A boy, sitting on his bed, wrapped in blanket, shivering, peeks through the top edge of the blanket. A skinny ghost, in the dark corner of the room, stuck vertically on the wall using its limbs whose stomach was towards the wall but its face or say head was on the opposite direction. The ghost waves its tongue as it moves it malnourished head forward into the light coming through the gap between the window curtains. The boy pulls his blanket above his head in fear.
On the ground floor of the same house, sat the beautiful mother Alpana with a couple terrified for their son upstairs.
Alpana: (Gently smiles) I see. So your son is possessed.
Mother: That's what everyone says. We don't know. We had him see all the best doctors in the city. Yet they couldn't find the cause of this illness.
Father: What do you think, Mrs. Anand? I heard you were an expert in this situation.
Alpana: Well, if you would believe me, then yes, your son has been possessed by an evil spirit.
Mother: (Frightened, covers her mouth) Noo!
Father: What makes you so sure?
Alpana: (Sips water from the glass on the table) I have faced many of such cases and dealt with it successfully more times than I can count. And yesterday when you brought your son to my residence, I saw the ghost wrapped around your son.
Mother- What!? You saw it.
Father: But then, why didn't you do anything about it yesterday?
Alpana: Well, you see. Evil vanishes when it comes closer to me.
Father: Is that so? It is amazing. Then you should make it vanish again.
Alpana: There, you see. It vanishes when I am around but comes back when I am not. For it stay away permanently, your son will have to stay close to me. And I suppose such a scenario will be undesirable to you both.
Mother: (Looks at the father in distress).
Father: (Looks at his wife then looks at Alpana) Then, how do you deal with this situation?
Alpana: (Sips water again) Well, my partner.
Someone was heading towards the room of the possessed boy.
Father: Your partner? The boy you brought with you today.
Alpana: Hmm! That's my son.
Father: He is your son!
The couple looked at each other in disbelief.
Mother: We thought he was your student or something.
Alpana: No way, that handsome boy is my dear son.
Father: So, what does he do?
Alpana: He does what I can't.
Father: Meaning?
Alpana: Meaning, he destroys the evil permanently.
The one walking towards the door was Moksh, all grown up.
Moksh: (Knocks on the door) Coming in.
Alpana: Yesterday, unfortunately, my boy was at his school at that time or this problem of yours would have been dealt with right then.
Mother: If you don't mind me asking. How old is your son?
Alpana: He turned sixteen this year.
Mother: He is young.
Father: Very.
Alpana: Don't worry about it. Since he is here, your son will be all healthy by tomorrow. Just take it easy.
Moksh: (Walks in and looks at the ghost in the corner, continues towards the terrified boy).
Boy: (Slides away, shivering) Who...Who are you?
Moksh: Yo, my man. What you doing here? Your mother and father are worried.
Boy: I don't want to be here. But the ghost keeps me here.
Moksh: (Points) This ghost.
Ghost: (agitated)
Boy: You can see it?
Moksh: Ofcourse I can.
Boy: My mother and father did not believe me when I told them about it.
Moksh: Well, they believe you now. Come on, why don't you explain them about it more?
Boy: Ok.
Moksh: Let's go then. You first.
Boy: (Gets out of his bed) But, wouldn't the ghost try to get me again?
Moksh: Don't worry about that malnourished reject. I am here now. If it tries to touch you, I will touch it(smiles).
Boy: (Reaches the door).
The ghost leaps towards the boy but Moksh hits it with a swing and throws it away on the bed.
Moksh: Go and sit with your parents. I will be down shortly.
Boy: Ok (walks away).
Ghost: (Leaps again, shouting in a rough voice) Nooo, my meal.
Moksh shuts the door and quickly turns and grabs the ghost and slams it around on the door holding it up in the air. The slam produces a significant sound impact shocking the people downstairs.
Father: (Stands immediately) What's going on up there? (Sees his son coming down) Son!!
Boy: Father! (Goes to them).
Father: What are you doing here? Where is that boy?
