Karak Highway Prank

Karak Highway Prank

Prologue

For those who witnessed it, the stench of blood and excrement, combined with the sight of the victims, was distressing. A red Nissan Altima crashed into a ravine along Karak Highway in Malaysia causing the death of a couple and their baby. The father who drove the car suffered major injuries caused by his head’s collision with the windshield as blood was splattered to it as did the dashboard. His wife was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. The six-month-old infant died on impact. This wreck occurred despite the excellent safety ratings of the said vehicle.

The accident's cause remained unclear, given there were several traffic signs and the driver was tested for intoxication, which came up negative. There were also no traces of rear-end collision and because the weather was nice that night, investigators concluded that the incident was caused by human error.

The Karak Highway, which connects Kuala Lumpur and Genting Highlands, is one of Malaysia's creepiest roads. It's dark, lengthy, winding, and accident-prone roads have spawned a slew of ghost stories that send shivers up the spines of passing motorists.

Act 1: Youtube Pranksters from Manila

Four wannabe vloggers from Manila from the Youtube channel Omega Pranks arrived at the darkest and most notorious part of the Karak Highway in a rented white Proton Exora Van to shoot their first prank in Malaysia.

Rey frantically searched the rear seat for his phone, but he couldn't find it. "Perhaps you placed it on airplane mode and it flew away,'' Rudy joked. This made the others laugh. Rey scratched his head while looking suspiciously at his pal wearing a black shirt. Rudy has the habit of playing practical jokes on Rey because he considered him easy picking due to Rey’s below-average height. Not to mention that Rey was dubbed as the king of cowardice because he was easily terrified.

Jason scanned the location. It’s a long dark stretch of pavement that goes as far as the eyes go. Both sides of the highway are lined with tall grasses and some occasional palm trees. Beyond those trees are forest and palm plantations. The area is well hidden and is ideal for their planned horror prank. He started unloading their equipment while occasionally looking in the other guy’s direction who was having some laugh time.

Harold handed Rey the phone as they were unpacking their stuff. "Oops, I did it again," he sang and danced to the tune of Britney Spears’ song. Rudy laughed and patted Harold on the shoulder as if congratulating him, and proceeded to dance along.

In an attempt to retaliate, Rey shot back at Harold. "Take a look at our costumes,” he grabbed one and raised it up “they're covered with stains." he pointed to the stains on the white fabric used for Muslim burials. "Didn't you wash this?" he raised his eyebrow at Harold who was in charge of the costumes.

Jason inserted himself into the conversation. “Those streaks are fake blood, and it's part of the props, idiot.”

Rey scratched his head and laughed at himself. He pointed two fingers at his eyes and pointed his index finger at Harold as if saying “I’m watching you, it’s not over yet.” Harold was about to do the same thing when Jason purposely dropped a piece of equipment that made a huge thud. This made Rey jump into Harold’s arms.

They all laughed and said “King of Cowardice!” while raising both hands in their head, lifting an imaginary crown, and offering it to Rey, their king.

Rudy was setting up lighting and sound effects when he said, “Last night when we took Malaysia Airlines, I decided not to shower,” Rey suspected that this is another of Rudy’s corny and insensitive jokes but asked him anyway ”Why?”

“Because I could just go to the beach and wash up.” Rudy replied expecting everyone to crack up but no one got the joke.

“Jokes are like the Malaysian Airline, it's a hit or a miss situation,” Rudy added and chuckled but when he scanned the perplexed looking faces glancing at him he gave up. “Screw you all.” as he nonchalantly raised both arms and walked away.

They all laughed in chorus.

Jason told them the shoot doesn’t need to be perfect since he would do the post-editing later. He turned his laptop on and said “Damn! My laptop crashed.”

Harold remarked “What?”

Jason responded, “I just googled Malaysian Airlines.”

They all started laughing again.

It was almost seven o’clock in the evening when they finished setting up their equipment. Rey felt the urge to urinate. Since there was no bathroom where he could relieve himself he went to the side of the van while the rest were having their dinner.

Rey removed his belt as fast as he could since he couldn't contain it anymore, he pulled out his thing and pointed it at the rear tire of the van. He smiled thinking of the poor soul who would touch this tire later when they returned it to the rental company. Halfway after he started he noticed someone wearing their Pocong costume suddenly appear standing silently next to him facing the forest. A Pocong is a shrouded ghost that is said to be the soul of a dead person trapped in their shroud. A shroud is a white fabric that covers the cadaver which is tied on the head, over the neck, and on the feet.

