Okay, before I kick this off, i've got a few things to say. To start with, I apologise for my rather inordinate absence from the board for so long. I have been dealing with several issues and working on several projects so I haven't quite had time to write or post much. Still i've had you guys in mind and I love this board as ever.

Well, I was working on designing a website ([url]Gidirecommends.com[/url], you might have heard of it) with a friend so that took up so much of my time. I would consider it a personal favour if you check it out and maybe, follow the site on twitter for updates .Asides that, I've been working on a collection of my short stories which would soon be made available online as an ebook for free download. I'm just putting finishing touches to it and once it's done, you guys will be the first to know.

I've also been working with a group of bloggers to start a network/traffic ring called MediaNaija so that's another thing i've been up to (very busy, i've been, right?. I'm not done with that but it wn't stop me from resuming regular writing and posting here So that's that with what i've been up to. Hope i've been missed!

This story will be written in series format. I promised this series at the start of the year but, as you guys can see, it's been overtaken by work. It's the first time i'm writing in series and is also the first time I'll be writing outside the humour/comedy genre. it's more along the lines of fantasy/adventure so, i'd like feedback on my first fantasy story. I would be posting them first on my blog ([url]thegiddywriter.[/url]) before posting them here so you guys would have t bear with me if it takes a bit of time between updating it on the blog and posting it here. So, that's that. Let's jump right in!

The ear-piercing screech rent the air and, again, I tried to cover my ears but I couldn't. I still couldn't move my hand or any other part of my body but I could see, hear and smell with astounding clarity. And I could feel the heat as the soft breeze blew hot air in my direction from the blazing fire a short distance away from where I stood? Was tied? Lay? I wasn't sure. From the position of the fire, I guessed I was standing. But I couldn't look down to see the rest of my body. Neither could I feel any ropes binding me, preventing my movement. But I could feel the drops of perspiration coursing down practically every part of my body unhindered. Was I naked?

I still couldn't understand the scenario unfolding before me. Nor could I remember how I exactly I had gotten here. Last I remember, I was.....I couldn't remember where I was last. But I was quite sure there was no fire around.....or wasn't there? I couldn't remember anything at all. I was only aware of a vague consciousness of who I was and that I wasn't where I should be. And that I was scared. Very scared.

Now something caught my eyes; something that all of a sudden appeared but seemed like it had been there all along and I had somehow failed to notice it. I was a person, dressed in pitch black robes, prancing around the fire wildly, almost maniacally and chanting something that chilled me to the bones, yet sounded strangely familiar. I guessed it was a woman from the wild hair that stood almost at end as she pranced around the fire, chanting in a guttural voice that reminded me of....yet again, I lost track of what I felt I knew but couldn't remember. Had I lost my memory? Where was I? And who was she? And what was I doing here?

I tried to speak, but like the rest of my body, my lips failed to move. I couldn't even feel their presence there, like I had suddenly become lipless. I could not even produce the faintest of whimpers or any other sounds of any kind. And the prancing woman seemed totally oblivious to my presence. Now and gain, she would raise her hands, still prancing and look skyward. Then drop them and hiss before continuing her chant. And the more she did this, the more terrified I became.

Suddenly, she stopped and stared into the fire intently, like something there had just caught her attention. I still couldn't see her face clearly, in spite of the fact that she was at the opposite side of the fire from me and the light from the blazing fire should have illuminated her face. I wondered what she was staring at and looked from her face to the fire. It was still burning as brightly as before. But strangely enough, I couldn't see anything different about it. Probably she was seeing what I wasn't. I looked from the the fire back to her only to see her staring intently at me. I still couldn't make out her face but those piercing eyes.......seemed to burn right through me and I looked away from them back to the fire, still confused and terrified.

