Amora wondered why the door was left open when she walked in. The house looked scattered with shards of broken glass which was from a photo frame that was formerly on the shelf in the sitting room. She turned on her phone's flashlight as the place was dark.
"Mum?" She called out for Louisa who was nowhere to be seen in that area. She kept walking on, carefully watching her steps to avoid stepping on more shattered glass. A small metal caught her eye when she got closer to the stairs leading to the rooms. She bent and picked up the metal only to find out that it was a bullet.
"Amora, Mora" that was Louisa's weak voice calling out to Amora
"Mum? Mum where are you?" she ran up the stairs with a speed that was fueled by fear. She found Louisa leaning weakly with clothes torn on the wall panting heavily. Amora ran to her and helped her to her room.
"what happened here? What happened to you?" Amora had asked as she brought her a glass of cold water. Louisa gulped down the water like it was the last one she'd ever have. She motioned for more water, which Amora rushed out to quickly get.
"I saw this on the stairs mum, what happened? Why is the house a mess? Did anyone break in? Burglars?" Amora asked again sitting beside her mother.
"it was here Mora, it came here, it attacked me. I had to fight back" Amora didn't understand her mother's words, she found it rather hysterical.
"what was here? What are you talking about?"
"the dark presence Mora, the black smoke" Louisa continued to describe her experience to Amora who was getting riled up by the nonsense she thought her mother was spilling.
"Stop it, Mum, that's enough! Cut it out already. If this is your way of trying to get me to feel sober, well guess what? It's not working ma, you've been acting all strange for weeks and today you tell me I'm somehow not human and now you tell me of some dark smoke attacking you? Come on mum" Amora was yelling now while Louisa was teary-eyed.
"you have to believe me, Mora, you have to goddamn it!" Louisa was holding Amora's arm and shaking her now. Amora frowned and yanked her hands away before walking out.
"Amora!" Louisa called after her but was replied to by the sound of Amora's banging door.
Amora got into her room mumbling some things to herself. She was still angry and confused about the whole happenings around her in the space of twenty-four hours. She hadn't even called Lesley to check on her.
"Lexi play humming nightingale by Elnara"
"hi Amora, playing humming nightingale by Elnara" The android replied, and then a soft violin instrumental began to play from the speakers. Amora had a quick shower and jumped into sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Amora could see that she wasn't in her room anymore, but in an open field that was dark and chilly but the wind seemed to be in a stiff motion around her. She looked around to see if there was anyone else there but her eyes couldn't see through the heavy darkness that cloaked the field.
She suddenly heard whispers and the wind began to move and causing more chills.
"Who is there?" She asked still trying to see if she could find anyone hiding in the darkness.
"Ulanni" The whisper had become clearer now. Amora turned around but didn't see anyone.
"Who's there?" She asked again. Suddenly, there was a ray of silver light and Amora could now see someone, a lady with some kind of dark hair that had some greying strands. She tried to get the facial description of this mysterious lady, but it turned out that there was no face but she could hear the lady calling Ulanni and reaching out to her.
With a jolt, Amora woke from her dream. That was the first time she was having that dream. It felt like she knew the faceless lady and could still feel her presence in her room. Her room had suddenly become stuffy. She turned on her lamp and checked the time, it was just midnight. She was still hearing the voice in her head, so she decided to go get some fresh air. Grabbing her robe, she wrapped herself up and made her way to the veranda on the roof.
The veranda had two hammocks fixed on strong poles. Amora lay in one of them and stared at the night sky. It was starry and the moon was full and glowing. She heard footsteps coming up to the veranda, it was Louisa. She was also wrapped in a robe and was carrying two cups of hot cocoa.
"Trouble sleeping?" she asked Amora as she handed her one cup and sat on the other hammock.
"thanks " Amora collected the hot drink and took a long sip.
" you know, Mario had set up these hammocks because he loved staring at the sky and linking stars" Louisa had a sad smile on her face as she remembered her late husband. " I, of course, didn't know anything about stars, but I enjoyed being kissed under them" she gave a slight laugh.
" Mum?"
"hmm?" Louisa took another sip of her drink.
" I, uh, I'm sorry for everything. I just don't know what to think or whatever it is that is going on, I feel lost knowing these things and having you act all strange" Amora's eyes held small tears of apologies.
" I know this came on you hard, but baby, I wouldn't lie to you, I love you and would do anything to protect you. You are my blessing baby, when your mother had given you to me, I felt it was the heavens compensating me for the love I lost that's why I named you Amora" Louisa was now seated on Amora's hammock and holding her close. Amora held her mother back and sobbed into her robe. Amora told Louisa about her confusing dreams and sobbed some more.
