It was a chilly winter night. The snowfall was going outside. I threw woods in the fireplace just when my grandpa said, tonight is bringing back memories of my young days. How was about your age, then, haleix I looked at him and smiled. My fiance Rose was sitting right beside Grandpa. We came to spend the winter holidays at my grandparents' house. Grandma said, in a soft voice, which memory are you talking about? Grandpa replied that incident regarding the winter night Watch.
Rose said in a curious voice, what is this winter night watch? Before Grandpa could reply to her question, Grandma said, in a serious tone, come on, Steve, don't scare these children with your horror story. They have come here for the holidays. Hearing this, I got interested as well. I sat down on the porch beside my grandpa and said, what horrible story. Grandpa said in a calm voice, Well, it is indeed a scary story, but it is one hundred percent true. But I won't blame you for not
believing me. Rose looked at me and said, in excitement, please tell us I love your horror stories. Also, this is a perfect night for scary tales. Grandpa took a sip from his glass of wine and said, this is not a story I can tell you, but you sure won't get scared, right, I said, in a confident tone. Yes, yes, we are not kids, Grandpa tell us. My grandpa started. I was living with my mom back then. I lost
my father at a very young age. After finishing high school, I opened up a shop of my own and decided to take care of my mother. The locality where I grew up was a small town those days. Cases of theft and robbery often took place during winter nights, so our local sheriff built a small group of its own to patrol the area. The group was divided into two sections to work as night watch. Alternatively, this was a way for young boys like us to earn some extra
cash and also provide some community service. Also, it was fun to roam around the snowy streets with their childhood pals, drinking whisky from the flask. We caught four thieves and stopped four robberies from happening due to this night watch practice. The town people appreciate this gesture of community service, as everyone felt safe because of us. We were a group of three people including me. It was me, Rob and Simon. We all grew up in that town and were close friends.
Every Tuesday and Thursday nights we used to patrol the area with flashlights. Simon carried a rifle for safety purposes, but he never used it except one time. Rob was drunk. Most of the time, I used to carry an iron rod casually. One night, we were patrolling near the kid's playground when we heard someone's scream. Rob pointed out to a house situated on the opposite side of the playground. We noticed a small cloud of smoke was coming out
of that house. At first, we guessed that the house was on fire, but as we walked close to the house, we realized it wasn't the house that was on fire. As Grandpa paused to take another sip of his wine, Rose asked, in a tense voice, then, what was it? Grandpa? Grandpa got back to his story and said it was the person who lived inside it. Hearing this, I got a bit startled and said, what what do you mean by that? Grandpa went on saying the house belonged to
a woman named Julia. After her husband's death, she was living alone in that house. She was a depressed and lonely woman. That night, Julia set herself on fire to commit suicide. As we got close to her house, we saw a horrible scene. Julia was on her bedroom balcony. She was burning like hell fire. Her screens pierced our ears. We could see her melting flesh dropping from her body. She wanted to end her life, but I hope she
didn't realize that she chose a very painful way. The smell of burning human flesh made Rod vomit on the ground. Before we could get inside and save her, she fell down from the bedroom balcony while burning and firing. What hor horrible sight it was. The local sheriff arrived with the paramedics. Most people of the town came to her house, but by the time they all came, she was already dead. It was a terrible night for the three of us
to witness her that way. There was no one to arrange for her funeral, so the hospital staff took care of her corpse. Her house remained empty and soon became abandoned. No one was ready to buy her house. After hearing how she died on that balcony, I said, in a casual voice, this is indeed a horrible incident to witness. But what is scary about this? My grandpa smiled and replied The scary part began after her death. After three to four days of this incident, another night watch group
reported to the local sheriff. They said that last Monday night, while they were patrolling the area, they heard a sudden scream of a woman. They thought someone is in trouble. After following that sound, they reached Julia's house. The house was dark and looking haunted. The group stood there for a few minutes, but nothing happened. When turned round get back, their eyes got stuck. At the end of the road. They saw Julia was standing there with a vicious look,
burnt face and body. She watched them with their spine chilling grin, and then suddenly started to run towards.
