The Last Christmas Night
The darkness of a new beginning
A ninth-floor apartment in an old building in Sector 56, Noida.
The apartment has an old-fashioned design with off-white walls that have now turned yellow. Large windows offer a view of the entire city of Noida, but the apartment is located on a deserted road some distance from the city center.
Tanvi: Tanvi is a 26-year-old woman, beautiful, 5 feet 6 inches tall, and wears glasses while working. She is married to Aarav.
Aarav is a 29-year-old man, thin and tall, who works as a software engineer.
They had been married for only three months when they had to leave their village and move to Noida because of work.
They found this apartment on the ninth floor. It had two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The rooms looked old-fashioned from the inside, but they had recently been painted.
Tanvi’s face reflects both the joy of a new home and exhaustion. She is unpacking boxes and arranging the household items in the rooms, while her husband sits on the sofa, working on his laptop. His fingers are moving rapidly across the keyboard. His face is illuminated by the blue light of the screen.
Grandpa’s special lamp
Tanvi, taking a cotton-wrapped object out of a box, smiles and says, “Aarav, look… I found it, Grandpa’s special lamp!”
She pulls out a heavy, clay lamp. The hand-carved designs on it are almost completely worn away, but there’s a strange beauty in its form.
Aarav says indifferently, “Why bring all this old stuff here? We could just put up new LED lights; they’re safer and brighter.”
Tanvi: (Holding the lamp in her hands, looking disappointed) Don’t you feel anything?
This is our first Christmas in this house. We were supposed to be here for our first Diwali, but we couldn’t make it.
Christmas is in two days, and I don’t want any arguments…
Grandpa used to say that the flame of this lamp holds the voices of our ancestors and fills the house with positive energy.
Aarav (a little irritated, closing his laptop):
Don’t worry about the energy, worry about my project this time.
Come on, quickly light this lamp and let’s eat.
The lamp’s signal
Tanvi takes out a match and lights the lamp.
As soon as the lamp is lit, its flame behaves unusually. It burns with a green flame for a moment, then turns yellow.
Suddenly, the power goes out.
But the most frightening thing is that despite the closed windows, the flame begins to flicker violently, as if someone is breathing heavily. Strange shadows dance in the room from the flickering flame.
Tanvi: (with fear in her voice) Aarav… look at this. This lamp… its flame…
Aarav gets up and bends down to look at the lamp. At that moment, the flame becomes steady. But both of them are staring at the lamp without blinking. Then Aarav blows out the lamp and starts making ghostly sounds, trying to scare Tanvi. Tanvi gets scared because of the darkness.
Then suddenly, the power comes back on.
Aarav says, “The power’s back on! Come on, let’s eat.” He leaves, and Tanvi is left alone, still looking at the lamp. Smoke is still rising from it, and a strange thought crosses her mind.
Then Aarav calls out to her. Tanvi also goes to eat. After eating, they go to their respective rooms to sleep.
The silence of the night
It’s 2:00 AM. Tanvi’s sleep is broken. Her gaze falls on the lamp in the corner of the room, which has now gone out. Then her eyes fall on the wall.
From the lamp stand, in the flickering light of the streetlamp, a long, thin, finger-like shadow is cast on the wall. This shadow is pointing towards an old, iron cupboard in the corner. The cupboard was already in the flat when they moved in, and a rusty lock hangs on it.
Tanvi (in a trembling voice, whispering to herself)
No… this can’t be. I’m dreaming. Aarav is right, I’m imagining things too much.
She turns over and tries to sleep. But her eyes remain fixed on the cupboard. She feels as if she hears a faint scratching sound coming from inside the cupboard. As if someone is inside.
The door to truth opens
The next morning, Aarav has gone to the office. Tanvi’s mind is preoccupied with the experience of the previous night. A strange curiosity is drawing her towards the cupboard. She wonders if there is really someone inside the cupboard.
She takes a hammer from the toolbox and, without wasting a moment, strikes the rusty lock of the cupboard forcefully. After two or three blows, the lock breaks and falls to the ground. She opens the cupboard door. As soon as she opens the door, dust flies out, and a foul smell of decay emanates from inside.
Tanvi is checking the cupboard when she finds an old diary. The diary is brown in color. When she opens it, she sees…
that something is written inside.
She starts reading.
This house is mine. You are a stranger here. You should leave, otherwise the same thing will happen to you that happened to me.
Tanvi gets scared. Her heart starts pounding. She looks towards the cupboard. She feels as if someone is watching her.