Boy: He stayed behind with the ghost. He can see it too.
Father: He can!?
Alpana: Looks like my dear son is on duty.
Ghost: (Grabs Moksh's wrists) You let my meal go. Do you know how tough it is to wait for enough negative energy to concentrate and make a soul edible.
Moksh: Its time to get your next meal in hell.
Ghost: Nooo! (Kicks Moksh away).
Moksh crouches down trying to stand, the ghost tries to reach for the door again. Moksh catches its leg and pulls him back. The ghost, being dragged behind, tries to crawl forward when Moksh catches it face and bams it on the floor. The ghost flexibly bends it legs and kicks Moksh from behind, pushing him into the door front. Moksh clashed into the door with a loud thud.
Downstairs...
Mother: This doesn't look good. Is he alright up there?
Father: We should go and check.
Alpana: No, please, stay here with me. If it took any of you hostage, now that would be difficult.
Moksh: That stupidly rearranged head of yours. Aren't you and ugly piece of work?
The ghost angrily dashes towards Moksh. Moksh strikes it with a knee to its guts and then punches the reverse face of it, throwing it down the floor.
Moksh: I see. You are a medium, aren't you? That's why your hits connect. But that doesn't just works one way. You know that right (waves it tongue out like a snake).
Moksh: Trying to scare me fugly, come on (taunts it), don't make me wait.
The ghost giggles devilishly and dashes at Moksh and tries to spear him into the gut. Moksh slips and kicks it into the table behind him shattering the furniture. The ghost gets up and gets punched on its face again by Moksh. It writhes in agony.
Ghost: (Vanishes, voice echoes) Medium, I will eat your delicious soul. You will regret getting in my way.
Moksh couldn't make out where it was in the room. It leapt out of one of the corners in the room, punched Moksh's face and vanished into the other. It jumped out of another dark corner and punches Moksh and vanishes into the another.
Ghost: (Giggled) I have been living in the shadows for too long. You think you can beat me in the dark. You are just a kid. A tasty one. Soon, you will be a part of my nourishment.
The ghost shuffled through the corners baffling Moksh. It continued beating on Moksh as he tried to understand its movement while shielding his face.
The dark/negative energy suddenly exploded in the room. The ghost, shocked by the sudden availability of such high energy, ut stuck itself in one of the corner relishing himself with this feast. His ugly structure began to transition into a more ghastly figure.
Ghost: Where... Where all this food come from?
His teeths began to grow out, the eyes turned blood red, the skinny limbs grew muscles, and the face that was already defying actuality by being backards, it turned upside down with it. It shrieked in ecstacy. The people down stairs heard the scream and trembled except Alpana.
Alpana: (Nervous) I think it would be a better idea if we went out of the house for a while.
Father: Is everything all right?
Alpana: The sounds, I have the feeling that they are making you uncomfortable.
Mother: What was that scream about? It was inhuman.
Alpana: That's everyone's reaction. I will advice you to wait outside for a while. By the sound of it, I think it's gonna get worse.
Father: Yes, I agree. Let's do it.
The room...
Ghost: (Vanishes into the corner again whispering and giggling) This house would be a perfect dead zone. Don't you agree, Mr Medium.
The ghost again starts leaping through the room, now not just from or to the corners, but every other dark area in the room with much more speed than before. It pulled the curtains more to the edge which were already covering the windows in order to avoid any light leak inside the room from outside. Moksh stood there shielding his face. It began to pounce on Moksh with hits after hits. Suddenly a cackle echoed through the room. The ghost halted its assault, surprised by the unexpected laugh. Moksh began to cackle. The ghost, huge and monstrous, almost double the size of Moksh, came out of the corner and stood before Moksh. Moksh, with the crescent on, slowly raises his head and looks at the ghost. The ghost taken aback by the look on his face, tried to understand what was going on.
Ghost: (disturbed) What in the world is this?
Moksh: (Points to his grin) This... This is fear.
Ghost: (Angry) You think this is funny, little insect ( swings a kick towards him).
