Lessions of the Spirit World
As the howling spirit approached Suhas, it opened its mouth, preparing to consume Suhas whole. Suddenly, a dust storm enveloped the entire station, obscuring their surroundings. Both Suhas and dog spirit felt a pressure in the atmosphere. As the dust storm made everything dusky four sets of eyes started glowing bright blue in the four corners of the spirit. Ratan suddenly appeared in front of the spirit and knocked it's face back with his glowing blue backpack. The spirit was thrown a short distance, but Bhajan quickly followed up, striking it with a blue luminescent cricket bat. The spirit was flung onto a nearby platform, and Ashok seized the opportunity to stab it with a blue luminescent knife. The howling spirit let out a deafening scream, shoved Ashok aside and lunged at Suhas, who appeared to be an easy target.
Just as the spirit leaped towards Suhas with its mouth wide open, Bishu intervened, striking it's face with a blue luminescent claw hammer. The spirit weakened as all of them gathered around, mercilessly beating it. Suhas was taken aback by the savagery displayed by the kind-hearted people he had befriended at the station. Bishu called on Suhas to hold one of the spirit's legs while Ashok held another, Bhajan and Ratan grasped its arms, and Bishu took hold of its head. All of their hands started to glow bright bluish as their eyes. The four of them, Ratan, Bishu, Bhajan and Ashok started repeatedly beating the body part they were holding. As the spirit stopped resisting, all of them penetrated the body part they were holding. Suddenly, a blue energy flowed from the spirit towards each of them, except for Suhas. The spirit began to shrink, its demonic features gradually fading. Suhas was hesitant to touch the grotesque-looking spirit and held on with a loose grip with a confusion and fear. Sensing the opportunity, the spirit kicked Suhas, sending him tumbling away. It then used its leg to kick Ashok and break free from the rest.
The spirit began to flee, but it suddenly halted, turned back, and uttered, "I will be back." As Bhajan, Ashok, Bishu and Ratan stand their ground with their glowing bluish eyes, the evil spirit ran away from Sealdah station.
Suhas: "What was that thing?"
Ashok: "Th-th-that must be a b-b-barrier-less s-s-soul. We sh-sh-should be very c-c-cautious about what h-h-he said."
Ratan: "Let them come; I will beat every last one of them."
Suhas: "All of you fight like professional fighters."
Bhajan: "Well, if you live in our world, you have to learn it too."
Bishu: "Kid, enough chit-chat. Your training and lessons start now. Sit down here."
Suhas, looking at Bishu's authority, obeyed quickly and sat down. In Suhas's mind, Bishu was the group leader who always looked out for everyone. Ratan was the aggressive family man, Bhajan the failed cricketer, and Ashok the introvert with a stutter. But together, they made a formidable team.
Bishu: "You need to understand our world properly. Yesterday, we told you about souls, but you need to know more. I was hesitant to share this with you because I didn't know what kind of person you are and how you'll be impacted by our world."
Suhas: "What are you talking about, Bishu? Please teach me how to defend myself."
Bishu: "Our world has many types of souls, some like you and me, and some like that soul that can freely roam around. Can you guess what type of souls they are?"
Suhas: "Those who look like this demon?"
Bishu: "Hmm... kind of, but not entirely. These are souls with higher soul energy. Can you tell me how to gain more soul energy than they have?"
Suhas: "I don't know."
Bishu: "Hmm...but you definitly sensed it right. In our world, if you want to have higher soul energy, you need to absorb the soul energy of other souls."
Suhas was taken aback by the idea of souls absorbing other souls, which Bishu noticed.
Bishu continued: "Yes, a soul can absorb the energy of another soul completely. If a soul does this, it gains more soul energy reserves, and its outer layer or soul body becomes hardened."
Ratan: "Sometimes, those who consume too many souls become like those ghosts you see in Bollywood or Hollywood movies. Their exterior becomes hardened like human skin, but they appear inconsistent, grotesque, and weird. Most possibly they attain the appearance of something they relate very closely."
