The horror begins..........

All of the sudden, my slumber was ruptured by the whispering sound, followed by the sobbing. I looked around the room, but I could only see the tad moonlight hitting on the floor, and the shadows of the rectangular windows falling on the floor. The sobbing turned into low wail, and it didn't sound like human, I grew sceptical, I parted the quilt and tiptoed towards the door. The wail grew louder, and it seemed that it is coming outside my door, I don't know what? But all of the sudden, my mind threw the picture of occult objects, which Mr. Gustav had in his weird collections, and the picture rolled through my mind. I could hear my heart pounding, I tiptoed towards my luggage which was near the study table, and I grabbed the pistol. I slid the doorknob and flung it open; raising the gun at the dark, but there was no one. I stepped out and peered through the dark passage but there was no soul present. I looked at the left, where there are two rooms, occupied by the guests, and I looked at the right. The passage was dark, but I could see a movement in the pitch dark, there was a dark figure moving, or a shadow. I asked, "Hello! Who's there?" But the answer was a eerie hush, I studied the figure, and it seemed like the figure of a woman in black gown, and a black hat with veil, she was holding a shining thing in her arm, held above her head, on examining, it seem like a dagger, but I was unsure. I again repeated my question, but there was no answer, but then as it was dark, so I couldn't see anything beyond, and perhaps it was the ruse of my mind, and the figure disappeared. I lowered my arm, and slowly closed the door; I kept the gun inside the luggage and hopped to sleep, I thought, "Perhaps the figure is a shadow of a bough or a tree coming from out, and it seemed like a woman." The thought of that hideous room, revolved in my mind, and this house is far away from chock-a-block locality, so this place can harbour spooky things, and I laughed thinking of it.

I woke up before the crack of the dawn; I parted the curtain, and saw that our cars were shrouded with ice. I saw the snowflakes descending to the earth, so I didn't open the window, and the fog began to cover the ground. I looked at the sky which was turning azure, as the snowflakes ceased gradually, so I could see the sun rising unhurriedly. I opened the window, which opened with a creaking sound, as the gaff was older, so it yields the features of its ancient heritage, but the interiors of this house is not bog standard. The cool gust of winds blew inside the room, making me feel refreshed. I remembered yesterday's adventure, and I realised there is nothing to faff around on this matter. I did some light exercise, and refreshed myself, pulling over fresh clothes. I heard light knock on the door, and I acknowledged to come in, Ivan comes in to inform that the breakfast is ready. I thanked him, and walked towards breakfast. I sat on the same place, as I did yesterday night, the dining table was filled with mouth-watering dishes, and the dining table filled in a jiffy, and then Mr. Gustav followed. However, there were two persons missing from the table, a man and his wife, we stared at the empty chairs, while Mr. Gustav was calm, and he said, that they had some urgent work in the city, so they have moved out, and he told us, that they will be back soon. After the breakfast, Mr. Gustav was getting acquainted with us, and also the guests were getting to know each other. The man, who was my neighbour yesterday at dining table, was my neighbour today, so we got acquainted easily. He was hailing from Yakutsk, his name was Mr. Drago, and to my surprise, he worked in police department, and he was posted at St. Petersburg.

We were about to rose from our table, but Mr. Gustav interrupted again, and he uttered, "I beg your pardon, ladies and gentlemen, the idea just propped up in my mind, as tomorrow is Halloween Day and its one of my favourite festival. I will call my lawyer tomorrow, and I shall make all of you, my legal heir of my property, after I pass away from the world, so I want to inform you the details about it, so please be seated." And then he pressed button of an electric bell below the table, Ivan and the other servants comes in to clear the dishes, and then Mr. Gustav summons Ivan, and gives him some instructions, and in a jiffy, he arrives with a burgundy bag, made up of hard craft faux-leather, it was similar to the bag used by barristers. Ivan placed the bag on the table, and he goes back, Mr. Gustav was running his hand on the smooth surface of the briefcase. As he gazed at the briefcase, thus smirking at it, he opens the buckle of briefcase with a click, and he tucks out a crimson file, thus closing the briefcase. He opens it, and shows us the legal papers attached in the file, he explains the legal terms in brief, I was delighted as I had planned for a huge charity, while the left over will be invested in my farm. This seems like an implausible dream, but the truth was something different, perhaps I was fortunate enough to get it.

