Meeting the Jinn

He exhaled harshly, his breath forming a fleeting, puffy cloud in the cold air. Each step he took left deep imprints in the dark soil, evidence of his mounting fury. This was unexpected. He had not foreseen getting trapped like this. He pivoted sharply, retracing his steps and obliterating the neat footprints he had left.

How could he lose to a mere human? The thought burned as fiercely as the fire he spat from his throat, reducing a nearby statue to charred rubble. This human child had toyed with him for a while, but never with such power.

“How did he manage to steal my pendant?” His voice echoed in the empty yard; frustration laced with disbelief. The protective words recited by the human at sundown should have shielded him only until dawn. So how exactly had the boy broken into his sanctuary? 

His eyes scanned the yard, noting the eerie stillness. He walked around the fountain, eying his reflection in the unnaturally still water. He dipped in his finger, concentrating until the water began to steam. Yet, his mind was elsewhere, trying to make sense of the boy’s unexpected intrusion. He didn’t stop evaporating the water until there wasn’t a single droplet left.

His eyes narrowed.

“I’ll kill him.”

Decades Later

Sora cheered, throwing her hands in the air as she ran out of her school building. After weeks of preparing for her finals, she was finally ready for another adventure. She hurried back to her house to collect her essentials: a camera and Monggu – her dog. With her faithful poodle by her side, she felt a surge of excitement. Her destination was clear: the abandoned mansion she had visited last time.

Despite the eerie tales surrounding the mansion—stories of vanished families and ghostly sightings—Sora had remained skeptical. Apparently, it once belonged to a wealthy family who vanished without a trace. Search parties and newscasts yielded nothing. Sora overheard bits of the story from her mom and Umm Rayan during their weekly gossip hour. The town believed the mansion was haunted. There were many reports of shadows seen in the garden, and the fountain never dried up despite no apparent water source. Plants seemed well-maintained, as if the gardener was still at work—some even claimed the gardener had gone mad and killed everyone. Sora knew this couldn’t be true, however.

Since the gardener was her father.

Naturally, Sora had attempted to interview her father countless times about the house, which all resulted in nothing. He hadn’t been cooperative once. He dismissed the rumors each time and warned her not to interest herself with matters that didn’t concern her.

Typical old men talk.

Sora shrugged. If no one was willing to spill the beans, then she’d go and investigate on her own. She threw her bike in the bushes and sneaked past the vigilant Umm Rayan. Sora and Monggu made their way to the overgrown garden. As she stood before the gates, she curiously peeked through the iron bars. The house loomed in the distance, its windows like dark, hollow eyes watching her every move. She didn’t pay attention to it. The only thing on her mind was finding a quick, easy route into the garden.

After scanning the surroundings for a few seconds Sora decided to use a large tree in the back whose branches extended over the walls.

“That’ll be my entrance,” she stated.

The brunette walked around the brick walls and climbed the said tree, leaving Monggu at the trunk. This was a piece of cake. The human girl smirked with pride as she landed inside the garden, giving herself an imaginary pat on the shoulder. She hadn’t bothered making a plan to enter the grounds beforehand. Planning wasn’t her style. She thrived on spontaneity, letting her instincts guide her rather than meticulously laid-out plans. Sora's quick thinking often got her out of trouble, but it was her spontaneous spirit that always led her into it.

The first thing she spotted was the disfigured statue. Her curiosity led her to observe it up close and snap a few pictures. Dust had settled on different surfaces; out of instinct, she brushed off the dust. Immediately a chill breeze swept through the garden, unsettling the leaves and blowing strands of hair back. She shrugged it off and called Monggu, who easily squeezed through the front gate’s bars.

Sora wandered deeper into the garden, taking in the eerie beauty of the overgrown plants and the mysterious aura that surrounded the mansion. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the garden's vibrant colors faded into ominous shades of gray. The rustling leaves whispered secrets, an