SHORT STORIES FRIDAYS (38)

THE KILLER DEVIL PHONE ( PART ONE) A HORROR SHORT STORY BY Me

Meenal Sharma had just turned 18. She was looking forward to her birthday celebration. She lived with her parents, Vijay and Savita Sharma, in Bengaluru. Her elder sister, Vidya, 23, passed away in a car crash, last year. She was returning from her official trip to Mysore.
Her colleague cum boyfriend, Raghav, managed to escape with minor scratches.

The venue for the birthday celebration was a five-star hotel in Rajaji Nagar. The party started at 7 PM. Meenal and her parents had a great time. They were completely exhausted as they reached home at Jaya Nagar at 1 AM.

The next day, Meenal woke up at 9 AM and decided to skip college for the day. After having her breakfast, she started opening her birthday gifts. Her parents gave her a gold chain and she received expensive gifts like perfumes, cosmetics, books, and clothes from her friends. Her boyfriend, Anil, had gifted her a latest model of smartphone. She opened it and plugged it for charging immediately. While she was going through her presents, a nasty surprise awaited her. Her dead sister’s old model, Nokia, turned up amongst her presents.

Meenal thought, ” How’s this possible? This trash got destroyed the night, Didi passed away. We had it thrown into the garbage.” She realized that maybe someone might have tried to salvage what was left of it and got it repaired for his personal use. But how did this model end up here? She decided to ignore it for now and spent the rest of her day, chatting with her friends, and sharing her birthday pics on the social media. Later that night, she had a shock of her life, when the useless basic model phone, suddenly sprang to life.
Her sister, Vidya’s smiling face, greeted her on the small screen. Meenal could not even scream out of fear. Vidya said, ” Belated Happy Birthday, kiddo. Don’t worry, I am not here to hurt you. I want you to keep this mobile safe with you and follow whatever I say.” Meenal spluttered, “Y…….you are supposed to be dead. This mobile doesn’t support video calling. What kind of trick is it? Who the hell are you? ” Vidya’s soul grinned at her and replied, ” You are right. I am indeed dead. But I came back to protect you and be your guardian angel. I don’t think you believe me.” She started reminiscing incidents from their childhood that only she and Vidya could have known. Meenal had tears in her eyes, ” I missed you so much, Di. Mom and Dad miss you too. Shall I call Mom and have her speak to you? ” Vidya replied fiercely, ” No way! Promise me that you won’t discuss my existence with anyone. Because no one will believe you and I won’t be able to come out during the day. That’s it for now. I will see you tomorrow. I need you to skip college tomorrow as well. Do as I say and don’t ask me why.” The phone went blank, leaving Meenal in confusion.

Meenal pretended to be sick and stayed at home. She switched on the TV and scrolled through the news channels until one of the headlines caught her attention. There was a massive shootout outside her college, killing fifteen students and injuring 3. Her mom came rushing to her room with a glass of turmeric milk . Savita’s face was pale on hearing the deadly news and said, ” Thank Goodness! You were at home today. I already lost one of my daughters. I couldn’t afford to lose another one.” Meenal received a text message from the college principal announcing the closure of college for a week and that the classes would be conducted online.

Meenal was grateful to her dead sister for the warning. She looked forward to their rendezvous at night. Everyone went to bed and Meenal took out the old phone. The clock struck 12 and the phone came alive. Vidya’s smiling face glowed at the screen. Meenal said, ” Thanks, Di. You saved my life. How did you know that there was a danger? Can you predict my future as well? ” Vidya responded, ” Since I am a ghost now, I have the power to foresee any calamity or a great fortune. Listen to me. Go to the shopping mall tomorrow. A great fortune awaits you.”

Meenal followed her sister’s instructions and struck gold, as she won a family vacation to Shimla in a lucky draw that she entered after buying clothes for 10,000₹. This became her daily routine. One night, Vidya said, ” Beware of your boyfriend. He is only after your money. Don’t use the smartphone that he gifted you.” Meenal was silent. She was madly in love with Anil and could not think of breaking up with him. Vidya frowned at her silence. She said, ” Looks like you don’t trust me. Never mind but watch this clip and then get back to me tomorrow.” Vidya’s face was replaced by Anil and her family.

Anil was gloating, ” That bitch, Meenal thinks I am in love with her. Poor girl! I only befriended her to empty her bank balance and she fell for me. Dad, I have discovered a new way to make more money. I am going to blackmail her to parting with cash over her nude photos that I photoshopped. I am going to yield a rich dividend.” Meenal had tears in her eyes. ” The traitor! The bastard! How dare he betray me? ” she thought. She summoned Vidya who quickly responded. She said, “I want to teach a lesson to Anil and his family.” Vidya’s face radiated a devilish grin. She said, ” Of course. I have a recording of his father’s sin. Forward it to Anil and threaten to post the video on the social media. I will take care of the rest. ” Vidya played a video recording that showed Anil’s father visiting a prostitute. Meenal forwarded it to her smartphone and immediately sent the message to Anil.

The next day, there was a breaking news on TV that a family of four were found dead under mysterious circumstances. Meenal was speechless to see the dead bodies of Anil, his parents, and sister. It looked like the whole family had committed suicide. Meenal regretted her decision to seek revenge. She wanted to see Anil punished but not dead.

She decided to confront Vidya’s spirit. She took out the hidden mobile, waiting for the mobile to glow. Vidya appeared with a grin that nearly gave Meenal goosebumps. She said, ” This should not have happened, Didi. I wanted to see him behind bars but not dead. Why did you do this? ” Vidya smiled, ” Because now you are going to do my bidding. You owe me too much favors and can’t afford to refuse.” Meenal was scared. She questioned her, ” You aren’t my Di. My Didi was sweet and never hurt a fly.” Vidya cackled like a witch and sneered, ” It took long enough for you to figure out my identity. It’s too late as I own a part of your soul now. Let me reveal myself.” Vidya’s face quickly distorted into the most horrendous figure she had ever seen. It was the face of a devil. ” “Aaargh!” screamed Meenal and fainted.

When she opened her eyes, she was in the midst of an eerie forest. She saw her image appearing in the dark sky. The devil had replaced her soul. The devil was in her body while her soul was inside the killer devil phone. Watch out for Meenal’s tale of horror in the next episode.

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