chapter 2 : Mysterious things

Weeks had passed since my tragic incident in my Uncle's study and I haven't been at rest. Though I never once glimpsed the mysterious hand again, something felt off about the palace, especially the halls leading to the study. The entire palace felt different, it felt scary, lonely, and dark. For the first time in a long while, I felt scared. Scared of the dark and scared to be alone. I kept on reliving that night in my dreams and it feels even more real every time. My most recent dream occurred when I saw a hand waving to me behind my bedroom curtains. I was completely terrified that I had to sleep in my brother's room the following night.

I became really troubled at school, and no matter how hard I try, I can never forget what happened to me. I was driven by fear. I barely ate lunch and spent most of my time alone. I remember this specific day when my life took a different turn. It was during my lunchtime, and as usual, I grabbed a box of Orange juice from the cafeteria and headed out. I walked looking like a tired mouse with marks of dullness on me. My arms swaying from side to side and my head hangs low with my black hoodie covering it. I walked around the school compound away from the rest of the students, looking for someplace of peace and quiet. The back of the dance classroom was my secret spot. Since no one ever go behind there, it was peaceful and still. The only noise there were the tunes of ballet music playing along. To my surprise, my spot has been discovered by some other students. Not only did they steal my spot but, they stole my happiness. I suddenly had a raging urge to go and claim my spot forcefully.

"Hey what are you guys doing here? this is my spot so scram!!!" I shouted.

But they didn't care to listen. Once I insisted again, one of them jumped up to my face and said, " What makes you think you can tell us what to do and claim the school's property?"

I didn't answer. I had the most irritating feeling and the urge to slap him across his face and just When I raised my small hand above his face, he grabbed my hand, holding it tight. Right there and then, my memories were triggered by my encountering in my uncle's study. I started to scream, "Please let go of me, you can take the spot I don't want it anymore" Glady, the boy let go of me and i ran from there as fast as I could. Whilst running, I could feeling their mocking eyes looking at me as they laughed their souls away.

I decided to forget everything and just find a different place to stay and that's when I discovered somewhere new, somewhere even better. It was under the school's oldest Poui tree. It was said that this tree blossomed during the exam times and it surely brought good luck. Since luck was the only thing missing from my life, I thought I could use it a little. So I sat under the tree and drank my orange juice. I had no one to talk to nor nothing to entertain me. It was just me, the tree, and the breeze brushing against my body. I leaned back on the tree truck considering life. Then suddenly. a weird thought surround my mind. "What if I went back into uncle's study?" I questioned myself. This enthusiasm increased and made me want to know what exactly cause a random hand to grab me in the study and why it happens to be lurking around in my dreams as well. I needed an answer, I needed to put an end to this. So it was final, I had no other choice but to face my fears and put an end to all of this. It was set, I will go back at exactly midnight, the hour when I was sure everyone was asleep. Although my mind was solid about that decision, I was still fearful of it. I needed some aid or protection as I did not know what I am facing. My best choice was to get someone to follow me, someone, who wasn't a snitch. My brother, Adrian. He was weak and too much of a scary cat but, he would spill the beans. After all, I have blackmailed him into keeping his behind shut several times.

I was finally happy with myself. I wasn't happy because I had found a way to end my misery but, happy because I can now regain my happiness. Throughout the rest of the school day, I no longer had that grumpy, dull look anymore. Instead of walking slowly, I pranced along the corridors like a proud horse, rocking my body from side to side. I was surely unstoppable. At last, I had found peace within myself. The students and teachers were shocked by my sudden change. As for the past few days, I roamed with a dark cloud fuming around my head. From greeting my teachers with a smile and offering to help out my classmates, all seemed strange to them. Even after I arrived at the palace, my parents were in confusion. They two were not used to seeing me so happy. This made them question my actions a lot. As usual, I made silly excuses to cheat my way out. This time, I told them that I was no longer fearful of that mysterious hand anymore. When I truly was. Meanwhile clearing up my questions and queries, my brain was pondering and arranging tonight's mission. I tried walking against the halls of the study but I couldn't. I really needed to ask my brother to accompany me after dinner. Just as promised, I poked his side and whispered, " Meet me in the courtyard, there is something I want to ask you, it's very important". As planned right after dinner, I found my way in the courtyard waiting for my brother to meet me. It hadnt been too long ,when I saw Adrian running along.

"What's this important thing you had to discuss with me Thyra?" asked Adrian.

:Umm I was wondering if you could follow me to uncle odon's study tonight?", I asked.

" Are you serious? No am not! ; besides after what happened to you, you really want to go back in there?" he questioned.

"Well yeah, I think its the only way to face my fears, would you do it for me? Help your little sister out" I begged.