Bishu: "There are other ways to increase your energy, and you witnessed one today. It was first learned by Ratan and then taught to the rest of us: absorbing soul energy from other spirits. For this we have to learn to make part of our soul body harder by putting more energy in that part and penetrate other's soul body to absorb their soul. Controlling an evil spirit like that is difficult individually, but when we work together, we can do it easily. But absorbing soul energy like that won't make your soul body harder. Although you can do it manually by controlling the flow of your energy throughout your body."
Suhas, with a glimmer of hope, asked, "You mentioned something about 'barrierless.' What does that mean?"
Bhajan: "It's simple. When you become more powerful, you can break through barrier restrictions."
Bishu continued: "yes, a soul can devour other soul as a whole. If any soul does this then the soul who devours gets more soul energy reserve and their soul body becomes hard enough to overcome the barrier."
Suhas: "then why you guys are all trapped here. You guys are very powerful. Why couldn't you leave."
Bishu: "we are nothing and what will we do by going beyond our boundaries. Souls that devour other souls are usually a little bit screwed up in their morals....I mean what do you want me to do, eat Ashok, Bhajan here."
Ashok: "iffff you evvvver find a bbbbarrierless spirit chchchchances are ththththey're evil."
Bhajan: "Once you consume another soul, there's no turning back. Your soul is tainted with bad karma. Souls are created by gods. Plus, as your energy increases, more powerful souls may come to devour you to enhance their strength. You'd have to keep fighting, living like that."
Bishu: "The day you died, many things happened. All of us were scared by what we witnessed that day. We can hide our energy signals and phase through walls, and on that day, we did just that because we sensed a powerful evil spirit observing the entire scenario in this station. I'm certain he saw us, though we were hidden, but he didn't do anything to us."
Ratan: "Yes, that day was strange. The terrorist attack was unusual because I've never seen such a powerful evil spirit just watching the whole thing unfold as if he was the one pulling the strings."
Bhajan: "He seemed disappointed when all the terrorists died. But when the terrorists' souls detached from their bodies, the evil spirit granted some of his powers to them, and they started consuming other souls in the station. I believe the evil spirit was guiding them to do so. They devoured all the souls of the people they killed, men, women, and children. Then they started shouting and attacking someone named Abdul, but at that moment, Abdul was pulled into a portal of light. I think he moved on or went to heaven. We had many friends here, but most of them were consumed by those terrorists that day."
Suhas: "what ? Why didn't I pass on then, what did I do wrong?"
Bhajan: "look...the people who has some unfinished business or strong earthly connection can't easily leave earth, they have to either wait enough time to forget about their link to our world or complete their business."
Suhas: "wait I died exactly at the same time. Why I didn't know any of it. Why didn't they eat me. "
Bishu: "Yes it was very strange that you just lied the whole time even after they took your body. But was also more strange that those four terrorist became evil spirits willingly as if they sold their souls to that evil spirit and let him control them."
Ashok: "It is aaalsoso possible that Sssaturn ggggod temple, th..th..that was n..n..near your dead body sasasaved your sososoul."
Bhajan said, "Yeah, I also think the same thing. The souls who consume other souls against their wishes, their souls become stained with sins. They can't enter the realm of gods or heaven or be near a god's temple where the spiritual pressure of a god can be felt."
Suhas looks at the Saturn god temple which is a very small temple with a idol of god Saturn. Suhas, upon hearing that there are gods and they might be watching him right now, thanked them in his mind for saving him.
Bishu added, "I think we've covered most of the essentials. Starting tomorrow, we'll begin your training. We'll teach you how to absorb energy, how to maintain energy flow and make your soul body harder and softer, how to craft weapons from your soul body and pour your energy into it to make the weapon more effective, and how to touch and hold stuff etc."
Suhas asked, "Why wait until tomorrow? Teach me now because I'm very afraid if that thing attacks again."
