Few metres away from the highway , a few old houses stood , out of everyone's sight , surrounded by dense groove of trees .
From behind one of the trees , was peeking the smiling face of an old woman who was currently waving her hand towards the young woman who was on her way to the old woman .
The young woman just walked a few steps on the narrow pebbled road , leading to those houses , when someone called her name .
" Enilese . " , a familiar voice spoke up from behind her .
She turned around and looked at the person who was looking at her with a slight frown .
" Shawn ! You ! " , she spoke up as she smiled at him .
" Where are you going , in that direction ? " , Shawn asked .
She walked to him and spoke up , " Oh , I was going to meet the old woman over there . "
Shawn stared at the direction she was going and said , " Old woman ? Where ? "
" There ....." , she pointed to the direction where the old lady was standing but to her surprise , right now , she couldn't see the woman . She frowned and tried to look around the area where she was standing . But because of the trees she couldn't see anything properly .
" Where is the woman ? I don't see anyone . " , Shawn spoke up maintaining his straight voice .
" Huh ? " , she turned to him , " But , how can it be possible ? She was there just a moment ago . Did she go home but she cannot walk fast , how can she go within such a short time ? " , she again looked at the direction of the small houses , " I just turned around for a moment and she vanished like that ! "
" Who is that woman ? Do you know her ? " , Shawn asked .
" Once she was facing some problems , I helped her . " , she said , " But where did she go ? "
Shawn didn't say anything , his green eyes were sharply staring at the series of trees that was , as if , trying to hide something or should we say someone .
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Enilese and Shawn went to a nearby park , they were sitting side by side in silence . Enilese's eyes were staring into nothingness , there was an unknown anxiousness in those eyes . Her nervous fingers were tightly grasping onto Shawn who was also looking at her with a slight frown , trying to know what was going on in her mind .
" Enilese , is anything wrong ? Are you feeling unwell ? " , he asked finally .
She remained still for a while before turning to him slowly , she looked into his eyes and parted her lips to finally say the words that were choking her from inside for the last few minutes but ..... at the end nothing came out ..... she couldn't say a single word .... she couldn't tell him what she experienced in the grounds of the Rellar community .
....
Rellar community was a small community near S street comprising of a few number of families . The community was not very well known among the townspeople .
There were several reasons for that . First of all , it was a very small community which was also a bit alienated from the shining lights of the town and secondly , or we can say , most importantly , at present , the community was more like an old distant memory rather than reality .
Just by looking at the houses one could tell that they were really from a long time ago .
The community was famous for their practice of medicinal herbs , people used to say , their herbs worked like magic and never failed , but it's all in the past now .
Enilese had no idea about this community , not just this particular one , she wasn't aware about many other areas which were , because of some mysterious reasons , almost forgotten .
But unlike her , Shawn knew , very well , about the mysterious past of Rellar community .
Apparently the old woman whom Enilese previously met was a resident of this Rellar community .
When the woman suddenly disappeared Enilese was very surprised because the woman was waving at her , she won't just suddenly go back . Still she convinced herself , thinking that the old lady must have gone back to her home . Thus she insisted on going to her house in order to check on her .
But to her surprise , when she reached before the familiar door she found an old lock hanging on it , the same lock that she had opened , few months ago . She frowned a little and approached the lock , the frown on her face deepened when she touched the lock , there was a thick layer of dust on it , as if it has not been used for a long time .
Shawn was silently observing her actions , finally he asked her if she was sure that it was the right house .
Enilese was sure about the house but she didn't say it out loud and decided to check the other houses too , to erase other possibilities .
Till then , she was still fine .
But as they started advancing towards the other houses she started feeling weird sensations inside her , as if she was seeing , before her eyes , the lives of the people of the community .
She could see the smiling faces of the people who were living in unbounded happiness , she could see the instances of the community life that was blessed with cheerful voices of the residents , naughty giggles of the kids and so on .
It was like everything was happening in reality and at the very moment . Unknowingly a soft smile appeared on her lips .
Enilese wasn't surprised about it , in fact she has experienced this kind of sensations before , not just once but so many times .
