The Eerie Maze

Jun 23
NabanitaDhar

***This post is part of the Indifiction Workshop and is written based on the plot given by Jayashree Srivastan. You can also find the below post in the Indifcition website here.***
I had it all planned, the escape and the life thereafter but everything went awry.  And now I’m stuck with Mr. Dumb here for God knows how long! If it wasn’t for Baloo’s diarrhoea of mouth, we would have been out without creating the ripple effect that we eventually did. I would have left him if I didn’t owe him one back from our rookie days. So much for honour among thieves and now I’m lost in some god forsaken forest without water or food!
“Hey Madan, look over there.” he said breaking my chain of thoughts and pointing towards a dilapidated old fort on top of a hill at some distance. It was almost dark and considering where we were it looked like the only spot good enough to spend the night.
“Looks like we found our lodging for the night Baloo” I said.
We began walking towards the fort braving thorny bushes, some almost chest high. Tired after running for almost an entire day without food or water, all we wanted was a place to take a break for some time without any fear of being caught.
The fort was huge and must have been enormous in its hay day but it was in shambles now, at-least most of it. It was built on a perpendicular cliff with the forest on one side, the river Bhadra on the other and the deep gorge behind. Built strategically, it would have provided a good line of defense for its occupants. On the other side of the river Bhadra was a small settlement, a village of perhaps a few hundred folks. Well, that was what it appeared like when we crossed it a few hours back. Looking up at the parapets made the fort seem huge, as if it reached out to the sky. We found a thin, winding path leading to a small opening in one of the walls and continued walking towards it. It was full of shrubs and bushes; a path hardly used from the looks of it. Everything was awfully quite, except the sound of our shoes breaking twigs and branches as we walked.
“It’s getting dark Baloo” I said. “Let’s take out the torches that we swindled on our way here.”
Baloo nodded and took those out, keeping one with him and handing the other to me. We were almost at the opening near the forts southern wall when darkness overwhelmed the surroundings. The fort looked even more imposing aided by the eerie silence. The only consolation was the moonlight sky, at-least the darkness wouldn’t gobble us up completely.
As we entered we could see many broken temples, chambers and halls in the compound. What would have once been the royal garden was now a royal mess. Everything was in ruins and from the looks of it everything appeared untouched for years. It was strange considering it was so near to a village but still unfrequented. We made our way up some steps and found more rooms and chambers. Anything we touched, doors or windows were either broken or jammed and made creaking sounds as we made our way through them. The place looked just like a horror movie set similar to one I had watched in my village years ago. But it was good; a place such as this would be safe for thieves and fugitives like us.
“Madan this place is giving me the creeps” said Baloo as he looked lost and almost ready to jump with the slightest provocation.
“Relax it’s just a fort and the best place for us at the moment. Infact, we could spend a few days here till the search is called off. Nobody would consider searching us here” I said.
As we made our way through hall ways and floors, we came upon a floor which looked stranger than the rest. It has just one chamber with a huge wooden door with countless horse shoes across it. It was bolted; a huge lock hung across it and over it about thousands of holy threads lay wound. For a moment Baloo and I stood looking towards the door. There was something about it for we felt drawn.
It must have been a few minutes since we had been there but it seemed as though we had been there for eternity. The horse shoes, the lock and the threads all pulled us towards it.
“What do you think is behind that door?” Baloo asked, his eyes gleaming in the dark.
“Treasure of some kind” I said without even realizing what I was saying.
“But why would someone keep a treasure in a room that could be found by all”said Baloo.
“You have a point. Guess there’s just one way to find out” I said and moved towards the door. As I slowly touched the door a chill ran down my spine. The door was icy cold and every time I put my hand on it I had to immediately retract. It was as if my hand would fall off if I kept it on the door for long, that’s how cold it was.
“What’s wrong?” asked Baloo and came forward to touch the door himself. “Oops! What was that!”

He bent down and tried to look through a crack in the door with one eye shut and his torch precariously pointed at the hole. But no sooner than he did that, he fell back with a jerk and began rubbing his eyes.

