Note: Umm means mother of, so if you see Umm Rayan, it means the mother of Rayan, Umm Sora, mother of Sora.

I do feel safe, though

Sora opened her eyes with a groan. She didn’t see anything but white. Am I staring into a lamp or something? The brunette’s eyebrows pulled together as she blinked hard. Where am I?  Sora knew she lay in something soft. The smell in the room was familiar, too. The brunette tried to ignore the stinging pain in her head as she forced her eyes to adjust to the blinding light. Sora smiled when she finally recognized her room.

 ‘’Honey, hey, did you wake up? How are you feeling, dear?’’

Sora turned her head, her mother sat next to the bed on Sora's office chair. Sora frowned; her mother’s eyes looked tired, the deep eye bags seemed darker than usual.  Umm Sora spoke in a soft voice while she reached out to hold her daughter’s hand. Sora giggled as her mom rubbed tiny circles on her skin before she kissed Sora's forehead.

‘’I’m fine, mom.’’

Sora stretched her free arm and tried sitting up. The brunette felt fully energized and wanted to leave the bed. Though, her mom was quick to notice what Sora was up to, and she quickly pushed the young adult back against the mattress.

 ‘’No, no, sweetheart. You’ll have to stay in bed a little bit longer. You can’t move around too much yet.’’

Sora frowned, and pouted in response. The younger adult was about to whine when she noticed her mom had her work clothes on. Sora's mother was a local nurse, and she usually worked night shifts. Sora quickly checked the sky, the sun was about to set, so she figured her mom would leave any second now. 

‘’Are you going to work? What happened by the way? How did I end up in bed?’’

Umm Sora suddenly looked wide awake as her eyes narrowed in suspicion. ‘’Umm Rayan found you in her street, passed out on the cold tiles. You probably hit your head when you fell down, because you have scratches on the side of your face.'' Her mother sighed, ''And, no, I'm not going to work. It’s morning, probably around six o’clock. Do you remember anything?’’

Sora mouthed an o. The sun was about to rise, not set. Sora, then, remembered everything that happened. Her heart involuntarily accelerated as she thought back. Images of the grayhead shot through her mind.

I fainted? Great. Wait, what time was it? Six o’clock? How long have I been out for?

‘’I don’t remember what happened, mom…’’ Sora lied.

Umm Sora closed her eyes. ‘’Your dad thinks you have bullies. He is convinced someone knocked you out. Though, Umm Rayan keeps saying it’s the fault of the house.’’

Sora laughed nervously. ‘’That’s nonsense, mom. What house is she talking about, anyway?’’

Umm Sora nodded and pushed a few strands of Sora's hair back. ‘’Don’t pay attention to it, Sora. She is an old lady. We shouldn’t make fun of her, but I swear she gave me the creeps.’’

Sora's mom finally stood up, and pinched Sora's cheek before she walked over to the window and closed it.

‘’If you want to leave the bed, be careful and don’t jump around or anything, okay?’’

Sora nodded and gave her mother the sweetest smile she could pull off.

After Umm Sora left the bedroom, the brunette let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding. That was a close call. Sora couldn’t tell her mom she had been snooping around the house because her mom would scold her for breaking in, and, for not using her time to study.

Sora's mom was pretty strict when it came down to school.

Not to mention her mom would flip if she heard about the grayhead. Sora was certain Umm Sora wouldn’t believe her on her words only. However, once her mother would tell Umm Rayan what happened, it would be game over for Sora. Umm Rayan would surely convince Sora's mom that the house was indeed supposedly haunted.

The brunette flipped her blanket off and walked around her room in circles. What’s going to happen now? Will the male try anything funny? Will he bother me?

Am I in trouble?

Sora grunted when she noticed her door was still open. She thought she heard her mother close the door. Sora kicked against the door and grabbed the chair behind her desk. She put it in front of her window and sat down with a deep sigh. Sora felt that uneasy feeling in her chest rise again.

The brunette tried to distract her mind by watching the few people who were out on the streets at this early hour; she took deep, steady breaths and focused on a random woman. Sora couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, which was ironic considering the fact she was actually being a creep by watching the aforementioned woman. The brunette shook her head and slammed her palms on her lap.

This wasn’t going to work.