Ratan reassured him, "Chill, chill... we'll start tomorrow."
After that, everyone except Bhajan and Suhas climbed the metal rods and headed to the rooftop to observe their surroundings, as they did every day. Suhas pondered how to become more powerful so that he could break through the barrier and return to his family. The others were lost in their own thoughts.
Training Begins
At 5:00 AM the next morning, the first train arrived at Sealdah Station. Bhajan and Suhas stood near a shop to listen to cricket news and avoid being noticed by people. Suhas watched tea vendors selling tea and longed for a cup himself, but he remembered he couldn't. Suddenly, he saw his mother Ragini and elder brother Anshu with a garland again. He called out to them repeatedly, attempting to touch their shoulders, but he phased through them all the time. Ragini went to the spot where Suhas had died, sat there for an hour, silently cried the entire time, placed the garland, and then boarded a train with Anshu. Suhas, watching his mother cry, cried, screamed, and shouted, but no one heard him except for other lost souls who watched him from a distance, afraid to rekindle their earthly connections. Suhas eventually gave up and laid down face down in the station as the passengers passing and phasing through his body. After an hour, Ragini and Anshu left the Sealdah station. Suhas, with all his might, ran behind his family and tried to touch his mother's hand but failed. Suhas on boarded the train with them, but he phased through the trains and fell on the tracks. As the train was about to leave Suhas with all his energy and might made his legs harder and finally on boarded the train. As the train started Suhas became very happy that he is finally leaving the cursed station. Suddenly as the train passed the limits of his boundary he automatically got stuck in the barrier and phased through the train. With silence and sadness, he watches as the train that his mother and brother on boarded left the station completely. Suhas again laid down on the ground face down.
Bishu had enough. So he came, held Suhas's head, and dragged him to the upper executive floors where there were fewer people. Bishu said, "Okay, ready for your first lesson kid?"
Suhas didn't answer or try to stand on his feet. He just let Bishu drag him to the upper floor without any resistance.
Bishu said, "I know you are feeling very bad. But you can't do anything. Your only hope of survival is if you learn the ways of our world. Who knows maybe you become strong enough to break the barrier and go to your home."
With a glimpse of hope, Suhas felt a strong will to learn as he understood his aim. Suhas said, "okay, I am ready. Let's begin."
Bishu continued, "First, feel the energy within yourself. Now, command some of that energy to encircle your outer soul exterior or you soul body to make it harder."
Suhas asked, "Yesterday, when you were absorbing energy from that ghost, wouldn't it have killed the ghost? I mean, for us, soul energy is crucial, and you were absorbing it. Wouldn't it have...you know... killed it?"
Bishu explained, "No it won't, you can never fully absorb all the energy from a spirit. The energy store of a soul always retains some reserves. But if it were practically possible to absorb all the energy, then yes, that ghost would probably cease to exist. But I actually never have gone to that point. Whenever we face something like that evil spirit all of us used to group on him and absorb most of the energy and let them leave the station so that they can be eaten by some other evil spirits. you know evil spirits can smell other evil spirits."
Suhas asked, "So, Let me be a little bit clear, a evil spirit is who consume spirits completely, like their whole soul body and soul energy. but you guys only absorb energy. so you are not evil. am I getting it."
Bishu replied, "Evil is evil. Those soul who continuously want to gain more power by eating other souls to fulfill their own petty desires."
Suhas replied, "Oh, I've figured it out. I was the topper in my class, and I learn things fast."
Bishu replied, " Now, Let's start again, shall we. Concentrate on your energy and try to move it around your body. Remember wherever this energy go that part will become harder. This flow of energy should come to you very naturally like how you are standing on the ground or in you did in train or or or you are lying on the ground. Cause you are used to gravity and your energy automatically goes to the part facing earth, making it harder."
