1 Chapter One

I

slept on the couch in my bedroom after lazily looking at the bathroom for close to forty-five minutes, all I wanted to do want to make wudhu so that I can have a peaceful night today. I noticed that whenever I made wudhu before bed and did my adhkaar, Abdullah doesn't come visiting. He always want to be intimate and I'm definitely not in the mood tonight, even with all these in mind, I still slept of without performing wudhu or reciting my adhkaar.

__________

"My love! It's been a while since you have come to me and you didn't let me come to you either, what's wrong? Why are you drifting away recently? Are you planning to leave me behind? To leave the kids behind? Are you planning on throwing all our dreams and plans to live together in the ditch?" Abdullah asked with lots of emotions laced in his voice.

A'atika already knew that would happen, she already knew that once she faced him again that it would be difficult for her to stay away from him, she just knew it.

"My heartbeat! I'm not planning to do anything of such,I'm planning to leave you and the kids behind, I'm not planning to leave the life we planned for behind, I'm just confused and I don't know what to do." A'atika told Abdullah while looking really confused.

"I knew it A'atika, I knew it, it's because of that new friend you made right? She is trying to destroy our relationship, you must forget all the words she is teaching you to say, it's only making our bond weak, it's only making me weak, please stay away from her for the sake of our love. I have known you since forever and she just met you few weeks ago and she is already trying to steal you away from me? You need to hate her, she is a clear enemy."

I woke up with tears in my eyes and determination to stay away from Alisha, to stay as far as possible because she is taking my love away from me, she is teaching me how to neglect my kids but little did I know I was walking into my own doom by distancing myself from who would have helped me out.

BACK TO THE PRESENT....

I was walking slowly in the middle of somewhere very familiar, still yet it looked abandoned, it looked creepy, like some sinister , something.... Evil.

I don't know how I got here but I know I must look for a way to get out somehow, I can't dwell in here forever.

I walked closer to the creepy looking dilapidated house, I walked barefooted in the cold and nothing to cover me up except the nightgown I wore to sleep. As I walked closer, fear engulfed me but I knew I couldn't stop, I had to find a way out. I placed my hand on the door knob and as I opened the door halfway, I felt an ice cold hand held me by my arm, I lost my voice immediately, I couldn't even shout.

The moment I found my voice back, I screamed on top of my lungs. The hand pulled me inside the creepy looking house with great force, a figure came in view it wasn't so clear because the room was dark but I knew it wasn't something good, I knew I should be running for my dear life but could I do when why leg is taking me towards the figure itself?

I finally got close enough to this figure but it's face was still not visible, it was cover with a black veil. It brought it's hand closer to my head, I didn't know what to expect because one thing shocked me, one think I shouldn't be shocked about yet I was shocked, the hand which held me previously left me and found it's way to glue itself to the figure in front of me.

The face was finally revealed, it belonged to a young beautiful woman with emerald eyes, eyes that you could get lost in and for a moment I thought I was safe until she suddenly gripped my hair and open her mouth to bite me revealing a dirty strange looking set of teeth, I couldn't help but scream again. I closed my eyes and was expecting her teeth to pierce through me until Aliyah finally tapped me.

"As salaam u alaykum warahmatuLlahi wabarakatuH big sis, it's time for solatul fajr and we have been waiting for you down stairs" she said with a sweet smile.

I sat up panting, sweating profusely and looking strangely at her still trying to recover from the horrible dream, I don't know why all these are happening to me but I need help now, I need to talk to Abdullah to help me with this.

I burst into tears as Aliyah left my room, this dreams are affecting me, they are messing with my mental health.

"Abdullah I need you, don't stay away from me for so long, please I need you" she said while weeping profusely.

******

"when the clock hits one, the skeletons run out of their graves

Chumbalaka! Chumbalaka! Chumbalaka!

When the clock hits two, they invade the city you stay

Chumbalaka! Chumbalaka! Chumbalaka!

When the clock hits three, they eat babies who cry

Chumbalaka! Chumbalaka! Chumbalaka

When the clock hits..."

The sonorous voice grew louder the more I listened but I do not want to listen again, neither do I want to see the woman to whom the voice belonged.

But I wasn't asleep, right? I was still very much aware of my surroundings so why was this happening? It happens only when I sleep right but I'm avoiding sleep and I have been doing my best by taking herbal teas to prevent me from sleeping then what's this, what's going on?

"Where..... Where am-m I?" I asked no one in particular. I was terrified, I didn't leave my room with my own two legs nor did I fall asleep, then why is this happening?

I could see that same house from a distance, the one that looked very much that our house only that it looked scary.... It looked.... Evil

I knew for sure that I didn't want to go to the house but their was this force that was pulling me closer to it, whatever the force was, I knew it wasn't curiosity, it was something beyond the ordinary.

I turned the door knob to go inside but this time nothing scary happened, it was just a woman on a rocking chair singing the weird song

"There is nothing to be scared of A'atika, Abdullah always got you and he will always be there for you, he promised that right?" I asked myself or maybe it was just a way to reassure myself that I would be fine

"When the clock hits one, the skeletons run out of their...."

The rocking chair suddenly stopped making me to also stop in my track.

"Is that a way you behave with your mother in-law?"

"Wait! What? Mother in-law?" I asked. well, I obviously didn't ask her, I was only asking those rhetorical question in my mind, I knew no one would give me an answer.

"Hahaha" She cackled evilly

She soon turned the chair around and I knew better than to be expecting to see a pretty face like those of every normal human being. Now I was face to face with her only that her hair covered majority of her face.

She looked up to and then pulled her hair revealing something strange, something scary, something unexpected, she revealed a .... beautiful face?"

A beautiful face was not something I would have expected but somehow, here we are.

She moved closer to me and I could feel my body shivering from fear of what was going to happen next, I couldn't move, I couldn't scream, I was just....stuck.

She came close enough that I thought she was going to kiss me any moment from now but that didn't happen. In a blink of an eye, her face started to rot and I opened my mouth to scream for help but no word came out, Instead, I had her eye fall into my mouth.