Nikhil Wagle, a software engineer with a multinational company was posted to Ranchi to set up the systems at their new office. Alone, in the city, he tried to explore the nearby places but the tantrums of the autorickshaw drivers was a big put off for him. Last weekend, when he went to Patratu Valley, the autorickshaw driver, literally ripped him by charging 3000 rupees for the trip. He thought of buying a second-hand car for himself and asked Sunil, the driver of his boss to keep an eye for a good, trouble-free car at a reasonable price.

It was a Saturday, Nikhil, made a sandwich and coffee for breakfast… seated on the balcony of his 8^th floor apartment enjoying the pre-monsoon shower when Sunil called up…

“Sir, I have found a car, in fact an SUV for you, it is about two years old, in good condition. The owner is ready to sell at a very reasonable, dirt-cheap price. But I must tell you, I heard some funny things about the vehicle.”

“You are confusing me, Sunil, you said it’s a good car at a reasonable price and also something funny about the car. What so funny? And what kind of car or SUV is it?”

“Sir, it’s a Kia Seltos, two years old, almost showroom condition but it’s the second owner who wants to sell. The rumour is that the vehicle gets possessed by spirits after sunset.”

“How is that possible? The rumour must have been spread by some jealous neighbours to deter buyers. When can I see the car?”

“if you are free, we can visit the seller in the evening, say around 5 o’clock, I will pick you up.”

“Okay, I will wait for you.”

In the evening, Sunil, as promised came in his Bullet 350 bike to pick-up Nikhil at his Chanakyapuri residence. He offered a spare helmet to Nikhil and said, “We have to go to Abhishek Singh’s home in Kanke, about 20 km from here. He is into timber trading and also has a resort in Dalton Ganj.”

It took some time to locate the house of Abhishek Singh, situated near the Greenview Enclave, it was a sprawling house, built on a 1000-yard plot, clearly showcasing the wealth of the owner. The maroon-coloured Kia Seltos was parked right in front of the house, it looked brand new, without any scratch or dent, a rarity for the city, especially after two years. Sunil rang the bell and they waited.

A man, slightly older than Nikhil came out to greet them…

“Namaskar, I am Abhijit, you must have come to see my father. Have you come to buy this car?” the young man pointed to the Seltos and asked.

“Yes, can we check the car, I mean the interior and the engine?”

“Why not? I will fetch the keys for you. But do it before the sun sets.”

Abhijit went inside to get the keys and with him came his father, Avinash Singh.

“Are you sure, you want to buy this car even after hearing the strange stories about it. And I must confess, the car does act funny, and at times even scarily.”

“I don’t believe in ghosts or spirits, there must be some technical issue with the engine which can be rectified. Now, tell me how much are you expecting, you know, I am a salaried employee with limited resources.”

Abhishek’s phone buzzed and he answered, after a few yes and no, he turned towards Nikhil and Sunil and spoke, “That was my mother, she admonished me for not inviting you guys inside. Please come inside to have some refreshment and discuss further.”

The deal was finalised over a sumptuous spread of snacks prepared by Jolly Devi, wife of Avinash Singh. Nikhil thought five lakh rupees for the almost new Kia Seltos is a steal and offered to pay five thousand as advance but Avinash refused saying, “Some other people have done that earlier, but never came back to complete the deal. I don’t want to collect money like that, if you are serious, please come back tomorrow with the full amount and take the car. I have all the papers ready, just have to put your name at the appropriate places.”

“Some friends are waiting for me, please excuse me, I have to go now.” Abhishek apologised and took leave. Shortly, there was a sound of engine starting followed by revving up of the accelerator and a car zooming off at a high speed.

“These youngsters are too adventurous; I have told Abhishek so many times to not drive rashly but he doesn’t listen to me.” Avinash spoke resignedly.

Nikhil’s mobile buzzed and he answered, the conversation was short, he answered in monosyllables and ended the call. He turned to Avinash and said, “That was from my boss in Bengaluru, I have been called to there on urgent meeting. I have to take the earliest flight tomorrow. Can you wait till I come back from Bengaluru?”

“Look, as I told you, some people came to check on it and left saying they would come back, but never showed up ever again. So, I can’t promise you anything. If tomorrow someone shows up with the money, I will surely sell it to them.”

Nikhil checked his purse again and said, “I have about five thousand rupees with me right now which I can give you as advance.”

“No, I don’t want any advance but the full value.”

“In that case, I will write a cheque in your favour and give it to Sunil. He will come back tomorrow, you can handover the vehicle to him. We will complete the paperwork once I am back.”

Avinash agreed to the proposal and they took leave from him. When they came out, the Kia Seltos was nowhere to be seen, they thought Abhishek might have taken it out one last time before his father disposes the vehicle. Coming back to his apartment, Nikhil handed over the cheque to Sunil with express instruction to bring the car and park at his assigned parking slot.

Nikhil’s engagement in Bengaluru got extended to five days in which time he received a single message from Sunil that he has taken the delivery of the vehicle from Avinash. He had tried to call Sunil but there was no response from the other side. Nikhil was irritated for this unresponsive nature of Sunil.  

On Friday evening, Nikhil arrived back in Ranchi and was excited to take the Seltos out for a spin, before going to his apartment, he went to the parking to check and was shocked to find the empty space. He became furious and immediately called Sunil…the phone kept ringing but no one answered. He then called up his boss to check if he has sent out Sunil somewhere…

“Hello, Ranjan Sir, just wanted to check if you have sent Sunil out of town, had some work with him.”