Moksh vanishes before the ghost could connect. Moksh, with only crescent visible on his face, standing behind it or say front of it, kicks the ghost away into the wall ahead. The ghost crashes into the wall.
Ghost: (agitated, gets up) kill.. I will kill you.
The ghost pounces on Moksh again, Moksh dodges and punches it on the back, he then grabs its one arm and swings it around slamming it again into the wall, then pulls it back forcefully over his head and throws it on to the floor. He then proceeds to punch it but it slides down under the bed. Moksh stands up. The ghost travels through the shadows and crawls on the ceiling above Moksh.
Moksh:(looks up) This trick has gotten old. Crawling over my head, why so many of you do that?
The ghost surprised, peeks out of the dark. Moksh jumps up and pushes its head banging it onto the ceiling, then wraps his arm around its waist and drops it from the ceiling with its head first on the floor. The ghost's face splatters dark black blood across the floor. It tries to get back on its feet.
Moksh: (crouches) Give it up already. I will like to finish this up quick.
The ghost again leaps into a corner.
Moksh: This again (follows the ghost as it travels into the shadows), I can see you.
The ghost hides in the shadows.
Moksh: Hiding, are you? You think I haven't figured out the answer to your trick yet.
Moksh Walks towards the window.
Ghost: What's happening? I feel weak. Wait, all the energy in the room, it has vanished. Don't tell me! (Sees Moksh surrounded by dark energy) he let his own negative energy be absorbed by me so that he can then extract my energy along with his out of me. Impossible. Humans can only produce negative energy, not absorb it even if he is a medium. What is he?
Moksh: (Pulls away the curtain letting the sunlight break in, sees the ghost stuck in the corner) There you are.
The ghost jumps for the other dark corner to hide in it. Moksh runs throwing the curtain rolled up as a whip towards the leaping ghost. Time slows down.
Ghost: (Thinks) Huh! Looks like he doesn't know. Non living objects are natural inulators to any form of energy. The curtain will pass through me (curtain misses). Not a good shot, is he?
Moksh grabs the other end of the curtain and pulls it wrapping it around the ghost's neck. The ghost falls on the floor, struggling to rid the curtain around its neck. Moksh pulled it along the floor, dragging it along with him. The ghost applied a good resistance to the dragging and began pulling himself towards the corner. Moksh exerted more force but the ghost still dragged itself away, being that it was lying on its stomach, it used its limbs to drag itself back. Moksh saw the window and got an idea. He gives a quick kick to the ghost's head, disturbing him for a second. In the split second, he pulls the curtain along with the ghost and breaks out of the window, grinning. The huge body of the ghost gets stuck by the window living its head outside, which Moksh was hanging by.
Alpana and other walk out of the house hearing the noise of the breaking window and see Moksh hanging out of the second floor window by a piece of cloth, that was not stuck around anything. Well, Alpana and boy could actually see what was going on, but to the parents it seemed like Moksh was hanging in mid air.
Mother: Oh no, he will fall. It's the second floor.
Father: Mrs Anand, what's going on over there?
Alpana: Well, you see...
Boy: He is hanging by the ghost's neck.
Father: What did you say?
Boy: The cloth, it is wrapped around the ghost's neck.
Mother: Oh my dear God!!
Father: So, there is a ghost.
Moksh: (Pulls on the curtain) I..uh... Have absorbed all of your negative energy. I grant you salvation. Say "Ram naam Satya hai".
Moksh rips away the head of the ghost and drops on the ground from the second floor. The audience was shocked seeing Moksh fall from the second floor without any issue or hesitation, except his mother Alpana ofcourse. Moksh lands on his foot crouching, stands, swings the curtain around and puts it around his neck.
Moksh: (Walks towards the audience adjusting his wrists) Finish...
Father: (In awe) No way...
Mother: That boy dropped from the second floor without a scratch.
Boy: (Glistening eyes) So cool.
Alpana: ( Admiring her son) Oh! That's my dear boy.
Moksh: All done mummy.
Alpana:How was it? Was it strong?