“What?”I asked.
“I think it’s some kind of weird ancient or medieval freezer back there for my eyes almost froze with chill” he said and stood up.
“Oh come on man! Think about it. If there is some treasure of gold and silver behind this door we could be rich and lead a good life. We wouldn’t have to run forever and live on petty thefts!” I said.
“If we live that is! I think it’s a bad idea. Look at the horse shoes and the threads. Something is surely wrong here Madan” he said nervously.
“Oh relax Baloo. Nothing will happen. Don’t tell me you are not the least bit curious about what is behind that door. Our lives could change forever you never know!” I said and hoped he would be persuaded too.
“Okay but I’m just helping you because you helped me escape out of prison.” He said and then shouted further as if addressing someone beyond the door “I don’t want to disturb you; whoever you are, if you are listening!”

“Arghh!” I frowned.
We found some rocks that we would use to break the door and began to hit the lock repeatedly.
“Sorry!”Baloo shouted suddenly.
“What? To whom and for what?” I asked panting with the repeated bangs at the lock.
“I’m just putting it out there. I’m sorry” he shrieked again. I should have known, he really was useless! We kept hitting the lock but it refused to give in. But I wouldn’t give up either. While Baloo retired in one corner after an hour or so, I continued with all my might. If we were to break it open it had to be done in the night when nobody would venture out here even if they heard the sounds.
Finally after hours of toil, the lock broke. Baloo stood up; his eyes wide like that of an owl, resting at the broken lock at one moment and at me the other. I removed the threads, threw away the lock and began opening the latch. It was horribly rusted and that made it difficult to open it easily.
“A little help?” I looked towards Baloo and said.
Though he seemed reluctant he came and helped me open the latch.
We were ready to push open the door and see what lay beyond. But Baloo as usual had other important things to do. He stopped and recited some sacred verses.
“Oh come on man” I said tired of his antics.
He didn’t seem too pleased with my impatience but nevertheless reached the door and we both began pushing it with all our might. It creaked but finally opened and there it was ahead of us a room which was probably being opened for the first time in hundreds of years. It was chilly inside; utterly chilly which was bizarre considering it was pleasant just outside the room’s threshold. But it could have something to do with the room being shut for so long; I didn’t know and frankly didn’t care.
“You go ahead. I’ll keep a look outside” said Baloo.
“Look out for whom Baloo” I teased and dragged him inside.
It was pitch dark and dusty. Even out torches weren’t able to provide much light. We tried hard to look what was inside. There was just one window and that too built quite high which was again abnormal but perhaps people in those times were peculiar I thought. There was some broken furniture which we found out when Baloo tripped over a broken chair of some kind. I thought it was hilarious but he certainly thought otherwise.
I couldn’t wait to find the treasure that I was hoping to find in this room. Slowly and carefully I went from one end to other looking with the precision of a professional. I must have been looking for over half an hour or so when I saw Baloo standing in one corner of the room, near a broken cabinet with his gaze fixed on something.
“Baloo..! Keep looking man!” I said annoyed at his tardiness. But he didn’t reply and still stood there like a statue and even in the dark I knew he wasn’t blinking as he continued looking at whatever he apparently was.
“Don’t tell me you found the treasure” I said and walked towards him. I took the torch up at his face and he looked pale as if he had seen something he wasn’t supposed to see.
“What is it man?” I asked but he just didn’t listen and continued staring. So I followed his gaze and pointed the torch towards his line of sight and there it was. A man or a woman, I didn’t know but it sat there between the wall and the cabinet looking towards us with scary eyes, its head bent backwards. Those eyes were not normal eyes just something white.
“What the!” I said and shouted “Who are you?” but it didn’t move and kept looking.
I looked towards Baloo and shrieked. Blood was oozing out of his nose and that ghost or creature whatever it was stood next to him. I didn’t know what to do. Hell, I didn’t see that creature move either but it was there now standing next to both of us with its daunting face or the lack of it. Skeptical as I am, at that moment I knew we had to move out of there. I pulled Baloo who seemed to jerk out of slumber and scream.
“Run I said” as pulled him along towards the door.
But the ghost or man was at the door looking at us menacingly. It stood there as we tried to figure out what to do. Baloo was at his wits end changing mantras but none of them seemed to drive it away. Instead it started walking towards us in a zombie like fashion. I could feel blood curl up inside me but I had to do something. It was me who forced Baloo to open this door when he advised otherwise. But there was only one way out and that was through whatever stood infront of us. I held Baloo’s hands and dragged him towards the door!
“What are you doing?” he screamed.
“Just run Baloo” I said. We ran and just as I thought we would collide with the ghostly creature nothing happened and we seemed to pass right through it. I wanted to look back but I didn’t and kept running. We were out of the door and made our way down the stairs and through floors. We kept running and running without stopping for a moment. It was after a while when we stopped panting that we looked up. It was at that moment that we shrieked together. We were in that room again. But how could that be possible. We had just ran out of that place? We looked around and yes we were undoubtedly there. But where was the ghost or apparition we had seen we thought and just at that moment we heard the door slam shut. We looked behind and the door was indeed shut. We ran towards it and tried to push it open but it was locked.

