Moving to a different city for studies isn’t as easy as it seems. From room rent to food expenses; each day a new worry presents itself. I had just moved to the city of Karachi to pursue my studies in the field of data science, and I prefer finding a room near my college so that I can have one less worry, commute. Being a busy city, bustling with tourists, finding a good room wouldn’t be an easy feat. As I scouted out some cheap lodgings, I came across ‘The whispering winds’. An odd name for an inn as it was situated near one of the busiest streets, but since the monthly rent was dirt cheap, I didn’t think more of it.
Entering the main lobby, the cheap price tag was evident from the worn-out furniture and flaky paint job. A round man, perhaps in his forties looked up from his newspaper and upon seeing me, his eyes sparkled.
“Welcome beta, are you looking for a room to stay?”, he asked.
“Er yeah, isn’t that what an inn is for?”
“True, however some people come for… other stuff as well, if you know what I mean”, he gave me a wink with that remark.
“Anyways, how may I help you?”
“Well, my college is a few minutes’ walk from here, so I needed a place to stay. You got any rooms available?”
“As a matter of fact, we do and judging from your attire, you’re not from this city, are you?”
I didn’t respond to that. No need for this guy to know any unnecessary details.
“Apologies for being nosy. You don’t have to answer that question. Anyhow, how long are you planning to stay?”
“Well, this place’s rent is the lowest I have seen around here, and I’ll probably be staying here for a while”.
“Splendid! We offer the lowest prices for accommodation around here. What’s more, we also provide breakfast.”
A quick scan around the lobby was enough reason for me not to opt for breakfast from this place.
“Sure, but I just want a room. We can discuss about breakfast later.”
“Of course, we can handle the paperwork in the evening. Why don’t you go get settled in your room.” He said as he handed me a room ‘9’ key.
“Just go upstairs and head to the right. The room is at the end of the corridor. Also, where are my manners, my name is Kabeer Nadir, and it is a pleasure to have you here.”
“My name is Sufian”, I said with a weak smile.
“Sufian huh? That’s an interesting name.”
Before Kabeer could continue any further, I thanked him for the key and then climbed the stairs to the room he directed to.
Along the way, I noticed more walls with flaky paint and smell of old furniture. Worn-out paintings hung on the walls. The faces of the subjects had mostly faded away, unlike the eyes that still had colour as the day they were painted.
Upon reaching the end of the corridor, I unlocked the door and entered the room. The room wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. The flooring was marble, and the room had a small bed. A single chair accompanied a small table in the centre of the room. There was a ceiling fan in the room that was quite dirty but against all expectations, it worked when I turned it on. Curtains covered a window overlooking the foot of the bed. I pulled them to the side and a small busy street came into view. Just above the head rest of the bed was an old air conditioner. I looked for some switch to turn it on but there was none.
I sighed. Since it wasn’t unbearably hot, the fan might be enough for the time being.
“Not exactly horrible, but I guess this will have to do until I find someplace better.”
I slumped my backpack on the bed and sat down on the chair. I took out my laptop and started making a budget and my expected expenses from here on out.
By the time I was done, the sun had gotten much lower, and it was getting dark. I was growing hungry, so I closed my laptop and exited the room.
Once outside, I took in the hallway. A whole line of portraits hung on the wall leading to my room. The only other room was on the opposite end of the hallway. I inspected the painting that was just next to my room. Unlike the others which I had seen earlier, this was a fresh painting, hardly a week or two old. The crisp colour and the details were the evidence to this.
The gentleman in question appeared to be a local individual wearing a traditional dress and a turban. His giant moustache was the main highlight of the painting. I slowly walked towards the stairs, noticing that the paintings slowly started becoming older and worn out as I passed each art piece to the point that their faces were no longer identifiable. The only thing that stayed consistent was that their eyes looked fresh and alive, as if they were just painted.
The whole inn was now dimly lit with old light bulbs. A lizard scurried away on the wall as I reached near the stairs. I walked past the paintings in silence and made my way downstairs to the lobby.
Mr. Kabeer was watching something on an old TV. It was difficult to see what he was watching due to all the static noise. As I entered, he looked at me and asked.
“Ah beta, are you settling well here?”
“More or less. Do you have any recommendations for food around here?”
“Sadly, we do not provide any meals apart from breakfast, however, there is a small restaurant just across the street. It offers good food.”
“Thanks. I think I’ll go get that then.”
As I was walking past him, he stopped me.
“What is it?”, I asked.
“Beta would you be kind as to allow me to take a picture of you?”
“What for?” I asked, puzzled.
“I’m sure you have seen the paintings in the hallway. All those people represent the people that stayed at this inn and gave us a chance. We love to honour them by having a painting made of them and placing it in the hallway.”
I don’t see what Mr. Kabeer meant by ‘we’ as he was the only staff member I had seen since I arrived but that was the least of my concerns now.
