The Graveyard

These spooky tales of ghost and other paranormal things always amazed me, since the time I was a little kid, and guess what I had recently found about a graveyard near my college which was highly rumored to be haunted. Locals sometimes hear a person crying and even sometimes singing, few men who went to investigate that were reported missing, few more witnessed the sighting of a young gentleman lurking about the graves at the odd hours who disappears in thin air and few investigated this place and returned back without experiencing anything creepy but their cameras and phones were found corrupted later for some mysterious reasons.

After I got to know about this place I couldn't resist myself from visiting this place although I knew that my parents would be freaked out if they ever get to know about this, so I decided that it's best not to tell them anything (Those days I was living far from home in a hostel). I decided to take my roommates Andy and Sid along with me, the only reason being I didn't want to get bored on my way to that cemetery.

So after my supper I went to my room to get Andy and Sid but found only Sid there, Andy had gone for a walk along with a guy from a neighboring room, I tried to give him a call but as usual he had left his phone back in the room. I had told him several times to carry his phone with him but he never did it. I decided leave Andy behind and just took Sid with me, who himself was unaware of the rumors and kind of naïve to trust some stupid lie I told him. But I had texted the graveyard's location to Andy in case he checks his phone after returning and decides to catch up with us.

Although we were following the GPS location we were getting lost and ending up encountering a dead-end, no matter how much we tried we weren't able to locate the graveyard, it had kind of disappeared nowhere and since it was some 11:30pm there weren't many locals in the street to ask for the route to the graveyard, those who were there either didn't knew about it or were too afraid to reveal its location. I observed that aura of fear that graveyard had created in the minds of those locals, I felt it quite intriguing which made me highly desperate to visit that Graveyard.

We were wandering around the streets of that area for several minutes and gradually we were losing our hopes of finding the graveyard until we found a deserted street devoid of any street lamps, which I and Sid hadn't noticed earlier. Realizing it as the only unchecked path left I and Sid started moving in that way and surprisingly after walking for a while, we found that graveyard. It was an open cemetery there wasn't any guard, neither gates nor any walls were surrounding it. It was a very large cemetery, the largest I had ever seen. There could have easily been hundreds if not thousands of graves there. It was dark, so I and Sid were using flashlights of our phone and wherever we turned our flashlights, the only thing we saw were graves. That place was unusually cool not too much but it was cooler when compared to outside.

"Hey Vic, where's the movie shooting going on? I see no one here neither I see any set", Sid said. I now felt that there was no point in lying to him.

"Actually Sid... I'm sorry I lied there isn't any movie shooting going on here"

"Then why are we here?"

"For a date with a ghost", I said sarcastically.

Sid gave a shocked look to me, he was clueless and wasn't able to decide what to say.

I started narrating to him the story of that graveyard which I had got to know from researching about it from every source available.

"Would you believe it, Sid, if I say over a hundred years ago this place was considered to be one of the most beautiful places in this city? This place was bought by Carlos "Caju" Jorge, a Portuguese wine baron in 1887, he built one of the most beautiful mansions of this country in this very place as his retirement home and settled here with his family. He was living a happy and peaceful life until his children settled abroad living him and his wife Maria alone to face their old age. And one day a thief sneaked into their mansion to rob but instead killed 75-year-old Maria. This incident didn't go easy on Caju, he was left lonely and started suffering from Survivors' guilt so soon after, he killed himself. He was buried alongside with this wife by the locals in this very place. None of their children came neither for their parents' funeral nor to claim their property, some say their children died due to mysterious reasons soon after Caju's death. And the mansion it was demolished soon after, and in the year 1917 nearly a decade after Caju's death, a mysterious disease started infecting the locals taking their lives. Many people lost their lives at that time and all were buried here, in this place. And there's a belief that all those who were buried here still lurk around this place, sometimes sing and sometimes cry too."

"Then why in the hell we are here in this place", Sid yelled.

"Just to prove the fact that there are no ghosts here because there are no ghosts at all", I said.

But then out of sudden I started hearing an old man crying in pain, Sid was spooked at that time and so was I, but we decide to check the source of that cry. We saw a flick of light coming from another end of the graveyard the same place from where cries were originating.

So we went there and saw 3 three heavily built big men hitting an old man. I and Sid were hidden behind a nearby grave and witnessed an old man getting beaten to near death. After a few moments, it was unable for me to bear the old man getting hit so I went to rescue him, I clearly knew that was a stupid thing to do but I couldn't stop myself. I ran and gave one of those big men a hard push with all my might and gave right hand to another of those men's chin, Sid came and tackled with 3rd men, this bought enough time for the old man to escape.

Though the old man escaped we were still there and soon were overpowered by those men, they pinned us both down and started hitting us, they were kicking my face and stamping me and Sid. I could feel the bruises and cuts on my face they were bleeding but at that time I was too weak, even to cover my face.

There was a moment when I felt I couldn't tolerate it anymore and I saw Sid, he was lying on the ground motionless he had passed out or probably even dead. He was never supposed to be here it was all my fault, I had dragged him into it. I had never felt that helpless before in my entire life I had lost all the hopes and was sure I was gonna die. But suddenly I saw one of those big men falling down to the ground, it was Andy he had hit that man with the crowbar and started fighting with the other two, but gradually even Andy was overpowered, those 2 men started hitting him too, that time I gather all the might I had left in my body and picked the crowbar and hit one those men to the head which knocked him unconscious probably even dead. But seconds later my eyes started blurring out and I slowly started losing my consciousness. The last thing I remember seeing was Andy taking the crowbar from my hand and knocking the last of those big men down with it.

When I regained my consciousness, I was lying on the hospital bed though my body was still hurting the only thing I cared that time was Sid and Andy. I jumped off my bed and came out of my room and started searching for my friends although I asked a nurse about them she didn't reply and just moved as nothing had happened. Then I saw the same old man whom I and Sid had rescued last night, he was wearing a coat and looked fine.

"Where are friends where's Sid, Andy?... Tell me", I yelled at him.

"Calm down Victor calm down, everything is gonna be fine you were very brave yesterday you busted out a drug racket and more importantly you saved lives son", he said in a calm voice.

"I don't care about that tell me where are my friends, where is Sid?"

"He is fine, still unconscious though but he is out of danger", the old man said.

I was relieved a little bit but then I asked, " What about Andy?"

The old became silent, his face turned pale and in a low voice he said," He is in Graveyard son"

"No!!", I yelled, I started crying. The old placed his hand on my shoulder and said, "Death is inevitable, kid. We cannot do anything about it. It's all about the choice we make, that decide our life."

"It's all my fault. Please take me to him, please", I told that old man.

So the old man took me to the graveyard, the same one which I had visited. I saw Andy's parents there, even my parents were there too, there were many others I knew. Everyone was standing in front of a newly created grave, weeping then I noticed a well-built boy with a fractured hand, standing there and crying, it was Andy and he was alive. I was overjoyed I went near him but he didn't notice me and to my surprise, no one else noticed me there too, I recalled even in the hospital except that old man no one noticed me, I also realized except me no one noticed that old man's presence too. So I turned towards that old man he smiled and pointed at the grave, I saw it. It's engraving said

"Victor 'Vic' Marcus, a loving son, brother, and friend. May you peacefully rest in God's loving hands

1999-2020"

The old man once again smiled and said," Choices son, It's all about choices which decide our life and sometimes even death too"

THE END