The Ring!

Life as a part-time ghost hunter/buster has been neither too cool nor very adventurous. And my current situation is such that I can't imagine taking it as a full-time job, even in the mildest of nightmares. This is the reason why I was already making up my mind to give up my interest in this particular area.

But a week ago, something did happen that made me rethink my decision.

I was visiting my "roots" with a friend, where my grandparents live; the very place where my father and uncles spent their childhood and teenage days. Years way before Independence, our ancestors used to be the zamindars (landlords). To date, we have a huge land and a really huge building. My grandparents are very old now, and therefore my uncles do the caretaker work along with their respective jobs.

At night, after having a stomach full of spicy, non-veg dinner, my friend and I decided to go to the rooftop.

On the way to the rooftop, there is a long verandah with three rooms on one side. The other side is left open with a balcony-like structure. Among these 3 rooms, the middle one always remains locked. When I was a kid, and whenever I wanted to go to the rooftop, my elders always made sure that someone would accompany us (my cousins and me). And we were strictly told never to go near the middle room, even in broad daylight. Of course, we were never told the reason for doing so.

A year ago, I happened to know about the reason. Long ago, a bride, from our ancestors' period, had committed suicide in that very middle room; the reasons behind it are unknown to date. It is said that from the very day after her suicide, many accidents started happening. A local yet knowledgeable priest was called, and after an intense worship & rituals, the door was then locked permanently. It is said that the bride had a golden ring which she used to wear on her left ring finger. After her passing away, many had noticed the ring was often kept in a corner of a room or on a table, etc. Touching it is okay, but if anybody ever tried it on their finger, terrible misfortune would fall on them. Therefore, we all had to remember two things: one, not to be near the middle room, and second is that never ever touch any ring, forget trying it on a finger.

Now, while going to the rooftop, my friend Deepak started having a weird feeling to go near the middle room. I tried to stop him, to reason with him. After quite a few minutes of persuasion, he did listen and quietly went up to the rooftop with me. But from here, things started to take a terrifying turn. His voice became heavier; he started having difficulty even breathing. He sat down complaining of having a severe headache, and minutes later started vomiting uncontrollably. My whole family woke up to the terrible sounds of him vomiting. His body temperature started rising. One of the uncles wasted no time and quickly made him drink holy water. And then in no time took him to the hospital. Doctors claimed that it was all due to the heavy intake of spicy food in dinner which I also agree; but it is Deepak who repeatedly told me next day that he felt like someone violently made him vomit, it was as if someone held his head from two sides in such a way that he felt like it was going to burst open. Before vomiting, he had this terrible rotting smell coming from somewhere. He also said that the day we came there, he had found a small golden ring on a table in our room. He unknowingly stuffed that small ring into his pocket. It was from that very time that he continuously felt that his head was spinning. Later, when he heard the story of the middle room from my elders, he quietly took out the ring from his pocket and threw it in the bushes.

We stayed a week in the village. I can't be sure what really happened to Deepak that night. Was it the spicy, non - veg dinner, or was it something evil, or was it really fear and mild imaginations of Deepak after knowing the story of that middle room?

Also, please pardon me for my English. (I'm not much good at it.)