One Midnight

ter

ive young woman who had invited her friends Janie and Tisha for the three day weekend. Her boyfriend Jeremy was also supposed to join them there. He was a dj in a famous discotheque. So saying this shw turned. Away from the window and was mulling on this topic. That Janie a, red haired was a wild one. ' Hope she doesnt do any thing rash on this trip. While Tisha blonde

trees. " Exactly where is the lodge or chalet whatever its almost becoming night now and we are still in this lonely wild " Jenny said bit angrily. " Here it is you see that mountain cliff there, behind it the chalet is " Nora said pointing in front. " This is so exciting i cant wait to go " Tisha exclaimed. " It looks kind of gloomy to me nothing is, around here except this, trees and maybe there are wild, anals, around here " Jenny said. " And the caretaker whose he have you met him " Jenny asked. " I talked with him on the phone he is reliable. So here we are atlast " Nora parked her car in front of a one one storeyed house which was, almost hidden by shrubs. But it looked kind of palatial. They got out of the car. And slowly walked towards the house. Nora ringed the door bell. A man came he was smoking a cigar from behind them suddenly. This gave them bit of a jolt. He said " i am the caretaker my name is, Stoodge and you are the people who wanted to stay here for the weekend. Come inside with your bags " he said removing a key from his pocket and opened the door. Inside it looked like a movie set of some movie. With a, deer stuffed face on the wal

knock came on the door

ght at the door. " Its no one that i can see. He told us not to open this, door no matter what remember " Nora whispered. " This is freaky

in the night ! " Again the knock came. " Lets jus

ee for the ladies. You must be hungry. The mountain air makes one. " " You are right we are " Tisha said. Jemny

ee then " Nora said p

were making lots of noise. The sound of their feet on the watery grass below was making. Nora removed her phone and tried calling her mother but as the network was weak she wasnt able to connect so she kept it back in her small sling purse. " Here let me check the map you have to know exactly where we are. Didnt the caretaker said there was a small waterfall here. And he told us not to vemture too deep " Jenny said. " Wha map , i dont have any. I thought you had it " Tisha said to Nora. " Not me. I told you to carry it. It was on the table. I knew you would forget it im your impatience " Nora said irritably. " Now we are lost. What do we do " Jenny started panicking. " Nora stopped walking and sat down on a flowery branch of a tree and said " first lets take some rest. For the last half an hour we are hiking. I can hear the waterfall from here. Its somewhere nearby here. We will go there then return back. We go straight. Because i think we didnt took any turns. That would be enough to help us return to the chalet " Nora said. So after taking a break of ten minutes they got up and went ahead. The waterfall came in view. It was picturusque wit wild flowers growing all around on its side. " I am in the mood to get drenched in it " Tisha said excitedly. " Dont remove your clothes wait what if some black jaguar is, around here " Jenny said. " Why suddenly you dweeb thinking of jaguar now when such a beautiful sight is in front " Tisha said while re

" Jenny said. " I told you there was something here but you wouldn't hear now lets go hurry up " Jenny added.

ening now " Tisha. Nora was surprised that Tisha was frightened. He quietly sat down waiting for them to come down. And they sat clinging to the tree like a life saver. Atlast he got up and went. But it was twilight now. And in the thick woods it looked almost like night. Wearily they got down. " Can you make out the route in this darkness now " Jenny asked Nora. " Yes we have to just go straight " Nora, replied. " What if it comes back again " Jenny asked. " The caretaker do you think will come to searc for us " Tisha asked. " Do you want to sit here and wait for someone to come " Nora shrieked. Only the noise of their boots could be heard as they stealthily made their way back. Only the sound of crickets and a owl nearby could be heard. Once a sound of something huge moving among the trees could be heard. Nora really thought it was the panther. But it was just a monkey. " Just keep running and dont think about that panther okay " Nora, told them. " But i feel hes not gone too far " Jenny whispered. " They hunt at n

hem. It was the panther. Jenny screamed as it clawed her. Nora didnt knew what to do and Tisha, kept screaming. And then there was, a, gunshot. Hearing that the panther ran away. Jennys hand had a, big scratch. Out of the trees two guys came, out with rifles in their hands. One was Jeremy. Tisha was surprised. And Nora, rushed forward joyfully. " How you knew we were here " she asked. " As i had told you i would join you. This is, Jeff here my friend. We went to the chalet and the caretaker told you went hiking. So i knew you

