“Aaughhhhhh”, yelled Kaesar, waking in the middle of the night. Struggling with pain, he somehow managed to turn on the lights of his bedroom, and to his surprise, he found out that his left leg had a deep cut and a stream of blood was flowing from it. Terror ran down his veins because it seemed to him that somebody had slightly axed his leg. However, he tried to remain calm and looked around to check whether there was an intruder in his room. To his shock, the window and the door of his room were locked from inside. He was taken aback and was scared too, and along with that, he was in intolerable pain. So, all this made him incapable of fathoming out anything. For the first time in his life, he felt so intensely nervous that he repeatedly shouted “dad” to call him downstairs to his bedroom.
Kaesar’s dad, Mr Claus Berk, listening to his son, ran to his room. When he saw Kaesar moaning in pain, he got worried. He tried to maintain his composure and asked Kaesar about what sort of pain he was having. Kaesar found his question ridiculous and became furious. He shouted, “Dad, can’t you see the blood and the cut on my leg?” Mr Berk moved his eyes to his son’s legs and there was then a very serious expression on his face. He paused for a moment and asked, “Is this some kind of a prank?” Quite puzzled, Kaesar exclaimed, “What prank, dad?” Mr Berk’s face flushed with anger and he shouted, “You frightened me! Do you think such pranks are fun? Let me tell you, son. They are nothing but stupid.” Kaesar again, in a confused tone, asked his dad about the prank that he was talking about. His father yelled again, “Why are you pretending? There is no wound on any of your legs! And, did you forget that you have a younger sister too, who is just eleven? What would Mary learn from you?” Kaesar, turning pale because of pain, replied, “Why would I pretend? What’s wrong with you?” Mr Berk left the room saying, “Son, I think you’re dreaming. Good night!”
Kaesar looked at his profusely bled leg and knew that he needed immediate medical attention. Strength and tolerance were a few of his traits. So, even though his leg was aching, he immediately gave himself the first aid and decided to visit a doctor. He called his friend, Josh, and asked for his help. Once Josh arrived, they directly drove to a nearby hospital. On their way to the hospital, Kaesar had been wondering about his dad’s weird reaction. In the hospital, they silently waited outside the doctor’s chamber for their turn to come. Josh asked Kaesar many questions in an attempt to know how everything happened, but Kaesar remained silent. Josh observed a strange sense of grief on Kaesar’s face, a kind of which he saw when Kaesar’s girlfriend, Aysel Kaya, died. With blonde hair and blue eyes, she had a face as attractive as the moon. She had a unique smile, which always made her appear curious. Kaesar, Aysel, Josh, and Mary were in the same school, Eren School of Sciences. It was a holy school. Mary was not in their grade since she was younger. The town that they lived in was Doruky, a small town in Turkey. There were several mountaintops in the town with forests. Kaesar lived near a forest and his dad was a woodcutter. Kaesar was an ardent lover of both nature and photography. But, sometimes, he also helped his dad in woodcutting. Kaesar and Aysel were attracted to each other. Kaesar loved to look at her mesmerising face, which always made her shy. She, on her part, loved Kaesar’s strand of hair falling on his forehead. He always carried a camera with him for secretly clicking her photos. Mary was very attached to Kaesar, and she knew that he was falling for Aysel. Whenever Aysel visited Kaesar’s home, Mary tried to engage Aysel with her. Mary was very possessive, especially for her brother, and she didn’t like Aysel at all. One day, she insisted Aysel and Kaesar play hide and seek game with her. They wanted to spend time with each other but still agreed for the game. It was the girls' turn to hide. They were looking for a secret place, and suddenly, Aysel saw a storeroom. She said to Mary, “Let’s hide there, Mary. He can’t guess that place!” Mary, out of fear, replied, “No! It’s dark inside.” Aysel laughed and said, “Are you afraid of the dark? I am going in. Are you coming? Let’s go and have fun.” Mary cried, “Not at all,” and ran away. Aysel laughed again and went inside the room. It was all dark. There was not even a single ray of light. She found that place weirdly fascinating, and in the darkness, she sensed an essence of power. It was happening naturally to her. She opened her arms wide to embrace a queenly feeling, which, to her, felt like an offer from the darkness. She closed her eyes, and then, all she could see was a girl on a mountaintop standing alone in a no moon night. She could not recognise the girl. Then, suddenly, on hearing Kaesar’s voice, she opened her eyes and hurriedly came out of that room. Then, after staying for some time with him, she went back to her house. Thinking about what had happened with her in the storeroom, she felt uncomfortable, and after reaching home, she told her mom everything about that strange experience. Mrs Kaya just brushed that off by saying that such things happen to teenagers and so, it was nothing serious, but, to Aysel, her expressions did not seem normal. She asked Aysel to sleep, and then, directly went to her bedroom to talk to her husband. “Our girl has experienced something strange today in a dark room at Mr Berk’s house, and I’m afraid if what that priest told us might come true,” she said to Mr Kaya. “No, honey! Nothing of that sort will happen. Our daughter is normal,” replied Mr Kaya. “She was born on a no moon night, and she has a tendency to rule the dark. This was what that priest told us, and today, she saw a dream of no moon night. I’m afraid,” exclaimed Mrs Kaya. “Oh, honey! She is in a holy school. She has learnt to be religious. So, everything is okay.” He calmed her down. While the whole conversation was going, Aysel was standing outside their room and she heard every single word, and then, everything kept revolving in her mind. The next day, in the evening, she asked Kaesar to accompany her to the library but Mary interrupted their conversation and told Kaesar that Mr Berk was calling him. So, Aysel asked Mary to join her, and Mary reluctantly agreed. After reaching the library, Aysel went to the corner of sci-fi books and suddenly, she got a book with the name “Back from Coffin.” She