Syra was just about to knock on the door when she saw something in the corner of her eyes.
"MADE FOR HIRE"
She read the words written on the placard that was hung at the wooden door.
"Ohh??? Was it not an act called serendipity??? I am currently in search of a place to stay and this opportunity presented itself to me. Maybe this is the turning point of my life. I should have to give this one a try."
'EHEM'
Syra deliberately cleared her throat first as soon as she reached the entrance of the old mansion. Then after that, she knocked softly against its wooden door to announce her presence.
"Excuse me, is there anybody home? I wish to return something from a guy named Clyde and it was said in his ID card that this was his residence."
Syra waited for someone to answer her back but she did not get any response from anyone inside. So thinking that maybe she got the wrong address, she decided to leave.
However, just when she was about to leave, the door suddenly opened on its own, as though it was actually inviting her to come inside.
"Should I go in or go inside???? Yeah, I must go in..."
Syra asked herself as though she was giving herself an option. Although in reality, she had mustered her resolve already to come and check the house despite how creeped out she was deep inside.
The dilapidated tiles of the house's flooring creaked under her weight as she made her way inside the house.
'BANG!'
Syra was busy looking around the place when the door behind her shut all of a sudden. The loud noise made by the heavy closing of the door made her jumped on her feet.
"Calm down, Syra. Ghosts were not for real, only small child could be fooled into believing them. This place was unkempt and obviously unmanned, maybe I got the wrong place. I better go now."
She said and tried to talk herself out of panic then she turned on her heels, ready to leave the place once and for all. Yet, just when she was about to reach out for the doorknob, she heard someone spoke from behind her.
'AHEM'
The other party just made a simple act of clearing his throat but it already sounded so deep and gravelly as though it came straight from the bottom of a deep well.
"Who are you and what are you doing in our place? No one was supposed to be here."
"I got something I want to return to someone named, Clyde, I thought he lived here so I came in to check. Also, I found a hiring notice outside so I wanted to give it a try.
Of course, that statement above was already filtered and revised so that it came out free of Abyy's constant stutterings.
Syra was scared beyond her wits at that time, but despite that, she still tried to answer the other party as honestly as she could. She had her back on the other party so she turned around again but she was surprised to see no one.
It was as though she was only speaking on thin air as she could see nothing but darkness. She had no idea where exactly was the person she was talking to.
Due to the absence of light, the place remained dark and maybe it was for that same reason why she could not see who she was talking to.
Amidst the dark, Syra heard two voices whispering to one another.
"Is she a mortal girl?? How was she able to read the inscription outside??"
"I am not sure master, but she knows your name... By any chance, is she an acquaintance of yours, master?
"I am just as clueless as you are."
"Anyways, master, I think this works for us as well. Maybe we could make use of her for the time being don't forget that we are currently in need of an assistant."
"That's risky. How could we make sure that she won't rat us out??"
"We'll make her do the life contract then."
"Sounds great."
The two unseen characters discussed among themselves as though the person they were talking about was not there in the first place.
Meanwhile, dread clouded Syra's features as soon as she overheard their conversation.
"I have no idea what they are talking about right now but what I do know is that it did not sound good to me. I better leave this place as soon as possible."
She told herself as she tried to open the door as quietly as she could. After all, she did not want any of them to notice her as she was attempting to escape.
"Sh*t!"
Syra cursed under her breath when she realized that she could not turn the knob no matter how hard she twisted and turned it.
"Where do you think you're going?"
As though sensing her panic in the air, a voice asked her. The voice that resounded in the place sounded different this time. Contrary to the deep and gravely voice before, the one that spoke this time had a gentler voice.
"Err... I think I got the wrong place. So I won't be imposing on any of you two anymore. I will be taking my leave then. Don't mind me, you two could continue with your business. I did not see anything."
Syra kept her back in the dark as she no longer had the courage to turn around and faced them. She wanted to leave more than anything else but it seemed that even that little request of hers was impossible.
The doorknob was not working at all, it seemed to be stuck in place and no matter how hard she rammed the door with her shoulder, it simply would not budge as well.