Everyone retired from the dining table, meanwhile Drago and I were strolling outside the house, we looked at our respective sedan's which were heavily smothered by snow, we had our gloves handy, and we worn it, and shoved off the clumps of ice deposited on our respective sedan's. We were gabbling stories to each other, whilst working in police department, nabbing criminals, going on undercover missions, and many treacherous expeditions. He was couple of inches taller than me, and he had excellent years of service in police, and now he is indulged in poultry business. Then he began to talk about those couples, who were disappeared today, he was tad sceptical, and he uttered, "This is a secluded place, so if anyone is murdered, then it's an easy job to dump their carcass anywhere or in this subtle tarn." And he extended his arm pointing to the tarn, I gazed at the tarn, which seemed subtle, I shot a glance at him, and replied, "Buddy, you may be right, but right now this possibility can be ruled out, as there sedan is not here, and on the sludge near the tarn, there are no footprints, if anyone has to dump the body here." Drago laughed and replied, "Funny! Isn't it? I had retired from police long ago, but still the suspicion inherited by police service has not retired." He continued, "This gaff seems to be a perfect place for a murder case or vampires residence." As he uttered the word vampire, the repugnant room harbouring those unholy objects came in a flash. I discussed with Drago about the horrible room which Mr. Gustav had shown us. He smirked, and conversed, "Perhaps this is the reason, I harboured doubt about this place, and I guess you should agree with it."

After having our dinner, as a custom, Mr. Gustav entertained us with his telltale stories during his young days, I was feeling bored listening to his overstated talks, while the others behaving in obsequious manner, and I knew that he is babbling out after guzzling pegs of whiskeys. One of the guests asked about his family lineage. Mr. Gustav said that all his family members are deceased and he is the only one left in the family, who hoards lot of wealth. After the conversation ended, we retired to our rooms; I freshened up, and pulled over my night suit getting ready to sleep. I looked at the watch over the bed, it ticked quarter to eleven, and I opened the window, as I saw the crescent moon, which will be shadowed tomorrow. I remembered, tomorrow is a full moon night, and a Halloween party tomorrow, and it's a perfect match. I glanced over the sea of forest extending far and wide, there was a slight movement in the forest, the branches swayed, and I could hear the rustling sounds of the leaves. I squinted and glared towards the direction of the sound, the only source of light was the crescent moon, but the light was meagre. However, the movement among the trees grew incessantly and the rustling sound grew louder.

After a while, I saw silhouettes on the peak of trees, they were hopping on top of trees from one to another with an amazing agility, I was flabbergasted to glare at them, there were infinite dark silhouettes hopping around, and it seemed they are heading towards the house. They seemed like humans in serpentine forms, they were huge figures; perhaps they have a height above ten feet, and they were charged against the house. Those figures were slender, and their eyes were red, which seemed like tiny dot, I rubbed by eyes, as it seemed like a dream, however, this was no dream and those figure, I guess they would be around few feet away from the house, they were marching like an army, hopping on every tops of the trees, and darting towards the house. I didn't know how to react? I spun and darted towards my luggage, and tucked out my firearm, I attached a silencer to the gun barrel, so that the thundering sound of the gun shouldn't wake the people in the house, and I brisk towards the window, to shoot those hideous beings. However, to my surprise there were none, and the trees were standing unflinchingly, I could hear the chattering of the night creatures, and there was eerie silence groping the house, I held my arm against my eyes smothering it, and examined the forest. There was no one at sight, perhaps I was in trance due to guzzling down excessive pegs, and at last I thanked the heavens, as the bullet was not shot in the air, or else it would have hit any innocent creature. I gasped out, the silencer was detached from the gun, and I kept them at their place.

