It all started when a nearby town started reporting strange cases of death consecutively. They claimed they hear unusual noises at night and definitely not from animals. The residents also claimed that someone from their area saw a mysterious strange lady in a black wedding outfit crying near a river. After which he was never heard of again.
‘Now these unverified complaints are getting worse by the day and some of which are really quite puzzling’ I thought to myself as I sat in our car. “Knock knock” the sound came from my windshield. I raised my head and It was Bethany. I winded down and asked her what news she had for me. Bethany was my colleague. She said to me “Order just came in from above and we have been posted to the infested town to report on the odd happenings Pete. Mind you, this mission is unlike the others. There is possibility of negative energy involved”. ‘Noted. Why don’t you fetch the others and we move ASAP?’ I told Bethany. Bethany, Josh, Mike and I made up the team. Josh became the team leader after we lost Chris on our last mission, one of the deadliest rescue missions we’ve ever gone. We embark on dangerous explorations or investigation missions and report for further actions and we do it all for money. You can call us The Watch Dogs.
To the story…
We packed all the necessary amenities we needed and left for the investigations in our vehicle. It was a Toyota 4×4, so it contained us comfortably. We chatted as we journeyed pass the tall trees. We soon arrived at the town but our car stopped halfway because the engine had already heated up. “We’ve arrived already?” Mike asked. “Yes we have mike” Bethany replied to his silly question sarcastically. Josh suggested we push the car to a building by the roadside, that it’d be safer there. We pushed and managed to entrust the car into a man’s care there. He did seem worthy of our trust. ‘Guys, I think we should unload and move, we don’t have all day you know’ I said to the team as I clapped my hands to emphasize. We unloaded and preceded into the town on foot. We chatted on our return along the way and how we would also spend our paid money. It was getting darker. Seeing our path became a difficult task. The crows began making weird noises as we routed into the forests. It was as if they were warning us of something ahead but we turned deaf ears to them. Others lit their touches as source of light but I clinged unto my night vision goggles. The goggles were so accurate you could see a strand of hair if you were to hold it to the objection lens. We continued walking until we came to a halt as per the command of the team leader. “How about we spend the night there guys, then we move at dawn” Josh said as he pointed to an old house. “But there isn’t anything there Josh” I said zooming in to where he was pointing. “Take off the goggles would you?” Mike said. I took them off and there it was. It was weird because I knew I remembered replacing the batteries that day. So we started walking towards the house. I reached for the town’s map in my bag pack to check for the house but to my surprise, the old house was a mere path of grasses on the map. “Is this map updated Josh?” I asked. Well… the map was updated obviously. “Who goes on exploration or investigation with an outdated map?” Josh replied. I was starting to get uncomfortable with the idea of staying in that house. And never for once had I doubted the presence of negative energies in such place too. ‘Guys, I have a bad feeling about going to this place, besides don’t you see the turnouts of staying in houses like that?’ I said to them. “Josh?, you know he might be right though”. “Come on Bethany don’t be a scared little baby too”.
We arrived at the house and there were these beautiful flower trees in locally made clay pots arranged at of the entrance and around the house. Each flower tree grew in its own unique weird pattern. I hesitated at the entrance while the others went in as if the building was reserved for their comings. The flowers were still fresh even without care. ‘Who takes care of these flowers?’ I asked rhetorically. “I DOOO” a falling voice replied from behind. I turned quickly to see who answered but no one was there. I quickly walked into the building to meet up with the others. I went in, dropped my bag pack and joined the boys in the basement to restore power to the house. From the main building, Bethany exclaimed “Power is back! Good job guys!!”. Josh and Mike went up, but I delayed when I saw a large cracked hole in a wall, enough to feed a human in it. ‘The house is old so it’s obvious’ I thought to myself. I went up and we had dinner. The others chatted as I checked in the rooms trying to find any odds. I later found myself in their toilet. I bent to the sink to wash my face, only to rise from the sink tap and see “WELCOME TO YOUR ENDS’’ written on the mirror in spooky font and it was inked with blood too. I ran out to alert the others, but only Bethany bothered to come and see. “But there is nothing here Peter” Bethany said. I looked at the mirror and once again it was empty, reflecting only the image casted on it. “But believe me Peter, I saw some creepy writings down the corridor too” Bethany said. I asked, ‘like what?’ “Like the word RE…” Bethany was saying when a loud scream interrupted our conversation. We ran out to check where it came from. ‘You go check the rooms while I check outside… okay?’ I said to Bethany. “Okay Peter” she replied. I ran outside searching, only to see that another clay pot has been added to the preexisting ones. It was already growing, having its own distinct weird shape too. ‘What is going on here’ I asked myself. “Over here guys” Mike shouted. I ran into the building to the backyard only to see Josh without his head and his abdomen torn wide open. ‘What happened? Who did this to him? I know we shouldn’t have come here at first!’ I said breathing heavily. “I DIDD” a breaking and irritating voice pierced the air from behind. We immediately turned to see who it was. We saw a woman with distinct features. She was so tall and she wore a tattered black wedding gown as recognized by one of the town resident earlier. She also wore a torn black translucent veil which showed her extremely white face, a long crooked nose, dark eyes and lips. Her feet wasn’t visible. She looked like VALAK from the movie THE NUN, only difference was the outfit and the feet.