It was like having an insight of one's life . She does not know how or why these things happens to her but after much time she has finally accepted this feature of hers as a gift from the creator of the universe .
......
They checked each and every house of the community , some of them were locked from outside and some from inside .
In most of the houses , the doors , the front railings , the pillars were covered in dust and spider webs and wild plants indicating the absence of human life .
They knocked on the doors which were in better condition and didn't have any lock from outside but even after several knocking nobody opened the door neither did anyone answer .
Everytime they knocked , their knocking was replied with the dead silence of the surrounding .
It was clear that nobody was there , the houses were empty , or if we say more clearly , it seemed that the houses were abandoned , a long time ago .
They didn't see a single person around the area let alone the old lady .
Enilese was genuinely shocked . She knew , she had definitely seen the lady but she couldn't understand how could she vanish like that .
" No one is here , Enilese . " , Shawn said finally , " Let's go back . "
She was thinking about the old woman and her unexplainable disappearance , so she subconsciously nodded and started heading back .
Right then , it happened again .
Again she started seeing the instances of the lives of the Rellar residents .... but this time they were not happy and peaceful moments anymore .
Rather she saw ..... dark smokes , aimlessly running people , heartwrenching screams for help , streams of blood , dead bodies , lamenting voices and an extremely menacing laughter that could send chills to the bones .
It was too much for Enilese to process , the intensity of the devastating disaster made her legs go numb , her head started spinning and soon she lost her balance .
She was about to fall but Shawn held her in time .
He was following behind her , he frowned a bit when she suddenly stopped walking , before he could ask what was wrong she lost her balance .
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Present time .
Enilese was looking into Shawn's eyes , there was a layer of anxiousness in her eyes , she let out a small sigh and said , " Shawn , when I said , I saw that woman near the community you must've thought that I was saying nonsense , right ? "
Shawn didn't reply and continued to look at her .
" You said , the residents of the Rellar community had suddenly disappeared one day , nobody heard of them ever again . " , she , as if , tried to confirm it .
" That's right . " , he curtly replied .
Shawn couldn't give her any satisfying answer about the disappearance of the community people and it wasn't easy for him to know either .
But she knew , now , why nobody heard of them after that night , she saw , right in her vision , what disastrous and tragic end the people met , on that night .
She couldn't help but shudder as she thought about the screams of those people .
After a moment , she took a small breath and said , " It means , you have already known about it , you knew that nobody can possibly be there . And I was constantly saying that I saw that woman , she was there , you must have been thinking that I was hallucinating things . "
Enilese looked away and without giving him any chance to speak she continued again , " Believe me , I wasn't hallucinating . I saw her , she was waving her hand towards me . How can it be hallucination ? ..... The other day , I literally talked to her , I walked her back to her home , I helped her open the lock , oh , I even cut my finger while doing so . How can all these be hallucination ? " , Enilese was so tensed about the matter that she failed to notice the subtle change in Shawn's expression .
He looked coldly at her who was still trying to cope with the things that happened some time ago .
" Did you manage to open the lock ? " , he suddenly asked , his voice sharp as ice .
" Yes . " , she replied looking at him , she clearly noticed that upon hearing her answer his expression became more aloof .
" Shawn , is anything wrong ? " , she couldn't help but ask .
He remained quiet for a moment before saying , " What happened next ? "
" What would happen next ? I left after helping her with the lock . "
" Why , didn't she invite you to come inside ? " , he said , there was a touch of sarcasm in his words .
She frowned and said , " She did but I was in a hurry to leave . But Shawn , are you even believing my words ? Why do I sense mockery in your tone ? "
Shawn didn't reply , Enilese's eyes got a bit teary as she started , " It's okay , people not believing me is not a new thing for me . Even my mom sometimes doubts my words , what can I expect from you ! " , she stopped for a moment before continuing in a more emotional tone , " But tell me one thing , do you think one day suddenly out of nowhere I would go to some random house , in such an area , and try to open its lock ? Believe it or not , the woman was there . I wasn't hallucinating , I didn't see wrong . " , in her tone , there was a hint of desperation to prove her words .