The next day, after freshening up, I walked out of the house, as I was curious about the experience of the previous night; it was a foggy morning which smeared the air. I saw the curve of crimson sun ascending towards the sky, as I reached near the tarn, and something caught my attention. I saw three parallel slashes, high on the bark of the tree, I clearly examined it, and it seemed like a slash done by a wild animal, but the slash was marked high above. There is no wild creature which heighted so immense, and the slash mark seemed to be fresh, I grew sceptical about the place, and also the event of yesterday night spun around my mind. My wild guess advised perhaps, I am over thinking without yielding any results, I spun around and darted towards the house, and then after an hour, I sat at the dining table for breakfast. Drago sat beside me, and then Mr. Gustav arrived, and he wished us Happy Halloween Day, and he informed us about the party today, also this will mark the day of legalising the nominees for the property. Everyone was happy, and then we gobbled the breakfast, this was the real feast of my life, and I shall conduct ethical work with the money received.

This was a beginning to a new hideous narrative of my life.

Ivan and the other assistants were busy in cleaning, and decorating the house, the vases were decorated with acacia, alliums, azaleas, daisies and poppies. The house was decorated with ceiling decorations, artificial garlands, paper lanterns, and confetti's. The dining table was shifted to other room, while many small round tables with chairs occupied the hall, as the hall was quiet large, it was easy to accommodate more objects, and besides the door at the left, a podium was built, it was made up of polished wood of mahogany. There were revolving globe disco lights attached to the ceilings, may be this will be grandest party of Halloween. As the day gradually passed, I was getting ready for Halloween Party, the sun turned its giant wheel down, turning the sky hazy, and as I gazed at the forest the birds were chirping and huddling towards home, I could hear the howling of animals at a distant. I called my friends on my cell phone, but I refrain from telling them my current details, perhaps this is not a time to disclose the matter, and after my calls, I sat at the study table reading the Doxology, and after reading, I kept the Doxology inside my luggage. My sight was caught by brass designed Aspergillum among my clothes, which was given by the old gentleman at the tuck shop, and I had completely forgotten about it, I held it in my arms, examining it, and it was filled with Holy Water. I kept it on the study table, and I was digging my bag to get the elegant clothes suited for the party, I tucked out my pistol and the baton, placing it on the study table. I resumed digging my bag, and finally at the depth of the bag, I found my favourite dinner suit for the party; I tucked the suit out, and stretched it over the bed, running my hands over it, so to make it smooth.

As the darkness were invading the sky, and groping the forest in the dark, I heard the chattering sound of the vehicles, I jumped towards window, and I saw there were three sedans parked near the house. There were the guests of Mr. Gustav coming out of the sedan, I saw Mr. Gustav, Ivan and some handful servants greeting them, I guessed that the party will began soon; I freshen up and pulled over the dinner suit. I stepped out of the room, and I saw people coming out the rooms decorated in new clothes, and Drago too accompanied them, I joined the conversation, we were talking about the legal declaration which will be announced by Mr. Gustav, who is making us the legal heir, we stepped down the stairs, where Mr. Gustav was coming in with his guests, he introduced his guests to us, and they were musicians, and dancers, the latter were women's. Mr. Gustav said that he will join us in a while, till then we can enjoy the party. There were many round tables with chairs for us, Drago and I grabbed a table for us, while other tables were grabbed by the guests. The musicians were setting up their instruments, while the ladies went upstairs, for getting ready, Ivan and his assistants served us with foods and liquors.

The music instruments were set up, and they were playing soft music, while the disco globes were throwing lights of different shades, even the chandelier were throwing brighter lights on the floor. The ladies dressed in low cut dresses, designed with glittering objects, they were looking like Heavenly Nymph, I was astonished looking at their beautiful faces, while at the other table the women's were furiously gazing at their husbands who were leering at those beautiful women's. I tapped Drago to look at those women's fuming at their husbands; it was rudimentary for humans getting attracted to dazzling things. The women were dancing proficiently, and they were scrupulous in taking each dance step, as a slight error will make them fall over the podium, with every dance step the bass of the music increased, and it turned to into rock music, however, I was enjoying the music, also the guests were totally delighted, and not to mention the leering at beautiful women's. I guess, Mr. Gustav is ingenious, as wants to make us happy in this secluded place, the guests were having the pints, and gobbling down delectable foods, and meanwhile I gobbled down the foods, and refrained from drinking, as I was teetotaller for today. Ivan and the servants were serving us incessantly, as we were growing ravishing, the foods were kept available for us, followed by the drinks, and we were gobbling it.

