The Girl - A Romantic Horror

Taken from:
Snippets of Life Music
               By
Ramesh Chandra Tiwari

(Take care not to feel afraid!)

“All of a sudden the train jolted and then it came to an abrupt

halt,” began Jay. “A few minutes later, when it did not start, there rose

a babble of voices in the noiseless coaches. Slowly, the news that the

engine had failed spread everywhere and with that the passengers started

to disembark in ones and twos. At first I decided to remain on my seat,

waiting for the train to move, but when it did not budge for a long time,

my patience with the sultry air inside snapped and I too got off. The

outside atmosphere was white in the bright and silvery moonlight. The

people had thronged along the train and were talking to each other. Since

I had no friend to talk with, I stood watching them and the surrounding

area which looked to be wooded because there was nothing in front of us,

but low trees and vegetation as far as the eye could see.”

“What happened next?” asked Harish, looking at him anxiously.

“I walked forward,” he continued, “towards a group of people with

a view to listening to them; but as I edged closer, I saw a girl in white

standing by them on the grassy slope. She was stunning. My eyes riveted

on her face. She gave me a quick, upward glance then lowered her eyes.

Then again she shot me a sideways glance as she turned to the right. Now

I slid down the slope and came face to face with her. The charm of her

beauty and vivacity eventually led me to feel a surge of love and desire for

her.”

“Did she look like your Annu?”

“Exactly. At first I mistook that girl for her. But shortly afterwards,

her strange behaviour aroused my suspicion. Anyway, our eyes met for a

split second and we both looked away. My clumsiness embarrassed me,

but after a short while she beckoned to me, swooping down the slope. At

first I could not gather the courage to go near her but after her repeated

signals, I stepped forward to reach her and to my surprise, she eluded me.

The Girl                                                           75

The further I moved forwards, the further she stepped backwards. But as

I halted, she too did the same, giving me an enchanting smile. I thought

perhaps she wanted to be alone with me, so I began to walk again, but for

all my efforts I could not get closer to her this time too.”

“It’s strange how you could not chase after her!” shot back Harish

in surprise.

“I couldn’t indeed,” Jay enthused. “Instead, after a few minutes’

walk, I turned to look back and found that we were a long way from the

people standing near the train. I thought it was not safe for us to go any

further in the secluded forest around midnight. I finally stopped but, you

know, she came up to me and held me by my arms. Her soft grip felt like

some angel had taken me under her care. She pointed to a large flat rock

a few yards away from there. Now I knew what she meant so I agreed to

walk with her.”

“What was it you knew?” he asked, with a mischievous gleam in his

eyes.

“Oh you... but you must know what she did to me.”

“Did she let you screw her or not?”

“Well, now you listen. When we reached there, she helped me to

climb on the rock, jumped up onto it herself and hugged me tightly

from behind. Then, after kissing me on the cheek, she rested her head

on my shoulder, with her right cheek touching my left and her mouth

exhaling warm air on my neck. I forgot everything except for the heavenly

experience that I was having. For a few minutes we sat in that posture, and

afterwards releasing me from her hug, she pushed me over on the surface

and went all the way.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes! When it was all over for us, I looked at where my train was

standing. There looked nothing but a waste land with sparse deciduous

bushes, divided by a thin line of railway track, shining in the moonlight;

and the woods were seductively silent except for an occasional murmur

from the dry leaves. I was shocked and in my hurry I shook her by the

arm. ‘Look, it looks our train has gone!’ I said to her excitedly. ‘My God,

what will happen to us? Get up, you fool! Get up!’ But, to my surprise,

she did not stir; instead, she lay smiling as though she had nothing to do

with the train. ‘Won’t you listen to me?’ I shouted. ‘Mind I’ll leave you

Snippets of Life Music                                76

alone here.’ Then, not knowing what to do, I pulled her hard to me and

jumping to my feet, I raised her to her feet too. But as I jumped down the

rock, I saw her standing on the ground already. I held her hand and tried

to hurry away to hail the next train, but she did not let me take a step

forward. Now, I pulled her with all my might and with a firm grip on her

hand, which finally, as I noticed her turning black, offended her. Then,

you know, her face slowly blackened; two long and pointed teeth grew

out of her mouth; eyes turned red like the glowing embers of fire; and the

tongue hung out, with drops of water dripping from it. Her hands too

looked as black as a rubber rod, with long, pointed nails grown at each of

the fingers. I was too terrified to move. Then she laughed nastily, which

seemed like she was going to devour me. I cried out in fear, and then fell

down on the ground, unconscious.”

