I am just a lost and lonely spirit

Wandering around in a majestic forest

Hoping to find another lost soul as lonely as me

I search frantically, beneath the trees, by the stream

Like a deranged madman I run here and there

Over the russet leaves, under the scorching heat

Behind the flowering shrubs, I take a peek

Assuming to encounter someone as forlorn as me

Tired and disappointed, I lay by the river

To sing the sad melancholy my loneliness offers

And I then close my eyes to dream the good dreams I have always longed for

For I wish that one day, I will find my way

For I wish that one day,

I no longer will be a lost and lonely spirit, I am today

When I glance at the sky, I notice a flock of birds soaring high

With their wings spread apart, they move freely with the windblast

As I turn my head around, my ears perceive the sound of chirping like a sweet melody ringing

I sit back and close my eyes to feel the peace that lies beneath the skies

With the soft touch of the cool breeze,

I spread my arms and let go of all the worries

Wishing with all my heart to one day fly free

Like a fearless bird with valiance and gutsy

In the middle of a dark, deserted and murky street was a night club with people enjoying and dancing and amongst them were two girls just as jolly and mirthful as the others but you never know what lies in the future.

“I think its quite late… Lets leave before we miss the one bus that travels through this route”, said Phoebe while looking at her pastel pink watch.

“Oh come Phoebe, there are still fifteen minutes before the bus arrives, we can hang out till then.”

“No Stephanie it’s a working day, maybe the bus arrives early today…. Who knows and I don’t want to miss it like the last time I did BECAUSE OF YOU!”

“FINE… I’m coming with you”.

They had been standing there since the past five minutes and to their surprise the bus arrived early and since it was a working day, it wasn’t that full unlike weekends in which the whole bus is occupied to a point where a person could even die from asphyxiation.

“Huh see, what did I tell you, it’s a working day. Now if we would have been partying inside we would have missed the bus again because of you.”

“Yeah, Ok…. You’re always right, now can we go in.”

Phoebe made a proud face while rolling her eyes and they both sat in the bus. The drinks they drank on their way out kicked in quite quick and soon they both were asleep resting their heads on each others shoulders.

After a smooth ride the bus stopped. Both of them were fast asleep but after a while Phoebe woke up and found herself along with Stephanie in the middle of the woods. The bus was empty and not just empty, it was covered in dust and cobwebs. It looked quite old and this superannuated condition of the bus raised a million questions in Phoebe’s head along with this one question ,“ How did I end up in the middle of the forest inside such an archaic bus.”

With a mind flooded with questions and with a heart beating loudly, Phoebe woke Stephanie up, or atleast she tried to.

“What the hell Phoebe! What is it, why are you shaking me… Are we home.”

“Steph, for the love of god please wake up and look around…. Look where we are.”

Stephanie while sensing the fear in her voice opened her eyes and looked around.

After a moment of silence she said, “OH MY GOD! Are we in the woods inside a dusty old bus….Wait, where are we.”

“I don’t know ok. I woke up to this too and I am equally as curious and terrified as you.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up Phoebe! Well any way first lets get out of this creepy bus.”

Phoebe while staring at Stephanie got out of the bus only to find out that they were surrounded by trees from all four sides. The darkness and the silence of the woods sent a shiver down her spine and made her feet numb preventing her to take even one step forward. She turned her head around and saw Stephanie sitting on the platform of the bus with her hand on her head and a confused expression on her face. Watching her so appalled, Phoebe mustered up some courage, comforted her and they both went straight to seek help.

Little did they know what fate had in it for them and how dreadful their life was about to become with a few decisions of their own.

“Hey, Phoebe look I see a mansion nearby, maybe we can spend the night there.”

“It looks abandoned, please lets not keep such creepy things in our options.”

“Do we have any other options…. I mean I am clearly freaking out in this forest and not to mention, this forest is the most creepiest place ever.”

“I mean I’m not sure Steph, this mansion clearly looks like a nightmare inside a nightmare.”

“Right so we don’t have any other options. Either we spend the night there or in this jungle in which there are definitely lots of insects and maybe some predators roaming around too.”

“Since when did you become so brave, I mean the last time I remember, I saw you totally freaked out sitting on the bus’s platform as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Phoebe, honey listen, we are clearly out of options and this mansion is our last resort so we have to do something… PLEASE!”

“Ok, fine I get it. You win, lets go”

Both the friends headed towards that mansion but as they got closer, they discovered that someone was actually living in there. The mansion wasn’t totally dark, instead the lights of some of the rooms were turned on.

“How can someone live in a mansion in the middle of nowhere… Ugh, I definitely can’t.” Phoebe said while making faces. But the thought of someone living in there gave them more courage and they confidently walked towards the door to seek help. Little did they know that the mansion they are about to enter has no such things as human beings.

As they got closer they could hear people walking so they knocked at the door.

