The Night To Remember
Disclaimer - The following story and its characters are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The nearest bus stop was a 5-minute walk from our apartment which was in the last lane of the road. We got down off the bus and began walking to our house. It wasn’t that late at night but the street was empty as if it was not much civilised. Finally, we approached our apartment. The best part of the room was, the hall’s balcony faced the seashore. I loved this scene from the balcony. In the day it was beautiful but at night it was more beautiful. The combination of the night sky having twinkling stars along with the seashore at night is simply mesmerising.
Our building was 3 floors high and was newly constructed. It wasn’t completely occupied. Only 4 rooms were sold presently. 2 on the 1st floor, 1 on the 2nd and ours on the 3rd. Our landlord provided this flat with one of the cheapest possible rents we could ever get in this kind of area. I wish to own a flat at such location in future. It was windy that day. A cool breeze was coming constantly through the window making the room more cool minute by minute.
I went to my room and my friend was already sleeping. No doubt he was tired like me. As I prepared myself to sleep I saw a house from the window which was just next to our building. I wasn’t sure I had seen it before. It was dark inside the house too, probably no one lived there or the one who lived must have been asleep. Without any further thoughts about the house, I lied down next to my friend with mobile phone in one hand and earphones in the other. The plan was simple- to listen to some silent music just to match the essence of the atmosphere. After around 5-6 songs, I started feeling dizzy which was a clear sign for me to sleep. I turned off the music, removed the earphones, kept my phone aside and closed my eyes.
A flashlight interrupted my sleep. After coming to my sense I realised it was my friend. I asked him what’s wrong? He said “I heard someone screaming multiple times. I’m looking who’s that.” But we, or at least me, didn’t hear anyone at that moment. I told him that it might be his mind play and nothing sort of that would have happened in reality. With no choice, he agreed and lied back down. After a minute or so, I heard the scream and so did he. We woke up instantly and looked down through the window. Apart from that house which I saw earlier, there was nothing visible to me. We decided to check by going downstairs.
As we reached down, we saw no one. Everything was still. Nothing present there were making any sort of noise, forget screaming. We both were confused and were unsure of what was happening. Finally, after being there for nearly 5 minutes, we decided to head back to our room. As we took a couple of steps, we heard the scream again. It was coming from the road opposite to us. We followed it and at last, we found a man lying there helplessly. He was wounded badly and a lot of blood was flowing through his leg. We both happened to forget our phones in our rooms and hence we realised we can’t call an ambulance. My friend said he’ll go inside the building and get someone for help. He went and I restlessly kept staring at him. It was a terrible scene that I was witnessing. The man was trying to speak but couldn’t. I asked him what happened to him, how all these happened, but he was not in the state to answer. But he somehow managed to raise his hand and he pointed towards the house. The same house that I saw from my window. I again wondered since when did that house was even there, why did I never saw it before?
Breaking up from my thoughts, the man tried to say something but he passed out. I went numb. I wasn’t in a pain like him but still, I felt I was helpless. I looked at the entrance of my building, there was no sign of my friend. I decided to go in and check myself. As I stood up to go inside the building, I saw a light flashed inside that house. I wonder who was that? Was someone inside that house? Then, suddenly, I saw someone’s reflection on the window which made me sure that there was someone in the house. I decided to check who was it and I started moving towards the house.
As I approached the deserted house at the end of the road, I saw an old lady at the door. It was dark but I had no option to talk to her for help. I went closer, she kept staring at me. I was feeling anxious. As I approached her, she smiled at me as if I did what she exactly wanted. Before I could utter a word, she said, “Come in. Welcome to my home. You can stay here for the night.” She dragged me in. The door got shut in hardly and woof! Darkness prevailed again. In few seconds the darkness faded and the house was again in front of me.
The Discovered Writer 
One thought on “The Deserted House”