Soul Salvation

Rania hummed a tune to herself as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair, stifling a yawn shortly after. It was nearing eleven at night, and she'd just finished with her homework for the next day before deciding to take a shower. Rania preferred showering at night and getting more sleep in the morning then having to wake up extremely early just to beat her parents to the bathroom. Although now Rania's parents had their own bathroom, so there were no worries about sharing as there had been in New York.

Grabbing the conditioner Rania squirted it into her hand before massaging the cream into her hair, letting it sit before grabbing her loofa and body wash.

Halfway through rinsing off her hair and body the stream coming from the showerhead suddenly ran ice cold, shocking Rania. She jumped, trying to press herself as close to the tiled shower wall. She was not expecting to feel water that cold, though it certainly woke her up.

Waiting for a moment after turning the water hotter, Rania cautiously held her hand out, but the water was still just as icy. She must have just use the last amounts of hot water from the heater in the cellar.

But as Rania reached out to shut the water off, the shower did it on its own, leaving Rania standing there shivering in the cold air. Her eyes widened, hand still poised over the untouched shower handle. It made sense to exhaust the hot water supply. But for the water to run out completely?

Just then a cold breeze tore through the shower, causing Rania's teeth to chatter even more as she reached for the towel hanging just outside the curtain. Quickly she dried herself off, wrapping the fuzzy green towel around her body and stepping out of the shower. Looking at the floor where her dirty clothes were, Rania realized she had forgotten to bring her pajamas in with her. She sighed, grabbing her clothes and holding the towel a little closer around her body before stepping out into the hall.

As she was headed back to her room, making a mental note to tell her mother that the shower wasn't working properly, a noise stopped Rania in her tracks. It was that same creaking noise coming from the stairs in the grand entrance.

Rania gulped, her heart pounding a little harder in her chest. But instead of ignoring the sound like she had the first time, something drew her closer and closer down the end of the hall, the landing of the stairs almost in view. Clutching her towel and clothes to her even tighter, Rania felt a tingling sensation down her back as the creaking continued.

Rania came to the landing expecting to see an intruder coming toward her, creeping up the stairs. Standing at the rail of the balconied area, eyes scanning the dark room, Rania's breath caught in her throat. There, below her in the entrance hall, stood an even darker figure. Someone was definitely there. But whoever it was, wasn't moving. Letting her breath out slowly Rania then froze completely, heart and breath stopping together, as she saw the figure turn its head in her direction, looking up. Glaring white eyes stared back at her.

Icy tears of fear nearly blinding her vision, stomach churning, Rania turned on her heel and booked it back down the hall, heading for her parents' room. She practically threw the door open before she raced across the room toward the bed where her mother and father were slowly awakening after hearing the ruckus Rania had made.

"What is wrong?" Amrita asked groggily, looking at her daughter like she'd gone insane. But when she saw the wild look of fear in Rania's eyes, she knew something had happened.

"There's someone here."

"What?" Saied asked as he, too, sat up in bed.

"Someone's here. In the house, downstairs. I saw them," Rania whispered, her heart beating so hard it was hard for her to catch her breath.

Without another thought Saied got up from the bed, Amrita and Rania following him as he made his way out into the hall. Standing on the balcony overlooking the entrance hall, Saied couldn't make heads or tails of the dark shapes in the room. Reaching out he flicked on a light, furniture showing up clear as day. But there was no one to be found. Rania was baffled; she knew she'd seen someone. There was no way her mind could have made that up.

"Well, there's no one here." Sighing, Saied shut off the light and turned around, making his way back to his bedroom.

"But-"

"Honey, I'm sure it was just your mind playing tricks on you," Amrita said, smiling sleepily as she ran her hand over Rania's damp head. "You should get to bed. You've got school tomorrow."

And with that, her mother turned and retreated back to her room as well.

Looking out at the entrance hall once more, Rania scanned the room. She wasn't sure if she actually wanted to see the figure she'd seen before, but she didn't quite know what to think of the situation. There was no one there now. Maybe she had been imagining it.

Heart still pounding she scurried back into her room before her mind had any time to conjure up another frightening figure. Locking the door swiftly, Rania burrowed herself into her bed, tears of hysteria drying on her cheeks.

There was no way she'd be able to sleep tonight.

The blaring of the alarm clock next to her bed woke Rania with a start. Unknowingly, she had fallen asleep, but felt like it had only been five minutes since she'd done so. Her eyes felt tired, fatigued as she looked over at the glaring red numbers that read seven o'clock.

Rania slowly rose, getting ready for another day at her new school. She didn't say a single word to her parents that morning, staying completely silent. She was still scared out of her mind from what she had seen the other night.

Needless to say, Amrita and Saied were worried about their daughter. They'd never seen her act so strange, so quiet, so wide-eyed. Rania wasn't one to conjure things with her mind to get attention, so they didn't know what had caused her to do so the night before. Amrita wondered the whole day if things at school were going okay with her daughter, and reminded herself to talk to her when she came home.

Stepping into homeroom, Rania blindly took a seat next to Jackie, David, and Ariel, who she'd been acquainted with on the first day. She didn't pay much mind to them or anyone else. She was much too tired, yet shocked and frightened still from what had happened the night before.

"Hey Rania," Ariel greeted with a smile. "How's life up in the haunted castle?" she joked. Rania only looked at her and the other two with her wide, scared eyes. "Are you...okay?" she then asked, brow furrowing.

"Oh my God, did you actually see something there?! You have to tell me everything," Jackie said with eyes just as wide as Rania's.

"No," Rania muttered, finally speaking. "But I think someone broke in. I heard creaking on the stairs so I went to check it out, cuz that's the second time I've heard it, and those stairs never creak. And then I saw this...this person, or something, standing in the entrance hall.

"Wow. That's actually really spooky," David said, turning to face her fully. "I mean, ghosts are just stories. But to actually see a stranger in your own house at night.... That'd freak me out."

"Maybe it was the poltergeist," Ariel said, looking between her two friends as they stared at her confused. "What? I heard a story that there might actually be a poltergeist at the Haner Manor..."

"What's a poltergeist?" Rania asked, unsure if she really wanted to know.

"It's like an evil spirit that consumes a piece of land, or a house or something," Ariel then explained, and Rania saw David roll his eyes at her. "It like...makes you hallucinate and tries to kill whoever intrudes on their land."

"You watch way too many movies, Ariel," Jackie said with a chuckle. "A poltergeist is more or less the same thing as a ghost. You know...random things moving on their own...voices...noises you wouldn't normally hear. Sometimes you can see them as spectral images."

"But no one has ever been killed in Haner Manor," David assured Rania, still seeing a petrified look on her face. "The only person to ever die in that home was the man who had it built."

Nodding her head, Rania felt a little better. But at the same time, she ran over what Jackie said as well. Things moving on their own...noises you wouldn't normally hear.... If Rania started hearing voices next, surely she'd freak out.

"Rani, did you tell your parents what you saw?" David asked, and Rania nodded.

"They went to look and didn't see anything. Whatever it was, was gone by the time they came out."

"Well, whatever it was seems to have spooked you pretty bad. Maybe you should suggest to them getting an electronic security system put in," he then suggested. Rania nodded, mind still drifting as the teacher did roll call for homeroom.

She didn't know which she liked better. The idea of a ghost possessing her house, or the idea that someone broke in.