An Untold Tale

Lending a helping hand in solving problems especially for a friend is always recognised as a good deed. But what if luck is not on your side and that problem becomes your problem.

This is tale from my past which was horrifying and beyond anyone's wildest imagination, buried in me for so, so many years. A true story where evil spirits do exist and reveal themselves to prove their existence and their evil powers to the earth beings.

AND the story begins... Thirteen years ago...

I was doing my first year law degree at ATC College in Kuala Lumpur. My college mate, Anu [fictitious name] was a shy, quiet girl who always sits at the corner of the room all by herself away from all of us. She speaks only a few words, only if she is asked a question. But she seems to be a pleasant person. Maybe she is a quiet person.

Anu has a health problem, she faints in class quiet often. All of a sudden, Anu will fall off her chair and thereafter after a couple of minutes she regains consciousness. The first time she fainted we rushed her to the nearest clinic. The doctor was not able to explain why she gets these fainting spells. She says that she has gone through a thorough medical check up and a CT scan and she was said to have a clean bill of health.

Anu was determined to continue with her studies despite her health problem. We were very worried for her and tried to talk to her but she moves away from us the moment we question her on her fainting spells. I was pretty sure there is a deep dark secret that is buried within her that she is not sharing with us...

One fine day, she revealed her dark secret to me.

Well, I am quite a pious girl, mother loving, temple going kind of a daughter. Exams were drawing closer and hmm... Time has come to seek God's Blessings [yes, I look for God on desperate times, full of guilt as always]. I decided to pay a visit to the nearest temple to my college at Petaling Street, Goddess Mariamman Temple. The Great Goddess Mariamman serves her disciples with health, wealth and happiness.

I bought a garland [flowers tied together with thread to be laid around the Goddess neck falling downwards, as an offering for her blessings] and gave the same to the priest who would then chant mantras in Sanskrit language and at the end of the prayers, the Priest would give the devotee a bunch of flowers with a banana placed on betel leaves from the altar. With this held in our hands, we are to go around the Temple three times [a Hindu's belief as a sign of respect for God]. As I was about to complete my third round, I saw a familiar face, alas, it was Anu who was sitting down in the temple area. I completed my prayers and seated myself beside her. She looked at me with a faint smile. Her eyes were blurry with water as though she cried and I asked her what was wrong with her. Anu was reluctant to speak initially. You see, I am a very persistent person at times and upon me insisting, she opened up finally. The dark secret that she kept hidden away from all of us. All these while.

Anu was from a poor family but she was a studious child from young, a top scorer and was shining all the way through her studies. She was envied by her relatives for her great achievements in studies as well as other co-curicular activities. She told me that her only dream was to become a Lawyer and when she was not offered the course she wanted in the local university, she opted to take an External Law Programme privately. Her parents were very supportive all the way through, her parents were rubber tappers who were illiterates.

Anu was offered a Scholarship by the college. She was the happiest person on earth at that time when she received the news as she was given a chance of her lifetime to be able to pursue her childhood ambition after all.

She told me a couple of days after she had enrolled herself in the College, she used to have nightmares like someone or something was trying to strangle her. She did not tell her mum initially but then she started to have fainting spells. She then thought that she has some medical problems and decided to return home for the weekend. You see, she stays in Taiping and she has to travel four hours to reach home. Her parents took her to see a doctor and a medium too. The doctors were unable to tell what is with her for sure but the medium told her a different story altogether.

The medium told her that Anu's Uncle and Aunty were really envious of the family as their own children turned out to be useless, good for nothing kids. The Uncle was her father's only brother who swindled the family estate by faking the brother's signature and transferring the Property to himself solely. Now he is seeking an advice of a wizard who practices black magic to prevent Anu from pursuing her education due to jealousy. According to the medium, her uncle has removed a strand of her hair and gave it to the wizard who in turn tied it to a self made puppet and is casting spells on her daily. The medium told her that he will try to cleanse her from the evil which was cast on her but there will still be a slight effect on her as the strand of hair is in the wizard's hands. Anu and her family were devastated to hear the story. They felt hurt as they were innocent and did not mean harm to anyone at all. Anu returned to college with a heavy heart and confused mind.

Since then Anu was never the same person. Although she said she knew that something was wrong with her but that never stopped her from fulfilling her dreams but every day was a night mare for her. She said it is so embarrassing to fall all of a sudden in public.

I was really touched after hearing her story and then I told her that Goddess Mariamman is worshiped by so many people of different religion around the world and I told her to pray hard to her and make a vow, and once she has been cleansed of the evil, she should make offerings to the Goddess "in a big way", meaning have special prayers in the temple just for the Goddess. Anu smiled and said she would do so. We bid goodbye and both of us headed back home, each of us with our own destiny.

I lived in USJ during my college years. It takes about an hour or more to reach home from college. I reached home at about 8.30 pm that day and was quiet surprise to find both my room mates were not at home. Then I noticed a note at the Notice Board that we have placed on the wall at our rented apartment where we pin on pieces of information for the others notification. To my dismay, my room mates will not be with me for the night, as one has left for her hometown and the other is expected to be back the next day after her overnight stay at her relatives' house.

