Karma

My best friend slapped a newspaper article onto my table and declared that we would be going on a paranormal hunt. We gathered around and glanced at the picture. It was an abandoned mansion, built in the 1970s and the construction stopped when the owner and his family met their demise. They were brutally murdered and their bodies - or rather, parts of their bodies - were scattered everywhere throughout the building.

    It was reported that this European family was wealthy, so they were disrespectful to everyone of lower status. They had disagreements with the locals, especially during festival celebrations. A fight broke out when the owner spat in a farmer's face, just because he was rushing off to the mosque for prayer and unintentionally bumped into him. Although the locals defended the farmer, the police sided with the owner. The farmer was locked up for assaulting him.

    My eyes flashed with excitement. I immediately agreed to his proposal. My girlfriend reminded me that the elders often reminded everyone not to go near the building. Her best friend heard the commotion and requested to join too. She caved in to peer pressure eventually. It was decided then, we would meet few blocks away from the building and then walk there together.

    I had been watching the clock until it struck 9. Then, I got into my car with my older brother and drove to my girlfriend's house. After fetching her, we stopped by her best friend's house - who happened to be my brother's girlfriend. When we reached at the promised location, my best friend rolled his eyes at me and complained that he should not have broken up with his ex, since he was the third (or rather, fifth) wheel in the group. He warned us not to be lovey-dovey in front of him, or he might stab us due to the public display of affection. I immediately pulled my girlfriend in for a kiss. He smacked me. Hard.

    The walk to the mansion took only 5 minutes, yet when I checked the time, it had been more than 30 minutes since we started walking. Something felt off. Sweat began trickling down our temples and backs even though it was a cold night. A loud scream pierced the night. Goosebumps erupted all over my body. The girls cried out in fright and my girlfriend grabbed my arm painfully tight. All of us were distracted and then suddenly, we found ourselves submerged in darkness, as if the lights went out and the moon and the stars disappeared.

    My best friend started praying in his trembling voice. His voice started to distort, and the longer it went on, the more it sounded as if he was reciting his prayer inversely. My brother came to his senses and punched my best friend in his face. At once, the lights returned. We found ourselves in the mansion. My brother's knuckle was bloodied, as was my best friend's face. His nose was crooked, but what made my blood chill was his expression. He was smiling despite the pain. Everyone screamed and scattered in different directions, attempting to find a way out. My best friend's laughter echoed all over us. It seemed to penetrate our skulls.  

    I dragged my girlfriend and rushed upstairs, hoping to get away from him. When I turned around, it was him! I gave him a mighty shove and he fell. A loud bang was heard. I realised I had pushed an altar left by the Buddhists to contain the malicious spirits in the mansion, instead of him. My eyes were playing a trick on me. In frustration, I kicked the statue and was awarded immediately with a stabbing pain at my knee. Karma, a voice in my head said. 

***

    It was three days later when I gained consciousness. I was told that I had suffered gas poisoning after sitting in my car with its engine running. When I enquired about others, the doctor diagnosed that I might be suffering from memory distortion because they never existed. He told me to rest up in order to recover, and he left the room. In that chilling silence, I finally understood why the elders warned us not to go there.

From A to Z

In the middle of the crowd, Zane accidentally bumped into Alice. "Sorry!" she exclaimed and their eyes locked. Time slowed. Thump. Thump. Thump. His heart was beating so fast it was a wonder she couldn't hear it. She smiled at him. It was the same beautiful smile he fell in love with in the first place. Memories flooded his mind.

***

    It was her first day of attending his school as a new student and she kept to herself. He approached to greet her. As she lifted her head, he realized her eyes were swollen. She had been crying. He left. A while later, he returned with a pack of ice, passed it to her and just sat beside her, keeping her company. She nursed her eyes. They never said a word to each other. 

