A night at Hotel Kaalipara

An uncomfortable stillness emanated in the air around Rajpath road. I stood there with my suitcase in my hand, the hair on the back of my neck standing on edge. Glancing left then right, I crossed the road and entered the premises of Hotel Kaalipara.

***

Just six months or so back, my childhood friend Sejuti had told me about this oh-so-famous institution.

"So, what's so famous about this hotel?" I asked, smiling at her.

Behind me, I could feel the vibration of six limbs chasing me. As I made it halfway up the staircase, one cold, skinny hand grabbed my ankle, holding me in place. I turned around and threw my pendant at it. Its skin burned in the darkness, but it refused to let go. Just as I thought it was all over, another hand grabbed mine from atop the staircase and forced the creature to relinquish its grip on me.

"Well, it's haunted. Famously. Like if you go there and sign your own name on the guest signup sheet, you become stuck there forever. Many people have gone missing there, but the police never found anything during their investigation. That's because they didn't sign their names on the sheet."

"What do you think I should do about it?"

"You do go around telling people you're an experienced individual when it comes to things occult or supernatural. You say that it's how you wrote all of your famous books. So, why not help some people out and also get another book out of it?" she replied, giving me that flirtatious smile I had seen one too many times.

Letting my eyes adjust to the darkness, I stepped in front of the reception desk and rang the bell. Immediately, a candle was lit out of thin air and put into a portable holder.

***

Stepping inside the malevolent structure, I immediately noticed that the power was out.

Letting my eyes adjust to the darkness, I stepped in front of the reception desk and rang the bell. Immediately, a candle was lit out of thin air and put into a portable holder.

"Sir, if you could kindly sign your name here and state how long you would ideally like to be here for", said the front desk employee.

His hair looked mangled and even in the yellow light of the candle, his skin looked grey and moulding.

I took out my trusty Parker fountain pen, the same one I had passed my matric exam with and signed with my pseudonym, Oshim Chaudhury.

"Sir, if you could kindly give me an ID card so I can verify your information."

"Well, I actually forgot my ID card on the train. But here is 100 taka. It should cover my stay for a few weeks. I am actually a writer and want to write a book about this place…"

Before I could finish, he grabbed the money out of my hand, thanked me, blew out the candle and left. I could hear his footsteps dragging away slowly. Baffled, I lit the candle he had just put out and went looking for my room.

***

"So, have you been there before?" I asked.

"To Kaalipara? Only once. I kind of regret it."

"Why?"

"Well, for one I can't fall asleep without getting that weird feeling like there's something there, watching and observing me from somewhere hidden."

***

As I strolled through the corridors of the hotel, I couldn't help but feel that eerie phenomenon Sejuti had mentioned.

Entering room 505, I put my luggage aside and prepped my tools—one large flashlight, an audio recorder and a holy pendant.

Venturing back out into the halls, I could not spot a single soul. I decided to go downstairs, as Sejuti had mentioned something about the basement.

The stairs creaked with each step I took and I could hear voices in the distance. Finally reaching the basement door, I turned the knob slowly and pushed the door slightly ajar to get a view of what was happening.

I could see the back of the receptionist, holding another candle, murmuring some incantations. As my eyes drifted to the floor in front of him, sprawled out on all six legs from what it seemed, was some grey skinned entity. Hair draped over its head as it turned in a circle.

For a second, my heart froze. I could no longer feel a beat, as the creature turned and one lone eye stared at me from underneath the dark pile of hair. The next second, I was running towards the basement stairs.

Behind me, I could feel the vibration of six limbs chasing me. As I made it halfway up the staircase, one cold, skinny hand grabbed my ankle, holding me in place. I turned around and threw my pendant at it. Its skin burned in the darkness, but it refused to let go.

Just as I thought it was all over, another hand grabbed mine from atop the staircase and forced the creature to relinquish its grip on me.

***

The next moment, we were standing outside in the hotel's yard, breathing heavily. Me and my saviour Sejuti. As we caught our breath, we looked at each other and laughed.

"Damn, I thought I was done for. In no universe had I expected you to turn up", I said, relieved.

She looked up at me, smiling. The colour seemed to have drained from her face from all the running, but we were out now. She tossed me the log book which I had signed in earlier in the day.

"So, if you sign your name in here, you're stuck forever. I don't know what kind of magic it is, but it works," she said, looking at the hotel entrance.

I turned over the pages to see an endless list of names. Turning and turning, I found one that stood out to me.

Sejuti Saha.

"I thought you didn't sign your real name."

"I didn't."

I turned to the last page of the book, Oshim Chaudhury was now replaced by Debashish Roy.

As I looked back up, her beautiful doting eyes were gone, replaced by black spheres of an endless void. She grabbed my arm with claw-like hands, pulling me closer.

Her beautiful lips were long gone, replaced by this gaping hole that now bore fangs. Only one noise escaped her mouth, the kind of sound you hear when someone drags their nails across a chalkboard.

Krrr-kkrrrr-krrr

Aaqib Hasib is a sub-editor at The Daily Star. Reach him at aaqib.hasib@thedailystar.net.