❝Hush little baby, don't say a word,
Your wails of pain cannot be heard.
And if you fail to listen to my advice,
I'm sorry, but I'll have to have your throat sliced.
Bit by bit till you're gurgling on the gore,
Till the sweet baby in town remains no...
Picture above- An impression of the demon eyes Ayla will see
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The approach of finals stressed Ayla out. Often falling asleep in the process, she studied more than she could take in one go reminding herself that she wanted, no, needed a scholarship to pursue her studies as her mother was totally against the idea of her studying but she still went to school, without her being aware of it. Ayla had attempted to put two and two together to uncover the reason of why she didn't provide her with money for school, or wanted her to stop studying but, failed miserably. Ayla, however, had a passion for it and wanted to make a name for herself.
A lot of incidents occurred in the meantime. She found herself loving the night more than the day and her headaches worsened to the point that she would wake up from her deep sleep, clutching her forehead and banging it against the headstand to get rid of the pain. To avoid them, she stopped sleeping in the night and slept in the day. But it messed her schedule and created problems for her while studying. She also stopped taking her pills and took pain relievers of a higher dose instead which were more effective as they kept the pain at bay much longer than the pills did.
Other than that, her hair was going white. Streaks of hair going white randomly. She blamed it on her genetics and tried to cut them, but they grew back almost immediately. She even tried to dye them but the color washed off, revealing the white glowing streaks. She spent all of her pocket money to buy permanent dye but alas, the title proved to be wrong and she found the dye washing down the drain when she shampooed. Eventually, she gave up after realizing that the results were all the same. Plus, she didn't have the time to experiment anymore. Despite her being sleep deprived, her skin glowed and there was no sign of tiredness on her face, which she found weird.
She also noticed that the moon was getting dimmer day by day, even though, according to the lunar calendar, it was supposed to get brighter and fuller. She told some of her friends but they said she was being absurd and that it looked the same everyday. She also had her vision checked for this particular reason but the results were negative.
She didn't dare to tell her mother about what was happening with her because she knew that in the end, she would just be mocked and taunted for not listening to her mother's advice. She abominated her mother's habit of criticizing every action she took but she was her mother and Ayla didn't need any reason to not love her. After all, she gave her life, brought her up and provided her with luxuries and everything she needed to live on.
She flipped the page of her diary, pen in her hand and the paper in front of her, waiting to be scribbled on. She started writing nursery rhymes for little boys and girls a while back. She called them poems for the meantime as she had not sang them or decided a tune for them yet. But, she knew that once she settles on tunes, she'd call them nursery rhymes. She just had urges where her mind would buzz up with ideas and feel like exploding if she didn't write them down. Again, she blamed it on genetics as her father also loved to write nursery rhymes and would even sing them for Ayla once in a while.
'In a world this twisted, I wish fairies existed. With huge wings and fairy wands, With blue eyes and hair that's blond. With a flick and a swish,They'd grant your wish. In a world this twisted, I wish fairies existed.'
She flipped her page of her diary back to reveal another poem of hers.
'Superheroes, they're so brave and daring, Superheroes, they're so kind and caring. Superheroes, they're buff and strong, Superheroes, they wear capes that are long. Superheroes, our deepest desire, But among us, a superhero resides. Kindness and courage lies within everyone, Reasons to be a good human being, we need none.'
'Do you see them in the dark too? Do they look at you like they want to feed upon you? Are their eyes red, nails black and hair long? Are their eerie voices stuck in your head like annoying songs? Don't be afraid of them when you see them at night. They're just shadows, trying to overcome your light. Lips puckered, back straight, chest out and standing tall, Your heart's halo will wipe out them all. Sleep peacefully, my dear, For if you are true to yourself, then you have nothing to fear.
Yawning, she closed her diary before rubbing her eyes and switched off the lamp that was placed on her side table. She contemplated over whether or not to take the pain relievers and settled for the latter. Surprisingly, she didn't experience any pain when she was writing so maybe it really was subsiding. Pulling the covers to her sleep deprived self, she closed her eyes and was out faster than the light.
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Ayla awoke when she felt someone tugging at the hem of her favorite pajamas. She bolted upright before quickly scurrying to the headboard, bringing her knees to her chest. Her hair thrashed and hit her in the face so she had to bring her trembling hand up to push it away. Her eyes darted to and fro as she examined every corner of her room, trying to figure out the source of the tugging.
Maybe it was the wind.
She looked at the window and saw it shut so she mentally crossed out that option.
Maybe your mind was playing tricks on you.
And there you were, writing about not fearing the monsters of the dark.
She let out a shaky chuckle, despite her raging heart. Deciding that that was indeed the case, she cautiously stretched her legs again and pulled the cover to her neck.
Just as she was about to lay down, she saw it.
It was a pair of eyes, staring at her from the opened part of her wardrobe.
She felt paralyzed, like she couldn't move. Her breaths shortened and her neck felt constricted. She wanted to move, step out of her daze, scream or even faint due to the blood rushing to her head but she didn't. She couldn't. She just blinked at the pair of eyes and they blinked back at her. Once, twice.
She couldn't see anything else other than the eyes. No hair, no figure, not even hands, like the thing was a wind spiral, one that had eyes and came to see her. It didn't look demonic, it looked like...nothingness.
After the third blink, the thing bent down and put a piece of paper on the floor, extending its hand out of the wardrobe to do so.
It does have hands.
As soon as the paper touched the ground, the thing drifted away with the wind, like it was dust. Her eyes fell at the strip of paper lying limply on the ground and as soon as the reality of what happened settled on her, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and everything went black.
