Happy Birthday | Teen Ink

Happy Birthday

September 21, 2014
By HafsaAhmed PLATINUM, Karachi, Other
More by this author
HafsaAhmed PLATINUM, Karachi, Other
22 articles 2 photos 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
I don't believe in angry arguments , I believe in silent revenge.

Revenge doesn't merely means hurting others, it sometimes mean being a better person than you were yesterday.


Author's note:

I once tried writing something horror for competition but I never got a chance to participate. I am interested in mystery , thriller and horror movies. For the same reason, I wrote this story.

 
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The car stopped right beside the sign "Stell's Hills-5 kms".
"Girls shouldn't drive.” said her brother on her sudden brake.
"Shut up Ali."Irham was a little bit confused.
"We are in the middle of nowhere!" Maria sighed while checking cellphones for signals.
"Oh come on Irham, are u sure this is the right place?” This time it was her cousin Zia on the back seat.
"Pretty sure. At least the card says so."                                                                                                                    Maria:" The card that your parents sent?"                                                                                                                                                         " Ya. I found it on my doorstep but no one was there. Can't believe they chose a mansion! "                                             Zia:  "Cool enough if we just kno- "                                                                                                                                                                                               "Guys. I think I just saw someone" Neha said in a shaky voice, cutting her brother off mid -sentence.
A tall grey figure appeared out of fog as it crossed the road to right.                                                                                                                               "Excuse me. Hey! Can u hear me?" Ali called out putting his head out of the front seat's window but there was no response. He looked in all directions in disappointment before he heard Irham's scream. She looked pale and forgot to breath. Ali found an old man peeking from the glass almost putting his head inside the driver’s seat.
"Umm. Can u tell us what is the shortest possible way to the Stell's Hill .By any chance, do you know where is the Azghari's Mansion?" asked Ali in a tone as if he was disgusted by old man's attitude.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              "Of course. Why not young boy? There is only one way though."                                                                                                                             "And what's that?"
"Graveyard."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  "Hell no..!" Neha protested, "We are not going through graveyard in any way even if it’s the shortest."
"As I told you. That's the only possible way but you have to leave your car here. It is at the walking distance. You can reach Asghari's Mansion in ten minutes." grinned the old man.
Zia gave everyone a questioning look and finally said. "I guess we have no choice."

They walked slowly, following the old grey-suited man. Irham, still looking pale, rubbed her hands and glanced at every grave they passed but there was just one which she couldn't resist staring. She stopped, staring it for a long time until Zia interrupted and read the name aloud. "Irham Sultan 1942-1960 “. After a short silence he cracked a joke "Poor girl! Can't live enough to see our Irham but she would have died anyway seeing our beautiful Irham out of jealousy ya know!"                                                                                                                                   Irham: "Stop it already."                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Maria stepped beside Irham and held her hands, saying " You look pale you know. By the way, what was all that screaming about in the car?"                                                                                                                                                                      Irham: "To be honest, I need to consult the doctor. You know when this old man peeked inside, I saw the scars and dirt on his face, he looked horribly awful, dripping in blood but in a moment, it was all gone. I don't know man..!"
"Just stop reading horror stories too much. It's gotta be fine!"
"Children, here is your destiny. Enjoy!" Old man said in pleasure almost in robotic tone.
"Woah" Everyone exclaimed.                                                                                                                                It was an enormous mansion lit by hundreds of light. Front facade was whole made of glass and from there, a huge chandelier could be seen along with the guests wearing long beautiful gowns. It looked like a party of a celebrity.
"Zia! Where is Zia? Anyone has seen Zia?" Neha asked worriedly, catching everyone's attention and peered everywhere but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Boo". Zia bumped into her sister scaring her to death.
"Gosh! I will kill you!" Neha shouted putting her hands on her heart. "But where are u coming from?" She sounded intrigued.
"Nowhere."
  "Alright everyone, let’s rock this party! It should be the best one. C'mon it’s the 18 birthday of two besties. Me and Irham! Can't wait till 12:00 a.m." Maria exclaimed merrily dragging everyone to the door.
                                                                                                     ***

"Oh Hello! There you are sweet heart. We've been waiting for you!" A lady hugged Irham, kissing her on cheeks, aged 45-47 "My name is Suriya. You can call me Miss Suriya. I am your mother's best friend." She said. Her blood red lipstick became prominent as she giggled.                                                                 She introduced them to every guest as her gown trailed across the floor.
"Miss Suriya where are mom and dad? Their phone is switched off". Asked Irham.
"Mom and Dad....?" She made the weird expression with her eyes. 
"Yes", Irham replied skeptically.
"Oh well they are on their way. They will be here soon. Until then, why don't you enjoy some juice?”   She called out the waiter and handed her the juice. "It will be 12:00 shortly. Do whatever you like until then". She smiled and left.
"What's up with her?” Neha uttered as Irham gulped down the last sip of juice.
"Too bad mom never mentioned he..he..r", Irham barely completed her sentence as she stretched her hands out to the walls for support before she fell down on the floor, fainting. The last thing she saw was the blur image of Neha leaning over her while calling out her name.
 

