The girl in the white dress.

The night was young. Two crazy 18-year-old boys - Cory and Javier were out to make some exciting content for their YouTube channel. They were adventure seeker. They travelled the whole world, seeking adventure. They enjoyed jumping from high cliffs to tempting blue seas. They hiked on rough terrains and did rafting on white water rivers infested with crocodiles. Lately, they were recording live their escapades on YouTube. As their followers increased, they became more addicted to making kick-ass content. 

Tonight, they were going to break new boundaries by experimenting on their fear. They were going to spend a night at the most haunted cemetery at a small village in São Paulo which was haunted by the girl in the white dress. They had read stories where people got lost in this huge cemetery and were tormented by unholy spirits and how the girl would help them out of the haunted cemetery. 

They also came across folklore about the girl. She was eight year old daughter of a rich Spanish merchant during the early 19th century. The merchant had everything- treasure filled with gold and lot of money; huge palatial house and growing business. His wife died due to painful childbirth but he cared less about her or their daughter. He only cared about power and he wanted more so that he could rule over the world. He knew that a deal with the devil would help fulfil his desire. 

He read books about dark energy and satanic powers. Finally, he learnt the way to contact the devil. He had to sacrifice his only daughter at a place where dead slept on half-moon night to contact the devil. He was overjoyed about the thought of killing his daughter. He waited for the night to arrive. When it arrived, he mixed her glass of milk with sleeping potion and offered her with pretentious care. She doubted his intentions but her childlike innocence subdued her doubts and made her believe that her father’s care for her was indeed real.

She smiled at her father once she was done with the drink. She had milk moustache on her face, making her look more angelic and innocent. Her father’s heart still didn’t melt watching his innocent daughter falling into his trap. Soon the potion worked. She felt her head become light and her eyes constantly dropping. She tried to stay conscious but she couldn’t overcome the effects of the potion.

She was unconscious within minutes. Her father gently carried her to the graveyard next to his house where the dead slept peacefully. He looked for an empty ground to place her and perform the ritual. The graveyard wasn’t crowded and there was ample space. He chose to place her at the end of the graveyard where it wouldn’t attract attention.

It was past midnight and he assumed no one would be there. He placed her slowly on empty ground. He drew the patterns around her body with small chalk piece he carried in his pocket. He lit the candles and began chanting satanic spells to call the devil. A thunderstruck and strong wind began to blow. These were the signs of the arrival of the devil. As he dragged his sword, to kill his daughter, she woke up and screamed in fear. Her scream alerted the stray dogs. The dogs began howling to wake humans located nearby as they sensed the dangers. watched in terror when her father stabbed the sword into her tiny stomach. She was bleeding profusely. Tears rolled as she lost her life gradually. Her soul rose from her body and watched distraughtly her father complete the satanic rituals. The devil arrived. He had dark eyes and his grim face was red. His black huge horns shined distinctly. He smirked, “You have made me happy with your sacrifice. I will fulfil your needs. But think wisely, human! What use of being king of the world when I can make you the king of the universe?” The merchant’s eyes grew wide with delight. “But I have a small condition - be my slave for mere thousand years and get me 10000 souls.”, the devil said. The girl warned her father, “ No! Papa! No!”. Her father failed to listen. He was enchanted by the greed and agreed to the devil’s offer. The devil laughed. “What a perfect scheme!”, he applauded himself. “You are now my slave forever and there will be only one king and that is me.”, he said loud and firm. The merchant felt betrayed and guilty for sacrificing his daughter for his greed. His daughter tricked the devil by destroying the ritual. She cursed the devil, “You will never be able to capture any soul for your needs. You will be henceforth prisoned here. Every time you torment a soul, I will arrive to save them.” The devil laughed at her childish dare. She dragged her father out as fast as she could. She pushed him out of the graveyard and locked herself inside. As soon as the devil arrived to capture her father, he was trapped by the gate. He roared. 

The father rushed to his house. Unable to bear the loss of his daughter due to his greed, he died in pain the next day. The people learnt about his satanic activities after his death through his diary notes. They had even searched the graveyard for the girl’s body. But they found nothing. 

Over the years, the people witnessed the sightings of the girl but no one dared to disobey her. Everyone feared the devil may arise if they disobey her except those two boys - Cory and Javier. They didn’t believe the story. They assumed it was people’s way to create attention or attraction to the sight. They planned to debunk these stories by staying there in the night.

They arrived at São Paulo after tiresome flight and bus trip to the village from the city. During the trip, they met several acquaintances who warned them about the place when they told them about their idea. They ignored their warnings and headed to the graveyard.

