The party plan

I used to believe that only a certain things attract the paranormal. As I heard stories from friends and family, I slowly began understanding what things could possibly attract the spirits yet to be satiated. I believe I still not have understood what things could attract the paranormal yet I have a list of things that could attract them. One of such things is food that attracts the paranormal forces. My friend Shraddha's story made me include 'food' it in my list.

I met Shraddha in one of my offices. One evening while we were having coffee she told me about her experience with paranormal from one of her previous offices. Shraddha's story brought chills down my spine.

Shraddha was working at a multinational company. It was at a remote location within a metro city. Her office building had been recently built and started operating from that location. The location was really scenic. The back side of the building had a huge mountain. The mountain was nothing but a natural backdrop of lush green trees and falls. But beneath the beauty there lived a chilling horror.

At Shraddha's office the team had decided on a pot luck. While the team was deciding what to bring for the party that discussion went on for a full course meal. Shraddha's mother's traditional chicken curry was everyone's favourite. Shraddha was entrusted with the responsibility to bring the chicken curry for the entire team which consisted of 20 people. Shraddha willingly took that responsibility because she knew how much everyone adored the traditional smoked chicken curry made by her mom. Shraddha agreed. What Shraddha did not know that this responsibility was going to make her task into an unforgettable horror experience.

It was finally the day of the pot luck. Shraddha had been carrying over 3 kilograms of the traditional chicken curry with her in huge container. For the fear of stray animals she had put the container in multiple plastic bags so that the smell of the meat could have been masked. Maybe the scavenger stray animals could not smell the delicious meat but the danger was not with them. The real danger was invisible, lurking in the shadows.

Shraddha had been waiting at the security checkpost to take in the huge quantity of food inside the office. While waiting at the security checkpost Shraddha heard that someone had been calling her name. She turned around expecting that a colleague had been calling her. Surprisingly she did not see anybody. She brushed off the thought and continued to wait at the security check post.

"Shraddha," she heard her name again in a man's voice, but she did not see anybody yet again. She thought that it was one of her colleges trying to play games with her. She had decided to ignore.

"Shraddha," she again heard her name in a man's voice but this time the voice was different. She decided not to turn around thinking that her colleagues are playing a prank on her. "How childish" she thought to herself, thinking the time from her childhood days when she would play this prank on her friends and family.
"Shraddha," she heard the voice again. She continued to ignore that.

"Shraddha, look here," this time Shraddha heard a woman's voice. That made her turn around but again she did not find anybody. Shraddha could not understand if this was a long stetched prank or something else.