Prayers can wait.
Around 4:45 p.m., I nestled in bed for a short nap to calm my nerves. My eyelids grew heavy. Eventually, I found my body sinking slowly and deeper into the mattress. Everything in the room disintegrated into nothingness and my whole body dissolved like the foams of the sea, floating weightlessly as little swirls of wind as it entered a state of extremely delicate trance that we all called dreams.
A small piece of lace cloth in a deep scarlet colour, manifested in my dream, swayed in front of me in a seductive sashay and slowly rose above in a hypnotic twirl. Moments later, it twisted and turned sharply before dropping like a blob of red blood. Soon, it rose again in slow motion, grew in size and floated in the air. Long splotches of maroon spiralled their way out from it like ominous branches from an enormous tree. At the end of each branch, hung a fruit the size of a fist. Its skin glazed with a dark and glossy red hue. A hand entered my field of vision in an ethereal fashion and I realised that the hand was mine. It reached out to pluck the fruit but it was nothing like fruit.
It was a heart...and it was beating.
THUMP THUMP THUMP, it went.
THUMP THUMP THUMP, shivers it sent.
THUMP THUMP THUMP, it grew.
THUMP THUMP THUMP, my fear, it knew.
The beating heart squirmed closer into the depths of my hand, refusing to leave my grasp. It twitched and convulsed violently, contorting its form, trying desperately to wrap around me so that it could mesh its jerking mass into mine. The thundering of beating hearts filled the silence as each heart that hung like a teardrop at the end of each branch, glowed a sinister red.
One by one, the hearts morphed into infants' heads, all detached from their bodies, their faces contorted in silent, agonising cries. Each precious little face had brutal red splinters slashed all over and dark, rancid gooey substance oozed out from each violent crack. The branches now shed their barks and revealed slimy tentacles that had a glistening red sheen. Peals of spine-chilling high-pitched laughter escaped from the giant red blob in the middle which had now transformed into the terrifying floating head that I saw in my room the other night. Its blazing eyes burned like fiery embers as it tormented me with its menacing hiss.
In rapid succession, each of its tentacles popped the infants' head into the creature's mouth, one by one. The harsh, raspy, grinding crunch of each twisted bite echoed through my entire body.
The creature flew towards me in a mad frenzy and stopped frighteningly close. It opened its mouth wide and exposed a vivid image that would haunt me for the rest of my life. Mutilated infants' heads swished around the insides of the creature's mouth, mercilessly butchered by sharp fangs. A blanket of foul, putrid mist escaped as the creature hissed at me once more that it burnt my eyes with its rancid stench and the sensation was like an acidic burn.
I hollered in pain. My terrified screams sucked me backwards into a rush of black void and transported me back to the waking world.
I was uncertain how long I was out but I was drenched in a cold sweat, shaking violently in the sweltering heat. The familiar sight of my room materialised but something rather peculiar grabbed my attention. A tall black shadow was standing at the far corner of the room as though watching me intently.
I tried to shift my body to get a better view but I was held in place by an invisible force. I tried to move my head but even that was pointless. I could feel my insides still shaking yet my physical body was not. Something was controlling and forcing me to stay rigid like a corpse. The only thing that I could move were my eyes. It was terrifying.
The black shadow popped nearer and nearer until it was at the foot of my bed. It doubled in height and towered over me like a magnificent beast. My heart thrashed wildly against my ribcage, as though trying to escape desperately from the confines of my own body. I stared in horror as something heavy dropped its weight onto my chest with a mighty force.
The black shadow was sitting on top of me.
It had no face. It had no features. It was just a black silhouette that possessed a smokeless form but it had a strong burning smell attached to it like giant remnants of burnt coal. An extreme feeling of dread washed over me and the fine hairs at the base of my neck trembled in fright, causing uncontrollable goosebumps to break out all over my body.
