people found dead in the house, where 1992 mass-murder happened!

Professor Roy went on to read the whole news report and turned the paper to read the other side. The news report on the other side not only shocked him but also gave him the answer to this case. He heard a big banging sound in the house. He got out of the bedroom and again saw something unexpected: The door got open on its own.

 “So, this is the mystery of this house.” He smiled as he stepped out of the house.

NEXT DAY: NIRAJ’S HOUSE

It was Sunday. Everyone had holiday and ones who worked during Sunday were forced to take a day’s leave.  Professor Roy had called an urgent meeting to disclose the secret of David’s house, which was popularly known as The House of None. Everyone assembled (and adjusted) in the drawing room of Niraj’s house. Everyone came excluding small kids because no one wanted their children to get afraid. Though, they were already aware of the mysterious house near to them.

 “Well, everyone knows why I have called you all here. But then also I will repeat everything once again. The last house of the lane next to this lane is rumored to be haunted. 10 years back, David lived there with his family. One day, 28 died bodies are found in David’s house. A night before he had called everyone in his house for a party and in this party, something very, very mysterious happens and all the people are dead. During Police investigation, no poison was found in the food which was served in the party. Everyone died that day. This whole small town died that day except one.” Professor explained.

 “Who?” Someone asked.

 “Why so much hurry? I’ll explain you everything. So, where was I?  Yeah, the whole town died that day except one person. I will tell the name of the person very soon. But before that, you need to hear something else too. Last night, I entered the house and I got trapped inside it. I experienced some strange things while I was inside that house. Well, this means – the house was haunted. It was. Now, it’s not haunted anymore. It’s like any other house and anyone can stay there. Leaving that aside, I will tell you that one of the spirits in the house helped me to solve the case. Niraj, will you please tell me how many houses are there in this whole town?”

“40 houses!”

“Right! Well, when this incident happened there were 3 lanes which had 20 houses. And now, there are 40 houses well-constructed by AP builders. He is the one who instructed someone to kill everyone that night because everyone opposed his decision of deforestation. In 1992, this place was a major tourist attraction due to nature and that is when the owner of AP builders decided to make this a settlement area. But, people here loved the natural environment and straight away refused his offer. Then he planned to clear his path by killing everyone. The entire town.”

  “Last night, when I was inside that house, a newspaper came to me by its own. The first page of the newspaper said that 5 more people were found dead in David’s house a year after the mass-murder incident. Well, at that time, no one lived here. This was the area under construction and people who died in David’s house were construction workers who were trying to demolish David’s house. They were killed in the same way. But this time, poison was found in the food. I don’t know who poisoned it. It might be done by the spirits in that house because they didn’t want the house to be destroyed. This news received less coverage that is why people are not aware of it.”

“Now, the only question remains – who helped the owner of AP builder? Unfortunately, the person who helped AP builders was none other than David’s wife. I am not saying it because I want to prove my intelligence by solving this case. I have a very logical explanation for this. First of all, when people ate the food there was poison in it already. Second thing is, she knew when the next party was or she might have invited people to her home for dinner. She must have made the food again and cleared the poisoned food. Well, anyone would doubt my explanation by questioning – how can a woman kill her own husband and daughter? Well, I have an explanation for this too. So, this newspaper had something written on the other side too. And this what the headlines read –  

Wife of a reputable builder poisoned herself and her husband in front of many people. 

“The woman in this image is David’s wife, Amy" Professor revealed.  

“How can you be so sure about it? She can be someone else.” Someone from the crowd said. 

“I must have thought the same but, police records have some photos of David and his family which they took into their custody after the incident. After visiting you Pooja, I called my friend, Mr. Rohan and asked him to help me with the photos. I wanted to take a look at them. Luckily, he got a family photo of David. This is the one. Amy married the owner of AP builder, afterward. There was an affair between them I think so or maybe she did this heartless crime for money. So, does anyone have any doubts?”

No one responded. Everyone stayed silent. But, Professor Roy still had something to say.

“But, still, that day 28 people died and I have this list of names of those people. Police found 28 dead bodies in the house and this list includes David’s wife’s name. Then how can there be 28 dead bodies? Because one person from this list did not die. Then why police wrote 28 dead bodies?” Professor stood there expecting an answer from someone. He did not get any.

“David’s family had a dog, a mongrel. Including him, there were 28 dead bodies because in the entire town 28 people and one animal lived. By mistake, police wrote her name even though she wasn’t dead or AP builder brided them to do so (I don’t know) but, they didn’t write the dead dog’s name. This is the entire mystery. Thank you, you all may leave now. Don’t be afraid, now. The house won’t disturb anyone from now.” Professor Roy said, sadly.

Professor Roy had lunch and stepped out of Niraj’s house. They both reached car in which Professor came.

“Thank you, Roy. This means a lot. But, are you sure that house is no more haunted?”  Niraj asked.

“I am very sure, Niraj. And I want to share something with you. I never believed in evil spirits until yesterday night. Perhaps, I always thought that there’s nothing that a human being can't do. I thought human beings are almost capable of everything. But yesterday’s night proved two major things that I would never forget: One – that spirits exist. Two – Not all spirits are evil. Some are just wandering around like unsolved mysteries wanting to be solved.”

“Take care, Professor. Drive safely.”

“You need to trust my skills at least for now! Will you?”

He smiled and drove away.