The Manor

It was on a fateful October evening that I stepped inside the magnificent manor of Kabilapuram.

Set against the backdrop of the purple hued twilight sky, with the clay tile structured roof that pointed up slightly at the corners, in a humble yet proud demeanour and red oxide floor that glistened gloriously along with the unmistakeable scent of petrichor, and the quiet sounds of nocturnal animals; this place was nothing short of breath-taking.

I was sent as a humble servant to assess the viability of turning this property into a resort, or at the very least salvage the prime architecture and start one elsewhere. I was middle management; not quite high up with the top level and not hands on like the operational. I belonged neither here nor there and that’s how I felt when I got here too, like an outsider trying to make sense of what’s inside.

I set out to explore my home for the weekend, while Moorthy the caretaker prepared a traditional meal in the kitchen. He had advised me not to step out to the pool during this time of the day, but I was certainly excited at the prospect of an old timey pool and I assumed the investors would be too. 

I took the flight of stairs up to a bedroom to get a glimpse of this bathing pond as they called it. I could see the moss laden roof and the path of stairs descending into the water reflecting the trees that surrounded it and the mini ripples that ruined the otherwise perfect reflection. It was calming to see such a visual treat and I thought to myself idly about setting camp in this room until darkness took over outside and the cool green water became an eerie black. Suddenly the view was not so appealing.

Walking around these empty rooms and halls, and I could feel the coldness permeating off the floors and walls. This place was once home and it was in dire need of occupants to bring back the old warmth. Some of these rooms could be refurbished and there is an opportunity for expansion but this can be properly concluded during daylight hours. 

Moorthy found me before I could finish my tour, he kept up an endless chatter all the way to the kitchen and till the end of dinner, all of which I duly recorded. He spoke of the history of the manor and the noble families that lived here. I wondered how an actual palace would be if nobility was housed in this manner. 

We were seated on the floor in the courtyard with an open skylight. Silence filled the cool night air while Moorthy was chewing up betel leaves, my thoughts trailed off as I admired the beautiful structures around me and I caught sight of something moving from the window upstairs, perhaps a lazy breeze creaking the rusty old bars but I certainly couldn’t look that side anymore. I felt uneasy and I tore my eyes away and the hair on the back of my neck prickled and I let out a shiver that had nothing to do with the weather.

Moorthy chewed and hummed obliviously while I had my first ghostly experience.

                    ***

Moorthy led me to a room with a window overlooking his house and assured me that I was only a call away. After bidding farewell for the night, I shuddered as I closed the door, thinking of that dreaded window up above. I couldn’t see it but I know it’s right there.

I settled myself on the cosy mattress laid out for me and calmed myself enough until I fell into a deep slumber, which paved its way for an all too familiar nightmare

“So now you serve me cold dinner? What the hell did I marry you for, eh?”

“Please I was about to reheat it, I didn’t know you would be out so late and I thought…”

“Now what? You are questioning my personal business? Your father still owes me, don’t ever forget that. Until I get what is rightfully mine I can do just as I please, you whiny little bitch”

I was a small child again, cowering in the corner wishing I could tune out the slapping and punching and sobbing but I couldn’t after the last scream, I had to protect her.

“Please don’t hurt her”

The last thing I heard was my mother crying out as I flew across the room and hit my head on the wall.

I woke up.

The mattress laid haphazard from the straw mat underneath and I knew I was thrashing around in my sleep. It seemed pointless to wake Moorthy up over a nightmare and the breeze did nothing to cool down my sweating brow, I decided to venture out to the kitchen for a glass of water.

The air was charged with an unusual energy, maybe it was mere paranoia gripping me but I brushed it off; thirst trumped fear. After I took long soothing gulps of water, I kept the steel tumbler on top of the clay cooler and headed back to my room.

The floor felt cool underneath my feet and there was a light breeze near the courtyard by the skylight and I mustered the courage to look up at that window again and my fear seemed to dissipate and I decided to see the room for myself. A part of me thought of events leading up to ghost encounters started like this, I suppose all of us wants to find some rationalisation to stay sane and get some sort of closure and I needed mine.

