Rohit, an employee of a policy company, was in a village near his town, tasked with collecting payments from clients. During an afternoon stop at a local dhaba, he ordered food. Soon, a few villagers approached his table, their curiosity piqued. They asked about his purpose, his origins, and his plans. As he ate and answered their questions, Rohit mentioned he'd be leaving that evening by bus.
The villagers around him immediately objected, urging him not to return in the evening, intrigued by their reluctance, Rohit asked about the matter, when one of them named Rahul , started narrating about the incident that happened a few years back in the village.
" Raahi a girl who used to live in this village with her family, had mental issues, and her family doesn't have much money to take her to the doctors and get her well, Her family was known for their short tempers, often fighting over trivial matters. One day a big fight occurred and it was night time , we heard the yelling and shoutings but ignored as it was very normal for us but next day we found all the family members dead, blood everywhere, and 'Raahi' carved into their wrists. She was nowhere to be found. We complained to the police and police tried to search about her but couldn't find her , we thought she ran away. But after sometime of that accident, we found a man dead on the bus station with her name carved on her wrist and then whenever someone used to go back after evening we found them dead by the next morning at the bus station,
" 5 people have been found dead till now"
" And that's the reason we stopped going there after sunset " .
Rohit gulped last morsel of his daal rice , washed his hands, he laughed off the story, telling the villagers not to worry. His departure was necessary, he had to leave today, and besides, he didn't believe in such things. The villagers tried to stop him two times more but then they stopped as Rohit has made up his mind .
Rohit was sitting on the bus station in the evening looking around to find a suffocating silence . He had promised his boss he'd be in the office by tomorrow morning and wasn't willing to stay the night. He was trying to forget those things which those villagers told him . But his mind was preoccupied with all the stories he heard from them
Sitting on the bench at the bus stop he anxiously looked at his watch to see it had still 5 minutes left till the last bus to go to the seher had to come. Suddenly he felt someone coming in and sitting at one hand distance away from him on the same bus stop. He looked up to find a girl a year younger than him sitting beside him with her face covered with a scarf. The light of the bus stop was dim which made it difficult to look at things or faces properly. He asked
" Are you also headed towards the city?"
"Are you? " She asked him in dry and husky voice
Rohit felt kinda off with her voice but just hummed to her question
" I am waiting." she questioned
" Is someone coming?" he replied
" No" , "they are going" she said
" Ohh" He said looking at her
" I wish you have a safe, journey Raahgir " she replied, her reply made him confused but he shrugged it off
He looked towards the left side to see a faint light of the bus far away coming towards the bus stop.
He stood up and said " And I wish your wait comes to end soon." he went towards the road for the bus to stop and take him in.
As he sat on the bus he looked around to see only 5 - 6 people are only there present in the bus apart from driver and conductor, he looked outside the window to find a girl no where around.
"Don't you want ticket? What's wrong out there?" asked conductor
"Nothing, one ticket to the city. " he replied.
He paid for the ticket and the bus started its journey. During the journey The driver played the radio and a soulful melody of an old song started "Intehaan ho gyi intezaar ki"
As the song played, Rohit felt a sudden chill in his body and looked towards the window when he found something written on his window panel which made his breath hitched.
"We will meet soon Raahgir - Raahi"
It was written as blood slid down the window, and soon all Rohit could see was darkness.
Where am I ? Rohit asked himself as he couldn't see anything. All he could see was dark and a small light coming from his right side. He moved towards the right side only to see he was in front of the same bus stop from where he boarded the bus at night and few people were crowding around it . He walked towards them only to see himself lying on the bus stop with blood flowing from his wrist and a song being carved on his hand .
"Inteha ho gyi Intezaar ki- Raahi" - it was carved on his wrist.
He was so shocked that nothing came out of his mouth when he felt something shaking him and....
Soon he opened his eyes only to see the bus conductor looking at him
" Are you going to spend a night here?"
"We have reached the city Sahab ji" the conductor spoke.
As Rohit looked around him to see only he was left in the bus except the conductor and driver who were looking at him . He rubbed his eyes and looked towards the window panel to see it was all clean like before nothing was written there , no blood stain was there, not even a single drop of it .
" What happened Sahab ji" the conductor asked
" Haan ... It's nothing, sorry it's just I dozed off" Rohit said
" Its ok sahab ji , go safely " the conductor replied
As Rohit climbed off the bus he went straight to the roadside and asked a few auto wala to drop him towards his next destination which was his house.
One auto wala agreed and he made his way towards his house . Rohit thought that all the stories he heard were messing his mind. So he asked the auto wala to speed up a little to reach his house early so he could freshen up and rest to forget all the things.
As the auto wala reached the asked destination as Rohit asked . Rohit got out of the auto and paid his fare . He stood for a while as the auto wala reversed his auto and went on his way while Rohit took a deep breath before entering his house opening the front door he entered and switched on the lights to see everything which was kept at its place was scattered in different ways , he clearly remembered he hadn't scattered anything or left his house messy , when he heard something which made his blood run cold in his body , The same song "Intehaan ho gyi intezaar ki" but it was not coming from any radio but someone who was singing and it was a woman's voice.
A voice which was too familiar to him because a few hours ago he conversed with that voice.
" Who.. - Who's there?" Rohit asked and the song stopped.
" You came Raahgir " said the voice and
Rohit knew it was the girl from the bus stop
He saw a girl coming out behind the wall and her face was still covered with a scarf but her eyes could be clearly seen , they were pitch black, her gaze was intense, eyes were like those of a siren, capable of terrifying anyone.
Rohit's breath hitched as he stared into her eyes, then instinctively broke contact. A cold shiver crawled up his spine, raising goosebumps across his skin. The hairs on his neck stood on end. His palms grew slick with sweat, and his heart hammered against his ribs.
" Yo-- You - how you ca-- me here.? Y... You ... Ho.. ow?" He asked while stuttering.
" Raahi ko har raah ki khabar hoti hai Raahgir"
Rohit gulped loudly the environment in his house started feeling creepy to him as soon as Raahi removed her scarf , The smirk on her face , that wicked smile which can creep the hell out of anyone , her hair dark and long that were reaching till her waist , as Rohit felt his legs weak , he felt suffocating in that confined space of his house , he could see the walls are shrinking slowly and slowly,
" Are you scared? " She asked , her voice was husky, horsed , it felt dangerous to him ,
Rohit couldn't move an inch of his body; he felt paralyzed.
Raahi laughed , her laughter was diabolical, a high-pitched cackle that scraped at his nerves.
" I love this look , the look of fear in your eyes " her voice was almost possessed , low yet harsh and dry .
Rohit couldn't say anything his body was too numb to say anything, he can feel darkness , he regretted at that moment for not listening to the villagers suggestion for laughing it off thinking as another folk stories, but some stories aren't just stories, he realised it now as his vision started blurring , Through his blurry vision, he saw her eyes sparkle with mischief; she loved it, him fainting , her hands held a old sharp knife, too sharp that it's slightest stroke can cut deeper in your skin , at this point all rohit can see , feel and hear was her lunatic laughter, her wicked smile and the stinging pain on his hand as she started carving with her knife , while soon darkness engulfed Rohit's eyes as he slept with her lunatic laughter fading into the stillness of life ....
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