The Thanksgiving Revenge

 

 

The Thanksgiving Revenge

prologue

Sudden death never comes announced.

That was the last thought of Harry as he glanced at his feet. He was trying to shout, but his voice got buried totally as his mouth was stuffed with mud and dust, choking him. He was trying to get himself out of the claws of certain death, but there was nothing he could do except watch helplessly.

‘Mmmmmm….mmmmmmm.’ The muffled sound was the only thing that could come out of his throat while gagging him.

His eyes widened as his feet went under, followed by his abdomen.

Even lying down straight hasn't helped.

Ordinarily, in such kind of situations, sprawling down is the best option, but not this time. This time it was the end. Harry could feel the grip all around his body as bit by bit he was sucked away from the world.

And nobody would know.

His friends might never know what happened to him. He could still hear their laughter, Maggie's tender tone coming from just a little more than a hundred yards away. But he was unable to do anything, powerless to call for help.

And as he saw himself going down, he could only stare, until his eyes were also covered, and he went beneath the surface, never to surface again.

His fate was similar to many others who came here before him.

 

THANKSGIVING 

DAY 1

Six hours ago

 

'Wow, so this is your uncle's house?'

Harrison Hold stared at his girlfriend as he admired the house. The other three — Sam Trully, Doug Throd, and Gianna Feud noticed the residence with their jaws hung open as well. It was certainly not what they had expected.

'Well, this definitely doesn't look like a haunted house.' Sam confirmed as the others nodded their agreement.

Maggie Price, the fifth person in the team and the niece of the owner of this residence looked at her friends grinning as she concealed her eyes from the blazing sunlight. It was her idea to come here and spend this year's Thanksgiving here. The small town of Glasgow, Montana, is more than twelve hours away from Minneapolis, but she wanted to get away from the city for a few days with her boyfriend. Her uncle, Richard Price, was the owner of this place, though he vacated the house long back. As a scientist, he was called to Boston at Harvard University to work as a Lecturer and resident scientist, so Richard grabbed the opportunity with both hands, not looking back at the house. Maggie and her family had just heard that there was some kind of accident here, which made Richard keep this place under lock and key and leave as soon as he could.

It has already been a couple of years since Richard died in Boston.

Maggie's parents — Jamie and Tod, were given the keys to this house, but they never came here. In fact, this was Maggie's first time here as well.

The building was not too big, mimicking most of the other rural houses in any parts of the US. After crossing the gate, the lawn, and the narrow balcony, the brown wooden door to the house looked inviting. The whole area was big and square with probably an area of more than three thousand Square feet, with a lawn at the front, a single-story building in the middle, and a garden in the back hidden from view. The balcony was more than enough for the five of them to lounge with a beer in the evening.

'Yeah.' Harry said this time with a smile on his face and looked at his girlfriend, winking. 'Thanks, Maggie, for suggesting the place. It will be quite a few days during Thanksgiving.'

And they all sprinted inside the big house, leaving the parked Jeep in the garage.

The living room was big, covered with television on one side with the fireplace just below it. On the other side was the open kitchen, which seemed to have seen better days. The couch, the Jade statue in the left corner, and the mantle place all looked old and abandoned.

'There should be three bedrooms.' Maggie said as the others kept the luggage and foods in the room. 'Two on the left and one on the right.'

'We'll take the right one.' Her boyfriend said, his eyes glinting as Maggie lifted the curtains and let the afternoon sunlight enter the whole place.

 

#

 

'So, what's the story of this place?' Harry asked.

''Well.' Maggie shrugged as she tried to recall. 'This place is more than a hundred years old, belonging to some scientist in the early twentieth century, before World War I.'

'Wow.' Gianna said, looking amazed as she lounged on the lap of her boyfriend, Doug, both sipping the beer. 'That old, ha?'

'Yeah.' The nineteen-year-old said. 'I don't know much about the history of this place, just that Richard bought it from someone wanting to sell the place off. And my uncle wanted a peaceful place, away from the hustle of work.'

'Hmm, real charming guy.' Sam said as he and Harry did high five, under Maggie's disapproving look.

It was seven in the evening when they settled together for a beer and the Thanksgiving Dinner. With the whole of the year nearly ending and the threat of pandemic finally subsiding a bit, the five friends have decided to move away for these four days during Thanksgiving, spending time with each other away from everything. The cities everywhere were still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, and after being in their homes for nearly eight months, the teenagers just wanted to get away. When the discussion occurred, it was Maggie's idea to come here. It was as serene as it can get. There's supposed to be a lake nearby at the back of the house. The friends have decided to go there to catch fish tomorrow. After that, they would explore the area.

