Starting her day with a renewed sense of purpose, Selassi got ready quickly and went downstairs to see Auntie Diane sitting at the dining table. 

Selassi had purposely ignored and avoided her since the encounter she witnessed. Auntie Diane noticed her presence, giving her a soft smile but Selassi wasn't buying it this time. Something seemed off and unnerving about the way she looked at her, her eyes appeared more blank than  Selassi remembered and her smile was more tight than soft and welcoming.

Trying not to throw her off, Selassi returned a small smile and sits down. Proceeding to eat her breakfast, Selassi deciding to keep quiet and focus her attention on her phone. 

When breakfast ended, Selassi left quickly before Auntie Diane could catch her and went for an early morning walk. She sauntered the rocky road whilst the hubbub of the town only started brew a bit, traders setting up and people rushing to catch a Trotro to work.

Selassi was at crossroads where her life would go at this point, so much had happened in the last month or so that she was starting to question who to trust other than Nina. It felt like her parents had left her in the lurch, with all these secrets that she had to find out by sifting through storage. It made her see them in a whole light, the very fact that they were cultists struck an unnerving chord within her.

Was she somehow involved?

What were they using it for?

Why didn't they tell her?

The questions raced through her mind as she continued to walk; no matter how much she thought through the possible answers, she knew that the only people who could answer them were dead. It was possible that whatever they practised was probably linked to the torment she was going through right now, she was sure of it.

She quickly bought a soft drink and turned around, making her way back to the house. Walking absentmindedly, she bumped into a strong chest and instantly detecting pungent notes of a familiar cologne, she moved quickly but that didn't stop him.

He eventually got what he wanted, stopping her not too far from the house. He knew they weren't on talking terms but he just wanted to see her, hold her and be with her. He was aware that he made a grave mistake in trying to make her seem mad but that was his mission, he had to fulfil it.

But looking at her now, he could see why he lost focus so easily and why he was starting to feel guilty about what he was doing, but he had complete this opportunity or else.

" I know you don't want to see me but can we talk, please?" He pleaded. Selassi merely looked him up and down, feeling a deep annoyance that he even thought to approach her. She was simply not in the mood to hear what he had to say.

She started to walk away but he grabbed, pulling her to the edge of the road. Cornering her by the wall, he trapped her in his arms which forced her to submit.

" Can we talk please?" he asked softly.

" What were you and Auntie Diane arguing about the other day?" She asked. His jaw instantly clenched whilst he let out a small sigh.

"Nothing, baby"

"It seemed heated."

"It really is nothing"

" What are you not telling me, James?" she asked, looking at him directly in the eye. She noticed a twinkle of discomfort in his eyes like he wanted to say something but was afraid to. 

" Nothing to worry about. I just want to apologise for my words the other day, I just want to be on good terms with you like before" He begged, putting his forehead against hers but she swiftly moved her head making him lose his balance.

Out of his grip, she moved closer to the road and stood opposite him.

" Do you know anything about my parents being cultists?" She asked calmly. He seemed shocked but she was sure that he knew something and was purposely not telling her.

"I really can't be- Nothing. What do you find out from the chest, Selassi?" He answered, flustered.

" Did you take my mother's necklace ?" She said eyeing her with suspicion 

"No, why would I do that? Maybe you dropped it under your bed or something" He remarked. Before she could answer, a sudden surge of vomit was travelling upwards through her throat and she didn't give it a second thought, running back to the house.

Using the downstairs toilet, she emptied her breakfast content and wiped her mouth, washing her hands. 

She stood outside, feeling the light breeze on her skin as she got some fresh air but she sensed she wasn't alone. Her eyes fluttered open, turning her head to see her neighbour peeking through the wall.

They gestured for her to come closer, she carefully took her steps until they were face to face. The neighbour was adorned with slight wrinkles on her face and an unmistakable fear lingering in her eyes.

" Hi, I'm Sela-" Selassi greeted her before getting cut off.

"Selassi. I know who you are, I'm warning you to leave before it's too late. Too much evil surrounds this house and I know you've seen things" She emphasised, leaving Selassi perturbed.

"What do you know about my parents?" Selassi inquired, clinging on the wall's intricate design.

" Evil surrounds that house, that's all I will say." She replied, leaving but Selassi softly grabbed her hand.

"Please tell me, I need to know" She pleaded and the neighbour felt a pang of guilt for wanting to leave, she knew that the young girl need to hear the real truth about her parents; it was only right.

"My dear, where do I even start? Your parents and I used to be quite close and then you came along which was good but something shifted in that house after that. Every Friday night, there would be distressing wails coming from the house and I suppose you were fast asleep so you couldn't hear it, there were banging and thudding echoing from the house so much that I could feel it in my home. But that wasn't the most distressing part, a few months before your parents died, there was a strange amount of people piling into the house at midnight on the dot with dark cloaks on but each night, there was a new body being dragged in-" 

The neighbour held back her tongue as she made eye contact with the face she hoped not to see but Selassi was still engrossed in the information she was given. The neighbour held onto her hand tightly, offering her advice one more time.

"Forget about selling the house and leave, my dear. Your life depends on it." She said, scurrying away quickly.

