Short Stories

8. Witches

I heard a crying sound in the middle of the night.

It seemed like it was coming from the kitchen downstairs. An annoying sobbing sound. I was tremendously irritated.

Who cries so loudly in the middle of the night?

I was so pissed off that I had to get up at this unearthly hour that it didn't occur to me that I lived alone. I freaking lived alone. No one was even supposed to be inside my house.

I made my way downstairs angrily. The sound became louder and louder as I neared the kitchen.

"Who's there?" I called out.

Silence.

"Is anyone there?" I shouted again.

No reply.

I huffed and turned around. Only when I reached the top of the staircase did I realize what it meant.

I cried out aloud, scared out of my wits. Running into my room, I slammed the door shut and took out my phone.

"Hello?" Avaly's sleepy voice responded.

Avaly was my best friend. She lived a couple of blocks away. She was my rock, she was always there when I needed her.

"Avaly! I think there's someone in my house!"

She burst out laughing. "Look Daphne, it's quite late for silly jokes. Go to sleep babe."

I was about to respond when I heard a slow creaking noise. The bedroom door was creaking open slowly on its own.

"Avaly?" I whispered slowly. "I'm scared."

She stopped laughing and said in a sober tone,"I'll be there in 5 minutes."
I hung up the phone and sat on the bed, hugging my knees tightly.

The sobbing sound had stopped. I was still scared however. I got off the bed and made to shut the door. But the door was jammed. No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't budge. The sobbing sound meanwhile, had stopped.

A sudden fear overtook me and I jumped into the bed. I grabbed my phone and called Avaly again.

"Ava where are you?" I nearly screamed into the phone.
"Hold on Daph I'm almost there!"

In 5 more minutes, Avaly was through the door and into my arms.

"C'mon it's fine." She laughed. "This is why I tell you not to watch horror films, look at the state of you. You are completely covered in sweat!"

She then searched the entire house with me trailing apprehensively behind her.

"See there's nothi-" Her words were cut short by a small laughter. Both of us whirled around immediately. The room was completely empty.

"Umm Daph? I hope this isn't some sick joke of yours." She said with narrowed eyes.

Before I could respond, the lights went out. We were in complete darkness.

Both of us yelled out together. I started groping around for my phone in the darkness. It was no where to be found.

"Why the heck is my phone dead?" Wailed Avaly.

"There's something wrong over here Ava. We need to get out." I told her in a shaky voice.

"Well I can't see a thing in the darkness. How do you expect me to find the door?" She snarled.

I could see that she was totally freaked out. I felt bad for involving her in all this but there was no way I could face it alone.

My heart was racing along at an unusual speed. I was completely frightened.

Suddenly Ava grabbed my hand and whispered, "Daph what the hell is that noise?"

I listened intently. I couldn't hear anything other than the sound of my breathing. "What noise are you talking about?"

"Daph are you freaking deaf or what?" She whispered urgently. "Something is singing somewhere."

She was right! I could hear a soft humming. It made all the hairs on my hand rise.

"Ava what do we do?"

"I think we-" The lights came back on. I sighed in relief, turning to Ava. She had a full blown smile on her face. "Phew, the nightmare is finally over!" She said. However, our happiness was short-lived.

My eyes caught something on the floor. I shrieked at the top of my voice,"Ava look out! There's blood on the floor!"

She looked down and jumped about an mile into the air. "What the bloody hell!"

Both of us backed into the wall and curled up on the floor. I was almost about to cry when she exclaimed loudly.

She walked over boldly to the blood stains and said in a smug voice, "Someone's playing a joke on you Daph. Here, smell it." She dipped her finger into the stains and brought it near my nose. It was smelling like paint.

"Paint?" I asked doubtfully.
"Yup"

I grew angry. Somebody had played a very sick prank on me. I growled slowly as Ava and I crashed on the bed to sleep for the night.

~☆~
About a couple of days later, as I was washing dishes in the kitchen, I heard a low voice whispering to me,"Help me...help me..." I turned around, but there was no one to be found.

"Who's there? Come out!"

No response.

I became really pissed off. "Look I do not have time for silly jokes. Come out if you have the guts!"

I huffed in irritation and went back to washing dishes.

That night, as I went to bed, I heard the same whisper again. Really perplexed, I got up and called Ava.

"Hey Ava. I'm getting those spooky sounds again."

She,however,wasn't convinced. "Look Daph, someone's just playing a very sick joke on you. Don't pay any heed to them. Just go to sleep."

I was nearly asleep when a strong rotten smell reached my nose.

Scrunching my nose up, I got up to locate the source of the smell.

I could hear a faint chanting coming from the kitchen. What I saw made me scream out loud.

Then everything went black.

To be continued...

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A/N

Hey guys I'm back!
This is a part of a story. It's not complete as yet. I'll probably finish it in a couple of more chapters.

Do let me know whether you like the story or not!

Aaaand, vote please!

Lots of love,
Sharoni.