Haunted Love

PART  -  1

Does the title confuse you? Are you wondering whether it is a ghost story or a tale of love that leads to haunting, even after it has expired years ago? Let the story unfold itself as you go down to the very last word.

Love can be one of the best feelings in the world, but can also be a traumatised disaster, when in the wrong hands. But what if it has some extra spice, with some twist? What if it has some unscientific, creepy existence involved in it? Here is such a story about a young person whose life was to undergo an experience hitherto dreamt off…..

Arthur was a freshly graduated handsome fellow from a top university of the country. He was from the domain of civil engineering and had one of the finest minds among his mates. He was an intellectual fellow, but strongly an atheist. He did not believe either in God or spirit or luck. He always preferred to be addressed as a supreme believer in science only, or, more precisely, a fellow who only believed in scientific reality. Not to forget, a constant top performer of the batch, and of his intellectual personality, he was the talk of the university and had lots of followers even on social media. But he was also a kind hearted and down to earth guy, who always could be found near anyone who needed him, without any hesitation, and never let his academics or popularity come in to build some flaky pride issue.

Now, what good is a college sensation without a relationship? Might sound cheeky, but because of his looks, he was indeed, the absolute college crush. And among them was Angelina, a junior who was kind of desperate for him. There was not one account of him which did not have her, not one post which had no react from hers. Seeming awkward that a civil engineering brat had such a gaga behind him, they introduced themselves on social media, and gradually began dating. Of course you can sense by now, almost all girls were jealous of her , once they officially revealed their relationship. Worthy of mentioning, Angelina was a gorgeous looking girl, who hailed from a simple family. What added to her glamour, was the fact that she too, like Arthur, never showed off for her looks , never asked for popularity, helped the needy, etc.

But unlikely, by now, they had both been the official college couple. The main strength of their relationship was that it was filled with never ending trust, blind but absolute love, caring characters, and no dominating mentality. Like a normal relationship, they too had fights, had quarrels, had no talk periods, but in the end, it was always their power of love for each other which outnumbered the causes to such unwanted battles.

Both of them had a great time together in college, and after graduation, Arthur got an offer from a reputed construction company, who had been highly pleased while interviewing him. Angelina was on cloud nine with her hubby (that's what she used to call him ), and they both decided to get engaged. During the family meeting, it was quite obvious that Arthur would be accepted without any second thought.

Everything was flowing like a water in a river on a moonlit night.The newly married husband & wife bought an apartment in close range from the former's office. Things blossomed up after a year when Arthur had been handed over the post of leading a new project. Both seemed so happy, one with the newly offered post, and other with the joy on the face of her partner.

But little did they know what awaited them in near future. The site allotted for the new project was a haunted farmhouse, beneath which, a girl carrying a baby was brutally assassinated by her drunk husband, and buried somewhere in the garden. It was rumoured that ever since then, any person who dared to stay there at night never came back alive. It was sometimes their body, chopped off, or parts separated, that could be found in the room where the girl was murdered. Locals feared to even reside in proximity to the residence. Some said that they had seen the ghost of hers roaming on a white shining gown, on the roof of the house. She would lure in any person present there, and end their lives, in a way she had been. And there was not a single person who had been able to escape her charm, and flee from her evil plan.

Arthur had been assigned the job of inspecting the land, and convert the huge farmhouse into a weekend resort, as the company had bought it from the husband at a very profitable price. But they did not know about the dark secret it beheld. They soon arrived, at the venue, and the young lad was mesmerized by the enigmatic view of the farmhouse, with the beautiful garden sprawling around the house, and the fresh aroma of the flowers made it just irresistible to deny stay at the place. Arthur was very stubborn to his work, and he requested the housekeeper, who had been summoned to clean the house, to quickly arrange for their lunch, as they would be beginning their work shortly. After getting refreshed, and having lunch, they set out for the first day of inspection. It was a scheduled 21 days visit, to make all the necessary plans, relevant designs, gathering information about the history of the place, and so on. His team comprised of 7 guys and 3 girls. By evening, they finished the day's work and sat down for a casual gossip, followed by sleep in their respective rooms. And this continued for the following days.