After a while, the lights commenced blinking, throwing variety of shades on the floor, the music and the dance stopped. I was perplexed looking at the scene, and then a loud voice thundered the hall, "Silence." We looked at the direction of the voice, and it was Mr. Gustav at the gallery, flaring his arms, he stooped, and hold the banister, and he continued, "In the stillness of night, someone will be stalking, your hearts will be terrified by the look, she will whip your respite, you will see blood ooze from your body and your hearts lashed out. Welcome with your bleeding hearts, the Queen of Terror." The spot light hit the woman who dressed in black gown, her head was crowned by a black hat, with a black transparent veil, at that very moment, I was shuddered as few nights before, I had witnessed the dark figure at the gallery, who was wearing black gown, and the hat with veil. That night, I discarded it as a silly thought of mine, but now, I grew sceptical, I saw her stepping down in coyness, whilst holding the banister, the spot light was following her, and as she reached the podium, the glinting of the lights stopped, and the disco globe, and the chandelier threw their brighter lights like before.

This very moment was the start of our resistance against the unholy forces.

The woman took over the dance floor, and she started dancing, taking the lead, while dancers followed her steps, and the music thumped, and rocking the house, she tucked a dagger out of her girdle, and began to play with the dagger, flipping between her hands, and tossing it above and grabbing it with an amazing expertise. I was confirmed, that this is the woman, I saw previous night, and she is responsible for the disappearance of one of the guests. After a while, I saw Gustav coming down the stairs, and he was walking efficiently without his crutch, and he didn't lame while walking, and in a flash, I remembered the old man at tuck shop, who told that the forest is surrounded with uncanny things. I shook Drago to look at MR. Gustav, but he was in trance due to excessive drinking, he was babbling something, which I didn't understand, but I understood the gravity of the situation, while he finished stepping down the stairs, Ivan and other servants accompanied him to the podium, and I lost all the admiration for Mr. Gustav. I silently climbed the stairs, taking two, three steps at a time, and darted towards my room. I grabbed the pistol, baton and the Aspergillum, I tucked the baton and Aspergillum under my jacket, but I held the pistol in my hand. After a while, I heard the wild scream from the hall, and I quickly darted outside the room. I saw the dancers were stripped to their bikinis, and they were making lusty moves, and the guests were flabbergasted, the men's were screaming like howling wolfs, and I looked at Drago, he was whistling at the dancers, they were all mesmerised. Gustav, Ivan and their servants were standing at the podium, dancing in merry, and it was surprise to me that the guests had not noticed Gustav's leg, who was not laming anymore.

The decisive hour will be arriving in couple of minutes.

Gustav, came in the front of the podium, and yelled, "Food is ready, eat them all." The dancers and the musicians abruptly stopped the concert, and they are converted into a blood sucking vampires, even Gustav, Ivan and their servants were converted into vampires. They were having large canine teeth, a reddish lips and wide eyes, and their azure veins could be seen; they raised their hands, which were having sharp long nails, they screeched which boomed the house, and they charged towards the guests, while Gustav, Ivan, and the woman stood at the podium watching the scene. This was the time for action, the guests were squealing as they were shocked, and they ran to and fro, toppling the tables and chairs, I shoot those hideous vampires, and their dirty carcass lay on the ground, I jumped over the stairway, and landed on the floor, I began the act of killing those vampires, and then at last, I swung, and held the revolver against Gustav, Ivan and the woman, they snarled at me, but before they came, I charged the bullet against them, and they lay down lifeless. Drago and the guests huddled towards me; they thanked me for saving their lives, when I turned to look at those vampires, to my surprise they were vanished without any trace. We were astonished, and gazed around the hall in astonishment.