 The drizzle that fell outside made the climate serene. It was as if the world was cleansing itself, slowly.

Shhhhhhh..........Shhhhhhhhh.

It was after an hour or so that Harry went to the washroom, and he heard a sudden rustling sound along with the small dimming lights from the garden. And he went to that side, curious.

And he never came back.

 

DAY 2

 

'Where are you, Harry?' Maggie whispered as she moved through the fog.

'H-A-R-R-Y.' The voices of the other three people from three different sides of the woods could be heard. She couldn't see them due to visibility reduced to less than ten feet.

They awaited the whole night, but Harry never came back. He had gone to the washroom around 8:30 in the evening, and after that, nobody has seen him. Maggie wanted to check everywhere possible in the night itself, but the others thought maybe he was doing a prank. But a trick would never last for nearly 10-12 hours. So, they all came out in search of their friend as soon as the sun came up.

Maggie rubbed her palms together, blowing warm air into them as she moved forward. Dry leaves crunched under her feet as she tried to cut through the mist and go deeper into the woods.

They searched the lawn, the house, and the garden, but there seemed to be no trace of Harry anywhere. The bushes in the garden and the yard were not big enough to hide him, and even some parts of the Nursery were devoid of any vegetation. So, there was no place for him to hide.

To check if he had come to the woods and the lake at night, the four friends came up here.

But they returned to the house a couple of hours later, empty-handed. Even his cell phone was not responding.

'Where can he be?'

'No idea. I swear if Harry is playing a prank, he will get a hard beating from me.'

'Yeah, totally.'

Maggie was barely listening as the evening passed. It has been more than twenty-four hours since her boyfriend was missing, but unless they knew it was no prank, they couldn't even call the police or his parents.

Today, there was no rain outside, but the light breeze still brought chills to Maggie as she came out on the balcony to the garden.

'Please come back to me, Harry.' She whispered, looking at nothing in particular.

 

DAY 3

 

Shhhhhhhhhh.........Shhhhhhhhh.

Gianna and Doug were sleeping together in each other's arms when they heard the soft rustling sound outside. After searching in the woods and nearby places for the past two days, they were tired, as was Sam. While Sam slept in the other bedroom beside the one Maggie was sleeping alone, the couple tried to enjoy the night first.

But the tiredness overcame them quickly as they drifted off to sleep. So, waking up suddenly, Gianna was still groggy.

And then she heard it again. The strange swishing sound, from the back of the house, towards the garden.

It was sweet to the ears and attracted her like a magnet. She tore away the sheet covering her slender and slim body. Quickly, she donned the gown by her bedside and opened the door to the backside balcony that led to the garden.

'What......where are you going?' Doug was awoken by the sudden noise of the door opening and saw his girlfriend leaving the room.

'Gi....wait!'

But Gianna seemed to be in a trance, not listening to anything around her. She moved at a slow pace towards the balcony, followed by her perplexed boyfriend. And then he heard it too. The rustling sound was soothing to his ears. The drizzle that fell outside made the weather chilly, but both Doug and Gianna didn't feel the cold as they moved forward.

'Oh....what... What is happening?'

'I... I have no idea.'

It was a couple of minutes later that the couple came back to their senses. But by then, it was already too late.

They felt the tightness gripping them as they were sucked deeper underground. Both tried to throw the hands and legs, but the grip just toughened as they started to choke.

And as the night progressed, the two hapless humans were drowned, just like their friend before, never to see the light of the next day again.

 

DAY 4

 

'What the hell?' Sam asked. 'How do people keep on disappearing?'

'I... I have no idea.' Maggie said as she sniffed. 'I am scared now.'

'Don't worry, mam.' The Inspector said. 'We will find out soon enough.'

Once Sam and Maggie woke up in the morning on their last day of the vacation, they found out about two more of their friends were missing. For an hour or so, they probably thought Gianna and Doug were romancing outside, but once the day turned from morning to afternoon, and they didn't come back, there was nothing else to do. Maggie called the cops as time passed and told them about the disappearance of all the three people.

The team of cops searched the whole area up to the lake till the evening. But there was nothing. No trace of Harry, Doug, or Gianna at all.