“I told you we shouldn’t open the door” screamed or rather cried Baloo.
I didn’t have an answer. He was right but I still had to try and get us out of here. I kept pushing the door but to no avail.
“It won’t open. Don’t you get it we are screwed big time” he said.
“Where is he? Where is he? He will kill us you know Madan.” he continued and began shouting for help.
“No one is going to hear us Baloo” I said trying to figure out what to do next. “We need to help ourselves”

“But how!” he said and just at that moment a golden hue come through the only window in the room. We could now see the room completely. It was in ruins no doubt but one could get the idea that in its prime it must have been decorated regally. As we looked around the room our eyes stopped at the corner where we had first seen the ghost. Nothing explained the golden hue that came through the window and we were utterly flabbergasted and scared to say the least.
There in that corner between the wall and the cupboard stood a beautiful lady now all dressed in her finery. She looked like a princess. She stood there and her eyes were sad. We still didn’t know what we were witnessing. But there she was pretty and dressed up but just at the next moment blood stared oozing out of her neck as if someone had slit it right open. Everything around became red, there was blood everywhere and we felt we were covered in it too. But what disturbed us was that a wry smile came on her lips as her pupils disappeared, her head turned backwards and she began moving towards us. We stood frozen with fear without any escape in sight. She didn’t stop and made her way towards us slowly while her appearance too changed from that of a girl to that of a demon from underworld.
I could feel Baloo peeing in his pants as he was petrified. As she advanced we took steps behind. She looked in a sinister way at us and all we managed were frightened looks. I was scared too and in that moment began reciting prayers that I hadn’t in ages.
We had nowhere to go as we stood against the door. But just then it hit me- the horseshoe! One had fallen when I was trying to break the lock and for some strange reason I had put it in my pocket. It was the only option left. I had heard that cold iron was often used to thwart ghosts and this was a good time to test it. I pulled Baloo behind me and took out the horseshoe. I held it out and for some weird reason dashed towards the ghost and this time I managed to make contact. It began making scary noises, scratching me but I pressed it against its forehead. It kept screaming and everything in the room was flung across but I kept at it. It was a long fight but it seemed to be working. The horse show trick worked and the spirit suddenly burnt and along with it my hand.  But the good news was that the golden hue disappeared, the door flung open and it was dawn. My hand was still burning when Baloo came up and put his shirt over it to douse the fire. I was in pain but we had to get out of there.
Baloo picked me up and we made our way out of there down the winding path towards the banks of Bhadra. We didn’t want to look back but still we did. In one corner of the fort we saw the window of the same room and uncanny as it might be the ghost seemed to be staring at us through it. As I contemplated if we were really out of her reach, Baloo’s screeching voice hit my eardrums and I turned in horror towards him.

“Nooooooooooooooooo….Madan, we are still in the room!”

                                                                                      

21 thoughts on “The Eerie Maze”

  1. just when i thought the evil has been conquered ..i dont wish to add spoilers 🙂 🙂
    Amazing!! the fort the room.. the thieves and the lust for money and fear ..
    loved the journey and the beginning of it yet again..

  2. haha seriously you actually read it? Horror is definitely not my genre to write on 😉

    Thanks though 😀

  15. thriller is never my genre that i prefer to read .. but was written quite engagingly so it kept me bounded .. nice work 🙂

  17. Horror definitely is your genre to write on! Seriously. This was brilliant.

    Looking forward to be more spooked 😀

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