It was from day 3 that the lightning finally struck them. On the 3rd day, while going to sleep, Anthony, a team member, encountered something going up the stairs to the roof. he was with Jack, and told him if he saw anything, to which, the latter bluntly refused. Thinking it to be a casual issue, they both walked off. Around 3 am, Anthony heard a sweet voice singing a song. Looking out through the window, he saw a woman, along the poolside. He was surprised at the scenario but did not risk it, instead, shut the window and dozed off. The next morning, He narrated everyone the incident, and everybody laughed, but Arthur noticed something on the face of the housekeeper, a look that showed fear, and surprise. But he did not say anything.

That night, Anthony again heard the same voice around the same time at same venue, the same woman, in a shining night gown. he decided to ask her. When he approached the poolside, he saw no one. Suddenly, he heard the voice again, this time, from the rooftop. Following it, He came to find her on the rooftop, and saw her, a face so tempting that none could refuse. As he approached her, she slowly faded away among the fog, and he couldn't find her. But he came across a room on the rooftop, The door was shut but the lock was opened. He wondered if he could see her there and as he approached the door, a cold breeze blew suddenly and he heard a wolf scream far away. He got scared at it and thought of going down. As he was about to turn around, the door opened by itself, and it was dark all inside. Without thinking further, he started marching away from the door.

Hardly did he walk two steps, when the voice called his name. Turning back, she saw the lady, but her head was covered. As he moved his hand forward to unmask her, she bent her neck, and he heard a bone cracking noise. He jumped at one go, and raced towards the door to go down. , Upon reaching, he found her waiting at it. He stood still, and slowly looked at her. This time, her appearance was somewhat different. Her gown was drenched in blood, And a face, half rot, with red fire burning eyes. He screamed at top of his voice but could not find a noise coming from his mouth, which caused him to faint, and, the next day, everyone but him were found present . On being searched, His body was found inside the room, on the rooftop, with his head chopped off, a sight scary enough to drive the bravest into trauma.

And it was quite normal that the following day, everyone decided to return. But, Arthur needed to know the cause of it. He urged everyone not to panic, but also, not to move out alone. The day latter, Jack too reported seeing a lady, and by then, it was accepted without any denial that it was a haunted house, and they are being targeted. Arthur summoned the keeper, but he was also not available, as if he fled away. His team requested him to return and report the issue to a paranormal expert. But he openly denied the existence of any ghost and decided to stay alone, and asked his frightened team to return back. They fled, caring for there lives, but were strictly forbidden by their boss to not inform his wife anything about it. That evening Arthur went to the nearby locals to ask about the history of the house. Nobody urged to say anything to him, except one piece of advice to flee if he wished to stay alive. Fed up with similar answers all around, he sat on a tea stall, and was lost in thoughts when the shopkeeper asked him as he did not seem familiar with the place. He narrated everything, including his lost hope of knowing the exact past.

He struck back when he was told by the shopkeeper to meet an old lady residing opposite to his shop in a small cottage. Arthur seemed very happy, he thanked the shopkeeper and brought some sweets for the old woman and knocked on her door, Followed by a sweet greeting, and then introductions and purpose followed. After he narrated everything and the death of Anthony, she agreed to let him know the history and the haunting. What he heard could send a chill down the spine.

PART  - 2

Around 20 years ago, a young couple had built the house as their weekend home. The Man was a diamond merchant, a wealthy fellow, and his bride was a model who did brand endorsements. They went by the name George and Jennifer. George inherited the business from his father, and the company built by his great grandfather. He was an ambitious fellow who had only one goal – to be richer than yesterday. Jennifer on the other hand was a promising young talent who wanted to be a top model. Now mentally, both were opposite poles, and they were bound to attract each other. George came across Jennifer on a social media platform and they started texting each other.