'In the morning, our divers will check the lake itself.' The Inspector said before leaving as the rain started.

'We should leave as soon as the police go back tomorrow.' Sam said as he and Maggie were having dinner in her room. She was too afraid to come out of the room, so they decided to have the food in her bedroom. The pitter-patter sound of the rain was clear from here as well.

'Yes.' Maggie said as she sniffed.

'What could have happened to them?' Sam whispered to himself as Maggie looked at him.

'I have--'

Shhhhhhhhhh.........Shhhhhhhhh.

Her words never finished as they both heard the soothing rustling sound outside.

As Sam stood up to go outside, Maggie took her earphones and quickly donned them, following him. Abruptly her eyes blazed, anticipating something.

She quietly followed Sam as he moved slowly and opened the door to the balcony. He strode slowly towards the garden as if in a trance, as a light sound came from somewhere in the Nursery itself.

He moved one step at a time as Maggie stood on the balcony itself, a hint of a smile appearing on her face.

It was after a minute that he stopped and slowly began to sit on the ground in the middle of the garden. It was the same place where there were no trees or bushes. A light seemed to radiate from the mud there. The earth was dampened all around him as he sat---

Suddenly his eyes snapped open as he----

'What the hell?' He asked looking around him as his butt was swallowed by the dampened earth. 'What....what's happening? How am I here?'

'You are here because I brought you here.'

Sam looked around, and his eyes fell on Maggie, who just stood there with her earphones covering her ears.

What is she doing there?

'The earth here is sucking you in, Sam.' Maggie said as a sneer appeared on her beautiful face. Her eyes sparkled with fire as she bared her teeth.

'What are you...you doing? Save me, save me please.' Sam said as he tried to break free from the veracious grip of the dampen earth all around him. Instead, he fell on his back, as the whole mud around him covered his legs and arms.

'NO.' Maggie shouted. 'You should have known that I will never spare you.'

'What are you talking about?' Sam felt the mud around his neck as he spoke.

'Oh. You forgot, isn't it? But I will never forget that night.' Maggie sneered as she watched Sam drowning slowly within the earth. 'My first prom night in the college. And you drugged me, you asshole. I may not have been in my full senses, but I was aware of you, Doug, and Harry raping me, one by one. And Gianna was the one who asked me to drink that Vodka.

I knew you were all in it together. And I planned my revenge on you all. It took me time, but at last, I found out the perfect way to take my revenge. I found the diary of my uncle last year. He has written all about this particular piece of earth in the garden. This house belonged to Dr. Alfred Newtown, one of the leading scientists during World War I. He had experimented on different kinds of quicksand and earth, and this was the result.

He intended to use it as a weapon at first, but Newtown died of a heart attack before showing it to the authorities. Richard came to know about this after he brought the house and his assistant lost her life there. My uncle found the hidden diary of Newtown in this house and got all the details. He left this house, never to come back again.

But this information helped me to get my revenge.'

'You bitch.' Sam said, as nearly the whole of his body was swallowed by the mud. 'You knew how Harry, Doug, and Gianna vanished but----'

He never finished his words. The mud made its way inside his mouth as he started to choke. His eyes widened while his face reddened, trying to suck air while his nose filled with the earth.

'Bl....bllllb.' A soft gurgling sound came from his mouth as he was submerged gradually inside the earth.

Maggie stood there for a couple of minutes more and then sighed.

She hadn't told Sam the entire thing. She left out the part that this mud got only activated by the water. The rain on the first night, the third night, and tonight was the reason the sucking in happened.

'But there was no need to tell this information to that asshole.' She said to herself as she came into the bedroom and put her headphones on the table.

Serves them right.

 

 

Angandeep Kr Chatterjee

                         

 

Angandeep Kr Chatterjee is an IT Engineer, working out in Kolkata, India, in a software company. He stays with his family there and works on his passion – writing. He was raised among stories of different kinds and cannot sleep without reading a good book at night. He has been part of the Indian storytelling contest, Inspitale, the 2020 TU-Dublin-Short-Story-Competition. His short stories have been part of other magazines and journals. His hobby and passion are to read and write books on various genres including literary, commercial, and historical fiction, fantasy, etc. His work in progress includes a historical treasure hunt and a fantasy novel. Some of his favourite authors are - Matthew Reilly, Andy Mcdermott, Dan Brown, Alex Scarrow, etc.