The silence that reigned now was ominous and I wanted to hear a sound, any sound to assure me that I wasn't alone with this woman. Even the crackle of the fire was gone, and all that was left was a chilling silence. From my peripheral vision, I could tell she still hadn't moved since I last looked at her and I guessed she was still staring at me. I wasn't sure what I felt now; fear or discomfort. I definitely was scared but i wasn't feeling comfortable under her gaze. I tried to shut my eyes and....I couldn't.

"The last of the stone eyed." Her voice jarred me back to reality and, against my wish, I looked at her. Her voice was unlike her appearance. It was soft, more like a young girl's than the ragged old woman that I saw before me. For a moment, I wasn't sure if she was the one that had spoken. Then she spoke again;

"My greetings." And with that, she curtsied, a slow curtsy that struck me more as mocking than respectful. I still didn't understand. The last of the stone eyed? What was she talking about?

"You understand it all. You just don't realize it yet. Don't worry. I shall lead you."

Lead me? What was this all about?

Suddenly, she stiffened and stopped focusing on me, like she was listening for something. After a few seconds like this, she looked back at me, deep into my eyes and as much as I wanted to look away, I couldn't. And strangely, my fear suddenly disappeared, and I felt like I knew nothing bad would happen to me. She smiled.

"A part of you is now here. But I have to leave now. They're coming."

As she said this, the fire began to burn in a whirl and brighter and grew bigger till I began to fear I would get consumed by it. At this point, it was so bright I couldn't see anything else, including the shaggy woman. Still I heard her clearly.

"Worry not. We shall meet again."

The fire burned furiously and then, with a sudden blast of hot air, exploded. Then just as suddenly, it went out, plunging me into perfect darkness. then a voice whispered into my left ear.

"Soon."

#following

Nice.

Just don't take forever between updates, I take God beg you...unless you want a major virus on your new site

Ihedinobi: Nice.

Just don't take forever between updates, I take God beg you...unless you want a major virus on your new site

Lolz, abeg o! Should I beg on my knees?

He's baaaaaaaaaaack!!

Kaga baby, where the f**k have you been??

Nice piece. You have gotten so much better, wow! I am so following your black asss like your shadow. You are an inspiration and one of my favourite writers here on NL. Please try to update as frequently as possible. Don't be like me that takes 'forever' to update (tho it's no fault of mine).

I am your biggest fan, mehn! Keep the flag flying and may your ink never run dry. Beat the best and be The Best

Japanese guy? He better not go AWOL again else I will drop some nukes on him like it is world war 2 and I am America

a different genre, niiiice!

so so #following

Ishilove: He's baaaaaaaaaaack!!

Kaga baby, where the f**k have you been??

Nice piece. You have gotten so much better, wow! I am so following your black asss like your shadow. You are an inspiration and one of my favourite writers here on NL. Please try to update as frequently as possible. Don't be like me that takes 'forever' to update (tho it's no fault of mine).

I am your biggest fan, mehn! Keep the flag flying and may your ink never run dry. Beat the best and be The Best

Lolz, Ishi, I've been busy o! I've had so much to do these past few months i've barely been able t keep up. Fortunately, i've rounded up much of the heavy work so i can catch a breather. I've always felt a pang of guilt when I remember how long it's been since I last posted here. So first thing I did when the work load eased up was start on the series. Of course i'll try to update as frequently as possbile.

I was watching cheaters but immediately I read the first sentence I was captivated. Very nice write up

The sound gradually filtered into my consciousness. But the bright light was sudden, blinding, harsh and burning, all at once. It wasn’t anything like the fire but was so intense, I blinked. I blinked? Yes, I realized. I blinked! I could blink! And move my hands. And turn away from the blazing sun I had apparently been staring at.

“…..alright?”

The voice, clear and young like the woman’s jarred me back to my surroundings and terrified me at the same time. Lola was staring into my face, looking a bit worried.

“Well, it’s not everyday I get to see someone staring at the sun for two whole minutes without blinking. Everything alright?”