The group, screaming.
The group lost their mind and ran away to save their lies. After this incident, the entire town was afraid to go out after dark. Many people started to see Julia's haunting spirit. No one dared to go near her house or even in daylight. One winter morning, a man was coming from his late night shift. It was around four a m. The street was filled with fog. He was walking with a flashlight in his hand. Suddenly he felt a shadow was moving in the fog. He said,
in a fearful voice, who is it? As usual, no reply came. He started to walk fast to get home early. He was about to take the left turn leading to his home just when Julia came out from the fog and stood in his way. The man got terrified, seeing her vicious face laughing at him. He fainted on the ground after screaming. Local people heard his voice and came to his rescue. They carried him into his house. Incidents
like this became regular and the town was terrified. After the sunset on Tuesday, our term came for the night watch. We three were quite brave as we were the first one to witness Julia's death. My mother told me not to go out that night, but I didn't listen to her. Around eleven PM, Rob and Simon came to my house. We took strong brandy and flask and began patrolling. The first few hours went like every other normal night. We were walking in the empty streets when Rob said, look,
someone is trying to break into Julia's house. Simon and I saw a thin guy going inside the house with the porch window. I said, in a low but sarcastic voice, don't think this guy is from our town. Otherwise he wouldn't have dared to go inside the house at this hour of the night. Despite the ghost rumors and supernatural occurring. It was our duty to stop any kind of robbery or theft inside the town. So we walked to her house to catch this intruder. Without making much sound, we
entered inside the house. The house was dark and dusty. Inside, cobwebs were hanging from the ceiling. The stairway to Julia's bedroom was lying in front of our eyes. We were just about to take the first step when we heard a spine chilling scream of a woman's voice. What we saw next scared us for our entire life. We saw a burnt's female figure coming down the stairs. She was grabbing a man's neck with her fleshless, burnt hand. The
man was choking and gasping for air. Simon fired at the female figure to stop her from killing the man, but the bullet went through her as if she was made of thin air. The woman was coming towards us out of fear and shocked. We ran out of the house. We heard the man scream and saw him stomping over the heard ground. The sound of the skull cracking after
hitting the hard ground echoed in her eyes. We looked back and saw Julia's ghost disappearing in the fog as the man died, lying on the street, choking in his own blood. The next morning, the sheriff came and identified the man as an escaped convict. It came to know this guy broke into this house to hide, but he chose the wrong house. The townspeople were adamant and terrified to this. Someone came up with the idea of arranging a proper funeral for Julia and burning her house to
the ground. Rose and I were highly disturbed hearing this entire incident. I asked in a shaken voice, what happened after that? Grandpa said in a low voice, we arranged a funeral and burnt her house. After that, none of us ever saw her in the town again. Every winter, that night comes to my mind whenever I smell something burning at the back of my brain, it reminds me of Julia's face.
The memories of this accident are very fresh. As it happened last week. Winter is the season of relaxing ourselves at home, but this year's winter gave me a really hard time. At the very beginning of it, I stay in Montana on my own. It's been almost five years now I have moved out and made a life for myself. Due to the winter season, most people in my neighborhood were either out for holidays or went to visit their families. I also planned to visit my parents, but due to
the unavailability of flights, I couldn't. My plan for this Christmas was to eat junk food, watch movies, and drink wine as much as possible. But this sudden incident from last week has turned my world upside down. It was a cold winter evening. I'd opened my door to look out. The whole locality was covered in snow. Street lights were glowing in the dark. There wasn't a single person on the streets. I got a bit upset about being alone. Just then I received a call from my dad. He said,
all good, Kim, I know you are upset. Your mother and I are going to visit you soon. His words put a smile on my face, and I replied, how did you know? I was feeling upset. My dad smiled and said in a caring tone, that's what dads do, my dear. I talked to them for a while, then hung up the phone and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Around nine p m. I was eating my dinner sitting at my dining table. Now, the table is placed near a glass window. I always prefer this spot
for eating or working. The entire view of the street and houses near by are visible from this window. While I was eating, I saw the snowfall as started. It was a pretty sight to watch. I was enjoying the view outside when suddenly my doorbell rang. I wasn't expecting anyone at this hour. I stood up slowly and walked to the main door. As I peeped from the eye hole, I saw a man wearing a black hoodie standing outside.
