The Return of Lawrence Smallwood

This halloween story is about the most haunted place in world I have been to and the best one amongst haunted places in Nainital. I did add some masala to make it into a fictional story but it is mostly true. Make sure to check this place out. Before I begin with this story I would like to tell the readers that I found a completely extirpated house in Naukuchiataal, a place near Nainital. I’m not sure whether it still exists.

I went in with my friends to have a look at that place. It only had a fireplace with a big photo on the wall behind it stable. The other walls were down on the floor. All the expensive artifacts of the house were still in place. No one had stolen them. I found that creepy. As we took one step closer to the fireplace, a local shouted towards us warning us about the place being possessed or something.

For other Halloween Specials refer to Short Halloween Stories

We ignored the local and kept on going. Out of nowhere a diary banged my head and I fell with it. Quickly I picked it up and opened it. The old diary belonged to a guy who was learning english. It could be seen from his crooked english. The book belonged to some sixteen year old named Abhas Dharamwal. On the  mantelpiece a  gold wrist watch was kept. One of my friends picked it up and wore it. It was when he saw fumes coming out of his wrist that he took the watch out and placed it back. The watch burnt his wrist’s skin. Instantly we ran back to our hotel room. At night I read Abhas’ diary. I’ll share with you his tale.

Abhas Dharamwal, Surbhi Dharamwal his sister, Yashwant Bora, Chirag Mehra and Abhinav Bisht his classmates and his girlfriend Namita Rautela were a group of adventurers. They loved exploring. That’s what troubled their parents. They played in the backyard of an old house everyday but their parents didn’t like it as the house was rumored to be haunted.

The house’s story was somewhat this. It was haunted every 13th year on the 31st of October by the ghost of Lawrence Smallwood. Whoever was in the house on that night never returned. The year 1997 was the 13th year and on the 31st of October, it was around 6 when it started. Abhas and group were on their way back to their homes when the sky started pouring hails. To take shelter they went in the mansion. It was odd for hails to pour at this time of year.

Anyways they were in the house and Chirag shut the door behind them. Abhinav stated, “Everybody pay attention!!! Do you know what day it is?”

“31st of October I guess ,” said Surbhi.

“And what year?”, asked Abhinav.

“1997… 1997!!! This is the 13th year according to the legend!!” said Abhas.

“We need to get out of here then!” said Namita.

Abhas calmed her down and said, “Sweetheart, you know we can’t go out in such a hailstorm. We’ll be killed if one of them falls on us. We’ll get out as soon as the storm subsides.”

“Okay, so that means we are stuck here for an unknown time! Let’s go check out the old man’s place then.” suggested Yashwant.

“Good idea Bora.” said Chirag. Both of them started climbing the stairs.

“I need to find the washroom. Come with me Abhas. Please?” said Namita.

Abhas took off with Namita. Surbhi and Yashwant decided to stay near the fireplace.

In the master bedroom Namita and Abhas found the washroom. Namita went in and Abhas waited for her outside. The bed was elegant. He sat on it. Suddenly the atmosphere became cold. It was too cold for Naukuchiataal. The cool atmosphere passed away as soon as it came.

In the washroom Namita was washing her face with the water. She now felt the cold Abhas felt earlier. She was looking at the mirror and washing her face. On the third splash on her face she screamed in horror and ran out of the washroom. Abhas spooked out of his wits asked, “What happened my love?”

“Can’t you see!” she said pointing towards her face.

“No my love. Your face looks perfectly normal to me.”

“There is no blood on my face?”

“No there is no blood.”

“Come with me”.

She took him into the washroom. The water was still running. Abhas asked again worried this time, “What happened sweet pie? Tell me what did you see?”

Then she told him.

“I was washing my face then suddenly blood came onto my hands instead of water. I saw it with my own eyes love. This was not a hallucination.  I’m not mad!!”

“Okay my love we are getting out of here now. The storm subsided. Let’s get out of here.”

Upstairs Chirag shouted, “Guys! Come check this out!  What the hell? It’s moving!!!! Someone save me!!! It got Abhinav!!! Please help guys!!! Why aren’t you coming!!!”

