Title: Madness Begins
Not even a single dime in her wallet.Caliana was raised in an improverished village so she doesn't experience much luxury due to her circumstances. She had never complained about her life to anyone because she was happy. Caliana didn't know her life was found miserable to others.
She have both her parents and her little brother by the name of Clindale. Her village was compact so everyone got along well. Her bestfriend, Marina, lives across her house. Every person she loves is close to her so she was happy.
Caliana strangely had an obsession with her hair. Everyone praised her for having long silky hair. Eventhough she doesn't use any hair products on her hair, but it still remained silky and healthy. Caliana loves her hair more than anything in the world.
"Everything will come to an end".
One day, The village headman received a threat from the city saying that they have to clear the area or get arrested for illegal civilization. The mayor of the city is planning to build a new neighborhood in that area and he does not want any disturbance to his plans. The only way to stop them is to pay the ridiculously high amount of money. You could buy a whole mall with that much money!
Caliana heard the news from Marina that they need to find a new place to stay. She couldn't believe it. Her happiness is turning into her worst nightmare.
The clock sounded like a ticking bomb. Caliana couldn't sleep. She was too anxious to close her eyes but she needs the energy for tomorrow. They needed to search for a new place tomorrow morning. She remembered that her little brother once said that he counts sheep to sleep so she tried it.
1 sheep...
2 sheep...
3 sheep...
4 sheep...
5 sheep...
She snored. Caliana has already fallen into slumber. It worked, counting sheep works!
10 minutes into her slumber, She woke up. Her eyes widen as she saw a man standing outside her window, on her porch.
He was a tall man who was wearing a black jacket and black tight pants. He had white messy hair and a menacing scar on his left cheek.
Caliana led out a loud scream. Her parents came bashing into her room. "𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌! 𝘖𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌! 𝘈 𝘔𝘈𝘕 𝘖𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌" she pointed outside her window. Her parents saw nothing. It was dark and late at night so they thought Caliana must imagined thing because she is sleepy. Caliana was sure she saw someone or at least something.
Her parents continued to roll down the curtains and made sure the front door was locked so Caliana would feel more secured. She accepted the fact that no one was there so she tries to fall asleep again.
The minute her eyes closed, she heard a tap under her bed. Curiosity overflowed her mind but she was also terrified. Slowly, she peeked under her bed. She saw nothing.
As she was lifting her head up, she saw a man-like figure in front of her. Her body paralyzed in place. No words came out of her mouth.
"𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢" said the man calmly. He introduced himself as Madlinus, but prefers to be called Manus.
He snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Caliana could speak and move her body again. She trusts Manus so she didn't overreact and asked "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦?".
He chuckled and said "𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵". He reached out his hand and held onto Caliana's hand tightly. Caliana didn't think much of it because this man could actually save her family from being kicked out.
"𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰" said Manus to Caliana.
Caliana shut her eyes with trust. She felt as if she was in the sky. She could feel clouds touching her body. She was tempted to peek and see what was happening but she wanted to obey what Manus told her to do.
"𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯"
She found herself standing in front of a waterfall. The view was ethereal. The crystallized river below the waterfall splashing on her shoes. It was a heavenly sight for sore eyes.
Manus grinned and said "𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."
"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?" she asked impatiently.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦" said Manus.
Caliana looked at Manus for reassurance but he just smiled and nodded his head. She approaches the waterfall with caution.
Her body was shivering with fear but she built up the courage and walked courageously behind the waterfall. It was true. There was a cave.
She looked back and Manus wasn't there anymore. He had vanished. The only thing left to do is read whats written on the wall.
Caliana slowly walks towards the cave entrance. As she was close enough to read her feet got stuck to the floor.
"𝘞𝘏𝘠 𝘊𝘈𝘕'𝘛 𝘐 𝘔𝘖𝘝𝘌, 𝘐𝘔 𝘚𝘛𝘜𝘊𝘒" 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢.
No one was there to help her. She panicked and try to wiggle herself free but it wont budge. She couldn't do anything.
Suddenly a loud voice said "𝘛𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭"
Caliana proceeds to read the message.
"𝘊𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧."
Caliana gasped. She could never do that. She loved her hair too much and her hair has been her favourite body feature of herself since she could remember. She didn't want to be stuck there forever and her family's situation right now is more important than her hair. She made up her mind.
"𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵" said Caliana confidently.
A pair of floating scissors appeared in front of her. She took them without hesitation.
With a deep breath, Caliana chopped all her long silky hair off. She led out a big sigh.
The entrance wall of the cave was lifted slowly. She could see shining golden treasure in front of her. It felt like she had won the lottery, it was filled with the riches she need to pay the fee and there would still be some money leftover.
Suddenly her feet are free and she could move again. She took a single big step forward, towards the treasure that lies out of her reach.
"𝘈𝘈𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏𝘏" Caliana screamed in shock.
A deep hole had appeared under her. Her leg slipped and she fell. Fortunately, she had time to grab onto the edge of the hole. She was holding on for her dear life. Caliana wasn't the pro active type and she was weak. She yelled for Manus a few times. Then she tried saying his full name.
"MADLINUS" she yelled.
flashes of light blinded her eyes. As her eyes finally adapted to the surroundings, there she saw the same man who stood outside her window.
Manus is standing before her with a smile on his face. "𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶" Manus said jokingly.
"𝘏𝘌𝘓𝘗 𝘔𝘌 𝘗𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘌, 𝘐 𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘏𝘖𝘓𝘋 𝘖𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘠 𝘓𝘖𝘕𝘎𝘌𝘙" Caliana stated aggressively.
Manus chuckled. "𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢.." Manus then proceeds to snap his fingers.
Caliana fell into the hole unconsciously. Her body weakened. Manus watched her as she fall into the pitched black hole.
Caliana opens her eyes. In a daze, she found herself inside her bedroom. It was broad daylight. The sun was shining through her curtains. She was confused to what had just happened. She went outside her bedroom to check if she was really back home.
Her parents gasped. "𝘊𝘈𝘓𝘐𝘈𝘕𝘈 𝘞𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘏𝘈𝘝𝘌 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘋𝘖𝘕𝘌 𝘞𝘐𝘛𝘏 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘏𝘈𝘐𝘙."
She immediately ran to the bathroom.
"𝘈𝘈𝘈𝘏𝘏𝘏 𝘞𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘗𝘌𝘕𝘌𝘋 𝘛𝘖 𝘔𝘌" she yelled.
She remembered what happened. She remembers Manus, the waterfall, the cave, and the deep hole she fell in.
"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴" said Caliana in disbelief.