 She woke up with the weird sound coming from behind the walls. She left her bed, putting her ears on the walls but she heard nothing except footsteps and the unusual sound, making her believe as if somebody was dragging something heavy. Everything was calm and quite before she realized where she was. She looked around and found herself in a dark room as she remembered Neha calling out her name, her cousins, Maria, Ali, Miss Suriya and the party. She glanced at her watch.
"What! It is 12 already! Where is everybody? Where on earth am I?”
She hurriedly made her way out of the room, using her mobile's flashlight. Soon she was out but to her surprise, there was no one outside, dark again, no light except the moonlight illuminating a room. A kitchen! As soon as Irham walked towards it, the kitchen's view became even more clear and brighter. She stopped near the counter as she found someone shaking, sitting on the tiles floor as if leaning on it. Irham couldn't see her face since she faced only her back but as she moved forward, she found the women puking… BLOOD.
"Darn it!! Are you alright. What on earth has happened?”
Irham put her hands on her shoulder but as soon as her sight fell on the pool of blood, she was taken aback as if someone had put a knife through her body. Her mother's ring was lying on the floor, soaked in blood.
Irham stretched her eyes and slowly moved backwards, shaking her head saying, "This can't be true. You can't be-". Her voice trailed off as the lady looked up to Irham but as the moon casted the light on her face, Irham couldn't believe what she saw. Her face looked horrible full of scars with the blood streaming through her eyes down to her cheeks and the fresh blood on her lips. To her surprise, she was Miss Suriya growling at her while slowly crawling towards her before Irham quickly took steps behind but soon her back touched the wall. She was quick enough as she ran to the right. As she glanced at Suriya behind, her heart skipped a beat seeing her crawling after her, almost running like a giant dog. Irham ran as fast as he could, dodging, passing through many doors before she reached at the burnt black room and locked herself. She hurriedly dialed her mother's no. and luckily she picked up saying hello in a cheerful tone. She told everything in a single breath but the call cut off with just a sentence,
"We'll be there soon."
She sighed turning her head around and found something glowing far away. She moved towards it and soon found it to be just a mobile on the table glowing with its flashlight. The flashlight fell over something weird and as her eyes fell on it, Irham literally died. She felt as if suddenly she had lost everything, her life, her happiness and even herself.

She yelled out of rage.
"Mom! Dad! How can you do this to your only daughter, your 14 years old son? Answer me!"
She fell down while putting her hands on her head almost pulling her hairs in depression as she burst into tears. Her mother's corpse sat in front of her behind the table while her father's laid beside her. She laid there for a long time crying hysterically.
She held the cellphone lying on the table which turned out to be her mother's in silent mode. She went through the received calls history and turned skeptical not believing what she saw when she found her name on the top. The call was received minutes ago.
She threw the flashlight on their bodies for inspection and found her mother's finger soaked in blood while the ring finger was gone. As her sight fell down the floor, she found a trail of blood as if someone had dragged them here. Soon she remembered the weird dragging sound she heard earlier. Irham squatted as she saw something written on the floor with blood. Illuminating it, she could see the words clearly. It was written,
"Irham, we never invited you here. They did. Just like they invited us."
Her phone buzzed before she picked it up, finding Zia on the other side asking for help. She listened carefully as she heard all of them being trapped somewhere in the basement, noting every details Zia gave regarding the room they were trapped in. She hung up and headed towards the basement without seeing a school girl peeking from behind the closet.

She found a big lock on the door looking like decades older as she heard her friends and cousins screaming behind the door. After her sleep, the whole mansion had changed, from bright to dark and dull and from new to very old and black. She called out for Ali, Neha, Maria and Zia while pounding at the door but soon she stopped when she heard a familiar sound coming from the left and the footsteps from the right. Everything was silent as grave but in this silence, she could hear the growling sound and the footsteps. She looked to the left and found Miss Suriya slowly crawling towards her before she found a young girl approaching her from the right, white as a corpse, with dark long hairs in school uniform having just one arm. However, Irham was able to read the girl’s name written on her badge. It was "Irham Sultan”.
 