I glanced at the wall clock. She was right. Two whole minutes had passed since I had last checked the time before looking out the window, the boredom getting to me. Two whole minutes and I had been……had I dreamt it all along? I looked around. I was still in class and it was still nearly empty. There was a marked absence of darkness, fires or old women. So I had probably been daydreaming. But was two minutes enough to dream up all I had experienced? By my reckoning I had spent at least twenty minutes unable to move and in the presence of an apparently maniacal and possibly diabolical woman; the fear so real, I could smell it. Taste it. Practically feel it. But right here and now, none of that remained with with me…..except the fear. It wasn’t as intense as before but it was with me, thudding dully at the back of my head and making my heart race. There was nothing I could see to be afraid of….but I felt she was somewhere near….watching me.

“You look like you saw a ghost…..or Jeff.” Lola quipped. “What’s up?”

I shook my head and tried to smile but it came off as lopsided. I looked down at my desk so she wouldn’t see my face. It was several pages past where I had broken off to check the time. I shut the book and shoved it in my bag, unwilling to read any further. Truth be told, I really wanted to head home, get to bed and…..I wasn’t sure if I wanted to sleep. I didn’t want any more dreams….and I had been having so many of them lately. The daydream I just had was a first time occurrence, though.

“I feel a bit light headed”, I said, trying to sound normal and hide the tremor in my voice. I couldn’t explain it but…my fear was growing. From the light fear that came from my feeling of being watched, it had grown to a positive terror. It was so intense, so real, even worse than what I had felt while I was…..daydreaming? I gasped lightly as it reached choking levels, making it rather difficult for me to breathe and I felt I was going to pass out. In spite of that, I could still notice Lola staring at me intently, now obviously sure I wasn’t okay. I wasn’t. The feeling had grown to something manifest, something I could almost touch and hold like it was solid.

“Help.”

I mouthed the word but heard no sound following it right at the moment someone passed by where I was seated. In my terrified state I couldn’t tell enough about the person. But it was a girl, from her voice. She said hi as she passed but I heard it only faintly as, at this point, it felt like all my faculties were beginning to fail me. Just as went past my desk, I saw her stop, turn, then walk over to where I sat. My eyes began to swim.

“Aaralyn!”

I heard it, but it felt like it was from another world, another time. It echoed in my head and I was vaguely aware that it was probably my name. I could barely hear anything properly….but I could suddenly hear the girl clearly.

“Is she alright?”

“I don’t know.” Lola’s voice was extremely faint in comparison and I had to convince myself that I had truly heard it. “She was until about two minutes ago. She’s been looking pale ever since.”

Everything was a blur but I still saw the face that came to peer into mine and it wasn’t Lola’s. The hair was jet black and straight…..unlike anybody’s I knew personally. Or anyone else I knew in school. She was dark but her eyes were bright and as they came even closer to my face, I realized that they looked like…..I couldn’t remember. And in my state, it wasn’t my biggest worry what they reminded me of. I realized that i wanted to get away from her as quickly as possible. I also realized that….I couldn’t move…again.

“Must be a fever of some sort or something like that.” I heard her say. Her voice was rather dry and almost rasping, like she had a cough. It was very unlike the old, shaggy woman’s. If anything, it sounded like an old woman’s voice. Was she…

“Maybe we should go home,” I heard Lola say. “School’s over anyway. We can resume rehearsals tomorrow instead. You’re not looking very good.”

“Yes. Maybe you should. Get some rest.” the girl said, rubbing my arm. I couldn’t move but I felt my skin crawl, like it was being run over by a cockroach, an insect I hated worse than any living thing I knew. Then she headed off in the direction of the door, her black hair flowing behind her like a dark, silent waterfall. With each step she took away from me, I felt less and less choked, and by the time she was at the door, my vision had cleared….but I was panting heavily, like I had just run a marathon. I also noticed the beads of sweat cascading down the sides of my face. Lola was now clearly concerned.

“Who was that?” I gasped.

“The….the new girl…..” Lola responded slowly, turning to look at the departing girl, then back at me. “You are so not alright. Let’s get going home.”

