THE DARK FOREST
THE DARK FOREST


NOTE: This story is based on Author’s fiction. It doesn’t apply to any historical references or real-life incidents.
APRIL, 2020
18 year old Adhithya is a person who loves adventure. One night he decided to go to the Superstition mountain in Kodaikanal for an adventurous trekking. Why this mountain is called as superstition mountain means, most of the people who go trekking to that place are dying mysteriously. The people started to fear to go trekking to this mountain. Because of this, this mountain is called as superstition mountains later.
But Adhithya doesn’t believe in all this. He came trekking to this mountain a lot of times. This is a place where he come regularly. Most importantly he will round that mountain in one night. That trial is totally 12 km. According to that he will start the trekking with 6 km and will put a camp and take rest. Again he will walk for 6 km and came to the starting place.
Usually Adhithya and his friend Manijth go there together. But today because of some reason his friend couldn’t come. Since his friend didn’t come he was thinking whether to go or not. His instinct said not to go today. But finally he decided to go as it is a well known place for him. Adhithya started getting ready by packing the things for trekking.
Adhithya doesn’t know that it is a very wrong decision that he took in his life. Because that night the thing which is waiting to happen to him, made him fear to death.
Adhithya who got ready to superstition mountain for trekking, planned to start when there is sunlight. If he goes like that, like already said, in 12 km trial 6 kilometer can be done during sunlight and it will start turning dark. After putting a camp there, to take a rest, he can continue 6 km again. Hence, Adhithya can come to the starting point. That was the plan. But instead when he reached there it was 5:45 p.m.
Now the sun has started to set. Adhithya knows, that he can’t go as he planned. Since in that light before the sunsets he can’t go that much distance. But what he thought means instead of walking 6 km, before the sunsets he thought of walking 2 or 3 km. Adhithya decided to put a camp in that place.
After Adhithya started walking, he thought he couldn’t walk fast. After going a small distance it totally became dark. When the sun went down it was completely black around him. The insect sound from the bushes and plants around him, and the birds sound like this the place started to become scary.
Adhithya was used to it. From the bag he bought he took the torchlight and flashed it. But that light only went up to 10 feet. In that light he started walking slowly to the place he planned. But at one stage in that darkness he kept his leg without knowing what was there.
Nearly Adhithya fell into a pit. But luckily he held the nearby plant and stood. In case if he fell into that, he might have been wounded heavily. If he got wounded, no one was there to help him. Since from the place where he is, people are there only 25 km away. There is no mobile phone signal and no one could find that he was wounded there.
Adhithya who thought all this for a second realized that he took a very bad decision. At least now he realized that and decided not to go anywhere from there. Adhithya decided to put a camp there and stay there all night. As soon as the sun came up he thought of continuing and flashed the light around him. A few steps away there was a clearing.
When Adhithya went there to put a camp, there was a mark that already a person has set up a camp there. He thought that he took a correct decision. Adhithya became relieved and prepared his camp there. After preparing his camp, he prepared a campfire in front of it. After that he took a bean can from his bag. Adhithya opened it and started eating his dinner.
Surrounded by a dark forest and the sound of insects and animals, Adhithya admired his adventure and the nature. When he was eating, he felt like something was not right there. How it felt like means, in that place where he is now, he is not alone. He felt like someone or something is watching him. (Definitely everyone of you might felt like this at some point. That is when you are at a place suddenly you will feel like someone is watching you. When you look at it someone will be watching you. It is a very surprising sense in human being.)
Now when Adhithya felt like this he stopped eating. From the place where he was sitting he started looking around. But he couldn’t see anything because he was sitting near the campfire. If we look from a bright place we can see only up to a particular thing. He started checking whether there is any animal behind the trees around him or else someone is around him. He started watching keenly. But he couldn’t see anything. He thought there was nothing.
“I think it’s my fear. Because of my fear my survival instinct is working highly.” Adhithya thought. When he was thinking like that a small stone, came and landed near his leg in the campfire where he was sitting. Seeing this his heartbeat went high. Immediately he stood up in panic.
Again Adhithya looked around. But again he couldn’t see anything. Now he took his torch light and looked keenly whether there was anything around him. For the next 15 minutes the sounds around him, with fear he started noticing what sound was coming around him.