" Jeremy said. " It was Tishas idea. And we were having fun until the panther came. Why you dont have a closed jeep. Am getting a feeling that an wild animal can come ou

de. And were surprised to find the caretaker awake and outside. Tisha was the first to remark " you knew there were wild animals out in the forest then too you did not warned us why. " " Remember i did told you to return e

got about her. Its a, deepscratch. A, bandage will do fine " Jeremy said bringing a, box from a drawer. " What are you doing " Nora said to Jack. As he was searching something in the cupboard. " Look what i found you wont believe it. Its sone worn ancient seanse board " he said holding it in his hands. Nora took it from him. And saw that the board really was ancient looking. " It must be belonging to

e you up so early " Nora, asked. " Went for a, small walk among the mountains " he said. And

a vase. To keep the

eard some noises coming from that car shed at midnight " Tisha said. " What really wait let me check up on our car there " Jeremy said and went. Jack followed him along. After few minutes they returned. With a, look of dismay on their faces. " Car tyres are punctured one of them " Jeremy said. " We have a, spare one i will fix it " Jack said. " But who did it " Jenny said. " It sure has to be that weirdo. Thats y i heard him in the shed " Tisha replied. " I think we should cut short this trip and return. See on the radio new came of an imp

if they stay together and do things. " And ofcourse not opening that door. I dont trust that caretaker anymore " Jenny said. After few moments the knocking stopped. And they in group we

asked. " Nothing forget it. I meant that this place is so is so isolated type " Jack answered. " Heres the shed hurry u with fixing of the tyre. And now i think go and collect your stuff we will go then " Jeremy said. Suddenly caretaker came. They

its because of this wind storm. Havent you people seen on the news channel that a wind storm is approaching this area " caretaker said. " Really. This weekend trip is turning out to be something " J

will break any moment. " " He was wrong. Its more stormy then he the caretaker had said " Tisha said. Jenny added " in this gusty winds i think our car wont run too maybe will

nd you must have seen some tree branch blowing or something " Jack said. " Was it the caretaker spying on us " Tisha wondered. Jack laughed at this. Nora, didnt found it funny at all. " A very vivid imagination you have " J

e a wind storm " Nora replied. To this Jack said. That they should have thought on this before coming. " How i was to know that a windstorm was coming " Nora asked. " You should have seen the weather reports " Ja

and saw Jenny closing the windows. Nothing seemed out of place. Then why did she scream. Nora asked " what happened why did you shout here Jenny. " " Look at the floor boards. Shoe prints are there. I think someone climbed in from the window and maybe is still here " Jenny told them. Jeremy bent down to inspect the footprints and said " yes some one did climbed here. As we were all downstairs. Did you kept the windows open " he said. " Yes she keeps them open for

ened to him. Nora, said " i think we should check on all the

omething " Jeremy said. As Jack was closing it a sheer chilly wind blew in causing her to shiver. " It really is, very cold outside " Jenny said. " Jack volunteered to prepare dinner. As it was

ne and went near the sliding glass, door. She opened it up a bit. " I think we can sit in the balcony. The snow has stopped " she said. " Yes lets go i need some fresh air too. Full day we were ins

sitting out under the stars. Which were show

k got up to go with Jeremy and they both went. Nora sat feeling quite cold outside and more then fifteen minutes went and still they had not returned. " I had told those fools not to go. Have they gone all the way inside the forest now to search for someone who was darting here " Jenny said. " Shall we

tured tires and fleeting shadows among the trees " Jeremy said hurriedly. " He is not dead. Hurry up " Tisha, added. They went upstairs to take their bags as Jeremy opened up the back door to go towards the car shed. Upstairs Tisha was saying " where is my diary i cant find it. " " Forget it just go " Nora told her angrily. " Here it is lying under the bed " Jenny said handing it to her. As they were hurrying down the stairs. From below Jack was waiting for them. " I think it would have been better if we have had tied him up or something " Jack said. They went towards the shed. Jeremy was sitting in the drivers sit. After getting inside and locking the car doors. Jeremy with his key tried to start the car. But it wont start. Jenn