“What?! Are you serious? Do you still believe in all this? According to me, it's just a way to fool little children so that they are back to their homes from play before it's too late”, said Jennifer as she chuckled. Anna, her dear friend, was narrating a story told to her by her grandmother recently about strange activities and innumerable deaths because of the mysterious "Death Lake'' as they called it. The people believed that there was a ghost on the tree near that lake or maybe a monster in that lake. Jennifer did not believe in anything supernatural and fictional, she always loved to explore things. Anna on the contrary disagreed with Jennifer's belief. Both the friends were on their way back home from a tiring road trip and it was pouring heavily. There was a clap of loud tremendous thunder and lightning struck the earth. Both of them were enjoying their conversation and the soothing music that played in the car was like the cherry on the top. They recounted a tale from their childhood about how they played in the playground near which was a house which was said to be haunted since it was not visited by anyone for decades and some people had even fabricated a story of seeing a silhouette of a lady and often heard frightening sounds.
That house was surrounded by dead trees and plants. The windows were dark and filled with shadows that played tricks on your eyes. In the spur of the moment, Anna pushed the brakes of the car abruptly, the tires skidding and squealing with noise, as the car ceased instantaneously. A girl appeared to be crossing the roadway, and after stopping the car, seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Jennifer and Anna gasped for breath, taken aback, both with their jaws dropped at what happened the previous moment. The girl who had just crossed the road looked very mysterious. Due to the extreme downpour and the faint moonlight that beamed on the road they could see the blurred vision of the girl through the windshield of that girl, although it was blurred they were able to make out that the girl was dressed in a sky blue frock with long blonde hair, she carried something wrapped in a white cloth.
Before both of them could process what just happened, they heard an indistinct and unclear sound of the engine collapsing and the car emitting smoke, in fact, a lot of smoke. Jennifer and Anna both got out of the car. It was a bit difficult to make out the issue in the rain. While Anna fixed the problem, Jennifer, with absolutely no concern about the car breakdown, was curious about the unknown mysterious girl. She was engrossed to find hints for where the girl was and where she had gone. Anna jolted Jennifer out of her reverie and asked for help. Some time passed by but no progress occurred and since there was heavy rain, the mechanic could not be called due to poor connectivity. Jennifer, bored, crossed the roadway and explored a vicinity called the Dulwich village and decided to seek shelter there for the night time until dawn. They unloaded some bags which contained key things they needed to sustain night-time and started walking down the barren land. As soon as they entered the small and compact Dulwich village for the shelter it seemed that there was no one. The locality was hushed and not a person was seen.
In silence, a lady broke out, “ Hello, Do you need something? You seem to be someone not belonging to this place.” Anna replied “Yes, actually our car has broken down and due to poor connectivity a mechanic isn't available. Jennifer retorted, “We are seeking shelter for the night. It would be really helpful if you could allow us to stay with you.” The lady urged them to come in and showed them a room opposite the attic. The room looked extremely creepy; it had large spider webs. The accessories of the room too looked extremely ancient and dusty. They stepped their way into the room and kept their bags aside. Anna felt worn out so jumped on the bed and was ready to sleep. Jennifer was troubled over the thought of that girl. She tried to start a conversation about the incident that had happened, but before she started, Anna told her to forget about it and move on. Anna was not worried about it at all; she drowsed off instantly. Jennifer continued reading her novel but had several wrinkles on her forehead, trying to forget about the girl that bothered her greatly.
To divert her mind she continued reading the novel. She soon felt sleepy so she went to draw the curtains open as she was doing so she saw that girl again, the one dressed in sky blue frock and blonde hair holding something wrapped in a white cloth. She stood on the far vast land close to the woods. She gazed at Jennifer and smiled weirdly. She then ran towards the woods. Jennifer looked down at her, shaken up and ran downstairs panting. The girl seemed like she needed help - she was barefoot and in old tattered clothes looking extremely weak. She took a torch and some bread with herself to feed the child. She ran across the vast land towards the thick, dense forest. She heedlessly ran searching for that child. The torch batteries were running out, which added to the aching feeling. She could hear scary noises. She was petrified and panicked badly, starting to run and find her way out of the forest.
Walking unsteadily, her feet hit something, "OUCH" she screamed. It was a corpse! She scrambled backwards, trying her best to keep herself quiet. Her hands were trembling, she bit her nails out of fear. It was the corpse of THAT girl, the mysterious girl. The bread dropped from her hands in shock and fear giving way to a bewildered horror. Jennifer looked at her closely, her eyes wide open the corpse was of no one else but SARA, her childhood friend, three years younger than her. Jennifer remembered the past. Sara was lost in the woods at the age of five while playing hide and seek with Jennifer and some other friends. Jennifer had told her to hide in the woods near her village and innocently Sara agreed as she thought nobody would be able to find her there and she would win the game.
She was lost and never found. She never won the game. There was a tap on the back that jarred her back to the present. Jennifer turned around. A loud shout was heard from Jennifer, the last thing she would ever say. Some things are believed only when seen. Some questions remain unanswered about Sara. What was the reason for Jennifer sending Sara to the woods alone? The answer to this question was dead just like Jennifer.
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