At on
e stage Adhithya thought it was not intentional or else he might have kicked the stone without knowing. Or else a small stone might fall off from a tree. Like this he consoled himself . After that he lied in his sleeping bag and started thinking. He fell asleep.
Now a few hours later at midnight Adhithya woke up suddenly. Again he felt the same. He thought that definitely someone or something is around him. He started noticing the sound around him to know what is happening. From the place where he was 30 to 40 feet away, like a walking sound in a forest he started hearing a sound. But he doesn’t know whether it is animal or human or something else.
In the next 30 seconds the sound started fading. Now Adhithya became relaxed that it has left now. Even though to know what it is, he started searching for his torch light. He kept the torch light above his head when he went to sleep. But now it is not there. Around his sleeping bag he searched throughout the tent. But the light is not there.
Adhithya was confused where did the torch light went and came out the tent to search for it. When he was searching to his right side there was some light. That light is nothing but his torch light. The torch light is exactly 40 feet away from the campsite. From the place where he heard walking sound exactly it was lying down in that direction.
Adhithya understood that something came near him and took the torch light from him. Now his whole body started to shiver and sweat. That second he doesn’t know what to do. In fear, he felt like vomiting.
Without moving an inch from the place where he was standing Adhithya watched the torch light. Now in his heart there was only one thing.
“Whatever happens. I should not go to take the torch light. It is a trap to make me come there. I am going to stay in my campsite near the fire.” Like this Adhithya said in his heart and put on his shoe. He took a knife in his hand.
Now Adhithya made the fire very big as much as he can.
“Whatever happens I shouldn’t move away from here. If I move I am over.” Adhithya thought like this and lit the fire. He was looking around with knife in his hand. For the next few hours he continuously heard the footsteps. It will come near him and again it will go away. Each time when the fire went down the footsteps will come near him.
When Adhithya made the fire big the footsteps will fade away. When it was like this, the time is around 3 am and all the sticks he had is over. Now he had no sticks for fire and if he wants the sticks, he should go inside the forest. But something is inside the forest. To avoid going there he is near the fire now.
Adhithya didn’t go inside the forest. Now the fire also started going down. He knows that if the fire went out the thing that is hiding there will come near him. He made his heart strong, took his knife and was waiting in fear. Like he thought, at one stage the fire went down.
Now again Adhithya started hearing the footsteps. He knows that the footstep is coming near him. Even though he heard that footsteps for a long time, it was hearing a few distance away. But now he could feel the footsteps coming near him. Even though the fire went down completely it’s charcoal light was still there. When he saw in that before him in a few distance away, there were 4 to 5 trees and the footsteps he heard was stopped till that.
“Whoever it is and whatever it is, definitely it is behind the trees.” Even though Adhithya couldn’t see it he can feel it. For the next two hours he kept on watching the tree. He was thinking what is going to happen to him next.
Definitely at that time a lot of confusions might have went in Adhithya’s mind. But in the next few minutes the sun started to come up. Few minutes before the sun came up, something which is behind that tree started running away from there and Adhithya heard it.
Now when the sunlight came up, Adhithya didn’t escape from there. Since maybe something might be still waiting there. He waited till the sun came up fully. When it came up he packed his things quickly and started to run away from there. He opened his car in the parking and sat inside it.
Adhithya started his car. He didn’t stop the car anywhere. 32 km away he stopped the car in a gas station. He got out of the car and relaxed a bit. After that he got juice from the shop and again he came near his car. When he looked behind his car, a big twist was waiting for him. There was some dust in his car’s back mirror. When he saw that dusted mirror he felt giddy. Since in his dusted back side mirror, it was written, sleep well? It means when he went trekking someone stalked him. The same day or the next day they wrote it in his car.
“The reason most of the people who went to that mountain died mysteriously. Maybe this person is the reason.” Adhithya thought.
EPILOGUE
“So Dear Readers. Don’t go to dangerous places alone. Even though it is an adventure you should definitely take at least one person with you. Or else at least you should listen to your instincts. How was this story? Where did you felt scary? Comment it down. Comment what you might have done if you were in Adhithya’s place.”