I told them, "Perhaps these bullets will never affect these evil spirits, but we have to get out of it." I grabbed the Aspergillum, and uttered, "This Aspergillum hold Holy Water, and I will sprinkle on you, this will protect you." Without further adieu, I sprinkled the Holy Water on them, I went towards the door to open it but I was unable to open, then Drago and the guests ran towards me, trying to push the door but it couldn't move an inch. I told everyone to step back, and I sprinkled the Holy Water on the door, and the fresh blood began to sprout from the door, flowing to the floor, and I understood the meaning of it, "If we kill those vampires, the door will be opened for us." I conversed, this was only option left for us, and we have to decimate those unholy beings.

An idea flashed my mind, I told them, that we will go to the room where the old artefacts are kept. Drago uttered, "Buddy, now we need to get out." I replied, "Trust me buddy, we will dart out of this house, but I have an idea, trust me." He nodded, and I told them to follow me, and we ran towards the artefacts room, and I sprinkled the Holy Water, the artefacts contained daggers, and shaft used in Imperial and Soviet Era, I advised them to grab them, as I had sanctified these objects with Holy Water, and they can be used against evil spirits, while I sanctified the baton which I carried. Drago and the guests took those objects, Drago questioned me that, how I possess the knowledge of these uncanny beings? I replied to him that, I read the Doxology daily, which was given by a Babushka to me, and she had compiled the Doxology, in which there were Hymns of God mentioned, and followed by the plans to tackle evil spirits, if they befall us.

The moment of despair arrived, and the lights were off, I roared, "Oh Damn!!! Today is Halloween, and it's a new moon day today, the evil powers are on surge." We switch on our mobile torch lights and looked around to find any sign of them, but they were missing, and we darted out of the room. After a while we heard evil laughter thundering the house, which freezes my nerves, however, today is the day of survival and not fear, we have to survive the ordeal, and get out of this hideous house. The lights flashed by our mobile torches were sufficient to provide us direction, and I tucked Diving Amulet out, which lay clasped on my chest, and I chanted the Holy Hymns of God. I requested everyone to chant along with me, and they obeyed, I began sprinkling the Holy Water on every nook and the corners of the house.

We heard the loud sounds of footsteps moving up and down the stairs, we heard wild scream and even sobbing of a women all over the house. It was a frightening sight for any one; we huddled and moved ahead, the light emitting from the mobile torch displayed the shadows moving on the floor and walls. We could hear the sounds of footsteps running and walking, it seems like the footsteps were stalking us, and coming behind us louder and louder, and we turned back to see, it reduced. The footsteps were running behind us, as it is about to kill us, we turned back as the sound grew louder, and I sprinkled Holy Water towards the direction of the sound, and a booming scream darted from the darkness, then there was an eerie silence which groped the house, perhaps the Holy Water has destroyed the spirit. I whispered, "Guys don't worry, have faith on God, I have sprinkled Holy Water on you and the objects you are carrying, so if you see any evil forces set to attack, you can retaliate, and don't lose faith and courage, we will get out of this repulsive house." Everyone unanimously agreed with me, and our expedition moved further, we had to track them down, so that to get us out of this house. We turned towards the hall, and after reaching hall, the sounds of the footsteps moving up and down, and the loud screeching sound, echoed all over the house. All of the sudden behind us rushes, a group of apparitions in a white smoke, they looked transparent, the clawed hands busted out of the smoke, and the charged against us.