Before anything could happen, Irham ran away 180 degrees without thinking anything, without looking back and went straight to the restroom where she locked herself in the last stall. She slowly stepped back facing the door and stopped as her hand touched something. A wave of nausea hit her as she turned around, finding her cousin Neha fasten tightly, sitting on the toilet seat, dead. Her white dress had already turned into red.
Irham swung the door open, putting her one hand on her mouth, stopping herself from vomiting and shouted angrily as the tears flowed down from her eyes,
"What do you want from me? Why are you doing this? Your name is Irham too so tell me Irham Sultan. Why?"
As she completed her sentence, the school girl Irham Sultan appeared out of nowhere and hit her on her head. The last thing she heard her saying was,
"Grant me my wish!"
                                                                               ***
    A classical music was on as the guests roam around the hall. A girl ran downstairs to see her young father and hugged her warmly, welcoming him in a cheerful way, "Thank you papa. You gave me surprise birthday party, I can't believe it!"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I? It’s your special 18th birthday and what's this? You are still in uniform? Ira go and change. Guests are waiting."
"Yes, Papa!" She smiled broadly and left.
                                                                         
She opened her closet to see what to wear before she heard someone's steps. A lady entered in her room and sat on her bed saying sarcastically,
      "Look at you Ira, Irham whatever. You're so happy. You think your father loves you just because he gave you the surprise even though you know he killed your-"
"Don't say a word!" Ira shouted.
"Is that how you talk to your mother?" said the lady as she turned red in anger.
"You are not my mother! You are just some other psycho lady named Suriya who takes pills just to stop herself from turning into a monster!"
"Shut up!" She said before she pulled out a long knife from her pocket, slitting it into Irham's body. She threw her on her bed and attacked her several times but she couldn't defend as she had just one arm. She opened up the closet and returned with her father's gun used in world war and left. Ira's Papa rushed into the room and found his daughter dying. For the last time, she said to him while taking long pauses,
"Papa, I swear I was the most unlucky person and I swear I will haunt every girl with the name Irham only on her 18th birthday on 15th of July but if she grants me my wish, I will leave her alone."
Her father ran outside as he heard gunshots coming from the hall and found his guests lying dead. He found Miss Suriya leaning against the wall sobbing. He put his hand behind and returned with the gun before shooting her on the forehead.

 Irham sat bolt upright and sighed,
"So this was all just a dream. It means mom and da-" Her voice slowed down as she saw Ira's spirit in the room. The intensity of light coming out of her spirit was so high that she had to shield her eyes with her arm. Ira moved slowly, having a note in her hand making her way to the wall where she put that sticky note on the wall, saying,
"I wish I can have both arms. I wish for my other arm on this 18th birthday."
Suddenly Ira looked up to Irham, smiling broadly she asked "Won't you make it come true?" before disappearing into darkness. Irham looked around to find she was lying in Ira's bedroom.
Suddenly a voice attracted her, "You want some help lady?"
It was the old grey-suited man standing at the door, smiling at her.
"Oh! You again! Yes I need your help! Oh my God! You won't believe me Sir!"
She jumped and dragged him out of the room, telling him everything on their way to the basement and stood near the door locked by the rusty big lock. He peered in all directions saying,
"I think I found something. You wait here."
He soon returned with a big axe with which he smashed the door. Irham coughed, removing dust from her dress and entered the room where she found Zia, Maria and Ali fastened tightly. They quickly set them free. Irham rushed to her brother Ali and hugged him warmly and merrily, thanking old man.
“Thank you sir! I can’t imagine what would have happened if you were not here.”
"You can call me Mr. Amjad", replied the old man.
                                                                           ****
"We're ruined! Neha died! Mom and dad are no more with us and the guests we met earlier were just dead people! I wish this was all a nightmare. I wish this was just a dream!" Ali was crying out badly as he burst into tears while Zia sat on the sofa, silently mourning his sister's death. They were sitting in lounge while Maria was walking to and fro uttering,
"What this psycho Ira… I mean Irham Sultan wants?"
"She wants your arm."
They all turned pale as they heard a whispering sound coming from behind. It was Ira's ghost standing behind them while her uniform was dripping in blood.
"I want your arm. Give it to me and I will let you go". She slowly stepped towards Maria whispering but her voice wasn’t very clear. Maria moved backwards, horrified and terrified. She fell down on the floor after Ira disappeared and said in a voice as it came from the grave,
"I won't give my arm in anyway. I won't sacrifice myself for that pathetic one arm girl!"
"What did you say? How dare you say that?" Mr. Amjad pulled Maria from her arm and snarled at her before Zia and Irham stopped him, pushing him away. Meanwhile, Irham's sight fell on the wall beside her where very old picture was hanging. Irham's eyes opened wide as she saw the people in the picture. It was Miss Suriya on the left, Irham Sultan in the middle and a man in army suit on the right wearing his name badge.
It said,
  "Amjad Sultan".

