SHORT STORIES FRIDAYS (27)

GRACE’S WITCHY ADVENTURES : A PARANORMAL THRILLER BY ME.

The Story so far:

The Story so far:

Grace Royce accompanies her best friend and colleague, Sharmila Gupta’s wedding in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh, India. When Sharmila shows her fiance’s photo, Grace is shocked because she has frequently seen him in her dreams forcing an innocent girl to suicide.

She saves Sharmila from marrying a criminal after nabbing him and his friends in a shameful act of trying to hang an innocent girl.

Grace has recurring dreams of Sharmila attempting suicide when the friends are holidaying in Dehradun. Her fear is about to materialize after their trip. Grace skilfully revisits the past and alters everybody’s memories to stop the wagging tongues of people from hurting Sharmila. She thwarts the attempt of a mad scientist X, in Australia, who is watching the proceedings, to kill Sharmila.
He stages small accidents which Grace is unable to prevent. Finally, he is able to cause a hit and run accident leading to Sharmila’s death. Grace is mourning the loss of her good friend while blaming herself for failing to protect her. She has a strange dream at night, where she finds herself in her bedroom in Australia. Her dead parents appear before her and they take her into the alternative future time zone, had Sharmila lived. Whatever she witnesses is awfully shocking to her.
She sees the evil side of Sharmila abusing her friendship and taking advantage of her. She is horrified to see her best friend kidnapping and sacrificing her with the help of a mysterious stranger. She comes back to her room with her parents and Sharmila’s soul pays her a visit. She explains how she was cursed by her grandma after she accidentally killed her grandfather who was bedridden with cancer.

When she clarified that it was just an accident, her grandma realized her folly and offered a choice to die young before the curse could materialize or live a long cursed life. She had chosen the former. Sharmila warns her to be careful.

Grace decides to investigate Sharmila’s death and views the CCTV footage that shows the car which ran her over. She finds that it belonged to Vinod Mohan, Vivek’s ( Sharmila’s former fiance) younger brother. She approaches the police and hands them the evidence. Vinod claims of innocence and says that he had lent his vehicle to a friend who reported it missing. Grace is frustrated and prays to Sharmila for guidance.Grace sees identical bracelets on the wrists of Vivek and Sharmila in her dreams. She requests Sharmila’s mother for the bracelet and discovers the hidden microchip which alerts X in Australia because both the bracelets were connected to his destiny machine. He orders Vivek’s death which leaves Grace completely stumped.

X is surprised to find his mentor Edward Fox’s son Stewart on his doorstep. Stewart is shocked to hear about Sharmila’s death. He takes X to task for acting in a haste and tells him about Sharmila’s past. Both of them are planning to bring her back from the land of death to wreak havoc on earth which Grace sees in her dream.Grace questions Sharmila’s spirits and discovers the identity of her killer. Grace leaves to Australia with Sharmila’s parents. She requests Sharmila to infiltrate X’s gang to uncover clues and prevent him from carrying out the dangerous task of reviving her. She spots X and enters his body in the presence of Stewart.

X gets into trouble after misbehaving with a waiter and Stewart slaps him. He drags him out of the cafe as they go back to their hideout.Sharmila decides to have fun at X’s expense. She enters his body, snatches the phone from one of the guards and calls Grace with the update. X returns the phone with a thanks. His guard is pleasantly surprised. When X comes to his senses, his guard appreciates him for his good manners which X vehemently denies.

