Shinzo woke up with a startle. He was drenched in sweat. The clock read 00.13 a.m. The ceiling fan had stopped dead. The power is out, he cussed loudly. His blanket had slipped near his legs. The room felt like a sauna. He got off his bed and drank water. To his utter surprise the light from corridor was seeping through the bottom of the door. Must be the phase voltages going bonkers. He would complain to the hostel warden tomorrow. Sleep would be a dream in this merciless heat. He tried to open the room windows to let cool air come in, the window would not budge. This being his first night at the hostel room, Shinzo was yet to get acclimatized to the room. With harrowing difficulty, Shinzo tried to go back to sleep.
Second night at the hostel. Shinzo woke up with a parched throat. The fan had once again stopped dead. He could see light from the foyer, slipping underneath his room door. The clock read 00.13 a.m. Damn, thought Shinzo. What is with this clock and fan! The blanket had once again slipped near his legs. He drank water and looked around the room. Suddenly fear gripped him. He could feel negative energy in the room. He was too afraid to move from his bed. He promised to talk to the hostel warden in the morning for change of room. The rest of the night he could barely sleep.
The next morning Shinzo literally begged to the warden for room change. To his utter dismay, the warden flatly refused his request citing that all other rooms were either occupied or reserved. Flabbergasted, Shinzo could barely concentrate in class, dreading the impending night ahead.
That night, Shinzo decided purportedly to not wake up even by accident. He tightly wrapped the blanket around himself, maximized the ceiling fan RPM, drank water and tightly shut his eyes. It was eerie silence. He waited with abated breath for a noise, none came. He drifted off to sleep.
Suddenly he felt his blanket slipping away. At first, Shinzo felt he was in a dream, but to his horror, the blanket was already near his legs. The fan had stopped. He dreaded looking at the clock and knew what to expect. The clock showed 00.13 a.m. Shinzo’s heart skipped a beat. He froze. His mind stopped working and muscles refused to budge an inch. There was severe dryness in his throat. He was close to hysteria. His stomach knotted in circles. He could feel someone or something watching him. He looked around the room and nothing moved. Just then, a tiny rat jumped from the cupboard and ran across the room into the bathroom. Only Shinzo’s eyes moved, the rest of his body was numb with shock. He could hear his heart thud, threatening to break through his rib cage.
He wanted to waltz out of the door, but could barely move a muscle. He simply shut his eyes, for fear it would see something he would not fathom. Curled up like a ball at the corner of the room, Shinzo kept staring at the light near the door for an eternity. Just then, he heard a sweet humming noise.
Next morning, there was a knock on the door. Shinzo bolted from his sleep. Being in a fetal position, he experienced severe pain in the neck. Nervously with shaking hands he opened the door. As soon as the door opened, he jumped and almost knocked Bino over.
Bino: “Hey, what on earth is going on? What the hell are you doing in this room?”
Shinzo, regaining his composure: “I’m so sorry. I did not mean to jump at you like that. I had a terrible night.”
Bino: “That’s fine. But tell me, what are you doing in this room? Who gave you the keys? Do you not know that this room is cursed and forbidden?”
Shinzo, with disbelief in his eyes: “Why are you saying like that? The warden’s assistant, the one with the big moustache and bulky body, gave me the keys.
“Ahh, Raghu. Jeez, he met with a bike accident yesterday and perished on the spot. The legend of the curse grows. It is a miracle that you are still alive.”
“What! I’m shocked. What really happened here? Why is everyone is so spooked about this room. I have also experienced weird incidents over the past 3 nights. I’m wondering if I have gone crazy or did those things really happen to me.”
“The incident happened about 8 years ago. Giri was a fresher, who came from East India. He was new to the town and had no friends. On the first day of joining college, he was brutally ragged and humiliated in front of his batchmates. Unable to sustain the extreme torture, at night when he was alone in his room, he hanged himself from the ceiling using a blanket. Post mortem report suggested death occurred between 00:00 to 00:13 a.m. His family refused to take his body and tried to press charges against the college management. As the college belonged to an influential politician, the families’ voices were suppressed. The body was exhumed. The incident never saw the light of the day.”
“Whoa! That is insane. So, the perpetrators were never caught?”
“Not at all. On the contrary, the college disowned saying no such student ever studied at their college. It is alleged that his soul did not rest in peace. The disgruntled soul, haunts the room and does not allow anyone to enter the room. You probably are the lucky one”
Days later, Bino noticed a strong stench emancipating from Room 13. Strange as it was, he immediately alerted the hostel authorities. The warden and his troupe gathered near the room. Indeed, the smell was unbearable. The door was bolted from inside. The team managed to break open the latch and pushed the door open.
To their horror, a young white boy, was curled up like a ball at the corner of the room with a blanket wrapped around him. His face had turned pale and the body seemed to be in a figurine position. The face in a state of shock. Tantalizingly the group advanced further into the room, they covered their faces as the stench poured over them. Horrifyingly they realized the boy was not breathing, his body stone rigid. A collective gasp escaped the stuffed air. They all scampered out of the room, as if they had seen a ghost.
Raghu was the last one to leave, a sly grin escaped his lips as he looked at Shinzo. Eyes gleaming red. A look of utter disgust.
Months later, Abe wonderingly searched for the hostel warden in the hostel office; he was nowhere in sight.
Abe: “Excuse me? Anybody here”
“Yes sir. How may we help you?” Came the curt retort from a stout man as he entered the office.
Abe, nervously: “Excuse me sir, can you please spare a room at the hostel? I have only joined today.”
“All the rooms are occupied. I can spare an old room, which is not quite cleaned. You will have to manage.”
Abe: “No problem, sir. I will be most grateful to you. Please hand over the keys.”
“Here you go. That will be on the first floor, last room to the left.”
“Thank You.”
Abe took the keys and proceeded towards the room. As he reached the room, he keyed in. Just as he was entering the room, he noticed the room number. It read 13. He shut the door.
Raghu smiled nonchalantly.
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