Surprisingly the room was locked and I figured it was used as storage and the movement I saw before must have been caused by a trapped rat or possum. This explanation satisfied me but I could still feel that unsettling energy in the air and I knew I didn’t want to go back to my nightmares just yet.

Moonlight peeked through the doors from the room across and my curiosity piqued, fuelled by insomnia, I went inside and it was the same room I went in earlier this evening. My faux courage nudged me to go to the window once more. The moon hung round and low in the backdrop of the trees and small hills and the pool looked more sinister than ever with the moon reflected on the cool dark green water until I realised the eerie white mass floating in the water wasn’t the moon at all.

My mind tried to rationalise it as a fallen towel or cloth but I could distinctly make out the shape of a body and the unnatural glow surrounding it. Fear grew in my head once more and I turned to scramble out of the room only to find myself face to face with a little girl, staring at me with undead eyes.

Though everything about her screamed unearthly, I wanted to hold her and protect her. I reached my arm out to her and she did too and suddenly she was on top of me and her dainty arms held me in a chokehold, her glassy eyes bored into mine and she let out a ghostly wail her tongue black as soot hanging out from her pale mouth and I could feel its stickiness on my face and I couldn’t breathe.

I woke up once more in my bed and the pale rays of the morning sun fooled me into thinking the events that transpired last night was all but a dream.

                    ***

Moorthy brought me breakfast which I wolfed down with a cup of coffee. I was badly in need of some fresh air and I donned on some clean clothes and took a walk into the neighbourhood. 

It wasn’t a busy place even for a remote location, which would be good for guests who wants a proper getaway. The place was quiet until I ran into two aging men sitting under the banyan tree down the road leading to the house. I approached them, being a small town, I realised they knew who I was and what I was here for when they greeted me. We got to chit chatting a bit about the weather and the dance festival at the temple nearby. As the conversation went, I asked about the history of the manor and if there were any unnatural incidents.

The two of them shared a dark yet oddly amused look and launched into the story, speaking in tandem as a tale told countless times.

“The manor has housed many generations of the family, but the greatest was one led by a lord both feared and admired by all. Power is a potent intoxication you know and of course, he wanted more. He resorted to certain unorthodox practices for it, which succeeded but alas all great things have an even greater fall.

As feared and ruthless as he was, there was a mute little girl for whom he held a soft spot for, she belonged to the one of the kitchen wench, a meek young woman. The lord used to present her with little trinkets and toys, much to the astonishment of the people around. His love and sympathy for the little girl was the only thing that made him seem human.”

The mention of a little girl made me uneasy and I involuntarily shuddered.

“Then came one day where the whole village was woken up by a woman’s scream and the first light of the day showed us the little girl floating in the water, still and lifeless. And from thereon started the downfall of the lord, no doubt there. Maybe his humanity was tied to the girl or maybe his power couldn’t withstand the curse of a broken hearted mother, who knows now.”

By then I had heard enough to turn my blood cold, so I politely excused myself and went back to the dreaded manor. Perhaps I could finish my report quick and get out of there by tonight, it’s best not to dwell at a place where bad vibes still linger.

I rushed with purpose and found Moorthy waiting in the porch and took me around the grounds, my analytical mind took over as I assessed the surroundings and its potentials and I was unbothered by lords and little girls, as I judiciously took notes.

We continued our work after a quick lunch and Moorthy requested to keep certain things intact like the small shrines, for fear of invoking the wrath of the old gods. I wondered if these deities existed, if they do, are they benevolent or are they quick to displease and turn to malice. I was immersed in my own thoughts and I almost didn’t see the end of the path I was led to.

The pool took on a new light of gloom and creepiness and I was only half listening to Moorthy, my eyes went to the far side of the pool where the same little girl sat upon the ledge, she smiled softly before falling straight into the water.

I panicked and my arms reached out to her once more.