Sharmila re-enters his body and X turns into a pervert. Stewart kicks him while the guard chuckles and gets fired. Sharmila possesses him and manages to capture the incriminating photos of the hideout. The guard visits the lab and blackmails Stewart to reinstate his job Or face the police. He has already forwarded these pictures to other men as a precaution and potential blackmail. Stewart and X are ready to merge their sinister machines as Sharmila is shocked and contemplating how to stop these villains from carrying out their evil plan.She foils their attempt to revive her with their combo machine by entering X’ s body and making him enter wrong password that destroys their project. She leaves him and possesses Stewart who tries to seduce X. They fight with each other and while they are discussing the chain of events, they eventually find out about Grace and try to kill her by sending their assassin.
Grace has a nightmare and witnesses her own death. When she wakes up, she’s shocked to find a stranger holding a sharp knife in her room and she screams.She sees a stranger about to murder her but it turns out that Sharmila had entered his body and tells her about her involvement in the case being discovered. She requests her to fake her death so that X and his men will stop making attempts on her life. The man leaves with his partner who was about to set the house on fire. He convinces him not to clean up the act. They are being followed by their own gang members who end up being dead because of the assassin’s quick thinking. He sends the confidential info to the police and alerts X about the betrayal of his men whom he had to kill, thus, getting away from the crime itself. X and his men are hiding, watching the police raiding their den. The next day, Sharmila’s mother enters her room and screams.

Grace wakes up and tells her about Sharmila’s soul. She acts as a medium and Sharmila talks to her mother. The assassin sent by X to kill Grace has forgotten what he did because Sharmila had possessed his body. He wants to know how he ended up in Sydney when they had an important task. His partner shows him the pictures on his phone and says that their boss had asked them to go into hiding.

X and his friends are awestruck with the splendor of Stewart’s residence. Grace excuses herself from a tour with Sharmila’s parents. She is shocked to find a strange woman who appeared out of thin air into her room and claims to be her Aunt Ruby, the sister of Marge Royce, Grace’s mother.

Aunt Ruby tells Grace that she is a Princess of Witches and her parents are still alive and living in Queensland. Ruby produces a magic mirror in which Grace sees her past. She was on October 13, 1876 and a wicked wizard, Xander, her father’s friend turned foe is planning to Kill Grace but her father kills him. His evil spirit takes over her father, Reginald, and he tries to strangle her but fortunately her mother, Marge, saves her and hands her over to their trusted servants, Maria and Vincent, and time travel to 1994, with her memories modified. Ruby also warns her that her nemesis, Xander, has now reincarnated as X, Sharmila’s murderer and a crazed scientist. They wait for Sharmila’s parents to return.

Grace introduces her aunt to Sharmila’s parents and they decide to leave for Queensland. The assassin of Sharmila can’t help feeling that he had left his task incomplete. So, he leaves the note for his partner and pays a visit to Grace’s house in Melbourne which looks like it has been torched. He is unaware of the change in their hiding place and is surprised to find the den completely deserted. He’s killed before he could contact X. Stewart shows X his secret lab and his latest upcoming invention that could detect the presence of a ghost and lay a trap for capturing Sharmila’s soul. And now:

Chapter 15

Dead Or alive.

A couple of days passed since the assassin, Michael, died. His partner, Charlie, called X and said, ” Boss, we have a problem. It’s been two days since Michael returned to Melbourne. He had been acting pretty weird. He insisted that he didn’t remember killing Grace. I had to show him the photos taken on my smartphone.”

X burst out, ” What did you say just now? He didn’t remember killing Grace. He came back to Melbourne two days ago. Why the hell did you wait for two days? I didn’t receive any call from him. Didn’t he call you back to report his finding? Do you know what this means? It means that bitch, Grace, is still alive.”

“But how is it possible, boss? ” asked Charlie, ” He sent me the snap of Grace’s dead body.” X was furious. He thundered, ” Didn’t you follow him inside to witness the crime?” Charlie regretted the decision to call X. He was shaking with fear. He took a deep breath and replied, ” Sorry, Boss. Michael convinced me to stay back and stand guard. He also prevented me from setting the house on fire.” X lost his temper and ordered, ” Move your ass back here, and call me when you reach Melbourne.”

X disconnected the call. He saw Stewart watching him with an amused expression on his face.” You were right,” X added with a sigh, “I can’t trust my men. Michael betrayed me. He gave me fake evidence to confirm her murder.”

