The House Of Horrors

The gorgeous blue sky overlooked the village of Talanadu which seemed to be shaken by the mysterious deaths of village people. On a Friday morning, a school-going girl was killed under mysterious circumstances and there was no clue whatsoever to determine the murderer who was clever enough to evade the eyes of villagers. Her parents looked inconsolable at the backdrop of their daughter's murder. The mentally retarded girl named Maya appeared at the death spot.

"I told you to be safe from the evil eyes. You guys don't listen to me. Today is your daughter and tomorrow will be you," she laughed.

Some of the village women got irked by her words and they yelled at her to leave the place. 

The village head Ponnappa looked clueless about the state of the village that had become the victim of mysterious tremors. His daughter Aparna always donned a solemn face and barely spoke which only spooked her parents. Two cops Dhananjay and Suhas had been entrusted with the task of nabbing the criminal to restore peace in the village. The village had turned into a horror place thanks to the mysterious events which unfolded every Friday. Dhananjay had a spouse named Meera and a son named Santosh. 

The villagers sought Ponnappa's assistance to get rid of the unseen mystery which killed innocent villagers every Friday. The village head pointed his fingers at the police and told them it is their responsibility to find the culprits. Some of them blamed the village head privately for shirking his responsibilities. With the ceaseless fear gripping the village, the pressure on the cops only surged and they set out to perform their duty. On the following Friday, an old man was found motionless covered in a pool of blood in the forest area. Subsequently, there was an outcry from the village people fearing one day the entire population of the village would get reduced to zero. Dhananjay and Suhas drove their jeep to the forest amidst the heavy downpour. The environment around looked horror courtesy darkness that had engulfed the place. The two daredevil cops relied on night goggles to pursue their duty. Some random men dressed in a cloak jumped from the branches of the tree to spook the two policemen. They had swords in their hands with a clear intention to kill the policemen who were hell-bent on unravelling the mystery. A tall man swung his sword at Dhananjay but the latter dodged the blow by the skin of his teeth before hurling a huge blow to his neck. Suhas gave a swift chase to a short guy who ran like a cheetah. The numbers game soon seemed to get the better of Dhananjay who had no other option but to open the fire. The bullet pierced through their chest rendering them motionless while some others ran away from getting apprehended. Dhananjay let out a scream as he missed the chance of apprehending at least one who could have spilt the beans about the tragedy unfolding every Friday. Even Suhas could not match the stride of the masked man and returned helplessly. 

Ponnappa and his wife were bothered about their only daughter who refused to open her mouth as if she had seen something horrific which rendered her dumb. The mentally ill girl Maya materialised at the doorstep of the village head's house out of nowhere.

"Why do you trouble your only daughter? Who knows she could be the next target of the murderer?"

Her words startled the couple who took a stick in their hands and chased her to the deserted house. No one in the village had shown any courage to investigate what was happening in the deserted house ridden with cobwebs. A year ago, one of the villagers had shown the guts to go inside the house but unfortunately, he never came back and no one knew whether he was dead or alive. Thereafter, no one gathered the guts to get inside the horror house which certainly had a big secret lurking in there.

Dhananjay looked extremely tense since he failed to get even an inkling of the mysterious murderer who always seemed to be one step ahead of him. As usual, the Friday morning sent tremors to the entire village. When the village head opened his door, he was in for a shock. His daughter was lying unconscious in the corridor which made her parents sob and their pain refused to subside. Ponnappa's extremely sensitive wife couldn't grapple with the horrific murder of her daughter and she died on the spot. It was a double whammy for Ponnappa who lost both his wife and daughter. He sent a warning to the police department that in case they fail to ascertain the facts of the mysterious murder within a month, he would hang by the tree in front of everyone. A cloud of darkness hung over the entire village. They had long forgotten what joy was and every day they lived a miserable life fearing death. Suhas recovered a ring from the spot where Ponnappa's silent daughter was murdered. It was then proved that the ring belonged to the mentally ill woman Maya but Dhananjay couldn't comprehend that the insane woman would be responsible for such mysterious murders transpiring every Friday. He thought there was certainly a hand behind the murder and that mysterious hand was one amongst the people of TalaNadu. 

On the onset of the next Friday, Dhananjay woke up to a heart-shattering murder of his wife which made him go berserk. He went around the house to see if he could get any evidence to nab the criminal but to no avail. Hitherto, he never knew anything about the deserted house situated on the outskirts of the village. One of the villagers spoke about the mysterious house which had long been forsaken and he believed some evil force in the house could have played a hand in all the mysterious killings. The daredevil cop had already lost his beloved wife and now he was not ready to lose his son so he set out to unravel the mystery that overhung the horror house. The pain of his spouse's death refused to recede and the responsibility to nab the criminal at the earliest was the only thought lingering in his head. He decided to stride into the house despite all the odds stacked against him. No one including Suhas showed any iota of courage to step inside the horror bungalow. The grey clouds hovered over the sky as if to peek into the house and see what covert operation was taking place inside. He pushed the gate laden with dust and took some time to recuperate from the ceaseless dust that threatened to kill his lungs. The quiet bungalow loomed large in front of him churning out evil activities to give him an unthinkable welcome. There was no fear smouldering his eyes as he stood like a rock in front of the house all set to push open the door. His lacerated soul would heal only if the murderer is nabbed which could usher in a new lease of life for the villagers. Was he in the grim hold of evil forces that ruled the house? There was certainly no unassailable protection for the cop owing to the trepidation of people about the house which kept them far away from the death trap. Dhananjay kicked open the door and the sound generated by the kick resonated around breaching the pin drop silence that had reigned supreme hitherto. Thereafter, he moved inside with his footsteps resonating around. He was all alone inside a trap which came up with occasional rasping voices. He could hear the footsteps puffing down the stairs on the right side but when he swivelled to the right there was no sign of anyone. The house filled with illusion seemed like a complex puzzle that had no solution. He could see voodoo dolls everywhere which gave him a hint that there was a wizard inside who was operating the place. Suddenly, someone from the room situated on the first floor recited some strange verses as if they were offering something to God. He walked across the hallway and reached the foot of the stairs. He looked up at the closed room from where the sound was emanating and without wasting a second, he climbed up the stairs. He pulled out a revolver from his holster; slowly dragged his shoulders on the wall which led to the door. Taking a deep breath, he kicked open the door only to see a wizard who was offering some hairs to Devil Taramma whom he worshipped with the utmost respect. The idol of Devil Taramma would send shivers down anyone's spine and the wizard glared at the cop who pointed the revolver at him.

"Who in the hell are you?" the cop asked.

The wizard who had donned a solemn face until then quickly replaced it with wicked laughter taking him by surprise. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" the cop didn't lose his composure.

All hell broke loose when a bullet pierced the shoulder of the cop who turned back only to widen his eyes in surprise.

(To be continued.... )