Chapter 31

What was that all about?" Mom asked as soon as we were all inside the house.

"Huh?"

"Mike, and you. It seemed you were both arguing about something?" She asked stretching her limbs. That day, she was wearing a white top and maroon coloured palazzo pants.

"No not really. We're cool, mom" I quickly replied, taking off my face so she'd not read my expression.

"You sure? I saw him pull your hands and you were yelling? Was that a joke?"

"We were playing, mom" I said and faked a smile.

"Sure, baby?" She said, sitting me down beside her on the couch. She examined my temperature and kissed my forehead

"Yes mom, I'm fine"

"Where's your key?"

"I lost it" I said. "It fell from my pockets"

"Okay. I'll give you a spare one when I'm going out" she said and carried Jamie in her arms. I knew it, there was something about her returning early. I waited with Pamela in the living room. I tickled her and laughed, trying to forget my problems.

I went to my bedroom, leaving her there. She was safe, in her cot, so why bother? I thought. The door was firmly locked too. I went upstairs to undress, bathe and have lunch.

Mom came to my room when I was still bathing. She rummaged through my wardrobe, and laid my bed. Then she cleaned my table and scrubbed the floor even though she was tired. She was such a caring mother, why would I stress her with what happened to me? I thought.

She started to clean the rest of the rooms. I wondered if we were expecting someone. She did clean the house on normal days but that day, she did it even without taking a rest yet. So I asked her, "Mom, are we expecting someone?"

"Why?" She asked smiling, and before I could answer, she added, "Well, I guess so" I smiled. It must be Jack.

"Jack wants to come have dinner with us. I've been refusing him all this while, but I guess allowing him this one time won't spoil anything, yeah?"

"Wow I like that mom. I want to see him again" Mom blushed. "I miss him too" she said, blushing hard

"You've not been seeing each other?"

"No. Work's caught up with him. There's no time to visit after the twins came. My hands are tied" she said and I hugged her immediately. She smiled.

"What about Cameron? Does he know?" I asked. It was dangerous to invite Jack into the house now. Cameron didn't want any visitors, especially not someone who was dating his wife. I wondered what audacity mom had to have agreed to Jack coming over.

"He's doing all night at work. He's not coming home tonight" she said. I nodded and watched her walk into the kitchen to make dinner. The kitchen was sparkling--she cleaned it in the morning. Dinner was going to be simple--Rice and lamb stew plus grilled fish. I was going to meet Jack again after some weeks.

When I was sure dinner was ready, I went back into my room and played music in high volumes. My curtains were up in the window and I stayed by the window sill and danced. Yes, I was aware that the figure could pass by and I should have let my curtains down but I was ready to meet up with it. I wanted to even be bold for once. I wanted to possibly have a conversation with whoever it was. Perhaps I could ask him what exactly he wanted. Perhaps I could find out if he was real or he was just a figment of my imagination. As I danced and sang along to the music, he appeared. Again. Like he knew I was waiting for him. This time, I was more terrified because he was not resting on a tall tree in the woods as usual, rather, he was slowly walking me, towards my window. But I didn't scream or move back; I was transfixed to the spot. Maybe it was shock or it was his force that held me stiff on the floor. I didn't know.

As he came closer, I started to figure out his shape and height. He was human after all. Or maybe not. The more he moved closer, the more he grew. He grew huge with every step he took- he was scary but I was staring, without screaming or running, but with my heart palpitating like it would drop the next minute.

When I realized he was very close to my window, I touched my head, moved a step back and screamed with all my strength because he was a beast. Then I opened my eyes slowly. I expected mom to come find out why I screamed but no one came into my room. Everywhere was as quiet as the grave, the only noise I heard was my screaming and maybe the thumping and thudding of his feet on dried leaves as he came closer. Still I did not run. When he got to my window, his head was already hidden, only his arms and body were visible, that's to let you know that he was taller than our building and maybe almost as wide. I moved a step backwards again and watched him. He looked like rock, I mean it was not flesh that covered his body, it was rocky skin, and when he let his arms down, I saw his hands, he had no fingers, they were all huge, long fangs.