“My God, what a deadly witch!” Harish exclaimed in horror.

“When I regained consciousness,” went on Jay, “I was confused; and

it was after a long while that I could be aware of where I was. It was a

big room, with tall windows and high ceiling, which looked as though

it had not been cleaned for a long time as there was a thick covering of

dust over everything and piles of dry leaves from the trees outside had

gathered in a corner. Lying alone on the floor, I inferred from the golden

rays coming through the window that it was the time in the morning. On

the one hand, I was haunted by the frightening image of that witch, and

on the other my arms and legs were failing to support my weight. I lay

helpless, looking at the front door which, if flapped slightly in the breeze

did to scare the hell out of me. I wanted that nobody opened it till I was

able to make my escape. Just then it looked like someone was pushing the

door from outside. I quaked with fear. Sure it must be the same witch I

thought and began to flutter my hands and legs disparately trying to get to

my feet, but in vain. The old planks of wood shook once again and finally

swung open. I covered my eyes with my hands but the sound of someone

approaching was still more frightening. The footsteps came closer and

then halted. As I peeped through the fingers to see who that person was, I

cried out, ‘God help me! The fiend will chew me up.’ But I soon thought

it was no use crying and so paused to gather my courage instead. ‘I’ve

done nothing to you,’ I said to the weird looking figure, uncovering my

eyes. ‘Go somewhere else and for pity’s sake leave me alone here! I have to

catch my train – could you let me go to the railway line, please?’

The Girl                                             77

“He shook his head in response. His long hair, hung down both his

back and chest to his waist, swung and his tusks and bulb like eyes showed

through them. A cry of horror broke from me and I could not help

covering my eyes again. He growled in an abnormal voice, put his hard

hand on my head, grabbed the whole bunch of my hair and suddenly

lifted me up with a jerk. In no time, I was in the air and felt as though

all my hair would get rooted out. I could do nothing except for crying,

‘Help, help, help…!’

“It was after a pretty long time that he lowered me to the floor, but

his grip on my hair was still tight. ‘You seduced my wife and then had her,

too,’ he hissed, bending over and removing my hands from my face with

his other hand. ‘I’ll kill you in return,’ he added to threaten me. I screamed

as I looked at him. ‘No, it was not I but rather....’ I could not finish the

sentence. ‘Who took her here, then?’ he rejoined. ‘You didn’t spend the

entire night with her?’ I looked towards him with huge, frightened eyes,

then trying in vain to free myself from his grip, I said in a muffled, tearful

voice, ‘No, not at all, and besides, I don’t know how I came here.’ He

clenched his teeth. ‘So she is not here, you mean?’ He twisted my head

sideways. ‘Who’s that in the next room, sneaking behind the window?’

he roared, pointing to the window of an adjacent room. ‘Have mercy

on me,’ I whimpered, my heart palpitating like a frightened bird’s. ‘For

God’s sake leave me and let me go out!’ He let go off my hair. ‘Who is

God and what is mercy that I should have?’ So saying, he grabbed me by

the throat. As he tightened his grip, his nails stuck in my muscles and my

eyes began to bulge.”

Jay paused, waiting for Harish to respond; then he looked in his face

but when he saw he was too stunned to speak and staring at him blankly,

he continued, “At first I cried out like a goat, but my fear rapidly vanished

as it became a matter of life and death. I cannot remember how I pulled

myself free and with what strength I fell to hit him. All I finally saw was

blood, welling from his broken nose. Now stunned by the unexpected

and swiftness of the assault, he was overwhelmed and gave me more

chance to punch him in the stomach, on the chin and the side of the head

which at last left him too injured to retaliate. I had by now made up my

mind to kill him, so I quickly bent down, clasped my hands around his

legs and pulled them towards me very hard. His head crashed on the floor

like a coconut as he fell flat on his back. He fainted and with that I quickly

Snippets of Life Music                                     78

jumped over his head and started hitting him on the neck with my right

leg. It was only after I was totally hot and breathless that I stopped hitting

him.

