Village named Shantipur (a peaceful place). But these days, no resemblance can be found between the name and reality. At night, the whole village becomes silent and tense. During the day, people whisper in fear. The reason? Just one strange rumor- The Shadowman has come! He was standing in the middle of the field. He had no eyes, no face-but it felt like he was staring.
Everyone was talking about it-at tea stalls, in alleyways, even in the mosque. Children return home before dusk, Women finished cooking their supper before sunset. Men looked serious and said, "This is not a good sign."
Salman, the new school teacher in the village, just finished his honours in English literature and wanted to get away from the busy city life. That's why he chose a village school-to be closer to nature and peace. He first heard about the Shadowman from Mohirul, the school's caretaker.
"Sir, we saw it last night," Mohirul said. "Near the garden… It was blurry, like smoke coming out of its body. And the smell! Like something burning… weird smell."
Salman smiled and said, "Maybe you're just tired. Working late can mess with your eyes."
But Mohirul looked serious. "Sir, I know you're educated man. You don't believe in ghosts or black magic. That's fine. But the villagers do. And they're scared. Half of the childrens aren't even coming to school anymore."
Salman still thought it was just superstition or some silly rumor. But the stories started getting worse.
And then one night, Salman saw something himself. He was walking home from the market when he noticed a strange shape near the field. It looked like something between light and shadow. It wasn't moving, but it was definitely there. Then came that smell-burning rubber and smoke. And a soft sound… like someone crying far away. He tried to turn on the flashlight on his phone, but it didn't work. Still, he didn't run. He slowly walked back to his room, locked the door, and shut the windows. He couldn't sleep that night.
The next morning, he went to the market to ask around. He stopped at Ganesh uncle's tea stall. He(Ganesh) used to be in politics.
"Uncle, have you seen anything?" "I haven't seen any shadow," Ganesh uncle said. "But I've seen how scared people are. You call it a shadow- but I say it's something man-made."
"Why would someone do this?" Salman asked.
"Didn't you notice? Last week, some poor farmers sold their land really cheap-because of this ghost rumor. Now they're saying a resort will be built there. And who bought the land? Go check. I've seen a lot in my political life. People can do anything for money."
Salman did some digging. He found out that a few city people had come pretending to work for an NGO. They bought land around the spots where the Shadowman was "seen"-at a very low price. That night, Salman went back to the field. Around 1:30, the shadow appeared again. It looked the same-half hidden in smoke, standing still in the dark. But this time, Salman also heard breathing behind him. He quickly turned around and raised his phone camera-and was shocked to see a young man's face!
The shadow spoke, "You… you're the teacher, right? Please… don't tell anyone."
His name was Eliash. He was once a bright student from the same village. He had gone to the city to study but didn't find a job and got very depressed. Then he joined a group that ran this fake ghost plan. They came at night, burned garbage to make smoke and smell, and scared people. Elish played the role of the Shadowman. Everyone stayed away from those lands. Then, using a fake NGO name, that group bought the land for cheap.
Salman listened quietly. He didn't go to the police. No one knows what happened to Eliash after that.
But from the next day, Salman's behavior changed. He too started fearing the Shadowman. Did Ganesh uncle figure out what really happened?
