11 years back...flat no. 1302, 13^th floor, La Galleria

Ruhi had never felt so beautiful in her small 15 year life. She was alone in her apartment and awaiting a special guest.

Her parents had gone to Bangalore for a wedding. As she was coming up after helping her parents load up in a call taxi, she met the cute guy on the 14^th floor, Revansh.

As she entered the lift, his impish smile lit up the lift.

“Hi Ruhi. Looking cute and radiant today.” As he said this, he moved nearer.

Ruhi's heartbeats increased. Her cheeks took on a pink hue. She returned the smile. Every girl has a crush on this guy but he pays extra attention to me, she thought. 

“Hi Revansh. You know, my parents just left for Bangalore so poor me, I will be all alone for 2 days.” Hardly had she shared this, she realized that she had shared a bit too much. But he had that effect on her. She suddenly sensed him gazing at her breasts making her uncomfortable.

Revansh realized that she had caught him. A smile played on his lips. “You know what? Let’s have a small party this evening. Let’s have some fun, okay?”

Ruhi just nodded her head. Her heart was jumping in her mouth with anticipation. Finally I will kiss him tonight, she thought. We will have a cute little party. Me and Revansh. Revansh and me.

As she exited the lift, his eyes lingered on her booty. I will possess her tonight.  Number 11 would be my score tonight.

The doorbell rang. Her face flushed with excitement, she rushed to open it. As soon as she opened the door, Revansh rushed in. Grabbing her, he planted his lips on hers roughly, even as he banged the door shut. Shocked as she was, she finally submitted to his kisses. But this was not the romantic evening she had dreamt about. There was no stopping Revansh. Her submission encouraged him to go further. He made a grab for her breasts, cupping them and pressing them hard. “No, don't", Ruhi resisted. But his passion ignited the animal within him. He bit her lips as his hands manhandled her. Ruhi kicked him hard in the groin sending him groaning, his grip loosening. Taking the opportunity,  Ruhi ran towards the door, opened it and was outside, in the open area between the flats. Inside, Revansh recovered and chased behind her. Soon he grabbed her and pushed her down, one hand squeezing her mouth while the other tried to lift her skirt. In their skirmish, they had reached the open awning windows. In desperation Ruhi reached down and squeezed hard on his testicles, making him release her and she tried to escape from him once again. But as she did so, her legs hit and broke the glass on the awning window and she fell. She let out a blood curdling scream as death approached fast. Seeing her go down, Revansh panicked and pushed the elevator buttons, his fingers shaking. Looking back over his shoulders to see whether someone comes out of the other flats, he rushed towards the stairs. As he stumbled, a big, broken glass piece hit him on the neck, decapitating him.

A door of a neighboring flat opened. Old Mr. Tandon came out to check on the noises which he heard outside his door. He saw the door to the staircase swinging wildly. He made his way to the staircase hesitantly. The moment he fully opened the door, he recoiled from the macabre scene in front of him. He covered his eyes in horror and stumbled back to his flat when he saw the broken awning window. He was staring at the window when he saw a face, the hair messed up and bleeding profusely from the head, but the eyes wide and staring into space, slowly rising from below and then rushing past him. A cold draft hit him and in fright, he collapsed, right outside his own door.

Rakesh Lall came home late at night, almost at dinner time.

More often than not, he was always in a foul mood whenever he returned home. A caustic boss made his life hell in the office but a horrible local train commute towards his home in Bhayander exacerbated his frame of mind. In contrast, Rukmini, his wife, was a genial sort of a person. A housewife raising a teenage son almost singlehandedly, she was the epitome of patience. Whatever life threw at her she faced it with a smile on her face.

But today was different. As soon as Rakesh entered their house, Rukmini could deduce that her hubby was unusually cheerful. In fact, upon noticing that Raghuvansh was not around, he tried to kiss her on her lips.

“Umm...what are you doing? Raghuvansh will soon be back from his classes”, she protested feebly. But not wanting to turn off  her husband's rare ardour she proceeded to give a warm hug to Rakesh.