    A week later, she started hanging out with people. They made her smile, though it never reached her eyes. He noticed. He always noticed. She'd wrap her arms around her chest when she felt uncomfortable, especially when others were invading her personal space by standing too close to her. She'd laugh awkwardly when they joked although she didn't approve of their jokes. She'd always find an excuse to hide in the bathroom during recess because she needed to take a breather. Whenever she returned to her seat, she always found a bottle of milk in her drawer. She'd smile. That smile? It was genuine.    

    One day, she stopped coming to school. A day became two. Two became a week. Everyone said she transferred. He thought otherwise. Yet, he never saw her again. Until that fateful day. It was raining heavily and he was stuck at the convenience store, waiting for the rain to subside. A person ran into the store and headed immediately towards the slushy machine. He shuddered when the person took a big sip, already feeling extremely cold from the rain. Then, the hoodie fell. His jaws dropped too. IT WAS HER!

***

"Hey, stranger. Fancy seeing you here," teased Alice. He blushed. It had been a year since that fateful day, but he fell in love with her more every single day. "A-hah! Caught you!" She laughed and then took out a milk bottle from her bag. Then, she dumped a folded paper star into the half-full bottle. "Let's get married once the other 3 bottles are filled," she winked at Zane. He nodded.

Credit: This story is a challenge to make it as romantic and cringey as possible. I died multiple times trying to even get past the second sentence. Thanks.

The Box

Kevin was in a hurry walking to class, when suddenly he saw his best friend carrying a small box, dashing quickly towards the back of the building. She winked at him. He decided to follow her. When he turned around the corner, she was nowhere to be seen. However, the box was left under the shade of a tall tree. It would have gone unnoticed by everyone, except Kevin was meticulous for detail.

    He approached the box slowly, anticipating it to jump at him like jack-in-a-box. It didn't. Upon further inspection, the box smelled metallic, and there was something leaking from the bottom of the box. Something red.

    Blood, Kevin realized in horror. His hands shook as he reached out towards the opening. He counted to three. Then, another three. One...Two...Three...One...Two...Three... It seemed like he was paralyzed in fear. He really didn't want to find a dead body in the box. Just as that thought crossed his mind, he laughed. How stupid he was to think that a dead body could be kept in such small box. Maybe it's an infant, his mind reminded him. Before he could second guess his decision, he flipped the cover.

    He bit back a scream. His throat dried up. His ears were ringing. His vision went blurry. It was indeed a body, just not literally. Even when he shut his eyes, he could still see that decapitated head in the box. Hers.

    It was as though ages had passed before he came to his senses. He nudged the lid shut with his shoe and immediately emptied his stomach right next to the box. His breakfast, halfway digested, was splattered all over the ground, his shoes, and also mixed with the blood from the box. It was not a good sight at all. In fact, his consciousness decided to take a break and left him lying in his pool of vomit.

  ***

New school rules: Pupils are not allowed to pull an elaborate prank on anyone, which might cause mental and/or physical trauma to the victims. Any perpetrator caught commiting such an offence or reported with sufficient evidence, will be expelled. 

Ruby

 "...and they lived happily ever after," Granny concluded the story. She would always use the same phrase whenever she narrated fairy tales and mythologies, but I thought it was just bullshit to trick those naive people into thinking that life was wonderful. Life was never perfect nor amazing. Period.

        I stood up and stretched. Listening to a senile old lady telling stories for over an hour was mentally exhausting. She was already settled into her bed, snuggled up with a dog plushie my late Granda gifted her, and I covered her with a comforter to keep her warm. She dozed off almost immediately. Quietly, I tiptoed around the studio, gathered my stuffs and left.

        It was late. The full moon accompanied me as I made my way home. A howl sent shivers down my spine. Oh, no. I thought. Picking up the pace, I tried not to panic as adrenaline rush kicked in. Footsteps were approaching. I started running. Suddenly, something tackled me onto the floor. 

        Luckily, I managed to break the fall before my face came in contact with the ground. It was a close call, yet I scraped my palms and knees. I struggled, but the weight on my back wouldn't budge. Instead, I was awarded with something wet near my temple. The damn dog licked me! 

