※Who said magic only affects those who believe in it?※ Elmas thought it was just a game. A bit of harmless hoax magic with her friends-laughs, candles, and a silly chant. Then came the voices. The shadows. The waking dreams. And the boy. Suddenly, she's losing control-of her thoughts, her routines, even her straight-A record. And it all began the day he appeared: the new guy from the all-boys school next door. The one whose face she saw during the ritual. The one who won't leave her alone-no matter how far she runs. Her mother always warned her: stay away from magic. Elmas didn't listen. Now, reality is slipping, and something far older-and far darker-wants in. To survive, she'll have to untangle the mystery surrounding him... and face the truth about what she invited in that night. Some games should never be played. Some doors should never be opened. ©PearlandIvory2020

They say belief is suicide. They're not wrong. Where I come from, faith gets you a bullet in the head, a knock at the door that never ends well, or a name etched on a list you'll never live to see. Still, I believe. So does Basil, my only constant in a world stripped of everything soft. We've been hunted for years, slept under stone, eaten from dirt, prayed in secret, and watched good people vanish for whispering the wrong words. We've made it all these years with nothing but our prayers and each other. But then came the rumour about a sanctuary where the believers can live fearlessly. A lie, probably. A trap, almost definitely. Basil wanted to chase it anyway, because we owed it to ourselves and to the others who share our struggle, he said. I went with him only because I couldn't bear to watch him go alone. I should've stopped him... But now it's too late. ❝Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange as it began, so give glad tidings to the strangers(Ghuraba).❞ ‹بَدَأَ الإِسْلاَمُ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ كَمَا بَدَأَ غَرِيبًا فَطُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَاءِ› (Includes books one, two and three in The Ghuraba Trilogy.)