The big, two storey house stood close to the roadside. It looked rather old and rundown, but good enough for shelter from the sun and rain, I thought. It had been painted blue, not light blue, not dark blue, but pale blue, pale like a corpse's face. A concrete wall, just as old surrounded its grounds. Outside, at least there was the excitement of discovery. The moment I stepped inside the house, however, everything seemed depressing. The rooms, while clean, were all dampness and gloom. And though the windows were open, very little of the warmth and the bustle from outside, filtered through, as though there was something preventing their entry. Still, I could not resist the cheap rental proclaimed by the sign at the door, and immediately decided to rent it for my family, at least as a temporary accommodation until we found a more suitable place. It was about three miles from town. There were other houses nearby, the closest being within hail. The house lacked quite a few things, including electricity, although there was piped water. But that did not discourage me for it offered big rooms and spacious areas, just what I wanted for the family.
Saodah, my wife, did not share my enthusiasm, though. 'Yes, the house is spacious and I like that. But the interior is so depressing, as if something tragic had happened here.' 'Oh, come on. That doesn't really matter, does it?' I replied, trying to win her to my side. 'The rent's cheap and for such a big place too. Safiah and Dahlia will not have to play outdoors all the time. And you'll have more space to yourself.' Safiah, eleven, and Dahlia, ten are our two daughters. We moved into the blue house a few days later. With us came two cats which we had kept for some years. These were not mere pets. They were the darlings of our two girls.
The first thing which puzzled me upon moving in was that, from the moment the cats were let free in the house, they rarely kept away from us. They were always mewing and casting terrified, side long glances about, and their bodies were trembling. They would run after us to keep pace with us as we went from one room to another, as if afraid to be left alone. And that constant mewing and the terrified looks... it seemed as though some fearsome but invisible thing was scaring the wits out of them. it did not bother me at first. I thought their strange behaviour must somehow have to do with being suddenly thrown into a new environment. But when we had stayed there for three days and the two cats were still like that, I began to get quite concerned. I did not talk about it with Saodah or the kids, though. Everything else was fine in the house until one night about two weeks after we had moved in. I was not sure what time it was, but I was jerked out of sleep by the loud cries of our two cats just outside the bedroom and what sounded like a heavy barrel being rolled on the floor. I leaped out of bed, quite certain that it was a burglar. I checked the corridor outside the bedroom but it was deserted. In the moonlight that shone through the window, I could see no one around. And yet the sound of a heavy barrel rolling on the floor and down the flight of stairs was clear in my ears. Moments later, from the kitchen, I heard the crashing of our crockery as if that barrel had brought them all down. Saodah and I, lamp in hand, ran down expecting to see the plates, bowls, cups and saucers we had just bought that day in smithereens. But we were surprised to find the kitchen in the same state as we left it before going to bed.
Saodah and I looked at each other, and it was clear both of us shared the same thoughts. We sped headlong back to our room, jumped into bed and pulled the blanket completely over our heads. We were shivering uncontrollably, like someone stricken by malaria, and were beading cold sweat. All night long, we did not dare close our eyes to sleep, so terrified we were by that inexplicable incident. And we let the bedroom lamp shine to its full brightness right until daybreak. The next morning, I asked Safiah and Dahlia if they had heard any strange noises during the night. Both said no, and I related the incident to them. I spent the rest of the day trying to calm Saodah's nerves. She was horror stricken and was begging me to let us move out of the place.
'I'm scared, dear,' she pleaded while the two of us were in the kitchen. 'That thing, whatever it is, might harm our kids next. This whole place is haunted, I tel you!' 'Humbug!' I said, confidently dismissing her fears. 'This is the twentieth century, there are no ghosts anymore. Don't you believe all those nonsense. Just be a little patient. Give it some time. We've been here for only two weeks; we can't be moving out at the lightest problem, for every irrational reason. Let's wait and see how things go. Then, if you really cannot stand it, we'll move out.' God alone knew the way I felt when I said those words, for I was no less terrified than her. Two days later, Safiah and Dahlia told me they caught a stench on their way to the kitchen. 'Smelled like a dead animal, dad,'They explained. 'Perhaps your mother forgot to dispose of the gut she cleaned out of the fish this morning,' I said. They said the stench came from under the flight of stairs, and when I went there, it was just like they described. But hard as I tried, I could not trace what gave the smell.