I asked, Hey, who are you. The man took off his hoodie and said, with a big smile, here's your food, ma'am. He then lifted up his right hand. There was a brown paper bag like those take away packaging. Without opening the door, I replied, in a confused tone, but I didn't order any food. You must have come to the wrong address. The man looked at his phone and said, this is twenty two c our Avenue right. I replied, yes, the street is right, but what is the house number.
The man now scratched his head and said, Umm, they told me the house on the right. Your house is the only house nearby with its life on, so I guessed this is the one. The man was of average height, bud very bony. I could spot his facial bones underneath his skinny face. His eyes were extremely big and bright. He didn't seem like a delivery guy. I asked him which restaurant are you coming from? Suddenly he seemed all confused, and I could tell from the pause that he was lying.
He fumbled and said, well, I'm from Can you just please open the door and check for yourself. I have the complete bill on my phone. Now my suspicion grew even more. Why couldn't he just say the name of the restaurant unless he is lying about this entire food delivery thing. I said, in a strict voice, Look, I am telling you I didn't order any food. Please just leave now. The man gave a cold look and lifted up his hoodie and left. I came back to the
table the entire awkward encounter made me quite uncomfortable. I couldn't help but think was he really a delivery guy or was he just making it all up. I finished my dinner and once again went to check the lock on my door. I was just setting the alarm standing near the door when someone knocked. I got close and looked at the eyehole. It was that same guy. I said, in an irritated voice, what are you doing here? I already said, this is not the house you were looking for.
The man replied in a hesitant voice, Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but my bike's not starting. I tried calling the food station. My phone battery is dead too. Can I please come in and use your phone? The entire street was empty and there was no way I was letting this guy inside. But I thought to myself, what if he's telling the truth and he really needs help. I was thinking about what to do right now, but suddenly a doubt popped
in my mind. I could see the streets from the eyehole behind this guy, but there wasn't any bike parked nearby. I asked, in a doubtful tone, where is your bike? He said, in the same hesitated voice. I have parked on the side. If he opened the door, I can show you my ID too. I don't know why, but I couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling about this guy. Also, the way he was pleading me to open the door seemed really odd. I remembered there's a payphone nearby, I said, spontaneously.
I just remembered, there's a payphone nearby. You can use that. You know. So far, the guy was being somewhat polite and hesitant, but what happened next made my heart skip to my throat. The guy broadened his angry eyes and said, in a rusty, threatening voice, you can just open the door, you little bitch. My body froze in fear. I could see him breathing like a hungry wolf standing at my doorway. I said, in a scared voice, what did you just say to me? The guy said, in the same rough voice,
just open the door and let me in. Open the door, Open, open, open. He then started to bang on the door like a maniac. I was terrified and almost broke down in tears. There was no one in the locality to come to help. Right now, I got my shit together and screamed in
a loud voice. Listen, you asked, Oh, if you don't back off from my door right now, I'm gonna call the cops and make sure you rot in jail for harassing me all this time, the sound of banging on the door stopped immediately everything He became completely silent for a moment. Then I heard the sound of footsteps on the snow fading away. I rushed through the door and looked from the eye hole. I saw the guy walking away, and eventually he disappeared in the dark street. I heaved
a sigh of relief. I didn't call nine one one because I thought I had managed to scare him off. I came back to my table and sat down. Even on the cold winter night, I was sweating like a dog. I wiped my face with my hand and poured myself a glass of water. I drank water, and the next twenty minutes went without any further trouble. I was calmed down finally and sat near the television to watch a movie. I wanted to take my mind off this creepy and
scary encounter. I didn't realize when I dozed off on the couch while watching the movie, a sound woke me up. The sound was coming from the main door. I rubbed my eyes and stared at the door. A sense of fear grabbed me. The doorknob was moving, as if someone was twisting it from the outside. I could tell someone is trying to break in. I was completely sure that this was the same creepy guy. I didn't want to
make any noise. I wanted him to think that I had fallen asleep, so I slowly got up and went to the table to get my phone. I was at him at this time. I wanted to teach him a lesson for life, so I made up my mind to call the cops. I reached the table, picked up my phone. I slowly walked to the door, just to check what he is up to right now. As I went to peep through the eyehole, I immediately sprung back in horror. There was already an eye on the eyehole from the outside.
