A structure hidden in the thick fog of Karmala Ghat – Swami Samarth College of Arts and Science.
Once a British military camp, this building was transformed into an educational institution over time. However, there were still some secrets buried deep in the history that were waiting to be revealed even today.
Many people used to tell the story of the establishment of the college – “This land has brought a curse with it” – but today’s generation laughed at such things.
The college had three main blocks – Block A, Block B and Block C. Of these, Block C – the oldest and most frightening – was avoided by both students and teachers as much as possible.
This block was three stories high. The third floor was always closed. To tell the old story, a terrible incident had taken place in 1982 – a professor committed suicide and some students also went missing with him. Rumors of their undiscovered bodies were still in the news. But new students find these things ‘suspense thrillers’, not fear.
First week of July. First year students had come to college with new dreams. There was an atmosphere of excitement in the classroom, library and canteen. Hostel room partners were being made, gangs were being formed. One of them was – “Dark Circles”.
Introduction to ‘Dark Circles’
This year a group in the college soon became famous – they named themselves – “Dark Circles.”
They are:
Raghav Shelar – cinematic in outlook, uncompromising and a bit arrogant.
Pallavi Deshmukh – sharp-tongued, bold and avid reader.
Disha Jadhav – fascinated by mysteries, a bit stubborn but loving.
Sameer Chaudhary – always fun, but a bit timid.
Mayank Kamble – Technical genius, but averse to horror.
Amey Kulkarni – Sweet-natured, secretly in love with Disha.
Their friendship was unbreakable, and they always insisted on doing something unique.
The beginning of that night
On a rainy night in August, the lights went out in the hostel. Everyone was trapped in their rooms due to a strong lightning strike.
I thought, rather than enduring the double blow of loneliness and rain, let's do something 'explosive'.
"Let's play Spirit Board!" – Pallavi suggested.
"Seriously?" – A slight shade of fear appeared on Sameer's face.
"Oh, nothing is happening. It will be fun!" – Disha.
Raghav immediately agreed and everyone decided to gather in one room.
Preparation:
The room went dark.
Four large candles were lit.
On a large piece of paper, A-Z, 0-9, YES, NO and GOODBYE were written.
Everyone held hands and formed a circle.
A cut glass was placed in the middle.
Everyone closed their eyes in silence for a few moments. The yellow light of the candles was dancing on the walls. The thunder outside was darkening the atmosphere even more.
"Spirit, are you here?" – Raghav asked in a deep voice.
Nothing happened.
Everyone waited for a while and asked another question.
"Spirit, do you want to talk to us?"
The glass trembled a little for a moment.
Everyone stopped breathing.
But then... nothing.
"What a fool! Nothing is happening." – Sameer said with a smile.
"Wait a minute! This is what happens when the game starts." – Disha.
He asked some questions again.
But the glass didn't move.
Mayank started playing a game on his mobile. Pallavi played with the candle with her fingers and said, "Maybe the ghost got scared seeing us."
Everyone started laughing.
Raghav even held the glass and joked – "Look, I'm driving it myself!"
Everyone's laughter and mockery increased.
Mayank unknowingly threw out a dialogue –
"Come on, let's become ghosts!"
Everyone laughed out loud. In a few moments, that 'Spirit Board' game started to seem completely pointless.
"BORING! Let's eat Maggie instead." – Pallavi.
"Yes! Great idea." – Amey.
Leaving everything as it was, they left the room carelessly. No one noticed that a word was slowly appearing in a corner on the paper shaken by the wind...
"AWAKENED."
They went to have lunch, chatted, got drenched in the rain and came back to their room to sleep.
Everything was very simple, very funny.
But... something different was walking behind them with light steps.
Two-three days passed in silence.
Everything was normal, having fun. Disha and her friends were busy in college, in the hostel, in their daily work. But in that silence, something was invisible, a dark shadow seemed to be following their footsteps.
Disha's first experience
She was sitting alone in the library one morning. That day she felt very normal, but suddenly she had a strange, unfamiliar experience.
She was reading a book when a story was turning softly from the pages of the book. She suddenly felt that there was a person in the hall, she stood up straight and looked in her direction.
But there was nothing there.
"What is this?" Disha was confused. She covered her eyes and focused on the book again.
Suddenly, she felt – as if someone was whispering in her ear.
"You played, and now you have to bear it."
It had begun – Disha, this experience of hers had shaken her. It was very short, but very dark.
In the morning
Disha was somewhat restless in the morning. She came to the hostel lounge after a long time, but there Amey, Pallavi and Sameer were laughing and chatting.
"I hope nothing happened because of your useless game!" – Sameer said with a laugh.
"There was some kind of outcry in front of me," Disha shouted, "You won't believe it."
"What kind?" Pallavi asked.
ammm,
"Oh, nothing.It might be my visuals, leave it.
