Chapter 13

If evil had a face,I wonder what it'd look like......

"Ahh freedom at last"It says.I hear multiple bones and joints cracking together as it says so.

I hear multiple footsteps all at the same time coming towards me slowly.

It's only now that I know for sure that this thing isn't human.

My heart beats fasters threatening to break out of my ribs as I anxiously anticipate just what might be in front of me.The sounds of the foot steps lightly increases it's pace as it gets closer to me echoing into my ears and vibrating into my brain.I can now hear its breathing,hoarse like as though its struggling for air.In no time I'm shivering with fear.I should have never have done this.I crawl backwards as fast as I can away from whatever is coming towards me hitting what I presume to be tables and knocking down stools and of course passing through cobwebs.

But all this proves to be futile once my back hits the wall.

I'm at a dead end.

"Friend don't run away from me,I'm your friend"it says now very close to me,so close I can feel it's hot breath.It finally halts in front of me ending the rhythmic footsteps.

"Hello"it says, pouring it's hot breath on my face.

I shield my face with my hands in fear

"What are you?"

"Oh but I've told you,I'm…...your….. friend"it says but for some reason I notice that it's voice slowly transforms into a human's voice,with a soft tone to it.

It sounds like a man's voice.

I no longer feel the hot and heavy breath on my face neither can I hear it breathing at all.

I slowly put my hands down still shaking from fear but I still can't see anything.

"Friend don't be afraid"it says persuasively like that is something easy to do.

I hear his footsteps going further away from me,even the sounds of his footsteps have changed….it sounds normal at a regular pace.More human-like.

Soon after,I hear him searching around for something,the sounds of things colliding together can give anyone away any day.In a few minutes he seems to have found what he's looking for.I hear him light a match and in a flash the place is slightly illuminated revealing a man with very long shaggy hair.I look away after finding that he is stack naked feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Discomfort and fear never goes well.

I hear his footsteps come closer to me and I feel him inches away from me.

"Friend you don't have to be afraid"

"Easier said than done"I say slowly looking at him, silently praying that he isn't still naked

Thankfully he is dressed in what looks like a hospital dress, I can see his face clearly.He looks quite young like he maybe in his mid twenties.He has dark brown eyes that has a strange lighted glow to them, nevertheless I can't make anything out of his skin color because it has honestly been blackened by months or maybe years of not bathing.But for some odd reason he doesn't stink.

"Friend,what's your name?"he asks

"I asked the questions first,what are you?"I ask in a steady voice, honestly surprising myself because if I remember correctly,I'm still very much afraid right now.

He giggles lightly

"I told you I'm your-"

"And don't you say friend,friends are not odd creatures"I reply with gritted teeth surprising myself yet again

He grins

"My name is Cole by the way"he says now standing up

"You didn't answer my question, you're not human are you?"

"Oh forgive me for not noticing that"he says sarcastically

I stand up slowly as I remove cobwebs from my body

"Why did you bring me here?"

"You ask really silly questions, isn't it obvious?"he retorts

"Now we can stay here asking each other questions all night or we can do better things…"

I feel weirdly offended but my curiosity brushes that to the side

"Like what?"

He grins once again

"I'll show you"he says bringing forth his hand

I look at his dingy hand then at him

"Come on"he says reaching out to me like as though he wants me to hold his hand

I slowly raise my hand and hold his hand.

As soon as I hold his hand I feel like I'm being electrocuted and my whole body feels paralyzed till everything turns pitch black again.

I feel a strong surge circulating my body and I feel like I'm falling.

Till I wake up in my room,on my bed.

The lights coming from the window clearly indicates that this is the next day

Was all that a dream,what is this?

I step out from my bed when for some reason the mirror catches my eye.But it doesn't reflect the hideous thing that stares at me everyday,it reflects me.The me that had existed before the fire.Im beautiful again.

I rush to the mirror to get a good look at myself.Even with the close up look I still can't believe it.