“Will I be charged for this?”
“Of course not, beta. This is all included in the standard rent package.”
I did not see any issue, so I agreed to his request. Mr. Kabeer motioned me to stand in the middle of the lobby. He then took a picture of me with his phone.
“Excellent! I’ll send this to the artist, and he will get it ready by tomorrow morning.”
“That soon? I thought it would take longer to make paintings.”
“He’s a skilled one that is. He will obtain all the materials by tonight and have it ready first thing in the morning.”
The paintings along the hallway were all skilfully made. It was indeed a spectacle to behold if that person can make paintings in such a short time.
“Also beta, can you deposit tonight’s’ rent so that I can initiate your stay process. You can leave everything else to me.” said Mr. Kabeer as he licked his lips.
“Er sure.”
I handed him what was advertised as the nightly rent amount. He accepted it graciously.
“Thank you for choosing us. I hope you have a splendid dinner”, he said with a big smile.
I gave him a weak smile and left the inn.
I had my dinner at the restaurant Mr. Kabeer told me. It was nothing fancy, but the food tasted good. After that I did some exploring in the surrounding neighbourhood to become familiar with the area.
It was about 10 pm when I got back to the inn. There was complete silence in the lobby. The TV had been turned off and Mr. Kabeer was nowhere to be seen. A few of the lights had also been turned off so the lobby was mostly dark.
I quickly climbed the stairs to my room, the portraits’ eyes following me as I went. Once in my room, I locked the door and lay down on my bed.
“That Kabeer is weird”, I said.
I took out my phone and went through my socials.
About 30 minutes later, a faint tapping sound caught my attention. I sat upright and listened. No sound. Thinking it was my imagination, I was about to lay down again when I heard it again. It was a faint rhythmic tap sound coming from just above the bed.
I listened again. The sound was coming from the air conditioner. Thinking it was some mouse stuck in the air conditioner, I turned on my phones’ flashlight and pointed it at the AC. I tried to look through the slits in the air conditioner by I could not locate the source of the sound.
The sound was too measured, unlike what a trapped animal would make. I focused on the sound and then realised that it was morse code. I knew morse code but hadn’t practiced in a while. I quickly fetched a piece of paper and pen and listened carefully.
‘Com-ing’
Coming? What was that supposed to mean? I listened again.
‘Th-ey a-re’
They are coming? This sounded ridiculous. This must be a prank being played by one of the other guests at the inn. This is what I initially thought but recalling back, I had not seen anyone apart from me and Mr. Kabeer at the inn. Taking a gulp, I listened again. The tapping continued but there was something else as well.
‘fo-r yo-ur ey-es’
After this, the sound went into repeat of earlier. I pieced it all together.
“They are coming for your eyes.”
Dread started filling inside of me. I had so many questions. Who is coming? What’s with my eyes?
Before I could think any further, the tapping abruptly stopped. With that, the power went out as well. My room fell into darkness. The only light coming was from the streetlight outside and my phones flashlight.
Something was not right at all. I got up and went to the door. I needed to tell Mr. Kabeer about this. I slowly unlocked the door and opened it.
It was pitch black outside. I cautiously took a step and stopped next to the first painting. I shone my light on it. Once again, the eyes in the picture sparkled under the light as if they were real. Instinctively, I poked the eye of the person. It was soft and bouncy.
That was definitely not painted, and my worst fears came true. It was in fact a real eye. I took a step back. Sweat coated my forehead. I needed to leave. Just then, I heard a loud thump from across the hallway. I shone my light in that direction.
At the end of the hall was a pair of giant white eyes, staring at me. The light of my phone did not reach much further, so all I could see were the eyes from my position.
I stared back, unmoving. Whatever it was, just stood there. After a few seconds, the eyes slowly hovered forward.
“Shit!”
That was all I could manage. I quickly rushed back to my room and locked the door.
I stood away from the door, panting heavily. Upon reaching the door, that thing started to turn the door handle. The door did not open. Then it started to vigorously turn the handle and then I heard metal breaking.
The door handle fell to the floor and the door slowly opened. At the doorway, was pitch dark except for those white eyes.
Without thinking any further, I charged at the window and broke through the glass. I landed hard on the road.
“Ow.”
Thankfully, I did not land on any glass shards.
A roadside seller noticed me and came rushing.
“What are you doing? Are you a thief?”
I did not answer his questions but looked back at the window. The eyes stood in the darkness of the room, staring down at me.
I pointed at the window and the man looked up.
“What? What do you want me to see? You must be a thief.” he exclaimed as he took out his phone.
Throughout this exchange, the eyes had not moved and continued to stare at me from the window. Does this man not see that up there?
I realised that the man was now talking to what sounded like the police. I quickly got up and made a run for it.
“Get back here!”, he shouted.
Midst running, I quickly glanced back at the window. In the middle of the window stood a pair of white eyes and below that a giant mouth, smiling back.