The evening after, I was alone on my way to the kitchen when I found the stench still lingering. Unable to take it anymore, I decided to open the nearby window to let in some fresh air. I thought, maybe then the smell would go away. I was standing by the window sipping the cool breeze coming in, when suddenly there came a strange noise from behind me. I turned, and was immediately petrified with shock, for over there, flying from one corner of the kitchen to the front door, was a huge, black shadow. It sailed straight through and out the door. Well, just like two days ago, I went speeding like a bullet to my bedroom, where Saodah and two girls were chatting. They jumped up screaming when I burst in. I threw myself onto the bed and buried my face under the blanket. It took some time before the shock wore off, before I could relate to them what I had witnessed. But, just to assure them, I said, 'It's probably nothing. I guess I was just seeing things.'
Another strange incident took place the following evening. As had been my habit, I sat down to read the newspapers after dinner. I was engrossed in my reading when I felt a sudden gust of cold wind blowing into the room. I lifted my head and saw the door open. I thought it was shut when I last saw it! Puzzled, I got up and closed the door. Hardly had I returned to my seat when I felt the cold wind blowing again. I turned to look, and the door was again open. Who did that? It was beginning to get on my nerves. I made for the door again, but had taken just a few steps when, out of the blue, came the same stench that had been lingering around the flight of stairs to the kitchen. The stench seemed to be coming from somewhere near the door. I looked, and saw nothing, and yet I could sense it. Something, some... thing... was there... watching. And then I saw it. A fleeting, hazy apparition. A lifeless human form. It appeared in a flash, and went away as suddenly as it came. Leaving that stench, that sick smell that reminded me of death, I opened the window, and the smell seemed to disappear that way. I did not tell my wife and children about this.
One afternoon days later, Safiah and Dahlia went out to play in the yard. Our two cats, not willing to be left out, ran about them trying to catch a ball the two girls were tossing each other. Then Safiah threw the ball wide, sending it into some undergrowth along the wall. Blackie, one of the two cats, plunged in after it, but gave a shrill cry a split second later, and jumped out and fled into the house like a frightened mouse. And before Safiah and Dahlia could even figure out what was happening, out came their ball like a cannon shot from the bushes, to land at their feet. It was as if someone had hurled it out. Who it was, the girls decided they would rather not know. Following that incident, Blackie fell ill. He spent three days sprawled in my bedroom, eating nothing, drinking nothing, refusing all our attempts to feed him. Then he died, plunging the whole family into sorrow. For more than a week afterwards, nothing out of the ordinary happened, although we did occasionally catch that horrible smell again. Then one afternoon, as our two girls were taking a walk in the grounds, they suddenly sensed something trailing them, something they could not see. That scared them so much, they stopped and hastened right back into the house. That very night, Safiah came down with fever and turned delirious. We summoned a doctor, but despite his able attempts, the fever did not abate.
Saodah start nagging me all over again to get out of the place, because she could not stand living there any longer after all these strange and frightening incidents. I stuck to my decision not to move out, if only because it would be very difficult to find another place to live. But I also asked for her patience, at least until I found another accommodation. I spent that night alone in my bedroom. Saodah slept in the children's room as Safiah was still sick. As I lay in bed, each chilling encounter we had had ever since moving into the blue house came flashing before my eyes. I had no idea when I finally dozed off, but I had a horrible nightmare that jolted me out of slumber, screaming. I got up, sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes scanning the room left and right, my ears straining to detect any unusual sound. I shivered all over, the hair on my body standing on end. On my right, close by, stood the rather dim bedroom light. The door was closed and the windows were shut. My eyes wandered around the room until they fell on the curtain over the door... it seemed to bulge, as though blown by wind from the outside. Or is there somebody, or something, lurking behind? Then, slowly, the curtain moved, as if the thing behind it, whatever it was, was coming towards me. I expected the worst, but by then, there was nothing more I could do. I tried to scream, but no sound emerged; I tried to flee, but my whole body had gone limp. I could not even lift my hands to cover my eyes.
