6. Nana's Demise.

The morning sun shone through the drapes of the kitchen window on the girl sitting down at the table staring blankly at the cup of tea which had turned cold at some point in front of her looking as white as sheet. She had taken a few bites of her breakfast and completely lost her appetite so she just sat there while the events of last night replayed in her brain non stop. Had it not been for lingering sensation of coldness from the belt in her palms along with the imprint of warm flashlight, she might have thought it was just her imagination. The accented masculine voice had kept her awake the entire night. But Soph said she had seen no one while the pers...thing was there standing right in front of her when she came.

Does that mean he isn't human? But how could she see him if he is invisible? He clearly felt like one underneath her palms last night. The accented masculine voice haunted her throughout the night, dangerous and perverted. She couldn't help but find it a little bit sexy.

Yeah, she is definitely going crazy.

She laid wide awake on her bed with red eyes when she heard the front door opening and closing which had her glancing at the alarm clock on her bedside table. It was 6 am in the morning and Jiji had left the house. She heard her footsteps moving about in the room throughout the night. The woman had ignored her, avoided her since last night contrary to her expectations. She'd thought the woman would confront her when she returned home about her precious baby but to her surprise the door to her room was locked and the lights were out. Que was grateful, her head was a mess and she didn't know how to explain to Jiji had she confront her.

Tell her that her curse had level up? No thanks.

She'd never forget the first time they found out about her curse, Jiji had locked herself up in her room just like this while her parents sat on the couch at the opposite end of the living room as her Mom bawled her eyes out. Poor girl had no idea what was going on. The only thing she knew was that Mr Fruggle and all the pets she'd gotten afterwards (with only the exception of Bubblegum) had mysteriously died. When her parents explained that to the pet shop owner when they went to get her another pet, the old man suggested taking the young girl for a reading to figure out if she was good with animals and the specific type in order to avoid breaking the girl's heart all over again. That was how they find out about her curse. Que loved animals and plants, but was forbidden to play with them ever since then which made her little heart ached. The next day Jiji packed her bags and left, but returned in a week when her only son died in a car accident and she had no place else to stay. Don't get her wrong, that has nothing to do with her. Jiji had demanded double of the amount she was paid earlier because and I quote "the girl is dangerous to be around and a high maintenance, no one would agree to be her nanny". Even though her parents weren't rich, they agreed to the nanny's demand but had her promise to stay with Que until she was old enough and settle down. That was the only reason Jiji is still with her. The next trip after that, her parents never returned. Jiji salary wasn't little, and as time goes on, all the properties of her parents were eventually passed on to Jiji as her salary.

When the sky turned bright, Que got out of the bed and sat infront of the TV waiting for the news. Although she dreaded the outcome, she still needed to know Nana's fate. The building was completely destroyed and all the bodies were smashed under the debris beyond recognition. Que felt like crying but couldn't find her tears.

Another person that cares about her is out of her life again. In less than a week, she had lost two of the most important figures in her life since the death of her parents.

"Search for this woman, she might be able to help you," Nana's last words rang in her head. She clutched the paper ball in her hand and suddenly got up. She only had herself in this world, she alone could fight her battles.

A furry ball nudge her leg catching her attention, the cat had been doing that for sometime which she chose to ignore. Que glanced down at the black cat by her legs looking up at her with large eyes. Ever since she picked it up at the park one day, she been anticipating it's death. It wasn't the healthiest, and she'd took it back to the animal care several times only for it to return the next day. 5 years and it's survived, it's been with her for 5 years and still alive unlike all the her previous pets that all died in less than a month. She was forbidden to keep pets as all she does was kill them, she took in none since the death of her goldfish when she was 8 years. As for Bubblegum, she found her injured on top of a tree in the park one day and there wasn't anyone around. After she got her down, she brought her home and cleaned her wound then took her to animal care center that same day. After a week, she met the cat at the window of her room. They've been together since then.

"Still hungry?" She pet the cat which meowed in response. She picked up her plate and dumped the content into her bowl.

"Eat up. Mommy will go out now. Behave else Jiji would fling you out," She joked and washed her plate before returning back to her room. It still need to be tidied but that could wait.

She put on her yellow beanie with kitty ears, overcoat and a rain boots, she regretted wearing sneakers yesterday.

It's still early in the morning, 10:43 according to her watch. She still have a lot of free time on her hand. She checked the content of bag as she walk down the street; it had her purse which contains her IDs and some bills (what she was looking for), some bubble gums, a pen, and a notebook along with the book she was currently reading, her phone, huh so it's in there. She pressed the power button and it TURNED ON! When was it charged? She didn't remember connecting it to charge when she came home last night. Huh, strange.

She hailed a cab and showed the address she on the crumbled paper to the driver who eyed her from head to toe before nodding his head. She looked at her outfit, there's nothing wrong with her clothing. Oh, it must be the kitty beanie which she was quite too old to be wearing to be honest but who cares? With her petite figure, she could easily passed as an 18 year old. She'd still wear it even if she is 50. She got in and took out the creepy book to keep herself busy. Who knew if she could even find something useful.

Sigh.

It's going to be a long ride

*

Achoo! Que suddenly sneezed.

'Did I catch a cold from last night?' She touched her nose and sniffed.