Stewart replied,” Don’t blame Michael. Sharmila’s soul had possessed him and saved Grace. He proved his loyalty by coming back to finish the task. The question is, why didn’t he call you immediately? ” ” Boss, “cried the gorilla( beefy bodyguard), ” Please switch on the television. We have bad news.” He was shocked to learn that Michael had died in an accident. The police had discovered his mangled body near their old hideout.

” How does she do it? ” questioned X, ” How does Grace manage to sabotage my dreams and plans? I think she has extraordinary psychic abilities. Stewart, can’t you do something to get rid of her? ” Stewart chuckled, ” Patience is not your cup of tea, my friend. First, we have to take care of Sharmila’s ghost so that Grace doesn’t get any idea of what’s coming next. My invention will be ready in a month. Meanwhile, I want you to lie low so that Grace drops her guard down and you can take her by surprise.”
X grinned at him, pleased with his excellent suggestion.

Grace, Aunt Ruby, and Sharmila’s parents reached Queensland. A chauffeur waited for them outside the airport. Grace was pleasantly surprised to find a Rolls Royce at her service.

They reached their destination within half an hour. Grace and Sharmila’s parents couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the white-colored palatial mansion. Aunt Ruby smiled at their childlike enthusiasm. The iron gates opened automatically. Sharmila’s parents had never seen anything like this in their whole lives. Aunt Ruby explained that they had a remote control to operate the working of the gates. Mr. Gupta said, ” Grace, why didn’t you tell us that you were wealthy? This place is amazing. I think you belong to a royal family.” Grace and Aunt Ruby looked at each other. He had been spot on with his assessment. Unfortunately, they could not reveal their secret. They entered inside the gate, and the gravel path started moving. They reached the stairs leading to the entrance of the mansion. The stairs worked as the escalators, leaving Grace and her guests speechless.

The butler opened the door and welcomed them. The floor started moving, and they watched without fluttering an eyelid. A gorgeous woman dressed in a silk satin cream colored gown came towards them with her arms wide open.

She hugged Grace and kissed her cheeks. ” Gracie, my baby, ” said she, ” It’s been too long since we saw you. Can you believe it has been 146 years? Sharmila’s parents were too stunned to say anything. Grace hugged her mom and said, ” Mom, aren’t you getting carried away by your emotions? “

Aunt Ruby took the cue and said, ” When Grace was born, she had health problems. My cousin and her husband took Grace to Melbourne and raised her as their daughter for 28 years. And for the parents separated from their child at birth, 28 years seem to be equivalent to 146 years. Am I right, Marge? ” Grace’s mother nodded and smiled at her additional guests.

Grace introduced Sharmila’s parents to her mother. The latter asked Edward, the butler, to call for Joanie, the housekeeper. Marge asked Joanie to show their rooms to Mr. and Mrs. Gupta. Stanley, one of their domestic helps, carried their luggagges to their respective rooms. ” I missed you so much, sweetie,” said Marge. Grace said, ” Me too, Mom. Where’s dad, by the way? ” Her mother told her that he was busy in a meeting and would be joining them shortly.

Pop! Pop! Pop! People started appearing in front of Grace out of thin air. All of them waited for their turn to hug and kiss her. They were cousins, second cousins and so on. They gave her expensive gifts and made her feel at home.

Marge felt very happy to be reunited with her daughter. Aunt Ruby shed tears of joy at the reunion. Marge took Grace aside and asked, ” How long are your guests planning to stay with us? Don’t get offended by my question, dearie. I am merely asking out of curiosity. “

Grace told her about the entire story. Marge gave appropriate reaction at proper places. She sympathized with the Guptas and said, ” We have no problem even if they decided to live with us forever. It’s very difficult to lead a life without your child. Gracie, promise me that you will be careful, and also that you will no stone unturned to bring Sharmila’s killer to justice.”

Grace felt proud of her mother and promised to do her best.

Boom! There was a huge explosion in the house. A man resembling Santa Claus appeared before them. Who is he? What happens next? Watch out for the next episode of Grace’s witchy adventures.

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