“When I got my breath back, I ran out of the old mansion with a

view to escaping from that wicked witch and going back to the railway

line. But my hopes were dashed when I found myself unable to have a

sense of direction outside, for there was a trackless forest of beeches,

maples, elms, oaks, with the dense undergrowth of laurels, huckleberries

and many kinds of fern all around. However, the sun light filtering

through the canopy gave me a bit of hope and courage. I jumped in

and started running through the trees, saplings, shrubs and herbaceous

plants in the direction that my extrasensory perception took me in. Many

times my feet tangled up in underbrush, face brushed against intricate

spider webs, pine needles got stuck in shoes, the briars caught at my

clothes, hanging moss tickled and twigs snagged at hair; but ignoring all

such obstacles, I crossed thickets, rivulets, uneven ground and knobby

roots and did not stop until my fear of that witch was allayed. I gasped

for breath, my chest heaving. Eventually, I took a halt and scanned the

outlying area for any sign of the railway line. It did not come into view.

However, the direction of last night’s wind was still in my mind, which

helped me thread my way through the groves, with my feet sliding

through the leaves.

“Suddenly there came a rustling sound from among the leaves, which

ultimately led me to think of the presence of reptiles and amphibious

animals around there. Every time I put my foot on the leaves or near the

bushes draped in ivy seemed like I was going to tread on a snake; or if a

bramble pricked my legs, it felt like I was bitten by one. Even the creaking

of branches and the whistling of wind around trunks scared the life out

of me.

“I did not know what to do. There was a dense forest all around me

- no man, no house, not even a hermit’s hut wherein I could take refuge.

My only companion was the daylight, beaming through the treetops,

which I thought would not give me an escort all the way if I failed to find

the railway line by sun set. Then it entered my head that the area of the

jungle might be very vast and it might take me weeks to cross. ‘O God,

what will happen to me?’ I said to myself. ‘Save me from being prey to

some fierce animal.’

The Girl                                                     79

“Then, while I was looking around like a startled rabbit and was

hurrying with sporadic pauses, vigilant for the appearance of wild

animals, by some wonderful miracle, a train sounded its whistle in the

distance. I beamed with delight and sprinted across the dense vegetation

until I caught a glimpse of the railway line. The same ground of sparse

scrub covered with partly dry grasses lay shining in the sun between me

and the railway line. Now I was hopeful of catching the next train, but

how it would be possible for me to flag it down was something that still

puzzled me. ‘I’ll stand by the line, waving my handkerchief,’ I thought.

‘They’ll stop the train to see me standing alone in the jungle.’

“While I was deep in such thoughts, I heard a bellow, so I paused and

looked around apprehensively. The same sound came once again. Now I

emerged pale and shaking, my face contorted with fear. ‘My God, there’s

some big animal around here!’ I said to myself. Just then I caught sight of

a massive bull elephant with huge tusks lolloping behind a copse ahead.

At first I shook with fright, but soon I nerved myself to think about how

I could dodge the beast. But as I tried to bypass it, two more of them

emerged, ears flapping, from either side. Finally, I felt compelled to glance

back, but before I could think of anything else, the one on the right

trumpeted, raising its trunk high, and then took a quick step forwards

which looked as though it was going to run me down. In my hurry, I

turned around and retraced my way.

“I became distraught with fear and did not even think that they

would chase me down if I ran back. I saw them running after me every

time I looked back and galloped as fast as I could. Many times I evaded

getting tangled up in the creepers and had a few near misses in the chase.

I was constantly short of breath, yet hung on to duck down behind the

trees. But they too were determined to close in on me. Suddenly the

trunk of an elephant touched my back. I shuddered; my mouth became

dry, eyes widened, and legs started trembling. I was too tired and weak to

run. I glanced desperately back, and with that I twirled around and fell

flat on my back in a leafy bush.

“Now I was sure that they would kill me. But, to my surprise, they

did me no mischief except that they stood around me swinging their

trunks. A little while later one of them stretched out its trunk and began

to turn me over. I wanted to cry but soon it struck me that I should feign

dead with my eyes closed and leave myself to the mercy of God.

Snippets of Life Music                                80

“I had been lying there for half an hour when I opened my eyes; and

much to my surprise, they had already gone. I felt a surge of excitement

run through me. But as I sprang to my feet to flee, I saw them standing

only about two hundred yards away, still looking towards me. Now I had

no time even to repent my decision. I dodged behind a big tree to hide

from them and as I peeked, I saw them stalking me. I began to thread my

way through the woods again; and it was after a long run that I succeeded

in hiding myself in a dense thicket before they could come close to me.

