Chapter: 1 - Caretakers

The dark sky had no way for Juwan. He used the flashlight option on his Xperia to see the pathway to his house. He didn't think that his life would go through such interesting changes within a small time period. He never thought that Ms Susan would leave all her wealth in his name when she died. Juwan, a 17-year-old boy had been Ms Susan's part-time caretaker.

Juwan took care of her from 6 in the evening to 6 in the morning. Ms Susana, a retired military officer was a spinster. She retired voluntarily when she turned 40. Unfortunately later in an accident she lost her eyesight. And so to take care of her, she assigned caretakers. Juwan had to do the night shift as he had to attend college in the morning. Ms Susan was always kind to him and so he took very good care of her. Her death came as a shock for him. More than the fact that he won't get any other job, Juwan was more upset that such a good lady had died in such a pathetic manner.

The day she died had begun with bright rays of sunlight and hope. Juwan attended his classes as usual. Him and his close friend, Jana skipped their 3rd period so that they could have a nice lunch in a restaurant a little far away from the college. Even though he was only in his first year, he always had Dhanu, a senior's back up due to some details in his past that he never mentioned to anyone. They had chicken biryani and some jigarthanda. Since that city was very famous for that dessert, the cost was very low. Even though, Juwan was not a native of that country, he loved that country for its food alone.

After a hearty meal, they returned to their on-going 4th period silently when the professor was not paying attention to the students.

That evening, as usual, Juwan went to Ms Susan's house. When he reached the house it was past 5 a quarter to 6. Ms Susan told him that the morning caretaker had forgotten to get her tablets. And so Juwan rode his bike to the pharmacy outside the Junga area. Ms Susan had bought a large area of land, filled with huge trees.

she had built a small homely bungalow in the middle of the thick woods. The only way to the bungalow was through a small narrow path through which only two-wheelers could enter. She later named her territory 'VANA-BHUMI'. The odd fantasies of Ms.Susan always bewildered the people around her. Ms Susan's cars were parked outside the Junga area in a private parking lot.

Juwan got the tablets and returned quickly. But in that short period of time, something horrible had taken place. The door was left open and the lights were not turned off, yet Ms Susan couldn't be found in any of the rooms. She may have been blind, but she knew her territory. As a trained military officer, her other senses made up for her eyesight.

Juwan searched everywhere and called out to her but there was no reply. He was terrified. Tired of searching the whole house he sat on the bed in her bedroom with his hands on his head. The sky darkened and a heavy wind blew through the house. The air turned cold as Juwan heard a sound and the hair on his neck stood up. The sound was coming from the wardrobe that he hadn't bothered to look into. Due to the heavy winds, he had heard something swing. The squeaky sound chilled Juwan's spine. He opened the wardrobe and a small room illuminated.

He had only worked for a few months and had never intervened in Ms Susan's privacy and so he did not know about the secret room. Astonished by the discovery, the next thing that shocked him was the limp corpse, Ms Susan. She had hung herself on the fan. Her tongue out, and her eyes wide, she was already dead. Juwan still couldn't remove the image from his brain. The police closed the case as plain suicide. And he couldn't do anything about it. Later Ms Susan's lawyer contacted him saying that Ms Susan's will had clearly stated that all her properties would go to both her caretakers.

Juwan and his parents were shocked to hear the news.

Later Juwan got 15 crores in cash and the Junga area. While the other caretaker, whom he did not know got Ms.Susan's cars and a flat. While thinking about this, with the help of the torch in his Xperia, Juwan crossed the narrow path to the cottage. It was a cold night and Juwan was wearing a double-layered shirt and a pair of jean.

He reached the cottage and was surprised to find the cottage door open. Slowly, he entered the cottage. The hall lights were turned on and a young woman about 20 was sitting in the sofa. She wore a sleeveless top and a pair of jean. Her fair face had no flaw in them. On seeing Juwan she walked towards him. He was dumbstruck and didn't make a single move.

"I suppose you are Juwan, the evening caretaker. I am Mary, the morning caretaker. As you know even I got a few fancy stuff." The silent Juwan suddenly spoke up.

"Yes nice to meet you. But how did you get in?"Juwan's question was not a mystery at all. Since Mary had been the morning caretaker about whom Juwan knew nothing about until that night, she had a spare key with her. Even the lawyer had spoken to both of them separately and privately, so that was the first time Juwan was seeing Mary.

" Well you didn't change the lock and I had the old spare key with me." She said as Juwan cursed himself silently for being so careless.

"And what do you want?" Juwan asked plainly as the surrounding was getting awkward every minute. Suddenly Mary's look changed to Juwan's surprise.

"We need to talk." Mary said.