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Illusions - Part 3

Shaina arrived with her husband to the clinic. The clinic was located next to the doctor's house. It was simple one storey bungalow. They waited outside while the doctor held private sessions inside with a patient. Shaina was nervous. She kept tapping her feet and fidgeting her fingers while Kabir gently brushed her back.  An hour passed by. She was getting impatient. "When will his session end? This is so unprofessional.", she said irritatedly. "Just few more minutes.", he convinced her to stay. She got up and started walking to and fro to calm herself down. She even tried to peep inside the window. Unfortunately the curtains were closed. Twenty more minutes had passed. She couldn't wait any longer. "I am leaving. I can't wait any longer.", she said. As she started to leave, the door opened. A young man in twenties in crisp suit arrived. The couple assumed him to be the doctor and was about to greet him when another man arrived. He w

Illusions - Part 2

Suddenly she heard a voice calling her name out. It was her husband, Kabir. She opened her eyes. There was no monster. Everything seemed normal. She was on the same spot where the monster had dragged. She looked around. There was no one except for her husband and the butler. He offered his hand and she grabbed it while wincing in pain. "What had happened? You were screaming so loudly.", he asked gently. "I ... You won't believe me.", she replied. "One of your usual nightmares. I have told you so many times that we must consult a psychiatrist to take care of your problem. You never listen. ", he scolded her. "But this wasn't a nightmare. It was real. I had seen the monster dragging me.", she argued. He sighed. "You are imagining things. Tell me, how did the monster look like ?", he inquired. "The monster .. Well ! It was similar to the one I have been writing about in my stories.", she replied nervously. "See

Illusions - Part 1

Shaina was busy penning anthology of ghost stories. Her frantic publisher , Mr Wang, was calling her for every minute updates. Irritated by his constant calls, she kept her phone on silent mode. However the calls didn't stop. Her phone kept vibrating and disturbing her concentration. She finally picked the call, "What is it ?", she asked rudely. "Well ! Don't be so rude. I am only calling you to check the progress of your work.", he replied. She closed her eyes furiously and opened them after cooling her mind. "How will I complete the book if you bother me every single minute , Mr Wang?", she asked calmly.  He giggled instead of apologizing for his mistake. "Ok then you continue with your work. I will keep checking on you.", he said shamelessly. She hung the call on him. She stared blankly at the monitor. "Damn that publisher and his calls ! Now I am out of ideas. How shall I proceed with this story.", she wondered. After

The Curfew - Part 11

The pooja rituals happened smoothly. The sisters and Rohan were leaving next day. Hence they got busy with the packing while Roopa got busy with preparing homemade delicacies for her kids. Diya wasn't ready to leave. She was still haunted by that night's ordeal. She seemed lost. Deepika hadn't noticed it until she finished her packing and visited Diya to check hers. "You haven't finished your packing. We have to leave tomorrow afternoon.", she said. Her little sister didn't reply. She sat still engrossed in thoughts. She remembered how she had saved her life from the demon. Deepika noticed something was bothering her sister. She nudged her. "You look lost. Are you okay ?", she asked. Diya didn't respond. "I know you are thinking about those not so good memories. I am sorry for not being there with you. Even Rohan is feeling guilty for that night. He wants to make it up to you. But I know it won't be enough for you to forget."

The Curfew - Part 10

Rohan was feeling even more guiltier with every passing minute. He looked around. His mother in law was crying uncontrollably due to loss of her youngest child. His wife was lost in thoughts of how she could have saved her little sister and now she wouldn't be able to see due to her carelessness. Rohan's heart pained. Everything would have been normal if and only if he had followed the curfew. He feel on the floor , distraughted. He remembered the good times he had with Diya. She was like his little sister, always on lookout for new ways to annoy her sister. She was life of the family. Because of his stupid mistake, the life was gone. Tears welled up in his eyes. He was going to miss her carefree smile and liveliness. His consciousness was mocking at him for his failure. He wished he could have saved her. He wished it was his life the demon would have taken.  Suddenly burning rage filled his heart and he got up immediately. He ran towards the main door and opened it. Ev

The Curfew - Part 9

They walked uphill where the temple was located. Tiny sounds of dancing leaves gave them goosebumps. The torch light from their phone didn't help them much. However they kept their pace though they tripped several times. Diya felt uneasiness in her tummy. She stopped. Deepika and Rohan turned behind to check on each one of them. They found Diya bent slightly. Her expression showed that she wasn't well. They got closer to her to understand the situation. "What happened ?", Deepika asked. "I can't walk anymore. My stomach aches.", her sister replied. "It's just five more minutes and we will be there.", Deepika stressed. "You can bear this. We only need five minutes. You can rest there. We will be safe there.", Rohan tried to persuade her. Diya sulked in pain. She managed to get the energy to bear the pain. They began walking, helping Diya to walk. Their pace was slow now. Rohan felt remorseful, looking at his sister in law'

The Curfew - Part 8

They ran for twenty minutes into deep woods without any idea where they were heading to. Finally Rohan stopped and bent down with his hands on his hips. He was breathing hard. He looked behind. Even girls had stopped to get some air. Their legs ached. "Let's go !", Rohan said. His wife questioned, "Where ?" "Do you know where are we going ? We don't know whether this road will take us home. We might be lost.", she continued. Rohan thought deeply. "What should we do ?  We can't wait here for the monster to get hold of us.", he asked. " I told you we should have started early. You never listen.", she complained. "Yeah I should have. But I have always told your dad to shift to city with us. He never listens. You know how dangerous this place is. None of you girls try to persuade your family to shift.", he spoke his heart out. Diya wasn't surprised by his response but she didn't like her brother in law accu