“These fuckers are trying to scare me again,” he silently murmured to himself while smiling. “That worked already, it won’t work again.” he’s now giggling and is struggling to contain his laughter. He stood straight and slowly pointed his weapon to the Pocong beside him. He urinated on its leg while laughing heavily.

The Pocong suddenly vanished.

When Rey noticed that the Pocong was gone he shouted “Serves you right!” and continued laughing. In the back of his mind, he's thinking how any of his three friends could disappear that fast without him noticing.

He shrugged the thought off and went back.

Act 2: The Prank

Rey just snapped a photo of his Nasi Kerabu meal while the three have already eaten their Beef Rendang.

He ordered the three to wear their costumes as if he were their boss. He was elated when they followed his instructions without any complaint.

Rudy, Jason, and Harold left Rey in the car to fetch their costumes.

Rey decided to vlog his dinner like a food critic. He picked up his camera and pointed it to the food. “The blue rice has been cooked to perfection. The crispy skin turmeric salmon, with its fresh herbs, salted egg, fish crackers, and spiced sauce, is a culinary treat,” he said as he kissed his new Sony ZV-1 camera.

"Where the hell did those guys go?" Rey said to himself as he scanned the surroundings from inside the van. He also noticed that his old video cam was missing. He closed the window of the van in fear as he noticed a reflection of a white figure in the side mirror. He also looked at the other side mirror and saw another white figure.

He cried calling for his mother when another white figure jumped outside the rear windshield of the van and licked the glass while looking at him intently.

The three blew their cover chuckling, with Jason capturing Rey's terrified reaction using Rey’s old camera. "Works every time!" they all said at the same time.

Rey picked up some rice that came out of his nose as he wiped his tears away. "I hate you guys!" But deep inside he knows that these guys are the best thing that ever happened to him.

Rudy went over their plan again. Rey will do the filming, the three of them will stand apart on the side of the road to terrify the passing vehicle.

"I believe I should dress up as well." Rey was adamant.

Rudy commented, "Your face is already terrifying, don't stare in the mirror because you'll be afraid of yourself."

Rey pointed at him and said "You!"

They both laughed and went to their planned position.

The three were dressed in a white shroud covered in blood, tied in a knot at the head, neck, and feet. They were disguised like a Pocong ghost of the Malaysian urban legends. The three jumped like rabbits as they went to their assigned position.

At the time, the Karak Highway was not a major thoroughfare. They must wait for ten to twenty minutes for a motorist to pass. A blue Honda Jazz was the first to arrive. They were just honked at by the vehicle.

The driver of the following car, an Isuzu orange pickup truck, came to a halt when he noticed Harold, who was stationed as the first to be seen. When the passengers looked back, they spotted Jason and Rudy on different sides of the road. They screamed as the driver accelerated the automobile. Their reactions were captured by Rey so he gave them a thumbs up.

A red car arrived and pulled over to the side of the road near their location. The father was the driver with his wife and their baby inside. The father checked his engine but was terrified when he saw Harold. He ran but spotted Rudy and Jason. He closed the hood and slammed the door as he entered the car. His wife asked him why and he pointed at the location of the fake Pocong ghosts. The woman screamed so he started the engine and drove in haste.

The four burst into laughter. They continued to scare some more motorists and took some more videos. They had no idea that one of the vehicles would be involved in an accident as a result of their actions.

Act 3: The Phone Call

Rey was examining the footage he recorded when he saw a white object drifting away from them. Jason, who does the editing in their videos, saw the footage. "It's just a bright blip," He said dismissively as he turned his laptop on.

When Harold saw they had a flat tire, he decided to replace it. He went to his toolbox and pulled out the jack and the wrench. He also removed the spare tire from the back. He said, "We need time to change the tire."

“Why don't we just call the car rental company and have them service us?” Jason asked.

“It could take a little longer, buddy, but trust me, this won't take fifteen minutes.” It was the same tire where Rey urinated and Harold did not smell it because he was suffering from a runny nose although he had taken some medicines after his meal.

Harold was still swapping tires after twenty minutes. "Where did your fifteen minutes go, bro?" Jason enquired sarcastically.

"Moving the lug nuts is impossible. I'm exhausted." Harold was irritated.

"Let me make a phone call to the automobile rental business." Rudy scrolled through his phone for the number and phoned it.

A voice of a woman responded, asking him “Why did you kill us?”

“Excuse me?” Rudy replied curtly.

“We are in the red car! Your prank killed me, my husband, and my poor baby!” The woman was crying when she mentioned the baby.