***

The canine was escorting me home - his tail nestled between his legs after I berated him. It was quiet except for the pad-pad-pad sound the dog made. I was sitting on his back, since I was injured. Once I got home, I shut the door at his face. He whined in protest. I turned on my Spotify to drown out his voice. There was nothing else to do except to wait until sunrise.

        Dawn came. When I unlocked the door, I was just in time to see the huge dog morphed into a human. There were scars on his face - the reason he turned into a werewolf in the first place. I reached up to pat his head and vowed to break the curse at all costs. Even though he was a creature during full moon, he would always be my beloved little brother.

Maya

The rain poured heavily as Maya discovered an unconscious man right at the doorstep. She quickly dropped to her knees and turned him over. The first thing she noticed was the dirt. He was covered in soil, as if he crawled out from the ground. She attempted to wake him but to no avail. Hence, she dragged him into the house only to realise something was not right. It didn't seem like he was breathing. Horrified, she checked his pulse. It was faint, but at least she was relieved that he was still alive. 

"Did you drag in a corpse?" Miya walked in on Maya as she was tending to him. She startled. It was then Miya's expression changed. Upon further prodding, Miya told her twin what happened.

***

Her boyfriend was a stalker. He was possessive and obsessive about Miya. If she didn't reply on time, he'd stalk her using the application he installed quietly in her phone. He was afraid that she might cheat on him and wouldn't even allow any guy to come near her. Everything got out of control when he confronted her for being busy and wouldn't listen to her explanation. He slapped her. She stabbed him. Dug a hole. Buried him.

***

Maya's hands shook as she pulled up the man's shirt. There were no stab wounds. She breathed a sigh of relief. Miya, however, was extremely traumatised by her boyfriend that she grabbed the nearest tool she could land her hand on and lunged at him. Before Maya could stop her, she struck his heart with a fountain pen. He cried out in pain and woke up. 

"Hi, Maya. Miss me?" Maya's hand froze in midair. She blinked. Miya was gone. In her grasp, the pen bleed blood. The man smiled eerily at her. She tightened the hold of the pen and slashed at him. His grin extended outwards as his cheeks tore. He laughed and hugged her tight - so tight she couldn't breathe. She used all her energy to push him away, stab and even kick him - but nothing worked. Darkness took over her.

***

Maya woke up in her bed, screaming bloody murder. She learnt something important - to never watch thriller before bedtime. Someone pounded on the door. It started raining.

Matt

It was a normal day for Matt. As usual, he'd open his eyes, blankly stared into the abyss of nothingness before getting up and headed for his daily routine of shower and breakfast. It was pin drop quiet, not even chatters could be heard, sans the occasional sounds made by animals. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and went outside.

    Cars were halted abruptly everywhere on the road, trash bins were overflowed and swarmed with flies, and stray animals were enjoying themselves without the fear of being chased off. After all, not a single person other than Matt was around.

    It has been 2 weeks since everybody else disappeared. He could clearly remember the day he last saw his beloved wife, Sarah. She was still asleep when he woke up, so he decided to surprise her with breakfast on bed. However, she was nowhere to be seen when he returned from the kitchen. He remembered searching for her frantically, shouting and even calling her phone. The call went unanswered, just like when he ghosted his ex after they broke up.

    After the initial shock, he realised that everyone else in the small town he lived at had vanished into thin air. There was no premonition, and they were gone in a blink of an eye. He freaked out and even attempted suicide, but it was unsuccessful. Thus, he decided to carry on living like a walking dead, alone and miserable.

    As he was taking his walk, he remembered that he ran out of tea so he headed to the nearest Econsave. Grabbing few cans of preserved food, he placed them in an empty trolley as he strolled down the aisle. The smell of rotting perishables was getting stronger. He wrinkled his brows at the stench and turned towards the drinks section. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a dark figure darting across the exit.

