Miriam

I

It was a lot darker here, the air was damp and heavy, and the stink was unbearable. She thought she saw a shadow of a flame dancing at the far end of that corridor, and she thought she heard distant murmurs, she assumed it was those Satanists who do all kind of weird rituals these days.

She went on walking carefully with her hand on the wall. The murmurs were getting closer and the air was getting heavier, when she suddenly tripped upon something, she couldn't see a thing but she heard a tireless, steady, slow-paced scratch. She snatched a lighter out of her pocket and tried to light it once then again, and she wished she never did.

When the flame was lit she saw a naked girl kneeling on the floor, her head rested on the wall, and she was scratching against the wall and whispering in an ominous, disturbing language. Sarah's heart was racing, and she started to sweat.

"Are you alright?" she asked. The girl stopped scratching; she moved her head away, but her head kept spinning until suddenly it snapped and she was facing Sarah with a blank face; no eyes, no nose, just plain skin and a black hole for mouth with a loud, terrifying scream.

Sarah screamed and fell to the ground, she reached for the lighter and tried to light it with her trembling hands, but when she lit it again there was no one there.

Sarah rose to her feet, she found herself reading a passage from the Quran that was supposed to drive the Jinn away.

"I take refuge with the Lord of Daybreak.

From the evil of what He created.

And from the evil of the darkness as it gathers.

And from the evil of those who practice sorcery.

And from the evil of an envious when he envies"

She wanted to go back upstairs, but she couldn't. She kept looking towards the pink door that stood ajar. She listened to the murmurs, they were so inviting, almost like a chant.

She was approaching the door when she saw a shadow of a person sitting on a chair; she rushed through and went into the room.

Suddenly it was morning, she was sitting on a wheelchair and she couldn't move at all. She saw her daddy arguing with one of the workers about an incident that took place earlier this morning where a worker was killed mysteriously; his body was found with no head, hands, or feet.

She saw her African maid approaching her, pushing her away from the ordeal, and as she was pushed back to her room she was scared, she heard some of the other maids whispering and shooting her looks that struck fear in her heart.

She was in the rosary room now; she sat there, drawing as her maid sat in the corner of the room kneeling on the floor, holding a bowl. The maid was stirring the contents and speaking foreign words. When she was done, she walked towards her smiling,

"Don't be afraid Miriam my love, everything will be alright." She said as she approached her and started to feed her the contents of the bowl.

She couldn't fight; the lady was pouring the liquid in her mouth as she as she spoke that peculiar language, and as she was doing that, her voice changed into a deeper pitch and her eyes turned white, the skin on her face started curling as if it were withering away.

That's when Baroness Helena walked into the room. Shocked and scared the Baroness pushed the maid away, took her niece and stormed out of the room.

The Baroness took her into her personal chamber and laid her on the bed.

"My poor Miriam, what was that evil woman doing to you? What was she saying?" the Baroness said while caressing Miriam's red hair lovingly.