Horror Hostel Adventures

By Karan Veer Bharadwaj

A group of friends, including myself, Rajveer, embarked on an evening walk to explore the infamous hostel that was being renovated for us to stay. It was already dark by 5pm in Shimla, so the campus was eerily quiet by the time it was 7pm. With a mix of excitement and fear, we entered the hostel premises to see what awaited us.

We had overheard a chilling rumor that the fourth floor was haunted. Intrigued, we decided to go there. Kumar, Om, Megha, and Hema chose to take the elevator, but it malfunctioned, jolting and shaking violently. Nitish, Aiza, Kiara, Meera, and me looked around the ground floor and the lobby areas and decided to take the stairs to the 4th floor. Panic ensued as we anxiously awaited the elevator's resumption.

"Guys, this is not funny. What if we get stuck here?" Megha cried out as the elevator lights flickered.

"Relax, Megha. It's probably just a power outage. The generator will kick in soon." Om tried to calm her down.

"I don't like this place. It gives me the creeps." Hema said, clutching Kumar's arm.

"Me too. Let's get out of here as soon as possible." Kumar agreed.

Meanwhile, we reached the fourth floor and entered the lobby. Aiza looked around and was admiring the antique pictures and recording a video. I also took out my camera and captured a snapshot of the surroundings. Strangely, when I reviewed the picture, I noticed a blurred figure of a girl dressed in pink pants and a peach fur coat. Bewildered, I showed the photo to the others, but everything seemed normal in the image and the accompanying video.

"Rajveer, are you trying to prank us?" Nitish asked skeptically.

"No, I swear. Look at this picture. There's clearly someone there." I insisted.

"Maybe it's just a glitch or a reflection." Kiara suggested.

"Or maybe it's a ghost." Meera joked.

"Don't say that. You'll jinx us." Aiza warned.

We then gathered in the first floor lobby, engaging in conversation, I was a horror enthusiast and asked Kiara to click my picture, I was standing near the lobby door and Meera was standing on the other side. Suddenly, a figure passed swiftly between me and Meera. Startled, we both looked at Kiara who didn't notice it on camera. I went to her and took the camera and tried to capture the empty lobby, the apparition appeared again, all of us, including the others who had joined us, witnessed it. 

Fear gripped us as we recalled the stories of strange occurrences on the fourth floor and a corner room on the first floor.

 Kumar came running and sweating scream :"Bhaago, idhar chudail bhoot sab hai BC"

"What did you see?" I asked Kumar.

"I saw her...the girl in pink...she was in my room...she was staring at me with bloodshot eyes...she was smiling wickedly...she was coming towards me..." Kumar stammered.

"Who is she? What does she want?" Om asked.

"I don't know...but she's not human...she's evil..." Kumar said.

We ran out of the hostel as fast as we could, hoping to escape from the horror.

Abruptly, I woke up from the dream, letting out a sigh of relief. It was just a figment of my imagination, or so I thought. I discussed this dream with my friends. We all had a good laugh.

A week later, we were informed that we would be moving into a new accommodation. The building resembled the place from my dream. We had no choice but to settle into the new building. Initially, everything seemed fine, and we dismissed the dream as a mere illusion.

But as time passed, an unsettling feeling crept over me. I started to witness unexplained apparitions, and I wasn't the only one. Others in the hostel began complaining about a heavy and ominous atmosphere that pervaded the air. To make matters more unsettling, we heard spooky tales from the watchman and locals in the area.

"This place was built on a graveyard," the watchman told us. "Many people have died here, and their spirits still linger."

"I heard that a girl committed suicide in the building a few years ago," one of the locals said. "Her ghost is said to haunt the fourth floor."

We started hearing footsteps on the terrace, things being pushed around in the night, but thought it to be the watchman or our friends who were pranking us.

Uncertainty hung in the air. Was the campus truly haunted, or were we simply scaring ourselves with our own imaginations?

We soon realized the horror stories we heard were real. One night, me and my friends were on the balcony, all of us staying in the same building on separate floors. I felt a burning sensation on my neck, and when I looked down, I saw three claw marks, bleeding.

"What happened?" Aiza asked, alarmed.

"I don't know," I said. "It felt like something scratched me."

"Maybe it was just a cat," Kumar suggested.

"No, this doesn't look like it," Meera said, examining the wounds on my neck.

We all looked at each other, fear in our eyes. We knew what had happened. The ghost had finally found us.

The next day, we told the watchman about what had happened. He just nodded and said, "I told you this place was haunted."

We decided to do some research on the history of the building. We learned that it had been built in the early 1900s and had been used as a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. Many of the patients had died in the building, and their spirits were said to still linger. Later on the building was sanctioned by the Government of India who built a college hostel here in 1992.

We also learned about the girl who had committed suicide in 2009, after which the hostel was shut for renovation and opened this year on.

"Priya was a student at the university," I told my friends. "She was a bright and popular student, but she was also very troubled. She had been struggling with depression for a long time, and she eventually committed suicide in the building."

"That's so sad," Meera said. "I can't imagine what her family is going through."

"We need to help her," Kumar said. "She can't keep haunting this place."

We decided to try to communicate with Priya's ghost. 

I owned a spirit box, which is a device that can be used to communicate with spirits.

"Raj, what's this?" Om asked curiously.

"It's a Spirit box, it's used to call spirits." I replied.

"But why on earth do you have this?" My friends said in unison.

"Well, possibly I had it for this day. Okay, lets go to room 403. I got the keys from the watchman." I said.

We gathered in the room where Priya had committed suicide, and I turned on the spirit box.

"Priya?" I said. "Are you there?"

There was a moment of silence, and then we heard a faint voice. "Yes," the voice said. "I'm here."

"We know what happened to you," Aiza said. "We're here to help you."

"Thank you," Priya said. "I've been so alone."

We talked to Priya for a long time. She told us about her struggles with depression and how she felt like she had no one to turn to. We listened to her and offered her our support.

Finally, it was time for us to go. "We'll be back tomorrow," I said. "We'll help you find peace."

We left the room, and I turned off the spirit box. We all felt a sense of hope. We knew that we could help Priya.

The next day, we came back to the room. We brought flowers and candles, and we created a sacred space. We sat down and closed our eyes. We took deep breaths and cleared our minds then we did a small prayer.

"Priya," Meera called out. "We're here for you. We're here to help you find peace."

We waited for a response, but there was nothing. We opened our eyes and looked at each other. We were starting to lose hope.

Suddenly, we heard a noise. It sounded like someone was crying. We turned around and saw Priya. She was standing in the doorway, tears streaming down her face.

"Thank you," she said. "You've helped me find peace."

Priya smiled and disappeared. We knew that she was finally where she was supposed to be.

We left the room, feeling a sense of closure. We had helped Priya find peace, and we knew that she would never haunt the building again.

By Karan Veer Bharadwaj