The House Atop The Hill

The old abandoned house atop the hill was a favorite hangout spot for Nidhi and Alok. They preferred meeting there most evenings. The sunset was one of the attractions. The other was the variety of birds chirping as they headed back to their nests. On rainy days, it was just pure bliss to see the water dripping through the leaves, giving the house a surrealistic feel.

Today, as they stood beside the window on the first floor from where they could get a good view of the sunset, a rustling sound from somewhere inside the house disturbed them. When Nidhi and Alok looked back, they couldn’t see or hear anything at all. They brushed off the disturbance and went back to enjoying the sunset, taking pictures and selfies. A few minutes later, they heard the sound again. This time, when they looked back, they could just see a hooded figure roaming the house. Nidhi and Alok glanced at each other and followed the sinister figure.

“Did you know this house was haunted?” Alok asked in a low voice.

“Haunted? No way!” Nidhi wasn’t game for any such stories.

“I heard a couple were murdered here in the 1970s. That was the period when this house was abandoned. But I haven’t heard any spooky stories yet,” Alok remarked.

The hooded figure appeared again. They noticed that the hood was white. It seemed to flail its arms and walked as if struggling for balance. Nidhi and Alok could feel the tension build up. Suddenly, it disappeared into an adjoining room.

“I guess it’s gone,” Nidhi said.

“Yeah. Let’s leave too, it’s getting darker,” Alok suggested.

“Are you afraid?” Nidhi pulled Alok’s legs.

But when she looked in his eyes, she saw an incredulous expression. Nidhi followed his eyes and saw the hooded figure approaching them with quick steps. Both stood rooted to their position with bated breath.

It appeared to watch them for a while and in an instant, came closer. Then, in a swift motion, the hood came off.

“Happy Friday the 13th!”

It was Neeraj, a mutual friend, who was playing a silly prank on them. He gleefully accepted the admonishments from Nidhi and Alok before they had a nice laugh over what happened. The three of them then set off for the city, eager to munch on their favorite pizza.

I’m taking part in the Write Tribe ProBlogger Challenge. The prompt for today, Day 4, is ‘Bated breath’.