© 2020 All Rights Reserved When Aisha Muhammad goes out late at night to empty the waste bin, something accompanies her back home.
Chapter 1 Prologue
It was a little after maghrib prayers and I still hadn't taken out the trash. Knowing my mum, there was no way she'd let the waste bin spend the night in her kitchen. She hated cockroaches and the dirt seemed to bring a lot of them into the kitchen.
Sighing, I tied the disposable bag and kept it by the front door. I walked back into my room to make sure I looked good enough to step out. Even though there'd probably be no one outside at the time, I still made sure to apply a little lipgloss and Arabian Oud.
I looked at myself in the mirror and admired my beautiful long hair that fell down my neck. My light skin glowed and the henna on my hand looked perfect too. I remembered my mum telling me to put on a headscarf but I ignored her. What harm could it possibly cause?
I walked out of the front door and headed straight for the estate's general dumpster. Lights from houses lit up the asphalt roads that covered the grounds of the estate. There was no one outside so I figured the guys were probably still at the mosque waiting to pray the isha prayers. I pouted.
My perfume and lipgloss were a waste. I flung the disposable bag into the large dumpster and turned back towards my house. I could've easily thrown the bag at the bin in front of our house but I wanted to walk around a little.
I felt the hair at the back of neck prickle and I looked behind me. There was no one but it felt like I was being followed. I increased my pace and rushed home. When I got to the front door, I pushed it open and quickly closed it behind me. There was no one following me. I locked the door and went into my mum's room.
"I'm back." She nodded and focused on the Citadel Of Faith that was in her hand. She read a lot of muslim books and I couldn't help but shake my head at times. It was too much. I left her bedroom for mine. It was a nice bedroom with a walk-in closet and a queen size bed. A large mirror stood opposite the bed and a plush carpet laid beside it. I sat down on the stool in front of the mirror and twirled my hair around my index finger.
I'd always been obsessed with mirrors and mum warned me several times to not look into the mirror at night or I may just see something I'm not supposed to. I never believed any of the things she said. They were just superstitious beliefs, tales of the ancient.
They were probably things she read off A Thousand And One Nights and everyone knew the stories were mere Arabian Myths.
I picked up a brush to brush the loose strands of hair that had fallen out of place. Even when I slept, I made sure to look beautiful. When I brushed my hair back, my reflection didn't. I thought I was seeing things until my reflection smiled at me.
"Subhanallah!" I jumped off of the stool and ran into my mum's room. I was panting heavily by the time I sat down on the mat beside her. "Umma there's something in my room." My mum stared at me blankly before going back to what she was reading. She thought it was one of my numerous pranks but it wasn't.
"Wallahi Umma there's something in my room. It was in the mirror and it looked just like me, except it wasn't me." I tried to make her understand.
"Aisha I'm not falling for your useless pranks today. Please allow me concentrate on my prayers." She looked back at the small book in her hand. By this time, tears were falling freely from my eyes.
"I swear to Allah Umma, this thing smiled at me." She closed the book and turned to face me, searching for any traces of mischief in my eyes but she found nothing. I was scared.
"It's probably your mind playing games with you. Didn't you just watch a horror movie?" she asked me. I shook my head. It wasn't my first time watching a horror movie. I could watch horror movies the whole night and sleep fine. I never had nightmares induced by watching horror movies.
"Umma I watch horror movies all the time and I don't ever dream about them or get scared. I know what I saw and that thing was evil." She scrunched her face in confusion and got up. I got up after her and stared at her.
"Come and show me." I reluctantly walked behind her to my room. I didn't want to see that thing in the mirror. It was sinister. Pure evil. Mum looked in the mirror and looked back at me.
"There's nothing there Aisha." I shook my head and went to check for myself. My reflection was normal. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Mum shook her head and left the room. Immediately she left, I felt a cold breeze blow past me. The windows were closed so I didn't understand where the breeze came from. I was scared and I could feel a chill run down my spine. It wasn't the kind girls felt when they were touched by the opposite gender. It was a different kind of chill. One that held fear, terror.
Ignoring everything I felt, I laid down in bed and recited a prayer quietly. Normally I'd sleep with my lights off but that night was different. I didn't want to know just what it was that was lurking in the dark.