Solan fell into a weird silence that had something of a dusk draped over it as Aavya, Riya, and Samaira emerged from the crumbling guesthouse at the very fringes of the forest. A foul, old odor covered up the smell of pine. The wooden walls creaked as if it was alive.
Someone emerged from the shadows. A gaunt, hollow-eyed man with a voice as brittle as bone:
“You shouldn’t have come.” Then, nothing.
They laughed, uneasy. But from the time the night came, it was icy air. An ancient keyboard was keying itself without touch, and the keys moved. Samaira’s voice shook.
“It’s not plugged in.”
The TV flickered on. Static. There was a woman’s face, mouth open in a silent scream. Blood spilled across the screen. Then a voice like shattering glass:
“She belongs to us.”
Their screams choked in their throats. Riya grabbed her neck, choking on silence. Knocking echoed slowly, deliberately.
Samaira peeked outside and froze. Torn faces stared in. Twisted creatures. Hollow eyes. Grins wide with dripping rot.
Whispers crawled through the walls. “The full moon demands blood.”
Darkness pulsed inside the house. The caretaker came back with empty eyes and an inhuman smile.
“She is the one.”
Riya pulled Aavya towards the back. Samaira hit the caretaker with a poker. His neck snapped. However, he only laughed.
The door shattered. Figures surged in. Aavya vanished into the shadows.
Dawn brought silence. She was gone. All else was gone, “except her voice” across the distance of the mountain wind when the moon shines full:
“Help me…”
By Advocate Ravisha
