Ayi glared to the pregnant woman who was accompanied by her father to their house. She tightly gripped her pen, writing on her notebook while making suspicions about the lady. Mr. Gray checked his room, and called the lady to go upstairs, which doesn't sound good for Ayi.
That was her father's mistress. Her mom died without knowing her husband cheated on her. Ayi couldn't do anything that time, she's so much young and everything her father ordered, she followed. It's too late to realize that what she and her father did was wrong. Well then, she's innocent after all, but sometimes she regret it being ignorant.
At the age of 13, she escaped on her home. It's useless for her to stay there and be with that lady, and she didn't want to take care the baby rooted from the sin her father had done.
She stayed at her friend's house, but it would be temporary, so she tried to help on a mini shop nearby, to earn even a small amount of money. A month and a half passed, she realized something; she missed her father.
But not the lady.
She tried to come back home, and saw how abandoned their house. Everything's dried up, her mother's garden withered, pale, and lone. Ayi knocked on the door, a lot of times, but no one attempted to open it, so she turned the knob, but it was locked.
"Dear little child,
Those stars surround you.
Sleep little child,
And they will guide you,
To the land of dreams,
Of peace.
How wonderful it is,
Slumber to the melody I sang. "
She heard it. Someone's singing a lullaby inside. Ayi assumed that the lady couldn't make it to open the main door because there's a little innocent being trying to sleep with her mother's song. "That was so cute," she whispered to herself.
"Maybe, I'll be back tomorrow," she said to herself. She turned her gaze to the road, but the door swung and showed the lady in dirty white dress.
"Hello?"
The lady tried to hide her face behind the door, as she saw Ayi's seriously staring at her eyes, but decided to open the main door wide while shyly gesturing Ayi to come in. She stood still without hearing the lady's invitation.
"Where's my father?" Ayi asked. After some months of keeping the pain, she already decided to meet her dad again and make things clear. The lady sighed and spoke, "He's a-at work. C-come in."
Inside was a bit darker than when her mother was alive, the place's haunted, furniture were showered with dust, with cobwebs stuck on some corners; a perfect venue for a Halloween party. The lady went to the kitchen and prepared some pastries and drinks, while Ayi took the chance of checking some things.
There's no pictures of them attached on the walls, maybe the lady hid them and removed all things that reminds of them. She's searching for the box where she collected her thingies with sentimental value, but it seemed there's no box. Anger flamed inside Ayi's, but she still wanted to take some proof, so that she wouldn't do unwanted things.
But, one thing caught her attention. It's the crib. She's curious on what the baby look like. She went near the crib, and shocked by what she saw.
'No no no!'
Fear shivered down her spine, still couldn't believe.
'What is that?'
There's something inside the crib. She doesn't know if it's a body covered on cloth. How could the baby breathe there well? What kind of mother is she? Is she trying to kill that innocent child?
She's at the edge of the crib, looking at the covered body inside the crib.
'Is it a corpse?'
She tried to unleash some folds of the cloth to see what's inside, but something's smelly came out of it, making Ayi covered her nose. It's very unpleasant looking, to the decaying body of a sleeping child.
"Sleep little child,
And they will guide you,
To the land of dreams,
Of peace."
She looked behind her, and saw the morbid silhouette of the lady. It grinned at her while carrying a tray of goodies.
"Come on, Ayi. We will have a long talk together," the lady said in creepy voice.
She heard a cry.
The dead baby's cry.
Looking at the food, she couldn't imagine how weird was everything. How this lady turned into a creep.
But what she saw was everything. Images of crime were created on her mind, thinking the lady killed the baby. No, it's not.
"It's all for you, dear," the lady said while spreading her arms, presenting the foods and drinks prepared at the table. She hesitantly got a piece of cookie, chewing slowly, and faked a smile at the lady.
But after some seconds, she choked from something contained in the cookie and drank a glass of lemonade. She felt dizzy, and her sight became blurry.
"Thank you for coming, dear. Little Simon will be alive again!" Those were the last words she heard.
