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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/BuddhaTheGreat on 2024-10-07 07:22:03+00:00.
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No, you’re not hallucinating the title. Don’t judge me, it’s difficult to be spooky and mysterious all the time. In fact, you’ll probably find that it was the best way to summarize the morning’s events.
Remember when I talked about a late breakfast? Well, by the time I woke from my ‘brief nap’, the sun was already shining way overhead. It was noon. Even worse, I was still bleary-eyed while I freshened up and descended the stairs into the inner atrium. Getting half-frozen to death does tend to do a number on one’s sleep schedule.
Durham was lounging on the couch with a cup of tea, suitcases packed and ready to go beside him. He gave me a thin smile when he saw me, getting to his feet. “Mr. Sen! Sleeping in for the day?”
I motioned for him to sit down, stifling a yawn. “No, no. Just… stayed up late. Discovering the place, you know?”
“Of course. One must familiarize oneself with one’s lot.” He took a sip out of his cup, nodding towards my hand. “Are you sure we do not need to get the ring altered? Your grandfather, God rest his soul, had quite meaty fingers.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think that will be necessary. It fits just fine.”
“I see.”
Some of you had raised doubts as to what would happen to the estate in case there were no firstborn males left to inherit at all, so I raised the question with him.
He rubbed his chin, narrowing his eyes at me. “This question? Already?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“No, no, I mean, it has only been a day. It usually takes longer before the Thakurs start planning for their deaths.”
I steepled my fingers, leaning forward. “Well, these are unusual times.”
“Yes, I suppose.” He sighed. “In such a situation, there is no prescribed line of succession.”
“None?”
“Well, nothing explicit. Say, if you were to die at this moment, God forbid, without a son, grandson, or any other descendant in your line, we would have no idea who to invite to take over. However, in such a case, the estate has prescribed contingencies.”
“Contingencies?”
“Two sealed documents, kept with us since we started working with your family. They are to be opened only in cases where the firstborn line has been extinguished. They apparently prescribe what is to be done in such a situation.”
“Have you ever seen their contents? Have they been opened?”
“The contingency plan dictates that, in such an event, we are to hand the first document over to the eldest surviving male of the family, who will carry out the instructions contained therein. So, no, I have not seen the document. None of my family have. It is only if every male member traceable is dead or otherwise indisposed that we are permitted to open the second document and put into effect the other, secondary contingency plan within.” He placed the cup down on the table and leaned back, contemplating. “As far as I can recall, only the first contingency has ever been opened, and only once.”
“When?”
“In the time of your grandfather’s grandfather, Durga Charan Thakur. Durga Charan had once disappeared into the forest behind the village, a few weeks after he had been married. Obviously, he had produced no children with his wife yet. A full year passed without any sighting of him, and he was presumed dead. Then, we handed over the first letter to Harihar, his younger brother, who unsealed and read it. However, only two days after that, Durga Charan returned from the forest, battered and gravely injured, but alive. Thus, the plan was never put into effect. The letter was resealed and returned to our custody, where it has remained ever since.”
“Did Harihar…”
“No. He never spoke of the letter’s contents to anyone. Not that I know of, anyway.”
“I see.” I nodded to his luggage, quickly changing the subject before he could press me in return. “All packed up?”
“Yes, your servant has gone to fetch my car. Once he’s found the bloody thing, I’ll be off.” He gave me another smile, though it was less professional and more friendly this time. “Word of advice, Mr. Sen, don’t worry too much about these things. One’s death is a morbid concern. Think about it too much, and you might just attract it.”
“I’m not sure it works that way, Mr. Durham.”
“Maybe so, but in my experience, the paranoid ones die first. Heart attack gets them, if nothing else. Speaking of which…” He nodded towards the outer atrium. “Your uncle has been pacing and muttering out there all morning. I think he’s waiting for you. Better go talk to him.”
“Right.”
He had said we were going to talk in the morning. Snoring through that may not have been the best call. I had already landed myself in deep shit by ignoring my grandfather, after all.
