"Who are you guys?" I tried to yell. Yet no sound came out of my mouth. 'Am I too frightened?'
My eyesight cleared more. I could detect that there were five people in white cloth. But I couldn't make a face out of them. 'Is it covered or they got no face?' I thought. My hands were getting colder with every minute. I tried talking once again, but it was of no use. So I froze there, observing the situation.
There was an unearthly aura coming from them. One of them was pacing back and forth, whispering something. Another person swayed something in the air. Suddenly, the black smoke stopped moving, and a huge red iron shackle in a form of a cross appeared on its vague body. It growled as if it was in pain. Some strange shapes started to appear in its body.
"Who are you guys? What are you doing? How did you get in here?" finally I was able to say something. Although my voice was small and trembling, they heard it. And in the next moment, all of them looked at me. Everyone went silent. One of them tightly grabbed that black smoke. They stepped back and stood in a line. And then they started to whisper among themselves.
Cold sweat was dripping from my forehead. I was sitting on my bed, unable to move even a finger. I saw one of them stepping forward. I wanted to back down but I couldn't. I stared blankly.
That person moved even forward. I looked at him or her closely, but no matter how much I look I couldn't make a face. There were no eyes, no nose, no mouth where there was supposed to be. Only a black shadow was covering everything, their face, their hands sticking out of the sleeve. And I didn't see any leg or foot; their movement was smooth.
The person who was walking forward seemed not to be walking but floating. Standing right in front of the bed, he said in a firm voice, "Don't be scared. We won't harm you. Don't be scared."
'Yeah, I am not scared. Some freaks are destroying things in my room, doing some strange things, roaming around, and talking when I don't know how as they don't even have a mouth and I am not scared. No, I really am not scared,' I wanted to yell but panicked, no words came out. That person was still standing there. I felt their gaze as if they were observing. 'Stop being ridiculous. They don't have any eyes,' I told myself.
"It's okay," They again said.
Suddenly I smelled a sweet scent; my mind told me that it was a scent of a flower. Within seconds, the scent got stronger and I felt dizzy. My head started spinning; I felt drunk. All those tensions melt away. My eyelids were so heavy that I couldn't keep them open anymore. Five more seconds and I fell asleep.
The next day. I woke up hearing my grandparent's conversation. They were talking so carefully.
"We were fortunate that Iyan came earlier than expected, otherwise who knows what happened. I really think we should send Dean away," grandpa said.
"Nah. Why do you think he is here anyway? Isn't it so that he can learn to protect himself? He needs to learn. Or else wherever he goes, he will be troubled. Others won't be able to protect him all the time." Granny said.
Grandpa didn't say anything anymore. He looked at me. "You are awake, dean."
I nodded. Turning around, I noticed that I wasn't in my room. It was my grandparent's room. There were some modern paintings hanging on the wall and beside them was a huge watch. Like the other rooms, there was no photo kept in this room either. The thing I liked best in that room was the big mirror standing opposite the window; the frame of the mirror was spectacular. And the watch was also spectacular.
'Wait! watch...!!!'
'What the heck...!!! Already twelve...!!'
I gasped, "Granny, it's noon."
"Yes, it is."
"School..."
"You don't need to go today. Many things happened and I called the principal. By the way, are you alright." grandpa asked.
For a moment, I stopped worrying about school. I recalled what happened yesterday night. Then I got up and rushed toward my room. "I need to check something," I exclaimed while climbing up the stairs.
The room was tidy. Only the lamp which was supposed to be beside the bedside table wasn't there and one part of the window glass was broken. 'So what actually happened?'
"You see, Iyan tidied up the room," Grandma said.
"When did he...?"
"This morning. You weren't up then, so we came to check on you. He carried you downstairs. He said it is alright if you..."
"Where is he now?" I interrupted her.
"In the farmhouse."
"Granny, gramps... What happened last night?" Confused, I looked at my grandparents.
"You see... some ghoul barged into your room. Some members of three reputed clans were passing by. So they came in and abducted that ghoul. We were fortunate enough." Grandpa sighed. "It was our fault, to begin with. We should have laid the protection barrier way before." He knitted his brows.
"Gramp, I don't know what you are talking about. Ghoul.....!? Clan...!? In this generation...?" I said. I couldn't shake off the feeling, but I couldn't believe it completely. I mean these things could be man-made too. A well-trained cat, some holograph, some guys with bizarre costumes, simple magic tricks, and some accomplices, and an overly experienced human!!! No matter how much I thought about it last night, the conclusion I got was this.
"Dean, then what is your conclusion about what happened till now?" Grandpa asked.
"Someone is pulling some prank on us. And I think it's Iyan." I waved my hands. After thinking clearly, he seemed to be the one who could easily manipulate everything.
"What?" both my grandparents were stunned.
"No, Dean. Iyan would never do something like this." Granny tried to explain. "Didn't you see how injured he and dairy were?"
"Pfft..." Grandpa started to laugh. He laughed for a while.
I was flabbergasted. The way he was laughing, it was clear that he was making fun of me.
'Was I wrong? With the technology available, it wasn't very impossible to do these things. For example, if you think about Jebat, what he did might be some tricks any magician could do. That group of students might have been his allies. And all other things were done by some human to..... maybe. And about the chill I felt, it might be some kind of effect of some drug or so... Maybe it was because I wasn't prepared for something like this. So when encountered my brain gave me some wrong information and as a defense, I got scared. Isn't it all?' I wondered.
The reason why I didn't get easily scared was my logic. I was so damn logical.
After almost five minutes, grandpa stopped laughing. He asked me, "So why would Iyan do that?"
"Because he wants money. He is a fraud." I plainly answered.
Granny was shocked listening to this and grandpa became serious. He leaned at the door beam, crossing his hands in his chest.
"No, Dean, Iyan is not a fraud. He..." Granny couldn't finish her word.
"Helen, no need for unnecessary explanation." He paused and again said, "Dean, It's a pity that you forgot about Iyan. I can't even blame you as you were a kid only. But do you know how wealthy Iyan is? And I assure you once you know about his wealth you won't make strange assumptions. So why don't you go and ask him? Actually, you should interrogate him. It will be better."
"I guess... I would do that." I really thought it would be better. "So where is Iyan?"
"He is on the farm. You won't be able to meet him before afternoon." Grandpa turned and headed to the stairs. "By the way, Jebat is coming too. If you want, you can go with him." He smiled.
"But first come and have lunch," granny said before turning away, she gave me a look of disappointment.
'Well... It's not like I can do anything... I will just go and ask Iyan directly.' I scratched my head and followed granny.