Short Horror Stories

THE WEIRD HUSBAND

It was a regular day at Sarju's Boutique—the one that was located in Ontario. It was the first hour. Sarju, a wealthy, educated, fat Punjabi widow; living down the street, waited patiently with her obese, short teenage assistant in front of her shop for the new salesgirl who was to join this day. She thought it was time to be a bit honest with this girl. After all, the girls disappeared so mysteriously; it was the eighteenth time to hire a new salesgirl. It cannot go on like this forever.

'What happened to the previous girl?"

Sarju zoomed at him: 'Dead or Disappeared, maybe. Do you think he ever left anyone?'

'But you said she left!? And maybe?'

'I said that? Anyway, why do you ask when you know? Keep it clean.... But I don't think the police visited us for no reason last Friday.'

He was fogged at his mouth while she put a cigar between her lips. It irritated her, 'Yeah... Maybe cuz she was dead. Anyway, I want to be a little kind now, Waheguru! I think it is better to not hide it anymore. All this time, I think we had been doing the wrong thing. Poor girls... They did not have to lose their lives.'

'Then why don't you shut it down?' She knew the answer.

'CHUP KAAR!! There comes our Katrina Kaif.' She crushed the cigar under her stilettoes as she saw the white brunette in her formals appear. She looked pretty, smart and young. She greeted them radiantly and asked them if she was just on time. Sarju thanked her lucky stars for the five-minute delay she took. 'No, you are just on time, dear. Come on, let me show you the boutique.'

She showed her how to tie a saree on a mannequin with all the different styles she knew. She showed her the samples of the various fabrics, the new and old collection of sarees, and the stock in the attic where most of the designs were. She said that the designer was on holiday in Istanbul or Islamabad. He will join her from next week. Her assistant pulled a face because he knew no designer worked there on designs.

They reached downstairs. Sarju wondered if she had missed anything. 'Finally, it was time for the witch to leave for another annoying kitty party.' He thought. Instead, Sarju surprised him when she asked her to show her greeting manners. She was nervous in the beginning. Her innocence made her think about how young she was. 'It is alright.'

She wondered about the consequences; it really was never in her hands. She never knew what really happened to a salesgirl. No priest could have been able to bless the place enough that it would stop. She this was ever since she had opened the boutique. The business never failed to run on profit. It was another reason for a rich bitch like her to not shut it down.

'One more time.'

'Well, hello there! I see that you are looking for something. Do you want me to help you?'

'Not bad for a fresher.' That made him wonder about her age.

She started to head out as quickly as if she had a midday train to catch. Her assistant was pacing up with her and asked how old she was. When she sat inside the car, she said twenty in reply. 'Don't you think she is too young?' She looked at him with her shades down, 'You say that every time we hire a new girl.' 'But she is pretty and too young.' 'You say that too every time.' She said sarcastically. As she started her rover, Nora waved at them with her bright smile. Sarju asked Waheguru to forgive her for her selfishness.

'Before we go, Nora, I want you to know something. There is a man who keeps coming to the store. To buy something for his wife. He never buys anything... Just do not do anything he says.' It was more like a shock than a surprise to him. He opened his mouth wide.

'A weird husband.'

'We could say that.' Sarju replied.

She told him to shut it, and they drifted away. Nora took him for a funny intruder. If only she knew...

It took no time for her to learn things quickly. She greeted her customers well and took care of their needs and wants. She kept everything neat and clean at the store: updated the collections, maintained the inventory list, and changed the mannequins weekly. She was happy with her job; her employer paid her well and gave her incentives and bonuses.

One day, a man in a suit entered. He looked so rich that she thought he could be a buyer. She greeted him with her gleaming smile and asked him what he was looking for. He compressed a smile and frowned at the display while she started to notice him. She stared at his long beautiful hair and wondered how she could not have seen it before. She snapped out of it as he said he was looking for a saree for his wife. He asked her to show him, Banarsi.

She got the samples and wondered why he looked too tensed. He said anxiously to get the better ones, the nice ones, not something as trashy as the ones she brought. That did make her feel bad; she was patient. She apologized and said that she would get the other samples.

She could not believe that he disliked all the forty-eight samples. She thought that she had mistaken him for a buyer. She asked him if he wanted to see Bandani, 'Let us do that.' He spoke. It was all Bandani that they had. He did not like anyone of them. Her phone buzzed. She got distracted as he asked for silk. She saw her phone, it was her boss. She said that she would get it in a minute. She remembered the latest collection was put in the attic.