But my mind was still chewing on Durham’s words as I passed through the hallway leading outside the family wing and to the outer, common wing.
Contingency plans. That was frustratingly less enlightening than I had been hoping, but the key pieces were in order: the plan had to be executed by the eldest surviving male of the family. At the moment, that would be my eldest uncle. The circumstances seemed to indicate that contingency was to pass on the estate to the lineage of the next surviving male heir in such an event. It made no sense to pass the property down in any other way.
Given how confusing everything already had been around here, applying logic was a dangerous game. But, reasonably speaking, what else could the contingency even be?
In such a situation, if I die, the contingency would be executed by my uncle, and the estate would probably pass to him. Hell, if I hadn’t been born when I was, my father’s death would have made him the heir. Even in the story Durham had told, Harihar, Durga Charan’s brother, had been the one to receive and execute the plan.
My uncle had lived on the estate all his life. He had worked alongside my grandfather and then my father ever since he could. He knew this land inside and out. Everything the Ferryman had told me about our family, he probably knew. Hell, he probably knew more. Now, he had to see this land, this grave responsibility, passed on to some clueless nincompoop who had managed to run headlong into his death two times in a single day here.
Who wouldn’t be angry?
Who wouldn’t want to fix it?
On the other hand, he had been nothing but supportive ever since I arrived here. Sure, he failed to warn me about the Spirals, but in all fairness, how could he? I came here without calling ahead. I’m sure he knew I was eventually coming, but surely not within a day. Besides, I had ignored all of their attempts at reaching out so far. What’s another missed call or unread letter?
If he wanted to take over the place, he could have done any number of things to me already. Hell, before the events of last night, he could have just asked. I would have handed it over, packed my bags, and hightailed it back to Kolkata.
Why didn’t he?
The truth of the matter is that I don’t know. But I have to find out. In the meantime, I have little choice but to follow his lead.
All these thoughts were swiftly pushed to the back of my mind as I entered the outer atrium. I did notice my uncle on the couch beside my grandmother, perking up as he saw me enter. However, the first thing that caught my eye was outside, in the courtyard.
A burly man in a faded lungi was waiting on the steps of the main entrance, a scarf tied haphazardly around his head. He was bare from the waist up, putting his hairy chest and massive potbelly on full display. His well-muscled arms tightly gripped a rope, the other end of which was tied around an incredibly belligerent goat.
I understand how mundane that sounds, but this goat was anything but ordinary. I had seen some prime specimens in the meat shops of Kolkata, but this one blew them all out of the water. It was burly and large, standing at about half the height of its handler on all fours. Two massive, black horns curled out of its head in perfect spirals, symmetrical in every way. Its fur was shiny, without a single blemish or speck of dirt. The air of filth and odour that ordinarily surrounded village cattle was completely absent. Hell, even its eyes were large and intelligent, almost human-like as they stared right into mine.
Despite the man’s strong build, the goat’s struggles dragged him around easily, forcing him to dig his feet in and use both hands to restrain it. As soon as he saw me, he managed to fold his hands and bow briefly, before the animal yanked him to the side yet again.
My grandmother rose to her feet and rushed to me. “There he is! Are you okay, sweetheart? When Bhanu went to wake you, you were as still as a corpse!”
“I told you he would be fine, maa.” My uncle came up behind her, flashing me another one of his grins. “He had a rough day, that’s all.”
I gave my grandmother a reassuring kiss on the cheek. “Sorry about this. I know we were supposed to talk, but I just couldn’t open my eyes.”
“No problem, kiddo. We can start anytime. You’re the boss now.”
Right. I gave him a small smile in return.
He walked up and lightly touched Grandma’s shoulders. “Maa, you should go rest now. We need to discuss some business.”
“Thakur!”
The man on the steps was calling me, his eyes squinting with effort.
“What do I do with the goat, Thakur?”
“Ah, right.” My…
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