C19 Chapter 19

Pari cleared the table and made the bed. She stood in the middle of the front room and looked around at the modest apartment. There were bread crumbs beneath the dining table, and she had known for several days that there were balls of dust under the bed. The broom stared at her from the open closet by the washroom. She took a step toward it and paused as she appreciated her hatred for the burning in her feet and lower back. She put one hand on her belly and the other on her hip and made her way to the bathtub.

Those who lived in the temple apartments under the friendship of the prophet were blessed with running water. In the summers, the water could be hot or cold. Pari filled the bathtub with warm water and submerged herself up to her nose.

Her brown hair floated around her head like a halo, and her round belly poked above the water like an island. She stared at it. The baby inside moved and stretched, and for a moment the imprint of a tiny foot pressed outward. Pari grinned and laughed out loud.

”I know you're excited to come out,” she said, running a hand over where the foot had been. ”I'm so excited to meet you, and so is Baba.”

mmmNNYAHHH

Pari shot upright, splashing water over the sides of the tub and onto the floor.

”Hello?”

Uuuuhhhnnnuuuhhh

A mix of fear, confusion, and curiosity washed over her, and she hurried out of the bath and wrapped herself in a robe. The sound came from the wall between the washroom and the closet. Pari leaned against the wall to listen.

Behind the wall, someone quietly sobbed and scratched against the wood.

”God above and all His angels,” Pari muttered. She dressed as fast as she could, then returned to the closet. The sounds were loudest in there. She ran her hands over the back wall.

”Hello?” she said. ”Are you in there?”

Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm

The apartment's front door opened, and a woman shouted, ”Pari!”

She shrieked and jumped, hitting her head on the wooden pole where the clothes hung.

”Ana!” she yelled. ”You scared me to death!”

Pari's best friend appeared at her side, wrapped in a hijab the color of robins' eggs, same as her eyes. She carried a basket of fabric, yarn, and needles. Ana smiled a greeting at Pari.

”What are you doing?” she asked.

”Listen.” Pari put her ear against the wall, and Ana set her basket down and did the same. Pari knocked on the wall three times. A moment later, two knocks answered. Ana jumped back.

”Ice on my mother's cradle,” Ana hissed. ”What is that?”

”I don't know,” Pari said. ”And don't swear so loudly. The neighbors could hear.”

”They wouldn't know it was a swear. The worst thing about this country is the rules. Someday you need to come with me to visit Loknohlas.”

”Ana, this is serious. There's someone behind my wall.” Pari ran her hands over the wall, not sure what she was looking for. Then her finger caught on something, and she paused.

”What is it?” Ana whispered.

”I think...it's a latch. Or a small handle.”

Uhhhnnhh...hhnnhh…

”Pari, I don't know if--”

Pari pulled on the small handle. Something in the wall clicked, and a gap appeared where the walls met in the corner. Pari pulled further, and the whole section of the wall opened backward into the closet.

Then a creature leaped out, and Pari fell backward into Ana, who fell into e hanging clothes. The creature stopped and stared at the women, and they stared back.

It was in the shape of a man. Its skin was pale and sickly, pulled tight over its long thin bones. The skull was massive and pointed at the top, and the mouth was full and drooled over dozens of long pointed teeth. Its limbs were long and gangly, with knobbed joints and spindly fingers. It sat like an animal with bent hind legs and its arms out front on the floor, poised to jump. The fingernails were long, dirty, and yellow, tapping on the wood floor with the same sound of a ticking clock. Every muscle twitched and moved beneath its pallid skin. With every breath it took, a horrible moaning echoed from its trembling ribcage. The worst parts of the creature were its bulging, dark, lidless, matte-black eyes that reflected nothing.

It opened its deep mouth and screamed. Ana screamed back. Pari could only stare with wide dry eyes as the monster screamed. Ana shook with terror and shouted in return.

The thing jumped from the closet, springing like a deer catching sight of a hunter, and bounded from the hallway like a crazed cat.

Ana struggled to her feet, grabbed Pari by the arms, and pulled her up. Out in the sitting room, the monster jumped from wall to chair to sofa to wall to table, knocking over dishes and lamps and other fragile items.

Pari did not think. She ran to the front door and opened it wide. The monster stopped, stuck its slitted nose in the air and sniffed. It opened its mouth and screamed again. The sound raked against Pari's skull like a knife over a rock.

The monster rolled its blank eyes to the door and bounded for it. Pari stepped backward, knocking into the dining table. The creature sprinted out the door in a blur.

Ana ran to Pari and grabbed her hand. The two of them watched through the open door as the monster jumped down the street, leaped on top of a building, and scrambled across rooftops until it was out of sight.

”What in the names of Fala and Ryla,” whispered Ana. She swallowed, tore her hijab from her head, and let her long straight black hair fall past her shoulders. ”You didn't know that thing was in your closet?”

Pari shot a look at her. ”Of course not!”

”Did Sallah?”

”Why would he know? Do you think he was keeping a demon in our closet and just forgot to tell me?” Her voice rose as color seeped into her burning cheeks.

”Okay, okay.” Ana squeezed Pari's upper arm. ”Well, it's gone now. What should we… Should we do anything? Tell anyone?”

Pari shook her head. ”I don't know. Maybe we should wait until Sallah comes home tonight.”

Pari's heart thumped so hard she could feel her pulse in her arms and legs and neck. She almost tripped as she stepped toward the sofa, but Ana caught her and helped her to lie down. The baby was still.

Ana went to the closet and groaned. ”There's a lot of, um…” She closed the door and came back to sit beside Pari. ”It looks like it's been in there for a while.”

”What was it?”

”It was like something out of a nightmare.” Ana stared at the front door. ”Or a bedtime story.”

”Do parents often tell their children stories of demons in Loknohlas?” Pari lay a hand over her face. Her forehead was wet.

”I was thinking of a specific story that was meant to scare children into behaving. It was a religious story about how magic came into the world after those who didn't get a Power from the gods were envious, and they trapped nature spirits and forced them to do their bidding. A person who did this was called a raka, and the more they used this false power, the more monstrous they became, until there was nothing left of them that was once human.”

”Lovely,” Pari mumbled to the ceiling. ”But this isn't a children's story, Ana. What are we going to do?”