PUSAKA

A decades-old, abandoned zamindar's mansion stood in the middle of a remote village called Dhalpahar. It was known as the "Pusaka House" by the locals. The mansion was said to contain a cursed heirloom—an ancient wooden box with supernatural powers inside. Rupom, a city student studying history, went to the village one day and became interested in the mansion. “If you awaken the Pusaka, you invite only darkness,” the village elder Panchanan warned him repeatedly. But Rupom didn’t believe in such tales. He believed that anything that truly existed ought to be discovered for the sake of history. Rupom was standing in front of the mansion that afternoon. Its bricks were crumbling, the windows covered in black cloth, as if to shield the world from what lay inside. He entered through the broken lock. As if they had held someone's blood, red stains covered the walls and dust choked the air. In one of the rooms, he found the wooden box—the Pusaka. It had an intricately carved inscription: "The soul of whoever touches me will remain here forever." “Another ghostly warning!” Rupom scoffed. and opened the box.

The house was immediately enveloped in a bitter wind. The lights began to flicker. In one corner, the darkness thickened—and from within, a shadowy figure emerged. It had no eyes, no face—just a pair of gleaming white teeth and a dark, shifting form.

The voice reverberated strongly, "You've awakened me." "You can't leave now." Rupom attempted to run, but his feet were firmly planted on the ground. The shadow crept closer. He tried to scream, but there was no sound. His body grew cold, limbs stiff.

The next morning, villagers found the door ajar. Inside lay Rupom’s lifeless body, eyes wide open, mouth frozen in terror.

Silently, Panchanan closed the box again. “Another one added to history,” he murmured.

The rule in Dhalpahar is clear: no one can return once the Pusaka is awakened. A whisper drifts in the wind as evening falls: "I am awake... another person will come..." The End