My first horror story!
It’s been a crazy month. The wedding is a few weeks away and the activity has reached a fever pitch. What with the constant buzz around the house and the amount of work for the wedding never seems to reduce.
Go here. Go there. Invite. Buy.
Rinse and Repeat.
All day. Everyday.
When my dad and mom told me that they will be heading out of town for a couple of days (for more inviting) I welcomed the news. I wanted a quiet few days to laze around and relax. So I told them I have some work here in town and they should go ahead without me :)
I desperately needed some peace to organize my thoughts before the D-Day arrived. I thought of so many things to do. Write a bit in my journal, I haven’t got the chance to do it in a while. Spend a cozy day in bed. And not move an inch. With these happy thoughts, I went to sleep.
I woke up around 10 and stretched lazily on my bed. Got my phone from the side stand and spent half an hour on FB, Insta, and Medium. Finally got bored with it all and decided to get out of bed. Since my parents had left early in the morning, I decided to order breakfast.
I thought I would tidy up the apartment a bit before the breakfast came. I started with my room. As I was cleaning I looked up to see into the mirror and thought I saw a face in the window behind. My mind must be playing tricks on me. The mirror faces the window, a window on the 2nd floor! Stupid me, on with my work. I told myself to stop wasting time and get on with it.
I know. I should have looked back to check if there was anyone at the window!
By the time security informed me that the delivery guy was coming up, I had almost finished the living room. He handed over the sandwich and the salad that I’d ordered. As it was Cash on Delivery, I asked him to wait and went into my bedroom to get the money. I returned about a minute later to find him smiling at the sofa. As soon as he saw me, he smiled at me too. I gave him the money and asked him to keep the change. He smiled, mumbled ‘Thanks’ to the sofa and left.
What a strange fella! Maybe he is too shy…
Anyways, I closed the door and sat down right there on the sofa in the living room to have my brunch. I was so hungry that I finished it in a flash. I made a mental note to order from the same cafe the next morning and took up my phone to rate them on Zomato.
The sofa on which I was sitting on is in front of a window. Since the phone was turned off, the screen works as a mirror and I was looking at myself (vanity I know…) when I thought I noticed something in the window behind. Startled, I looked back to find… Nothing. Man, I must be getting paranoid. It’s still eleven in the morning.
But I was sure what I had seen in the window earlier had looked like a face…
I felt tired from all the cleaning up and then the heavy breakfast, so I decided to take a nap. I had slept around noon, but when I woke up it was dark already.
Hmm, how long was I sleeping?! The apartment complex is so quiet like it’s the dead of night. Can’t be that late. But I don’t hear any noise.
Wait…
I do hear something. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t want to find out either. I’m scared. In my own house. What the hell? I can’t be this childish. “Get out of bed and open the door, you idiot!” I tell myself.
I get up slowly and walk towards the door. I cautiously open the door a bit and peek. I can hear something from the living room.
Maybe it’s the TV. I left it on. Yeah, that’s it!
I open the door and walk into the living room, which is in complete darkness. And then, as I am staring with utter confusion at the blank screen, I hear breathing from behind me, where the sofa is. I stand utterly motionless for a good 10 minutes, I’m stricken with fear. There’s something in the house with me. In a locked house, how can that be?!
Do I move or stay still? Do I run out of the house?! What do I do? What will it do?!
And then I hear movement. Something is stirring. My body is frozen, my scream gets stuck in my throat. I hear a body moving on the sofa, the cushion making noises as if something is being rubbed against it. And it stops as suddenly as it started. A part of me is relieved that it stopped. That for the moment, I’m safe.
I still don’t move for the fear of waking up the thing on the sofa. As I contemplate my next move, I hear another sound. This time, it’s from my parent’s bedroom, which is on the other side of the living room. As if somebody is tossing and turning restlessly on the bed.
What is happening? Why is it happening? I start to question my sanity because this feels like a horrid dream. A nightmare from which I can’t seem to wake up.
I hear the tossing on the bed again. And a muffled voice. A feminine voice! My nerves are beyond control. I can’t move. I’m a statue in the middle of a very bad dream. My mind is frantically searching for an escape from all this.
The noises have stopped now and I’ve picked up enough courage to think of a plan.
Get to the main door and I’m free!
Just get to the main door. I slowly and very cautiously move to the door. Making sure that I don’t make any sound, while my heart beats so fast that I’m scared it’ll be heard by the thing on the sofa.
After what seems like an eternity, I am almost at the door. I haven’t heard any noises from the time I started to move. I have made it. One more step. Just one more.
And I hear the dreaded noise again. The rustle on the sofa! It’s coming from quite nearby! When I was in front of the TV I couldn’t make it out, but the thing on the sofa is at the very spot where the delivery guy had looked at earlier in the day and smiled!!
I freeze with that thought in my head. Any minute now, it’s going to catch me. I can’t be more than an arm’s distance from it. I can hear the low breathing emanating from it.
The shallow breathing reminds me of the rumbling of a watchful and malicious being. It was playing with me all along. It wanted me to come to the door and feel hope, that tiny hope in my heart. It allowed me to come to the brink, allowed me to feel I could escape. Such a cruel and inhumane thing to do.
I’m sure now. There’s no escaping. I’m doomed. I can see a form in the darkness and it’s extending its claw-like hands… I close my eyes and accept my fate.
That’s when the power comes back on, and I’m blinded by the light. And I hear — “Why are you standing at the door?!” It’s my dad’s voice. I open my eyes to see if it’s indeed him. It is him!
After I had slept, mom and dad came back to a power cut. Dad had dozed off on the couch and mom in the bedroom. After hearing this, I sigh deeply and go sit down beside him. Dad had always been a heavy sleeper with a snore that could rumble through the jungle. How many times have mom and I laughed about his ability to make so much noise through his nose?! After reminiscing over this for a bit, I come out of my reverie…
I’m suddenly aware of the quiet. An uneasy quiet. I look at my dad only to realize that it’s not my dad.
I scream. And I wake up to find its dark already…
Hmm, How long had I been asleep for?! It’s too quiet in the apartment complex like it’s the dead of night. Can’t be that late. But I can’t hear anything.
Wait…
