Merlot

Once upon a time, there was a filthy rich couple, Elena and Mark. They wanted to shift to Los Angeles. They were in search of a palatial mansion with a huge garden because they wanted to start a family. After months and months of searching, they finally found an ideal home that was suitable to their ideas. It was a palatial residence with a massive garden, just as they wanted.

In a week, they completely shifted to their royal palace. The structure was very old and rusty, but that’s what they liked about it. They then started making the house livable by installing some essential commodities. When they both were installing a clothes-line, Elena saw that the soil, present under the grass was merlot in colour. She was bemused by seeing that specific colour as she had never seen soil of that colour. At that time a neighbour was crossing the road. She asked him, “Excuse me, sir! Hi! We have just moved into this neighbourhood. Is the soil merlot…….” The moment she said the word ‘soil’ the eccentric neighbour started walking briskly with his face covered with his hand. She was entirely nonplussed and couldn’t understand the real reason behind the neighbour’s atypical behaviour. They had a lot of potted plants. They wanted to replant them in the pretty garden. This time she dug deeper and saw that the soil was becoming darker and darker. She wondered if that was natural!

 One day, she was taking the clothes off the line. By chance, a t-shirt fell from her hand. She bent to pick it up and when she was getting up she heard some faint voices coming from the ground. She was muddled. She then knelt-down and put her ear near the ground. She heard many people whispering and hissing. She was shocked and called Mark immediately. He got worried and immediately came home. She told him, “Mark! Mark! There are some people buried, ALIVE, IN OUR GARDEN!!” Hearing this Mark’s eyes widened and he did the same as Elena but couldn’t hear anything. He was disgusted with Elena and scolded her.

Elena was very upset so she started digging herself. After digging for about two and a half hours she found a very hard and thick wooden plank. She brought the hammer and broke that plank. Under that plank, there was a large brick room with one mini window and no source of light. It was a dungeon. She brought the torch and started searching every corner and saw a tunnel leading to somewhere. She jumped inside and started moving towards the tunnel. She reached an endpoint. There, there were rotting skeletons and a putrid and sickening smell. Elena covered her mouth and started searching further. Suddenly she felt a chilling feeling and someone dashed through her, making her as cold as ice. She stood there for a few seconds like a statue because she couldn't move. She felt like her feet were stuck there and had some kind of invisible weight on them. After some time her body became warm again and she hurriedly got out of there. She covered the site with a tarpauline cover and went inside her house.

She couldn’t sleep. That chilling feeling was driving her insane. She took three quilts, still, she was cold. Suddenly she heard a clattering sound, which was coming from the garden. She came out of her bed to check and saw that the skeletons had become bodies and were coming out one by one. They stood in a line and smirked with evil eyes at Elena. Elena jumped on her bed and locked every window and door. She realised that she had made a huge mistake. She then called her realtor and asked what was in the garden before she moved here. He told her, “This was not a dungeon but an occult practiced here. The town’s people buried them alive while they were practicing. The occult was very scary and dangerous. If the members come out they are going to destroy the whole town. The people who came here before you, died in an accident, before them they had died by drowning. They ensured that the whole kin is wiped out.” 

Hearing this Elena’s phone slipped from her hand. She felt a strange kind of anxiety. Her chilling feeling was gone but was replaced by breathlessness. She tried to calm herself but somehow, was not able to She came out for some fresh air. She forgot that those strange people were still there. She was standing there, bent and heard the snapping of twigs. She lifted her body and saw that an army was coming toward her. She started running, but the moment she would turn another body would emerge from somewhere. In the end, she was exhausted and gave up. She expected herself to be killed instead they lifted her on their shoulders and took her inside the dungeon. There they made strange sacrifices and made her wear a crown. She was bewildered but suddenly her eyeballs moved back and her eyes became white. She was the newfound leader of the occult. They all bowed in front of her. They thought of her as their queen because she had freed them. Elena was now part of the occult and Mark was on his way home. 

They were back on their mission to spread pain and misery in the whole world….