The Old Revenge

The night was deep. Shatarupa, a new mother, was sleeping on her bed in the nursing home. Her husband, Rahul, was sleeping at her feet, and their little daughter, Ahalya, was sleeping in a cradle.

While everyone was immersed in deep sleep, Shatarupa woke up suddenly because of a sound. She quickly sat up in bed and began searching for the source of the sound. By then, the sound had stopped. Suddenly, she remembered Ahalya. The moment she looked towards the cradle, she was startled. The cradle was completely empty; Ahalya was not there. Shatarupa called Rahul, but he didn't wake up. Unable to wait any longer, Shatarupa started shouting loudly for the doctor, nurse, and Rahul. But strangely, no one could hear her. Everyone was sleeping as if in a sleep of a thousand years. Shatarupa broke down in tears.

Suddenly, the sound started again, and Shatarupa was startled. As she looked around the room carefully, she saw a shadowy figure standing in a corner. The shadow was doing something in that corner, although Shatarupa couldn't see clearly what it was doing. She stared at the shadow for a while. Then she realized that the shadowy figure was holding Ahalya in one hand and a knife in the other. Occasionally, the figure was scraping the knife against the wall, and that was the source of the sound.

Seeing this, Shatarupa tried to get up from the bed but couldn't. She started crying and screamed,

Who are you? What are you doing? What are you doing to my Ahalya? Please don't do this, please... please... please...

Rahul's nudge woke Shatarupa. She was drenched in sweat. Rahul asked,

What happened, Rupa? Why were you screaming in your sleep? Did you have a nightmare?

Shatarupa immediately looked at the cradle, and everything was fine. Ahalya was sleeping peacefully. She drank some water from the glass on the bedside table. Rahul refilled the glass and said,

Lie down, it will be morning soon. I'll lie down on the sofa for a while.

As they all went back to sleep, the clock on the wall of the adjacent balcony chimed four times.

Rahul and Shatarupa had been married for almost five years. Just two days ago, they had a beautiful baby girl. The doctor had not yet given Shatarupa permission to go home, so Rahul was staying with her in the nursing home cabin. They had decided from the beginning that if they had a girl, they would name her Ahalya, and if a boy, Indra. The doctor was supposed to discharge them that night, but due to other commitments, the discharge did not happen. However, the doctor had informed them over the phone that Shatarupa would be discharged early in the morning.

The night when Shatarupa went into labor, Rahul brought her to this nursing home near their house. When they informed the doctor who was treating Shatarupa, he had initially hesitated upon hearing the name of this nursing home. In reality, no one would get admitted here unless in dire need, avoiding the big hospitals in the city. This nursing home was a bit old, and the medical equipment was also a bit outdated. Previously, there were frequent reports of patient deaths in this nursing home. Since then, no one would get admitted here unless in extreme necessity.

Rahul and Shatarupa both had a negative attitude towards this nursing home. But fate had other plans, and Shatarupa had to get admitted here. Had they not been admitted, they wouldn't have known about the kind behavior of the doctors and staff here. Truly, their behavior and responsibility towards patients were commendable. There were only a handful of patients in the entire nursing home, but still, the staff were always ready to serve them. Hearing Shatarupa's scream, a nurse had rushed to check, but Rahul informed her that Shatarupa had screamed due to a bad dream, and there was nothing to worry about. Even then, the nurse repeatedly said to call them if needed before leaving.

As daylight started breaking, the nursing home began to get busy again. The doctor had given Shatarupa permission to go home today. Shatarupa and Rahul packed everything and headed home.

Once they reached home, they freshened up one by one. They had a household help before, but he did not know they would return from the nursing home today, so Rahul ordered lunch from outside. After freshening up, Rahul called their household help and found out that he had gone to his village and would return in a week.

At lunch, Rahul informed Shatarupa about their household help. Shatarupa became quite worried hearing this. Managing the entire house while taking care of little Ahalya was truly burdensome. Rahul reassured her,

Don't worry, we need to hire someone new. I'll go to Amit's house after lunch and see. He knows a lot of people in these matters.

After lunch, Rahul went to Amit's house to look for a new household help. Meanwhile, Shatarupa put the baby to sleep and went to sleep herself. Just as she was falling asleep, Rahul's phone rang. She answered the phone, and Rahul's voice came from the other end.

