Chapter 3 THE GAZE 3

When the sun's rays hit his face, they turned a gleaming silver shade

" Good, I really don't want to argue. It's important for me to know the details. Who you will be living with, who are these people?. I'm responsible for you " he said

Laks stared at him with a smile on her face

" Does that sound funny? " he asked

" No just curious " Laks replied

" Does my job make you curious? " he asked

" Okey, fine. Don't take everything literally " she brushed him of non chalantly

" If you say so " Together, they headed towards the house

" What will you tell them? You don't speak Hindi " Laks asked

" I just need to see them " Harry replied

The intensity with which Harry tackled every situation suddenly made Laks laugh. When they got to the door, Harry knocked

A few moments later a young, modestly dressed woman opened the door. She immediately put her palms together and bowed her head slightly

" Namaste! Miss Khan and ... ? " she stared curiously at Harry

They heard other voices coming from behind her. The house owners, an immaculately dressed couple appeared in the door way

" Sana! Are you talking to our guest at the door step? " the woman asked, when she saw that there was a man next to Lakshmi she was taken aback

" Oh... Has Miss Khan arrived with company? " the man asked his wife

" Of course... Of course, she's not alone " she smiled. She slightly nudged her husband in the side with her elbow

" Decent, unmarried young women should always have a chaperone! Our well mannered guest obviously comes from a good family. Everything needs to be explained to you " she frowned at her husband

The man looked at his wife, slightly surprised " I just didn't expect... Miss Khan is from England after all " he pouted

" She also hasn't lost sight of her good Indian upbringing! Why are we still talking at the door? "

She escorted them in a spacious and bright living room. Modern furniture blended together with rich traditional Indian furniture. The room smelt of incense. They sat down on the sofa upholstered in luxurious fabric

" Sana, did you set the table? " she asked the young woman

" No, Mrs Chauhan " Sana replied, she walked out, going into one of the rooms

Looking at the couple, Laks unintentionally smiled

" This is Captain Jones. You're right, he is my chaperone. Unfortunately he doesn't speak Hindi and he is in a rush. He has just come to meet you and to express his gratitude for your hospitality " Laks said

Mrs Chauhan beamed with a big genuine smile " Oh, how wonderful! What a fine young man "

Mr Chauhan extended his hand to Harry who confidently shook it. Harry bowed his head briefly and said in English

" Laks, please tell them that I am very happy to meet them, but I must leave now " Harry nodded goodbye to Mr and Mrs Chauhan. He looked at Laks and then headed outside

" My name is Aryan Chauhan and this is my wife Priyanka " Mr Chauhan introduced

" We are honoured to host you here " he smiled

" Yes, we were really looking forward to your arrival! Make yourself at home " Priyanka said

" Thank you very much for your hospitality. You have been very helpful" Lakshmi smiled

" Have you been to India before? " Aryan asked

" No, this is my first time here " Laks replied

" You must be very happy to set foot in your country of origin " Priyanka beamed

" I've long dreamed of visiting India. My roots are here, this is where my family comes from. I'm sure I'll love it here "

A smile lit up on their faces.

Priyanka nodded " That's wonderful my dear! India will become your second home, I'm sure of it "

" The table is set " Sana said as she entered the living room

" Wonderful! Let's have lunch and then you'll be showed your room " Priyanka said as they all headed to the dining room

After lunch, Aryan excused himself and retired to his office to work. Priyanka and Sana took Laks to the rooms on the second floor

" We have a big house but no children. So you can choose any room, they are all empty " Priyanka said

Lakshmi stopped walking once she got to the room in the middle of the floor, Sana pushed the door open to behold a beautiful room painted pink with beautiful green designs with a rich traditional Indian furniture and lots of trow pillows on one of the sofas in the room

Priyanka looked up at Laks with her big brown eyes " Make yourself at home Lakshmi. I'm close by if you need anything " She put her palms together smiling and left the room

Sana walked up to the bed and began changing the sheets, occasionally glancing at Laks