    "Hey! Stop!" He shouted excitedly and tailed after the figure. It seemed like a woman, or an adolescent, judging at the size of the body.

    He finally caught up to her as she was reaching the playground. Before he could grab hold of her, she turned and he saw her face clearly. His hand paused in midair and he stopped his pursuit. It was Sarah.

    She dashed towards the slide and hid at the small space under it. Tears sprang to his eyes as he was beyond relief to see his wife once more. He approached her and found out she was crying too, although for a different reason altogether. "Please don't hurt me," she sobbed.

    After consoling and promised that he wouldn't hurt her, he brought her home - their home. She had no memory about herself, nor Matt, so he tried his best to make her feel at home and comforted. However, she left her food untouched and locked herself in the room. He gave her all the space she needed.

    It was until midnight when Matt heard some weird noises coming from Sarah's room. He lit up a candle and went to check the source. The door to her room was slightly ajar so he curiously peeked in. He wasn't ready to see what was inside the room at all. He ran away in terror.

    She was mutilating a poor innocent rabbit. With an eerie smile on her face, she giggled as she hacked at the rabbit with an axe. When the light shone upon her, he could see the crazed look on her face. As he ran away, she started to cackle like a witch and chased after him. He threw the candle at her but it dropped, wiping out the only source of light he could use to see.

    Fortunately, he was familiar with his own house so he was able to navigate himself towards the door easily. He suddenly screamed in pain when he felt a blow at his shoulder. Collapsing near the kitchen countertop, he could see her approaching, as the moonlight shone through the windows. Sarah's face slowly morphed into his ex's. Shapeshifter, he thought bitterly.

    Pinning him down she raised the axe and attempted to hack at his neck. Before she could swing it, he whipped out a pump action shotgun and pulled the trigger. She threw her head back and laughed. "Fool! Guns do not work on me." She raised her axe again. He screamed.

    "Matt!" He opened his eyes. Sarah's face was inches from his and he scooted away in horror but restrained by some wires and tubes. As his mind cleared, he realised he was lying on a bed in the hospital. He breathed a sigh of relief and reached for his wife's hand. His shoulder hurt.

    She was grinning at him. Keeping himself composed, he quickly scanned around for weapon of some sort. His eyes landed on the axe in her hand. He shut his eyes and braced for the pain.

    "Matt!" He opened his eyes. So, it repeated.

An Incident to be Solved

She walked into the house and noticed something was wrong. As she shut the door, the light was completely blocked and the whole house was submerged in darkness. It was eerily silent as she anticipated for its presence.

"Tap...tap...tap..."

Someone was lightly striking the handrail. She turned her head towards the direction of the sound and stared at... Nothing. A sigh of frustration escaped her lips. Apparently, the experiment failed. Again.

Jill was a research scientist, specialising in microorganisms. Her last experiment cost her her job, and her partner. No, he escaped Death, but he turned invisible. Nobody was able to detect his presence as he lost his voice too. Fortunately, she was able to identify him, as they had their own way of communication. Being each other's job partner for a decade certainly contributed to their tacit understanding.

Dipping her hand into a bucket, she approached the stairs and reached out for Jack, her hand dripping with glow-in-the-dark paint. She was unable to touch him physically anymore. Her hand grasped the air. The paint dripped onto the ground, leaving splatters of glowing uneven droplets. Irated, she grabbed the pail and emptied its content in the hope that at least the paint would end up on him.

"Please... Please... Please!"

Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She was kneeling on the floor, scooping the paint back to its container, while muttering the same mantra over and over again.

That was how the police found her. Yet the "paint" she was smeared in smelled rusty and it was coagulated. Upon further inspection, they found a body in the attic, completely drained of blood.

"Jack Crown, 40, was discovered at his former colleague's house. The victim was injected with a new prototype of bacteria which eventually drew out each drop of his blood from his body. The convicted, Jill Rowling, 38, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and would be admitted to Happiness Hospital for treatment."