I tried to scream but my mouth was sewn shut. Horrified, I frantically recited prayers in my heart but the black shadow refused to budge and drew itself closer towards my face. I slammed my eyes shut in absolute fright, silently wishing that it was just another nightmare within a nightmare. I fought to move my body again but I was still tied in invisible bondage. I screamed out the prayers in my chest. All of a sudden, the apprehension that I felt earlier was gone and I could finally wriggle my toes. Relieved, I opened my eyes and the figure that had rendered me speechless earlier, faded into oblivion. A tingling sensation finally crept up from my toes to the rest of my body and I bolted upright in fright.
Was it sleep paralysis? Or was that an actual demon?
I struggled to get up from the bed; my whole body was still trembling in a state of shock.
What did the nightmare mean?
* * * ◊ ˚ ◊ ˚ ◊ ˚ ◊ ˚ ◊ * * *
Later that night...
Ching keching keching keching keching keching KAHCHING!
I heard it again.
Ching keching keching keching keching keching KAHCHING!
This time, I knew I was not imagining it. The sounds had broken me from my peaceful slumber.
It sounded like the mystifying jingles of payal bells that Indian dancers wore around their ankles. The sound of feet tapping followed by a chorus of unearthly jingles as though in a synchronised dance bounced off the walls. But where was the sound coming from? Our wooden attap house was the only house in the vicinity. The nearest house was about one kilometre away from here.
I reached out my hand to the other side of the bed and found it empty. A sick realisation set in and I promptly remembered that Melati and Saleha were not at home on Friday nights. Tonight, I was all alone.
CHING KECHING KECHING KECHING KECHING KECHING KAHCHING!
The jingles were not echoes from somewhere distant; it was coming from inside my room. A cluster of giggles resonated like a chilling melody within the confines of my walls. Soon after, the giggles were replaced by the same disturbing sound once again-
CHING KECHING KECHING KECHING KECHING KECHING KAHCHING!
Huffing, puffing, trying to collect my thoughts, I bolted out of bed and dashed towards the kerosene lamp. Grabbing for the matchbox beside it, I slid open the box and fumbled for a matchstick inside. I struck the matchstick on the side of the matchbox and lit the lamp. Just as soon as I did that, the sound stopped.
"What's happening?" I sat down on the floor with a thud and buried my face in my hands in a comforting grasp, "Please tell me I'm not going insane."
TING! Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..... toop.
I heard something fell with a sharp jingle from above, rolled for a short while and stopped itself near my feet. Peeking through the cracks in between my fingers, I saw that it was a small, round silver bell.
Chiiiing kechiiiing kechiiiing kechiiiing kechiiing kechiiing kaaaaahhhhh- CHING!
The last "ching" ended on such a loud booming note that it sounded as though it was demanding me to look up towards my ceiling. I peered up anxiously and cautiously. Different pairs of blood-soaked feet and I meant, literally just feet were moving and stomping away upside down on my ceiling. The payal bells that hung eerily around each ankle jingled their haunting melody at each stomp.
I forced myself to run towards the bedside table, grabbed my car key and rushed the hell out of there. As I past Saleha's room, I retraced back my steps and looked in. The same white figure that was praying in Saleha's room earlier today was seated in the same pose, dressed in a white prayer garb and without a prayer mat. But this time, its front was facing me. It lifted its head and stared right at me. Its face was so raggedly grotesque and burnt that I had to scream.
In a panic, I ran out as fast as I could towards my car and drove off. I had no idea where I was going but I knew I was not staying anywhere near the house.
One thing was for sure - we needed to move out.
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A/N:
I am curious. How would you have reacted in each of these terrifying situations, which was the 1) hellish nightmare, 2) black shadow figure, 3) dancing feet and 4) the white figure in white prayer garb? Let me know in the comments!
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CREDITS:
Background Music: Vivek Abhishek - Horror Theme | Dark Forest Music | Copyright Free | Vivek Abhishek
Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/bardZsyr0sM
Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaeW48X42EwKHsp1n0U-WQQ