“Hi, how can I help you”, asked a lady with red hair wearing a long grey gown.

“Hello, I am Stephanie and this is my friend Phoebe, we lost our way in the woods…… Actually we don’t even know how we ended up in the woods and now that we are here we cannot find our way out so we were thinking if we could spend the night here. We will leave as soon as the sun rises….. This forest gives me the creeps.”

“Oh dear, don’t worry, you can stay here as long as you like… We would be really happy.” The lady sounded quite kind and caring and let both the girls in.

“Who is it mother,” a girl came from behind wearing the same grey gown as the woman.

“Oh no one dear, just some visitors who lost their way in the woods, please show them their room….. Oh and I just forgot the introduction, girls this is Laurel and Laurel this is Stephanie and Phoebe, hope you girls will feel comfortable in our company.”

Soon after both the girls were settled in their rooms, they were called in the living room for dinner.

“Oh God, how many women actually live here, there are so many”, Stephanie said in astonishment. Phoebe too was quite surprised but those hunger pangs prevented them from even thinking about anything else except that they were starving and desperately needed food.

After filling up their stomachs with a delicious meal and a long session of introductions both went to their beds and slept.

In the middle of the night, a loud thumping sound woke both the girls up and froze them in their own beds. Mustering up courage both the girls held each others hands and headed towards the basement from where the voice was actually coming. They had reached the stairs when the woman everyone called mother meddled in between, “What is this sound. Is everything alright”, Stephanie asked worriedly.

“Oh, it’s nothing… Just go to your rooms and sleep, everything will be fine”, mother seemed rather calm.

“No but there is something going on, please tell us”, Stephanie remained adamant.

“WHEN I SAY GO TO YOUR ROOMS, I MEAN IT”, mother shouted.

“Perhaps minding your own business would prove rather beneficial to you”.

Although her tone became polite but the way she was acting was quite weird. Her facial expressions were scary and her look was terrifying.

Phoebe did what she was told and kept herself out of this but Stephanie due to her inquisitive and nosy nature couldn’t help it.

“What is up with this woman, she is behaving so weird”, Stephanie said while making an irritated face.

“Forget about the weirdness, did you just check out her facial expressions and her tone. It was so scary”, Phoebe said.

“You know what forget all of it, I am going to check out what is happening in the basement, are you coming.”

Although Phoebe was scared but part her was curious too so she followed Stephanie. On reaching the basement both were frozen at the sight of blood on two ladies standing and staring at them with their eyes wide open and a broad smile on their faces. One of them was holding nails and the other one a hammer. Those two horror- stricken girls turned around only to find out the terrifying mother standing four feet away from them. Suddenly the lights started to flicker and it was dark. The next moment the basement was fully lit and mother was standing straight in Phoebe’s face with eyes wide open and a big broad smile. Slowly that smile faded away. She was abnormally cold and her skin was white and wrinkled.

“I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN YOUR ROOM”, she shouted while throwing both the girls in opposite directions.

Suddenly her eyes turned white and her pupils constricted forming a tiny black spot in the center. Her face became more wrinkled and black lines started to appear on her face. Her mouth bled which covered most of the area of her lips with blood.

Both the girls were petrified and baffled when Stephanie noticed something wetting her pajamas. She turned her head to the left and noticed a girl with messed up black hair lying next to her. Her throat was slit and was bleeding and her eyes were wide open but they were completely white. When Stephanie turned her head to the front that girl was found sitting in front of her giving her that deadly smile but in the blink of an eye, she vanished. Her heart was pounding, she wanted to scream but fear suppressed her voice, she wanted to beg for her life but words were stuck inside her dry throat and every second felt like a living hell.

On the other hand Phoebe was dumbfound after seeing coffins with their names written on it. She could not even move her head. Fear had taken over her body like deadly parasite and was weakening her from the inside. She was shivering with every voice trapped behind her parched lips.

“So now, who volunteers to go first…. I suspect the nosy one, what’s the name again….. Stephanie! Yes, what do you say dear.”

She headed toward Stephanie and then knelt down. Stephanie trembling with fear started to move back but was stopped by a wall. She felt helpless, felt as if life was slipping out of her hands and any second she would be lying in a coffin.

“Come on dear, tell me before I lose my cool…. You wouldn’t want to bear any consequences of my wrath.” Her tone was polite but her psychotic expressions and ghostly look was enough to scare the living daylights out of someone.

“Who are you! What do you want”, Phoebe stammered while asking.

The woman turned her head around in the blink of an eye, stood up and walked alacritously towards Phoebe. She grabbed her by the throat and started choking her.

“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear, DONOT INTERUPT ME WHILE I AM SPEAKING”, she shouted.

“Well if you really want to know, then I’d rather show you.”

Suddenly, the passage that led further into the basement that was initially dark, was lit by a hanging bulb and there laid a number of dead bodies. One of them was Laurel’s with her throat slit.