I stared at the girl’s back as she walked while Lola stared at me. She was slim and graceful, like a lady from one of Lola’s books. She looked like she could easily be a model or something equally glamorous like that. And her hair….watching it swish around behind her as she walked was almost entrancing. I didn’t notice she had made it ll the way to the door till she got to it. Then she stopped, turned and looked at me and, for the first time, I saw her face clearly.

She was beautiful, by any standards. The straight dark hair seemed made to accentuate that beauty and, for a moment, I wondered if she was the person that had came up close to peer at me. I couldn’t have missed that face up close. She looked straight at me for a second that felt like forever and smiled. And as she smiled, the dwindling fear within me rose to a crescendo. I turned away to look at Lola, whose gaze was now very unsettling. By the time i turned back to the door, she was gone.

“Er, could we get going now?” Lola asked.

“What? Er…no..I…no…” I mumbled, the fear rapidly crashing. There was something about that girl that wasn’t right. The last thing I wanted was for what happened when she came close to happen again. I would probably collapse in the hallway. “No, lemme….lemme just make sure….” I started rooting around in my bag, looking for what I wasn’t sure of and probably wasn’t there. Anything to prevent me from having to run into the girl again.

“That girl…..is she in our class?” I asked.

“Er, yes.” Lola responded. “Weren’t you in class when Mrs Cole introduced her?”

Was I? I couldn’t remember. And I didn’t remember seeing her all day in class. And there was something I felt I was missing….a detail that my mind kept throwing at me but I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I would try to figure it out when I got home. I needed to get away from school…..and away from Lola who was now a visible mix of concern and curiosity. I didn’t want to explain anything to her just yet. I had to figure out some of what happened over the past few minutes on my own before asking her opinion.

“Okay, let’s go.” I said, getting up from my seat after adjudging that enough time had passed for us to get out without having to run into the new girl. Lola slowly got up, still staring at me but said nothing. I hurried to the door and just as I was about passing through the doorway, it hit me. I turned around slowly.

“Lola, did that new girl call me by my mum’s name?”

Awesome! You good, bro.

Ihedinobi: Awesome! You good, bro.

Oh, thanks a million!!!

We got out of the school building without running into her, much to my relief. We still had to walk home, though, and only goodness knew if she lived anywhere around. Last thing I wanted was to run into her along the route home. I was almost sure the same thing that happened back in class would happen again. That smile…it still lingered in my memory, so sharp it was as if I was actually still looking at it. I had lost count of how many times I had shook my head to clear it of the unpleasant memory but it stuck there. Lola was still casting side glances at me, sure there was something not right but not wanting to ask. And I knew she wasn’t going to let it lie; she was only giving me time.

I stood outside the school building and looked left. Then right. Either way I took, I could still get home in good time. My regular route was down the left though, as it was shorter the shorter route so getting home was much faster. Yet I had a strong feeling that she had taken that route……was probably waiting for me somewhere along it.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Lola prompted, already walking down the road to the left. “Thought you said you were light headed. Best you get home quickly and get some rest.”

I turned from left to right and I was filled with dread. The route I would take if I headed to the right would take me past the museum. The very thought of walking past it made me shiver. It had been close to a year now, since I last walked past the museum….or even went close to it. I had never had any problems walking past it before that; if anything, it was my favourite route to school then as it went past where Aisha, my closest friend before her family moved out and Lola came along, lived. I remember vividly, that morning as we walked past the museum to school…..how the sky suddenly became dark and I heard a deep humming, low and at the same time loud and insistent…..it was coming from all around me and yet it sounded like it was right in my ear. Then the clouds in the sky over the museum began to swirl, first slowly, then picking up speed till I began to fear some kind of storm was coming. I had looked around me and I noticed that there was no-one around me, not even Aisha I’d been walking with. Everything around was completely still, even the grass and the trees were completely motionless. Yet I felt a strong wind blowing all around me, tossing my hair around and, at one point, nearly lifting me off my feet.