He stretched out his hands and lifted my window, threw it away into the woods and put his arm into my room through the space where my window had been. I moved two steps backwards, fell to the floor, closed my eardrums because his movements made vibrating sounds that could deafen anyone if care was not taken, then I screamed again with all my energy. He soon entered my room, destroying many things without stress, my wall crumbled , my floor was dug down with his feet and I almost sank into the hole. My room soon transformed into a building that had just been demolished by machines. I waited for him to harm me but instead, he looked around the room, as if he was searching for something, used his hands to destroy my wall clock, wardrobe and door. In fact, he lifted my door with a hand as if it were mere paper. Then, he went out of my room towards the guest room where my twin sisters were sleeping. It seemed he was not after me Where was mom? I thought. I was so scared. As he walked through the house, his feet bore holes in the floor and crumbled the tiles and marble on the floor. Deep holes. I ran after him. I was not going to let him take Jamie away. It was crazy running after someone who was twenty times my size, but I did run after him avoiding the deep holes his feet created in the floor. He stopped at the guest room, flung away the door and went in with all his might. There were two cots there but there were no babies were in it. They were empty I was shocked. Where did the babies go? Where's mom? I remembered I left her in the kitchen to have some time in my room, waiting for Jack to join us for dinner. But, the kitchen was bare.

"Mom!" I screamed but she was nowhere to be found. Almost as soon as he entered the room, this beast scooped up two little girls from behind the wardrobe in the guest room. Screams followed a desperate plea for help. Two girls that were so young they couldn't be more than seven or eight years old. One had blond hair, the other had dark hair. They were shivering with fear. He sat them on his palms and then looked closely at them both with his huge, devil eyes, trying to determine which one he wanted.

I stood there at the door, confused about what to do. There was no weapon around to fight him. Besides, I couldn't fight him! But These girls were my sisters! I needed to save them, I was shocked as to when they grew up this big. But that didn't matter. The beast was there to take one of them away, Where's mom?? I thought, I screamed her name and the whole building shook with my screams and his movements. I went out of the house, opened the main door and behold, it was leading to a road I didn't know. In fact, our building was on clouds and everywhere was deserted. There was no building in view. No Mike, no neighbors, no sky, no woods. I ran back to the guest room with fright only to find out that the beast had taken Jamie away and my sister with dark hair was in pool of her blood.

"Ariana! Ariana! Ariana! Somebody help!! Jack!!!!" I suddenly heard mom's voice. Her voice was so much resonating in my head that it jerked me back to life, and I slowly opened my eyes. Surrounding me was mom and Jack. There was a bowl of water near my head, with a piece of cloth soaked into it, and I was sprawled on the floor with my first button loose and my hair thoroughly wet. I looked around my surroundings. Yeah, I was in my room. My window was intact, my door was not displaced. My floor, firm and strong and neat, my bed neatly laid, and mom was with me and there was no beast anywhere.

I had been hallucinating. Hallucinating? That's what Dr Brown called it but honestly it felt so real. Mom said I fell off my bed and knocked my head on the floor. She said I fell unconscious after that time and she had to pour some water on my forehead and hair. She said the water woke me, but little did she know that it was her voice that woke me. I heard her voice before I felt the water on my skin. I thought she had come to save Jamie from the hands of the beast. Then Jack came and took me to the hospital. He was already around when that incident happened to me. Mom said the first thing I said or asked as soon as I regained consciousness was, "Where is Jamie?"

At the hospital, my head was bound and my feet where I had bruises from falling. I was discharged the same day and Jack had to return to his home because it was already dark. He couldn't have dinner with us. I could see mom was sad about it but she tried not to show it. She was so worried for me and wondered if I was going crazy. I was even skeptical about talking to her about it because when she had heard Dr Brown's statement about my hallucinations, she had been dejected, you know when you're so worried and confused that you just shake your head in disbelief. But I wanted to talk to her about it. That night, after Jack left after mom pleaded that he waited some more to at least have dinner and he refused (probably because he had some work to do), mom came to my room and watched me lay down. She sat there, not saying a word. When I was rushed to the hospital, Mom was carrying the two babies on her chest and held them with her arms. They could have fallen with the way she was running and panicking but thank God they didn't.

