Chapter -2
(The presence)
Charcoal, dusted-moss walls drip eerily as one walks closer. The house was exquisitely kissed by pessimism and loneliness, from the creak of the rusting doors to the echoing squeaks of touch.
Therefore, in order to make it livable, I painted the house. I started off by painting the frontal walls even before setting up my packed luggage in places. While painting, I could perfectly hear faint warbles coming from inside—so faint that I failed to distinguish if they were even humanly uttered or were of any creeper inside.
Late in the afternoon, I walked in, all tired from the day's hustle. I sat down on the partially burned sofa and glanced at my two packed suitcases.
I barely relaxed my limbs when I noticed that my stuff was missing. I jumped up and ran around searching for them. I rushed upstairs after failing to find any leads.
This was when I first sensed the presence of a certain someone here. My clothes were lying tattered on the corridor to the terrace. My food items were mercilessly devoured, and lotions and creams were all vitiated as if they were thought of as substances to be eaten.
My heart thumped and my consciousness collided with my anxiety as I drew closer for a proper look. As soon as I sat down to pick up the stuff from the murderous scene, I felt a sudden, goosebumping breath brush against my neck. As soon as I noticed the shadow of someone behind me, my vision became hazy. The breath played with my adrenaline. But the point was that ghosts don't breathe.The warm breaths were so warm that they heated my body with an unseen fire. I'm not sure how my breath paused, and my mouth opened to a muted scream as I turned back. The utter stillness and tremendous creaks were a sign that someone was behind me, as if someone was walking at the spot where I stood motionless but I was, in fact, alone.
How can my senses be true when I am standing still? I dropped, quivering and huffing. I grabbed my destroyed stuff, caring little about their state. Once I got things in hand, I ran downstairs. At the halfway mark, my feet started to block, and I hit my face hard, almost breaking my chin. Everything was chaotic, with my things being spread and destroyed again and my clothes being rained on in blood.As I cleansed my face with antiseptic, my breaths raced through my body like horses. Shivering, I drank water that was escaping the quaking glass.
I mustered myself the confidence to go about my business despite hearing those unpleasant creaks, mumbles, and sounds of moments as the day wore on.I gradually observed my mental and physical health destruction.
The dusk advanced a little early for the evening and a little too late for an exhausted night. I consumed the half-burnt bread with 'bhaji' that my mom sent me to eat while on my way here.
Skipping the oral hygiene part as the mirror beast has been a nightmare for me since my early childhood. I went straight to bed.
Just as I got a glimpse of sleep, I felt something crawl up on my bed so close that its presence hugged my body without even touching it. Unlike heroines, I knew my limits and didn't turn back. Like a pigeon, I faced my fear.
The fear served as a lullaby that caused me to fall asleep without realising it as soon as my eyes closed. The only thing I can recall is that when I opened my eyes, the most horrifying sight greeted me: a smeared, filthy, bony face with a visible orbit encircled by a thin layer of damaged and scarred skin. abominably odorous, wearing ragged wraps with clingy, long black silks and alien-like plumes on their head.
I screamed, cringed, and retreated, which caused me to tumble violently off my bed.Hearing my howl, the beast leaped out, and the feathers escaped from the silks as the hidden moon light illuminated them. He raced out of the room with barely two steps to get outside, and all I could see were his thin, slender, torn, pained, and blistering legs. I tugged my blanket around myself, pushing myself to the corner of my room.
I heard my huffs echoing in the room as if they wanted to give the wrong impression to my neighbors. My eyes stopped blinking as a result of being reminded of that creature, and my vision became hazy from tears. Dizziness, nervousness, and nausea began to set in. My mind was all blank, and my ears were tingling just like my soul at the sight of anything. I sat crying, falling asleep again from exhaustion and panic.