Lurking Shadows


"I feel like there is a ghost sitting on my shoulders," Soniya complained walking into the room where we were all seated just about ready to watch our next horror film."Oh come on its not like the ghost from Shutter walked out of the tv set to come and haunt you," Mark retorted making us all laugh.

Shutter is a scary Korean flick that happened to scare us frenzy, the thought of it still sends shivers down my spine and the hairs on my back stand. There are times I wish I hadn't watched it but the chill craving horror addict in me gave into the temptation of  feeling the chills. Unlike most horror flicks, Shutter is very daunting.

Mark,Kripa and Tsering came to mine and Soniya's room every Friday night with a scary film each, where we huddle together  on the carpet with seven bowls of popcorn,to watch a marathon of the scariest horror flicks ever made or atleast the ones that have been hyped to freak you out of your pants.

Though most of our friends found it weird,we were content with our weekly dose of fear.It had become a habit, a habit we really couldn't get over. The more we watched the greater our craving for it grew,it was like a drug.

Slowly but surely we had gotten addicted to it. This was another reason why when Kripa brought the DVD for Shutter we couldn't resist the temptation to watch it, we had heard a lot about the movie and our seniors had filled us in on the things we didn't know.

 Though we knew the film was way too scary we were unable to resist watching it,much to our regret. Everything we had read in the reviews and heard were true but that wasn't why we resented watching it.

The film's story line was eerily familiar to an incident that had occurred to a student in our college nearly twenty years ago. The story of how she died is still told to the freshers by their seniors on their first day at hostel.

It had somehow become a tradition as the story got passed down to each batch from their seniors. Most of us took  it as a hoax that the seniors used to scare their juniors with, and never really paid attention to it.

The room Soniya and I shared was said to be haunted,it is believed that it was in this room that the girl had killed herself after a group of boys mass raped her. From what we were told, the spirit of this girl was unable to seek her revenge on the guys that had raped her,so her spirit still lurks around in search of vengeance.

Shutter has a familiar storyline, and though weird stuff kept happening to us in the room we never paid any attention to it, not until we watched shutter. I dunno if weird stuff happened after we watched that movie or if  we had overlooked it and only really noticed it after we watched it. Soniya would get up feeling like she was carrying a burden on her shoulders. Things kept getting misplaced. Soniya, was a cleanliness freak so things were always in order. She would even fix my clothes.But somehow things just weren't where we left them before going to class. At first we thought we were just being careless but after a week or so after watching Shutter we were certain that something was up.

I was fast asleep on my bunk just two weeks before our term break and Soniya was inside the bathroom taking a shower.She heard someone moving around in the room thinking it was me she asked me to pass her a towel.When I didn't respond she walked into the room stark naked to find me fast asleep and a towel lying on the bathroom floor.

That made her fume up in anger, so without thinking she walked back into the bathroom to grab a mug of water to throw on me when she felt a chill go up her spine,still holding the mug she turned around only to find herself standing a foot away from a shadowy figure of a girl ,menacingly lurking towards her.

When I got up about an hour later, I found Soniya lying unconscious on the bathroom floor, "Soni, babe, you okay," I muttered," get up will you. please," I cant carry you to the bed. Just as I was about to lift her, Soniya opened her eyes, she looked around as if she was looking for something.

"Looking for this," I asked passing her the towel. She silently wrapped herself in it as I walked out the door, while Soniya got dressed.  I was still trying to figure out what had happened when Soniya screamed. Making me jump, and run for cover, this time it wasn't a ghost or a shadowy figure that made her scream it was a cockroach, crawling up her arm.

Lets get out of here, was all she said,dashing out of the bathroom, so I grabbed my jeans and put on a fairly clean tee on and walked out with with her. "Is everything alright?"  I asked her the minute we were out.

No, I saw her, the girl, she was in our bathroom," Soniya retorted, "we are changing rooms,!"
But come on, we have been living here for so long, nothing has ever happened," I said, in a nervous tone, I like our room, it has this eerie feel to it. "It nearly attacked me,"! "Fine you stay I'm moving out," she retorted, again!

So I had no choice but to follow Soniya to our Warden's office. "I am sorry girls,there are no rooms available you can exchange rooms with your friends but all the rooms are packed so we cant adjust you anywhere at the moment. I will let you know if anyone wants to exchange rooms,"was what our Warden had to say.

Feeling really confused and knackered after the incident Soniya decided to go back to the room, on our way back we kept thinking of the possibilities, maybe Soniya was just being delirious, or maybe she was still hungover from all that drinking last night.  I couldn't think of anything, Soniya isn't someone who just imagines things.

Could it really be her?OMG, for the first time realisation sank in, I felt like the carpet had been pulled from under me, that would explain all the freaky incidences we just kept ignoring. We were sharing our room with a ghost.