And then the thing revealed itself. Before my very eyes stood a most terrifying being, huge body, huge head, in horrible nakedness except for a strange glow that surrounded it. The face was that of a decomposed corpse. Indeed, its torso was not even intact, just a massive skeleton with remnants of flesh dangling from various bones. Its lips were gone, leaving a mouth with a ghastly grin that revealed long, saber like teeth. And those eyes, green and penetrating, were staring straight at me. Its hands reached for my throat, and it drew closer and closer and closer, until... everything turned black. When I came to, the room was in darkness. I dared not leave the bed and just lay there in terror, protected by my blanket until morning came. I did not tell Saodah what happened. But then, it appeared I did not to. Somehow she knew. Somehow she could read it on my face. She simply started packing up our clothes and things.
'Well,' I said, 'I think we've had enough. Let's get out of here. I cannot stand this place anymore.' Much later, I managed to dig out the history of the site on which the blue house was built on. I learnt that it was a detention centre during the Japanese Occupation. The Kempeitai sent many of its victims to death by torture there. Then, just before they surrendered, the detention centre was set on fire, and that took several more lives, detainees alike. Some said it was the anti-Japanese guerrillas who did it. Safiah recovered from her illness a few days after we moved out of the blue house.
'I'm scared, dear,' she pleaded while the two of us were in the kitchen. 'That thing, whatever it is, might harm our kids next. This whole place is haunted, I tel you!' 'Humbug!' I said, confidently dismissing her fears. 'This is the twentieth century, there are no ghosts anymore. Don't you believe all those nonsense. Just be a little patient. Give it some time. We've been here for only two weeks; we can't be moving out at the lightest problem, for every irrational reason. Let's wait and see how things go. Then, if you really cannot stand it, we'll move out.' God alone knew the way I felt when I said those words, for I was no less terrified than her. Two days later, Safiah and Dahlia told me they caught a stench on their way to the kitchen. 'Smelled like a dead animal, dad,'They explained. 'Perhaps your mother forgot to dispose of the gut she cleaned out of the fish this morning,' I said. They said the stench came from under the flight of stairs, and when I went there, it was just like they described. But hard as I tried, I could not trace what gave the smell.
The evening after, I was alone on my way to the kitchen when I found the stench still lingering. Unable to take it anymore, I decided to open the nearby window to let in some fresh air. I thought, maybe then the smell would go away. I was standing by the window sipping the cool breeze coming in, when suddenly there came a strange noise from behind me. I turned, and was immediately petrified with shock, for over there, flying from one corner of the kitchen to the front door, was a huge, black shadow. It sailed straight through and out the door. Well, just like two days ago, I went speeding like a bullet to my bedroom, where Saodah and two girls were chatting. They jumped up screaming when I burst in. I threw myself onto the bed and buried my face under the blanket. It took some time before the shock wore off, before I could relate to them what I had witnessed. But, just to assure them, I said, 'It's probably nothing. I guess I was just seeing things.'
Another strange incident took place the following evening. As had been my habit, I sat down to read the newspapers after dinner. I was engrossed in my reading when I felt a sudden gust of cold wind blowing into the room. I lifted my head and saw the door open. I thought it was shut when I last saw it! Puzzled, I got up and closed the door. Hardly had I returned to my seat when I felt the cold wind blowing again. I turned to look, and the door was again open. Who did that? It was beginning to get on my nerves. I made for the door again, but had taken just a few steps when, out of the blue, came the same stench that had been lingering around the flight of stairs to the kitchen. The stench seemed to be coming from somewhere near the door. I looked, and saw nothing, and yet I could sense it. Something, some... thing... was there... watching. And then I saw it. A fleeting, hazy apparition. A lifeless human form. It appeared in a flash, and went away as suddenly as it came. Leaving that stench, that sick smell that reminded me of death, I opened the window, and the smell seemed to disappear that way. I did not tell my wife and children about this.
