Chapter 4

"I could die. Master would kill both of us or punish us that we will beg for death but won't see it." Lara said to her with frightening eyes. Her eyeballs grew so large like they would fall off from their sockets.

"Who is the master? What does he look like? Why is he doing this to me?" I asked her as she casted a look at me. I was scared immediately because I remembered my question was part of the instructions she had read to me previously.

I looked at her but she didn't give me that cold glare; rather, she seemed to have sympathy towards me.

"I'm sure you won't want to know who the master is." She said to me as she turned her back against me and started to clear the plates then wheeled it out of the room without saying anything else.

Lara slumped as her legs grew weaker and she couldn't feel them because of the fear that was instilled in her. She didn't know what to do. The least that she was scared of was death but now hearing that even death is even better than being punished by this so-called master scared her the most. Who was he and what was he capable of doing?

She slept there on the floor from her thoughts. Lara came into the room to put her into bed when she saw her on the floor sleeping. She carried her and tucked her into the big bed, covered her with the blanket and switched off the light in her room then left, after carefully closing the door behind her.

The night was unusually cold. Lucy couldn't sleep well as she kept having strange dreams. It felt like the enchantment of the building had taken effect on her. She woke up frightened as beads of sweat formed on her forehead despite the coldness of the room.

She heard strange cries just like the one she heard in her dream. It was as though someone was crying. She rubbed her eyes and laid back in bed and was about to close her eyes to return to sleep when she heard a cry. She immediately reopened her eyes as she thought it wasn't just a dream but she could hear it in reality.

She got up and sat down on the bed as she listened to the cry. It sounded like that of a baby or rather, a small child. She.put on the lights in the room and tried to trace where the cry was coming from when she noticed it was coming from the large cupboard that was in her room.

She walked out of her bed as she went towards the large cupboard which contained ancient books that were locked in its shelf.She placed her right ear close to the cupboard and her cry seemed to be louder. She tried to see if the cupboard could move but it was too heavy to be shifted.

All of a sudden, she felt shrills running down her spine. There was an abnormal cold engulfing her as goosebumps formed on her skin. The cry which changed to a laughter with mockery seemed to be very loud and intense as she could no longer bear it as it was driving her crazy. She closed her ears with her palms as she screamed for it to stop.

"Stop! Stop! Stop taunting me! I didn't kill you! Leave me alone it wasn't intentional! Leave me alone! Stop!" Lucy screamed as she fell to the ground and was kicking her legs in the air. Lara rushed into the room and went towards her. As soon as she came in, the crying ceased.

"Cha Lee! Are you okay? What's wrong?" Lara asked her as she held panicked Lucy who looked like a chicken that was beaten by the rain.

"I didn't kill her…I didn't kill her…" Lucy kept saying as she cried out.

Lara looked at her with confusion.

"What are you talking about? Come here." Lara said to her as she hugged her and carried her to the bed.

"Calm down alright, you didn't kill anyone and no one is haunting or taunting you down." Lara tried to calm her down as she put her to sleep.

"Go to bed and we'll talk about it tomorrow okay?" Lara said to her but Lucy held on tight to her.

"I can't sleep here…take me with you." Lucy begged Lara, leaving the old woman perplexed.

"You can't come with me. You can't leave the room. You have to stay here alright? Nothing will happen to you." Lara tried to calm her down but she refused.

"Then sleep here with me." Lucy said to Lara but she nodded in the negative.

"I can't…master won't allow me to." Lara said to Lucy.

"Why? Why is he doing this to me? What have I ever done to deserve this? Who is he? Let him show his face to me!" Lucy cried in frustration.

"Don't you dare say that again! No one can see the master and survive it! You are suffering from all these because of your stubbornness. I've told you several times to abide by the rules I read to you if you want to live in peace and remain alive." Lara said to Lucy as she got up and went towards the door.

"Don't turn off the lights." Lucy said to her as she watched her nanny leaving.

"Sure." Lara said to her as she took her leave and left the room after locking it as usual.

"What have I done? What kind of life is this?" Lucy cried out to herself as she laid in bed with fear in her. She couldn't get any sleep nor could she shut her eyes for fear of seeing things again.