A Spooky Tale

A Spooky Tale

This incident took place 15 years ago. I was in my teens then; typical wild, rebellious kind all parents constantly worried about.

It was January 1994, our latest craze at that time was riding big bikes going ‘round-island’ as we called it. (We live in Penang island, Malaysia). There were 19 of us bikie buddies. All of us are a couple, except for one, Hanson aka ‘Hell Rider’. He was single, thus a lone rider. He definitely lived up to his name, as he took on the road as though he owned it.

Now, we have to past a set of winding hills there, called ‘Pearl Hill’. It was known by many to be a haunted hill. There had been many reported sightings of apparitions and weird paranormal activites witnessed by many. But that didn’t scare us or deterred us one bit, as we were young and fearless. It just made us more attracted to the place and we hoped to catch a glimpse of a phantom; the thrill of experiencing the chill. So far we were pretty disappointed. We have gone past there over a hundred times right after midnight, but had never witness anything terrorizing.

So, there we were, a group of bikes racing up the hill, the boys loved showing off their skills, taking on sharp corners like maniacs. They were reckless riders indeed, with us girls holding on tightly behind, and screaming away. Most of the time, it was of course Hanson who emerged as the winner.
“Tonight, I am going to let you guys have a head-start, you slow coaches”, Hell Rider laughed and he rode back about 100 meters behind the rest.

Vrrrroooooom!! Vrrrroooooom!! Vrrrroooooom!! And off we sped!

In less than a minute, Harry managed to overtake a few of us; laughing away and making fun as he overtook each bike. My boyfriend, Stan and I were still leading as he too, was a pretty good rider himself; almost as good as Hanson, BUT SUDDENLY, as though we spoke too soon, other bikes started catching up again, and a few overtook us from our left side and as they were zooming passed us, I could see the look on their faces; they were pale, eyes wide opened, lips quivered. It is very clear that they were shaken with immense fear! Not a word from them, no laughter, no teasing as they passed us. How bizarre! Even Hanson (he was almost catching up to us by now on our right hand side) He did a double take, his mouth was wide opened in amazement! He got a bit distracted and slowed down a little. He had that unbelievable expression on his face! “What the F#@^?!” Everyone was riding like speed demons overtaking him! Thats impossible!’

Then we reached our destination; which is Terry’s house (one of the bikers too). His house was our appointed end point of the race. He lived in this huge bungalow with big garden with his parents.

Hanson, Stan and I were the last to arrived. As we reached the gate, we could see everyone scurrying and running inside in panic, they couldn’t care less about their bikes, all left sprawling on the lawn. There was no usual waiting up for the last ones to arrived and then have a bit of chitchat before deciding where to head off for supper after the race (Please note that in Malaysia, we have many 24 hours food outlets called ’mamak stall’, where lots of youngsters would frequent after clubbing). We shouted to them to wait up for us, but it went unheeded.

‘What the hell is wrong with everyone tonite?!’ We couldn’t fathomed. We too, chucked our bikes and rushed in after them, anxious to find out why our friends were acting weird tonite.

As we walked in, they all seem to be huddled together in a corner. Sarah , one of my best friends was the first to speak.

‘Did…did..did you see it?! she pointed towards Hanson

‘See what’?! The three of us said in unison, feeling exasperated with our friends.

‘The..the..the kid on the bike!!.. On…on..on Hanson’s backseat! ‘Sarah was trembling as she spoke.

‘What kid?!’ what are u talking about? Are u outta your mind? How could a kid be on Hanson’s bike? He rode alone, remember?! Hello! Earth to Sarah! Are you implying you all saw a ghost? ‘ Stan chuckled in disbelief, but I could sense a tinge of anxiety in his voice by now.

(No one laughed except the three of us….But our laughter sounded a bit forced and hollow by the minute as we watched the expressions on our friends’ face. One of the girls started to cry, another guy said he feel a little sick and dashed to the toilet to throw up.

We knew then that our friends were not pulling our legs. They were dead serious.

What did you guys see? I asked them slowly and quietly.

‘We ..we…we saw a kid…kid…kid… eating an ice-cream at the back seat of..of..of… Hanson’s bike, he was facing us and waving at us!’ Ramon shuttered as he speak. The others nodded in agreement.

Hell Rider turned pale, he looked like he was about to faint. Imagine being told a ghost hitched a ride on his bike!

It seems that everyone saw the ghost, except the three of us. I supposed Hanson wouldn’t see it because it was sitting behind him, and ghost have no reflection, so he wouldn’t be able to view it from his mirror. As for Stan and I, I supposed we were riding along with Hanson and was never behind his bike, thus couldn’t see it. Whatever the reason, I said a quiet prayer, ‘Thank you God for protecting us from the sight of the ghost’. Deep down inside, I know I am a coward despite putting on a tough front. I would have many sleepless nights if I saw that thing. I don’t wish to see or witness any paranormals ever.

Naturally, none of us went biking in Pear Hill after that incident.