However , though she said those words with absolute firmness she did develop some serious doubts about the woman , specially after having such vision about the community .
She didn't know whether the woman or any of the residents could survive that night's disaster or not , even if Enilese considers the possibility that the woman has been alive all these years she couldn't deny the fact that the woman did disappear today and couldn't be found anywhere in the area , afterwards .
She sighed a little thinking about it .
" When did I say that you were hallucinating ? " , Shawn said finally . Enilese looked up at him .
He continued , " As far as I remember , I never said so . And I never said that you didn't see the woman or you saw wrong either . Did I ? "
" Then why did you mock at me ? "
" Sorry , I couldn't help it . " , Shawn said as Enilese frowned at him with an upset expression .
He continued , " Enilese , don't you think , you believe everything , too easily ? "
She looked down as he said , " Suppose , you had entered the house and something happened to you there what would you have done ? Nobody knew that you were there . No one could help you . And worst of all , nobody could even know what happened to you . "
She looked down and didn't say anything . She knew that he was not wrong , she had already faced enough problems because of her impulsive decisions .
" But I didn't enter the house , so why are you reacting this much ! And also , I don't think , anything bad or harmful would've happened there ? She was a normal human being ... "
She was going to say more but Shawn sighed and said , " Enilese , in this town , things are merely not as they appear , there might be other aspects of the apparent truth that you are unaware of . So stop jumping in every scene without proper judgement . "
She stared at him for a moment and started , " I agree that sometimes I behave very impulsively but Shawn , she was just an old woman who needed help . What other aspect could someone read in such situation ? " , she stopped for a while before continuing , " I know , her sudden disappearance was indeed odd but there's a possibility that something bad happened to her during the time we were not looking in her direction . "
Enilese was having a hard time accepting that the gentle , affectionate woman could be someone with ulterior motives . Thus she was continuously pushing away the doubts that were clouding her mind , and thus coming up with absurd possibilities .
" There's always a possibility like that but don't you think , here the chances are too low for that . " , Shawn said without holding back .
Enilese fell silent , the incidents were too thought provoking to discard .
Shawn noticed her reaction and said , " You are still doubtless about her , I see . Okay , tell me one thing . "
She looked at him as he continued , " Why did you suddenly think of visiting her ? Did she ask you to come ? "
She thought for a while before replying , " Of course not . I was just passing by , so I thought of checking on her . "
Shawn's expression became indifferent as he said , " Then how did she know that you were coming that she was waiting for you there ? "
This was it .
She looked at him in shock .
She was completely knocked out .
There was no way , she could refute that . Not anymore , could she believe that nothing was wrong with the woman .
As she continued to stare at him with disbelief and shock in her eyes , Shawn inched closer to her and continued in an extremely menacing tone .
" Anything is possible , here , in this town . Anyone ... even your most trusted ones can turn out to be something that you could've never imagined . "
The subtle malice in his eyes made her uncomfortable . She looked away as she couldn't stare into his eyes for long .
He moved back .
After a while , he said , " So in future , if you ever see that woman stay away from her and next time , please try not to help her . "
Enilese nodded as she muttered , " I'd keep that in mind . "
He also nodded and then as if remembering something he said , " But everything apart , you didn't tell me yet what exactly happened there that you suddenly started behaving like that ? "
Enilese sighed a little as she didn't know how to answer the question .
She looked at him but couldn't manage to say anything .
He raised his brows and asked again , " Is there something , you should tell me ? "
After some time , finally she said , " It's nothing significant , I just .... um ..... I sensed something there . "
" Sensed what ? " , he asked , almost immediately .
She answered , " I sensed the instances of their lives , of the Rellar residents , I mean . "
Both of them remained silent for a while before Shawn remarked , " Like a vision ? "
" I don't know , how should I address it ? " , she said holding her head with both hands .
" Do you often experience this kind of things ? " , he said again .
" You can say that . " , she answered without lifting her head .
Shawn nodded and didn't say anything anymore .
He continued to look at her with his eyes filled with some unreadable emotions .
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It was late at night . Enilese's shift was almost over .
