The Hut in the Woods

Horror
5 out of 5 (2 )

Ah! Kashmir. The place known for its stupefying and confounding beauty. Those beautiful rivers and streams, those gorgeous and lovely trees, and of course those mighty tall mountains. But as you know, every coin has two sides; and this coin also has a second side. A very dark one.

I am Hanan and this is my story.

I was a struggling person, you know. Trouble always followed me around as if I had a "kick me" sign written on myself. One day, I sat on a bench just below some wires and started reading a book about an old woman who practiced witchcraft and how she was finally defeated. I was enjoying myself as I went deep into the book. I was imagining that I was that hero who saved a village from the witch. However, this joy and exuberance didn't last long as some birds sitting on the wire got jealous of me. You know what I mean! Alas, I didn't think much of it and rather took it as a good omen. Coming back to the story, I closed the book, kept it in my bag, and went back to my place. There, I got a phone call from my friend Ayan. Talking about him, he is always loyal to his friends but not so smart and a bit impulsive and irrational at times, yet we were best of friends. Ayan shared with me his plans about going to Yusmarg, a yet another beautiful place with all of our friends. At first, I didn't take interest in going there but soon after he told me that Yusmarg had some places known for their 'hauntedness' which indeed was a lie, I immediately got excited and told him that I am in. We got Zehran and Mehran, two twins who were also in our friend group; to join us on this trip. So, we decided to depart on Thursday and return on Sunday. C'mon don't get jealous, we had our vacations.

Ayan got his car and we finally left Srinagar for Yusmarg. While driving we played music at high volume, completely ignoring the fact that it was Thursday evening or as we say in Kashmiri 'Jumah Raat'. For those who don't know, we Kashmiris have this core belief that on Jumah Raat we should avoid playing music and laughing loudly outside our houses. I asked Mehran who was in the front seat to lower the volume. He replied by saying "C'mon Hanan, seriously? You still believe in this nonsense" and increased the volume. I stayed mum as the majority was against me. Nevertheless, I put on my Airpods and started playing a game until the unthinkable happened. Mehran and Ayan got into an argument and Ayan lost control of the car. A black dog came in front of the car, intending to cross the road, and Ayan accidentally hit it. I put down my earphones, told Ayan to pull up the car and I opened the door and got up to check the dog. He was dead. I got startled for a moment as I had once heard from my grandma that there are evil spirits or Djins inside black dogs. Taking God's name, I saw a shovel nearby and used it to keep the dog in a better place. Ayan and Mehran were both sorry for their actions, but what was the point now? Poor dog lost his life. Ayan tried to start the car but it didn't start. He and Mehran started to cry like little children. I told them to calm down. I got up and checked the engine but to my surprise everything was fine. I told Ayan to get up from the driver's seat and to let me sit there and try starting the car. This time, the car started. We didn't think much of it and I took the charge of driving the car as Ayan was quite frightened. Zehran and I were in the front now. We finally reached Yusmarg and went into a visitor hut. This hut was a bit away from the main commercial area and the main market.

We had our dinner, started to joke around, and have lots of fun. Suddenly, a very weird and creepy voice called out "Mehraannnnoooooo mehranooooooooo". It became louder and louder. "MEHRANOOOOO cxe chuk na bozanoooo" which means 'Mehran are you not listening to me. I got a top-up of bravery and went outside and shouted "Who is there? What do you want?". I went inside the hut just to find out Mehran was missing. We saw him in a distance from the hut walking towards a very scary hill, anyone could say that he was not in his senses. Even if we wanted to save him, we could not as it started to rain and thunder. A flash flood also came which made it completely infeasible to go outside. We crossed our fingers and prayed for our friend. The next morning, we got up very early and it was clear and safe outside. I and Ayan went near the hill while Zehran went to get help from someone.

While walking near the hill, I saw a very dense jungle. First I thought that it was practically impossible for someone to go there, especially taking in mind the natural calamities which happened yesterday. This time Ayan got a top-up of bravery and went inside, but just as he tried to go inside he stepped back and told me to go first. I smirked at him and his short-lived bravery. "Nevermind, let's go now" I said.

When I stepped inside the forest I saw that it was very dark inside and I knew it would be difficult for us to come back, in case we forget our way back. Nevertheless, I started walking forward and suddenly Ayan shouted "AHHH!". "What happened now??" said I in a frustrated tone. When I looked back, I was astonished to see a horde of snakes coming toward us. I told Ayan to run deep inside the forest and that I will run behind him. After running for a long time, he suddenly stopped. "Oh my God, what is this," said Ayan. I said to him "What?". When I finally saw what Ayan saw, I lost all my bravery and courage. It was a hut. Now here I want to say that any person would faint seeing it. It was demonic and satanic. It had skulls all over it and a stream of blood coming from there. I heard Mehran's scream inside. Ayan and I couldn't tolerate that our friend was being tortured by a son of a witch. So we both got the final top-up of bravery and courage. "Bismillah. In the name of God, let's go inside," Ayan said to me.

When I went inside, imagine that typical door screech. Seriously it was one of my most frightening experiences. The first thing I saw was stars made all over the floor. The second thing I saw was none other than Mehran. He was crying and whimpering in pain. Just as I went to speak to him; something hit my head and I fell to the ground completely unconsious. When I got up, I saw that I was lying in a hospital bed, and opposite me was Ayan who was also unconscious. I was very weak. But the thought of Mehran being in such severe danger couldn't stop me from getting up and enquiring about what was going on. Turns out that when I was hit on the head; the witch had dragged me and Ayan for a ritual where she intended to do something very harmful to us both. Thanks to God, Zehran whom I had sent to get help came at the right time with a group of locals and also an Imam (Muslim priest) and they all saved us from the terror of that witch. A question arose in my mind if I and Ayan are here, where is Mehran? Here is the second shocker. Mehran was never with us. It was all a trap set by the witch to attract us to her hut so that she could practice her ritual. She sent her son, whom she made to look like Mehran to accompany us on this trip. Also, the killing of the dog was also done by this very same person. Another question raised in my mind why only us? To which I was told that the witch was a normal person, but she got immensely jealous of the wealth possessed by the family of the twins. She wanted to harm them as much as she could.

But wait a second who is saying all of this to me? It was none other than Mehran himself. He was trapped by the witch in her house for a long time and was also tortured and tormented, during this period. When I and Ayan got discharged from the hospital, we were greeted by the locals and they also thanked us for saving them. Finally, my dream of becoming a hero was true but I realized that it's not everyone's cup of tea.

താങ്കൾ ഇഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്ന കഥകൾ

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