The words played her mind as she turned around, startled to see Auntie Diane standing there but that wasn't where her mind was at. Unbeknownst to her, Auntie Diane had been watching the entire thing unfold before and wasn't happy about it.

Selassi made her way back to her room, falling to the floor and looking under the bed to see that James was right, the necklace was right there.

She turned to the chest, using the necklace to open it again but this time, it was filled with things again. Gulping nervously, her fingers traced the items that remained: a cloak, a carved figurine and more photos.

Taking the items out, she placed them before her and inspected with curiosity. The cloak was heavy and made with velvet material, she wondered how they could wear something like this in such hot weather.

The next item was a carved statue that held the same symbolism of the mark on her chest and the necklaces. The intricate detailing showed the snake in attack mode, fangs out and tongue leaping forward but that wasn't what intrigued her the most. The inscription that she felt was hard for her to work out, she carefully let her fingers touch each letter and she still got nothing at all.

Seeing it was futile, she placed it to the side and she focused on the photos. Looking through, she was able to see the extent to the horror her parents were involved in, some scenes showed visceral imagery of evident evil that the neighbour was right about.

Her parents stood in the corner with a blank look in their eyes as they watched sacrifice of a young man being performed, his guts spilt from his abdomen as he screamed in agony. The photos followed a sequence, almost like a video as the scene continued, the guts were removed and were cut like slices of meat whilst the man died slowly. 

Her parents moved forward, with special tools that she couldn't quite make out. Her eyes lingered in horror as the dead man was tied by her parents and spun around like pork on a barbecue.

The body turned into a charred piece that looked like it could be broken into small hard pieces and to her surprise, that's what exactly happened as her parents broke the man's burnt body into pieces in which they grounded vehemently until it was a pile of ash.

They carefully scooped the ash, placing onto the carved snake symbol clearly marked in the middle of the room.

All the cult members faced the symbol whilst a new figure appeared, standing with arms wide but she wasn't able to make out the face properly.

She noticed a face in the back, not focused on the scene unfolding but on her instead. Despite everything thing she had been through, she was still in denial the face was actually looking at her. She shook her head, looking through the rest of the photos.

It seemed that there were no more photos to show how the ritual ended so Selassi decoded to go back to that particular photo and this time the face wasn't there. She scoped the entire photo for it but it didn't reappear.

Selassi knew that this information she had received just from the photos put into perspective the extent of how involved her parents were in this cult. It made wonder about why they even went church when she was growing up and how many other people were of what they were doing.

Additionally, the neighbour's recount of what she witnesses coming out of this house at an ungodly hour made her feel a strong sense of sickness in the pits of her stomach. Her view of her parents had changed instantly within weeks of the funeral, she truly didn't know who they were at all.

Everything now felt like it was laden with secrets and lies, the house, her parents' identity, James and lastly, Auntie Diane. She was sure that she knew something but maybe she was protecting her from the truth about her parents. 

Whatever it was, uneasiness had found a permanent and comfortable place in her spirit without a doubt. Selassi wasn't sure who to trust anymore, perhaps the neighbour was right to warn her to leave before things got worse.

Putting the items back into the chest, she moved towards her laptop bag and pulled out her laptop ready to search for flights back to London. A thudding sound could be heard against her wall as she listened carefully. 

The thudding sound gradually grew, almost like a crescendo as she stood, clutching onto her laptop. The sound paused as it reached her door and then a plethora of incessant knocks hit against the door, but Selassi was unfazed as she waited for something to happen.

It all stopped but the tension was weighed in the room as Selassi knew that she wasn't alone at all. Her eyes moved side to side, scanning the room with a careful eye but nothing seemed to emerge. 

Something dropped in the bathroom and Selassi turned her carefully as she let out nervous breaths, through the crack of the door she saw the face from the photo standing as it watched her. There was no smirk this time as it ripped the door from its hinges and she saw that it appeared to have the likeness of James.

" What do you want?" She asked as she felt her ears get hot and her heart palpitating at an alarming rate.

It only looked at her as it lifted its right forefinger which seemed to elongate in an outcrossing manner, bones cracking and flesh ripping until it reached her abdomen. She momentarily looked down with confusion before swiftly looking up to see it's black orbs watching as it twisted it's clockwise, she gagged as she felt her stomach begin to experience some sort of sickening growling. 

The remnants of her food contents travelled up her throat as her face contorted into a strained look as she continued to gag in agony. The entity continued it's torture as the food reach her lips but as it dripped from her mouth, she realised it wasn't food but thick crimson blood and opening her mouth completely, she emptied the contents which fell like a waterfall from her mouth before dropping to the floor. 

Completely disorientated, she felt it's steps walk by her and leave the room, slamming the door shut. 

A few hours passed by, her eyes fluttered when the sudden realisation hit her. Touching her face, she felt the dried up blood and the metallic taste of the blood still lingered on her tongue. Taking her time, she got up slowly to see nothing on the floor and furiously searched for what she spewed out.

She sat on her knees, completely confused as to what happened. She didn't know why she vomited that out but she was more shocked to see it wasn't there anymore. Feeling sick once again, she went straight to the toilet and really emptied her food contents now.

Wiping her mouth, she simply washed her hands as she decided to see the doctor soon.

................................................................................................................................................................

Hey guys,

Another update.

Tell me what you think in the comments.

Love,

TamaraMensah