Evil Strikes Again

Madam Maxima-," I uttered, but she raised her hand to silence me, there was an uneasy moment of silence in the tent, as she carried the crystal ball and placed it on the table. Then, she took a chair and sat an inch away from me. She held my hand, caressing it affectionately, which honestly felt heavenly.

"Dear child, I am very well aware of what you have seen," she claimed, continuing to rub my hand. "And I also know that you have been experiencing this monstrosity for quite some time, as well as the nightmare that has been tormenting you since you were eight. The fates have informed me everything till this date,"

"Miss, why?" I muttered, tears forming across my eyes, filling my heart with deep sorrow and vulnerability. "Am I cursed, or am I going crazy?"

"You're neither cursed, nor are you going insane my child, on the contrary, yours is a uniquely blessed soul that I have ever come across, you are a glorious child of god Ellie, and I feel honored to have encountered you," she praised, smiling at me widely, who showed off her sparkling white teeth perfectly arranged.

"I, Minerva Maxima, from this day onwards, consider it as my sole responsibility and obligation to obtain your freedom from this malice, even if it is at the cost of my life," taking this oath, she magically summoned the crystal orb with a gesture of her opened palm and it landed on it gently. "But first, we must look into your past Ellie, coz one thing's undoubtedly certain that these horrors have some sort of connection with the events of your past," she began circling the orb and muttering some completely inaudible incantations.

Before the orb could glow and initiate its enchantment, a thunderous bellow blared from outside, nearly bursting my eardrums and causing Madam Maxima, to halt the incantation midway as I stood up. It was Judy's yell, which nearly sent me into cardiac arrest as I got up in an instant and began rushing away at lightning speed, ignoring Madam Maxima who kept calling me back, and without bidding farewell to the beneficently obliging soothsayer, I sped off outside.

The sun had hidden back in the clouds and the temperature seemed to drop drastically as evening fell. Astonishingly, three hours had passed since I entered the tent. I had lost track of time inside the mystical place and gotten so engrossed in the future that I nearly overlooked the present.

Shoving all the events that occurred in the tent to the back of my mind, and adrenaline rushing through my blood, I ran as fast as my barely healed legs could take me, my brain thundering and heart pounding like a pendulum. I reached the place where I had left Matt, panting atrociously I looked hither thither but discovered no sign of the three anywhere.

I took out my mobile from my handbag hoping to call them but the battery had been completely drained. Clenching my teeth in frustration I threw it back inside. Extreme anxiety seemed to conquer me completely as I rushed towards the Ferris wheel. What on earth could have happened to Judy? Did she fall from someplace? Or did someone hurt her? These thoughts kept swerving in my head as I searched for them at the height of desperation.

However, to my utmost surprise, everything seemed quite normal around the place, with no sign of anything unusual or life-threatening. All around me everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves as usual.

I was extremely muddled as I walked, eyeing everyone anxiously like a crackpot, hoping for the slightest sign of Judy or Matt or Alex. Abruptly, I felt a hand being placed on my shoulder, and I turned around alarmingly with a jerk, to my relief, it was Matt. He held his hand on his nose which had begun to bleed as a result of a collision with my shoulder when I jerked.

"Oh my god, Matt! I'm so sorry," I apologized, frantically digging my handbag to search for my handkerchief which I passed to him and he covered his bloody nose with it. I moaned guiltily as he wiped his nose, which hadn't ceased to bleed.

"Where the hell have you been Ellie?" Matt demanded aggressively, still holding the handkerchief to his nose, the smash on his face had elevated his anger. "I searched the entire place like a lunatic for you, and on top of that your mobile is switched off,"

"Matt, I'm extremely sorry. After you left, I really needed to visit the loo, and it was located almost a mile away from the stalls, and I lost track of the path while returning," I lied quickly, looking highly apologetic and innocent, which softened his expression largely.

"It's alright, it was my fault, I shouldn't have left you there alone. Here, I got you a present," he admitted, handing me an expensive heart-shaped bracelet.

"Oh Matt, that's so sweet of you. But there was honestly no need of such a precious gift,"

"I couldn't get you anything for your birthday Ellie, so this is just compensation," he beamed, looking at me wearing the bracelet. The intensely affectionate feelings for Matt that I had so stubbornly locked in some corner of my heart began gushing out, as I stared at the lovely bracelet with pure affection.

We began our search for those two love birds across the humongous park. My mind kept pondering about Judy's mysterious scream which seemed to echo in my ears like a catchy song. I was damn sure it was Judy's voice, I could never fail to recognize my best friend's in a hundred years. But how was it possible that no one else heard it? Or was it that we shared some sort of connection, like twins do, that I could hear her voice and unconsciously feel her pain in my mind?

We had nearly reached the park's exit when Matt's phone rang loudly, alarming me instantly. Matt received the call, and within a few seconds his eyes widened in shock, he immediately threw the phone in his jeans' pocket and grabbing my hand rushed outside the exit as fast as he could, with me trembling with intensified dismay and confusion.