No matter how many times Khalilah called her grandmother, she just wouldn't answer the phone, and fear began to creep into Khalilah's mind, a small scream erupted from her slightly parted lips when the house blacked out.
But almost immediately the lights came back, Khalilah jumped in her skin and she placed back the phone on the holder with a sigh of relief escaping her mouth.
She paused for a while before a small mocking smile escaped her mouth, she made fun of herself for being so shocked because of a small power outage, a power outage is very common here, she didn't know why though. She turned on the TV and busied herself to distract herself from the strings of negative thoughts that rushed into her mind, but that didn't help her calm down at all, after some thirty minutes and it turned midnight, she called her grandmother again but she still didn't answer.
Khalilah began to panic, maybe something had happened to her grandma, but she also tried to distract herself from thinking negatively, her grandmother might be in an important meeting and she would be back in the morning.
"You should go to sleep, why do you worry yourself?" She asked herself as she turned off the TV and went to her room. She selected her towel and a pair of night dresses before she went into the bathroom, she filled the tub with warm water and added some bath bubbles, she gleefully played with the water like a seven-year-old child, her other hand fondled with the pendant she received from Robert.
'Could this mean that he was giving a green light?' she thought with a small smile on her face. 'But he is the man, he should act more.'
"Oh! Whatever!" she squealed as she peeled the towel from her naked body and stepped into the tub with a small sigh of relief; suddenly it didn't feel so bad staying here, she didn't even miss home, she didn't miss her mother or her sisters.
That's just how much the absence they had in her life to the point she didn't even realize she wasn't there anymore, they probably don't miss her either. She heaved a sigh of relief as she rested the upper part of her body against the edge of the tub.
They might be a little bit freer without her in the picture, and she would also be a bit freer living with grandma.
The lights went off again
'Oh my God!' she jolted in fear, that was another blackout? She wondered why there were so many blackouts today that no one else was home with her; it was kind of scary, she tried to reach for her towel when the lights came back and a sigh of relief escaped her.
She hastened herself and finished bathing, she just hoped the light wouldn't go off anymore, she did her night skincare routine, she was very conscious of how she looked.
She went back to her room and selected a fresh clean set of underwear, she wore her thin-strapped nightie that was rather revealing, she felt very cold, but it didn't matter because she could use the blanket if she got too cold.
'I hope Grannie gets home safely.' She prayed silently as she arranged her bedding, she was preparing to go to bed when the bedroom door creaked open a small smile appeared on her lips when she noticed the door opened.
"Grannie, I was so worried—" she trailed off and the smile suddenly disappeared when she noticed the figure that came into the room wasn't her grandmother.
This was a man and he was in a hooded cloak, his face was hidden from her, she stood frozen in one spot, the aura of this man choking, she was so afraid that she couldn't breathe properly.
She blinked once, twice, three times, but it wasn't a dream, a very tall figure of a man was standing in her doorway unmoving, with a powerful and enigmatic aura.
'Is he a burglar?' she could feel her heart rate increase in her chest. 'Are we getting robbed?'
'Now? When no one is around?'
"Where is Rose?" The figure spoke, confirming her suspicion, it was indeed a man, his voice was cold, controlled, and domineering, she could feel every fiber in her body shake as he spoke, and it was authoritative to the point that she had nose bleeds.
'Oh my God, he is talking to me?' she thought as she panicked
He seemed to be looking for a certain Rose,
'Rose… Who is Rose?'
"Where is that old hag!?" He demanded a bit more harshly, and Khalilah staggered backward in fear, she wiped the blood from her nose with the back of her hands. "I look everywhere in this house and no one else is home, except you."
"D-Do you mean my grandma?" She asked a bit confidently, he sounded pretty young, why would he call Grandma, by her name? Moreover, why did he call her an old hag? That's so disrespectful.
The figure remained speechless, not giving Khalilah the answer she sought.
"When I ask you a question, you don't ask me another question." He warned and she felt another gust of cold wind sink into the loose material of her nightie.
