How I Met Mr Jinn ✔️

Chapter Eight

I've Heard it Before

Knowing that it was wrong still didn't stop me from doing so. Staring into his eyes like some creep, breathing, like the air around me was numbered. These were the other two symptoms that followed along with the cold shiver. But what illness do they all lead to?

"Nice to meet you, Ruqaya," he replied.

"Good, So you do have manners after all?" I wandered out loud, a chuckle filling the room.

"I guess so." He shrugged. His eyes wandered around the room for a brief second.

"You guess?" I question, folding my arms under my chest.

"How are you by the way?" He asked, and by doing so, tilting his head to his left. I raise an eyebrow at his poor attempt of changing the subject. But At that moment something snapped away all my thoughts and questioned his intentions. "Get to the point, Griceo?" I asked, tasting the odd feeling that had come with the pronunciation of his name.

"I'm just trying to talk," His eyebrows narrowed, taken back by my words. But honestly.. Did he really expect us Homo sapiens to be that pleasant? How long has he roamed around this world to not see how cruel humans can be?

"Talk? What a joke!" I exclaim. "You know very well if someone walks in, I'll be that crazy girl who's speaking to the bedsheets."

"Or... you'd be that girl who'd rather argue then talk," he replied, reciting his words like a fact.

I glared at him, wiping the smirk off his face. "Sorry...?" He tried. But To his bad luck, my expression hardly changed. Sorry, was just a word. Along with the names of people, places, and things. You could repeat it over and over, but real apologies could only be decided by the person who had gotten hurt.

Thoughts raced in and out of my head, and when I tried to seize them, and speak them, they just faded away. Emptiness drew its cloak around me. His eyes were staring right back at me, but I didn't give in. I watched him like a hawk, studying his every move. He might have given me his name and a few answers, but I've known one thing about them for as long as I can remember.

My father's mother had always said, that if you ever encountered a creature, don't show them your fearful, or else they will jump on you. You must be the one who they fear, and in that way, you must strengthen your faith. I didn't understand what creature then, but I've guessed it to be ghosts or vampires. I was a very naive girl...

A few Thuds crashed on the window, the storm outside brewing even faster each second. Rain poured heavily, raiding the window with its unique blur.

Winter was coming, we all knew that, but a strange aura revolved around this particular storm. Something that made my chest tighten, (something that Zainub had always complained about) and my feelings to sew each other, to create a giant gray ribbon that couldn't be recognized as an emotion. The sadness, anger, and excitement were now just a big lump of emptiness.

"Your name," I finally said, "I've heard it before."

His eyes left the window and stared at me for a minute before he choked up a chuckle. "You did?" He asked, still managing to calm his laughter. "Yeah.." I reply, confused about his reaction.

"It means Gray, in Latin. You would have known if you paid attention to your classes." He teased.

I wasn't in a mood to argue or even ask how he knew I had taken this subject. But after All the grammar and new words, how could you ever bother to learn a plain color that didn't even exist in the rainbow- or the color wheel. Still, I had managed to find a part of me that wasn't that affected by this strange spell...