The sun was setting across the backdrop of a small murky town. A distant ring of the alarm was audible from the outskirts. It was marking the end of day for the factory workers. They would all line up and exit the half a century old building in a perfect unison. From there they would climb the buses that would bring them back to the townhall, from where they would walk their way to their respective homes.
Jana was an outsider. A new inhabitant of the town. She had just bought the old antiques shop and the attached house at the far end of the main road. Her purchase was cheap and swift. There had been bad news about the house. A couple of murders. Whispers of something supernatural even. There were no buyers of the property since 4 years. When Jana enquired, the owner was ready to let go of it for almost one fourth of the price!
She had made acquaintances with a few of her neighbors, but none of them seemed very enthusiastic about a new person moving in to their town. It was all cool with Jana as well. She did not want a lot of attention nor any questions on her past. She was their on a mission and the few people she interacted with, the fewer the chances of her façade being caught.
She was just happy to have a new lease at life with what happened last year behind her. And she did not believe in the ghost stories that the townsfolks talked about. She had seen enough in life to know that such things did not exist. In her eyes, it was evident that the owners brother had caused all the racket. Since he wasn't given his share of the property. And now wanted to make it difficult for his brother to either lease or sell it. This view was also solidified further, when Jana heard that there have been no instances or sightings of these so called "supernatural" forms since then.
She was humming to herself, going through the account book. Hearing the faint ring of the alarm, she got up from the front desk. As a habit, Jana would also wrap up her work and close the shop for the day after hearing the alarm. It would give her enough time to cook her dinner, eat it and lazy up on the sofa reading her favorite books sipping on an occasional glass of wine. Today, there was a spring in her steps. It was a good day after all. She had her best sales since she got to the town.
The old woman who came in an hour ago was also a new face. She had never seen him in her months stay in the town. But she couldn't care less, for he paid almost four times the amount she was hoping for, for the small trinket. The trinket; a ring, looked like it was made of copper and an unevenly shaped red colored rock sitting on the top. There was no hit of any expertise in the design nor any sign of finesse in crafting of the ring.
Jana would usually close the shop from the inside, turning over the Open sign and then use the internal corridor to go back into the house. She closed the door, turned around, switched off the lights. She had always loved the old, creepy feeling of the place, surrounded by dusty old trinkets and vintage furniture. She gave out a slight smile and started walking towards the door of the corridor.
Halfway there, she heard a fain whisper. At first, Jana thought it was just the wind, from the window which she had forgot to shut. But to her surprise, the window looked closed from where she was standing. She took a few steps towards the corridor. The whispers grew louder and more distinct. She now realized that it was coming from inside the shop. Her steps froze, her heart racing as the whispers grew louder and more urgent. beads of sweat started forming on her forehead.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind a dusty old armchair and grabbed her arm. The old gramophone sitting on the other side of the shop came to life like it was brand new. Playing an old school rock song. Jana screamed and tried to pull away, but the hand was too strong. And the song was playing too loud for her voice to go outside the shop. As she was dragged towards the back of the shop, she was thrown to the ground. She saw a pair of glowing eyes peering out at her from the shadows.
Trembling with fear, Jana was forced to confront the source of the whispers - a ghostly figure, shrouded in darkness. It was in this moment she lost her voice completely. Her body was completely numb with fear. The volume of the gramophone dulled. Pulling her close, the ghost, an old man, sobbing, said to her, "It...it..it was go..goi...goinng s..s...sso w..well. Wh..Why di..did..yo..you ha..haad to se..se...sell, my, m.., my w...wi..wife's ring!"
As his hand wrapped around Jana's neck, she saw three soulless bodies behind the man. A couple and an old lady. The old lady, previous lessee of the shop, selling an old, old necklace to the young couple. The necklace looking like it was made from copper with red unpolished and uncut red stone at the center. She remembered seeing the necklace in the shelf when she had arrived and it was still in the same place. The old man, had got all three of them before the couple could leave the store.
Jana knew in that moment that she she was doomed to join it in the hereafter, forever trapped in the haunted antique shop along with previous trio!