The conversation ended there because the call was disconnected.

When Rudy informed the others about it, Harold and Jason said it was just a reverse prank being played on them. But the call frightened Rey and was so bothered if what the woman said was true. Rey silently prayed for forgiveness.

Rudy mentioned that one of the sound recorders was missing so he grabbed the flashlight and went to the location where he put it earlier. A strong breeze swept through the tall grasses, revealing two white figures, one of them seemed to be carrying an infant that was also covered in white cloth. He used his flashlight to try to figure out what it was, but it disappeared like white smoke. He scratched his eyes and checked again, there’s nothing there.

Not far from where he’s standing was the missing sound recorder. He picked it up and went back to the van.

Rudy mentioned what he saw on the field to the others. Everyone was unsettled because this story coincided with the phone conversation. Jason tried to lighten the mood and said that someone was playing pranks on them. He got out of the car and shouted “You can't beat us, we are the best pranksters in the world!”

Rey followed and stood in front of the van's hood and spread his arm. Imitating Leonardo DiCaprio’s line in the movie Titanic, he yelled “and I am the king prankster of the world!”

Act 4: All Hail the King

When Rey got down, he realized that the tire wasn't even close to being flat. He claimed, "I have repaired the tire," and told Harold to return the spare tire to the back of the vehicle. Harold agreed, puzzled as to how Rey had changed the tire so quickly.

After packing all their things Rudy stepped into the driver seat of the van and started the engine. Jason, Harold, and Rey climbed inside and shut the door.

"Let's get out of here; this place stinks like urine," Harold said, covering his nose with his left palm. He was also perplexed as to why his hands reeked of pee.

Rey blushed and said nothing.

“Successful prank! Let’s get back to civilization.” Jason said while checking their prank footage on his laptop.

“I got you!” chimed Rudy who then turned on the headlight of the vehicle.

Everyone froze when the light beam landed on a figure in a red shroud standing in front of the vehicle. The figure seemed to be a tall man with huge bulging eyes. His eyes didn’t have any black pupils, it’s all white. You could see hatred and contempt on the facial expression on his rotting green face. He looked like a Pocong ghost with a knot on the head and neck but his knot on the body and legs was loose.

Rudy slid the headlight switch off.

Everyone looked at each other confused.

Rudy switched on the headlight again.

The man was still there except this time he was smiling revealing his oversized razor-sharp teeth. At the same time, one of his hands was out of the shroud. He raised what appears to be an ax.

The group was gripped by panic.

Rudy cranked the reverse gear and stepped on the pedal. The wheel went full throttle but the vehicle did not move. It seemed that the wheels on the back were not touching the ground. He looked back to see two Pocongs in a white shroud lifting their vehicle at the back.

Jason and Harold were shouting and crying and pointing to the front.

Rudy was about to look back to the front but it was too late. His head was hit by an ax and was split in two. Blood was smeared all over inside the van.

Harold was too shocked to do anything. Jason opened the door on his side and started to run towards the palm tree plantation. Rey shit himself and passed out. Seeing Jason leap from the vehicle towards the plantation, Harold decided to follow.

Rey woke up in the middle of the palm plantation. He has no recollection of how he got there. He slowly sat up and leaned on the palm tree near him because his head was throbbing with pain. When he was about to raise his right hand to touch his head, he noticed that his hands were covered in blood and there was an ax near him. On his right side, piled up one against each other were the decapitated bodies of Harold and Jason.

Act 5: Knock-Knock

Rey was in a state of shock when the Malaysian Police apprehended him as the main suspect of killing three of his companions. The police found him in the middle of the nearest palm tree plantation sitting in one corner talking to himself and rocking back and forth. He reeked of the smell of excrement and urine.

He was placed in an isolation cell while awaiting his trial because he was deemed violent and a danger to society.

Sitting on the floor of a damp, dark, and eerily silent cell, Rey slowly raised his head to the sight of three Pocongs in a white shroud staring at him blankly. Rey wet himself in panic and retreated to the corner of the room farthest from the three Pocongs.

The Pocongs jumped like rabbits in unison in his direction.

Rey was shaking violently in fear. He didn’t even have the courage to open his eyes. He knew they were on top of him because he could feel them breathing heavily on him.

“Knock-knock,” the three entities said in familiar voices.

Rey slowly opened his eyes as he replied “Who’s there?”

“Malaysian airlines”

Tears streaked at Rey’s eyes as he looked at each one of the entities.

Rudy, Harold, and Jason visited to say their final goodbye to their king.

-The End-