Just as I raise my face up to the mirror, a cloaked figure in black and brown clothes stands unmoving behind me breathing unevenly in my ear,
"Sufian...sufian...herghhh...sufian....."
I stop and try to hold myself from screaming as my heartbeat stutters in my chest in uneven beats. I try to calm myself. It wasn't my first time dealing with a Jinn, but it's not any less scary. I have to watch out, it might possess me if I make a wrong move. I quiet down as the Jinn continues to make sounds, it hasn't noticed that I know of its presence. It stands against the wall looking down at the toilet. I continue to wash my face. I feel my breaths coming out faster and I try to steady myself to make it come out slower. It doesn't work because the more I try to hold my breath, the more I need oxygen to fill me up.
I can hear the sounds and murmurs and the thumps of my heart in my chest. Breathe Nailah, breathe. I tap my fingers against the sink to calm myself. One, two, three, four… I count the beats of my heart as I stand there. I need to be calm to remove its existence. I close my eyes for a brief second in an attempt to restart again. I slowly shut the bathroom door so the Jinn doesn't get to Lila.
My hands started to shake slowly and my heartbeat started to fasten. I'm scared to look in the mirror. I felt it close to my body now. I prayed to God in my head as I slowly tried to open my eyes. I slowly part them and black spots danced in my peripherals as my heart threatens to jump out of my chest, yet I stand still. My leg trembles softly and I use the sink as a support for my body, as I try and control my facial expressions. The Jinn still stands behind me but its face is in front of mine. Big beady eyes looking at me. A gaping mouth howling softly. I can feel some of the flames it starts to ignite. It licks my skin and burns it softly as if teasing me for a reaction. The back of my neck is against the Jinn's chest and it starts to tingle. I know the Jinn is trying to do something to my mana flow.
I felt so stupid, for not taking care of it sooner, but I got a hold of myself now. Suddenly, the light in the bathroom turns off and I start to panic again. I bite my lips hard enough for me to feel the pain. I focus myself on the throbbing sensation coming from my lips and taste the saltiness of my blood. I can do it, I can do it, Nanu said I can, so I can do it. For my Nanu.
Focusing on myself I gather enough mana and grab my chew stick. Since the stick isn't a mana medium, I hold it to the back of my neck where the Jinn burns me with its fire, preparing to carve some type of mark. I light the chew stick with the fire and use it as a light for me to see. I keep my eyes towards the general direction of the Jinn, so as not to startle it.
The Jinn senses me moving, but it's not enough to get it to move away from me. It comes closer and I clench my teeth. I am in a very awkward position I note. The Jinn grabs hold of my stomach and clamps firmly as its hands twist around me slowly.
Oh, this one's tryna seduce me, huh. I smile to make myself feel better and my panic starts to slow. The Jinn still looks hells creepy right now, but I held myself from having another panic attack. I let the Jinn flick its fire at my neck as I stare calmly into its eyes. The beady and hollow eyes unnerve me, but not as much as it did before.
Now, I have two choices. I am living in a basement, and there are people living right above me. I can either scream, run out and pray for the local police to come, or I can cast a protection spell and defeat the Jinn, but get harmed in the process. I was thinking about running out, but I owed it to the people living upstairs and I didn't want the Jinn getting to them. Sucking in my breath I cast a protection spell, all in one go.
I gathered my mana and felt it at the tip of my fingers, it calmed me and relaxed my nerves as I felt the familiar warmth spreading through my body. For a protection spell, the entire body needs to relax and let the mana toughen the veins. As the mana flows out the body, it is stronger and tougher, so it exerts more force. I felt a bit light-headed as I tried to use a smaller amount of mana. Using too much might alert mages of mana presence and bring attention to me. I'm not even registered! My head raced with complicated thoughts, but I had no choice.
"Nama wa sakana," I let out in one breath, as I let out a burst of powerful magic.
The bathroom was coated in a golden colored veil that trapped everything in the space inside and kept intruders out as well. My body was also covered in a similar fashion and a soft glittery golden veil like-like covered my skin. It was very thin, but it prevented anything from coming into my body. The Jinn paused, momentarily confused, but it started to push and pull against the covering. It tried tearing apart the veil I put up.
"SUFIAN WANTED THISSS…. SUFIAN….. TAKE IT…. WHY WhY… AREn'T YoU TakINg IT…"
The Jinn's howls pierced my ears, and the flames spread in bursts around me. I crouched down and covered my ears. The Jinn kept shrieking about some mark and person named Sufian. I can swear I heard that name before. My thoughts were once again racing frantically. I was still crouching but I finally felt how the raging and hot fire beat against me on my back. The fire kept burning at me, and my mana was still holding up but my consciousness wasn't. So much fire burned around me, that I couldn't see straight, it reminded me of the falling pillars at the Kingdom, how the walls shook and cracks formed, allowing more fire to seep through. The ceilings start to crumble and fall down, crushing masses of people, children, royalty, elderly. Body parts and blood were strewn all over the floor, human bodies mangled from falling debris and marble. The relentless fire continued to rage on, fuelled by mana, it was a hell-zone. I can only remember as I tried holding up a fallen sister, blazing purple eyes as they continued to watch the palace crumble to pieces. They looked straight at me. Blood covered my face, and my face was almost burnt from the fire, yet he looked at the damage he caused with cold and unyielding eyes.
The fire was in my face and I couldn't see the Jinn anymore. It was such a small space but it felt so big. The fire just burned and burned, smoke and flames altogether, I couldn't hold myself as my mana started to thin and dissipate, my panic increased and I felt pain as I looked to my arm and saw the jaws of the Jinn clamped on it. The golden vein showed cracks and was wearing down where its jaws were biting. It licked beads of blood that started to form around bite marks on my arm.
I rip the Jinn's head off my arm and hold it down. Tremors shook my body as the Jinn laughed and howled.
"CALaF...WatcH Me DEvoUr YOuR eNtiRe NAtion! WaTCH SUfian COme And DEStrOy EveRythIng, EVERYTHING!...kerghhhh...girl...wAtCh As i EAT YoU!"
The Jinn transformed, it's head and neck getting longer as it regarded me with pity. I felt my blood boil. Anger took place, in the place where fear once rocked my body. I knew who Sufian was now. I smiled as I looked down at the Jinn. It looked a bit taken aback, but nonetheless, it didn't stop growing.
"You piece of shit, now I know why you talk like a smartass," I gripped the Jinn tighter, "so my crazed cousin programmed all you shits to go around spreading such pathetic cursed magic huh," I went on, "a pity he would go to such lengths, but now I know what type of Jinn you are to get rid of now."