The chatting gradually got converted to dating, which developed into a relationship. It was a good bond, but not a connection of the souls, still, they both thought they had enough time to work things out. Both their parents knew about their connection and had no issues. She would visit his home, and they would spend the night together, and vice versa. She had also been accepted as the bride, or more likely, their own daughter.  As he settled himself within the position and got stable, they decided to get engaged. Their post-marriage life had a happy initial stage. Things started to get a bit messy after around 3 years. George had another bad habit. He used to drink a lot, get high and land himself into unwanted brawls. Owing to his fame, his wealth and status, he always had some way out. His father strongly opposed this addiction and believed that his new bride could help his son get over it. This resulted in quarrels between them at times, and in one such instance, he murdered her, and buried her somewhere in the garden. Its believed that her ghost still haunts the entire farmhouse at night, and takes away the life of any person residing there overnight. With this, the lady concluded her information.

But it did not satisfy Arthur. He thanked her and sought to seek the answers himself. He was even challenged by his subconscious mind about the reality of the existence of ghost. He finally came to the solution to confront with what the locals feared as the ghost. That night, he stayed awake, spoke to his wife, and sat with the plans of the entire house. To his dismay, nothing strange occurred. Few days went on like this and slowly, his eager anticipation was beginning to fade away. After almost a week, he finally made his mind to return back and tell everyone nothing paranormal happened and the death of Anthony must had been done by the housekeeper, post which, he fled away , and hence, on behalf of the entire team, Arthur would file a murder complaint in the police station. However, he was in a fix on the 11th day when as he was about to leave, a torrential downpour made its way in, with dark clouds and strong winds. He could call the company and summon a car, but the network did not catch. Risking with umbrella would be futile as he could easily be drenched to skin, and this result in a bad cold. He had to stay the day indoors and try the next day. The electricity was also gone, but, being a cold weather, he did not need much of it.

He lit a fire and began playing his mouth organ by the window side of his room. The rain stopped around in at night, and he had already made some food for himself on the fire, and had his dinner. he opened his bottle of scotch and poured some in a glass, and began drinking. At around midnight lights came, and he went to his room, and was sitting with the plans one last time, when suddenly he heard a wolf scream at distance. Not paying much heed, he went back to his room to study some books. At 2 am, he was again struck by some sound. This was different. The sound appeared familiar. It was a woman singing, and the voice was the sweetest he had heard till now.

But what appeared familiar was the fact that the sound resembled that of his wife. That same sweetness, that same pitch. He went to the window side to take a look and found a lady beside the swimming pool. He suddenly remembered what Anthony had told. He began to feel a bit uneasy. But he was a brave fellow and did not believe in such superstitions. He was a bit nervous but went out with a lantern to the poolside, finding no one. Now his heart started to beat fast, and suddenly, he heard the sound from the roof again. Now he began to shiver, but at the same time, his mind continued to haunt him to find out. He slowly went up the roof to find her, and found nothing but dense fog, and among it the room where they found dead Anthony.

In no time, a wolf scream was heard again, only this time, a bit from close quarters. The eeriness of the night, absolute silence, the disappearing lady, slowly began to fill him with fear, and his idea of no spirits began to put him on doubt when suddenly, he heard a bone crack sound behind him, amidst the complete silence of the cold night. But he was a clever guy. He did not look back. He slowly asked, "Hello Miss Jennifer, I am not here to cause any disturbance to you, I just want to talk with you, if you wish …", And turned back to find no one. He was shivering still, his heart beat almost doubling, sweat pouring from his forehead and in no time, the dense fog cleared out and the clear sky came out. It was a full moon night and in the fading light, he saw a lady near the room, standing. He decided to confront her and made his way towards her. She went inside the room, and he followed her to the door but stopped at the entrance. A sweet voice suddenly said, "Come in, I won't harm you". He was hesitating but at last decided to pop in. As he stepped in, he found a dim light lit, and a chair at a corner. The voice again said " Have a seat ". He placed himself and found this room was  the one he found the body of Anthony.