“Why is someone so romantic today?”, she asked while resting her head against his chest.

“Rukmini,  I am so happy. I have been trying to find a good house for us which is nearer to my office but shouldn’t be a big burden on us financially. I tell you Rukmini, nowadays banks give the most ridiculous offers which might appear tempting but will be a drain on the finances in the long run. But today I have almost finalized a deal.”

Wow! A new house. It was now Rukmini’s turn to get excited.

“Superb. Where is it, Rakesh? And when will you take me there? I would also like to see it. And what about Raghuvansh? He should also see it.” Rukmini was now asking rapid-fire questions.

“Yes, yes Rukmini. How can I finalize something for the family without showing it to you? And Raghuvansh is no child now, he will also see it. In fact, he would love it. It’s not a small stand-alone 2 storeyed building like this but a tower.” Rakesh's eyes twinkled as he said all this. “This tower is in Andheri, near the Lokhandwala complex. Not like Bhayander, almost outside Mumbai. More importantly, Andheri is on the fast track of western railway and I will be skipping 8 stations. 8 stations, can you imagine! Lucky that I came to know about this great deal from one of my colleagues staying in Andheri otherwise which middle-class family like us can dream about making a home in Andheri. It gives me more energy.”

“And you know? Juhu beach is nearby, a hip place like Bandra is not far, so Raghuvansh would totally enjoy staying there. Hopefully he would also make some great friends there.”

Just then there was a knock on the door. Rukmini disentangled herself from her husband’s embrace and opened the door. Raghuvansh entered the room like a gust of wind, throwing his backpack on the sofa and rushed inside without a word with either of his parents. Rukmini and Rakesh stared at his retreating form and then at each other. “Boys...”, Rukmini uttered and proceeded to lift the backpack from the sofa.

It had been 3 months since the Lall's had shifted to their 14^th floor flat in La Galleria, an 18 floor building built @12 years back. While Rukmini and Rakesh were busy in decorating their dream home and buying the latest appliances to go with it, Raghuvansh’s priorities were different. His favourite pass time was to go to the nearby Lokhandwala area or Juhu and many times to Bandra to ogle at girls. He thought that the girls here had a different shine to them. Their translucent skin looked extra luscious to his teenage eyes. And he enjoyed the different degrees of skin shows. Though he refused to show it to his old guys, he was feeling ecstatic in this metropolitan heaven. Whenever he saw an exceptionally beautiful girl crossing his path, he thanked his father for deciding to shift here. And he made friends; friends with whom he could indulge in his new time pass.

One  Saturday evening his friend Sanjay called, asking him to join him on a jaunt to Bandra. He didn’t need another invitation. Skinny jeans topped by a white t-shirt casually left untucked at the front, a blue jacket worn elegantly above it, the Adidas completed the look. And he was ready to face the world of nubile damsels. He didn’t bother to tell his parents before stepping out. Only when they heard the door banged closed, did they realize that their boy had left. “Boys...”, it was the turn of Rakesh to say in exasperation.

As he stepped into the lift, the electricity went off. Luckily the lift had not closed and Raghuvansh didn’t have the patience for the generators to start. He rushed towards the stairs. This was the first time that he had gone anywhere near the stairs since coming to stay there. As he opened the door leading to the staircase, he saw that the way down was closed off by worn off plywood sheet. However the way up was open. He was puzzled and moved towards a small crack in the plywood. He bent down to peer on the other side of the plywood. As his eyes adjusted to the relative darkness on the other side, he saw nothing but cobwebs. A draft of cold air hit his face from the crack making him back off, his arms prickling with goosebumps. Still he tried pushing against the plywood; it wouldn’t budge. Giving up he rushed back to the lift which had now started functioning. The rest of his evening with his friend, passed with their usual Saturday antics.

“Papa, do you know why the way down the staircase is blocked?”, he asked his father the next morning on the breakfast table.

