A Spooky Encounter

Who says dreams don't materialize?

Especially when its a visit to 'Haunted Fort' with your favourite sibling.

Man! it was a package of blessing for me!

Picking up Tushar marked the beginning of the long awaited adventure.

He looked like a charged up battery full of curiosity and enthusiasm as he walked out of his house, a hoodie pulled tight and a pair of ears gears was a perfect usual Tushar.

“I'm excited,” he replied in a hoarse voice, with a gigantic smile, “I couldn't sleep all night.”

He threw his usual suitcase in the trunk, but along with that a much larger duffel bag that looked strangely heavy.

Weird, but oh well; we were finally en route, destination: Bhangarh Fort, Rajasthan.

After hours into driving, we finally made it.

What a beauty, surprisingly well preserved.

Its ramparts and fortifications stand amidst the ruins of the ghost town by the same name.

Inch by inch, moment by moment everything was real and fascinating.

Tushar is characteristically very talkative, and his face was gleaming like a 100 volts bulb, but when I asked how he was feeling (just to confirm whether we are on the same boat of curiosity filled excitement), he responded with a slight nod.

I was expecting a long winded tangent about the feeling electrified, so I assumed he really was amazed, could definitely tell this as he stood there bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

The first real sign of something odd was when I heard the noise.

It wasn’t much, but after wandering through the empty corridors, any sound sticks out.

It was just a small bump from the back somewhere, nothing too weird they say.

What really chilled me was what followed, I swear I heard a whisper of the word “Help” come from the back.

Tushar denied he heard anything and went back to suffice his curiosity, but I could almost sense he was faking the slumber.

Finally gazing in the dark corner of what seemed like a vintage house, there was a voice which whispered "Help", to both our surprises there were just us and none of us were playing, so it's not a hoax.

Acting normal, although nothing was normal, we came out.

Wandering furthermore, I tried to not think too much of it, but there was a moment where I was completely in the middle of nothing and all alone in the muggy air, something caught my attention, the same bump that I heard earlier, coming distinctly.

A mix of fear and intrigue got the best of me, and I hastened back from the spot just to collider hard on my brother.

The next second we were both stumbled on the floor, my tinted glasses broke, his brand new Nikon D7500 completely ruined.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw a shadowy figure emerge from the pitch dark corner, its skin was dark too dark, darker than the shadows at night, it had horrible eyes and it was a tall manly character, and suddenly this extremely intense feeling of being watched just like the way lions stare at a zebra when they intend to hunt, I had a distinct impression that I was the prey and whatever was watching was, was just, well, EVIL!

We froze, laying down still, and that hesitated suddenly very very scared and Tushar, turned his head looking at me, missing the entirety of the skin from his neck upwards.

With what sounded like his last breath, he warned me with one word.

“Run”!