Suhas started meditating and concentrating. For the first ten minutes his concentration broke six times. Then after Bishu reminded him of his family, Suhas became more determined. Suhas started feeling the energy inside of him which was like a ocean contained in a orb. He also started felling the flow of energy throughout of his body. Suhas started focusing more of his energy to flow throughout his soul body. This made his entire body glow with a blue luminescence, emitting an aura like vapor coming out of boiled water. Seeing that Suhas was no longer depressed, Bishu felt relieved. But he cautioned, "That's too much... way too much. What are you doing? Trying to get us killed? If you release that much energy as an aura, powerful spirits will come for you. Once you master the art of releasing and confining your energy, you can easily harden and soften your outer soul body. Always remember that you can touch and hold things only if your soul body is hardened. Now, onto the most important part."
Bishu placed a soda can inside himself and said, "Remember the feeling of touching something, how your nerves used to feel, and how your brain recognized the sensation of touch. Use that memory to run the energy around your body; it will harden your soul body as much as you need. Essentially, remember how you used to feel when you touched something. Try it."
Suhas complained, "Uff, this is exhausting. I'm already tired."
Bishu pointed out, "What do you expect? You released way too much energy."
Suhas regulated the energy in his soul body. He attempted to touch the soda can but failed repeatedly. After becoming fatigued, he collapsed onto the floor. A few hours later, Suhas leaped from the upper floors to the ground and aimlessly wandered around the station. He returned to the spot where he had died to see the garland left by his mother and brother. He also noticed a tiny temple dedicated to God Saturn, which he hadn't seen before up front.
Suhas questioned, "What happened to me Baba (father)? I was about to get into IITs and now. I see people of my age with their families in this station all the time, while I can't even touch my mother. What's the point of me being here? Tell me. Well, I suppose you're just a stone and some mud, aren't you? Even after death you will not talk to me right."
Suhas turned away to leave but glanced back at the garland which his mother placed before approaching to Bishu and the rest. In a crowded area, a boy threw his water bottle to a friend, and Suhas unintentionally stood in its path. Forgetting that the bottle would pass through him, he gestured to stop it. The bottle was caught by Suhas for a moment but then again it phased through him. Surprised by the suddenness Suhas stood there for some time, while those two boys were more surprised about what happened and they started to inspect. But Suhas started running and jumping phasing through people and started calling everyone that he learnt how to touch things: "I told you, I told you...I was the topper of my class. I learn things very fast."
Bishu and the others were stunned but thrilled for Suhas, seeing him gradually emerge from his depression.
Over the next 13 days, Suhas learned how to hide his energy from other souls effectively, absorb energy, and, most importantly, create weapons from his soul body and infuse them with his soul energy to make them stronger. Each day, Bishu, Ratan, Bhajan, and Ashok taught him and had him practice. For those 13 days, Ragini and Anshu also visited the station, and as time passed, both Suhas and his family were healing from the incident. On the 13th day, neither his family nor Suhas shed any tears.
Riding the Air
On the 14th day, Ragini and Anshu didn't come to visit the station, and Suhas realized that people were slowly starting to forget about him. This realization left him restless. At midnight, on the rooftop, Bhajan expressed his concern to Bishu.
Bhajan: "I feel like something is wrong."
Bishu: "What's wrong?"
Bhajan: "The whole situation. You know, I haven't seen a single barrierless evil spirit roaming or coming to Sealdah since that dog spirit left. He said he will come back. I'm getting very anxious about this."
Bishu, gazing at the Kolkata city lights: "I don't suspect; I know something is wrong. I think, whatever comes, the five of us will have to deal with it."
Ashok joined them on the rooftop and stammered, "IIIII heard what youuuu're saying. Whwhwhat if it's more ppppowerful than us to hhhhandle?"
Suhas suddenly climbed onto the rooftop and interjected, "Hey, what are you guys talking about? Is it me and my progress and how fast I'm learning stuff? I'm amazing, I know."
Bishu responded, "Did you come here to boast?"
Suhas: "No, I'm thinking something. So, we don't have legs or arms, but we can climb metal rods and bars easily because we use our soul energy and body. We don't have to carry our weight, and we don't have to walk. Even without walking, we can move from one place to another by simulating our energy. So, why can't we fly?"
