The deafening silence that surrounded was broken occasionally by the rustling of dry leaves on trees when the sinister winds blew. A crescent moon hung in the sky behind ghostly glowing clouds. Pale moonlight faintly illuminated the gloomy territory marked here and there with broken and moss-covered tombstones, causing them to cast long, distorted shadows on the ground. A shrill cry of a black crow pierced the ominous dense fog that hung like a suffocating veil over the graves.
A forgotten narrow path seemed to beckon the weary traveller to trudge along on it, leading to a destination unknown. The eerie pathway enshrouded with overgrown ivy and wild creepers seemed to lure him like the stench of death allures the wild vultures to the carcass. An owl hooted from somewhere in the distance but was disregarded as the traveller, bewitched by the beauty of the night, entered the dark deep abyss.
The path lay before him, twisted like two knotted snakes. Cloaked by a canopy of the deadly belladonna the trail unwound itself as he kept walking slowly with leaden steps, drifting alone like a ghost. The only sound that his ears caught were those of the fallen leaves beneath his heavy feet and his hoarse raspy breath.
Though the pathway was as dark as a moonless night, he could vaguely make out fuzzy silhouettes of trees that ran parallel to the paved way. Suddenly at some distance before him, he saw a dull glow of a lighted lantern. Quickening his pace from walking slowly to running and stumbling, he tried to reach the source of the light, afraid that it might just burn out any moment. But what lay before him was something that left him awestruck.
A monstrously massive mansion reached up to the sky like a never ending tower. In a small garden with overgrown grass beside the house, stood swings that once were probably used by children to spend moments of joy now swinging and squeaking by themselves in the most haunted of ways. The traveller, afraid of being alone in the dark climbed up the wooden staircase that led to the verandah. The old hollow floorboards creaked under his weight. The walls were covered with dust and worn-out graffiti whereas the corners housed cobwebs and spiders. The mansion now abandoned and dilapidated, once was a grand establishment inhabited by happy and untroubled memories.
Hoping to find shelter inside, he walked towards the entrance door, put his cold hand around the dirty doorknob and turned it. The door opened with a groan. He stepped inside and it was before his eyes adjusted to the dark when it hit him. The malodour of rotten and decaying furniture. He saw that the huge house was as dingy inside as it was from the outside. It was nothing more than an unwelcoming pile of ramshackle bricks with remains of sofas every here and there, moth-eaten long curtains of velvet that covered the whole wall, broken marble staircases that seemed quite likely to collapse any moment, and ceilings covered with silver cobwebs and one large magnificent, but cracked chandelier hanging from it. In one corner of the hall stood an antique knight in an armour that would have been shining had it not been for the dust that had settled on it like burnt ash on the ground. It had seen times of joy when the hall used to house large ball dances where guests used to waltz to ballads and music. Mesmerised by the charm of the rundown place, he went inside just as the doors closed themselves behind him.
To somebody who could have been watching the weary traveller, it would have seemed like the house swallowed him just as the stormy sea swallows a sinking ship. The graves in the graveyard welcomed another searching soul.

© Anuj Jain