The Curfew - Part 7

Diya was astounded by the creature's appearance. She had never seen any creature like this except for the movies. She realized that those rumours she had been listening since child were not rumours after all. This was real. Rohan tried to press the accelerator. But the car didn't move. Deepika was panicking constantly.  Diya unknowingly shook her sister's shoulders with one of her hands while staring in fear at the creature. "What ?", her sister asked and turned towards her. Her eyes looked up at the direction where Diya was watching. She screamed loudly , distracting Rohan's attention. Rohan panicked at the sight. He had assumed earlier that the sisters and residents of this village were simply misunderstanding the movement of animals with a ghost. Now he knew those rumors were not rumors after all. He stopped pressing the accelerator and watched the creature in horror. He had no idea how they were going to escape from the monster. He cursed himself

The Curfew - Part 6

There were no street lights near the junction. It was pitch dark except for the bright moon and twinkling stars. The trees danced momentarily due to wind and wild dogs howled endlessly. Rohan and the sisters were tensed. They had to reach home before demon preys on them. He drove as fast as he could. Suddenly he saw a injured man lying on the ground with his bike fallen to his side. He pressed on the brake to stop the car. His car was almost close to the man’s head. “Oh my god! What is this?”, Diya asked nervously. “I think we need to check on him. He is bleeding badly.”, Rohan spoke. “No! We must continue. What if he is a demon in disguise of injured man? We shouldn’t take any chances. Let’s go.”,Deepika said. Rohan didn’t pay any attention to her.  “Don’t be stupid! He could be genuinely a man who needs our help. He must have met with an accident.”, Rohan quipped. He got out of the car while the sisters tried to persuade him to stay in the car.  He knelt down next to the man an

The Curfew - Part 5

The sisters and Rohan had casual chat with pinch of humour directed at Diya. There weren’t serious arguments between the sisters. But the cheerful girls remained suspiciously quiet when they were nearing the haunted junction. Rohan was curious. He knew the story behind the hauntings. But he didn’t understand the reason behind their silence. It wasn’t uncommon. Every time they passed this junction , they would remain silent. He did ask once with his wife. Her answer didn’t satisfy his curiosity. She simply said that she didn’t want to attract any demon to chase them. He had laughed and she had reprimanded him for taking it so lightly. The sisters would get anxious until they reached their ancestral  home every time they visited. He looked at the watch. He still had thirty minutes. He wished he had listened to his wife advice of reaching home early.  He was chastised by her several times during the journey. He had also promised her to reach on time. Now he felt stressed and wondered

The Curfew - Part 4

After quick dinner, they began their journey. It took them an hour to get to the outskirts of the city. The road was quite empty now with only few vehicles on the road. The street lights beamed brightly. The girls were slowly drifting to sleep. However the elder one tried to stay awake in order to give company to her husband who was driving. Rohan yawned couple of times. Watching him yawn, his wife couldn't control her urge to sleep and decided to close her eyes for few minutes. She was sleeping peacefully. Suddenly her head jerked and she opened her eyes immediately. She turned towards her husband's side. She was horrified to see her husband's headless body driving the car while the blood was oozing out of his neck. She screamed while turning behind to check on her sister. Her sister's stomach was ripped open with intestines scattered out.  She closed her eyes and  screamed again. "Deepika, wake up ! What happened?", she heard Rohan's voice. She

The Curfew - Part 3

The sisters's native was located at outskirts of a town called Yellapur near Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. Their mom , Roopa was eagerly waiting for their arrival. She whispered a prayer, "Please God, make them arrive before 10 pm.". Suddenly she felt someone nudge her on her shoulder. She turned behind. It was her sister in law, Ganga. "What is bothering you ?", she asked. Roopa stayed quiet for several minutes before she couldn't control her emotions. "I told them several times. Start in the morning. These kids never listen.", she wailed.  Ganga consoled her, "Don't worry ! They will be fine." "How can I not worry ? You heard the horror stories that have occurred here. That next door KD Bhat lost his only son. His son was only few minutes close to his house. If he had arrived early, he would have been alive. Those dreadful demons massacred him mercilessly.", Roopa didn't seem to control her tears. "The

The Curfew - Part 2

The trio got ready for the trip after several checks of apartment, counting of bags and items necessary for the trip made by overly concerned Deepika. Rohan began driving once he put the location of the destination they were going on GPS. "Do we really need the GPS ? I know the route by heart.", Deepika said. Rohan stayed quiet while Diya giggled. An hour had passed. No one spoke. Rohan was busy driving while his wife stared out of the  window and his sister in law sulkingly gazing at her Facebook. Diya scrolled her Facebook app. There were random posts of her friends  and nemesis visiting exotic getaways. She was burning with jealousy. Suddenly she came across her sister post where she had tagged her and brother in law's name - "Finally family get together with my BAEs" . This irked her. "Why did you tag me in your post ? This is so embarrassing.", she growled at her sister. Deepika was startled. It was like as if someone had woken her up from de

The Curfew - Part 1

Diya was ready. She had rechecked whether she had packed everything for the trip though she wasn't happy staying at a remote village (which happened to be her native) without network or internet for three days. She still had time before her brother in law arrived to pick her up. She quickly took out her laptop and got busy downloading songs and movies for three days. There was one movie that struck her interest. It was horror movie. She opened the file to get glimpse of movie.  Suddenly her phone beeped. She jumped out of fright. She calmed herself down and checked her phone. It was her Obsessive compulsive roommate who was asking her to recheck the house before leaving for zillionth time. She impatiently replied back yes and got back to watch the movie. The movie was about a demonic spirit haunting a young woman stranded in an apartment. She was absorbed into watching the movie.  Suddenly she heard some utensils falling down in kitchen. She screamed and tip toed towards th