Then I’d heard a screech, ear piercing and blood curdling. It lasted for about a minute but it felt like forever. I covered my ears but that didn’t help. Like the humming (which I was still hearing) it seemed to be coming from all around and, at the same time, was right tin my ear. I had shut my eyes tight, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t going crazy.

Then it all stopped as suddenly as it had begun. The screech, the humming, the strong breeze. I slowly opened my eyes to discover I was staring directly at the sun. I couldn’t remember turning my head skyward. All I remembered was covering my ears and shutting my eyes. I looked around. Everything was back to normal. The trees waved in the soft breeze and people went around their business as they had before the whole thing started. I shook my head. Had that really happened? I was puzzled and still looked around, incredulous, as I picked my school bag I didn’t remember dropping. And I noticed there was something missing…..

Aisha wasn’t there with me anymore.

I met her in school but she wouldn’t talk to me….even positively avoided me. And she completely changed. The previously bubbly, happy-go-lucky Aisha became a silent recluse; rarely speaking with anyone and leaving as soon as school closed for the day. Two months later, her family moved. I’d wanted to ask if she had seen what I had seen or heard what i heard but….for the two months she stayed after it happened she kept far, far away from me, and each time we had to stay in close proximity, she would stay as far away from me as she could. She tried to mask it, but I could see the dread on her face clearly……

No, it wasn’t dread.

It was terror.

What could she have seen to have made my best friend so afraid of me? And now I thought of it, it occurred to me that….Aisha looked as scared of me as I felt of the new girl.

I guess I should have been really worried about that then but….I noticed that the same thing happened each time I walked past the museum, though those times I was walking alone; Aisha having asked me not to walk to school with her ever again. After four times of the same occurrence at exactly the same spot each time, I switched routes. I gave my Mum the excuse that Aisha and I were no longer friends so I decided to take a different route to school. She accepted it without question, much to my relief. How could I explain that to her? She wouldn’t believe me.

Now I stared down the same road, a road I hadn’t taken for a few months. Even once when Mum was driving and she’d wanted to quickly come pick something from a friend of hers that lived close to the school, I begged her to drop me off before the museum. When she refused to, considering I couldn’t come up with a good enough reason why, I feigned a terrible stomach ache. We ended up heading straight home where I made a surprisingly quick recovery.

I had a choice to make; between going down the road to the left where I felt the new girl was lurking or risk another heart-stopping experience when I got close to the museum. It had been months but there was no way of knowing if the same thing would happen again. And I didn’t want to risk losing another best friend.

But I remembered the fear…..the terror I had felt…..

“Where are you going?” Lola asked as I headed down the road to the right. I could brave the museum experience again; it had been just a few months since the last one. But the fear……I couldn’t bear it. Another experience like that today and I don’t know what would happen to me.

“Home,” I called behind me, trying to sound cheery. “Coming with?”
She ran up to me, looking puzzled.
“Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve never taken this route home. Besides, you do remember I live along the other road……are you sure you’re alright?”

“Don’t I look alright?” I responded.

“No. you don’t” Lola wasn’t one to mince words. “Care to share?”

I smiled wanly. “There’s nothing wrong with me, you silly girl. Just feel a bit tired, that’s all. Lemme just get home, get some rest and I’ll be right as rain.”

Lola huffed, not believing a word of what I said but letting the issue slide for now.

“Oh, forgot to mention it,” she said. “Daddy said there’s some big artefact the museum’s shipping out today. Says it’s something really important and he had to leave for the museum really early this morning. Maybe I should go check on him since we’re passing the museum. What do you say?”

I’d never explained to Lola why I’d never taken up any of her offers to come to the museum where her father worked as a curator. Asides the fact that I thought museums were too old and dusty, there was the issue of what happened each time I got close to the museum. I wondered what would happen if I actually went INTO the museum.