She watched me with my eyes shut, and she didn't say anything. My head was still heavily bound but it was better, I felt better. I knew she was in the room. Maybe she was trying to make sure I do not fall or hallucinate again, and trying not to wake me up at the same time. But I was not even sleeping. I wished mom could work more on divorcing Cameron. She was now really silent about it. Was she giving up already? I thought. Or was she waiting for the twins to get attached to their father first? I didn't know. What I did know was ever since we returned home, mom had not slept in her husband's room and they fought about it everyday but without hitting each other.

I was awake but pretended to be asleep, so I knew mom sat beside me for an hour. Without saying anything. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She stared painfully at me, and I tried to sit up.. She helped me sit up and she rubbed my shoulder and kissed my cheeks.

"Baby" she began. "What's going on with you?" She asked.

"Im fine, mom" i said.

"Did you see him again? For real? Dr Brown said you saw a beast. Did you?"

"Actually mom, I believe someone is after Jamie"

"What do you mean? Jamie's only a baby, how could anyone be after her?" She asked, looking bewildered. "What's wrong? You're seeing things that are not there. Why baby, why??" She cried.

"Mommy, I swear he is really there. I'm sure he wants Jamie; I saw it in my dream" I said, almost crying. I wished someone would believe me and help me. "He's always there" I said pointing towards my window.

"At your window?"

"No. In the woods, but I always see him from here" . She sighed, and moved closer to me. She looked towards where I was pointing and shook her head.

"Tell me, how does he look like?"

"I don't know. Today he came like a beast, he must be really tall and powerful is all i know" I replied. I was glad we were finally having a conversation about him. It felt lighter to talk about it with mom.

"Did you tell Dr Brown about this?" She asked.

"Yes, and he said I'm hallucinating. Remember he came here once to stay with me but he didn't see what I was seeing, just like you didn't, But I swear mom, I see him"

"Look there now, baby. Do you see him now?" She asked. I looked there but no, he was not there.

"No mom. He doesn't come when someone is with me" i explained

"Is it a ghost? Maybe Joe appearing to you or something?" She asked.

"No I don't think so. He wants Jamie" i replied with a tone of finality. She sighed, scratched her head for an answer, then said softly. "I'll move you to the guest room. That place is overlooking a body of water. I think it's better for you" she forced a smile. "What do you think?" She asked me, looking squarely into my eyeballs. I nodded slowly. What did she expect me to say?

So, that night, mom helped me move into the guest room, which was on the farther end of the house. She was only trying to help me and I was cooperating with her even though I was not sure it would work. I was dealing with supernatural, paranormal forces, not something physical. They could move anywhere. That night, I slept peacefully. Mom moved in with me and the babies. It felt so comfy to have her rock me to sleep. And while she thought I was deeply asleep, at midnight, I heard her talk to Jack on phone: "I'm scared she might end up seeing a psychiatrist, I think everything is getting into her head, I'm so scared, Jack. Please help me"

"Poor little child" Jack blurted over the phone.

I was not totally awake but I heard them. They talked into the night. He apologized for not having dinner with us, he promised to take her out on weekends, he talked about the divorce, then he talked about his happy childhood, making mom laugh after crying. I know mom was grateful for him, but I was even more grateful. When Cameron was unavailable, he was there for her. I wish I could hit his head one of these days.

Camp was in three days time and mom was preparing me for it. It was going to be an experience. It was my first summer camp ever since I joined Enchanting Promises High school. And i was going to make the best use of it. I was determined to have fun, and also not forget my sole aim of going there--Finding a way out for Jamie.

I could see mom was especially pleased to know I would be attending

"They say the camp will help you get better. I have a feeling it might"

I didn't understand what she meant, and I chose not to think about it.

The next two days were used in packing and unpacking and at last, I was ready for camp.

"Be a good girl" Mom told me. "Remember that no man gets to touch you anyhow. No touching, no fondling, okay?"

"Yes mom"