"Fine but, only on one condition we get out of there as soon as your done seeking whatever you want and I swear if anything happens Mom and Dad will be informed about it by me", he said.

After we decided on our agreement, we both walked of in opposite directions. Somehow, a beaming smile grew across my face. I was sure tonight would be very life changing. At ten o'clock, I was in my bed tossing and turning relentlessly as I was too excited to even sleep. I tried closing my eyes for a short nap just so I could be wide awake at exactly twelve, but it never worked. Eventually time had caught up to me and just about when I started to be sleepy, the alarm went off. And as soon as I heard the ringing, I sprang out of bed grabbing my flashlight and a small battery camera. This time I didn't care about taking any sort of snacks with me. I walked as slowly as i could and met my brother in the halls between our rooms. We both walked along the wall leading to the study in fear. I had my hair pin ready and set to pick the locks, only to realise that there was a second lock bolting the door. Everything didn't go as planned and we were one step behind.

"Gosh, mom and dad must have done this to keep me out", I said.

"Yeah and doesn't that clearly say, we should just leave?" Said Adrian.

"Come on dont be such a scaredy cat, theres got to be a next way", I responded.

With a mischievous little grin, I tiled my head and whispered, "We need to go to Mom and dad's bedroom and take their keys" .

Saying this, we scrammed from the study all the way across the palace, heading to our parent's bedroom. This was surely not a hard nut to crack. My parents always had their bedroom doors opened. All it took us was to sneak inside and search for the keys. We looked everywhere possible and thought we had no hope left. Until Arian spotted them right at dad's bedside table. I stood yonder and watched my brother creeping closer to the keys. And just before he could grab them, dad started to toss and turn. My patience was running low and I hated the idea of being there so long.

"Come on, grab the keys and run!" I shouted.

Adrain grabbed them and ran as fast as he could following behind me . All that running made us tired and he fell straight to the ground. We were panting heavily but had no more time left for laying around. Unlocking the door was harder than we thought. There were so many keys attached to the bunch. I had no Idea which one to use. We were left in the dark trying to find the only key that fit perfectly. Luckily after twenty-five tries later, the final key unlocked the door to the study and we chucked inside. We switched our flashlights on and walked in circles.

I called, "Hello, is anybody here?" But no one answered.

I thought of nothing much. I tried convincing myself that maybe what I experienced was all made up in my mind. I wanted to leave now, but just then the book of witches reappeared on the bottom shelf from thin air. I was extremely surprised by this. I snatched the camera from my brothers hand and switched it on. I placed it at the perfect angle on the table near the book shelf, just so it could make a recording of what would happen. Then, somehow I drew closer to the book having the intention of taking it.

My brother pleaded, " Please Thyra, leave it and come. Don't you find it strange how the book magically reappeared?" .

But I had little to no interest in what he said. I walked closer to the book and stooped over to grab it from the shelf. Just then, I was certain that I was having some kind of deja vu. The same hand extended from behind the bookshelf, and held me tight again. Though I was afraid, I decided that fear wouldn't stop me from finding out the truth this time. My brother was rather frightened by this and yelled, " let's get out of here, take my hand" but I pushed him aside. I was determined this time to not let go of what wanted to suck me in. I pulled as hard as I could but whatever it seemed to be was stronger than I could ever be. I called for my brother's help and Surprisingly he was able to hold onto me tightly. Since I was sure That I was secured, I went ahead and asked my questions.

"What are you? Who are you? And why are you taunting me?" but it never answered.

Suddenly, it let go of me and sprinted over the table. I wondered why, but there was no need anymore. The hand reached over for the camera and throw the camera straight into the wall.

I shouted, " No! dont break my camera!". But it didnt care as to what I said. By then, I was super angry. I wanted to chop every single finger of that hand, but I need to keep my cool. Getting rid of my source will stop my progress.

So I calmly asked again, "Who are you? And why are you taunting me?"

Once again, I received no answer. I become frustrated, insisting on getting an answer, one way or the other. Though I had no intentions of doing it, i drew for a small pocket knife hiden in the draws of the table. I threatened to cut all five of its fingers; if it didnt tell me its identity or its reason for haunting me. Then I heard a mumbling beyond the shadows of the book shelf.

" I am the mystery one"

The voice began to laugh hysterically just before letting my hand go. I sat before it, watching it disappear in thin air, right behind the shelves. I felt disappointed in myself, I felt what hurts the most, failure. I felt even more silly thinking that coming back to face my fears would cover things up, but instead it unrevealed more questions that needed answering. I picked up my camera which now had a crack in its lens.

"Our job here isn't done Adrian, we have to be keen, we've just collected the second piece to our puzzle", I said.

But Adrain didn't answer me, this time he kneeled in complete shock, nodding his head.