The guy was trying to look inside my house. I don't know what he saw, but he backed out a little and said, with a spye chilling stare. I know you are awake. I can hear your heavy, warm breath. My hands were shaking. I was completely terrified. Gathering all the courage inside me, I said in a firm voice, I'm gonna teach you a lesson now. I walked to the table, sat down, and calmed myself. I then DIWED nine one one and reported how a fucking creepy guy is harassing me for a long time and right now
trying to break in. The cop at the station told me to hold on and be brave. The roads are covered with snow, so it might take fifteen to twenty minutes for them to arrive. Needless to say, I was shit scared, but I didn't want to let this guy take control over my fear, so I said out loud, just wait, you freaking jerk, the cops are coming to get you. A few minutes passed silently, there was no sound of him. Suddenly I heard a strange sound on
my glass window. Something inside me was telling me to go to my room and lock the door until the cops arrived, but I couldn't stop myself to check what's going on right now. Just when I pulled on my window curtains, I fell on the floor, screaming at the top of my lungs. I don't think I will be able to get sleep for at least a cut couple of weeks from what I saw next. That bony, creepy guy was standing near my glass window and looking at me with his hungry eyes. His face was cold and cool.
He then did something very bizarre. He got really close to the glass and started to lick it horrifyingly. The entire scene was beyond any worse nightmare any of you will ever see. I started sobbing. I was shaken by the situation. I was praying to God for the cop to awive. Just when I heard the car's siren. The man looked at the street and then looked at me. He gave a blood freezing ear to ear smile and said, do you know what would look good on you? And crutches?
He then walked away. I don't know how I should be feeling right now. I don't know what that guy's problem was. I just know he is a filth walking over the society, making women feel miserable and unsafe. The cop searched the area and obviously couldn't find any trace of them. I am now staying at one of my colleagues's house. My parents are coming tomorrow to get me. I don't know if I will ever be able to go back to my house. Even if I do, sitting at my favorite spot will be my biggest nightmare.
This happened last winter. My husband Samini, shifted to a new house in Texas. The neighborhood had a maximum of twenty to twenty five houses. We were shifting our luggage inside the house after the helper's truck dropped them at her doorstep. My eyes went on the window of the opposite house on the other side of the road. I saw someone, a woman at the window. She was peeking at us behind the curtains. Just when she noticed me
looking at her, she closed the curtain. Immediately I felt a bit odd, but then I thought she was only being curious. It often happens when people get new neighbors next door. The house was cozy and comfortable. I was happy. We were having dinner that night. Just when the doorbell rang. We weren't expecting any one, so my husband said, in a confused voice, who can that be? I shrugged my
shoulders and replied, I will check it out. As I opened the door, I saw a woman age between fifty to fifty five years standing at my door with a very disturbing smile on her face in an awkward voice. Um yes. She smiled even bigger and said, in a squeaky voice, Hello dear. I am miss Miller. I live in the opposite house. We are neighbors. I saw you two moving in, so came to welcome you with the little gift. I noticed there was a home made vanilla cake in her hands with red jelly. It had the
word welcome written on it. The red color of the white cake seemed really bright, as if it was written with blood. I accepted the cake from her and said, that's so thoughtful of you. I am Mona Jones. Thank you for this kind gesture. We really appreciate it. She then stopped smiling and said, in an overpowering tone, of course you do, and left. Strangely, I locked the door and came back to the dinner table. I told my husband how weird she was. He laughed and said, it's okay, Mona.
