It was just a normal day, a day like any other in the life of Taimur. Having already clocked in another long day at the office, it was time for him to head home back to his wife. Taimur had decided to work late again, even against the wishes of his wife, as he thought the extra income would help the family. On his commute back, Taimur decided to get dinner for his family, and stopped at the only open restaurant, still almost half an hour away from home. The half-asleep cashier seemed surprised to see Taimur enter the store, and constantly stared as Taimur placed his order and got ready to pay. “Bhai, what’s the problem, haven’t you ever seen a paying customer?” Taimur asked, his face visibly confused. The cashier was quick to respond, informing Taimur that it had been more than a couple of weeks since a customer had come in so late.
A month ago, a young man had disappeared driving on Dolmen street. Nearby residents recalled cries for help, but when they got there, nothing was left except for a damaged car. The next morning the police searched the nearby radius for a trace of the man, but they found nothing. Two weeks ago, the same sequence repeated, and once again, the police were unable to find any trace of the lost young man. Residents feared that the incident was linked to the nearby graveyard, as both nights, nearby residents had reported strange noises. The local authorities ruled out paranormal activity in order to limit unrest, yet even they had no answers as to exactly what had happened. Since then, the whole area had been deserted during late nights, with hardly anyone travelling alone through the area late at night.
Taimur was quite shaken up by the story, but was determined not to let a local superstition terrify him. As he got ready for the second half of his commute, Taimur felt as if the air had gotten cooler, more claustrophobic, in fact. It was 12:30 a.m., and the only thing he could see ahead was the pitch-black road, and the noise of his vibrating car. It was difficult for Taimur to accelerate his car as the bumpy road was proving quite the challenge for his small, run-down car. There was nothing much that he could see, but Taimur felt he was in danger, as if someone was watching him drive on the deserted road. He stepped on the accelerator as his mind went back to the memory of the two disappeared men, and his body started shivering as he felt more and more claustrophobic. That is when he saw her.
A few yards away stood the most beautiful woman Taimur had laid his eyes on. She was dressed in an all-red bridal outfit, covered in jewelry as if she had just run away from her own wedding. Losing sense of everything around him and captivated by her beauty, Taimur decided to halt his car and offer the bride in distress a ride home. Taimur could hear the bride speaking as he got closer to her, but he was unable to comprehend a word coming out of her mouth. As he stopped his car and offered the bride a ride, Taimur’s body froze and made his hair stand on end. The beautiful face he once saw was no longer there, rather one that was completely covered in maggot holes and eyes that no longer had life in them. The stench was equally unbearable, as if a week-long dead body had been dug out from a grave. His heart almost popped out of his body as Taimur saw her, and he slammed the accelerator in fear of his life. However, when he looked back, he saw the bride running towards him at full speed, hardly meters away, shrieking on top of her lungs. Taimur screamed for help as he started praying for his life, and that is when his right tire gave out after constantly battling the bumpy road. As his car came to an abrupt halt, Taimur heard a spine-tingling scream before he passed out. He woke up days later in a hospital, with various broken bones and some memory of the incident. His body was found beneath his damaged car by the nearby residents, injured but alive.
Why he was spared by the bride is still not known to date, but Taimur lived on to tell the tale about the bride on Dolmen Street, cementing its place into South Asian folklore.