The Mountain Where the Fairies Were Never Supposed to Be Disturbed
---
"If you hear women laughing in the mountains after sunset…
…don't follow the sound."
---
The first thing I noticed about Khait Parvat was the silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
It was the kind of silence that made you feel as though the entire mountain was listening.
The road had ended almost an hour ago.
Our little group had continued on foot, following a narrow trail winding between enormous deodar trees. Mist floated between the branches, turning the forest into a maze of shadows.
I checked my phone.
No Signal.
"Great," I muttered.
Behind me, Raghav laughed.
"You're the one who wanted to come."
"I wanted to see the mountain," I replied. "I didn't sign up to disappear inside it."
Raghav raised his eyebrows.
"That's exactly what people say before disappearing."
"Very funny."
He smiled.
But our guide didn't.
He had been strangely quiet ever since we entered the forest.
His name was Devendra.
He was a local man who had agreed to take us toward the upper part of Khait Parvat.
And every few minutes, he looked toward the trees.
As if expecting someone.
Or something.
Finally, I asked him.
"What's wrong?"
He stopped walking.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he pointed toward the mountain ridge.
"Do you hear that?"
We listened.
Nothing.
Only wind.
"I don't hear anything," I said.
Devendra's expression tightened.
"Good."
Raghav frowned.
"What were we supposed to hear?"
Devendra started walking again.
"Nothing you should follow."
That answer stayed with me.
Because about twenty minutes later...
We heard the laughter.
---
It sounded like women.
Several women.
Laughing somewhere high above us.
Not loudly.
Not hysterically.
Just softly.
Almost playfully.
I stopped.
Raghav stopped beside me.
"Did you hear that?"
Devendra turned around immediately.
His face had gone pale.
"Keep walking."
"But—"
"Don't look up."
The laughter came again.
Hehehehe...
I slowly lifted my eyes toward the trees.
Devendra grabbed my arm.
"Don't."
His voice was so serious that I froze.
"Why?"
He looked at me.
"Because they know when someone is looking for them."
The Aacharis.
That was the first time I heard the name.
According to local folklore, the Aacharis are supernatural female beings associated with the mountains of Garhwal. In stories surrounding Khait Parvat, they are often described as nine sisters, mysterious beings connected with the mountain and its ridges.
Some people call them fairies.
Some call them mountain spirits.
Others are far less kind with their words.
But almost every version of the story contains the same warning.
Don't disturb them.
And never follow them after dark.
---
We continued walking.
Nobody spoke.
The laughter eventually disappeared.
Then something strange happened.
We reached a small clearing.
In the center was an old stone platform.
There were flowers scattered across it.
Fresh flowers.
Raghav crouched down.
"These weren't here before, were they?"
Devendra shook his head.
"No."
I stared at the flowers.
They were bright despite the cold.
And beside them was a small wooden bracelet.
Red thread.
Tiny bells.
I reached toward it.
"Don't touch that."
Devendra's voice cracked through the clearing.
I pulled my hand back.
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he whispered something under his breath.
Then he turned toward the forest.
"We have to leave."
Raghav looked confused.
"But we just arrived."
"Now."
There was fear in his eyes.
Real fear.
So we followed.
---
The sun began disappearing behind the mountains.
The temperature dropped quickly.
Mist covered the trail.
We should have turned back much earlier.
But somehow...
The path we had taken seemed different.
I recognized the trees.
But not the direction.
"Devendra?"
No answer.
"Devendra!"
He stopped.
Slowly, he turned around.
"Where is Raghav?"
My stomach dropped.
I looked behind me.
The trail was empty.
Raghav was gone.
I hadn't even noticed him disappear.
"Raghav?"
Nothing.
Then—
Ding.
A tiny bell rang somewhere behind me.
I turned.
At the edge of the trees stood a woman.
She was wearing a long white dress.
Her hair fell almost to her waist.
Her face was impossible to see clearly through the mist.
She didn't move.
She simply watched me.
I blinked.
She was gone.
"Did you see that?"
Devendra grabbed my shoulder.
"Don't speak to her."
"What?"
"Whatever you see... don't speak."
A second bell rang.
Ding.
Then another.
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
The bells were multiplying.
All around us.
And then the laughter began.
Not from one direction.
From everywhere.
---
We ran.
I don't remember how long.
Branches scratched against my arms.
The ground slipped beneath my shoes.
Devendra kept shouting one thing.
"Don't look back!"
So I didn't.
Until I heard Raghav.
"Wait!"
I stopped.
That voice.
It was definitely him.
"Wait for me!"
I turned.
Devendra shouted.
"NO!"
Too late.
Raghav stood about twenty meters away.
Except...
Something was wrong.
His face looked completely blank.
"Raghav?"
He smiled.
"Come here."
I took one step.
Devendra pulled me backward.
"That's not him."
Raghav's smile disappeared.
For a moment, the mist shifted.
And I saw several figures standing behind him.
Nine.
Nine women.
Standing silently between the trees.
Their clothes moved despite the fact that there was no wind.
Their faces were pale.
Their eyes were fixed on us.
Then the woman in the center raised one hand.
Every bell stopped.
The forest became completely silent.
She pointed at me.
And smiled.
---
I woke up the next morning near the lower trail.
Alone.
Raghav was beside me.
Alive.
Confused.
Devendra was nowhere to be found.
When we returned to the village, nobody believed our story.
Nobody except an old woman sitting outside a small house.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she looked at Raghav.
"You heard them?"
He nodded.
She looked at me.
"And you looked at them?"
I couldn't answer.
She sighed.
"Then they have seen you."
I laughed nervously.
"What does that mean?"
The old woman didn't smile.
"It means the mountain remembers your face."
My blood ran cold.
"What happens now?"
She looked toward Khait Parvat.
"Nothing."
She paused.
"Unless you hear the bells again."
---
Three nights later, I was back home.
I had almost convinced myself that everything had been imagination.
Until 2:17 in the morning.
Ding.
I opened my eyes.
Silence.
Then—
Ding.
The tiny sound came from my window.
I slowly sat up.
Another bell.
Ding.
I didn't move.
I remembered Devendra's warning.
Don't look back.
Then I heard laughter.
Soft.
Female.
Right outside my window.
I pulled the blanket over my head.
My phone suddenly lit up.
No notification.
No message.
Just the camera opening by itself.
The screen showed my bedroom.
But I wasn't looking at the bedroom.
The camera was facing the window.
And standing outside it...
Were nine women.
I couldn't breathe.
One of them lifted her hand.
A tiny red-thread bracelet hung from her wrist.
The same bracelet I had almost touched on the mountain.
Then the woman smiled.
And the phone screen displayed one sentence.
YOU LOOKED BACK.
The camera went black.
And from somewhere outside my room...
I heard nine bells ring together.
DING.
DING.
DING.
DING.
DING.
DING.
DING.
DING.
DING.
I never went back to Khait Parvat.
But sometimes, when the night becomes completely silent...
I hear women laughing in the distance.
And I know one thing now.
Some mountains don't need walls to keep you away.
They only need a story.
Because once you hear the story...
the mountain knows your name.
---
To be continued…