Without putting down the Sunday edition, Rakesh answered casually, “Well, it’s an old building. Somebody must have put their old things there, blocking the way. People are irresponsible. I will complain to the Secretary.”

“No papa. Blocked means deliberately blocked. A plywood sheet has been nailed there so that no one can descend by the stairs.”

“What do you mean? That’s illegal. You can’t just block a staircase in any building. Will you please show me? Come, let’s go.”

Rukmini was actually happy that her son was talking to his father for whatever reason. That they were communicating with each other was more than enough. She looked at both of them with satisfaction as they went outside. 

Raghuvansh opened the door leading to the staircase. “See, it’s blocked. One cannot go down. The way up is not blocked.”

The stairs were dark and smelled pungent. They climbed up the stairs. As they went up the air cleared and the pungency disappeared to a great extent.

Rakesh was disturbed. “How can this be? This is ridiculous. What if, God forbid, there is a fire in any of the top floors? People can lose their life due to this foolishness. Don’t worry,  I will talk to the Secretary about this. Give him a piece of my mind. Come, let’s go home now.”

“Anand bhai, why are the stairs blocked with plywood on the 14^th floor? How can the society allow it?”

Rakesh was sitting in the society office with the Secretary, Anand bhai and the Chairman, Venkat Ramakrishnan.

“Arre, Rakesh bhai. First tell me, what will you have, tea or coffee? You know, we have put up a vending machine in this office. Now tell me,  would any society office have such facilities? We take pride in our society. It’s one of a kind in entire Andheri.” Anand bhai was trying to indulge in small talk.

Rakesh felt happy with his decision to shift in this building. He asked for tea. Once Anand bhai had served him the tea, Rakesh brought up the subject once again for which he had requested to meet the Society management.

“Anand bhai, now tell me. Why is there an obstruction put on the stairs? Please get it removed immediately. It’s dangerous. What if there is a fire on the upper floors? Who will be responsible if lives are lost due to the obstruction?”

Anand bhai smiled at him. Rakesh felt as if the smile was forced. As his eyes darted from Rakesh to Venkat and back at Rakesh, he replied, “Yes, yes. Why not? We will take up your proposal in the next society meeting.”

“There won’t be any fire!” It was Venkat who had almost screamed. Both, Rakesh and Anand bhai looked at Venkat in surprise. “The partition will not be removed! I won’t let it happen. I tell you, Anarth will befall upon this society if that partition is removed.”

Rakesh was flabbergasted. He wasn’t expecting this.

He looked at Anand bhai and gesturing towards an agitated Venkat, he asked,  “What is he talking about? Is he in his senses? What anarth he is talking about, Anand bhai?”

Anand bhai was silent for some time. Hesitantly he looked towards Venkat.

“Why are you looking at me? Can’t you just tell him? He needs to be aware. After all, he too has a teenage son. He wouldn’t like to put him into any kind of danger, would he? Tell him. Tell him everything.” Venkat had started agitatedly but softened up a bit when he talked about Rakesh's son.

“Now, why are you bringing my son into all this? Bull-shit! What danger can he face if the obstruction is removed.” Rakesh was fuming now.

Anand bhai looked pleadingly at Venkat. “Okay, since Anand bhai won’t talk it’s upto me to warn you. Please pull your chair nearer. Pay attention to what I am saying and then decide.”

Venkat was being quite mysterious but Rakesh decided to humour him. He pulled up the chair.

Venkat began. “Do you believe 13 is an evil number?”

“What sort of question is this? What is the relevance to our main topic of discussion?”. Rakesh felt, Venkat was testing his patience. Was he deliberately trying to provoke him?

“Hear me out first. Obviously your response shows that you don’t believe in superstition. I too didn’t believe any such thing. I always believed that such things are the mind games of gullible village folks who don’t have any better avenue to pass their time.

I was among the very first occupiers of this building. Everything was going fine when...”. Venkat took a pause and stared at Anand bhai to pick up the from here.