Nothing such happened as Selina depicted . The angels assumed that after their failed mission of taking down the Dark souls , they would be more vengeful and aggressive .
But in reality , since that day , the town has not faced any remarkable issue . The angels were sceptical about the sudden pause in the dark soul activities but they didn't let their guards down as they were certain of the probability that the dark souls must be preparing for something more dangerous .
Enilese's duty was uneventful , thus she had a lot of free time to reflect on the events that happened today . And the more she thought about it the more frustrated she became .
Her chain of thoughts finally broke as Selina called out to her .
" Enilese , since our job is done here let's go for dinner . "
" Now ? Is any place open at this hour ? " , Enilese was a bit surprised because most of the shops used to be closed before ten , because after that supernatural occurrences used to increase more .
" Well , I know a place nearby . It remains open for a long time . The food there is very delicious . Let's go , I'll call Riley too . "
Enilese had no objection , in fact she knew that she needed to clear her mind and this was a good opportunity .
She was about to say yes when her peripheral vision caught something interesting , few metres away .
A hooded figure , whose physique was almost engraved in her mind by now , was heading towards the narrow pebbled road , leading to the very mystical community , Rellar community .
Mixed emotions clouded her mind as she suddenly said , " I think , I would pass . I'm not hungry . "
Visible disappointment appeared on Selina's face as she said , " Is that so ? Okay , let's go back then . We can visit the eatery other time . "
Enilese hurriedly spoke , " No no , it's fine . You guys please have fun . And don't worry , I'll come back by myself . "
" What do you mean ? Are you staying back ? "
" Um , yes . I have something to do . "
" What do you have to do , at this time ? Do you need any help , I can stay back with you . " , said Selina with a frown as she couldn't understand what kind of work she had , at this hour .
" No no , that's not needed . It's just , I'm meeting someone . "
Selina's expression softened as she said teasingly , " Oh , you should've said so before that you're meeting with your boyfriend . "
Enilese just gave a fake smile without saying anything .
After some more words Selina left , and Enilese also darted towards the concerned road .
........
After walking for a while , Enilese finally saw the hooded figure .
She couldn't help but follow after him . She had two reasons .
First , the angels didn't have any idea , what the dark souls were planning , so she thought that following him could be a chance to find some much needed clues about their recent activities .
And second , all the incidents that she witnessed in the grounds of the community were weird already , now this dark soul heading towards the very community didn't seem to be a mere coincidence to her .
The man was walking in swift steps . After a while , probably he felt something as he stopped suddenly .
Few metres behind him , Enilese frowned as she saw him stop .
The next moment , he turned back . But fortunately , before he turned Enilese slid behind a roadside tree .
He looked for some time before turning to his way again .
Enilese heaved a sigh of relief as she too continued walking soon after .
Honestly speaking , she was really anxious , her senses were constantly telling her to go back .
She subconsciously recalled a few moments from a particular day ..... the day in the S forest ... the day when she was completely at his mercy and he , instead of letting her die , decided to take up the more troublesome job of healing her from that fatal poison .
After that day , she promised to herself that she would never cross path with that dark soul again .
However , human emotions are always so complicated and at the same time unpredictable too .
The more one tries to stop thinking about someone , the more their minds get clouded with the thoughts of that certain someone .
The more one tries to stay away from someone , the more attracted they feel towards that person .
Exactly the similar thing was happening with Enilese , her rational thoughts were constantly telling her to stay away from the dark soul but whenever she was trying to follow her brain her emotions were coming in the way . The more she was trying to avoid him the more she felt drawn to him .
As Enilese was following him , so many things were on her mind .
But her chain of thoughts suddenly broke when her phone vibrated softly .
She almost jumped at the sudden incident .
At first , she wanted to ignore the notification but for some reason , she checked her phone which showed that she had received two messages from an unknown number .
She frowned a bit as she couldn't assume anything about the identity of the unknown sender who could send her messages at this time .
After some thought , she finally opened the chats , as she read the text the primary surprise on her face replaced with a distinct layer of caution . The messages said -
[ Don't you think you are too curious about everything ? ]
[ Go back . Haven't you heard the saying , curiosity kills the cat . ]