บท 4: Unexpected Meeting (1)

I stared blankly at the house near me. It was locked.

After being through all of those situations, we finally arrived at her house. But guess what? The door was locked.

Now where are we supposed to go?

I don't care about going back home again, but I was scared to turn around because I could feel someone was glaring at me from behind.

I could feel Emily's red aura from here. She was fuming with a lot of anger. I felt like she was going to slap me.

*Click*

I heard something being broken. I turned around to see a glass bottle being destroyed.

Emily slammed the bottle right at the tree and now the glass was scattered everywhere.

Where did she found it?

"Emily! What are you doing there!? Get away from the glass pieces otherwise you might get hurt."

"I am just trying to take my anger off!" She gritted her teeth and said. "I told you already! Mom didn't told her that we are coming here! Or worst case scenario. Maybe grandma is dead."

"Emily Shut up! Don't spout nonsense just because you are angry. Don't think negatively yet, maybe grandma is at the bus stop, trying to pick us up from there. Let's just hope for the best." With her, I was also consoling myself.

"Okay, then what are we going to do now? Go back to the bus stop again or stay here to become the food of the wild animals." She asked me.

"For now let's just head back down to the village. This forest is giving me bad vibes anyway"

Leaving everything aside, We started heading back towards the village.

But guess what? Another problem occurred. We got lost.

***

(10 minutes after)

"You know in the history of me being born... This day is going to be the worst day of my life!" she started shouting. "First that weird old man and then the dead raven bird. After that, grandma's house being locked and now this shit!!"

Even though I wanted Emily to shut up but she was speaking facts.

Today's day was worse than all.

Was the thing Emily told was the truth?

Did I attract bad luck by touching that raven bird?

I don't want to think about that.

"Emily, I am going there to check if there is any range around here so I could call the emergency service to help..." I glared at her. "And you! Stay here only, do not move from this place. Alright?"

After warning her, I went away to check if I am getting any signals from my phone or not. But sadly, there was nothing.

I was furious, I was about to break my phone when I felt chills all over my body. My body freezed on the spot.

I looked around the surrounding to check where this cold air was coming from, when my eyes fell on something or particular someone staring at me.

A little girl with dark hair was staring at me with her huge deep blue eyes. She was hiding behind the tree and kept staring at me like she knows everything about me.

Even though I found it very creepy. But I just couldn't leave a little girl alone in the forest.

Maybe she got lost while playing. That's why i decided to to help her.

I went near her to talk. "Excuse me. Are you okay? Do you need any help?" I asked the little girl.

I know, i need help the most. But atleast i am an adult. I can take care of myself.

The thought of leaving a child alone in this creepy forest would be a bad idea. I can't do that.

When I asked her the question, The little girl's reply shocked me. "I don't know about me. But what about you? Need any help?" She asked me with a calm tone.

Now she just did a reverse psychology.

I went towards her to help her but now she asked me if I need help.

Looks like she was not lost in the forest like I thought.

"Well, yes I do need help. Me and my sister are new in this village and we came here to meet our grandmother. But for some reason she is not here. We don't know how to return back to the village." I sighed. "Can you help me? If you know the path properly."

The girl looked at me and smiled. Her sly smile revealed that she already knew that I was going to ask her this. "Sure. Why not?" She crossed her arms. "You will surely find your way. You are a capable soul and I genuinely hope that you will meet your grandma today."

The little girl moved closer towards me and told me to crouch.

I was confused that's why I did as she said.

The little girl then patted my head like I was a kid. She smiled and stared at me with a motherly affection. "I hope you make the right choices in your future. Don't change your destiny for selfish reasons. If you followed your fate then everything will be joyous but if you didn't then there is a big road ahead."

I don't know but this girl's touch made me feel like, she was not child. The advice she gave just now. It was like a thing an old woman would say.

Exactly who is this girl?

"What is your name?" I asked her because I just couldn't stop my curiosity.

"Morana." The little girl smiled and answered. "Nice to meet you. I hope you take care of yourself in the future. Otherwise I need to give you a visit again."

"What do you mean by..." While I was trying to ask her what she meant by that. I heard Emily screaming my name.

"Anastasia!"

I quickly turned back to look at Emily but couldn't see her properly. I was about to go towards Emily, when I noticed the girl was now no where to be seen.

Did she disappeared? I thought to myself. How can someone run this fast?

Was she really a little girl or was she some kind of ghost?

After thinking about it, I had chill down my spine. "No way. Not again."

By heavy medication and therapy i was successful to let go of my past. But now by coming in this village, the things were repeating again.

I was this close to have panic attack when I heard Emily calling me again. "Anna come here fast."

Leaving my worries aside, I quickly ran towards her. "What's wrong Emily?" When I arrived there, I saw Emily sitting near a place where there was a big gate which was covered with do not cross tape.

Many pictures of missing people were sticked on the trees beside the gate.

It was like they were in a murder sight.

I looked at Emily and scolded her. "Emily what are you doing here lurking around this do not cross area? Do you think you are a detective!?"

"Well, I am suspicious about this place. If no one lives in this scary forest except grandma then why did I hear a scream from inside? It is very bizarre." She said with a confused expression.

"Thinking of something bizarre. I just saw a little girl in the forest and then she disappeared like a ghost. You know how scared I was?" I told her about it because I couldn't keep it in myself any longer.

"Are you off your meds? Anna it was a freaking kid. She might have ran away or something. Just chill and don't think about this ghost stuff." Emily said while trying to find something. "By the way, I have a doubt. I think... maybe people are living across this gate. We can enter it and check if grandma is inside or not. What say?"

"But didn't the old man told us to stay away from this place?" I asked.

"You are listening to him?" She sighed. "That man looked high. He might have lied or something. You just trust me. Okay?" Saying that, Emily took out a big rock from the ground and was going to break the gates lock.

When suddenly we heard a loud hoarse voice from behind us.

"Who are you guys? And stay away from that thing. it's cursed."

I looked around to see an old woman behind us. She looked terrified when she saw us being here.

The face of the old woman felt familiar to me.

I suddenly got a flashback and recognised her.

"Grandma?"