No this can't be true...I'm in a dream.Thats what this is.

I pinch myself till my nails dig into my skin but I find that I haven't woken up.

No this isn't possible.

It's only then that I feel a strange presence behind me,I turn around and I see Cole.

"Surprise,how are you enjoying your new face?"he asks clamping his hands together

"You did this?"

"Well I had to do something about it"he says

He disappears in a flash then appears next to me startling me a bit.He turns me around to face the mirror slowly.

"It's hard to believe that you're actually quite pretty"he says lowly

I pick offense instantly but the awkward proximity makes it hard for me to react.

"How is all this happening?"I whisper

"It's simply,I'm in your body"he says naturally

"What, how?"I ask

"Ugh you don't want to hear that,that's a long story.It's boring"he says waving it off.

"What you should be concerned is what I….what we can do with this"He says before disappearing into some part of my room

"And this pretty face is only the beginning,I can give you freedom and so much more....If you comply"

"What is this really about,why do you need my body,why can't you just use yours?"I ask failing to understand what he means

"Unfortunately I can't use my body,if anyone ever finds me I'll be done for.But if I'm in your body...let's just say things will go beautifully"he says before cackling

I stand there with unease now fully realizing that I let loose the devil himself.But then one question crosses my mind and I can't help but ask.

"But you're already in my body,can't you just take control of it like that?"

He grins then shakes his head

"I'm in your body not in your mind,if you give me your permission to have access to it then it will automatically open for me to enter.But for the meantime i can only go in and out of your body for interaction.Until then I'll have to wait for your approval but as soon as you do that hehehe that's when I become hehehehe operational.The choice is yours honestly"He exhales heartily and smiles

"Isn't science a beautiful thing?"

This isn't about me is it?

Just then someone knocks at the door.He disappears but his voice still echoes in the air tingling my ears

"I'll give you by the end of today to think about it ...I'll be waiting hehehehe"

I go to the door and open it only to reveal Ashanti at the door with her hand suspended in the air like as though she was about to knock again.

She gasps once she sees me with her mouth agape

"Mirai-"she whispers but it comes out sounding like a question.But even at that it seems like she wants to say more.

But she doesn't.I'm not used to this side of Ashanti.

"Madam wants you down for breakfast"she finally says and walks off without saying anything more.

Nevertheless I close my room door and turn around expecting to see Cole waiting for me but the room is empty,I go and brush my teeth quickly.Once I'm done I rinse my face with some water then I reach for a towel to clean my face.As soon as I put the towel down I see Cole in the bathroom mirror standing right behind me.I whip my head back but he's not there.I turn my head back to the mirror and see him there smiling at me.

"Time is ticking"he says in a single song tone

A knock on the door distracts me as I turn my head to the direction of the door

"Mirai madam Ada wants you down now"I hear Ashanti speak from outside

"I'll be there in a minute"I say loud enough for her to hear.

The knocking stops and I turn my head back to the mirror.But of course he's gone but even at that his voice whispers in my ears.

"I'm waiting"

I rush out of the room leaving Ashanti by the door.Just then I bump into Ada.She looks a startled when she sees me but in a flash she flashes her famous smile.But still her eyes tells surprise

"I was just about to get you down for breakfast"

"Uh"

"Come on let's go"she says, literally dragging me downstairs.

"I had the chef cook something very delicious for you"she says glancing at me

"Oh"Is all I can utter as we proceed to the dining room

Once we step in everyone snaps their heads to our direction making me very uncomfortable.Their eyes shifts to me as they stare in surprise making me twice as uncomfortable.As we finally sit my eyes land on Jasmine.I notice that for some reason she looks different-paler than usual and her eyes look darker than usual with dark circles under them.She looks at me.Scratch that,glares at me then goes back to eating,I can't help notice how slow her movements are now.Just like that of a sloth it's unmistakable.

