Short Stories Before Bed (Horror)
Khairul The Taleawan
The sheets of the night sky are met by a deep gray, where the dim light of the afternoon sun incarnates into a gripping darkness. Amidst the sound of a biting wind rushing about, a rapidly fading building appeared among the dead trees. The once lush and green vegetation, now only a helpless body awaited its betrayal by time.
No one knows where the building came from, what its purpose was, or who once inhabited the place. Even the surrounding villagers thought of it as a ghost story that was nothing more than a sinister legend. However, there was one old village that felt attracted to their ancestors, who said the building had its own story.
That said, decades ago, there was a great battle between two groups of people in this area. Each group tried to seize fertile and profitable agricultural land. The battle left deep scars on the ground as well as in the hearts of the locals. According to the story, no one survived that brutal battle. Everyone was scattered to the point of no use, while only the building remained standing as a silent witness of the tragedy.
These myths begin to captivate Khairul, a local sagaawan who is always looking for new stories to write. He felt there was something interesting behind the tragic incident, and made the building as a source of inspiration for the horror stories it brought. Every night, Khairul sits under the candlelight, letting his imagination flourish with the shadows of the past.
One night, while Khairul was awake under the twilight sky, he noticed something unexpected. Light faintly emitted from the windows of the old building, as a sign that there was still life inside. Interested and curious, Khairul knelt before the main door, hoping that the owner would come out.
However, in the silence of that night, only the sound of the wind answered. Without hesitation, Khairul stepped into the cruel building, crossing the doorway that had been weathered by time. Wood chips stung his legs, giving a rough reminder of a dark past.
As Khairul approaches the back room, he is shocked by his latest discovery. There is a fairly large room with a table full of strange writings and mystical symbols. On the wall, there are creepy pictures, telling the horrors of the ancient battle. Khairul was fascinated by the detail and ambition of the artist who composed the story with those images.
However, when Khairul tried to shoot the pictures with a hand camera, he never got the expected results. Every time he saw the photo he took, the blur of the silhouette of a deadly fight.
Khairul knows that there are entities that do not want to be released and haunt this building. And if he wants to unlock the stories buried within, he must confront the dark and evil spirits.
With unsatisfied courage and curiosity, Khairul decides to explore the dark story behind this battle, letting the story lead him to a deeper understanding of the power that lies behind the world that only certain people can see.
Until now, Khairul is still obsessed with the mystery of the building. He continued to write, looking for answers between the folds of the historical record to the moans of ghosts passing by at night. Because only in that never-ending quest does Khairul feel he will find a true story that will thrill the world.
