The Mask
This is the story of a 15 year old boy named Harry who was living peacefully with his family. He belonged to a very rich family and was the only son of his parents. He was having all the comforts and luxuries one could dream of and he was very close to his parents. His room was decorated and there were shelves for keeping his favorite books and novels. He had some unique collection of horror stories and discarded novels which he bought from the market. Making new friends was his second favorite thing to do. Life was so smooth for him that he never faced any hardship and never thought of it either.
Everything was balanced and in his favor until an unexpected incident took place. One night changed his life completely and it was a terrible one. That night his parents went outside the city for some business meeting. Suddenly while driving through the town a strange woman came in front of their car out of nowhere. They lost control and the car hit the bus. The accident was so cruel that the both died on the spot. The news of their death came like a nightmare to Harry.
Harry was left all alone after the death of his parents. His life shattered badly and he had no other option left except to shift with his aunt and uncle who lived in another town. His aunt and uncle were very humble and sweet. They had no child of their own and were really happy to raise Harry as their own son. Harry was in a sorrowful state and had no other choice rather than accepting his fate and to go with them. Harry’s aunt and uncle were very poor and lived in a small town. They had a small house and it was hard for them to meet both ends. Their house was in a secluded place in the middle of nowhere. This thing really bothered Harry as he could not see any neighbouring house for miles. This thing made him even more sad and he started to feel lonely. Despite being with his relatives he used to miss his dead parents. His aunt and uncle were very nice and caring towards him. They were doing their best to comfort Harry and didn’t want to see him going through all this pain. Gradually Harry started to fell much better there and was settling down. His smile started to reappear again and he came very close to his aunt and uncle. At times he still used to miss his parents very much and he could do nothing about that. He has to accept his fate now and move on with his life. He felt as if he was mere a character from a horror story he used to read.
One night while Harry was sleeping, he woke up to something strange that shook his soul. He saw a creepy face of some woman at the window outside. He rushed towards the window after a blink of a second but there was no-one. A chill of horror flushed through his body and he could not sleep the whole night. On the very next morning he told about this happening to his aunt and uncle but none of them believed him.
“Look Harry, it’s a very safe place and we have been living here since ages. It must be your nightmare and it is due to reading horror books online”. His aunt added
“Auntie I’m sure that there was someone at the window.” Harry responded.
“You are just overthinking about it. Just stay calm and forget about it.” His aunt said
“Okay!”, Harry nodded in a yes
Harry was sure about the incident that happened with him last night but he was unable to convince his aunt and uncle. On the very next night when Harry was sleeping, he heard someone walking in his room. He could see nothing as the room was dark.
“Auntie is that you over there?” Harry asked
But there was no response. He finally gathered up some courage to turn the lamp on and saw a bloody face woman. He started shouting and became unconscious.
“Harry! Harry! What happened my dear son?” His aunt was standing right in front of his bed.
“There was that woman.” Harry said
“Woman! Which woman?” His aunt asked
“The same creepy faced woman that I saw the other night. She was standing right over there and was making creepy sounds. Auntie she would kill me for sure. Please help me.” Harry started crying like a baby
“Oh my gosh! Harry you are a mature being now. These kinds of beliefs don’t suit you anymore. Go get some shower and I’ll prepare a breakfast for you.” His aunt said
“Why don’t you believe me? I’m not lying to you, trust me for god sake.” Harry was frightened
Now his uncle and aunt started to worry about Harry’s condition. They were very happy to see Harry coming back to his normal state but now he seemed to be more miserable than before. For next few nights Harry could not sleep at all and he was even afraid to close his eyes. This thing was also affecting his health and he didn’t talked or behaved the way he used to. His uncle and aunt could not see his health deteriorating like that. They felt as if they were losing their own child and when there was nothing else that could be done, they decided to go for a good Psychiatrist.
After certain physical tests he was called for an examination in the room. There was a 23 years old girl sitting on the bench in a well suited medical suit with a stethoscope.
“Hi Harry, hope you are doing fine. So tell me about all the happenings from the very beginning. Your aunt and uncle told me that you have been living with them. Where are your actual parents?” The psychiatrist asked.
“They are no more in this world. They met and accident recently and they both died.” Harry told her
“And now you are having illusions of them?” She said
“I’m not having any illusions. I’ve seen someone in my room and that was not something normal. It was a weird faced old lady that tried to kill me and no-one is ready to believe me. My aunt believe that I’ve gone mad but that’s not actually true and nor I’m in any state of shock anymore.” Harry added
“Well Harry that’s quite normal. It used to happen with me as well quite a long time ago. I’m prescribing a few medicines and try to calm yourself as soon as possible. You will be alright soon.” She said
After examination, the Psychiatrist told Harry’s aunt that Harry is suffering from severe mental trauma and the reason is his parent’s sudden death. This thing has affected him mentally and emotionally that he has developed Schizophrenia, a condition which is causing him to see things which aren’t real. He prescribed Harry some medicines and told them that he should take these medicines regularly otherwise his condition could become even more worse. His aunt and uncle started to take care of Harry even more than ever. They made sure that he take his medicines regularly but despite all these efforts Harry’s condition was not improving much.
One night his aunt felt ill and his uncle had to rush her to the hospital in emergency. Harry was asleep and his uncle did not want to wake him up because he was afraid that he might not fall back to sleep easily. He locked him in the house alone and drove to the nearby city’s hospital. Harry heard the car leaving and woke up.
“Auntie! Uncle”! Harry started calling them.
Soon he realized that he was all alone in the house and that was enough to make him paranoid. Thought of all the Horror stories swept across him. He knew that any minute that woman would appear from the dark and there will be no-one to save his life tonight, this might be his end. Anxiety hit him so hard that he started to search for his pills to feel relaxed. He gathered up enough courage to get up from his bed and turn the lights on. After searching for few minutes he could not find anything in his room. He assumed that his aunt must have kept the pills in her room. He ran towards her bedroom and started searching for his pills but he could not see them anywhere. He searched for the pills on the shelves, the side table and behind the curtains but found nothing. He opened the cupboard and found a strange, weird shaped mask over there.
That night Harry found out that his aunt and uncle were behind all these happenings. Their plan was to drive him insane and send him to an asylum so that they can get all the wealth Harry’s parents had left for him. They would have succeeded even if Harry hadn’t found that mask that night. After that Harry left that house, called the police for help and his greedy aunt and uncle finally got what they deserved, The jail room.
