Kisah Masyitah Rukyah

Chapter 11 - 99 Door Mansion, Part 1

"Haiyaa, tonight? Walao eh, can ah?"

"Paranormal presence is highest at night and during the early morning, so I figured why not? The 99 Door Mansion is one of, if not the most haunted place in all of Malaysia. Even here pales in comparison."

I look around to see what the others think. 

Xiao doesn't object, though he doesn't look like he's supporting it either. Ramya nods with her feet resting on the table. Casey gives a so-so gesture. Harmony yawns. 

I give Makira a thumbs-up.

"Good. Seems like everyone's on board."

>>

The time is 7:15 PM in the evening. The sun had just went under the horizon and the lovely Muslim prayer azan can be heard emanating throughout Ulu Klang. Fluffy dark clouds cover the starless evening sky. Lightning strikes a skyscraper in the distance.

Makira had managed to get a pickup truck with a full fuel tank for us to make the journey. Xiao can't simply bloodport all of us there and I can't teleport more than one person with me at a time, much less to a place I don't know.

Ramya, now sporting a single braid down her back that unflatteringly resembles a French pastry, lends Casey some of her Hindu incense sticks. They generate a lot of smoke when lit so that he could, and I quote Ramya in her British-Indian twang, "make three heads cumulatively as smart as half of mine". 

The Hindu incense sticks poke out of Casey's backpack's zipper, as well as some of Harmony's. He has on his favourite red hoodie and his jeans from yesterday. He's tied his black hair at the back so they don't get in the way. 

Harmony has a beanie on her head to make sure none of the present drizzling rain gets in her hair. Her choice of clothing is yet another one of her sports shirts (red, this time) and black shorts with running shoes. Being a heat manipulator and all, she doesn't have to worry about fighting the cold. It never bothered her anyway. Her signature brass knuckles are in her pockets, never leaving her side.

Xiao has a pouch strapped to his waist full of small blood vials. Aside from healing injuries with a few drops of the blood, I don't know much about their uses. His short dark red hair matches his face mask. It hangs on his nose and covers his lower face all the way to the neck, hiding the distinct blood red lines surrounding his mouth.

As for me, I've got on a brown flannel that I've rolled the sleeves up on to reveal my inai. They're pitch black, almost blending in with my shadow. The odd swirly design past my wrist is still present, Euler spiral and all. Makira claimed to know nothing about it when I showed her, which was surprising considering how knowledgeable she is about this sort of stuff. I guess she isn't omniscient after all.

While we're all waiting outside except for Makira, our de facto leader walks out of the Highland Towers's front entrance. 

Xiao and Ramya only glance before turning away, while Harmony, Casey and I have our eyes glued to her.

Resting horizontally on both of her shoulders while she rests her hands on it, is a staff much longer than her height. On one end of the staff is a shiny silver blade. The staff's body is a bright red with a golden design resembling scales, perhaps those of a dragon.

She stops in her tracks to adjust a short sword sheathed on her waist. That must be Hanto. On the other side of her waist is a holstered revolver. She's also carrying a backpack with a black curved blade sticking out.

"Woah there, Ms. Swiss army knife, what's with all the sharp objects?" asks Harmony with a giggle.

"I wasn't born an ahli sihir like all of you, so I have to level the playing field. I've already told Kiah, but if you didn't know, these are divine weapons." She places the bladed staff, Hanto and her bag onto the bed of the truck. "Weapons that have been imbued with a heavenly force. They're particularly effective in fighting spirits when conventional weaponry isn't."