Lakshmi dragged her suitcase to the closet, opened it and started unpacking her things

' They seem to be good people. I am very lucky to be able to stay with them. Hosting foreigners and being proud about their good fortune must be something they value in their caste. By the way, I wonder which caste they belong to? it's clear that it must be an upper caste but which one? I didn't even ask what Mr Chauhan does for a living. Ah I'll do that later... '

" Miss Khan should be very careful " Sana's voice suddenly rang out, scarring Laks

She turned away from her thoughts facing Sana " I beg your pardon? "

" Miss Khan has arrived in Calcutta at a very bad time. You need to be extremely careful " Sana froze looking down at the floor. After a few seconds she added more confidently

" It's good that you have a man accompanying you. It'll be better that way. But watch out even with him you might be in danger "

Laks stopped what she was doing and took a few steps towards Sana

" Sana, what are you talking about? What's happening in Calcutta? " she asked

Sana hesitated, squeezing the edge of the blanket in her fingers. Her worried black eyes darts back and forth

" Something bad is going on in Calcutta. Something is coming... Something you should stay away from. As far away as possible " she said

" Sana, please be more specific. I don't understand " Laks stared at her, confused

" Durga puja. Kali puja. The disappearance of the people from the upper castes " Sana said

" Pujas... Indian festivities? " Laks asked

" Yes. They are preparing for them " Sana said

" Durga puja is coming up " Laks chuckled nervously

" Don't leave your group that day. There are evil people out there "

" Wouldn't it be reckless to attack people from the upper castes? " Laks asked

" There are those who don't care about castes "

Sana continued changing the sheets as if the conversation never happened

Laks was silent for a while, then she got back to her suitcase

' Sana is acting weird. There is no point in questioning her further. In any case Harry will be with me. Although, some people consider Durga a cruel goddess, the festival in her honour is usually fun. At least from what I've read ' Laks thought

She spent the rest of the day sorting her things out. By the time Sana finished helping her, it was already late. Sana warned her once more and left the room

≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈

Lakshmi was already fast asleep when her eyes suddenly flashed open. She stared at the dark room and slowly she began to stir in her bed, hoping to doze off again

Several minutes passed while she tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep. Something was bothering her. An uncomfortable feeling woke her up, the feeling of someone else's gaze on her

She opened her eyes again in complete darkness, faint light spilled on from the street, in the room. She looked around sleepily as she slowly lifted herself up on her elbows

Her eyes has not yet gotten used to the darkness, so she just blinked not seeing anything. But the feeling of someone else's gaze was still there

Laks didn't want to close her eyes and lie back down until she could see everything in the room

It took a minute for her eyes to get used to the darkness and be able to see the rest of the room.

There was no one else there

' I am imagining things. Here I am, lying awake like a fool, trying to figure out who knows what. It would be better to get some goodnight sleep before going to work tomorrow ' she thought

She wanted to laugh at her own foolishness, but she didn't laugh because she heard a rustle

It sounded like a skirt's hem was being dragged across the floor

She went nubbed. The silence was deafening, and the rustling stood out so clearly

Laks peered into the dark corners. She began to breath deeply, trying to drown out the rustling sound with her breath

" It's not funny anymore, Lakshmi. You've heard some nonsense before going to bed, and now you are sitting here, shaking " her voice rang out in the silence

At some point, it seemed to her that the rustling started getting closer. It was coming right at her and getting louder

Lakshmi jumped out of bed and rushed to the floor lamp to turn on the light with trembling fingers, she tried to switch it on. She turned around to make sure that no one was there

The room was empty, but she kept feeling someone else's presence and expecting the night visitor to suddenly reveal themselves

She doesn't care if it turned out she was just scared by the darkness and ended up looking silly

" What's with this bloody lamp " she whimpered as the light refused to come on

There was no light

Lakshmi turned to the window and saw Calcutta in a complete blackout. Not a single house was illuminated. The whole city was shrouded in darkness

She heard the floor boards creaked behind her