And there it was; the front building of the museum. On sighting it, I stopped, suddenly unwilling to go further. Now I wasn’t so sure now whether avoiding the other route was such a good idea after all. What if it happened again?

And I lose my best friend all over again?

Lola hadn’t noticed I had stopped and went right on walking to the museum’s gates. If I stayed put, she would notice soon. Then I would have some explaining to do….explanations I’d rather not have to give, even if I came up with total lies. It was hard to lie to Lola; and I knew I was a terrible liar, anyway.

I started inching closer to the gate, my heartbeat going even faster with each step. Lola was already through it and turned back to see me walking slowly.

“Are you that tired?” She called, heading back towards me. “Maybe you should just head home.”

“No,” I heard myself say, shocking me. Had I just blown an opportunity to avoid facing one of my greatest fears? “I’m fine. I was just trying to figure something out. Let’s go inside.”

We were now right outside the main gates and I turned to face the entrance building.

Then it began.

Man! Keep doin' it, bro!

M loving dis....keep it up dude

New update on The Nightlies - Bennett: https://www.nairaland.com/1305653/nightlies-sandra

The first sound startled me and I jumped. Then the second. Then I heard it clearly. It was a beating of drums. And it was coming from somewhere inside the museum complex. I withdrew my hand from the gate and took a step backwards.

"Oh," Lola said. "Dad said something about that. Apparently, the tribe the artefact comes from believe it would bring bad luck if it moves from one point to anther without being accorded the respect their local kings get when making long trips."

"And that involves the beating of drums?" I asked, skeptic.

"Yup. Dad says when the artefact was first brought here, he had a headache from all that drumming." She turned around. "Let's go find Dad. His office is in the main exhibition building. Don't know who planned this place but I think having the main building behind a smaller exhibition building doesn't make much sense to me. We'll have to go right through the local exhibitions building. it's the one straight ahead. There's another gate that leads to the main exhibition building though but that's on another street."

I slowly followed in her wake, slightly confused and mainly relieved. It hadn't happened and here I was in the museum complex, walking towards the building for, what I realized was, the very first time. Even before it had started, I had never been inside the museum before. In spite of my relief though, my heart was still racing. The wind had picked up a bit and dark clouds had started gathering overhead. I looked up nervous. Was it starting after all?

"Looks like it's going to rain," Lola said. A wash of relief made me nearly tremble. If she had noticed the wind and the clouds then it wasn't just me. It probably was going to rain.

We made it to the entrance of first building. As we had approached, the drumming had grown progressively louder and going inside the building revealed why. On the ground floor, gathered around the central stairs where a group of about twenty young men. They looked almost entirely alike and their upper bodies were completely bare. Around their waists were strings of thin, long leaves. I couldn't recognize what plant they were from but they were very bright green and wispy. They were all staring at the doorway we just came through.

I felt they were all staring at me.

Each of them had a small, brightly covered drum before them. The drumming got to me....like I had heard it somewhere, some time ago....And in spite of the fact that they were all staring away from their drums, they all beat in sync, none of them missing a beat. It was very unsettling.

"I guess they're about moving the artefact," Lola whispered, startling me. "Are you sure you're okay? You've been jumpy all afternoon."

I shook my head. "I don't know. Maybe just one of those days." I responded. "Where did you say your Dad's office was again?" I asked, trying to draw her attention away from me. It worked.

"Oh, this way," Lola, responded heading straight down the ground floor atrium in the direction of a large arched doorway that led back to the museum grounds. We made it out of the building and unto the shrub lined, stone path. Lola's shoes clicked as we walked down the path and each click made me nervous. I felt at the edge of a nervous breakdown. What was happening to me?

"I think I just saw Dad go into the building. Lemme quickly get to him. Catch up!" Lola called, sprinting away. i was slightly relieved. At least I wouldn't have to act up beat inspite of the fact that I was feeling rather terrible inside. Quite frankly, I wanted to just go home, get into my bed and sleep away the rest of this odd and rather horrible day. But for some reason, my body felt like it had something to do...and I couldn't go home just yet.