“You see, we all live together as a family for eternity….. Us immortal souls welcome those who have lost their way, perhaps all they need is someone who can protect them and you needn’t worry my little girls, I will provide you a home….. A home where all us lost souls live together and we are imperishable”, she said while putting her cold wrinkled hands on Phoebe’s face.

Suddenly Stephanie stood up and ran up the stairs towards the door. Mother turned her head around in anger with her face bearing more black lines and her eyes becoming more white.

“You girls never understand do you”, mother said while standing up, the lights flickered and the next moment she disappeared.

At the same time Laurel came down but she looked more human. Phoebe hastily moved herself to the back with the help of her hands. This whole time all she wanted was to scream but her body became so weak with the fear that she could not even speak properly.

“Look sister, mother might seem a bit rude but this place is meant for us. Mother gives us shelter, treats us like her own children, does everything a mother would do….. Everything her mother didn’t do for her. She provides us protection….. Protection from harmful people. Her mother never protected her from harmful people, especially from her father but she is nothing like her mother. She is protective and that is why she wants you to join our family so that no one can ever harm you.”

“I don’t want to die….. Please I don’t want to die”, Phoebe started crying and begging for her life.

“No, you won’t die… You’ll be one of us”, she stood up and slowly walked away in the dark.

Suddenly the screams of mother echoed in the whole house.

“YOU IMPUDENT HUMAN! YOU THINK YOU CAN DISOBEY ME AND RUN AWAY FROM ME.”

Phoebe ran up the stairs assuming her friend was in danger but she was too late. She saw Stephanie drenched in blood with her throat slit. She was taken aback by this sight and sat there for a few minutes trying to grasp the idea of what she had just seen. Having no idea what to do next whilst still being in shock she stood up and turned around. Mother along with dozens of other terrifying ghosts was standing in front of her holding a dagger covered in blood and the next moment she was gone. All she remembers was that she was struggling for oxygen while bearing excruciating pain and then everything became dark, the pain faded away too.

The next instant both the girls found themselves in a room wearing the same long grey gown as other the women in that house. They were unexpectedly safe and sound with no cut marks of the dagger on their body.

“Look mother, they are awake”, a girl ran down the stairs. After hearing this both the girls were struck with terror again.

A few minutes later mother arrived, “How wonderful this is to see the two new members of our family”. This time her look was not at all frightening, instead she seemed to be rather human.

“First you terrorize us, then kill us and then call us family. We are not your family”, Stephanie said with a cracked voice.

“Oh dear, I just saved you from all the bad happening outside this house. I am not a monster you both think I am. Instead my father was a monster, an animal who killed me and god knows how many other monsters like him are living in the outside world.” Mother seemed quite sad whilst vengeful while uttering these words.

She sat down and sighed, “My father was of an abusive kind….. Whenever he would be angry he would torment me and my mother. One day his abuse crossed its limits which resulted in the death of my mother. This devastated me to a point where I could not think about anything else except that I wanted to kill my father and get revenge for my mother but unfortunately there was a turn of events that led to my murder. My father had learned about my sinister plans or maybe he had already planned to kill me right after my mothers death. The bus you rode was the bus in which my father had slashed my throat and those passengers in the bus were all victims of my fathers hate. After murdering me he dumped me in this very same house which I now regard as a place for protection where we all live as a family.”

“But mother, we did not need protection from anyone…. We were never victimized then why did you do this to us”, Phoebe interrupted.

“You never know when you become a target of someone so immoral. All I did was protect you girls from the outside world, gave you place where we all can live as a family, as a power and needn’t you girls defy me or the consequences of my wrath would be rather distressing. ” Mother seemed quite firm in her words.

She then stood up and said, “We are here to provide protection to girls and in order to do so your cooperation is required. It would be appreciated if you both welcome visitors with open arms because after all I am doing what is best for everyone.” She smiled and walked away.

Both Phoebe and Stephanie were taken aback by the fact that they were practically dead and a part of this creepy family but mother sounded quite stern and since they were given no choice, they had to stick to this family of ghosts.

A few months later, on a dark, rainy night there was a sudden knock on the door and there stood a couple all wet and cold. Like every other visitor they were given a warm welcome. They were provided food, clothes and all the other items they requested for unaware of what the future holds.

“Thankyou so much for your help young lady, is there anything we can do for you”, the husband said.

Mother having devious plans cooking in her mind spoke, “ Well, perhaps there is something you can do for me”.

She then stabbed the guy in the head instantly killing him. This unbelievable yet terrifying sight rendered the woman unconscious. Suddenly mothers eyes became white. Her entire look changed and she turned into a frightening monster.

“These girls, they just don’t seem to understand the threat they face while having a man by their side….. Well now she needn’t fear anyone because she is one of us now”, she said in psychotic tone while giving a broad whilst deadly smile to Phoebe and Stephanie who gave the same smile in return and the cycle repeated itself again.