The night was young. The insects buzzed, making everything seem eerie. There was no one except these two crazy boys and the driver who held the steering wheel in his car. Cory attached a small night vision camera to his cap as well as adjusted the same to Javier. “Here, we are. Let’s begin our adventure “, spoke Cory as he stood in front of his friend. “I don’t think this is a good idea to sneak at this hour into this place. This place doesn’t have a good reputation.”, warned the driver. “Oh don’t start again, Felipe! I am sure we will be fine. The girl in the white dress will help us if we get lost.”, Javier joked.

Felipe nodded his head in disappointment and said, “I will wait for you here. Remember: if you find the girl, don’t take her instructions lightly. Follow her. She will help you find the way out. “ The boys nodded casually and walked towards the entrance of the graveyard. The gate was locked. Hence they climbed the gate to get inside. 

They looked around. The graveyard was huge. There were many tombstones. Some were small and some were huge marble slabs with statues decorated on either side. The boys spoke about the place while recording the video as they walked deeper into the graveyard. 

“This seems cool, unlike our other adventures. There’s no walking on narrow lanes or climbing cliffs or any of that high energy stuff. It’s like chilling at a park.”, said Cory who had turned towards Javier. Javier stopped and stared at Cory in fear. “I see someone behind you.”, he stammered. “Where ?”, Cory said as he turned back to look at complete darkness. He turned back to see Javier very close to him and he got spooked for a second. “What was that ?”, he said as he placed one of his hand on his chest to calm his frantic breaths. “You got spooked. Look at you.”, Javier laughed his heart out.

Suddenly there was thumping noise followed by a short growl. Cory thought it was Javier’s mischief. “That’s not funny !”, he said. “That’s not me!”, Javier protested. There was one more growl. This time it was a long one. “Then it must be Felipe. That scumbag!”, Cory spoke angrily. 

When the boys turned back, they found a little girl in a white dress. Her face was pale and filled with despair. She stared at them with a blank expression. The boys assumed the girl was part of Felipe’s plan to scare them. They decided they weren’t going to fall prey to his trick. They turned their back toward the girl and continued their journey. Javier turned his gaze back to check the girl. The girl disappeared from his sight into thin air. He had his heart in his mouth. “I think she is real. I saw her disappear into nowhere.”, he said. Cory didn’t believe it. He dismissed his thoughts,” It must be some kind of spook effect. You get them in online.”

Javier wasn’t.convinced. It seemed real. In midst of their journey, they spotted the girl again. “What the hell”, Cory cursed. “What do you want ?”, he asked in Spanish. “Please follow me. It isn’t safe here. I can get you out of this place.”, she replied in Spanish. “I don’t trust you! You must be Felipe’s accomplice. Return to him and tell him his game is over.”, he said.

As he tried to head forward, something held his foot. “Stop it! Javier!”, he growled. When he turned back, he saw Javier looking helplessly around for something. Cory’s foot was held by half-decayed hand coming out of the ground. Cory screamed. He tried to get his foot out of the ground. But it held his leg tightly. Suddenly Javier found a sharp knife out of his backpack. He cut the hand and freed his friend from its grip.

The boys finally decided to follow the girl. They were dead scared. Every sound made them jump in fear. They held each other’s hand tightly. They looked around as well as on the ground to see if there was any impending danger.

As they continued with their journey, Javier’s leg got stuck into a sticky black puddle. Cory saw his friend trying to get his leg out. He screamed in pain while Cory held his hand tight and tried to pull him out. Nothing worked. It was like as if he was getting pulled into a black hole. “Save me, Cory. I don’t want to die.”, he cried. Cory tried to pull as hard as he got. His palms were turning sweaty. He turned back towards the girl who watched them helplessly. He begged her for help. “I can’t do anything. I can only show you the way. I am not that powerful to fight that evil.”, she said.

Cory prayed to God with all his heart to help him save his dear friend. He pulled his friend with all the strength he had for one last time while his friend had lost hope and began begging him to leave him. This time he was able to get his friend out of the mess but he lost his foot in the process.

Javier smiles weakly. “I will never let you go, my dear friend. But now let’s leave before terror strikes us again.”, Cory said. He helped his friend walk through the journey while the girl lead them out. They reached the gate. They stared at the gate, thinking about how they would climb up. Suddenly, the gate opened itself. They looked behind. They nodded gently to express their gratitude towards her. “Go”, she said instead of wishing them back. They limped out of the graveyard and found Felipe waiting for them in the car. Cory helped his friend get in the car before getting in himself. Felipe understood the situation and zoomed his car. 

It took months for them to heal. They posted the video on their channel after a lot of hesitation. They knew no one would believe. They knew people would backlash them and say mean things. But they wanted to show people that good and bad energies existed everywhere.