It was too dark up there; none of the switches worked. She lit the torch on her phone and looked for the collection. It smelled weird suddenly. She wished she would find them soon. There it was in the corner! It was a breath of relief. She looked at them and tried to be picky, picking up as many as she could have. She was distracted when she felt like someone was breathing heavily. There was no one as she turned around. The next thing was her ponytail breaking free; she could not feel it. Then as she began, it started again—the horrible breathing noise. 'Is there someone?!' She shouted and analyzed the empty surroundings. She quickly picked up everything to get out of there.

A dead, blood-bathed man put out his hand to reach her foot. She fell, dropping everything. She cursed and moaned in pain. She looked for her phone buzzing. She tried to look at her right leg; it was bruised. 'FUCK!' She picked up the call.

'Yes, boss. Yes.' She listened to her for a while.

'Yes, I am with a customer.'

'Oh, Okay. Once you are done, just call me.'

Before she hung up, he yelled if she was okay, if she got them. Sarju wondered at the Holi party if Nora was not attending to her last customer.

Nora got down with them and found him staring at her in empathy. She did not realize it was seven-thirty until she looked at the time. She put down the collection in front of him and expected his reply. To her surprise, he wanted the chiffon saree she dropped in the attic. Her mouth went dry; she got confused. He leaned closer and said: 'You think you lose time. I think you better get it before time runs out.' She agreed with him and left to get it.

An old lady passing by the boutique wanted to shop for something. But it was closed. She looked through the window to find a man in a blue tux, and then a girl appeared with a bundle of clothes. She knocked a few times and left when she felt ignored.

'It was there...?'

'So, Will you put it on?'

'No!' She climbed downstairs with the rest of the samples, arguing with him to buy it or leave as it was past the closing timings.

'No, you do not understand how important this is for me. You have to help me find something nice for her.'

'I cannot believe we spent a whole day; you are still unsure?' She started wrapping it with brown paper. He tried to stop her. 'Why are you packing it? Did I say? I am not buying it.' She pressed her lips; he was giving her anxiety. He continued he might know if his wife would like it if she put it on. She put the scissors and brown paper inside the desk and said firmly. 'It is okay if you do not want to buy it. You have to leave because it is just too late.'

'There is no way you are getting me out of here, or you are until you make sure I get what I want.'

She held her tears and said, 'Look, sir! I need you to understand... It is beyond too late.'

She closed her eyes tightly and started losing control of herself. She put her face on the desk and looked at him.

'Come on, you are not a kid at school... Don't act like one.'

Two young kids with their old camcorders recorded as they passed by—one of the guys stopped and started blabbing nonsense in front of the screen. He removed his attention from him and zoomed focus on the girl inside the store who was smiling and crying at someone in blue. 'What do you doin man? Are you even listening? Are you even lookin at me? Is she lookin at me? Where the—?' Then something black abruptly blocked the creepy view.

'Woah! Fuck! What was that? Did you see it? What was that? It's creepy shit! This is Vudu! Can't believe this shit exists! Ryan...man, you got to look at this.' He stopped recording.

Ryan looked at him as if he had found a ghoul behind him. He approached him; they both watched the recording. They swore as something black blocked the view. They could conclude that she was talking to someone in blue. They were too scared, and they ran off.

The room was lit by a candle; he passed by her. She was in front of the mirror. She was wearing a chiffon saree he asked for. He knelt and asked her, 'Would you be faithful, loving, caring and loyal til death do us part?' There was a difference in her voice; she sounded as if there was something in her throat when she said yes. 'Would you ever leave me in pain, sorrow, or illness?' 'I would never.' 'Would you set me free?'

He looked at her fingers and then at her. Her eyeballs were popped out, and her tongue stuck out was doubled in size. She looked dead.

It was a windy morning—the boutique was closed. It remained closed until the video went viral on the internet. There was no evidence of the girl where being. But gradually, as more investigations happened, there was no evidence that the girl existed. Sarju could open the boutique now; her sad eyes behind those shades said another thing. 'We could go online.' Her assistant was happy. She walked away gladly because she felt something about her disappearance.

'NOBODY KNOWS IF SHE EXISTS OR NOT. IF YOU STILL GO OVER THE INTERNET, YOU WILL GET GOOSEBUMPS WATCHING HER CRY AND SMILE AT SOMETHING AT THE SAME TIME. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT SHE HAD EVER EXISTED. WHAT HAPPENED TO HER WILL ALWAYS BE A MYSTERY!' Random Netizen.



'I would...' Nora said.

The End