Second Lodge

Chapter 2

Two days after meeting Nobert Thomas, Mr. Daniel Pothan, chairman of credence group had agreed to see them. They stuffed inside the purple Nano and started towards the resort ‘Reverie retreat’ owned by Credence Group, Parked the car and started walking towards the lounge, Nobert was waiting, he led them to pathway paved with black and white interlocking tiles, like pawns in a chess they made soft steps towards the cottage no.12 where Mr.Pothan was staying for the time being. The façade of the cottage was not attractive. Nobert pressed the bell and caretaker led them inside. The interior of cottage was not as shabby as the façade, the floor paved with Carara marble. There stood a big aquarium in the living area, couches and cushions were all modern styled, the space inside were adequate to occupy a four-member family. Nobert asked something to the caretaker and the caretaker went inside, a few minutes later tall well trimmed man entered, he was very fair and jubilant, with high cheek bones and oblong face, his eyes were slightly sunken. He smiled and wished every one, they all stood to pay him respect but he asked to sit. He sat on a cushioned wicker chair.

Ana was curiously studying his features, he was wearing a white linen shirt and ash colored trousers, his full sleeves had been locked with golden cufflinks. The caretaker brought steaming coffee within no time. “Hope you all like coffee” said Daniel breaking the silence. There was a brief introduction of the team members after Mr. Pothan introduced himself.

“Well you might have briefed by Nobert, he is my special friend here, and I am very glad that he is always there for me when I needed him.” Daniel smiled with a glance towards Nobert.

Nobert stood and smiled at Mr. Pothan

“Sir my job is over; shall I take leave?” asked Nobert.

“Yes Nobert, words are not enough to thank your service and you shall meet me day after tomorrow.”

Nobert wished the team good luck and left.

“So, your organization the ‘PARESK’, what does it stand for?” The chairman asked.

“Paranormal Research society of Kerala” said Rexin

“Ok I don’t know anything about this paranormal investigation and earlier I didn’t believe in the ghosts. But our company"s business is in trouble, we invested heavily on the property in the hill station, now no man will enter there, fearing the ghosts. The Mist valley resort was our million-dollar project, we have to reopen and operate it inhuming the ghost story at any cost.”

“Sir have you experienced it” asked Ana

“No, it’s not me, I found nothing in the Mansion”.

“Sir, who experienced the paranormal activity in the Mansion?” Hemant asked.

“Can we see those who have experienced the paranormal activity” asked Noah.

“Twelve years back during a business trip to California I met this man, a smart young chap from Cochin. He was working in Silicon Valley, a computer wizard graduated from IIT. Mukesh, we became good friends and used to hook up in California whenever I go there, and sometimes he came to Nevada and spend weekends with me. We together had many adventures like fishing, hiking, skiing and hunting. He always told me about his love back home. Riya was daughter of a deceased Naval officer, being a catholic her mother was a staunch believer in church, won’t give away her daughter to a Hindu. But the lovers never conceded, once Mukesh asked about doing business in Kerala, I encouraged him to join my firm, I could entrust him to develop our project near Munnar, where we were planning to build a mushroom farm too. He readily agreed to the idea, he came back to India leaving his Silicon Valley comforts and heavy pay cheques”.

“Did they marry?” asked Ana out of curiosity

“Yes of course they did” said Daniel

“Happy ending at last” said Noah

“The end is not always happy, Riya’s mother was sick, she was diagnosed with bone cancer, at last she gave her consent for the marriage because she didn’t wanna die seeing an unmarried daughter. Mukesh stayed in Cochin andh joined our company as the project manager of Agribusiness unit. We cleared all legal formalities for starting a mushroom farm 10 kilometers away from Mist valley. The project was delayed as Mukesh could not spare himself from his ailing mother-in-law and needy wife. After Mercy Fernandez"s death Mukesh compelled Riya to leave Cochin, she agreed. The couple started a new life in the Mist valley.”