Sora climbed back into bed and tried to sleep more. She firmly shut her eyes after tucking herself in and grabbed a handful of blanket in both fists.

The male that Sora saw was handsome, those blonde and grey locks…and his beautiful eyes. Not to mention that his expression didn’t scare her at all, on the contrary, she reminded herself that he had seemed kind and inviting. But the voice, the voice had almost killed Sora. That sure wasn’t human. So, Sora decided then and there to never go near that house again. She didn’t want to experience something like that for a second time. Sora sighed deeply as her heart slowly calmed down before she drifted back into a deep slumber.

Weeks had passed without Sora even setting a foot into his street. She made sure to avoid it at any cost. Besides, didn’t the male tell her it wasn’t safe? So, why wouldn’t Sora take his advice? He didn’t seem like someone who would lie, and play around- scaring people for nothing…right?

Well, it didn’t matter anyway, Sora stopped going to abandoned places overall. She had tried to visit places she was more familiar with, places she had been before, but every time Sora went she couldn’t help but feel troubled. She felt like someone was keeping a close eye on her. It scared the brunette, it felt like the grayhead could pop out of every random corner and shout at her with that scary voice. She couldn’t enjoy her alone time in the once-so-peaceful places.

Sora did a pretty good job in avoiding the mansion, until Sunhee decided to pull Sora along to her sister’s house.

Sora didn’t know Sunhee’s sister lived right across of that stupid, yet alluring mansion. When she arrived Sora reluctantly sat down on the porch, her shoulder and neck not once relaxing. Sora couldn’t even devour the sweets and drinks Sunhee had prepared. And it certainly didn’t help that Sora’s eyes were fixed on the gates. The brunette finally managed to glance to her right, and she realized Sunhee hadn’t picked up on her odd behavior. From the time Sora arrived, she did not speak a word, and neither of the sister’s seemed to have noticed that, nor her gloomy mood, they were too busy chatting amongst themselves.

This is nerve-wracking.

After a while, Sora decided to at least try and enjoy whilst she was here. Why waste time being troubled, if I can just ignore the huge, obvious mansion and make the best out of the situation. Sora snorted to herself, yeah, as if I can actually do that. Sora bent over to the table to pick up her tea. When Sora leaned back into her seat, she almost spilled the drink.

The brunette’s blood ran cold.

He was there.

He stood in the middle of the yard and looked straight at Sora. Suddenly, though, he broke out in a sweet, unexpected grin.

The creature, who looked like he was human, wore simple clothes- a plain, white t-shirt and jeans. His blonde hair was parted in the middle, and a few of the longer strands tortured his eyes.

Sora froze while staring back at him; she couldn’t even move a finger. Her heart had started to pick up its beats by tenfold. Why is he standing there? And did he grin, seriously?

Sunhee and her sister didn’t seem to know what was going on. They kept on talking without even glancing Sora's way. Sora was used to being ignored by people, but she didn’t understand how neither of the sisters were seeing this. Sunhee sat right next to her; she should have been able to see the grayhead across the street. He definitely stood out against all the green and brown, with his light colored hair and clothes.

The male started to pout. He sat down on his behind and rested his elbows on his knees, while resting his chin on his palms.

Sora, unknowingly, slightly smiled; he looked so cute and pinchable.

The male jerked his head up as he noticed the brunette’s smile and beamed back at her.

Sora lifted her eyebrows. She couldn’t deny it made her feel special; she could swear she felt butterflies in her stomach for a millisecond.

However, Sora flinched when a soft breeze blew over her; unwanted goosebumps appeared on her skin again. Not because of the cold air but because Sora heard a voice, a soft, soothing voice, asking her to come over, alone.

Sora didn’t know why she told Sunhee something came up.

Sora didn’t know why she sneaked into the same tree to enter the garden.

Sora also didn’t know why she felt safe in his presence.

Sora only knew that it had to mean something that he showed himself to her and not to anyone else.

The brunette sat down on the grass in the backyard. She watched the grayhead walk over with that same, adorable smile. He looked kind of foolish actually…like he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Sora softly started to rock back and forth while waiting for him to join her on the grass. Her eyes unknowingly wandered off, she couldn’t deny the fact that it wa