Yashwant and Surbhi were well aware of Chirag’s habit of fooling others. They didn’t pay any attention on him. Abhas and Namita walked in and said they had to get out of here as soon as possible. They called for Abhinav and Chirag. No one showed up.

“Guys we have no time of kidding around. Let’s get out of here.” said Surbhi.

Then they saw a bloody figure on top of the stairs. They could not believe their eyes. It was Chirag. His last words were, “RUN!!!”

Namita and Surbhi screamed in horror as Chirag’s desecrated body came rolling down the stairs. As it reached the ground floor his head got detached and came rolling down to Surbhi’s legs. To their horror the head spoke. It said in a creepy loud voice, “You didn’t come to save me!!! Now you’ll die too!!! He’s here!!! Lawrence is here.”

Then the light left his face and the house. It was pitch black! The group screamed in horror and ran towards the door. They tried to open the door but they couldn’t. Abhas spoke, “Shhhhh! Did you hear that?”

There was a pin drop silence for a while then there came a horrific laughter from the fireplace and the wood in the fireplace caught fire. All of them screamed in horror. Yashwant said, “Guys look at the fire! It’s frozen!!”

Everybody paid attention. The fire was actually frozen. The flames were still and the wood was not burning. There was ice around the fire. The light of the fire vaguely displayed the image on the mantelpiece.  The picture was of Lawrence Smallwood. His eyes were red! Everyone screamed at the scene. Everyone except Namita.

She was too quiet. Suddenly she started moving towards the stairs. Abhas tried to stop her but she was too strong. He followed her. Surbhi tried to stop him. He said, “She’s my love. I have to save her, sister. Please help me in doing so.” Surbhi and Yashwant agreed. They followed Namita and Abhas. Abhas was trying to talk to Namita but she was not replying. She saw an open window. She ran towards it.

When Abhas grasped what was going on it was too late. Namita jumped from the open window and the window shut down. Screaming “Noooooooo!!!!” Abhas ran towards the window. He tried to break the window but something was not letting the window break. There was no escape. Then they saw what killed Chirag and Abhinav. It was a stuffed tiger’s head which adorned the walls earlier. Now it was a full grown tiger. They ran downstairs. Then Abhas’ mind clicked and he remembered that he had seen a basement door in the backyard. They could get out from there. He said, “Guys I know how we can get out of here. Follow me.”

They followed him down the basement door. The basement door which could lead them to freedom was locked from the other side. Then they saw the ghost of Lawrence Smallwood. The guy in the photo was standing right in front of their eyes. Abhas was terrified as he started running towards them. He tried to open the basement door but he couldn’t do it. Then they saw village people of old times. They had fire and guns in their hand.

One man with big mustaches was leading the mob. He aimed his rifle and shots were fired. Lawrence Smallwood died in front of their eyes and then all the ghost vanished. Then again there was that horrific laughter. They knew something was coming for their lives. They tried to open the basement door. Then suddenly out of nowhere something grabbed Yashwant and pulled him into the darkness. He screamed and when his screams were no longer heard something pulled Surbhi into the darkness.

Abhas felt hot. It was like he was in a blast furnace or something like it. He kept on trying to open the door. He never lost hope. The door caught fire out of nowhere and he rushed out into the open. The water from the hails was still there. He used it to extinguish the fire his clothes caught while escaping. He saw the whole house going into flames and then he saw the flames making a devilish image somewhat like this…

Abhas started running towards his house. On the way he saw that his friend’s parents were burning the house down. His parents were there too but he was too panicked to go to them. He just wanted to go far far away from the house. He went to his house and picked his diary up. Then his house caught fire….

The last page of the diary was burnt. As I touched it I felt a burning sensation on my palm holding the diary. I threw it to the ground and saw it catch flames and vapourise forever with the answers to the questions like how did Abhas write the diary? How did it reach the mansion and from where did it hit my head? And many more…

The End

I certainly felt it as the most haunted place in world that I have ever visited and as it was one of the haunted places near nainital, which is a hill station, it could be easily the most haunted.

That’s it for today guys… Just something to think… If you have any answers to the questions then do comment….

Stay tuned for more crisp….