★ Tina's POV★
I watched in horror as the Aunty Benita spoke with a menacing tone. "Just pray your mom returns alive, little kid!" she said, causing me to feel even more scared. I started breathing heavily as she continued to stare at me.
"I thought you were brave, but you're nothing near braveness! You're scared even when you haven't seen anything!" she taunted, causing me to feel even more terrified. She stood up from the couch and started walking towards me.
"There's one more thing you must know, and it's a must that I tell you," she said as I cowered in fear, bending downwards. "You can never stop..." she trailed off as the door suddenly opened, and my mom walked in.
I let out a sigh of relief and rushed towards my mom, hugging her tightly. "Mum!" I cried out in pressure. "Oh, my baby. I know you'll miss me a lot!" she said as she took David from me and looked at Benita.
"Is everything okay?" my mom asked her, and Benita forced a smile. "Yeah, of course. We all missed you very much," she said before hugging my mom.
I was still holding onto my mom, tears streaming down my face. "Tina, are you okay? What's wrong with you?" she asked, looking confused by my sudden tears and clinging onto her.
And this is obviously my first time of displaying such act, before my mum comes back I will always be in my room busy with my phone or playing with something else untill I heard her voice I would run out and welcome her.
"Tina come on! is there something you want to tell me?" My mum asked as she takes me to the couch where we all sat with Aunt Benita at the other couch.
"Talk to me Tina" Mum said and then I was able to raise my face and go up to her eyes. "You scared me mum" I said to as she was so surprised.
"I scared you really? how did I scare me? how did I do that?" she asked acting as if she didn't know that this was her latest time of returning home.
And that's exactly what made me scared and kept me listening to Benita's words.
"Mum you came back late! I actually thought that something happened to you!" I said to her as she smiled.
"Tina I do know that I came back late, but I wasn't expecting you to miss me up to this, come on remember you don't even use to care about whatever time I returns"
"You are always inside busy with your phone until I come back, so what the hell happened today?" she asked but I bet she wouldn't understand what happened today.
It felt like a nightmare, but I was grateful that nothing had happened to my mom. "I know, Mom, but today was different," I said, still clinging onto her. "I love you, Mom," I added, and she responded, "I love you too, my daughter. I love you all."
"Maybe you can go to your room now and relax since you can see I'm fine. I'm very sorry for coming home late. I promise I won't do that again," she said to me, and after a few seconds, I finally let go of her.
I stood up and walked into my room, but before I did, I stared at Aunty Benita, who was already looking at me. There was a look of hatred in her eyes that we both shared, and I knew she understood that my dislike for her had become real.
I sat alone in my room, pressing my hands against my jaw, thinking about how to get rid of her. She had been acting strange for too long, and I couldn't keep ignoring it. Today's events had made me realize that it was real, and I couldn't continue like nothing was wrong.
What she did today was as if she held my mother's life in her hands and could kill her at any moment. Why should I sit and watch until she kills my mother?
Wow, that's unbelievable. At least now I can understand the pain of losing a mother, and I really feel for Zara right now. She not only lost her mother but also the only thing she had left in this world. It's amazing that she was able to overcome it.
Should I judge myself or put myself in her shoes? I don't think I could survive that. I think she's even stronger than I see her. She's a great woman and will surely overcome all of her struggles.
But this nightmare I'm living in right now, how am I going to survive it? How do I save my family from this situation? Maybe I should have a conversation with Zara because two heads are better than one.
★ Zara's Perspective ★
Bethel took me home and served me a good meal that night. We ate together as I narrated everything that had happened to me. He felt pity for me and promised that I could live with him for the time being, which was kind of him.
However, I noticed a strange behavior in him. He hadn't done anything wrong to me, but I could read human characters faster than anyone could know. There was something strange about him that I recognized. I felt like I needed to sleep alone, but he insisted that he wouldn't touch me. So there was no need, and we all slept on the same bed with free minds. He was already sleeping on my left side, but I didn't feel like sleeping. Instead, I felt like something was wrong. I sensed something dark flowing around the building. I just hoped I hadn't run away from water only to run into fire. My eyes were wide open, and I looked around until I finally decided to sleep.
Not even seven minutes after I shut my eyes, I noticed that Bethel had left the bed. I decided to follow him secretly. I watched him as he opened one of his secret rooms. He looked around to see if anyone was looking at him before entering inside. I quickly approached him, and that's when I saw something black, like a dark spirit, and Bethel knelt before it.
"My Lord, I have the sacrifice for you, a female," he said. I stared at him with my eyes wide open in shock.
People are truly unpredictable. I had thought Bethel was a good person, and I trusted him. But then, I heard a voice saying, "You have done well. It is time for your final sacrifice and to become the Prince of Persia!" I slowly turned to run away.
Suddenly, someone came at me with a machete, and I screamed so loudly that it caught the attention of Bethel and the other guys who I didn't even know were living in the same house. I quickly turned to run backward, but Bethel had already blocked my back, and now I was in the middle. They were coming from the back and the front, with no pity look in their faces.
Damn it, I was finally at the last stage of my life!