The Circle Of The Qur'an #1[The Arkaan Series] ✓

Crescent 37: As the night wears on...(2)

In the eastern wing of the Al Maghribi household, a beautiful girl lay sleeping.

But all was not well..

Maryam continued turning and tossing on her bed, unable to get sleep, and yet also, unable to wake from the dreamlike stupor.

In her dream, she saw a chasm of darkness, staring back at her from within a cold mirror.

The strange thing was that.. the mirror was pure black, reflecting nothing..

Yet for some reason, the darkness gently drew in her attention with a strong compulsiveness, powerfully attracting her, so she couldn't look away.

She could only just stare into the emptiness with pure detachment from the real world.

As she stared inside, a butterfly suddenly flickered to life from within the darkness of the mirror.

With every fragile flap of black satin wings, it gleamed as though it were a brilliant obsidian sculpture with a trail of silver.

Making its way tentatively, it gradually approached the interface from the other side, closer to Maryam.

The butterfly alighted on a footpath nearby, within the mirror.

The bizarreness of her situation wouldn't have gotten much worse than what happened afterwards.

Maryam's breath got caught up, as the midnight black creature seamlessly rose, as if unfolding from its minute form. In a stunning metamorphosis, it transformed into a full black-robed figure.

Seeing the beautiful transformation, Maryam was filled with both fascination and astonishment, even as much as it terrified her to the bone all the same!

The figure took slow and gentle steps, approaching her from within the dark mirror. She, as was obvious from her lithe figure, moved as if walking on clouds.

The new appearance, roughly her own size, stood just right before her at the other side of the partition, where her own reflection should have been.

Clad in total black and in a niqâb, the figure stared at her from the darkness of the mirror.

These eyes...

Maryam would have swore she saw the figure's eyes crinkle in a smile.
She suddenly remembered the green-eyed girl. The horror she felt when she had seen her, when she had asked;

You're her, aren't you?

No doubt, even she couldn't believe it.

It were just as though they were twins! Their eyes and all!

Maryam would have said it was just her own reflection in the mirror, except, the girl wore complete niqâb, and Maryam was without a face veil, staring into the mirror.

And then again, there was that display of the midnight butterfly from earlier..

"Who're you?"

Maryam's voice came out in a hushed whisper, in all the courage she could muster..

The girl's eyes however smiled, and then Maryam heard a voice within her head.