People seem strange when you're a stranger to them too. I agreed with him and said she gave us this welcome gift and showed him the cake. My husband has always been a sweet tooth, so he seemed really happy to see it. After finishing our dinner, we decided to watch a movie and eat the homemade vanilla cake for dessert. But as I began to cut the first piece, a weird sound took place. It felt like the knife cracked something inside this cake. My husband was standing right after him,
and even he got surprised too. He took a fork and dig the cake to look what's inside. I might have vomited right at that moment, but somehow controlled myself. There were broken nails and hairstrands inside the cake. My husband said in disgust, what the fuck? How can someone send a cake like this to anyone? I was utterly disturbed and said, is she trying to prank us or something? My husband said, don't know, seems like you were right
about this woman's weirdness, Mona. We threw the cake immediately in the garbage bin. Since that night, a sense of suspicion started to grow in my mind about this woman. One day, my husband was at work, I was alone in the house. It was around five pm in the evening. The chili winter started to take over the town. I decided to head to the local store to get a bottle of wine and some other stuff to prepare for dinner. As I got ready and came outside, I noticed that
women walking towards me with the same creepy smile. I didn't pay any attention and started to lock the door. She came near the porch and said, hi, dear, looks like you're going out. Huh. I smiled carelessly and said yeah. She was standing there irrespective of the fact that I wasn't showing any interest in talking to her, She said, how do you like the cake deer. I was really surprised to see her audacity this time. I looked at her and said, will you please excuse me? I am
in a hurry. I was walking away just when she asked me for a completely unexpected question. She called my name and said, Mona, can I ask you something? I turned back and said, what is it, Miss Miller? She said, in the same squeaky voice, are you pregnant? Though I wasn't at the time, her question was very rude and extremely personal. I lost it finally and said, in a coarse voice, listen, miss Miller, I think you are crossing your limits now. We hardly know you and honestly have
no interest in being around you. It would be better if you just leave and mind your own business from now on. I saw her face turning red in anger. But then she spoke in a cold voice, you can't help but be around me, dear, after all, we are neighbors. Then she turned back and walked away. When my husband came from work, I told him about this entire incident. He was shocked to hear it too, but he called me down and said it will be better if we just avoid her from now on. A few days passed
away and we didn't see miss Miller. One night, I went to dump the garbage in the backyard. Our backyard was a small garden area. My husband planted some seasonal flowers along with some basic vegetables like cherry, tomato, and chili's in the garden. I was dumping the bean bag in the dumpster when my eyes got caught up at our fence. I saw a trail of ashes surrounding our fences from the outside. As I followed the fences, I discovered our entire house was marked with ashes into a
square from the outside. I was scared of seeing this suspicious marking of her house. My husband checked it too and said that someone might have done this. When we were asleep last night. I knew very well who could be that person. I wanted to confront our freak neighbor, but my husband stopped me. He said, Mona, we can't just accuse her without any proof, you know. He then washed the lines of ash with soap water and we finally went to bed. I couldn't sleep well the entire night.