A spirit stuck in our time, holy christ!  what on earth were we going to do. Despite the rumours of our dorm being haunted the college management took it as a mere hoax and students were allowed to board in these freaky rooms.

That night Soniya and I huddled together,didnt go to the loo alone and put up a poster with Aum written on it, I had a cross and a dagger hidden under my pillow. "You know what, I think we should put up camera's like they do in Paranormal Activity," I said to Soniya,who apparently had fallen asleep, she didnt reply so I switched on my phones voice recorder, just for the heck of it.


The next morning, I was about to get off the bunk, when I saw the bathroom door open, Soniya was lying next to me, a part of me wanted to wake Soniya up,but a part of me wanted to investigate it alone, so without waking Soniya, I walked towards the bathroom, I was about a feet away from the door when Soniya stirred, I turned back to see if she was awake but she was still fast asleep so I turned around,only to jump up in fright, staring right at me was a shadowy figure of a girl, I couldn't,breath,I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand and my knees went weak, before I could blink a whisker, she was gone,just like that,there was nothing there.

Still dazed I turned around and was about to walk out when I felt someone breathe down my neck,making me go stiff, I wanted to scream but I couldnt, I could feel something grasp my hands, drag me out the door and hurl me towards the bed-so hard that I nearly lost balance. I was just about to regain my composure when I heard a faint whisper, which sounded like, "get lost,"!This made me dash out the door, screaming like I had just seen a ghost, wait, hold on a minute, I did just see a ghost, "aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh,"!!!!!! I was still running around like a mad hatter when Kripa bumped into me, "What the hell is wrong with you," she exclaimed.

"A Ghost, I saw a ghost, it told me to get lost,!"

"Are you freaking out of your mind,?" Kripa yelled as she dragged me back to my room.

When we entered the room, we found, Soniya sitting on the floor looking dazed, "Are you alright,? we both wailed out looking at her, she was sitting on the ground,knawing her own arm, she had bitten into so hard we had, to call the ambulance. While, Kripa rushed to get the warden, I kneeled sat down next to Soniya who was still eyeing her hands hungrily, "Soni, darling, look at me," I said, but she didn't budge, she just kept staring at the arm she had bitten into,realising that she was bleeding profusely I rushed to get a towel and dabbed her hand with it, before rushing to the bathroom, to get the first aid kit. I was just about to get the kit out, when I saw a reflection in the mirror, I turned around to see Soniya standing behind me, with a dagger in her hands, "Soni," was all I could say and the next thing I knew there was  a piercing pain going through my chest, I could feel the icy cold blade slicing through my flesh making me go numb with pain.The world around me began to swirl, I could hear laughter as I strained to keep my eyes open I saw Soniya's figure rush out of the bathroom, followed by a crashing sound.

The last thing I remember was the sound of sirens blaring outside our dorm, and Kripa, screaming on top of her voice, I could hear echoes of voices around me and smell the sweet aroma  of fresh Jasmine flowers. I could see Soniya, beckoning to me, it was like she wanted me to follow her, Soni, I called out, but before I could catch up with her she was gone.

This was six months ago, and no one knows what really happened that morning. The crashing sound I heard was Soniya jumping out of the window. I lost my best friend and it took me three months to recover from the shock. Though I dunno what took over Soniya's body that morning, I do know its still out there, lurking amidst us in search of vengeance.


By Prabalta Rijal









Comments

  1. When I got up about an hour later, I found Soniya lying unconscious on the bathroom floor, "Soni, babe, you okay," I muttered," get up will you. please," I cant carry you to the bed. Just as I was about to lift her, Soniya opened her eyes, she looked around as if she was looking for something."Looking for this," I asked passing her the towel. She silently wrapped herself in it as I walked out the door, while Soniya got dressed.  I was still trying to figure out what had happened when Soniya screamed. Making me jump, and run for cover, this time it wasn't a ghost or a shadowy figure that made her scream it was a cockroach, crawling up her arm.

    When you woke up an hour later how did you know she had screamt earlier?


    I walked towards the bathroom, I was about a feet away from the door when Soniya stirred, I turned back to see if she was awake but she was still fast asleep so I turned around,only to jump up in fright, staring right at me was a shadowy figure of a girl, I couldnt,breath,I could feel the hairs on my stand and my knees went weak, 

    Hairs? Hair. On your what?

    Quite captivating anyways... I'd say.

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  2. To answer your first question, right from the start you realise this story is a narration of an incident that has already taken place, its something the narrator has already thought about. Sometimes we know our frens so well that even if we arent around we know how they react, these girls are best friends..... The second thing, thank you for pointing it out its, "hairs on the back of my neck".....Really good to know I have readers who care....Have a good day, and thank you for reading :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is it too scary......
    then I would like to watch that movie too.
    Do you still have that movie mam...??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess the movie is available on youtube, check for it :)

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