One afternoon days later, Safiah and Dahlia went out to play in the yard. Our two cats, not willing to be left out, ran about them trying to catch a ball the two girls were tossing each other. Then Safiah threw the ball wide, sending it into some undergrowth along the wall. Blackie, one of the two cats, plunged in after it, but gave a shrill cry a split second later, and jumped out and fled into the house like a frightened mouse. And before Safiah and Dahlia could even figure out what was happening, out came their ball like a cannon shot from the bushes, to land at their feet. It was as if someone had hurled it out. Who it was, the girls decided they would rather not know. Following that incident, Blackie fell ill. He spent three days sprawled in my bedroom, eating nothing, drinking nothing, refusing all our attempts to feed him. Then he died, plunging the whole family into sorrow. For more than a week afterwards, nothing out of the ordinary happened, although we did occasionally catch that horrible smell again. Then one afternoon, as our two girls were taking a walk in the grounds, they suddenly sensed something trailing them, something they could not see. That scared them so much, they stopped and hastened right back into the house. That very night, Safiah came down with fever and turned delirious. We summoned a doctor, but despite his able attempts, the fever did not abate.
Saodah start nagging me all over again to get out of the place, because she could not stand living there any longer after all these strange and frightening incidents. I stuck to my decision not to move out, if only because it would be very difficult to find another place to live. But I also asked for her patience, at least until I found another accommodation. I spent that night alone in my bedroom. Saodah slept in the children's room as Safiah was still sick. As I lay in bed, each chilling encounter we had had ever since moving into the blue house came flashing before my eyes. I had no idea when I finally dozed off, but I had a horrible nightmare that jolted me out of slumber, screaming. I got up, sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes scanning the room left and right, my ears straining to detect any unusual sound. I shivered all over, the hair on my body standing on end. On my right, close by, stood the rather dim bedroom light. The door was closed and the windows were shut. My eyes wandered around the room until they fell on the curtain over the door... it seemed to bulge, as though blown by wind from the outside. Or is there somebody, or something, lurking behind? Then, slowly, the curtain moved, as if the thing behind it, whatever it was, was coming towards me. I expected the worst, but by then, there was nothing more I could do. I tried to scream, but no sound emerged; I tried to flee, but my whole body had gone limp. I could not even lift my hands to cover my eyes.
And then the thing revealed itself. Before my very eyes stood a most terrifying being, huge body, huge head, in horrible nakedness except for a strange glow that surrounded it. The face was that of a decomposed corpse. Indeed, its torso was not even intact, just a massive skeleton with remnants of flesh dangling from various bones. Its lips were gone, leaving a mouth with a ghastly grin that revealed long, saber like teeth. And those eyes, green and penetrating, were staring straight at me. Its hands reached for my throat, and it drew closer and closer and closer, until... everything turned black. When I came to, the room was in darkness. I dared not leave the bed and just lay there in terror, protected by my blanket until morning came. I did not tell Saodah what happened. But then, it appeared I did not to. Somehow she knew. Somehow she could read it on my face. She simply started packing up our clothes and things.
'Well,' I said, 'I think we've had enough. Let's get out of here. I cannot stand this place anymore.' Much later, I managed to dig out the history of the site on which the blue house was built on. I learnt that it was a detention centre during the Japanese Occupation. The Kempeitai sent many of its victims to death by torture there. Then, just before they surrendered, the detention centre was set on fire, and that took several more lives, detainees alike. Some said it was the anti-Japanese guerrillas who did it. Safiah recovered from her illness a few days after we moved out of the blue house.
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