“Now and then I peeped to see if they were going to leave the place;

but they kept meandering around in search of me. Meanwhile, I caught

sight of a mansion just across the underbrush and managed to sneak in

through its half opened door while they were not looking.

“But the inside of the house seemed as though it was the same where

from I escaped in the morning. The thought of the dead body of that

demon and also of the fierce witch filled me with dread. I looked around

and found no trace of them; instead my eyes fixed on a window through

which I could watch those elephants, so I made my way silently to it,

where I pressed myself flat against the wall before peering through one of

the broken panes.

“They were moving ahead, probing around in the bushes. I was

excited to think that they would soon be out of sight and I would be able

to get back to the railway line again. But when the time came and I turned

round towards the door, I saw a girl in white sitting still in front of me

facing the door. I could see her back with her hair hanging loose over it.

She was motionless. I screamed and was paralyzed with fright.”

“I think it must have been the same witch,” said Harish, breaking the

long silence, “as it is very difficult for anybody to escape the evil trap of

their occult powers. By the way, what happened next?”

“Yeah, you’re right. When she turned towards me, I found she was

none other than the same girl. Then I thought, ‘Perhaps I entered the

same house through the back door. Her husband must be lying dead in

the hall on the other side. She’ll certainly take revenge on me. Boy, you’re

dead!’

“But as she stood up and turned to me, I saw a captivating smile

on her face instead. She had wonderful clear skin and the same gamine

charm which I found irresistibly attractive when I first saw her. She came

The Girl                                                         81

forward, cupped my face in her hands and kissed me, then embraced me

and stroked my short dark hair. ‘You must be hungry,’ she said genially,

looking into my eyes. ‘Sit down on the stair and wait till I come back with

some fruit and fresh meat.’ Then she let go off me and went out closing

the old and broken door firmly behind her. Although I felt the pleasantest

part of love in the shade of her care, yet I could not help thinking she was

a witch, so after waiting for her to be away, I made a dart for the door

and tried it. Fortunately, the bolt on the outside had rusted and to my

surprise, it opened. I craned forward to get a better view. There was no

sign of her. I was buoyed up and in no time at all hurtled out in a flat-out

sprint in the direction of the railway line.

“But I had only gone a few hundred yards when I saw a pack of wild

animals coming towards me. It was too much for me, particularly when

I was weak with hunger. I was sure I could not be able to save my life this

time, yet I flew back to the house involuntarily and eventually succeeded

in slipping in through the door. But before I could bolt it they forced

their way in, their tails waging and jaws open. Then they rushed me with

a view to eating every piece of my meat.

“I made a dash for the other room, hotly pursued by them, then

jumped out into the corridor through the other door and began to pound

along it, tying to shut myself in one of the rooms down it on the left. But

as I glanced back, I found them streaming closely behind. I carried on

running until I reached the end of it where the door was closed, but there

was a staircase on the right side of it. Quickly I turned round and made

my way up the stairs and on reaching the top of it, I was out of breath.

Since those laughing hyenas were still growling and grunting behind me,

I had no chance of gathering my strength. I raced ahead on the flat roof

top, not knowing what to do. Just then one of them bit me on the calf.

I had no option but to leap forward and throw myself onto the ground.

“I fell on the brambles awkwardly, and not only did I become caught

in them, I broke my leg and was unable even to move about. I screamed

with pain, but as I looked up at those ferocious predators that were leaning

over the rails of the roof peering down at me, my fear overcame the pain.

Moments later one of them dived off, snarling and baring its teeth, and

tore at the flesh of my leg. Then followed another which playfully took

away one of my arms and started chewing its blood dripping bone. A

third one jumped right onto my neck. ‘Help Help..!’ I cried out. But

Snippets of Life Music                                 82

before it could cut my neck, my eyes opened and I was in the train, lying

on the floor below my berth, panting terribly.”

“You had a terrible dream, Jay. It looks like the loss of your love has

left a lasting impression on you; or maybe it was because of the long talk

about your friend that we had before we lay down on our berths. You

know, soon I fell asleep and don’t know how long I had slept before I

woke up to the thud of something falling onto the floor. When I got up

to see what it was, I saw you had fallen off your berth.”

      By Ramesh Chandra Tiwari rameshctiwari600@gmail.com                                              

       Written on 05 August 2012, 16:08

First Published in Galaxy The GirlNovember 2014 Vol. 3, Issue – VI