Bhajan chuckled, "Fly? Hahahaha... you're making me laugh. You know why? It's called gravity."
Suhas: "I mean, we can try, at least."
Bishu: "Look, we've taught you everything. Why don't you go and try it out for yourself?"
Suhas descended from the rooftop and discussed the same idea with Ratan. Ratan understood what he was getting at and decided to join him. Suhas sat on the ground and tried to channel his energy, releasing it to the ground to lift himself upward. However, it didn't work. Ratan, too, couldn't achieve it and quickly gave up, thinking it was futile.
Suhas, determined, didn't want to quit. He thought to himself, "So now I can touch stuff, and on the ground, I can float a little bit when I want to go from one place to another. How about I combine both?"
He began jumping very high to reach the upper rooftop, kicking the wall to move to the other side. In mid-air, he decreased his energy to make his soul body less dense and more weightless. Still, he couldn't reach the other side. Suhas started doing it over and over again. He grew exhausted but refused to give up. He told himself, "I can do it because I have a clear strategy." So, he kept jumping and trying to make himself float while in mid-air. The entire night passed, and he hadn't succeeded.
On the 15th day, in the morning, Suhas was exhausted and laid face down on the floor. As people rushed into the station, they passed through him. From a distance, he saw his family, accompanied by a pandit and garlands. They approached the Saturn temple and performed some rituals. Suhas remained on the floor, not even getting up to be with his family, as he knew it was pointless. He realized from the rituals and preparations that it was his funeral. A sense of creeping loneliness enveloped him once more as he understood that he would soon be forgotten.
After two hours, his family left the station, but Suhas remained in the same position. Suddenly, Ratan came and lifted his body.
Ratan, seeing Suhas's sadness, told him, "Don't lie down and be all depressed now. Go learn how to fly. get out of this place and go be with your family."
Ratan penetrated his hands inside Suhas's chest and transferred some of his energy to Suhas, who felt rejuvenated. Suhas realized that lying on the floor wouldn't help him. His parents' train was leaving the station, and he longed to see them but couldn't due to the barrier. He started screaming and colliding with the barrier wall. Then, he jumped high, kicked the wall and metal bars of the station, climbed the rooftop, and kicked it to reach and collide with the upper part of his barrier. In his heart, the thought of being with his parents which drove him to use all his energy to break down his boundary. He kicked and scratched his barrier wall while in mid-air, creating bolts of lightning and fire at the point of contact. Suhas again started to lose his energy and become weaker. Suddenly, he saw some flashes of two eyes with black flames and a massive boost revived his energy. He felt a godly power within himself. Suhas, without thinking anything, continued to tear down his barrier, and waves of energy emanated from that point, spreading across the area. Finally, Suhas tore down his barrier and became a barrierless spirit, leaving Bishu and the others in disbelief. Ratan was proud of his accomplishment. Suhas realized that he didn't fall while tearing down his barrier—he was flying. Suhas became very happy and overjoyed. Suhas began to fly upward, downward, and around the station laughing and calling everyone to see him as he flew with great speed, relishing his newfound freedom. Bhajan and the rest cheered him on.
Bhajan: "Bishu, I think now we can all be free. I want to travel the world like this."
Bishu: "Yeah, but let him come down first. Hey, Suhas, come down now. You have to teach us how you did it."
Suhas: ", yeah...but let me enjoy for a few more minutes."
The wave of energy and lightning bolts were felt by every spirit in Kolkata city, including four very powerful evil spirits. These four evil spirits resembled a huge bat, an ant, a spider, and a snake. They were tormenting the dog spirit that had attacked Suhas and his friends. The dog spirit was bound in a wall of a room in a hospital which was little bit far away from the station.
Snake spirit: "Why did you fail so easily? We gave you our energy. They were merely three or four lowly souls. Yet you still..."