“Arre, Rakesh bhai, those memories are best left unsaid.” It seemed Anand bhai didn’t want to discuss any further but he continued. “Actually we have not blocked the staircase on the 14^th floor.  We have also blocked the stairs going up from the 12^th floor. The entire 13^th floor is sealed off...”. Anand bhai paused as if wanting this information to sink in.

Rakesh broke the silence. “But why? What is the problem on the 13^th floor? Other than someone’s foolish fear.” Rakesh looked at Venkat pointedly as he said this.

“Why are you looking at me like this? Do you think I am superstitious? Let me warn you, don’t even think of accessing that unfortunate 13^th floor. Do you take us to be fools to block a floor? Then listen...”

11 years back...flat no. 1302, 13^th floor, La Galleria

A calamity had befallen on the Dalpats'. Their daughter Ruhi had fallen from the 13^th floor awning window. No one knew whether she fell by accident or did she commit suicide. Or was she pushed?

On the same day, a calamity had befallen on the Agrawals'. Their son Revansh had met with an mysterious accident on the stairs, just above the 13^th floor. He had been decapitated by a broken glass piece. No one could fathom how such a big piece of glass had reached the staircase and how it had managed to decapitate him. Was he murdered? Were he and Ruhi murdered?

And what about poor Mr. Tandon ? Why was he outside his apartment door? And his face was contorted  with fright, as if he had seen the devil himself. What had he seen? Had he been a witness to the murders of two innocent teens?

No one knew the answers but all three families had vacated their flats within a month of their tragedies. The police too, couldn’t make much headway and had not been able to prove any murders. The flats remained unsold for a year as the triple tragedy was still fresh in everybody’s mind and prospective buyers heard unpleasant rumours about the 2 flats on the 13^th floor and one flat on the 14^th floor.

But life goes on and within another year the flats were sold off and the new owners started living.

One of the new owners who had shifted in Mr. Tandon’s flat were the Sharmas', who had two teenage children, Riddhima and Rishi. Everything went well for a few months. The occupants of the building had already forgotten about the triple tragedy by now.

One day, Mr. Sharma asked Rishi to go to the market to get some medicines. Rishi had just entered the lift when the power went off. Muttering expletives under his breath, he came out and approached the staircase door. He had hardly descended 2-3 steps when he felt he heard something behind him. It sounded like moans of an injured female. He turned his head to look and saw a wooden ply resting against a wall and some red liquid seeping out. Curious, he shifted the plywood to investigate and saw the red liquid seeping from the wall. Suddenly a rusty, metallic smell pervaded his senses. He recoiled in horror. It was undoubtedly the smell of blood. But where was it coming from? The wall from which it was seeping was the partition between the staircase and the passage of the 13^th floor. Even as he looked and tried to make sense, the blood flow increased suddenly and it was now gushing in spurts. What the hell, he thought and stumbled backwards and lost his footing on the stairs. As he tried to steady himself, a huge piece of broken glass came hurtling from the open door and decapitated him. Just before it pierced his neck, he saw a blood drenched girl’s face in the glass, as it spun towards him. His head tumbled down the stairs and came to rest on the 12^th floor, his facial expression frozen as if he had let out a scream before losing his life.

“And Mr. Lall, this accident was similar to the first one involving poor Revansh. But we didn’t understand. We took no corrective actions to prevent this. No Mr. Lall, we too didn’t believe in superstitions. We took proper care to remove any glass, big or small, from the staircase. Still 4 such accidents happened on the staircase. Always on the 13^th floor, always involving teenage boys, always a piece of broken glass decapitating them. So, 8 years back, when someone suggested sealing off the 13^th floor, we accepted without any delay. And guess what? There hasn’t been a single accident since then. Now what do you have to say?”

Rakesh just stared at the Chairman and the Secretary. His mind was numb with all that macabre information. He got up, went to the dispenser and poured another tea for himself.

Then turning back towards them he said, “I think what you are saying is just mumbo-jumbo. I can only see the danger of blocking the stairs in case of fire. We cannot take the risk. Please open the staircase. You can still seal off the 13^th floor and the door leading to the staircase from that floor if you really believe whatever you are saying. Please remove the obstruction...or I will approach the Fire department.”