Tanvi takes the diary and sits on the sofa. The pages of the diary are yellowed and brittle. As she turns to the next page, her breath catches in her throat.
Tanvi starts reading. Her voice is heavy and trembling with fear.
The dark truth of the diary
My name is Neetu. Today’s date is December 24, 1985. Tomorrow is Christmas, and I’m very scared.
My husband Vishal’s behavior has changed a lot in the last few months. He’s always hiding and taking things out of that old cupboard. When I checked the cupboard, I found a piece of paper. When I opened it, it said, “You are dead.”
I was terrified when I saw this. When I asked Vishal what it was, he threatened me, saying that if I told anyone anything…
Tanvi quickly flips through the pages. Suddenly, something starts writing itself on the pages.
Tanvi becomes even more frightened.
December 25th, Christmas night…
That night…
He…
In this very bedroom…
In front of that old wardrobe…
He strangled me…
I can’t breathe…
Help! Help! Help!
He’s hiding my body…
In that same wardrobe…
He set me on fire…
Someone help me…
Help! Help! Help!
Bhayank Shroff
Tanya’s eyes fill with tears. She is even more frightened now. She closes the diary. She is lost in deep thought. She wonders what all this has to do with Aarav. Why has his behavior changed? Is there a ghost in this house?
Tanya starts checking Aarav’s personal documents, which were in his laptop bag. She sees that Aarav’s grandfather’s name is Vishal. Oh no, Aarav is Vishal’s grandson.
Tanya’s heart almost stops beating. She slowly turns around.
Aarav is standing at the door. He has just come home. But there is a strange smile on his face. There is no life in his eyes. As if someone else has entered his body.
Aarav: What were you reading, Tanya? Is it… a good… story?
Tanya’s breath catches in her throat. She was looking into Aarav’s eyes, and she didn’t see the man she had married there.
Tanya: Aarav, what is this? This diary… Neetu…
Aarav (slowly moving closer): Grandfather tried very hard to bury this secret. He told the police that Neetu had gone to her parents’ house. He sold this flat and moved to Delhi, but he told me this story… he told me about this curse.
Tanya: Curse? What kind of curse?
Aarav: (Now he is standing right in front of her, his eyes now look completely black)
The curse is that every man in this family who lives in this house… will lose his first wife. Grandfather did it. Dad also lost his first wife in an accident, and now it’s my turn.
Tanya’s eyes fill with tears. She understood. It wasn’t an accident. It was a family tradition. A cursed tradition.
Tanya: You’re going to kill me? Just because your grandfather committed a murder?
Aarav: (Grabbing Tanya) Consider it a family legacy, Tanya. And don’t worry… I will cherish your memories.
Tanvi tries to scream, but the sound gets stuck in her throat.
Then, suddenly, something unexpected happens.
Terrible Ending – The Last Christmas Night
The old clay lamp on the table, without anyone touching it, lit up on its own.
This time, its flame wasn’t straight and bright. It transformed into a giant, human-shaped shadow that spread across the wall. It was the shadow of a woman, with marks on her neck. The shadow extended one hand directly towards Aarav.
Aarav’s smile vanished, and genuine fear appeared on his face.
Aarav screamed, “No! You… you’re not here. You’re dead.”
The shadow made no sound, but Aarav screamed loudly, as if he were being strangled. He thrashed in the air. His feet lifted off the ground.
Tanvi watched all this in astonishment. The lamp’s flame was trembling violently, and its shadow was pulling Aarav towards the old wardrobe. The wardrobe door swung open with a loud bang, revealing only deep darkness inside.
With a jolt, Aarav was pulled into the darkness. The wardrobe door slammed shut.
Silence fell.
The lamp’s flame calmed down.
Tanvi sat on the floor and burst into tears. The truth had been revealed. Her life had been spared.
But her husband was gone forever.
A few days later, Tanvi is leaving the flat. One hand is on her stomach. She was pregnant. She looks at the clay lamp one last time, which was now burning with a new, calm flame.
But then her gaze fell on the wall behind the lamp. The lamp’s light was casting a new shadow on the wall. Like the hand of a small child… slowly reaching towards Tanvi.
Fear returned to Tanvi’s eyes.
Had the curse ended? Or had it simply passed on to a new generation?
Sometimes, even knowing the truth doesn’t allow you to change it. You simply learn to live with it, or you die in its fear. Imagine, if there’s an old lamp in your house… is it just providing light, or is it telling you something else?