A few minutes later, Ashanti comes to the table and sits with us without uttering a word.And how can I miss the fact that she's right in front of me.I see Jasmine from my peripheral vision look up from her food at Ashanti but in a few seconds she goes back to her food obviously not caring.

"Ashanti will be eating with us from now on,after all she's family now"says Ada as her husband simply nods her head in agreement.

"Hmm since when?"scoffs Jasmine

"Since the minute I said so"says her mother wittily

I look at Ashanti who looks far more uneasy than I do,and she looks quite off too.

Something most definitely is right

"Eat"orders Ada and the rest of us heed immediately but however once I start to sip my soup Cole appears right in my bowl making me spit it out the soup in shock.

Everyone snaps their head to my direction.

"It's hot"is all I can come up with.

"Oh"Is all Ada can say but something tells me she can see behind my white lie but even so she doesn't do anything about it.

"Be more careful"she says

I nod my head and clean the small mess I made with a clean rag.By the time I'm done cleaning up Jasmine has already gotten up.

"Where are you going?"asks Ada

"I'm done eating"replies Jasmine

I glance at her empty plates,she wasn't lying.

Ada sees this and let's her go but it looks more like she let's her go anyway.

The rest of the meal goes on in silence,once I'm done I get up and

I'm about to leave when Ada asks

"We're going out, would you like to come with us?"she asks

For some reason that question sounds more like an order

"Ok"

"Maybe Jasmine can come with us"chirps in Ashanti in a low tone

"No"says Ada

I leave the awkward conversation silently and wander into the garden.I wonder why everyone rarely comes here.It's beautiful.It reminds me of the forest.I feel safe here.

The soil here is very fertile,very dark and rich.The flowers and so beautiful with so many of them having different colors and shapes.But even at that just like the mansion the garden seems sad and gloomy.I bend down slower to the soil to examine the plants.Some of them are dying,it's weird because the soil is so fertile and then on top of that there are tiny weeds choking them up.

I start plucking out the weeds one by one oddly hoping that the flowers will spring back up.

It's a shame how no one takes care of them.Just then something yanks me from behind pulling on the ground.I try to reach out for something to hold on to but of course all I can get my hands on are flowers,it's then and only then that everything turns pitch black once I'm dragged down a tunnel.

The dragging has stopped but I can still feel the strong grip on my leg.I hear hoarse breathing and rhythmic footsteps come closer to me.

"Cole is that you?"I ask trying to get up but whatever has a hold on my leg, doesn't allow me to stand up.

Silence follows before the steps continues

"What's this all about,you did you have to drag me here?"I ask again

"Friend you ask too many questions,I just wanted to talk"he finally replies

"And the best way to do that was to drag me all the way here?"

"You know I can't come out in broad daylight"he replies smoothly

"What do you want?"

I feel the thing on my leg twist itself further into my leg causes me to shiver.

"So friend about what we talked about….have you thought about it?"it asks slowly

"What no"

I feel the grip on my leg get tighter

"You're hurting me"I yell

The grip let's go surprisingly but then I feel something hard hit me on the head.

"Mirai,Mirai.Wake up"I hear someone say as I'm being shaken out of what I think should be my unconscious state.

Opening my eyes feels like a pain but once I do so I instantly regret it as the blinding daylight makes me shut my eyes.It feels like the whole world is spinning and my head is aching and so is my entire body.I don't even bother getting up.The ground feels so comfortable.Suddenly the voice seems to fade out till I can't hear anything at,then everything turns black again.

"Look she's moving"I hear Ashanti's voice as I open my eyes but close them again

"Is she awake?"I hear Ada ask

I open my eyes more slowly and see that I'm not in the dark tunnel or the garden.I'm in my room.

"Oh you poor thing"says Ada as she comes to hug me lightly

Any other day this hug would have been reassuring that I am in safe hands but I know better.

"You must be wondering what happened to you right?"she asks letting go of me.

I already know what happened.

Cole did