Moksh: Well, it was better, but not that strong. It made me destroy their window though. Here (Hands over the curtain to the father), sorry about the damage.
Alpana: Son, great job at controlling your strength anyway. You used to destroy the entire floor for finishing a low level ghost at first. Atleast you have learnt to limit your power.
Moksh: Luckily I got this one early. Or I was going to loose it again.
Alpana: We will have to work on that. Well, anyway, our work here is done. So, (to the boy) Tell me son. How do you feel?
Boy: Very good.
Alpana: That scary thing is not going to trouble you again ever.
Boy: Thankyou...
Alpana: (Smiles, pats his head).
Father: How can we ever repay you? We are in your debt.
Alpana: Don't put yourself in debt. You can pay us in cash.
Father: Really? (Looks at his wife).
Alpana: Ofcourse, this will put your mind at ease.
Father: You are right. Tell me then, Mrs Anand, how much should I pay you?
Alpana: As much as your son's health is worth.
Father: I don't understand.
Alpana: In easy words, as much as you would like to pay a doctor who treated your son.
Father: Oh, I see (smiles takes out his purse and gives all the money he had in it to Alpana).
Alpana: (Takes it) Appreciated. (Gives it to Moksh) Here, put it in your pocket.
Moksh: Ok (puts in without counting).
Alpana: Ok, we will be leaving now. Take care. Let's go son.
Moksh: (Begins walking with her) Ok.
Alpana: So, what was the back story of the ghost?
Moksh: Not very interesting. He was just a drunk who fell in a sewer while drunk and suffocated on the mud of the sewer.
Alpana: Yuck! That is disgusting. Why would he drink that much? He never would have guessed he would die like that. How did he catch the boy?
Moksh: Well, he went to pick up a cricket ball near the sewer and noticed the ghost and gave into fear allowing it to manifest and possess him.
Alpana: Kids are really vulnerable to fear. No wonder ghosts tend to possess them most of the time. Well, I don't think this one is gonna be scared of ghosts anymore.
Moksh: He better not be.
Mother: What was that? They didn't even count the money.
Father: They don't need to.
Mother: Why is that?
Father: It's because they don't do it for the money. They do it because they can. Money is just a way to keep us from feeling indebted to them. I am sure if I had just given them one rupee they will have accepted that gladly as well.
Mother: (Looks at them going, chatting with eact other happily) At first I thought they were just a bunch of fakes. But they are such nice people and a good mother and son.
Father: So there business is legitimate. The things we heard about them weren't just rumours.
Suddenly a series of stories echoed in the father's head about them dealing with cases regarding supernatural beings.
Echoes-
The mother and son duo freed my daughter of a possession that no one can get rid off.
The duo cleared my brother's illness.
Miraculous recovery of my sister after Mrs. Anand came to visit.
The son in the duo wrecked my entire house however the whispers and laughters are gone, it was worth it.
The son is amazing, he was flying, but the shadows around my building have vanished.
The pair did wonder. My wife was on the verge of death. But now she is like an Olympic athelete running around. Even the doctors couldn't cure her.
And many more...
Alpana opens the door. Vishwas was inside coming towards the gate.
Alpana: Dear!! You are back early.
Vishwas: Yes, I got a call. There is another case for you two.
Alpana: Oh! Let's discuss about it.
Vishwas: The client is on her way. And about that case, damn, why am I even asking.
Alpana: (Blinks with a ok sign) The case was a cinch. Your son rocked there.
Vishwas: Moksh, you did not destroy anything there, right?
Moksh: Nothing much Papa, just a window.
Vishwas: (Touches his forehead in stress) I told you to control your strength son. Well, it was just a window. But try not to show off too much next time.
Moksh: But papa, I was not showing off. I was just...
Vishwas: Yeah, yeah, you were just going mad, I get it. It is the excuse every time. I will hear about it after we are done discussing the case with the client. I am going to get her. She is almost here. Fix yourself up, you two.
Alpana: Your papa is so stiff.
Moksh: I wonder what case is coming up?