A Bizarre October Night

It was an October night in Darjeeling. The air was intoxicated with the smell of shiuli flowers and the chill of the night caught every earthbound oeuvre to an odd pleasantness. The clock showed five past three and I couldn’t sleep as usual. Insomnia-stricken and depression clad, I was a maniacal combination of a cold mess. I remained glued to my phone screen, swiping up, reel after reel, until something “actually” funny would make me let out a smirk. I was bored. And all my friends were offline.

Just then I suddenly felt like I heard a sound. I toned down the volume of my phone to listen clearly and I was right. It was my dog, Jackie barking in the veranda. Now Octobers in Darjeeling get really chilly. So I pulled out my woollen jacket from the cupboard and tied my hair up in a semi bun-ponytail. “What could it be?” I thought, “Another mouse? A leopard cub perhaps? Or a thief?!” Instinctively, I took the stick from behind the cupboard in my room that my father had given me a few months back for my protection, just in case! Observing abundant caution, I tiptoed my way to the veranda.

As I reached the veranda, the chill of the wind outside grasped me. It was cold. I instantly regretted not changing from my shorts to something warmer. But I had to find out what was the sound. Jackie kept barking in the same direction but there was nothing there. I tried to calm him down but to no avail. I inched closer to the side wall to find a peculiar sound. I was curious. As I inched closer the sound distorted to a strange noise. Advancing closer, I realised something was in the brass vase. I opened the lid and the sound vanished!

“Now this is weird!” I murmured.

Jackie quietened.

And no sooner had I said this than the glass windows blew shattered to the ground like an explosion. A piece of glass hurt my arm and I started bleeding. Jackie whimpered and ran to hide under the table. The weather changed and a strong wind began blowing against the curtains. I could see a silhouette of a figure behind one of the curtains. I tried to hit it with the stick in my hand but it vanished! I was scared, panting vigorously. I could feel it shift its position swiftly hither and thither. It drove me into a daze and I almost felt sick in my stomach which made me want to throw up.

“Who’s this?” I cried in disbelief.

A dark shadow whooshed past my ear with the wind. I was scared. Its presence was so obvious! I ran towards the door to get inside the house. I wanted to wake my parents up. But before I could the door slammed shut on my face. I shrieked out in fear. I screamed and called out for my parents. I guess they had already awakened at the sound of the glasses shattering because I saw my Dad open the bedroom door in shock, unable to understand what was happening.

He looked at me, in fear, in tears, confused.

“What’s happening, Dad?” I cried. 

“Stay there, Leslie. I am coming to get you” said Dad.

He began his stead towards me, but no sooner than he did a powerful force pushed him and pinned him against the wall. By that time Mom came out of the room too. She lost her mind seeing Dad float in the air against the wall. The lights started blinking and the entire house was in chaos and disarray. I couldn’t believe my eyes! My mind went numb. I was encountering a paranormal night.

I banged the door and tried to push it open to help Mom, but it was jammed shut. I hopped through the broken windows and scratched my thigh with broken glass. I was bleeding profusely. I ran to my mother and held her hand. I could tell she was as scared as me, albeit brave in her eyes. But a dark force tore her from me and pushed her to another side of the wall so vigorously that she hurt her head. Mom was having a concussion as she dropped down in her own pool of blood, drawing bloodstains on the wall from her head hurt. I was angry and hurt and scared. I felt so helpless and distraught. This was no usual evil spirit. It nurtured in the brass vase with everyone oblivious to its devious plans and spooky intentions.  This felt like the Devil himself, with the purpose of hurting us, or possessing one of our bodies to manifest its darkness in the mortal form!

Just then I remembered Mom had once told me that fire drove evil spirits away.

I ran towards the kitchen, determined to end all of this. I was more furious than afraid. I rushed to get the wooden spatula, put the kitchen mitt on it and tried to light a fire. But I was nervous and trembling in fear, unable to even hold the matchstick still. The lights went completely off to make things worse. The wind blew stronger and somehow the darkness of the spirit started to get more powerful than ever. I could sense that it was angry that I was trying to drive it away. I wasted three matchsticks until I was finally able to light one and with that I put the mitten on fire! The next moment there was a huge fire explosion and my vision blinded.

And I woke up!

I couldn’t believe myself. “Was this all a dream?!” I got up in disbelief and horror. I was in sweats, still panting for breath. I looked around to see my room. Everything was in its place. Jackie was in his merry slumber, the room looked as usual. I opened the curtains to see the fog outside the window. I put on warm clothes and went to the veranda, typically to the vase to check it. The veranda seemed as peaceful as it always been. The house was as organised as could be. Mom and Dad were fast asleep as I sneaked into their bedroom. Everything was fine. It was all good.

Thank God! It was only a dream.