Cursed Rings

Aftermath

George continued, 'that was the horrible experience of my life. I still see her in my nightmares every night. I never dare to take that road again in my life. I am advising you about the same thing.'

'Do not use this road, especially at night like this; stay away from the road. The weird things happened there all the time. Many had died on this abandoned road. Nobody used it anymore.'

George was a good mechanic; he repaired Richard's truck and entertained him with a spooky story. Richard didn't respond to George's story. He left the area after paying all dues.

Richard was still wearing the bronze ring on his left-hand finger. The ring fascinated him, and he grew to become addicted to it. The ring was a piece of art, handcrafted and had the animals' carving inside of it.

It was midnight, Richard was driving through the dense and frightening jungle when he reached the exact same spot where Mark, from the mechanic's story, died. He recognized the place explicitly because of the mechanic who described it in a very detailed manner. Richard had suspicions and doubts about the story from the start, but he didn't reveal it to the mechanic. He never believed the bit of the story.

At the same place, Richard heard the engine's cranking noise. He stopped his truck near the old banyan tree to check the engine. He got out of his truck, opened the hood, and looked for any visible cause of the engine trouble. He checked everything, engine, tyre and carburetor, but he found nothing. He tried again to start the engine, but it didn't start. When he was trying to start the engine again, and failed. He heard a whispering sound coming from behind him.

A sudden thought came into his mind, a thought about a Mark, who had been killed by the crying lady at the same spot. But he dismissed all the irrationality thought from his mind.

He laughed at the story by rejecting it and forget about the whispering too. Impetuously, he heard a voice, a female voice who was calling his name. The fear subdued him slowly. He was afraid but still capable of facing any terror. He heard a voice again, but this time there wasn't any whispering or calling name, but someone asked him to return what he stole. He was a little bit confused as he never stole anything from anyone before.

The old lady repeated twice.

"Return what have you stolen or die"

"Return what have you stolen or die"