They've been driving for hours straight without stopping and the driver's face is gradually becoming darker the further they went. The buildings by the roadside have been decreasing in number as they went further to the point where barely any building appears anymore. All that is left were tall green vegetation.

Que wonder how much further did they have to go. Why would anybody live in the middle of nowhere? You'd have to travel miles just to get to the nearest mall.

She whipped out her phone and send a text to Jiji informing her that she'll be late. A chat popped up from the notification bar, it was Soph. Opening up the text, several crying emojis bombered her along with lots of broken hearts which gradually turned into angry red emojis.

"It's over! We are doomed!" Soph had texted with crying emojis.

"Softdale will soon be wiped out from the surface of earth." followed by broken hearts.

8.15 am.

"Have you watched the news? The library is ruined! Ruined I tell you! It won't be long before they start attacking our houses." Tears and broken hearts.

8: 23 am.

"Did you hear from Nana? No one could find her. Not even the body is left. Poor woman, I'm deeply touched by her death. May her soul rest in peace amen." Tears, snorts and heartbroken emojis.

8: 37 am

"Hey, where are you? Why aren't you replying your chats? Are you dead too? Angry emojis.

8: 57 am.

"You know what? Don't reply. I've got better things to do as well." Angry and walking away emojis.

9: 06 am

A sad smile traced Que's lips as she texted back her drama queen of a friend.

"Saw the news earlier Soph. I can't believe Nana's gone along with the library." Tears and heartbroken emojis.

12: 13 pm.

"I'm on my way to see Sheryl the shaman Nana referred me to, text you later when I'm back. Sorry for the late reply xx." hearts and kisses.

12: 15 pm

Turning off the phone, she tossed it into her back. How on earth is she even going to return now? She thought looking out at the vacant road. There aren't many vehicles passing by. She debated asking the driver to wait for her but decided against it when she caught the look on his face.

[Worry about that later, I'll figure something out when the time comes,] she thought.

She grew tired of reading long ago so she played some games on her phone. She failed after every attempt so she simply tossed the phone aside and decided to count the trees outside to pass time.

After a long while, about 562 trees, the car stopped. She looked around but couldn't see any building close by so she glanced at the driver who seemed to be glaring at her for some reason.

She looked outside again and when she was about to ask him if they've arrived, she noticed that the car is parked in front of a path that leads deep into the woods, and beside it, buried within the trees was an old signboard. She can barely make out the words written on it.

Had they arrived? Que glanced around for any sign of a building but could find none, the only thing there was the bushy path that leads deeper into the woods. She paid the driver, came down and the car zoomed off as soon as she shut the door.

"Hey!" Que yelled at the car that is already speeding away. She couldn't even feel her legs completely yet. That was uncalled for.

"It's not like there's anything out here that eats people!" she glared at the empty road.

What's with people today?

She brought her gaze back to the path.

"Well, hopefully," she gulped. Is she perhaps meeting a demon? Who'd live in the middle of a such dense forest?

She trudged down the path, muttering all the lines of prayers she could remember in all languages she knew.

'I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid. If anything attacked, I'd simply killed it with my curse.' She tried to comforted herself.

After she've walked for a mile, the path became wider and a wire fence came into view. She jumped into the trees by the side and peered through the fence. It was old and crooked to the side, which looked like it'll collapse under a slight additional weight.

Alas, she's had arrived at the right place. How could she tell, you'd ask?

*

Well, situated in the middle of the open space was a that looked straight out of a haunted movie. She bet her 1 dollar it is infested with demons and ghosts. Was that why Nana said whoever the person living here could help her? A badly managed garden took up the entire space surrounding the building, with a single path that leads up to the door.

She couldn't make out the name of any of the plants around, they are probably just some random wild species. She decided to observe the area first, in case she sensed incoming danger, she'd bolt straight back the way she came.

She changed spot several times and keep swatting away flies, if she is to get caught, it'll be because of these flies. Can't a person spy in peace?

She stretched her neck closer and search for any sign of movement. It was so quiet that it seems like nobody's home. That or whoever is inside is asleep.

She suddenly yelped, slapping her neck which had recently become a target spot for the flies.

Why didn't she prepare for this beforehand? At this rate, if she didn't die at the hands of whatever creepy being living here, she'd probably die because of the fly's attack. If only she knew the place was in the middle of a creepy forest.

Imagine making it the newspapers because of this. She can already imagine the boldly highlighted text saying;" The body of a teenage girl has been discovered within the woods after three days, who was bitten to death by flies."

[What a sad way to die.] She shook her head.

No, she refuse to accept this, this isn't how it works in the novels. Whenever the heroine found herself in a tricky situation, she would always have something on her that will help her out.

She rummage through her bag for a weapon. Cellphone, no.....Pen, no. ...Bubble gum? She unwrap it and threw it into her mouth...Book? She eyed the creepy book with hardcovers swinging it around a few times. Eh, this should do.

Maybe she shouldn't have come here directly, she could've prepared a little more beforehand. She don't even have an insect spray with her, talk more of a pocket knife. What if a slightly bigger animal is to attack? What would she do?

She immediately shooed away the thought. She shouldn't scare herself just like that. Be optimistic and nothing bad would happen.

While the girl was busy having a conversation in her head and fighting off the flies, she unintentionally blew up her cover.

A few meters behind her, a figure hidden within the trees had been silently observing her.