Chapter 3 - The Stone

She, cautious and curious in equal measure, walked into the room. She could hear chants of some sort from the room. It seemed to pulse with power, electrifying the surroundings. She could feel the hairs on her arms stand up, as if to signal danger to her. 
 What she saw inside was a sight that truly baffled her. A huge room,the floor and walls covered in marble. Etched in the stone were a language she did not understand and statues of men and women. Their eyes seemed to be alive, staring her down, sizing her up. 

The ceiling resembled a stormy night covered with dark clouds, the moon peaking out from behind the shadows. Dark, yet bright.  

Inside the room at the Centre, a black stone was kept. It seemed to be a deity of some sort. Not any that she recognized though. 

Around it,in circles, men and women clothed in white were seated. A huge black dot on their forehead,their eyes rolled back into their sockets, not seeing anything, chanting a mantra,in unison, that was not known to her. They seemed to not notice her entry or the fact that she was witnessing a ritual of theirs. 

Inside one of the circles she recognized a man. He was clothed in white just like the rest. But something made her notice him. 

But what puzzled her was the fact that She had never seen him before.

His iris invisible,the black dot on his forehead pulsing, growing and decreasing in size along with the mantra. His unkempt hair,dirty from many years and his beard, lying on the ground like a gray rope. He stood up, his long beard dragging on the floor and looked in her direction and smiled,extending his hands as if to welcome her into the group.

At the same time,she felt the minds of hundreds,if not thousands of men and women pressing against her mind. Her soul felt a power surging into her body and she felt in horror as her eyes turned red.

Chapter 2 - The Walk

Gasping for air, she woke up from her sleep. Her sister, sleeping in the other bed woke up startled by the noise. 

She gazed around, still in the clutches of sleep. 

'Drink some water and sleep Amira... Don't think of anything else' she said. ' You can tell me the details tomorrow morning' 

She was smiling a bit now, probably seeing the panicked expression on her face. 

'I can't sleep Rima... I just can't. What I saw today... I have not ever seen before.' 

'Shh... It's OK. Sleep. Tomorrow morning, let it be a fresh start' 

Saying this, she returned to bed, curling up. Amira didn't switch off the light, not because of fear of dark, but of what the dark might say to her. 

And a broken night's sleep later, she woke up to a beautiful day. Rima had woken up earlier. 

Her bed made up, all neat and tidy. She hated that. 

And she got up out of bed, left it the way it was, brushed her teeth and combed her hair. 

'Mommy rules suck' she said under her breath. 

She wore her most comfortable pair of denim shorts and a white tank top. 

Went down for breakfast and found an egg Sandwich ready on the marble table top. 

Rima was down in the hall, watching some trashy TV, munching on some chips.

Their parents had already left for work. 

And now came the exciting part. Walking around the town. It was always her favorite part of the day. The warm light... The breeze with the smell of flowers. Her parents had asked her not to go out alone for sightseeing and the excitement of breaking a few rules added to the appeal.

Wearing her sneakers, she bid bye to Rima and walked out from home. Rima had waved back at her from the couch, a concerned expression on her face. But before she could ask her anything, she had closed the door behind her.

This town had always seemed welcoming for her. Almost like her home, safe. The people were nice, the kids cute and not snobby and even the dogs were not afraid of her. Most animals, except for cats,shied away from her usually. Big or small, they seemed afraid of her. The cats however wanted to be close to her. Be it small cats or the big ones. And she had no idea why.
Growing up, her parents had been forced to relocate from town to town, mainly due to her. 

They never said a word, even though she knew they worried. Probably scared even.

Even during school, she was the weird kid. The one girl no one ever wanted anything to do with. They shunned her, didn't talk to her, didn't include her in games and was forced to sit alone, in a corner.  Many stories floated around about her and before it could reach momentum she had usually changed schools.

And she had remained alone for a large portion of her childhood, until she had reached this school, at the threshold of adulthood and a plethora of experiences. 

Still, she maintained her distance, falling back into what was comfortable for her. 

And as it must happen, one guy tried to get smart with her. And that was the day that he saw her red eyes. That incident had shocked her as well, even though she didn't show it at that time. His expression was priceless though. But something had seemed off about..

Suddenly she tripped on a brick, breaking her thoughts. She used her hands to steady herself, almost falling on her face.
'Gotta watch where I'm going' she muttered, bending down to check her shoes.  

She looked around, clearly not recognizing the neighborhood. In the distance, she saw a glittering building. It seemed the odd one out, not at all similar to buildings around it.

Waking towards it, almost as if in a trance, she could feel waves of energy floating off its walls. 

It acted as an amplifier for a power it seemed... The eerie silence was creeping her out. She was about to turn and leave, when she heard chants coming from inside the building. 

