Midnight Horror

"Do not worry sir. The work will be done by tomorrow." Philip said on the phone. "Yes sir I... Yes definitely.... Sure sir... Yes... Thank you. Thank you so much sir!" Philip hung up the phone. He was standing on the bus stop waiting for a bus that would drop him home after his night shift on a rainy day. He sighed and heavily sat on the bench behind him. He closed his eyes. "Look Philip, I have given you enough time. I want the work done by tomorrow. If you don't then I will be forced to suspend you or even expel you. You don't want me to do that, do you?" a voice echoed in his ears.

Four days ago, Philip's executive had asked him to prepare a presentation based on the financial profits and losses of the company. He had not yet prepared it. Four days ago he thought it was a piece of cake and now he felt that his job was at stake. He sat peacefully with his eyes closed, recalling his childhood days when he complained to his mother that he hated school and wished to play outside. He remembered himself carrying his small bag made up of canvas with his water bottle hung around his neck and his lunch box in his left hand. He would enjoy running around on the edges of the forest nearby and playing with his friends.

He drifted off in his memories and didn't realise when he fell asleep. Philip dreamt of his uncle and his aunt who had passed away last year. They had lived in his heart and dreams and they often spoke to him in his dreams. The often said that he was a good boy, just like they did when they lived. But this time they were crying. Philip asked,"Uncle, what's the matter?''. But his uncle and aunt kept crying. He ran towards them but they only went farther away. He stopped and looked behind. Awe of horror struck him. His face was pale and fear took over him.

Philip woke up with sweat dripping from his face. His eyes were wide open. He grabbed his phone and looked at the time. It showed 23:59 . He sat upright in horror, shivering in the cold winds of the rainy night. He had seen something he never imagined of. It was a faint image but it had sent chills down his spine. Philip tried to recollect the image. As he was doing so, a voice caught his attention. It was a whisper. "I want your ssssssoul" the voice hissed. Far off, on the other side of the road, Philip saw the faint image again. It was haunting him. He examined it from head to toe and let out a gasp in terror. A shadow with long hairs hanging down its shoulders. Dressed in grey ragged clothes, floated a figure. His hands quivered. He could see blood dripping from the figure's toes. He wished to run away or scream out loud but he was paralysed by what lay ahead of him. Then what happened, no one knew. A bolt of lightning struck from the sky with blinding light and a thunder so loud that could have damaged his eardrums. When Philip felt that the sound had faded away, he opened his eyes and was surprised to see the bus waiting for him to climb aboard. The road was remarkably dry, as if it never rained. "Sir, please hurry up. We are behind schedule." the bus conductor said bringing Philip out of his thoughts. Philip quickly climbed aboard, sat on the seat and pulled out his phone from the pocket. It read 00:00. Strange. A minute ago, things were quite different he thought. Perhaps I was just hallucinating. He calmed himself down and waited for his stop. The next day went as usual. Philip successfully submitted his work and came home early. 

He freshened up and began organising his room. All the riff-raff and old newspapers were to be thrown out. As he took out all the newspapers, an article caught his attention. 

A 23-year old's body was found dead opposite the National Highway road 22 Bus Stop

A 23-year old woman's body was claimed by the police on 17th June opposite the National Highway road 22 bus stop. Reports tell us that there was heavy rainfall accompanied by devastating thunder and lightening and that it was around midnight that a bolt of lightening had struck exactly at the place where the body was found. The carcass was found burned with traces of dried blood on the toes. The identity of the deceased has not been identified. The person was probably wearing a white dress, however this cannot be confirmed as the dress was burned and only grey ashes were found on in it. 

Philip had his eyes wide open with the Newspaper article held in his hands.