But he decided not to talk about it. In the corner, he saw a lady in a gown, her face was not visible in the light, and it appeared as if she was willingly hiding it. He gathered some courage and introduced himself and his purpose of visit. He then bluntly asked her " I am sorry madam, but I do not believe in ghosts. Are you one? ". Suddenly, a strange laughter filled the entire room and he jumped from his chair and stood up. The voice again spoke " What do you think Mr. Arthur? " Arthur remained speechless, and the voice said " I dwell in this house because I am buried beneath the swimming pool, and did not get a proper burial ". On being asked why the locals told her being buried in the garden, she suddenly screamed, " It is a rumour , spread by the locals, no one knows anything as it was done by my husband, someone I deeply loved, silently, overnight, and he fled away." Arthur told what the old lady narrated him. The lady gave a strange sound and said " Do you want to know what exactly happened?" Arthur nodded. She said " Come tomorrow at 2 am at this place. Call my name and I will arrive. "

Arthur was startled, but he left. He did not sleep all night. There were several intuitions popping up in his mind. He could not believe he had a conversation with a ghost in real life, saw something his science failed to explain, and so on. The next day, he was more curious but scared at the same time. He wondered whether he should be going there again, or should he run away. However, He chose the former. He went near the room and called her name. Suddenly, the door opened, and he went in. That night he was completely numb upon knowing everything. It was not a happy marriage at all. She was frequently quarreled with by her husband when he used to come home at night, all drunk. He even warned her of what consequences might await if she dared to cross, or question him on his addiction. But outside, she always had to smile, and could not even reach out to help, as they were too powerful to be messed with, and it would even attack the prestige of the family. Not even the parents were helpful, they too, always supported their son, and had one ready answer " He will recover, and this age is ought to have fun with friends "

But things worsened out when she found that at the bar where he went, he had come across some drugs peddler, who made a deal to use his farmhouse to store their drugs illegally. And he too, in their company started to consume drugs. She had heard him one night speaking about it while she acted to be asleep. She even questioned him once or twice, but only resulting in massive quarrel, misunderstandings and even threats like he would thrash her if she again tried to interfere with his personal business. Hopelessly, she felt helpless. That weekend, they visited the farmhouse, got drunk, made out , and fell asleep. At late night, she woke up at a car sound, rose from her bed and found a van at the door, with many big wooden cartons being laid one by one. She decided to check out where they were being stored and followed them, taking extreme precautions. They were found to be stored in this very room and it was kept locked ever since, the keys with George, and she was strictly forbidden to come in vicinity of the room. She was furious by then and made a mind to teach her husband a lesson, as she had already tolerated enough.

The next day she made a plan. She carefully stole the keys from her husband's drawer, and went to the room with a lighter. She even took a bottle of whiskey. She poured the bottle on the cartridges and lit the fire. But the fire caught so quickly that she forgot the bottle in fear inside the room and fled. she even got some place of her to burn to seem it like an accident. She rushed to the hospital even to have some medications. When her husband arrived at night, she narrated that she got burnt as she went up to light a tobacco.  But the drunk lunatic paid no heed to her and instead went to the room, without even asking about how she was. Seeing everything, he was furious, and when he found the bottle of whiskey, which accidently appeared to be one of his signature collections, his rage knew no bounds. Coming down straight, he asked her how the bottle went up there, and even before she could say anything, he pushed her against the wall, and started to abuse her verbally. She asked him to calm down and take things easy, it was an accident.