“Hey, are you alright? Tis just a mango. Look!” cried Moorthy.

I saw the mango bobbing happily in the water and I sighed in relief. Moorthy looked at me closely and said I must have been out in the sun too long. We covered most part of the grounds anyway and it was late evening, I was led back to the house once more. I enquired if it was possible to get any transport back to the city tonight, but due to the new road construction it is highly unlikely. I figured I could muster up enough courage for one more night.

Moorthy asked if I have inspected all the rooms in the manor so I mentioned the locked room, he told me that all the rooms were open and maybe I couldn’t open it because of tight hinges. I asked him to come with me upstairs just in case. He obliged and asked me to dine with him and his family tonight.

We stood in front of the unexplored room and an ill feeling of foreboding took over me.

Moorthy opened it with a heavy push and I realised I was right about it being a store room, it was filled with old furniture and artefacts and paintings. 

Moorthy excused himself to get ready for dinner and I was left alone to explore on my own. 

Some of these could be refurbished and used, it was a mini gold mine of artefacts. I gave a cursory glance around the room and my eyes fell upon a rat nest and I was right once more about last night I thought. My moment of triumph fell short once I saw the portrait nestled behind the nest. It was the same two men I saw today morning. I looked closely at the dates and it was from almost a century ago.

Panic gripped me once more and I rushed out of the room, knocking things out of the way.

I came to my senses once I reached downstairs, perhaps the two men I met were related to the family of the manor and that’s why they bore such a strong resemblance and that’s why they knew the history of the place so well. Or maybe a well-executed prank? 

I decided to get ready and go over to Moorthy’s for dinner, he will shed some light over what just happened. I walked towards the house and wondered why the lights were on despite the darkness of the evening hoping it was not a black out. I knocked at the front door but there was no answer.

I grew impatient and since Moorthy was expecting me anyway I went inside but strangely the place seemed deserted, did I come to the wrong house I wondered, but before I could process what’s going on, I heard a crash up in the manor.

I ran back and instinctively called out for Moorthy, I suppose he came to escort me to his home. 

“I’m in here, come inside” I heard his voice from the storage room. I climbed upstairs and went in.

 “Moorthy?” I called out cautiously as I looked around for his silhouette but instead I caught sight of another portrait propped up on a table, in all grandeur and magnificence was unmistakeably the great lord himself. 

And I knew him. It was Moorthy.

                    ***

I stumbled out of the room trying to make sense of what I just saw and the events that unfolded here, if it is all just one cruel joke. I paced up and down the corridor piecing together everything that happened, trying to convince myself it’s the vestiges of past trauma.

I was on the verge of giving up on rationality when I remembered the recordings, the one I listlessly captured on my voice recorder. I scrambled downstairs to my room and took it out from my bag. I hit the play button but there was only static, I fast forwarded it and still nothing. I kept tinkering with the device, still grasping for some meaning, when a cold hand touched mine.

The little girl looked into my eyes once again, her face expressionless. In that moment I had enough of trying to rationalise everything, I finally gave in.

She opened her mouth and her unearthly scream resonated from the recording device.

And I fell into darkness;

In the dark of the night, beyond the manor in the small woods behind, sinister deities glinted in in tones of red and black in the backdrop of a roaring fire pit. The shadows seemed to flicker in tune to the incantations, as if enchanted by an unseen force. It was unsettling to watch.

The lord was robed in black clothes and his body marked all over with symbols in red. The man who kept chanting wore similar clothes but in red and white. Tied up in the corner was a young man, blood dripping from meticulous cuts made on his arms and chest, an ornate knife laid at the end of the trail of blood, the flames reflected eerily on the stained blade.

The chanting came to a slow halt and he turned to the lord “Are you sure on how to proceed this? Remember what I said, great power lies ahead...”

The lord muttered “No, I don’t think I am ready for it.” 

