Shroud: Jinn

22 - Powerless

I ran through the woods with only the limited shine from the crescent moon that was obscured by dark, dense, turbulent clouds serving me as guidance. The sharp sounds of the snapping branches and the crunching twigs grew more distressed as I scurried about on the crinkly forest floor. I gritted my teeth and fought my way through as the undergrowth grew thicker. Its tall leaves slapped my face like miniature whips as I pushed through, searching for a way out. Soon, I was out of the lush undergrowth but I was lost again.

Even with my ragged breathing, I refused to slow down.

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

I had no idea where I was running; I had no control of my own feet.

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

I cried out in a desperate plea. Just like the pitter-patter of the small running feet, the tiny voice was not my own.

"Somebody help us! Please!"

I knew that voice.

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

 My cloudy vision grew foggier as fresh tears burned my eyes but I knew those tears did not belong to me either.

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

Unable to control the sudden gush of new tears, I raised my right arm towards my face in an effort to wipe them away. My whole body shook as I sobbed uncontrollably into the inner crook of my bent elbow and the same tremulous voice that was not mine wobbled through my dry lips.

"Baba, help us! Please! I need you to come back now. Help us! Ahhh!-"

I fell forward as my foot tripped over a bulky root that protruded out of the ground. After which, my body was hurled out of the forest and onto a much harsher and grainier terrain. I pushed myself off the road and stood up promptly. But shortly after doing so, my soul had shoved out backwards away from the body I was in earlier and I found myself standing behind Saleha who was still facedown on the gravel path.

"Oww!" Saleha slipped downwards and winced in pain as she attempted to prop herself up on her knees. She immediately turned her body around. A few scrapes of blood lined her forehead as the pallid moonlight shone on her face as she lifted her head towards the sky in another painful grimace. The fabric of her baju kurung that surrounded her forearms and knees were coated in blood. 

I walked towards her to help her but when I tried to touch her, my hand went through hers instead of grasping them. I attempted to pull her but my hands floated by her arms like a blur of airy mist and the space between us grew further apart. My quick steps sped up in a jog but the distance grew wider. 

"Saleha!" I screamed out her name as I ran towards her but she could not hear me. 

I sprinted at full tilt yet the more I ran, the more I was pulled backwards. Panic overwhelmed me as I was pulled further and further away until I was sucked backwards into a black hole of oblivion. 

As I suspended in mid-air, images of a growling Murni flashed before me, illuminated by a small glow. It showed its hostility not to me but to another feline whose fur was as black as midnight. Both of Murni's ears were turned back and flat against its heads as it emitted another deep growl. The black cat kept its ears upright, however, the back of its ears were rotated slightly forward. The black cat raised its rear end, stiffened its rear legs as it puffed up its fur in aggression with its back sloped downwards towards the head. It bore its sharp canine teeth, the pupils of its eyes constricted as the black cat stared at Murni with a ferocious hiss. It moved towards Murni in slow, calculative steps, taunting the white cat to make its next move.