"I don't know who you are or why you're looking for my grandma, you can't just walk into my room and expect me to obey your every word." She snapped back in anger, he might be a burglar, a thief, or a serial killer for all she cares. "You don't have any right to ask questions, that's not your position, I should do the asking for example, who the hell are you? And how on earth did you get in here, and why the fuck aren't you knocking before you come into my room?"
He let out a sardonic laugh, the kind that sends shivers down your spine, causing Khalilah's breath to catch in her throat. He delicately unveiled his hood, revealing his countenance, and Khalilah found herself enthralled by his breathtaking beauty.
His age appeared to hover in the realm of late twenties or at most he just turned thirty… with a face like that it was difficult to tell what age he was.
And his skin, though pale and almost ghostly, radiated an alluring brittleness. His eyes, like two mesmerizing pools, shimmered with a shade of crimson that reminded her of an endless sea of blood. Cascading down his elegant frame, his hair, as if spun from the threads of celestial beings, flowed in a wondrous cascade of pure, silvery-white, imparting an otherworldly allure that left Khalilah momentarily speechless.
What could she compare him to?
The cloud?
An angel?
A painting?
He looked so unreal, it was almost as though she was imagining it.
"I see…" He spoke and Khalilah gasped, she was so beautiful she didn't think he was capable of speaking. "She didn't tell you anything that's why she ran away."
He laughs even more, meanwhile, Khalilah stays quiet as she admires him. "Rose knows I'd kill everyone if they had stayed, she is so smart that old hag."
She didn't understand what he meant by that, what was Grandma supposed to tell her?
Who is this man?
She was clueless, and she watched the look of amusement on his face disappear to be replaced with a scowl on his face; He took a few steps closer and I moved away immediately.
"I'm not that disappointed, you're fairly beautiful." At lightning speed he launched at her, she didn't even see him move, but she felt his cold hands first before she noticed that he was so close to her and he was grabbing her neck. She screamed, pushing him away from herself and she managed to wriggle out of his steel-like grip.
She dashed out of her room, screaming as she ran towards the front door but before she could get out of the house, he gripped her hair pulling me inside once more.
"I guess I startled you,'" he had this satisfying smirk on his face, he seemed to be enjoying this. "I wasn't going to hurt you, I was just trying to check you."
"Let go of me!" She yelled as she twisted towards him painfully.
He noticed she was in pain and so he released her hair… This is why he hated them, they were just too damned fragile.
"Who are you? And what do you want from me?" she stepped back away from him
"I would answer all of your questions if you come with me."
Go with him? To where?
"I don't even know you, I think you're making a big mistake if you are here to kidnap me, my grandma will come back soon with the police, and when she does you'll be sorry for breaking in." She tried to threaten him even though she was visibly trembling, the intruder on the other hand seemed unfazed by her threat.
"Khalilah dear, your grandma wouldn't come home till morning, she knows very well, that the moment she walks in that door I'll send her head flying."
Her heart skipped a beat, how can he say something so cruel and be so relaxed about it? Khalilah got up and ran towards to, climbing up the stairs, she glanced back at him, he was still standing in one position, staring at her with an annoyed look on his face.
She slammed the door shut and turned the keys, her instincts told her to run and that's what she would do, she would run for her life at this point.
She opened the window sill and without thinking, she jumped down, twisting her ankle as she crashed on the ground.
"Ahhh…" She cried out in pain, but she quickly got up, ignoring the pain in her leg as she hoped to escape from the psychopath through the back of the estate.
She heaved a sigh of relief when she noticed he wasn't chasing her anymore, her eyes widened in surprise when she met him waiting patiently for her in front of the back gate.
"Is that your way of escaping from me?" He chuckles when she approaches him in a haste. "I'm not sure how I feel."
He was standing in front of her, and by this time she was not only out of breath but also out of ideas. She didn't know what else to do and she was already tired of running.
He grabbed her once more before she even tried to run, he pulled her incredibly closer to himself and she winced in pain, his hands were cold and sharp.
"I had figured you'd be too much of a nuisance, so I think you should go to sleep."
That was the last thing Khalilah heard before she felt a stiff blow on one side of her neck, she couldn't stop her eyes from closing or her consciousness from fading.