To the story…
‘Bro she doesn’t have shadow even under the bright light! I think she is dead, like from the horror movies’ I said. She made a growling sound and began swaying after us haphazardly without her feet In contact to the ground. “She is a dead bride guys!” Mike yelled. We scattered and ran amidst the woods seeking for safety from our worst nightmares. I ran as fast as I could, didn’t thought of what was up ahead. Along the way, I found a big tree and hid in front of it, panting like my lungs were going to burst right out of my chest. God! That bride was so scary and we left our bag packs back in the house, even though I knew shooting a dead thing will not in anyway ease the situation. I started hearing sounds of running footsteps. I peeped and I saw Mike running towards my direction. I knew she was behind him. I began running until we ran together.
Further into the woods, we found a small hole in between some rocks and stuffed ourselves in it, thinking the terrifying bride or the horror might go away. We prayed she shouldn’t find us as we held our lips as tight as possible so we wouldn’t produce any sound that will lead her to us. Suddenly we heard her disturbing voice, “I SEE YOOU!… HAHAHA”. It sounded as if she was going away. Then silence resided for some time. Mike felt relaxed and released his hand from his mouth. “I think she is g…?” Mike was saying as she immediately drew him up by his head with her inevitably disgusting digits. “Miiike” I screamed as tears clouded my sight. I was so scared. I couldn’t think of anything positive ‘Is this really where my life comes to a full stop too? What do I do now?’ I thought to myself. Something then hit me saying ‘If you don’t run now, you will also end up as a tasty meal to her table’ My legs were already ready to go again as I felt more adrenaline pumping into my veins. I ran back in the direction of the haunted house. I turned and I saw her burrow her way into Mike’s stomach and intestines brutally with her teeth as he screamed to death. She was a coldblooded killer. She then beheaded Mike quickly with her dirty, crooked dagger. When I saw it, I just knew she did the same to Josh. She held Mike’s head under her armpit like a talking drum dripping blood and began running after me. She was fast approaching and I couldn’t run anymore, I shouted but I couldn’t even hear myself. Until Bethany came to my rescue with a torch, using the flame to scare the evil bride as she bought time for me to enter the building. “Get in Pete!! … quickly!” Bethany shouted as she dropped the torch which ignited the ground, making a ring of fire around the house premises. The bride screamed so hard that the remaining windows that had their glasses intact shattered into thousand pieces. “The fire can’t hold her for long, we need to act or we are all dead meats” Bethany said as she walked to the basement”. ‘What do we do? and why is she is after our lives?’ I asked Bethany while I followed her behind but she replied “Help me look for a dead body”. ‘A what?’ I said as I paused confused. Bethany turned to look at me as she said “Mercy was a horticulturist back then. Her husband left her later in the day after their wedding ceremony to attend to some police work but she was murdered that night in this house by some random drug guys whom her husband had once put behind bars. Her dead body was never found. Others said that she had gone missing while others said she drowned herself in the nearby river because she couldn’t tolerate what her husband did. Do you remember when I told you about the Revenge word I saw down the corridor?” Bethany said. ‘Yes! So that means she came back to seek revenge on her killers. But we are not her killers’ I said. “Yes. But we were trying to stop her from seeking revenge. That’s why she wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate us in her path. That explained why I couldn’t see the house with my goggles and why it wasn’t on the map either. ‘But how comes you know all about this stuff Bethany?’ I asked. Bethany replied “When she ran after you guys into the forest, I ran back into the house for safety. I was able to get some information about her. ‘I think I know what we are looking for.’ I said as I ran to the large cracked hole I saw earlier with Josh and Mike. I inserted my hands into the hole and I felt something. It was so strong and heavy so I asked Bethany for an extra hand. We managed to pull it out. It was a decayed dead body in a regular white wedding gown but dirty due to the environment. It was definitely Mercy. ‘So what do we do now?’ I asked. “We bury her Pete. So she will find peace” Bethany replied. ‘Okay! Follow me with those shovels while I carry her body’ I said to Bethany. We walked out of the house and we could see the Mercy in black wedding gown making all possible attempts to break in. I wondered if she felt her body moved out. She made all sorts of weird sounds as we dug the earth quickly. Some sounded like an animal in distress. The fire began to go dull. We dug faster but the bride swayed over the dull fire and grabbed Bethany by her neck. She pinned her to the wall and unfurled her disgusting tongue trying to lick her face off her head. I was done digging so I dropped the shovel and went for the body trying to roll it into the grave. She turned her neck like an owl and saw me as I completely rolled her body into the grave. She immediately released Bethany and came for me. I ran into the forest to get her away from Bethany so she would fill up the grave with earth. She caught me by my leg and I fell on my face. Afraid, I slowly turned, only to see a terrifying face smiling over mine. “GOTCHAA!!” she said. She then whispered to me “I AM GOING TO PLANT YOUR HEAD IN MY CLAY POT. THEN YOU WILL GERMINATE AS A BEAUTIFUL FLOWERRH… TAKING THE PATTERN OF THE YOUR DEATHH! YOU WILL MAKE A BEAUTIFUL PLANT COLLECTION TOO. I froze in terror as I listened. ‘Will Bethany be able to do it?’ I thought to myself. Probably my last thought too I thought. She brought out her dagger to behead me when suddenly, her hand holding the dagger began fading away. Then her abdominal region, then the other hand, then her legs, then her thoracic region. She screamed in agony, as her head faded into thin air too. ‘I knew she had done it. Bethany to the rescue yet again’ I said as took deep breaths.

Written by,
Ayuba Muhammad Mailafiya,
Kaduna State University, KASU Nigeria.