Deep and Deepika were sleeping on my right while I was laying on my back staring at the ceiling. I tossed left and right on the bed, I wasn’t getting sleep. How to know about Tara and her secret? Yes, the three locked rooms, I will have to unlock them tomorrow and find out what’s the truth. I turned to my right and kept my arm around Deepika and heard a soft music play, don’t know why but I felt attracted towards it . I covered myself in bed sheet trying to sleep but couldn’t. Who’s playing piano at this hour? No one knows how to play it.
I sat up and removed the bedsheet above me and slowly got up. I went towards library as the piano was there only. With slow steps, I approached the door of library. I twisted the knob to left, it didn’t open, I twisted to right, again it didn’t open. I kept twisting it left and right putting whole force on it pushing the door from the shoulders and suddenly it opened and I fell inside the library on my stomach. “Ow!”, I screamed. Now the music was a little louder, but wasn’t deafening. I stood up on my feet and looked around, I went towards the direction of piano and saw a girl about my height with her back towards me.
“Who are you?”, I asked, no answer came and I got some blurry flashbacks as if this music has something to do with me. In the flashbacks I saw two girls sitting and playing the same music. I went towards the girl and tapped on her shoulder, I wished I shouldn’t have done it. She turned and I jumped as she put an arm around me and pulled me towards her making me stand beside her which aroused me to play the music, don’t know why but her touch somehow made me nostalgic, I was confused. I played the music with her but suddenly it hit me, who is she and why am I near her? ‘Tara,’ I said remembering Deepika’s story. She turned her face to me and I startled as her eyes were fully white, no black at all. I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran from there but fell in between when I was half way out, she held me back and I was terrified by her cold touch. I stood up quickly with the music still playing and I quickly ran out locking the door of the library.
“Aarohi, what happened? Why were you playing the piano at this hour?”, asked Deep making me startle. “I wasn’t, look its still playing, it was a white eyed girl”, I said panting heavily. “Relax, relax, it’s not playing now, come, sleep”, he said and took me to my room while I continued pointing at the door getting scared. “It’s nothing”.
He laid me down and closed my eyes with his palm and laid down beside Deepika while I slowly drifted to sleep trying to forget what I saw. The alarm rang and I woke up switching it off. My body was shaking and I felt weak. I woke up Deepika and Deep. They woke up. “If you are not feeling well then stay at home, I will take Deepika”, he said. “No I will come along”, I insisted. “No, you’re not coming”, he said palming my mouth and Deepika giggled. “Awww hahaha”, she laughed teasing us. I blushed.
“Ok m staying”, I said and laid down, sleep took over me again. I woke up at 11:00 am and looked around the room, Deepika was sitting on the study table scribbling something in her diary, did she again saw Tara? I got up. “Deepika”, I called. “Hmm?”, she asked. “Did you got admission?”, I asked. “Yes mumma, the school is very good, papa went to office interview after dropping me home”, she said still writing.
“Congratulations, my baby”, I said and kissed her hair. She hugged me and I went downstairs and made myself breakfast then made chocolate milkshake and fudge cupcakes for Deepika as a treat to her. It took thirty minutes and I went upstairs to call her downstairs, as I went at the entrance of the room, I saw her looking under the bed, then in the cupboard, I stood behind her and called her name. She immediately looked back. “What are you doing Deepa? What are you finding?”, I asked her, I always call her Deepa by love.
“My slippers”, she said not meeting her eyes with me, I knew she was talking to Tara. I don’t even know if she exists or it’s just her imagination. “Go downstairs, I made your favorite cupcakes and milkshake for my cute doll”, I said pulling her cheeks. “Really? Thank you mumma”, she hugged me and went downstairs. I really wanted to give her a treat, I didn’t only wanted to distract her, she’s my daughter after all, I can do anything to make her happy and to protect her. I took all the room keys and counted them, it were five, that includes the locked rooms as well. I firstly read Deepika’s diary to know if she again saw her. There was nothing inside, just a drawing of me, Deep, her and Tara. Wow, my daughter is surely an artist but why is Tara here? Now I know she exists because I also saw her yesterday near piano.
I went to the the first locked room next to our room, I tried all the keys inside and finally it opened. I ran my hand on the wall, it touched the switchboard and I switched on the light. There were two single beds inside, there was a name written on each of them. One read “Aalisha Raichand” and the other read “Tara Raichand”. So that means Tara really exists. I went to one of the cupboards, inside was clothes, a photo album and a diary. I took the diary and turned to first page, there was the picture of that white eyed girl I saw in library but there were two of her? No silly, she had a twin. Below the photograph was written Tara Raichand. I kept flipping pages and read every page.
‘Today was the third day of school, I study in Bombay Model School, I became friends with a boy named Mayank and he’s damn cute.’
And many more diary entries were there, then I came to a page where there was a picture of a man. I was shocked.
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