"That's enough now love, we'll figure this out somehow, I don't know how, but I'll be here every step of the way and no harm will come to you my baby, I love you" Louisa planted a kiss on her fiery red hair.
"I love you too mum, I'm sorry" Amora said in between sobs.
"aw, come on now, stop the tears, save that for the day I walk you down the aisle to that handsome young man you'll be riding for life"
"mummmm, did you have to end the sentence with your nasty words?" Amora was giggling and her face red from the tears and embarrassment.
"Everyone is nasty, don't blame me"
" School will be off from Tuesday so I was thinking maybe we could you know do some fun stuff together like we used to" Amora suggested.
"ha! I have a better idea baby, why don't we spend the free week at SouthPrisford huh? We would stay at Tents Resorts, get manis and pedis, go shopping, pictures and more pictures" Louisa said with excitement ringing in her voice.
"sounds cool, but what about the gym? Won't your clients get angry or something?" Amora asked.
"no, they won't "
So it was settled that they were going to the neighboring city of SouthPrisford for the free week just to have quality time together. Mother and daughter shared more laughter before going back to sleep, not leaving each other's side.
........
The Monday morning had begun with the usual workouts for Amora and her mother. They seemed to be happier than they were before.
Amora caught up with Lesley on her way to school and the feeling of guilt washed over her for not calling or texting after the experience on the night of her birthday.
"Hey there Les" Amora was now beside Lesley who was keeping a straight face and walking on.
"come on Les, I'm sorry. I had some weird things with my mum. Please I'm sorry" Amora was blocking Lesley's path now and giving her puppy dog eyes.
"puppy dog eyes? Ha! Not working this time" Lesley tried to walk past her but Amora held her back.
"come on Les don't be like this, alright alright look, I've got three packs of Oreos for you" Amora flashed the item in front of her.
" not fair Mora, not even a text" Lesley snatched one pack from her.
"I'm sorry"
Lesley was already munching on the Oreo as they were walking.
"so, what would you be doing for the free week?" Lesley asked.
" I'll be going to SouthPrisford with my mum for a mother-daughter fun week choo-choo!" Amora sounded very excited as she spoke and then she noticed the sad look on her friend's face.
"you know, sometimes I wish I had your mum. I wish I had a caring mother or a real family, not some abusive father who doesn't care about me" Lesley was about to break down but Amora stopped her.
Lesley had been moving from one foster home to another till she was eight when the Harolds couple took her in. Her foster mother had died a few years after and that left Lesley in the mercy of her foster father. She had tried to runaway once but the man had lied to the police that she was a thief and they simply gave her back to him when he presented the necessary papers.
"you know my mum can help you get outta there right?" Amora had said one time when Lesley had come to school all bruised. Lesley felt caged and her files said she couldn't leave her foster home till she was eighteen which was just five months away.
"look Les, everything is gonna be fine I promise" Amora assured her. As they kept walking and talking, Amora bumped into a woman, throwing the books the lady held to the ground.
"oh I'm so sorry" Amora said as she quickly bent down to pick the books. When she got up to hand the book to the lady, instead of seeing the woman's face, she saw the faceless image again and she froze staring at it for a few seconds. The lady in question and Lesley exchanged confused glances as they stared at Amora.
"hello!! Earth to Amora" Lesley snapped her out of the trance and handed the book to the lady who was confused.
"what the heck happened to you? Why did you zone out?" Lesley questioned immediately the woman had walks far enough away from them.
"um, I uh, thought I saw something " She quickly responded with a lie.
"that was creepy girl, really creepy " Lesley added.
The classes went by quite slowly with Amora constantly having flashes of the faceless lady from her dreams. Soon, it was time for gymnastics training. The school had entered an inter-school gymnastics competition and Amora, was just among the few people who would be representing the school. She had flawless sports record and was the current matheletic champion.
The gymnastics session lasted for an hour. Amora grabbed her things and motioned for Lesley who had been watching her all this while. They headed to the bathroom. Lesley chose to wait outside while Amora took a quick shower.
Amora put on her joggers as she finished having the shower and was humming a popular tune to herself when she began to hear those familiar whispers.
"Ulanni" The whispering voice called out.
"leave me alone! I'm not Ulanni, stay away from me" She yelled at no one in particular.
"Everything alright in there?" Lesley asked from outside but she didn't get an answer. "Mora?" She knocked on the door and still no response. She opened the bathroom door and found Amora lying unconscious with her red hair sprawled on the floor, and the shower running.
"oh my goodness! More!! Help!! Somebody! Lesley cried out and then some students came running with the gymnastics coach. Lesley sobbed as she followed the boys who were taking her to the school clinic.