But his eyes were red with rage. He thrashed her directly and even assaulted her physically. Finding it difficult to calm him down, she tried to move him aside and flee, but his grasp was too firm to let go of. Unfortunately, there was a wooden vase near their bed, he took it and brought it down on her head with all his strength. That one stroke was strong enough to make her dizzy. But the retard did not stop and repeated, landing continuous strikes with it. And the bed was red by then, soaked in blood, as she lay still. Suddenly, his senses rang, and he could not believe what he had done. It was useless to mourn by then. He had snatched the life of his beloved. But what was the reason? Was it anger? Or unconsciousness? or the loss of drugs? Or the loss of money he acquired by the burn. None of such thoughts had any significance. He could not undo what he had committed. So he called his men, buried her under the swimming pool, and ordered a pool to be built over there. After that, he locked the house, and fled.

As the voice paused, there were tears on Arthur's eyes. A minute's silence followed. He then asked why she had murdered Anthony. She said " I kill everyone who follows me by my voice. I am a ghost and I seek revenge. The ones who fall by my voice and looks, get tempted and follow me, are the ones I slay, as I too had been betrayed by someone whom I was attracted to, and thought he loved me, which, in reality, was nothing as such ". Arthur nodded and being curious, again asked " Why did you spare me? ". The sound followed " You are the first person I saw in years who was not attracted in that fashion. Your eyes do not speak of any such lust. I had been eyeing you from day 1. You are loyal to your wife ". He felt a bit uneasy, and said he should leave now. Coming back to his room, he was in some sort of artistic illusion. A melodrama seemed to be playing in his mind. Was the ghost a spy? Had she been spying on him? Is she active during daytime too? Is she really harmless as she promised him? Does she dwell every now and then in the house and keep a record of every nook and corner? He did not even know when he fell asleep with the eyes popping up in his vibrant, clueless, floating mind.

Eventually, everything got settled down, and seeming unbelievable, they became good friends. Arthur had a companion, with whom he could talk to at night. Only that Jennifer never appeared fully. One night, Arthur bluntly asked why she always hid herself. She hesitated but later agreed to come in front, only if he would not run away, as she was happy after a long time being friends with a human. The former agreed, and she came out with that bloody gown and half rot face. It scared the shit out of his heart but he did not run away. Sensing his uneasiness at the very sight, she quickly transformed into her normal look, as she looked. The young lad just stared with his eyes bulging out. He had never seen such a bewitching face, such pretty eyes with an aesthetic smile. She laughed and he felt like he would record her alluring voice.

Their friendship was growing stronger when one night, he informed her that he had to return back. His work was complete, and even asked how he could help her, whether he would have the pool removed, and give her a proper burial. Suddenly a scream followed and he heard her say " You will not go back. If you want me to escape, stop haunting this house, and have your resort built here, burial won't help. I need a living soul, a pure soul, like that of you  to free myself. Moreover, I enjoy your company. " He angrily said, " See, I cannot stay here till eternity. Yes, may be we have become good friends, but I also have someone to look after, someone who means the world to me, someone I can't stop thinking about . I have to return to her.

And what is this soul exchange policy? I cannot do it. Sorry but You should find someone else, There are so many good people. " Again the voice echoed, this time louder, " If you flee, I will not stop you, but the consequence will be severe." Now Arthur was furious, " Are you threatening me? You just cannot do this. And if you still do not agree with me, then screw you. I am going tomorrow, no matter what." No reply came back. He went off to his room, packed everything, and went off to sleep. The next day, he returned, and told everything to Angelina, while they sat drinking. She heard it all and laughed heartily. After a long time, the two inseparable lovers were reunited. She kissed him and eventually, made love.