“Hi Nikhil, welcome back. No, I haven’t sent him anywhere. In fact, since Monday evening when he dropped me home, he hasn’t showed up for work. He’s not answering his phone too… I am thinking of sacking him if he shows up now.”

Nikhil then called up Avinash who confirmed that Sunil had given him the cheque and taken the delivery of the vehicle on Monday evening. The conversations made Nikhil worried, he decided to get the address of Sunil and check him out, maybe he’s not well, he thought.

In the morning, Avinash called Nikhil, “Nikhil, please come over to my place to complete the paperwork. The vehicle is still in my name and if anything, untoward happens, it will badly impact me.”

“Avinash Ji, I am trying to locate Sunil and the vehicle and I will come as soon as possible.”

It took some effort to cajole his colleague in HR to reach office on a off-day to dig out the address of Sunil and by the time Nikhil reached the residence of Sunil in Tikratoli it was late afternoon. His father informed that Sunil had left on Monday evening saying that he has to attend some business in Kanke but hasn’t returned. They were not worried because he had done such irresponsible act previously too. But since Nikhil presented himself and narrated the business that Sunil had in Kanke, they became worried and decided to lodge a missing person at the police station.

Nikhil left them to do what they wanted to do and went over to Kanke to meet Avinash.

“I am telling you, something must have happened to Sunil. By the time he took the vehicle it was getting dark. I told him to take it in the morning or afternoon during day time but he was adamant that you wanted the vehicle at your home when come back.”

“But where he would have taken it?”

“Who knows? He might have sold it to some uncouth dealers at a higher price…”

Nikhil, finished the paperwork and gave a undertaking to Avinash that henceforth he was responsible for the vehicle. Avinash advised him to lodge a police complaint as well for the missing Seltos.

It was late when he came out, Abhishek met him at the gate and suggested, “You won’t get any transport from here at this hour, let me drop you at the highway, you will be able to flag down any autorickshaw going towards the city.”

Nikhil was getting restless, it was almost half hour and not a single autorickshaw had shown up on the road, it was getting dark on this new moon night. He began cursing Sunil and finally himself for wanting to buy the maroon Seltos.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a car came with great speed and applied hard brake to stop in front of Nikhil. It was Seltos but in the darkness, the maroon colour looked black. Sunil was at wheel and someone with a hoodie was sitting on the passenger side.

“Get in Sir, quickly. It’s really very nice car, very peppy with lots of zing. I will drop you to your home.”

In a hypnotic spell, Nikhil got into the rear seat. Once the vehicle started moving, he asked irritatingly, “Where did you take my car? I told you to park it at my residence. Why didn’t you do that?”

“Have patience Sir, it’s a long story, I will tell you once we stop.”

Sunil, without any further talk, pressed on the accelerator and the speedometer kept climbing… crossing the speed limit of 120 kmph, the in-built sensor started screaming. Nikhil shouted at the top of his voice, “Slow down Sunil, you will kill all of us. This is my car and I command you to stop immediately. Stop…stop…”

“Who says this is your car? This is my car and Sunil won’t stop.” The man with a hoodie turned towards Nikhil and spoke in a hushed tone.

Nikhil froze in the rear seat of the Seltos, under the hoodie, a skeleton was talking to him. Nikhil stammered as he meekly spoke to Sunil, “W…who is this man? W…where did you p..pick him up?”

“Sir, he is the owner of this car, Dr. Chowdhury.”

Nikhil was scared sweating profusely; he kept pleading with Sunil to stop the vehicle but Sunil kept increasing the speed further to 150 kmph. Nikhil watched in horror, a dump of sand or mud covering half the road ahead and from behind it a cyclist appeared suddenly. Sunil had to apply the brake and taking the advantage of the slow speed, Nikhil opened the door and rolled on to the sand dump. He rolled on for few laps before hitting the hard surface of the road and passed out.

When Nikhil opened his eyes, he was in a hospital bed surrounded by his office colleague besides the doctor and nurse. He tried to speak but nothing comprehensive came out.

“Relax, Nikhil, we are happy that you are alive, it will take couple of days rest to completely heal. It is heartening to know that there are good Samaritans exists amongst us, a doctor of this hospital returning from Bokaro, found you on the Taimara Ghati (NH33) and brought you here. You were in coma for three days.” Dr. Judhajit announced.

A week later, Nikhil, still in bandages, was sitting with few of his colleague and his brother who had come from Jamshedpur when Avinash joined them with his son, Abhishek.

“Nikhil, you had a lucky escape that day but your friend Sunil wasn’t so lucky. We came to know from police that a badly mutilated body was recovered on the day after Sunil took away the Seltos from us, from very close to the spot where you were found. The police also found the mangled remains of the maroon-coloured Kia Seltos in a ditch some 20-25 meters from there.”

“Who is Dr. Chowdhury?” Nikhil asked.

“Dr. Chowdhury was the first owner of that vehicle. About six months ago, while returning from Bokaro, on the same highway, he had a cardiac arrest, the driver took him to the nearest hospital but he was already dead. His daughter sold the car to me but it seems the spirit of Dr. Chowdhury did not leave the Kia Seltos.”

Abhishek took out an envelope from his bag and gave it to his father. “Nikhil, please accept this cheque of five lakh rupees that you gave me for the car. Since, the car registration wasn’t transferred to you, technically, it is still my car and I have received the police report and filed it with the insurance company for total loss. I am relieved, now that the vehicle is destroyed, no one else will ever get hurt.”

Nikhil took the cheque and said, “I will give this to Sunil’s father, he died for no fault of his.”