Shroud: Jinn

31 - Beacon

The car that stopped beside me horned to get my attention. Our cars were the only vehicles at the traffic light. The man in the front passenger seat gestured for me to roll down my window. On his right was Sub-Inspector Javin, who was in the driver's seat.

"Dr. Mustaqim Lim," Inspector Harun greeted me solemnly.

"Inspector," I nodded at him.

"My men went in circles trying to find your house earlier. Complained they couldn't find it. Thought we would do the honours of dropping by instead. But since we bumped into each other, I might as well update you here. Saves us all the trouble."

"What is it?" I asked as I stole glances at the traffic light in case it turned green.

The disappointment was chiselled deep in his eyes.

"Lab results came back." He hesitated as he looked at me and finally let out a sigh of defeat, "You were right. The blood sample belonged to an animal."

"What else could it be?" I replied with concealed smugness that was begging to erupt.

"I was this close," the inspector chuckled to himself in disbelief. "Something still doesn't add up." He added more grimly, "We won't be contacting you any further."

I nodded my acknowledgement. As soon as the light turned in our favour, I drove away first. A perfectly hidden crook of a smile at the corners of my lips began to seep through, and soon I was grinning, a little too deep.

* * * ◊ ˚ ◊ ˚ ◊ ˚ ◊ ˚ ◊ * * *

I slowed down the car as soon as I saw the wooden sign with my address. A pile of envelopes laid neatly at the bottom of the wooden pole. I had lost count of the times the mailman had left them there instead of putting the mail in the mailbox provided right in front of my doorstep.

Not only that, many neighbours thought we had moved away. Some had the impression that the house was demolished, which was a strange thought. When I told them otherwise, they genuinely assumed that I was joking. But when they soon realised that I spoke the truth, the atmosphere changed drastically and they always backed away from me hurriedly.

I gazed at the house and the surrounding sky. A blanket of ominous clouds hung overhead, enveloping the area with dim lighting. It bothered me that the sun did not grace the house with its warmth anymore. Not even a hint of the sun's bright rays managed to stream through.

It was oddly disturbing.

Following Mak Bidan's demise, or rather, after both penanggals' deaths, I had foolishly thought that the final chapter of anything remotely supernatural would have ended. I was also confident that peace would finally be restored in my life, especially after I managed to transform Melati back to her human form successfully for the second time.

However, those hellish ordeals only ended so that a new chapter of horrors could begin.

The cracks in the nail that I used to transform Melati into her human form was somehow symbolic of the dangers that laid ahead.

Home was supposed to be the safest place but ever since Wak's visit, it was the most dangerous location that I could ever be.

At first, it started as sounds - extra footsteps stomping around the house, child-like feet running up and down the walls, things falling or rolling on the wooden flooring, strange whispers and chilling giggles. As the days went by, they got bolder. Plates broke for no reason, furniture overturned, the bed rattled and dragged to the other side of the room as soon as I laid down, the rocking chair rocked by itself, the radio and television turned on to nothing but static.