Irham woke up from her thoughts as she heard a gunshot. She jumped with sudden loudness and found Maria lying dead on the floor while the blood flowed from her head. Irham screamed in despair and dropped herself on the floor as she stretched her hands out to her face but it was too late. She was already dead. She cried uncontrollably for minutes but suddenly stopped and faced old Mr. Amjad standing beside her.
"How could you kill her?" She shouted loudly at him, having hatred for him both in her eyes and the face.
"Just like I killed your parents, your cousins. Oh boy, that was fun. Can't I do this little for my daughter Ira? My girl can’t do anything with just one arm. She was separated on her birthday, I'll do the same to you Irham."
Mr. Amjad laughed as he finished his sentence before he grabbed Ali with his hair, pulling him towards him and put the gun on his temple.
"What did you say? Ira? Are you Irham Sultan's fathe-" Zia asked skeptically but Irham cut him off mid-sentence, ignoring him completely.
"No! You can't! You must not! Please don't". Irham begged for his brother's life as the tears fell down to her cheeks. She had so much to say to the old man. Her heart was shouting, reminding the fun days she had with her family, her best friend Maria and her cousin Neha. She wanted to grab the old man. She wanted to kill him for what he did to her parents. She wanted to spit at him to show her hatred but she couldn’t. Her eyes just froze at her brother, weak and tired of everything.
"You know the deal." strictly replied the old man.
Irham stared at the axe beside the sofa thoughtfully.
"I'll let you all go."
Irham slowly stepped towards it and held the axe in her hands. She looked at her brother and then at Mr. Amjad and the weird thought came into her mind. She said to herself "What if I kill that man instead?" but as soon as she caught a glimpse of Ira standing beside her father smiling, her half face being covered by her hair, she dropped the idea.
"I might trick alive people but I can't trick dead. If this can stop this forever, I think I should do it now."
She looked again at Ali being in pain and slowly closed her eyes as her whole body shivered while her hands was freezing with fear and the tears were streaming down. She started cutting her arm but the pain was heart breaking. She pressed her lips tightly while she was slowly cutting her arm with the cold axe before the old Amjad came and chopped it off. The last thing she saw before leaving was her arm lying on the floor, dripping in blood.

                                      ***
  They ran through the graveyard as fast as they could while Zia had lantern in his hand and Ali was leading them. They passed through the graves while Irham glanced at all the graves, reading their names and remembering each guests Miss Suriya introduced them to. They were all same. She couldn't believe she was passing through the grave of those dead people she met earlier. She was in much pain but was not giving up. Suddenly, her foot struck something, making her to fall but soon she grabbed Zia's hand for balance. Surprisingly, she fell down on the grave. Her hands actually passed through his.
As she stood up, she found something sticking out of the grave with which her foot struck. She could hear her heartbeats as she found a hand sticking out wearing a familiar watch. The watch with green belt. She remembered giving it to someone she knew too well. She glanced at the name on the grave, it was written,
"Zia Salazar 1995-2014"
         Irham was shaking as she pressed her mouth shut to prevent herself from screaming. She recalled her memory and remembered the Old Mr. Amjad's words
            "Just like I killed your parents, your ‘cousins’."
She remembered how Zia went missing in the graveyard right after making fun of Irham Sultan before they entered into the mansion. He was never there in the mansion. He never called her on her cellphone. Zia was dead way before all that.
As she turned around, she found Zia grinning at her. His face was lit by the lantern as he showed the knife to Irham but she closed her eyes not wanting to see her own cousin killing her. In a second he attacked her but to her surprise, she didn't die. She opened her eyes and found Ira stopping Zia with both hands before they disappeared and went nowhere.
Irham ran away as fast as she could, crossing every grave carefully but stopped after a while as she heard a low sound of classical music coming from far away. Before she made her way to the car, she looked back and found the dark and dull ‘Asghari mansion’ again lit by hundreds of lights and a huge chandelier. However she could see a blur image of a girl standing at the glass window far away in the mansion. She turned back, promising not to look back and sat in the car with her brother.
The girl inside the mansion far away watched the two going away as she said whispering to herself,
  "I swear I will haunt every girl with my name only on her 18th birthday on 15th of July."
She smiled before the name and date on Ira's grave changed to,
"Maria Amaan 1996-2014"
 



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