It's a story about my friend 'Z'. She was young when she lost her mother. Her father was really inconsolable at that time. We were 14-15 that time. Her father was a very good person.
After the demise of her mother, he used to take good care of her and never thought of marrying again though there was pressure from his family. He wanted to devote all his time to his daughter, my friend Z. He used to love Z's mother a lot. As far as I remember they were like inseparable.
Time flew by and we were 18 now. Z and I went on for our graduation. She had meanwhile learnt to survive without her mom. Z told me that lately a lady has been coming to her house and she and her father gossip for hours. I told Z to deal with it and try to understand the situation of her father. And as expected, shortly Z's father announced that he would be marrying that lady.
Z didn't liked the idea but I calmed her down by making her understand that she was the only child and once she was gone for higher education and later on getting married, her father would be left alone. It would be better for him to get married to that lady so that he would be having someone to share his time and emotions with.
Z agreed and her father got married in the year 2011. We were in the 2nd year of our graduation. Z told me that soon after her father got married she started to have disturbing dreams. Many-a-times she saw her mother in dreams. She felt a strange presence in her house as if someone was watching her.
I thought she might be imagining all this as she was not very comfortable with her stepmother and might be missing her mom. But she told me soon after that she has started seeing her mother and she is not hallucinating or making up things. She told me that her mother was not happy with the fact that her father got married again and she has come back to separate them.
I was speechless. I mean, I wanted to believe her but was still in some sort of doubt. I went to her house quite a few times but didn't felt anything strange. She constantly used to tell me that her mother is back and something bad is going to happen. I asked her to tell all this to her father and she did. But as expected her father didn't believed her and advised her to focus on her studies instead.
We were done with our graduation now. She still used to complain about the same. I asked her if something has happened to which she replied that she could still feel her mother's presence and a sense of anger and discomfort all around her house and that her dad and step-mom had started arguing a lot recently. No one apart from her was able to see or feel what she did.
After few months I left the town for further studies. I was in contact with Z for a few months but lost it with time. Upon my return to town I came to know that Z's father had expired 3 months back. I went to her home to visit her. She greeted me with a faint smile. I consoled her. Upon asking about her stepmom she informed me that she had gone out to buy groceries. I then asked her about her father's death to which she replied, "My mom took him away with her. I knew this would happen but I couldn't do anything to stop it." She then started crying. I hugged her and asked more about it knowing that it might hurt her but I was curious and shocked. She told me that she always had a feeling that her dead mother was watching everything and was not happy with her father's second marriage.
She kept on telling her dad that her mom was back from the dead and wanted him to end things with the other woman, her stepmom. Her father would never believe her and one day he hit her badly for misbehaving and saying all those things.
After this incident she began seeing her mother often and things would be messed up in her father's room and the stepmother would often injure herself while working in kitchen. Soon after her dad started keeping ill and saying strange things.
Upon asking what the matter was, he would say that Z you were right, your mother is back. She won't leave me alone. She is angry at me.
Z's stepmom also complained that she felt a strange presence in the house. They consulted a 'Pundit ji' (holy Hindu man/priest) who told them that whatever they felt was true and advised them to conduct a 'puja' at their house. T
Hey had a 'puja' conducted at their house but things didn't seem to improve. They went to Z's stepmom's place but the condition of her father's health kept deteriorating and doctors were not sure about what was causing his health to be that way. They returned back to their house and the very next day of their return, her father passed away. The reason for the death as told by doctors was a cardiac arrest.
Z told me that when they (Z and her stepmom) went to her father's room his eyes and mouth were wide opened as if he was scared of something and was lying motionless on his bed. She started crying again. I consoled her. I was shocked and scared. I knew that she would have been more scared than me all this while. I didn't knew what to say or how to help her. I patted on her back suggesting her to stay strong and take care of her stepmom and started walking out of the house.
She held my hand and said, "You know, the thing that makes me scared the most now is that things still get messed up in me and my dad's room and my stepmom says that a pair of eyes is constantly staring at her when she is in her bedroom (Z's dad's room) but I cannot feel or see my mom anymore. I wonder who is staring at my stepmom."
Frightened and speechless I walked out of her house. The next few days I met up with some of my relatives and old friends and invited Z also to come out with me or to my place but she always responded in a no.
After a week and a half I went to another city to join my job. Before leaving I went to her house only to find it locked. After few days, while talking to my mom, I asked whether Z had returned to which my mom replied that she has heard that they had left the town and Z's stepmom was diagnosed with some serious disease.
I never heard anything about Z and her stepmom again. Their whereabouts are unknown to me.
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