QUEST IN THE DARK -THE URBAN LEGENDS

The Invisible Spirit

Happy Reading!!

Dr. Richard Moore was living in a small town near Berlin. He was a very well known psychologist in the neighborhood.

Dr. Moore was also a professor of psychology in the near by university of the town. He was a very practical person. Who never believed in the concept of spirituality. He neither had any belief in God and angels nor in the Satan or devil. He always believed there is nothing like ghosts or spirits. In his opinion things like ghosts and all were just man made stories. He thought they were bullshits to just scare weak people. Mrs. Moore on the other side was complete opposite to her husband. She believed immensely in God. She was a daughter of a preacher and had grown up in a catholic household. While growing up, She had heard multiple times her dad saying that God exists so does the evil.

Dr. Moore was invited to the International Conference on Psychology which was to be held in Chicago of United States of America and he was very excited to be a part of that conference. It was a very prestigious conference in the world of psychology. It was his dream from many years to be a part of this conference and it was finally coming true.

It was mid June and Dr. Moore was in the process packing for his trip to Chicago. His wife wanted to accompany him to the conference but her close friend's daughter was getting married so her friend had asked her to help in shopping and other arrangements regarding marriage as she was a single mother so Mrs.Moore had decided to stay back to help her friend. Dr. Moore's son was working in a law firm and at the moment he was out of town regarding the case he was currently dealing with. So Mr. Moore had to go all alone to Chicago.

Due to the bad weather conditions the flight was delayed by 5 hours. As soon as Dr.Moore reached O'Hare international airport of Chicago the organizers of the conference picked him up and dropped him at the hotel where he was supposed to stay during one week of the conference. As soon as he went to reception to get the keys he found a pretty girl with a glossy blonde hair neatly tied in a high ponytail, cladded in a crisp white shirt with a name tag Crystal on it, looking all professional, she looked like she was in her mid twenties. She welcomed him with a light smile on her face. He introduced himself to her returning a smile and told regarding his reservation by the organizers. Smile on the receptionist's face faded slowly as she fumbled with the bunch of keys and she handed him a key with the number 786. Dr. Moore suddenly felt she was hesitating to give him those keys.

He took the keys from her hands "Dear any problem ? You look troubled ?" He asked her with concern.
She was hesitating to speak, but she closed her eyes and took a long breath.
"Sir, actually you were supposed to stay on 5th floor with all other participants of the conference but you reported very late to the reception and that's and all the rooms on 5th floor are full. I hope you don't mind staying at 7th floor. I apologise for the inconvenience caused" she was still looking tensed as she finished her little speech.
"It's alright. You need not apologise. It's my fault that I reported late. I was supposed to reach early but I am almost 5 hours late" Mr. Moore replied with a small smile.

He took his luggage and he was about to leave the reception when the receptionist Crystal called him again.
" Excuse me sir, one more thing"

Dr. Moore turned back and looked at her in confusion.
Crystal was fidgeting with her fingers.
" Sir...actua..lly, ummm please stay aa..away..from room number 790, don't go near that room at any cost" she was stuttering the first part but she finished whole sentence in a single breath.

"Why? Anything wrong ?" Dr.Moore looked more confused.

"Sir, actually I shouldn't be saying all this, but you are our guest and your safety comes first. All say that room number 790 is haunted, some girl had committed suicide in that room a few years ago, people who stayed in that room have reported some scary events they witnessed, so please stay away from that room" she said with a shaky voice.

Dr. Moore started laughing
" My goodness" again he laughed looking at Crystal.
" That's rubbish, a pretty educated girl like you shouldn't be believing all these bullshits" he shook his head.

Crystal was looking at him with a blank face, she din't day anything in reply as she was zoned off. Mr. Moore gave a last look at her and turned towards the lift but suddenly something flashed to him and a smirk plastered on his face.

He turned back towards the reception and called Crystal and returned his keys. Crystal was looking at him with utter confusion.

"I would like to take room number 790. If you please can give me the keys" he smiled.

Crystal was horrified to say the least. She was shaking her head continuously in a no. "Sir, listen to me please don't take that room. It's not safe" she said frightened.

" Don't worry about me. Please it's a request from your guest" he tried to persuade her.
At the end she had to agree to give him the keys. He took keys from her and went to the room 790.
He wanted to stay in that room. So he could prove his point to everyone that there is no such thing as ghost in this world. It's all just our imagination. And this was his opportunity to show everyone whatever he believes is right.

After he checked in, he opened his luggage and placed it was in the cupboards and got freshenup. Later he called his wife Leila to inform her that he reached safely

" Leila, I reached an hour ago, I already checked in my hotel room"
He heard her on the other end sighing in relief.
"Thank god, I was worried and the weather condition isn't good aswell and to top it, your flight was delayed. I was trying to call you but it wasn't connecting"

"Actually my phone battery had died, just now I charged it and called you by the way.." he stopped himself.
"What happened Richard ? Anything wrong, why is your voice so tensed?" Leila started asking.

"Nothing like that, actually I am living in a room which is believed as haunted by hotel staff. They think there is a ghost in this room, Crazy people" and he started laughing.

On the other end Mrs.Moore took a deep breath before voicing her thoughts.
"Richard, please change the room. It's not safe to stay there when you know it's a haunted room. Get out from there" she nodded her head in disapproval.

"Leila, Leila stop. Why are you speaking like this ? You know I don't belive in all that bullshit. Don't worry about me and this room is perfectly fine, infact it has a great view"

"Richard, I know but still, please be safe, take care"
And she hung up. Richard knew his wife was not happy with his decision to stay in the suit which was believed to be haunted but he wanted to prove his point so he thought of not dwelling much on it.
He thought of relaxing for sometime before going down for the dinner.

Next day morning he got up early to get ready for the conference. He went down where the other few participants and the chauffeur were waiting for him. The conference was at a near by convention center.

The conference went well, he successfully addressed the audience and participated in many debates with other dignitaries. It was amazing experience for Dr. Moore.

After the conference he even visited near by tourist places with other participants and he din't even realise it was already time to say goodbye to Chicago.

He was in his room packing clothes and thinking that hotel staffs are stupid to belive this room is haunted, I lived here for about a week in this room, nothing happened, I din't experience any problem. All fake stories to scare weak people and shook his head.

His room was very lavish, it was in the top floor so this room had some extravagant features like a penthouse. He wanted to show his luxurious room to his family and colleague back at home. So he clicked a few pictures of himself and the difference corners of his room.

It was late night when he landed in the airport of his home town and his son picked him up. He was too tired of jet lag so as soon as he reached his house, he directly went to bed.

Next day morning, his friends and some of his colleagues came into greet him for being a part of such a big conference. He spoke with everyone and shared his amazing experience, the places he visited and the star resort he stayed at. He even told them about the haunted room and how he successfully stayed there for a week and nothing happened.
"Wait, lemme show you guys the picture of the room I stayed. It wasn't haunted at all, it was luxurious pent house" and started laughing.
He opened his phone to show the pictures, as soon as the picture displayed on the screen, it was his turn to get shocked. For a second, a shiver ran down his spine. There was another black ghostly figure next to him in each and every pictures.