Venkat erupted with rage. “Who do you think you are, Mr. Lall? Are those staying from 14^th to the 18^th floor, fools to have accepted the blocking till now. I tell you, you will just open the Pandora’s box. Don’t go on this path.” Then appealing to the parental instincts of Rakesh, Venkat continued,  “Don’t you have a teenage son yourself? Are you not afraid?”

“No Sir. Not at all. What I am really interested in, is for my family to have a escape alternative in case of fire.”

“Mr. Lall. You will repent. This is no village yarn. Since 8 years we have kept it at bay, whatever it is. Don’t undo and unleash it once again. It’s not safe.” Venkat kept shouting in vain as Rakesh stormed out of the meeting.

It had been almost 6 months since all obstructions had been removed on the instructions of the Fire department. 6 months of no untoward incident. The 13^th floor continued to be sealed off. Still no household from the 14^th floor and above, used the staircase near the 13^th floor. The fear pervaded.

Raghuvansh had called Sanjay for completing the project work which needed to be submitted to the college the next day. They both sat till late at night and managed to complete it.

“Yaar, it’s too late now. If you don’t mind, I will sleep here only. At this hour, the street outside my building belongs to a pack of dogs.”

“Yeah, make yourself at home.” Raghuvansh threw one pillow at Sanjay. “Hope you don’t suffer from flatulence. Oh, Maa had to serve chole-bhature today of all the days.”

“Bastard, it seems you suffer from that. Atleast today, you hold it in.” And so the friendly banter go on for some time before everything became quiet.

The next morning, Sanjay told Raghuvansh that he would quickly go home and freshen up and reach the college.

“Okay boss. But please descend by the lift only. Don’t go by the staircase like a monkey.”

“Do I look mad to go by staircase and waste my time. After all my time is important. Not like you, wasting like a vella.” While stepping outside, he passed Rakesh who was sitting on a sofa reading the morning papers. “Bye uncle.” He said while opening the door.

“Bye Sanjay. Do keep visiting. Go by the lift, okay.” Rakesh too cautioned him.

Strange family, he thought as he pressed the lift button. He watched the lift rising, the floors changing on the display. Suddenly the display blanked off. He pressed the button a few more times, more in hope. But it didn’t restart.

He opened the door to the staircase and started descending. As he reached the landing of the 13^th floor, he felt the light dimming. And 4-5 steps in front of him, a girl. A sexy girl. Ummm...that’s why Raghuvansh was telling me not to use the staircase? Jealous fellow, didn’t want to meet her. But his father too? Dirty uncle, he thought and smiled to himself. I will remain behind her and enjoy the view, he thought.

Halfway down the stairs between the 13^th and 12^th floor, in his unwavering attention to the girls back side, he didn’t notice the cobwebs hitting his face. Shit, where did this come from? He tried clearing them with his hands, when he saw that the girl had stopped too. A cold draft hit his face and goosebumps rose from his neck. The girl felt nearer but still looking straight ahead. He felt like touching her but the cobwebs were quite sticky. The girl started turning towards him slowly. The hair fell over her cheeks which were pale. The skin barely covered her cheekbones when a wound opened up on her forehead and blood oozed out.  Suddenly the blood spurted and some splashed on his face. And those deep-set eyes, looked at nothing in particular. Sanjay let out a blood curdling scream and wet his pants. He tried to move but was being squeezed by the ever increasing cobwebs. The girl whipped out a big piece of broken glass and decapitated Sanjay, whose body fell to the ground in a heap.

The scream was heard by Rakesh, who rushed out of his house.  Seeing the lift closed and staircase door open he realized that Sanjay had taken the stairs. He raced towards the stairs and ran down. The scene he saw was grisly. Somehow he gathered himself and rushed back up. Raghuvansh was just entering the staircase area when Rakesh held him.

“No, don’t. Sanjay has had an accident. You don’t have to see. Call the police.”