opened that book, in which, on the first page, there was a warning, which said, “If a person reads this book, then he/she must hold a risk.” She found that book arresting and borrowed it without a second thought. Mary was both shocked and amused when she saw Aysel borrowing that book but still, she ignored it. When Aysel reached her home, she directly walked towards her room and closed it. Around 11 ‘o'clock at night, Kaesar was standing in his balcony. He was sipping tea from his mug, and then, unexpectedly, he saw a girl coming out of Aysel’s house. When he observed, he realised that it was Aysel. He saw her going towards a pathway that led to a forest. He felt something fishy and decided to follow her silently. When she stopped at a place in a forest, he hid behind a tree, and then, what he saw was a bit astonishing for him. He even started recording a video of the whole scene. Aysel took out the book that she had borrowed from the library, from her bag. Then, she made a square on the ground with a white powder. Inside that square, she wrote Jesus and made a big cross over it with a red powder. Right after that, she moved around the square repeating a few words, “Rise my servants!” Then, she stepped inside the square, stood on the Jesus’ crossed name, and made a cut on her both her palms with a knife. She collected her blood in a bowl and spilled it all inside the square. She again began to move around the square repeating, “Break the coffin and come to me. Live again, now that you’re free.” Kaesar wanted to stop her, but his throat choked with disgust. He ran back to his home, kept his camera on his study table, and decided to stay away from her. He did not attend school for a few days. However, he was then more disturbed because his camera was missing and he could not find it anywhere. Then, it struck his mind that it could be in Mary’s room as she loved his camera but he never let her touch it. So, he went to her room. He was right. The camera was with her. He snatched it from her and warned her not to touch it again. He was just leaving her room but she spoke suddenly, “Do you still love that witch, Aysel? I know everything, and now, the entire school also knows. I made the video viral.” Kaesar, in shock, yelled, “Are you an idiot, Mary? Why did you spread the video?” He scolded her and rushed towards Aysel’s house. Aysel came out of her bedroom. Her beautiful, blue eyes were red and swollen, probably because of sobbing. She went straight to him, and slapped him twice on his face and shouted, “Why did you make that video? Was that what you wanted? You spoiled my life. Nobody talks to me anymore. They call me a witch and abuse me. I always loved you, Kaesy, and see what you did. That video! I hate you! You betrayed me. You never deserved me. Get out of my sight!” After this rough reaction of Aysel, he, in anger, just said one thing to her, “Yes, you’re a witch. Bye.” He left her place. After a few days, Aysel came back to school, and wherever she went, she heard laughter and just one word from everyone, “Witch.” At home, she would lock herself in her bedroom and keep crying for hours. Then, one day at no moon night, she silently came out of her house and walked to a mountaintop. In utter depression and desperation, she chose suicide and jumped into a river. She was searched everywhere by police and then, finally, her body was found in the river. Mrs Kaya screamed on seeing her daughter’s dead body. Kaesar remained numb for a few weeks, but, then, everything came back to normal. With each passing year, Aysel’s memories faded from Kaesar’s mind.
Now, Josh and Kaesar’s long wait was over as it was Kaesar’s turn to go to the doctor’s chamber. Josh helped him and they were finally inside the cabin. Kaesar told the doctor about everything that happened to him. The doctor listened to him carefully and asked him to remove the bandage. Kaesar did that, and on seeing his leg, the doctor very politely said, “Dear, promise me that you will not overreact to what I will tell you.” Kaesar replied with a smile, “Yes. I promise.” Then, the doctor told him that his father was right because there was no wound at all and so, he should once consult a psychiatrist. In both perplexity and rage, Kaesar, without shouting at the doctor, left the hospital with Josh. Josh felt that there was something wrong happening with Kaesar, but he preferred to stay away from that matter.
In the afternoon, Kaesar was alone in his home. When he entered his room, he found a note on his camera and it said, “Now, laugh.” He got a bit confused but then ignored it. When he went to the kitchen to drink some water, he found the same note labelled on the water bottle. It scared him and he dialled his dad’s number and told him everything. His dad laughed and said that somebody must be playing a prank on him and asked him not to overthink. Along with that, he also informed Kaesar that he will be back with Mary tomorrow. After what had happened with him the other night, Kaesar did not want to spend a night alone at home. But, then, he somehow convinced himself that he was brave and there was nothing to be afraid of. So, he went to bed, and after an hour of tossing and turning, he finally slept. But something more horrifying was waiting for him and that was the nightmare that he was going to have. In his nightmare, he saw Aysel’s face, which, instead of looking charming, appeared pale. He saw her smiling widely in a sinister manner. She was gradually going closer to Mary who was sleeping. She had an axe in her hand, and she laughed in a way that reflected nothing but evil. Mary opened her eyes and was terrorised by seeing Aysel in front of her. Before Mary could utter a word, Aysel whispered into her ears, “Now, laugh,” and then, within a fraction of seconds, she brutally axed Mary’s head. This was a tormenting nightmare for Kaesar and he heaved a sigh of relief after opening his eyes. After a few minutes, he slept again.
The next day, it was a new and bright morning. As soon as Mr Berk and Mary reached their home, Mary directly ran to his brother’s room to show him what she had brought for him. But, then, Mr Berk heard Mary’s loud cry. He nervously entered the room and stood still when he saw his son’s axed head with a note beside it, “Now, laugh!”.
Note: Sometimes, it happens that we see a dream of an incident happening with us, but when we wake up, it happens to others and vice versa. This is called precognition.
Amrit Versha