I hated the idea of being alone especially on this particular day as I felt eerie and alone. Well, what choice do I have anyway. So I braved myself, kept all the lights on at the apartments even... The bathroom light. I did my homework and I saw the time was almost 1.00 am in the morning. I was a little sleepy and decided to hit the bed.

As I was about to doze off, I felt that there was a something heavy walking on my bedside, as though it was a human body with lots and lots of weight. I turned around and saw nothing. I dismissed the idea of being frighten and although I had a little fear but I thought maybe I was hallucinating.

I then pulled my bed up to the living room and left my bedroom door open ajar. I had a little altar on my table with the photograph of Goddess Saraswathi [goddess for education] together with the holy ashes. I placed the holy ashes on my forehead and prayed and then I went to sleep again. I saw the time was almost three in the morning. I laid down on my bed facing my room as I could see the picture of my Goddess and then... A little while later the door opened by itself slowly and I saw a figure of a puppet dressed with white dress, more like a nurses' outfit with long hair covering its face, walking towards me. It had limbs but no fingers and feet. Its body was hairy and smelt burnt. I started to sweat but unable to move, due to fear. What the hell is that thing! I started to chant my holy mantras as it is now where I really needed God's help the most! Then the figure disappeared all of a sudden. Then a few seconds later I heard three claps of hands behind me. I did not turn around to see as I remembered my grandma's advice not to look behind if there is a call of name or knock three times by something else other than a human. I prayed hard and a while later everything silent down. I did not know who to call and seek advice other than my parents but I waited until the first sun rise and called them to inform them the misery I went through that night. My parents took the first flight down to Kuala Lumpur and I waited for them in my college. I took them home and Father insisted that we lighted up the altar. As soon as Father lit the altar, the florescent light in my room exploded. We were shocked. My parents told me that something was terribly wrong in the apartment.

My friend returned to the apartment a few minutes later and saw me packing up. I related to her the night's event. She was very calm and she told me that she is a staunch Muslim and nothing is more superior than God. She chose to stay on. I left the apartment that day with mum and dad to stay with them in the Hotel. We manage to take a few things and decided to return the next day for the rest of the things.

The three of us were not able to comprehend what had happened. I told mum that I had this funny feeling where maybe the evil spirit disturbing Anu followed me back home. I related Anu's story to mum and mum was convinced that maybe the spirit was angry with me for interfering with its hauntings. Mum told me that we will look for a new house/apartment for rent the next day.

We left the next day to the apartment. I opened the door and as I entered in, my room mate ran out from her room and she looked pale like a devil. I asked her what happened and she told me the day I left, that night she was alone in her room and she fell asleep after a while. She then heard a knock at her door and it opened on its own and a beautiful Malay girl dressed in "baju kebaya" with a headress covering her face was standing at the door. Her skin was white and she sat beside my friend and started to talk to her in a language that she could not understand. It seemed to my friend that the lady figure was talking to her for hours but my friend was unable to understand even a single word.

First thing in the morning, she went to see the Ustaz [Holy man] who told her that the spirit followed her friend [that is me] home, it was an angry spirit with a lot of vengeance as its hands were tied and not able to have any freedom. The spirit was caught in between two worlds, unable to return to its world nor it's master is not calling it back to him. He then gave her some blessed rock salt to throw around in the apartment and a thin metal piece with holy words inscribed on it to be placed in the front of the apartment to cast away the evil spirit and a talisman for her to wear. My parents and I were too shocked and lost for words. I asked her what she intends to do next. She said that she will not be staying in the apartment if the problem persists. Anyway I was sure I was leaving! Even though the spirit leaves the apartment, the thought of it will always haunt me. I wished her all the best and apologised to her if I have caused the chaos. We left a little while later.

I managed to get an apartment for rent in Bangsar the following day. I moved into the apartment and settled in. Mum and Dad left that day as Dad had to report for duty the next day. I called my friend the same day and she told me she is also moving out together with my other room mate who also knew about the strange happenings. Well, the Landlord was wondering why we were all moving out all of a sudden. We decided to keep the strange happenings as a secret as there was no haunting after the day my friend visited the Ustaz [holyman].

I returned to college and met Anu who looked a little more cheerful than a few days before. She told me that she felt so much better after her prayers at the Goddess Mariamman temple and she did not have the fainting spells for a couple of days [she faints almost every other day]. As days went by Anu recovered and she eventually graduated as a lawyer. Anu invited me for the special prayers she held for the Goddess Mariamman at Petaling Street. [her vow was fulfilled after all]

I never told Anu the strange happenings in my apartment after my meeting with her in the temple. I was happy for her and satisfied in a way to see a friend being released from evil spirit and today, Anu leads a normal life with a wonderful husband and children.

Sometimes, I wonder where the evil spirit went, maybe it returned to its master or went back to its own world or is it still haunting the apartment...?