"Airilyn."

I whirled around immediately I heard the name. This was the second time someone I was hearing my mother's name in less than an hour. The previous time was from the new girl. And now, the person I turned around to see was also a complete stranger.

"What?" I blurted out.

"Oh, sorry," The man said, looking quite flushed. "I thought you were someone else. Sorry."

"Well, that's my mother's name," I spilled again and almost clamped my hand over my mouth. Why had I told him that?

"Oh really?" He responded, raising an interested eyebrow. "Quite a coincidence then." Then he glanced at the main exhibition building. "Here to watch the Ainkhut's moving?" he asked.

"The what?"

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were here to see the Ainkhut being moved. It's generated quite a buzz."

"I'm just here with a friend. Her father's the curator here." I didn't know why I was telling him anything. I was usually more secretive than this, especially around strangers. But, for some reason I could not explain, I felt like I could trust this man. Maybe because he was in uniform. A tag indicated "Museum Security".

"You might want to take a look around. You might find something interesting around here. Especially over there." He nodded at the main exhibition building.

"Okay," I replied, turning around. "Thanks Mr...."

Silence met my trail off and I turned back to where he stood. He wasn't there anymore.

I rubbed my eyes to be sure I wasn't seeing wrong. A quick glance around the grounds told me there was nobody else even remtely close by. Lola had since made it into the main exhibition building and I was quite clearly alone in the museum grounds. But....I was so sure I had been talking with a tall, dark man in museum security uniform only seconds ago. I began to feel very weak at the knees.

"Sandra!"

The voice jolted me for the umpteenth time in the last hour and I nearly screamed. It was Lola calling to me from the doorway of the main building. "C'mon. Dad's upstairs. Seems like he's got a guest. I'll show you around."

She turned around and headed back in the building while I cast another nervous glance around. I felt like I was in a dream, but it was all too real. Where had the man vanished to? Or had I imagined talking with him?

Was I losing my mind?

New update on Bennett!!!

https://www.nairaland.com/1307592/nightlies-bennett

The inside of the main exhibition building felt even colder than it was outside, a bit to my surprise and I shivered slightly. Lola was standing before a life size statue of a sitting woman with what looked like a large gourd on her head. As I looked around the ground floor atrium, I noticed that there were very few people around. I wasn’t so sure if that was the way it should have been; I had never been inside this museum for years. The last time I had been inside the museum was with my Dad. The memory made me stiffen instinctively and I shrugged off the thought. I had more important things to think about. Especially when I considered that I still hadn’t figured out if I had actually spoken with someone outside or if my imagination had been playing a trick on me.

“Come see this!” Lola called, slightly stunning me back to reality. She pointed at the statue’s face. “Looks a bit funny. If you look at it from this angle, it looks like she’s smiling. But from here.” she shifted a bit to the left, “she’s looking rather grim.”

I stood where she had been standing a second ago and looked at the statue. True enough, the statue bore a smiling face, the sightless eyes staring beyond me. Then I shifted slightly to the left….and the smile seemed to fade as quickly as I had moved. I moved back and it was a smile again. Then again, I shifted left and the smile was gone. Lola had moved on to another exhibit and wasn’t paying any attention. . Then I stepped back in front.

The smile remained absent.

I stepped off to the left and the face remained grim, the smile I had seen only a few moments ago nowhere in sight. My heart began to race as I returned to my starting position hoping I had just imagined that it wasn’t smiling when I had returned to the statue’s front.

It remained grim.

My legs began to feel weak and I felt I would collapse. Something I couldn’t explain had been happening since I had got up from bed this morning……Was this all a dream? I pinched myself and felt the pain….so it was all real. My eyes wandered away from the statue to Lola who had moved even further, oblivious to my current state. I slowly turned back to look at the statue, a heavy thudding at the back of my head and my palms sweaty.

The statue was now staring straight at me.

