This chapter is dedicated to
Tiba2711
habshihalwa

Abbey_M_Writess

*

   Of course, everyone began to panic, trying their best not to be too loud.

   Scratch that, a librarian would've kicked them out by now.

   "SARA! ABDULLAH! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Fatimah began hysterically.

  Ali (the sixth grade one, not Ali from eighth grade) shuddered and glanced around, as if something was going to pop out of nowhere again.

   "Hello? I get that they're gone, but it's time for salah," Matilda repeated. "Maybe they went to pray?"

   "I'm sorry but who would be unsmart enough to go to the bathroom during all this?" Noura from grade four asked sarcastically.

   Sam agreed with Noura, "Literally though."

   "I mean, if you gotta go, you really won't care if there's some ghost or whatever," Nicola shrugged. "Most of the time, anyway."

   "Anyways, don't we have to pray?" Matilda continued. "This all seems really weird but you can't miss your salah."

   "Okay but how do we make it work? This place is terrifying!" Fatimah shuddered. "Bathrooms are like the worst place to go to in a horror movie."

   Suddenly Emma began smiling, which looked very creepy in the dark with a flashlight.

          "Ya Allah, she's been possessed!" Lily shrieked, turning to run, but instead ran smack into the wall behind her. That wall also had the door to the girls' bathroom a bit to the left.

   "What? No, I haven't been possessed!" Emma protested. "I just got an idea."

   "Next time try not smiling like a demon, kay?" Sam told her sarcastically.

   Emma rolled her eyes then continued, "Why don't we just take turns doing wudhu with a person or two standing guard, then either go up to the salah room or get tissues to pray on in the classes."

   The others began muttering to each other.

   "I guess it works. Maybe when we pray this issue will miraculously be solved?" Tiba joked. The students laughed.

   And so in groups, the girls went into the washrooms to pray and so did the boys, with one or two standing guard. Once the group was done wudhu, the others who hadn't done wudhu would go in with the wudhu-people guarding.

   Within twenty minutes, everyone had done wudhu, even the kindergarten and younger kids. Surprisingly, there was still water.

   "Alright, now do we pray upstairs or in the classrooms?" Mohammed asked.

   "Upstairs," Tiba said, going for the stairs.

  "OI, WAIT!" Emma called out. "Are you crazy?!"

   Tiba crossed her arms in annoyance. "The salah room is upstairs. Period."

   "I'm not going up there unless I have a weapon on me," Nicola retorted. "Like my giant pencil."

   The rest of the group stared at her in confusion.

   "You have a giant pencil?" one of the little kids asked in amazement.

   "Yeah but it isn't sharpened," Ali from grade eight pointed out.

   "Let's not discuss the gory details, there are kids in here!" Emma hissed. Then resumed a normal voice. "Okay, so she can sharpen it—"

   Suddenly, the adhan started playing on the school PA system. Everyone screamed or jumped, because the PA system's activate button was in the secretary's office, which was behind them.

   And they hadn't seen anyone go in to turn it on.

   "BISMILLAH, WHERE IS THE SHEIKH WHEN YOU NEED HIM?!" Lily shrieked. "A JINN TURNED IT ON, I AM SURE OF IT!"

   "JINN CAN'T TAKE ON PHYSICAL FORMS, YOU GENIUS!" Ali from five and six yelled.

   "EVERYONE JUST BE QUIET!" Fatimah shouted so loud that her voice echoed down the hallway, which didn't serve to make the situation any less scary.

   "LET'S JUST GO PRAY THAT THIS ENDS, COME ON!" Matilda snapped. Everyone gasped, because that was probably the loudest she'd ever spoken.

   "Well? I'm going upstairs with Tiba. If you want us to die up there alone, then adiós," she said before joining Tiba at the bottom of the stairs leading upstairs. Nicola tried not to shine the phone light to the basement.

   "I have a solution," Hadi from grade four said, smiling. "Bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim!"

   The lights freaking came back on, which resulted in even more yelling.

   The sane students had to practically drag each other upstairs, which looked much less creepy now that the lights were back on. Tiba and Nicola turned off the flashlights to preserve the phones' battery.

★★★

   One of the boys offered to lead, so it would be a group prayer. Besides, everyone could finish at the same time and try to escape when they were done.

   Salah went by without incident, and within thirty minutes, everyone was done.

   It took some bickering, but the students were able to pick someone to read the duas, the ziyarat, and be done.

   Narjes yawned. "Let's go see the school now. At this rate we should just escape no matter what."

   "Hey, what's this?" Sam asked, picking up a piece of lined paper. It was on the empty Quran shelf.

   The others immediately went to Sam to see it.

Find all 34 _uran books to escape

   Fatimah blinked. "What's 'Uran' supposed to mean?"

   "That's Quran, Sherlock," Lily deadpanned. "Jinns can't write Quran, it's a perfect explanation! Just great."

   "I highly doubt a Jinn wrote this, but it wouldn't hurt to get a Quran and give the Jinn a good recitation in the ear," Emma shrugged. "What're you all waiting for? Let's go."

          It took some time, but everyone left the prayer room and made their way downstairs. They could start looking down there, while there was light.

★★★

   The group were only two steps away from the first floor when they heard the door open.

   And a familiar voice call out.

   "Hello? Ms Zahraa, I need a late slip!"

   "MALAK?" Tiba shouted in pure confusion. "I thought she was absent!"

   "Shhh!" Nicola hissed. "It could be a Jinn in disguise or something!"

   "Huh? Tiba, Nicola, where are you?"

   Nicola peeked out from around the corner and saw Malak looking around. She was wearing her coat and holding her backpack.

   Nicola quickly hid when Malak turned to look her way.

   "Why are we even hiding? Malak clearly is Malak and knows we're here," Matilda stated calmly. "We're here, by the stairs!"

   "MATILDA!"

   "What?"

   Malak went to the stairs and saw Nicola trying to keep everyone back on the steps.

   "What is going on here?" Malak questioned with a puzzled smile.

   "It's... A long story," Tiba grimaced.

A/N: yes i introduced another character based off another schoolmate irl bc i felt bad for not adding her

say hello to Malak !