An old abandoned hut stood at the edge of the village in Mizoram, its windows and doors boarded up. It had been empty for some time, but no one dared go near it. When asked why this was so, elders would only sigh and shake their heads or shrug their shoulders. Their eyes told a different story.
On the day before Diwali, Daksh and Anika, who were neighbors and best friends, decided to explore the little house. They had heard stories about it being haunted, but they didn’t believe them. Daksh thought it would be fun to find out and maybe take some video with his new iPhone.
The two explorers sneaked into the house by knocking out an already broken window. Inside it was dark and dusty, and the air was stale. Their footsteps left imprints in the dust as they cautiously made their way through the empty rooms.
Daksh and Anika explored for a little while, but didn’t find anything scary. They were starting to think the elders were just superstitious old people. Daksh recorded their path through the rooms but it seemed to him a waste of time.
Then, they came to a locked door. Daksh pushed it and felt a slight buzzing or pressure—he didn’t know what it meant. Anika was startled by his reaction and grabbed his arm. She felt the vibration too.
Suddenly, the door creaked open inward and the two almost fell inside. The room was even darker and dustier than the rest of the house. They could barely see anything. They took a few steps forward, and then they heard it.
A low, moaning sound.
Daksh and Anika froze. They looked at each other, their eyes wide with fear.
The moaning sound came again, closer this time.
They turned to run, but it was too late. Something was coming for them.
It was a dark figure in the shadows, tall and thin, its eyes glowing red.
They screamed, burst out of the hut and ran. Daksh’s iPhone had fallen out of his pocket in the room with the demon. Daksh didn’t even notice.
The two didn’t stop running until they were almost home. They realized they had seen something evil and agreed they would not tell their parents.
Daksh, safe in his room, felt his pocket and realized his iPhone was gone. He couldn’t even call Anika to tell her. He sat on his bed, dejected, wondering what he would—or could—do.
Then he heard it: a slight buzzing, a little vibration. It was under his bed. He got down on his knees and there it was. Impossible, he thought. He snatched it up and the screen opened. He heard it first—a low moaning. Then he saw: two glowing eyes, red as a stoplight, looking deep into Daksh.
He heard his mother downstairs: “Daksh, put that darn phone down and come to dinner.”
Leaves of Ash 