It seemed to ebb with a strange power, something that awoke a powerful part in her. 

Walking into the beautiful building past the ornately carved statues and arches, she found herself in a circular lobby of sorts. 

The doors around her were closed. Into them were carved many shapes and figures. It all seemed to be of a person, telling a story. She could see a black door in front of her, plain, open. Something beckoned her, asking her to enter, as if it was waiting for her to arrive. 

Chapter 1: The Road

Mist surrounded her. She was walking on a road, a road she now knew led nowhere. In the beginning it was just her, the mist and the sound of someone following her.

A faint light seemed to illuminate her surroundings, showing her the beautiful shrubs and trees beside her. 

Fear had conquered her the first time she had been here. Unable to move, she broke down and sobbed into the night. She stayed there, till her mother woke her up. It took a long time for her to open up to her parents about this. And even much more time before she could even stand and move around. 

She did not stop walking. A sense of purpose shone through her. And it showed itself in every step she took. She did not speed up, even as the footsteps behind her continued to follow in pace. 

She had never bothered to look back in fear of what she might see. But tonight, coaxed by her parents and her therapist, she finally summoned the courage to turn around. 

And she was greeted by darkness. The light seemed to stop at her. The moment it reached where she was, it disappeared. 

No one stood in front of her. Even the mist seemed to be afraid of what was following her.  

She stood there for a while, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness around. And she was able to make out the faint outline of a being far away. A human perhaps? 

She walked towards it and it walked forward, it's dress rustling in the silence of this grim world. 

As it walked closer, she could finally see what had been following her for so long. 

She saw a hood pulled over its head, it's long dark robes stained. Unable to see its face, she walked closer. 

Closer and closer... She walked till she reached in front of it. At this point, she was positive that 'it' was a human being. 

And finally, face to face, she dared to grab hold of the hood and reveal the face behind. 

The face behind it sent through her waves of shock and exhilaration. 

Her gasp, an unwelcome visitor to this world, reached the ears of the being in front of her. It's eyes seemed amused by the sound, almost laughing at her shock.  

She took a few steps back, her mind spiraling down into an abyss. She did not know how to respond, for in front of her, stood a being that resembled her. If she did not know better, she would have called it her twin. An evil, ugly and monstrous twin. 

It's blood red eyes, pointed ears and sharp teeth reminded her of vampires seen in movies. Even the blood dripping onto its robes and it's thick tongue slithering out from her grinning mouth and her frizzy hair sticking out from her hood ensured her that this being was not even human, let alone alive. 

It's webbed and clawed hand stroked her face, ever so gentle and caring. She recoiled at its touch, but it seemed to not notice it.  And then, in a silky, mesmerizing voice it said...' Soon'

It's tongue slithered around her face, leaving behind it a trail of foul smelling saliva. It noticed her flinching at each movement it took. And suddenly, the laughter in it's eyes vanished. Cruelty took its place, It's smile vanishing.  It's hand turned into a fist and pushed her away, turning and walking away. But instead of the ground greeting her, she felt herself falling into an abyss Unknown. Her breath knocked out of her, she gasped for air even as a drop of black ink fell on her from above. 

Prologue

Staring at the pictures on the wall, he couldn't help but smile a little. He smiled at the picture of him and his wife, when they were pregnant with Amira.
He still remembered the day she was born. Vividly.

It started out as a normal day would, he leaving for work, visiting her at the hospital on the way to work. 

She seemed happy. Ecstatic even. She pestered him to go for work, even when he said he would take leave.

A couple of hours later, he got a call from the hospital. She had gone into labor. He took leave from work, his co workers seemed happy. His boss smiled at him, wishing him luck.

He rushed towards the hospital, taking all shortcuts he knew, trying to reach before she gave birth.
He reached in record time and waited outside the labor room. Some time later, a nurse came out and told him that it was a girl child. Her smile seemed too stiff, but he pegged that down as her being tired. 

After sometime, he was let into the room. 

He saw his wife, exhausted and happy, but something was wrong about her face. He couldn't put a name to the expression. He just knew that something was off. 

He smiled at her, happiness filling out of him like the rays of the sun. 

He took a glance at his daughter and took a step backwards, horrified. 

A huge black dot adorned her forehead. It seemed to ripple with some unknown energy, mesmerizing him. He extended his hand to touch her forehead, when his wife made a disapproving noise.
He withdrew his hand instantly, but the damage had been done.

He could see that the noise had woken her. She was stirring, her tiny hands moving, her tiny mouth opening and closing. And finally, she opened her eyes.
As a reflex, he recoiled due to fear. Her tiny eyes contained in them blood red irises.  None could have guessed her tiny, beautiful eyes could hold such horrors.

She smiled at something he couldn't see, up and above him, and dozed off again.