Short Horror Stories(HAUNTED)

The Spirit Of the Lake(HAUNTED)

I was married off when I was 18. It was an arranged marriage but my in-laws and husband loved me a lot. I used to live in the countryside with my new family.

We were easily the wealthiest family in the area owing to my father in law's factory and business in the nearby town. My husband and father in law were often not home, they had to go to the town for business.

There was little to do in the doleful village of ours in the 1980s. The ladies would pass their time in the evenings by taking a walk to the lake towards the outskirts of the village while chit chatting.

It was on one such evening that I was sitting on the lakeside with the other ladies when the topic shifted to the deserted mill that was caving in. It was ugly looking skeleton of a building with black charred marks all over, it was collapsing from all sides and had no roof left.It was situated on the river bank just a few feet away from where we were sitting.

"This mill is haunted", one of my new friends commented.

"I've heard that a spirit dwells in there and is always looking for a new body to inhibit.", another one added. "Shhh....Are you girls mad or what? Don't you know it is getting dark and we shouldn't be talking about all this right now?", the eldest one among all of us scolded. "We should leave now, its already too late.", she said.

We all got up and turned to walk towards the village. I was wondering what my husband would be doing right now, it was one of those nights that i would have to spend alone. My father in law and he were off to the town for a week.I was still lost in these thoughts when I thought I heard my name. I stopped, the other women had heard it too.

"Renu....", the voice came again. It sounded like my husband and it was coming from behind us, from the river. I was about to turn when a woman grabbed my hand and nodded her head in a "NO".

"Don't react", she gasped, "It's the spirit of the river. It wants you. If you turn around it will have you."

"What if its my husband? What if he came early?", I reasoned.

"We just came back from there, there was no-one and the town is on the other side of the village."

"RENUUUUUU...", The voice was almost angry now and it felt like whatever it was, was standing just behind us now. Waiting for me to turn. I was sweating profusely, I started chanting God's name. The temperature had suddenly fallen and it was exceptionally cold for a summer night. I could feel the hair at the end of my neck stand and could hear footsteps coming closer and closer. The entity had come so close to me now that i could feel it breathing down my neck. My heat skipped a beat when I heard a whisper right in my ear calling out my name.....ever so softly..."Renuuuu...."

We all held our hand together and started reciting holy hymns and walked as fast as we could. None of us looked back. Finally we reached our village in what looked like the longest 10 mins of our lives. As soon as we entered our village, the temperature returned to normal and we didn't feel uneasy anymore. We rushed to the temple and narrated the entire experience to the priest. He blessed us all and said prayers for all of us. He also scolded us for staying near the river till so late and warned us never to go there after sunset. He said it was haunted by the family of the person who owned that mill more than 2 decades ago. When I got back home, there was only my mother in law and a few servants waiting for me. There was no sight of either my husband or father-in law. Whatever was calling me back there, was surely not my husband.