PART  - 3

The next day, he joined office back. Everyone greeted him, asked how he was. His team, while chilling at the cafeteria, enquired about the house, He narrated everything. They laughed, no one believed him. Everyone thought it was the doing of that keeper, and they openly discarded the fact that spirits can be so friendly. His CEO was very pleased with his determination and courage, and decided the work to begin from next month. And he even announced a small celebration on the success of his project leader. An office party was arranged and Arthur too agreed at once. He also knew how badly his mind had been stressed over the past few days. He badly needed a refreshment. However, he did not have even the faintest of clue that something followed him back. At one instance, he went to the washroom. While washing his hands, he heard a faint voice calling his name. He turned back to find no one. As he bent down to wash his face, he heard the voice again, calling his name, and as he looked up at the mirror, he almost had a heartache. It was Jennifer, right behind him, with her ghostly appearance, smiling. He quickly turned back to find no one again. Without wasting even a single second, He quickly jumped out and galloped straight into the party.

Returning home, he did not want to disturb Angelina, and slept, not narrating anything about it. But he woke up at times, could not sleep, after what he had encountered. The next day, he took a leave, and decided to spend the day at home. They also decided to do some shopping and have lunch together. They spent the afternoon at the park, and he felt a lot relaxed. That night, they were sleeping together, when Arthur suddenly dreamt of the previous night and woke up with a bang. Angelina also woke up, and tried to comfort her husband. She did not ask him anything but hugged and brought him to sleep again. The next evening, when Arthur returned from office, and she brought him some warm ginger tea, she sat next to him, and asked him if anything was troubling him. Arthur knew it was sensible not to hide things from her. He told her about the incident, with a terrified look. She could not believe her ears. But what Arthur found was that Jennifer quite resembled Angelina, both in looks, and voice. Did they have some connection? That question used to haunt him at times.

The very next day, they decided to inform her parents, and with their consent, summon a priest to look into the matter, as Arthur's father had recently survived from a fatal heart stroke, and it would be foolish to inform of such paranormal incidents. But, things got complicated with Angelina's dad. The moment he heard everything, a strange look filled his face, and he tried to hide it, and openly refused, addressing it to be a hoax, and nothing like that could be possible. Arthur noticed that, but did not cross question him. So they decided to summon a priest the next day, without letting anyone know to deal with the situation.

However, that night changed the lives of 4 people. Around 2 am, Angelina went to the washroom, Arthur was lost in some thought. To his dismay He saw her not returning even after about 45 minutes. He went towards the washroom but could not find her. Suddenly he saw the main door of their apartment open, he knew what could have happened, he did watch a lot of horror movies. Going onto the terrace, he found her, as soon as he went near her, he was thrown back by some magical force. Suddenly, she turned back, and he realised it was not his wife but the evil ghost of Jennifer. She gave a wicked smile, and even before he could stand and reach her, she jumped off from the terrace. nearly 20 floors from ground. Arthur could not believe his eyes. At the sound, some people came out and started screaming. Arthur was helpless, devastated, broke, fuming with rage for revenge, but had nothing to do. Suddenly, something arose in his mind.

He rang her father, and told him everything. The latter, to his uttermost surprise, informed that Angelina's mom, too, fell from the stairs and was rushed to the hospital, receiving a head injury,where, she was declared brought dead. Arthur decided to drive to him. They both sat, puzzled, mentally emotionless. Arthur, with a fuming temper, asked him what was his connection with everything that happened. The father openly denied against which Arthur directly cross-questioned about the panic on his face that day. Finally, he revealed everything. He was George, and ever since the incident, and after death of his parents, he changed his name, and married Angelina's mother, sold the house to a friend and changed his business, without even thinking the consequences and coincidences would return in this way. They had nothing to do, but mourn at their losses. Both lost their loved ones, both the female partners. Arthur did not say a word and decided to spend the night at his father in law's home. In the morning they would perform the burials. However, the next morning, He was found hanging from the ceiling, with a note written in blood, saying

" I won't kill you George for I loved you,

 But I will destroy everything that you love and care about.

I LOVE YOU and ALWAYS WILL.

Yours beloved,

 Jennifer " 

He got what he deserved, and he understood how devastating love can be. He took out a revolver and shot himself on the head, thinking, how love can also haunt like revenge.