02: The Uncanny Resemblance
“Shh,” Satyaa whispered as quietly as she could to stop Agni and Krishnaa from getting into another one of their silly fights. “Are you sure the back door is left unlocked?”
“Yes,” Krishnaa nodded. “I had overheard the caretaker mumbling about a broken lock.”
“Pretty careless to leave it as it is,” Arjun frowned. “What if- Well look at us, we’re breaking in the house. Also you do know the consequences of doing this right?”
“Technically, we’re entering an already unlocked house.” Satyaa assured, “We won’t get caught.”
“This is so stupid,” Agni rolled his eyes as they all entered the dark house. “Who even spread the rumours of it being haunted? It’s just a house.”
“Don’t you remember Gupta aunty fainting when she was walking by the house at night? She had fever for one week straight afterwards.” Krishnaa reminded him. “Besides, it is not like ghosts will come forward to scare us out in the daylight.”
“Seriously, you believe that?” Agni asked.
“Whatever it is, we’re already inside. Might as well look into the house.” Krishna said stepping forward. The backdoor was connected to the kitchen and it was almost empty, but clean.
They went out of the kitchen to find themselves directly into the living room which had two doors, one connecting to the main door and they guessed the another one to be for the bedroom.
“For such a big house, it has only one room?” Satyaa asked confused. Krishnaa shrugged, “They were only a couple, that too newly married.”
“They moved away?” Arjun asked picking up an old photo frame of two people, their faces however blurred.
Krishnaa shared a glance with Agni. “They died in a car accident few years ago.”
“What?” Arjun asked shocked. “So who pays the caretaker?” The photo frame in his hand suddenly felt heavy.
“Some relative who is abroad.” Agni said before pulling out a chair from the dining table and sitting down. “Honestly, I don’t think it is haunted. Seems pretty normal.”
“Why are you silent?” Satyaa asked Krishna while he stared at the open drawer in the cabinet in the living room. She moved towards him, and when she peeked into the drawer, she gasped.
“Krishnaa, Arjun!” She called out and ushered them to come towards them. “You two have met before?”
“What?” Arjun muttered confused before his eyes widened at the picture. It was him and Krishnaa sitting on what seemed more like a throne.
“But this isn’t possible.” Krishnaa furrowed her brows, “We have never met before, and why would we wear such clothes?”
Indeed. In the picture, Krishnaa was wearing what seemed like a saree but in a different style. It had a separate upper garment, and it seemed ancient.
“Have you two met before?” Agni narrowed his eyes, suspicious. “Krisnnaa.”
“What? You know all the people that I know.” Krishnaa rolled her eyes. “The most important thing is, why is this picture here?”
“Let me click a photo of it.” Satyaa pulled out her phone before snapping a picture of it. “I think we should search more. How much time do we have left?”
Krishna checked his watch, “It is 3:30 pm.”
It was 4:45 pm when they went back to the twin’s house. Sun was about to depart and orange light was scattered everywhere, the pristine living room tinted in its hues through the curtains.
“The picture was honestly the strangest thing. I think it is actually haunted.” Satyaa murmured. An eerie feeling had been surrounding them ever since they had discovered the picture.
“A person shares their face with six other people on the world. Remember the theory?” Agni said trying to dismiss the strangeness but, it was indeed a very uncanny event.
“Were cameras really there in those times where our clothes used to be like this?” Krishnaa examined the picture on Satyaa’s phone carefully.
“Maybe it was a costume photoshoot, Krishnaa” Arjun joked but the way her name rolled of his tongue felt familiar, way too familiar for him. As if he had spent a lifetime earlier calling her that.
“I think it is just a coincidence. What do you say?” Krishna turned to Satyaa who nodded albeit reluctant to let go of the topic. She turned to Krishnaa instead, a tacit understanding that they’ll go deep into it again in private later.
“I am hungry” Agni sighed pulling out his phone before looking up at his friends, “Who is up for pizza? It’s on me.”
“Mushroom one!” Satyaa beamed, “And it’ll be my treat, guys.”
“No, you always feed us Satyaa. It’s our turn now.” Krishnaa refused only to be silenced when Satyaa shot her a quasi glare.
“I refuse your rejection. My treat and it’s final.” Satyaa said wrapping Krishnaa in a side hug, leaving no room for objection.
Krishna smiled at Arjun. “Don’t ever argue with Satyaa about it. She loves treating people.”
Arjun chuckled, “You and your group is really sweet, but you also made me trespass into a house on my first day with you four.”
Agni grinned. “Welcome to our world.”
A familiar warmth surrounded Arjun once again.
Satyaa is Lakshmi after all, she loves pampering everyone :p
And this group is a rebellious teenage group. Bear with it, adventures are what shape our teenage years after all. But that doesn’t mean you’d be trespassing random houses. Don’t do that, lol. Expect the next update around Friday. Refer to this for the character sketches.