Dog spirit: "forgive me, master. But they knew how to fight. There was only one weakling there, but he was protected by four of them."
Snake: "Hmm... I guess those souls are more useful than you."
The dog's soul was mutilated and devoured by all of them.
Spider: "Let's go eat them."
At night, around 10 PM, when the whole station was empty again,
Bishu: "How the hell did you manage to do that?"
Suhas: "I don't know. I just wanted to go out."
Ratan trying to take some credit: "Did you see him flying? I taught him, so..."
Ashok to Ratan sarcastically: "Yeah, th-then you also d-d-do it."
Bhajan to Ratan sarcastically: "Yeah, yeah, you do it first, and then we will all do that."
Ratan: "All of you are just jealous of me. But I don't care because I feel fulfilled today."
Bishu: "Nope, this calls for a celebration."
Suddenly, Ratan started to glow.
Ratan: "What is happening?"
Bhajan: "Someone help him. Do something!"
Everyone was stunned as Ratan began to float. His eyes started to emit light.
Ratan: "I think I am passing into the other worlds. I always wanted to be a proud teacher, and I guess now I am."
Ratan turned to Suhas: "Suhas, my full name is Ratan Sinha. I have a wife and daughter in Narayanganj. I know you can go to them now and... and deliver this message from me. Tell them I loved them more than annnything."
With that, Ratan's soul was taken into a portal of light while everyone was stunned. He left behind an orb of blue luminescent light, his soul energy.
Bishu told Suhas: "Go ahead; you're gonna need it."
Suhas approached the blue orb and touched it. The blue light entered Suhas's hands. He suddenly saw the whole life and experiences of Ratan. Suhas became a little more powerful than before, now that he had more soul energy. The rest of the gang was happy for both Ratan and Suhas, but they were also sad for themselves. They weren't powerful enough to pass through the barrier nor fulfilled enough to pass on to the heavens.
Bishu sighed: "What are we waiting for? Let's have a party."
Suhas: "How exactly?"
Bhajan brought all the soda cans from the stores. Bishu, Ashok, and Bhajan shook the soda cans and threw them in the station. Ashok started a sound system of a store, and the whole station filled with songs. Nearby beggars saw this haunting experience and ran for their lives. Everyone started to dance and spill soda. Suhas began to fly above and Shook the soda and then opened the can, making it look like it was raining soda. Everyone was happy, dancing, and shouting.
Bishu: "I always wanted to go to the mountains."
Ashok: "M-mme too."
Bhajan: "I always wanted to play for our national cricket team and have a beautiful wife."
Ashok: "Mmme too. Wait, III had that aaalready."
Bishu: "Come on, Ashok. I've seen your wife; she wasn't that pretty. In your next life, you may get one, though. Haha, haha, haha."
Ashoke: "lllets hohope so"
Suddenly, Bishu sensed something and called everyone to gather.
Suhas: "What happened? I thought we were having fun."
Bishu: "We are, but you have a journey ahead. I don't want you to be late. You need to go now, but wait; I want to give you something. Everyone, come here and hold each other's hands."
Everyone understood what was happening, except for Suhas. They all held each other's hands and gave most of their powers to Suhas.
Suhas: "What are you all doing? What is happening? I... I feel... I feel so much energy."
Suhas felt all their lives, experiences, and everything but didn't understand why suddenly all of them were giving him so much energy. Bishu asked everyone to go to the rooftop.
Bishu told Suhas: "Go... go to your home... and fly and find a way to go to heaven."
Suhas embraced everyone with open arms, feeling emotional as he left the station and his friends who had supported him in his bad times.
Suhas: "If I do find a way, I will come back to all of you. We will go to the other realms together."
Suhas started to float and fly away from Sealdah station slowly while Bishu, Bhajan, and Ashok stood and watched him. Suhas went a little further, stopped, and looked back. He saw all three of them waving him goodbye. His heart sank. He thought of going back to them but then said to himself: "I have to keep moving forward."