No sooner they approached to kill us, than I sprinkled the Holy Water at those apparitions, and they squirmed and disappeared in thin air. We chanted the Holy Hymns of God, and then a miracle occurred the lights turned on, and the doors flung opened, guiding us the path to the outside world. Our pleasure knew no bounds, we were contented as our strong determination proved fruitful, and then in a few seconds Gustav, Ivan, the woman, and their sidekicks stood blocking the door, they were in ghastly form, they snarled at us. I yelled, "Wretch souls!!! What do you want from us?" Gustav gave an eerie smile, displaying his canine teeth, and his pale skin getting wrinkled. Gustav answered, "We call people like you every year, alluring them to transfer my property and money in their name, and then we kill those people and devour their flesh and blood, to augment our life force, and this we were doing for many years." I was perplexed as, he continued, "But this year is different, you people are determined to fight us. I will not spare you, and now face the death." I understood that this fight for survival will not be unproblematic; I looked over the shoulder, and told the guests that the objects which they are holding are Holy and we can use to kill them. Those evil spirits ran inhuman speed towards us, we held our weapons, and then the fight commenced, I swung my baton on those evil spirits, and the squealed in pain, and lay dead. The woman, I saw previous night, attacked me with knife, but I thwart the attack with the baton, and I hit her hard, thus she lay dead. After that, I sprinkled the Holy Water at the evil spirits, and they were melted like candle, squealing and squirming. I sprayed the Holy Water on Ivan, and he squealed and evaporated in thin air, while Ivan hit Gustav with the rod, and killed him. We rejoiced our victory, and we decided to get out of this hideous house, we darted towards our room, and fetched our luggage as soon as possible.

We carried our luggage and ran out of the house, however, this was not the end, as we reached out, the lights of the house turned off, we saw dark figures with red eyes, near our sedans, and they were increasing in numbers. We heard the howling of wolfs at the distant, and as they approached us, we could hear the humming sounds, I was perplexed, and this is not the end, we have to go through more of them, and we huddled together, as they approached. They flared their clawed hands, they were tall, than the tallest human beings, their bodies were lanky and hairy. I memorised, the event of the previous night, which I had experienced, they were the very creatures, who were hopping on the top of the trees, and this was the conclusion of our fight for survival. I grabbed the Aspergillum, and the baton, and the others had the Blessed Objects available, those hideous creatures encircled us from all sides, they were groaning at us. They pounded on us to attack but we decimated them with the Holy Objects we had, I thrust some of them with the baton, and also I sprinkled the Holy Water on others, and gradually they vanished in thin air, perhaps they are all destroyed.

After a while, we heard a booming sound, the mighty walls of the house collapsed, it felled like a pack of cards, making thundering voice, rupturing the silence of the forest, and I heard the clinking sound, like the coins dashing against each other. I lighted the mobile torch, and to my surprise, I saw the gold coins, I stooped and picked a coin, and it seemed that the coin belongs to Imperial era, as I lighted the mobile torch on the coin, Drago and the guests huddled toward me to glare at the coin. We began to search for the coins, and we got many coins pertaining to that era, and also there were many artefacts which lay among the debris. We collected lots of them, during the inspection among the heaps, I saw a mound of clothes, at first I guessed, it would be some kind of moss, I shoved off the debris, and found the cloth covering a limb, on further uncovering the debris, I found that it was the body of a woman. I voiced everyone to come, and they were astonished, the woman was the guest among us, and further we cleared the debris, and found her husband's body. We were shocked to glare at their carcass, and after that, we decided to give them a descent burial, we dug the ground with the objects available with us, and then I removed the Doxology from my luggage, and read the Holy Hymns of God for salvation of these innocent souls. Drago uttered that he will collect coins and other artefacts, and give the family of the deceased person the share of it, as they belonged to the city, where he resides. I was delighted by his noble thought; we volunteered to help Drago in fetching more coins and other valuables for the family of deceased persons. I conducted the Sanctification of the area so that the place shouldn't get infested with evil spirits any more, and after that we were ready to move on. We bid goodbye to each other, and with a promise to get together some day.

I drove the sedan towards my home, as the sun redden the sky, I saw a fresh hope in the rays which glittered the sky, perhaps this would be a new beginning. I sold the coins and the artefacts to fetched enormous amount of money. As per the oath, I made, I endorsed huge amount in charities and gifts to the charitable trusts, and also I purchased gift for the Babushka and the old man at the tuck shop. I narrated my experience to them, and they were shocked to hear my story, they didn't accept my gift at first, but I requested a lot, and so they accepted my gift, and I thanked them for their help. After that, the residual amount which I had, I spent on purchasing new equipments for cultivation, and now I spent my days in happiness and solitude.