I took a step back in horror and almost hit someone passing behind me but I was too horrified to even apologise although I heard a voice speak in complaint. It was still staring at me, unwaveringly…..and for some reason, I couldn’t look away. And as I stared. The statue reached up, took the gourd from its head and put it down.

I felt very faint. Yet I remained on my feet.

The statue, still staring at me, then got up from its sitting position, stiffly, like it had been sitting in that position for a long time and was trying to shake of cramps. When it was fully erect, it took a stiff step in my direction, a step that completely erased all the space separating us.

Again, I found myself unable to move.

It stood, silent, staring straight into my eyes and mine into its. There was a still, deathly silence, like the world around us had ceased moving and nothing else was happening. I felt a soft breeze blow and saw the long robe the statue wore flutter. It wasn’t making any sense to me…..yet I felt like…..I had been expecting this to happen.

Yet I was still afraid.

We had stood staring at each other for a few seconds now and I, strangely, waited for her to speak. She remained silent, staring into my eyes….almost like she was watching something unfold in them. I felt like blinking but, by now unsurprisingly, I couldn’t. Instead, I could only stare back into the statue’s eyes and…looking closely….I saw something…..like the flicker of a flame….

“It is time.”

The sound of the dry, rasping voice stunned me and I felt like I was about to pass out from the sudden shock. I felt like I had been waiting for the statue to speak but now I heard the voice, I was absolutely terrified. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it speak again.

It did, nevertheless.

“The time has come for you to learn who you truly are,” it said. In spite of the fact that I was still staring into its eyes, I could somehow see its lips move. It pronounced each word individually and slowly, like it wanted to be sure it said them right and made no mistakes. I was now convinced I was dreaming.

“This is no dream,” it said. “Everything that has happened was designed to bring you here. This is where it started. This is where you start.”

I could feel my heart racing in my chest.

“Look around you.”

I tried moving my head and to my surprise, I could turn. Everything around me was gone; Lola, the person I had stepped back into, the exhibits, the museum, everything. I was now in a large, round room, the floor cobbled with stone. The walls were also made of stone and appeared to be covered in soot. Behind us was a door, round, wooden and looking very thick and immovable. At the center of the room was a large, rectangular stone table. On each of the longer sides was a long stone bench, also covered in soot. Hanging over the table was what looked like a flag of some sort. It looked like it had been torn in half, and only the upper half was left hanging over the table. It had an insignia of some sort but I couldn’t make out what it was as part of it was also torn away.

“The conclave of stone.” The rasping voice came, stunning me again. The statue walked away from me in the direction of the table. As it walked, I heard the footfalls clearly as stone made contact with stone. It got to the stone bench on the right and stopped. “The hall of your fathers.”

In spite of myself, I headed towards the stone table, glancing about me as I walked. The room around me looked deserted, like it hadn’t been occupied in a very long time. Everything seemed to be covered in grey soot, and as I walked, I left footmarks in the soot all over the ground.

Footmarks from my now bare feet.

Seriously, this story is on a whole different level.

Wow, creepy story.

Nice! Love this story

Your powers of description are superb, your narrative technique is brilliantly off tha shizzle and the suspense is nail biting. You need to give me some tutorials. Like seriously. Keep it up because I forsee this story going places

Let me just make a teensy bitsy observation. On two occasions, you mentioned the main character coming out of a trance-like state to find herself staring at the sun. The first occasion, the sun is intense. This is rather hard to swallow because if you stare at the sun in its full glory for as long as a minute, the UV rays will fry your retina to frazzle. The sun at half-mast will cause shadows to dance around your vision for about thirty seconds or so.

The occasions the character stares at the sun does not seem to have any physical effect on her sight. Why? We can do with some insight here. Maybe she has supernatural powers (which is where the story may be leading), or maybe you just need to revise those lines.

There are a few minor loops which are inconsequential (I don't want to risk being called fussy), so ride on!!!

Following.. With Cutlass!!