SHORT STORIES FRIDAYS (29)

GRACE’s WITCHY ADVENTURES: A PARANORMAL THRILLER BY ME

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.

The assassin, Michael’s partner, Charlie calls X and tells him about Michael’s departure to Melbourne from Sydney. X is furious to learn about Michael’s abnormal behavior. He realizes that Sharmila’s ghost entered his body and prevented him from murdering her. He finds out that Michael died in an accident and wants to take revenge on Sharmila’s soul and Grace. Stewart asks him to calm down and wait until the completion of his secret project.

Grace, Aunt Ruby, and Sharmila’s parents arrive in Queensland. They admire the beauty of the grand palatial house. The family is reunited and introductions are over. Grace meets her family members enthusiastically. There’s an explosion and a man resembling Santa Claus appears before them and now:

Chapter 16

To magic or not to magic.

“Gracie, ” cried the Santa Claus lookalike. She rushed into his arms. Grace was ecstatic to be with her father. Meanwhile, Sharmila’s parents stepped outside their room after hearing the mini explosion. They were terrified to watch an obese man appear out of thin air and hug Grace. Aunt Ruby caught them looking at the father-daughter magical reunion. They stood rooted to the spot, too scared to say anything. Aunt Ruby couldn’t allow the exposure of a magical world to the humans. She cast a spell to modify their memory and made them go to sleep.

Aunt Ruby yelled at her brother-in-law, ” Are you mad, Reginald? How can you appear in front of the humans using your magic?” The Santa clone looked confused and said, ” But all of us are witches and wizards here. Where did the humans come from?” Ruby was exasperated and faced her sister, ” I still wonder what did you ever see in this clown before marrying him? I have told both of you about Grace and Sharmila’s story. Marge, your husband needs to take memory pills.” She produced a magical mirror and replayed Grace and Sharmila’s story. Reginald watched the entire drama in silence and so did his wife. He turned towards Grace and kissed her on the forehead. He said, ” I think you are amazing, honey. I am so sorry for Sharmila’s parents. I will help you in your quest to capture her murderer. But where’s your gown? What kind of clothes are you wearing?”

Grace kissed his cheek and said, ” This is the attire worn by modern youth of the present generation. I am wearing a pair of jeans and T-shirt. It’s quite comfortable. You should try it.” Aunt Ruby said, ” Gracie, we have a problem. We can’t continue to do magic in front of your friend’s parents. How are we going to explain what’s going on here? ” Grace thought for a while before replying, ” I have an idea. I will tell them that my parents are scientists working for the Australian Government on a secret mission. They have designed this house to function with the help of a remote control.”

” What’s a remote control?” asked her father. Aunt Ruby produced a white colored elongated object in her hand. She said, ” This is called a remote control. I have seen it at Grace’s house and she has explained to me how it works. You need to push these small buttons to make the electrical appliances work. I will teach you both about the human world later. Grace, you just gave me a wonderful idea. We will create plenty of remote controls and program them with inbuilt magic instead of battery. In this way, we will still be able to do magic and appear normal to them. “

” That’s a brilliant idea, Aunt Ruby, ” said Grace. Ruby then zapped her sister and brother-in-law to wear modern clothes just like her. Marge was delighted to find herself in a cotton Yellow Sundress and Reginald appreciated her. ” Honey, ” he said, ” You look several decades younger.” He was wearing a simple T-shirt and a pair of Khaki shorts. ” I think we should change our old fashioned clothes permanently. These are so cool and comfortable.” Aunt Ruby said, ” We are all famished and didn’t have any breakfast. Moreover, Sharmila’s parents may wake up any moment. Gracie dear, let’s get you initiated into witchcraft and activate your powers lying dormant for 146 years. This is a simple process, my child. All you have to do is to take a special bath treated with magical herbs, creams, and potions. Then I will recite some hymns to protect you from any harm.”

Grace asked, ” How will I know that my powers have been reactivated? Do we have to take these special baths very often? ” Marge replied, ” You will get a tingling sensation when there is something wrong going on around you. You will get goosebumps and you will be able to find out what’s wrong instantly. When you powers get activated, you can try doing magic either using a spell from the spell book Or snapping your fingers, giving a specific command or use your wand. We have ordered a special wand for you. Now, go and get ready. And yes, you have to recharge your powers in the same way every fortnight.”

Aunt Ruby led her to a gorgeous bathroom with a Claw foot bathtub filled with herbs, special concoctions, potions and a wonderful fragrance of lavender spread all over the bathroom. Grace got undressed while Ruby turned around. She stepped into the bathtub. Her Aunt Ruby massaged her back with creams, oils, and applied the potions while muttering something under her breath. Grace felt relaxed. After having spent around half an hour, Grace wore fresh clothes and found The Guptas sitting on the breakfast table and chatting with her parents. The table was set and the dishes were about to be served. Grace suddenly remembered that the Guptas preferred only vegetarian meals. She took aside Aunt Ruby and shared her dilemma. Ruby dragged her to the kitchen and asked her to take out her smartphone and search for tasty vegetarian meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She showed the pics of vegetable sandwiches, aloo paratha ( an Indian flatbread made of potato stuffing) idlis and dosas. Ruby produced them in a flash while Grace kissed her. She carried them with Ruby in a special tray while their cook watched in awe and amazement. Ruby asked Hilda, the cook, to come up with pancakes, omelettes and chicken sandwich with orange juice and maple syrup for the others.

The whole family had enjoyed their breakfast. Reginald and Marge watched The Guptas munching on idlis, dosas, and vegetable sandwiches in fascination. They looked more appealing than the one they just had. Grace’s father was itching to know what the couple were eating. Aunt Ruby signaled them to keep quiet and that she would explain later. The servants cleared the table and served them tea with cookies. “I am so happy for Grace and you, sir, “said Mr. Gupta, wiping his mouth with a napkin, ” You finally got reunited. This is a splendid house and I thank you both for having us stay with you. I will never forget your kindness.”

Reginald liked him instantly and said, ” Oh no! The pleasure is mine. Consider our place as yours and feel free to stay as long as you like.” While Grace was happy to watch them engage in a friendly conversation, her gut instinct kicked up. She had a tingling sensation and experienced goosebumps all over her body. What could possibly go wrong in such a safe place? Watch out for the next episode and a surprise next week.

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