“By then renovation had started in the mansion, the farm was in an isolated place, devoid, facility of accommodation. I insisted him to stay in the Mansion. But things went awry, we had a dispute with the revenue department on some land said to be encroached by the company, the court issued a stay order to stall construction activity in the property. We had to stop the renovation works. I Asked Mukesh to stay in the mansion with company appointed caretaker and cook. He was happy at the beginning, Riya too felt well in that place, the place was romantic indeed. After a month or so Mukesh talked distressfully and he lost his previous enthusiasm, earlier we used to talk about farm and its progress but later he was much concerned about his wife"s change in behavior, she acted weirdly and she was on the verge of psychological break out. One day Mukesh called me and said he is moving out from the mansion as someone tried to kill him, he said it was an evil spirit of some kind”.

“I was not convinced but I don’t want to toil with his emotions, I asked him to get some medical help for Riya.I was having hard time in US, because of the economic meltdown. When I contacted him, he said he got help from Dr. Sarkar, a psychiatrist running a small clinic in Munnar. Riya had been admitted in his clinic and he was treating her well. On a Thanksgiving Day I got his call, he sounded normal, he said he is going back to Cochin, Riya had been recovered from her illness.”

“Didn’t he explain about the haunting?” asked Rexin

“He was very reluctant to go though that accounts at that time, so I didn’t insist.”

“My niece back in US said that the best way to detect haunting is to hire a paranormal team. I couldn’t invest time searching anyone because of my busy schedule, I entrusted Nobert, he was searching literally everywhere to find someone, my niece again helped by spotting your website and got the number, I asked Nobert to contact you.

“The investigation is a tedious process we are up against the invisible and unknown phenomena, which could be provocative sometimes. The results could be very subjective and if we find anything supernatural what you want us to do…? Hemant asked.

“You can do whatever you like but I want the result, I wanted to restart my construction after 3 months, so I can give you is three months”.

“That"s very reasonable” said Noah.

Ana noticed that Noah"s attention to Mr.Daniel Pothan"s Platinum bracelet. He was intermittently staring at the piece of jewelry on his left hand.

“You are free to do your job as the way you wish, company will provide you all facilities you want. Don’t bother about your remuneration that will be paid separately after the mission.”

“Sir to be honest we are a new organization and we need some initial fund to purchase some equipment, hope you will provide us some advance.” Hemant Said.

“How much money do you want in Advance?” asked Daniel

“Nine lakhs” said Noah without any hesitation.

“Ok that could be arranged”.

The team members couldn’t believe Noah, when he asked 9 lakhs, almost a million rupees in advance, but they were in cloud nine when Mr.Pothan said “yes” without any slight embarrassment.

“We have to meet your friend.” Hemant said.

“Mukesh is staying in Aluva, you can meet him I will request his interview with you people, he is a nice guy, now slowly recovered from his wife"s death.”

“What…! Is she dead”? Asked Ana

“Yes, she committed suicide.”

“But why did she do that?” Ana asked in disbelief.

“Lord only knows that young lady”. Daniel raised his hands upwards.

“That was strange and obscure…!” said Noah.

The chairman smiled and gazed over his Rolex. This was imperative that the appointment was nearing its end.

“Hereafter you can report me through email and I need weekly progress, for the advance money you can contact my personal Assistant Mrs.Rebecca Kurian, after three days I will go back to Nevada and you can contact Rebecca for anyother assistance, your local help in Munnar will meet you there once you reach.”

“12 weeks ahead you. I hope you could wind up this within 10 weeks. You smart guys won’t have to meddle with this for long, start easily and close early. Rebecca will call you and intimate you about the appointment with Mukesh. After seeing him you can decide and plan accordingly, you are free to take your decisions but reporting should be done without delay. Haunted or not, I want that place free of spooks, convince the people that Mistvalley is calm and quiet place with heavenly beauty. I won’t hesitate to reward you if this is done”.

The chairman shook hands with all team members and waved them goodbye. The team was thrilled to get an assignment like this and this could really give their organization an essential impetus. They have 12 weeks ahead of them and these 12 weeks would determine their career and future of their new organization.