“It has to be done willingly, you must be able to give your whole self by way of a vessel. Until then we draw strength in this manner, although it can still be done but the risks are higher” the dark priest cited as he glanced to the unconscious young man, “I feel it in my bones, you will be ready for it soon”

“HUSH! Someone’s near” the lord warned, as footsteps rustled the dry leaves strewn on the ground.

The little girl came into the clearing, her innocent eyes wide and uncomprehending as she took sight of what’s in front of her.

The two men glanced at each other for a moment and the dark priest acted quick with a mutter of an incantation and blowing a white powder into the girl’s eyes. She collapsed on to the ground, her pretty white dress stained by dirt and blood.

“She will not forget what she has witnessed. These rituals must not be witnessed and the shrines must not be disturbed. You said you are not ready, but surely you must take an action immediately” the dark priest said.

“Her? No! Why her?” The lord despaired, pointing to the tied up man “I am not ready even with him, let alone the little one. ” 

“Your fondness for the lives of others is admirable, but now is not the time for morality, the shadows seek it and what they seek, they shall get. One way or the other, the girl is sentenced to death” The dark priest let his words sink in.

It took quite bit of time for the face of distress to painfully change to absolute resolution for the lord.

“Tell me what I must do” he said in an almost defeated tone.

They started with the young man first, the ornate dagger was stained once more and the flames roared mightily with flesh, blood, bone and ashes.

“Two sacrifices in a night is almost unheard of, my lord. Your rewards will be immeasurable” The dark priest purred rather gleefully “The fire is pure now, we must not taint it again, let us go to the pond”

“As you say” the lord said impassively

The dark priest’s eyes narrowed and he said ominously” Remember, wholeheartedly”

They carried the little girl to the pool, the lord was trying to erase the tenderness that gentled the lines on his face. He can’t afford that anymore, not at this juncture. 

The chanting in the background helped to focus, the lord stepped into the water with purpose carrying the girl across in his arms, sinking lower and lower into the pool, until they were both submerged. The water blocked all noise, it was just him and the little girl, he could see the shadows creeping in slowly like tendrils in the water and in the briefest moment of compassion, the spell was broken, the little girl opened her eyes, her screams drowned in bubbles and whispers of darkness took over. 

He held his breath and watched the shadows carry away the little girl he loved so much. 

He couldn’t tell if the pain in his chest was grief or simply lack of air, he swam up to find the girl floating lifeless.

“It is done” the dark priest said smugly.

                    ***

I woke up yet again and this time not alone. She was sitting beside me, waiting patiently for me to come out of my rather horrifying reverie. I was in the same room the night we first met each other. 

She nudged me gently but urgently and held my hand and led me to the window.

The pool was eerie as ever but after everything I have seen and experienced, there is nothing left to scare me anymore.

I was wrong.

I saw Moorthy or the lord, whoever he is carry a body into the water, while the dark priest looked on. After a few minutes, he remerged and stood beside the dark priest and they turned their heads slowly to look at me and my heart turned to ice. 

There I was floating in the water, my skin pale and eyes undead. 

That was the last straw, I finally broke down. I clasped my head in shock, I felt and accepted the supernatural vibrations in the air and I succumbed to unconsciousness once more.

It was a fresh day. The events left me shaken but at least I know now. I am not in the dark anymore.

I got up with renewed energy, with calmness and understanding and decided to explore the manor once more in this new light.

I thought of people who lived there with everything that they could want but with wishes unfulfilled or taken away and their spirits roaming and thinking wistfully of the things they couldn’t have, peeking through the windows, hidden in the walls, waiting for something that they don’t even know of.

As I mused on, I walked in to the room with the window. The pool looked okay now, it didn’t send shivers down my spine nor did the little girl who stood next to me.

“I see we keep meeting here” I smiled at her. “I may have to go soon”

She looked at me confused and questioningly. 

“These rituals must not be witnessed and the shrines must not be disturbed.” I heard the dark priest’s voice.

The little girl tugged at my hand and dragged me upstairs to the storage room and I discovered a new painting. 

It was mine. I became one of them.

THE END