I had nightmares and woke up cranky. The next morning, it was a Sunday. I went to the main door to pick up the milk bottle just when I noticed burnt out candles and essences were lying on our door mat I was fucking angry this time. I cleaned the entire area and came back in a very bad mood. I didn't say anything to my husband about this because I knew he will tell me the same thing. We were invited to lunch that day by a couple who lived beside our house. Gina and Charlie became our friends
in no time. They were really sweet and we kind of bonded. So it was the first time we were going to a neighborhood event. They invited others from our locality. We arrived at their place in the afternoon and saw a small gathering of people partying in their backyard. We were doing barbecues and drinking beer. Sam got mixed up with them immediately. I was sitting in a chair in the corner. I was a bit off that day. Gina came to me and handed me a bottle of beer.
She sat down beside me and said, what's wrong, Mona, you seem awfully quiet today. I smiled hesitantly and asked her, you didn't invite miss Miller. Gina's face turned really annoying hearing Miss Miller's name. She said, in an irritated voice. Everyone in this neighborhood avoids her. We all have good reasons for that. She is so creepy and weird. You know, when Charlie and I moved here for the first time, she suddenly came one night to greet us with her
welcome gift. Do you know what that old hag did, she said in an angry tone. I was surprised to hear that Miss Miller has approached Gina the same way she approached me. I said, in a curious tone. What. Gina replied, She gave us a pie. When I went to eat it, I found fallen teeth and some tiny animal bones inside it. Just think how shitty and fucking creepy it was. I told Gina about the cake Miss Miller gave me as a welcoming gift. Gina told me in a strict voice, Mona, you do not want to
talk to a person like that. You know what. The entire town calls her a witch. Some people even say she is into all the voodoo and black magic stuff, and she secretly watches people from her window. I have seen her peeking behind her window curtains many times. It's just better if you just avoid her. Gina's words scared me even more. After the party, I came back home and search on the internet about this black magic stuff. I read online that burning candles and incenses were actually
part of voodu ritch. I wanted to teach this woman a lesson, so I came up with a plan. One morning, I was sitting on my porch facing the streets when I saw Miss Miller leaving the house to buy groceries in her old red car. I noticed her going out only twice a week. I was waiting for that opportunity. As soon as she left, I went to her house and placed some burning candles and incenses on her doormat. I trapped the rat in her basement. I wanted to give this woman a taste of her own medicine. I
placed the dead rat on her footstep. I wanted to scare her just how she was scaring me, so I put some mashes around her house, making it seem like someone did black magic on her this time. After all of this, I went inside, locked my door and waited for her return. After an hour, I heard the car horn and realized that she has come back. I stood behind the living room window curtain and washed her silently. As soon as she came out of the car walked to her door, I heard her screaming like a maniac.
She was screaming at the top of her lungs, as if she had seen a ghost. But I never expected the matter to get out of hand. She screamed like this for a few moments and fainted on the ground. The next door neighbor called the paramedics and they took her to the hospital. My husband went to the hospital along with some other people from our locality. I was sweating like hell, thinking my little prank made her seriously sick. When my husband returned home. His face seemed very serious.
I asked him, in a scared voice, what is it, Sam, How is she now? Sam said, in a sad voice. She died of a heart attack. The doctors are saying she got surprised to see all those weird stuff at her door and couldn't handle the shock of it. I wonder who kept all that near her door? Sick jokes people play these days. I was out of words. I sat down on the couch nearby and said, in a shaken voice, Well, Gina told me she used to put
this weird stuff at people's doorstep. Someone wanted to stop her this time so that she learns a lesson, you know. Sam looked at me and said, come on, mona. Miss Miller is a fifty five year old woman. She is lonely and insane. Don't tell me you believe all this witch rumor about her. She lost her husband in a car accident and had no children of hers. She was not thinking right at all. I sat quietly for an hour. My husband thought I was just sad to know about
Miss Miller's sudden death. He consoled me and told me not to be upset. It's sad. But after all, she died of a heart attack. There's nothing that could have been done to save her. I like to think that my husband is right, but I still can't shake the feeling that her heart attack was caused by my stupid revenge idea. I don't know how her black magic and all that voodoo stuff was real or not, but I just wanted her to stay away from us. I didn't kill this woman on purpose. Do you think I did