บท 5: Old vodoo lady

Chapter 5: Old vodoo lady

"STELLA"

"STELLA .. "

No matter where they searched, Stella was no where to be found. Though it was a rocky expanse with slant ranges, the place was quite an open one and not so dense for someone to not hear their screams and calls. It was like the earth has gobbled her up.

The whole afternoon passed in search of her and it was time to go back to orphanage. By now all the kids were aware of Stella gone missing. They didn't trouble there teachers anymore and sat in the bus to return back.

"Mr Walton. Where is Dylan? He is not in the bus?" Miss Jasmine queried the arts teacher - Mr Egbert Walton. He was the one who accompanied Dylan to the location where he last saw Stella.

Egbert looked around and found Dylan was no where around. The teacher clutched his hair exasperatedly at this situation. Two kids went missing on the same day, that too in the presence of whole staff.

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"STELLA .."

"ARE YOU HERE? CAN YOU HERE ME?" Dylan shouted as he made his way deeper into the woods adjunct to the mountains. Well aware that Stella was in danger because of him, the little boy thought of searching her himself instead of waiting for the elders to come back empty handed.

"STEL.. Ahhhh..."

"Ouch.." Dylan groaned in pain as he harshly landed on the rough ground of the forest. This entire land was too fertile and hence was slippery in few places. Unaware of this, Dylan slipped his steps and rolled down a steep in the forest. His elbows and knees were bleeding but he simply brushed the dust off his clothes and looked around.

'Huh? Isn't this Stella's hanky?' That yellow handkerchief was undoubtedly Stella's since she never liked yellow and was always ready to exchange this hanky with another ones. Her bargaining made this hanky quite popular in their group.

"Stella? Are you here? STELLA .. "

"DYLAANN.. Help me." Dylan gasped when he finally heard Stella's voice. Not wasting anymore time, he rushed from where the came.

"STELLA.. Where are you?" Dylan shouted.

"Near the lake" came her voice and Dylan again headed in the source of the voice.

Dylan found the lake after some time but he didn't find Stella anywhere in the vicinity. The lake covered a huge land and the eclectic greenery around it was spectacular, but that couldn't be perceived by Dylan right now. Now he was afraid of Stella drowning herself into this lake. None of these kids knew swimming.

"STELLA .... " Dylan started to cry hearing no response. He was, after all a five year old kid. And he too was alone and lost. Finally the fear and guilt caught up to him and tears streamed down his face.

"Oh my. Why are you crying little one. Are you lost?" Dylan jerked in his place when he heard a whisper like rough voice just behind him. He retreated back a little while tuning around.

A woman dressed in a black cloak looked back at him. Her back was hunched, her face covered with wrinkles and the veins were almost visible on her aged face. With her lips painted dark red, and trenchant nails almost half the size of her long fingers, she reminded Dylan of the evil queen in 'Snow white and the seven dwarfs'.

"Hmm? Are you lost here little kid?" the woman asked again in the same eerie whisper like voice making Dylan gulp. He started regretted everything he did today. He stopped crying and frantically shook his head.

"No. M-My teachers are here. I am n-not lost." His teachers have always advised them to stay away from strangers. And this old aunty looked more like danger. The old woman smiled widely hearing his response. His entire being shuddered looking at that smile.

"Oh. I just saw a little girl on my way here. I thought you both were lost."

This statement from the lady successfully caught Dylan's attention. Was that girl Stella? As much as he wanted to leave this place, he can't let Stella roam alone here when he has almost found her. He wiped his tears before speaking to the scary woman again.

"C-Can you tell me where she is? S-She is my friend." The woman vigorously nodded her head and took few steps forward to reach out to his hands but little Dylan ran back immediately. Those nails of hers were frightening. The woman didn't come any forward and simply signalled him to follow.

Dylan followed her with his quick and little footsteps hoping to find Stella soon. He didn't forget to take notice of his surroundings. Soon they reached the opposite side of the lake and he was yet to find Stella when the woman roughly grabbed the back of his neck and dragged in deeper into the forest.

"Leave me.. leave me.. Help.. HELP.. Miss Jasmine. Mr Walton. HELP" Dylan screamed and thrashed but his attempts were futile. How can this old hunched woman be so strong? The woman didn't hold him for long and threw him on the ground. His pale face covered in tears and his neck had the scratches of nails.

He wasn't alone in that place. Beside him was Stella. Laying unconscious on the ground and looking at her appearance, she too must have been kidnapped by this old witch.

"Stella.. Stella. Wake up. Stella." Dylan tried but Stella didn't wake up.

"AHHHH.." Dylan screamed when the old woman suddenly sat beside him. One moment she was a ten feet behind, and the other moment she was sitting right beside him. He was more than traumatised by everything happening around.

"Hush.. No more shouting. Hush.." The woman didn't bother with Dylan anymore and dragged Stella towards the lake. Dylan was too petrified to move or react.

He didn't know what the woman was doing but she eagerly bent her face towards the surface of the lake. Her crazy maniac behaviour left the little boy terrorized.

The lake surface slowly started to turn darker and darker till it was completely black with black smoke floating above the lake. The ambience around the place turned suffocating. The leaves and flowers withered and fell while the animals ran away.

The woman finally stopped whatever she was doing and started walking into the lake while her left hand was still dragging the unconscious Stella. Dylan widened his eyes looking at the scene. This woman was trying to kill Stella.

He didn't think anymore and gathered whatever little energy was left in his body and ran toward the lake.

"STOP.."

Dylan ran as fast as he could and grabbed Stella's free hand and tried pulling her out of the lake but as soon as he stepped his foot into the lake, the land underneath the lake trembled. The waves turned violent and before he knew, he and Stella were thrown into the middle of the lake.

But something seemed to have gone wrong since the old vodoo woman started screaming and a sudden golden beam of light shot up the lake and securely cloaked Dylan and Stella. Somewhere in the middle of all these Dylan lost his grip on Stella's hand before he shut his eyes to the blinding light that surrounded them.

They was thrown onto the other side of the lake and his eyes slowly shut themselves even when he tried hard to look around for Stella. Though he wasn't able to summon more energy to turn his head, he heard the screams of the woman.

"NOOO... NO.. I HAVE TO GO BACKKKK.. AHHHHHH..." The shrill screams slowly faded away and everything turned back to how it was before.

Soon the forest echoed some footsteps and the teachers of the orphanage reached the lake only to find Dylan and Stella injured and hurt near the lake. They were shocked looking at their situation and also by the costume Stella was wearing. Wasn't she in her school uniform? From where did she get this princess gown with such an intricate embroidery.

But they didn't waste time dwelling on these things and immediately rushed the kids to hospital. They seemed to have fell into the lake.

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Any guesses as to what happened here? Hmm?