He flew a little further away from the station and looked back once more. He saw Bhajan still waving goodbye. Suhas decided not to look back anymore. He left the area with full speed and a heavy heart.
Becoming a Nomad
As Suhas departed, Bhajan, still waving, accepted his fate as two large spider legs pushed his head and body into the mouth of the spider spirit. Bishu and Ashok attempted to fight valiantly, but the huge snake spirit bit Bishu with its fangs and lifted him up. Ashok was torn into two pieces by the enormous bat and ant spirits, both of which consumed him as they shared his energy.
Bishu, trapped in the snake spirit's mouth, watched in horror as his friends were devoured. He shouted, "I'm not afraid of you. Part of me will live on inside of him."
The snake spirit devoured Bishu completely.
The Bat spirit asked, "What was he talking about?"
Snake: "Who cares? Now he's just a battery for me. Hahahaha," it laughed maniacally.
Ant spirit: "Doesn't this place make you nostalgic?"
Spider: "It sure does, for me. Hahahaha."
Snake: "There were supposed to be two more souls according to the dog. Find them."
After searching thoroughly, they found nothing, so they left the station. Sealdah station became vacant and empty as neither spirits nor the living remained. A dark cloud emerged where Suhas had died, with two black flaming eyes but no other features. It roamed the entire station and stared in the direction Suhas had gone. After some moments, the dark cloud slowly vanished.
Unaware of what had happened to his friends, Suhas began his journey towards his family, following the railway tracks as he flew. He was amazed by his newfound abilities, but he was more excited to see his parents again. With high expectations and excitement, Suhas flew to his village, then to his home, and started calling for his mother.
Suhas: "Ma... Ma... Ma... Ma... Oh, wait, you can't hear me. I have to knock something down or write something."
Inside his home, he saw everyone lying down from exhaustion. He understood it was due to his funeral rituals and programs all day. Ragini laid with a picture of Suhas, silently weeping, tears dropping onto the pillow. Anshu and Akshay were asleep, while his grandmother sat and looked out of the window. Suhas realized that his family couldn't grasp his loss. He thought about making his presence known but then stopped himself.
Suhas: "What am I doing? Letting them know of my existence is not a great plan. What if I pass on to heaven next? They will be depressed again. Plus, if I stay here, I could attract evil spirits that could harm my family."
Suhas placed his mother's medicines on the table next to Ragini and left the room. With a heavy heart, he made the decision to leave his family. It tore him apart, but he didn't want to be a burden. With a heavy heart, he walked outside of his house.
Suhas, while touching his house, said, "Ma, I am leaving for good. May all of you stay happy and healthy."
Suhas jumped high and started flying back towards Sealdah station, heading to his friends. He followed the railway tracks, overwhelmed by his emotions. Slowly his house and village passed right before his eyes as he was making his way to Sealdah. Suhas felt a little bit peace as he understood that returning to his old life is not possible at all. With a little bit sorrow, Suhas also felt a freedom as he was not prisoned anymore and can go to anywhere he desired. Suhas stopped in mid air during his journey and started to remember his life, family, friend Sajal and everything in his village. He looked back for a moment and then started flying straight again. He felt the air in the atmosphere which were colder and soothing as if it is welcoming him to his new life.
Suddenly, in his mid journey, in a place called Radhakantapur someone jumped in front of him with an open mouth, attempting to devour him. Suhas became destabilized and crashed into a nearby tree, though he phased through it. He still crashed into the ground. Suhas stood up in the street nearby the railway tracks and saw an evil spirit resembling a gecko. The spirit looked like it was wearing a patchy skin costume, with faces on the skin, each face having eye sockets, noses, and lips. The grotesque appearance of the gecko spirit horrified Suhas, filling him with dread and disgust. The gecko spirit was crawling in the street and coming towards Suhas.
The spirit, in a broken female voice, asked, "Are you a barrier-less one? I'd like to eat something like that."
The spirit jumped on Suhas.
(To be continued)
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