I found a woman, gave her our address, and she will arrive on time. Don't try to do anything alone.

Aren't you coming now? asked Shatarupa.

I got a call from the office, the boss is calling, I'll just stop by and come back soon, said Rahul, hanging up the phone.

It was eight in the evening. Neither Rahul nor the housemaid had arrived yet. Shatarupa called Rahul twice, but he didn't answer, probably because he was busy after being on leave for so long. So, Shatarupa decided not to bother him further.

Holding Ahalya in her arms, Shatarupa was sitting on the balcony chair, thinking about all this. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Shatarupa thought it might be Rahul, but then wondered why Rahul would knock instead of ringing the bell. Thinking this, she opened the door. It wasn't Rahul. A woman with her face covered by a veil was standing there. Shatarupa asked,

Who are you? Who do you want?

The woman replied,

Rahul sent me. He said there was work to be done in the house.

Without further conversation, Shatarupa let the woman in. She showed her the room where she would stay. However, Shatarupa had a feeling that she had seen a veiled woman like this somewhere before, but couldn't remember where.

At night, the two of them cooked dinner together. Rahul called once and said he would be late returning, as the boss would drop him home. He told them to eat and go to sleep.

As it got late, Shatarupa prepared to go to bed. Rahul coming home late wasn't new, so Shatarupa didn't think much of it. She didn't realize when she fell asleep with Ahalya in her arms. Suddenly, an odd sound woke Shatarupa. It seemed to be coming from inside the room. Looking towards the bed, she was terrified to see that Ahalya was missing. Where did she go? A bluish light filled the room. Shatarupa got up from the bed to investigate and froze in place. Her eyes were fixed on the corner of the bedroom. A shadowy figure was standing there, facing away from her and doing something unclear.

Shatarupa screamed,

Who? Who's there?

The shadowy figure turned around. Shatarupa recognized her instantly. It was the same woman who had come to work at their house. The woman was holding Ahalya in one hand and a knife in the other. As the veil fell away, Shatarupa saw the woman's eyes were blood-red, her hair disheveled, her face twisted in a sinister smile, and her body covered in blood.

Shatarupa realized that her nightmare was coming true. She screamed,

Why are you doing this? What have I done to you? Let go of my daughter!

The woman stepped closer and said,

You are about to suffer my curse. You don't know that the room in the nursing home is cursed. In that very bedroom, the doctors killed me and my baby, following my husband's orders. They spread the lie that I died on the operating table, so no one suspected them. My spirit is trapped in that bedroom, and I vowed to destroy the families of those who wronged me. Over the years, I killed my husband and those doctors. Now it's your turn.

Shatarupa screamed,

It's true that you were wronged, but we didn't do anything! Please let us go, please...

The woman let out a cruel laugh and said,

You won't be spared! Do you know why? Rahul is my husband's brother. He was involved with them that day. I didn't kill you until now because I wanted to kill your child in front of you. I killed Rahul a little while ago, and now I'll kill your daughter and then you.

Shatarupa, crying, said,

But my daughter didn't do anything. You were a mother too. Kill me instead, and let her go.

Hearing Shatarupa's words, the woman seemed to soften a bit. She lifted little Ahalya in front of her eyes, then placed her back in the cradle and rushed towards Shatarupa with the knife. Shatarupa tried to get up from the bed but couldn't. Something seemed to bind her tightly to the bed. She tried to scream but couldn't. By then, the woman had already slit Shatarupa's throat with the sharp knife. Blood gushed out, soaking the bed. The woman's eyes gleamed at the sight of the blood, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face. Her long-awaited revenge was complete.

The next morning, neighbors found Rahul's body in the garden in front of the house. When the police arrived and entered the house, they found the place drenched in blood, with scenes of brutal carnage everywhere. Shatarupa's blood-soaked body lay in one corner of the room, and little Ahalya was crying in the cradle in another corner.

Despite extensive investigations, the police couldn't catch the culprit, and eventually, they closed the case.

On the other hand, the police handed over little Ahalya to a family. Ahalya is growing up there today. No one knows, even today that woman comes every night to see Ahalyak. Maybe he fell into delusion. In fact, she also became a mother one day, although she did not hear the mother's call