Chapter 4

The sunset came again in the day of the sibling's life. The whole area is dark again and the insects are starting to come out at night. But for Eloise, it was an uplifting one to her, whenever night came, she knew it would never be able to rest properly in the whole night.

Before she lay down, Eloise covered her ear canal with cotton so that she could avoid hearing strange noises every midnight. Her eyes closed, but she was unable to sleep. She couldn't stop herself from yawning, but her mind was awake.

Cold air caressed her skin, Eloise fur also began to stand up as she felt the presence of the soul. She did not move and pretended to be asleep even though she could feel it.

The door began to create a noise, uplifting feather because squeaking of the door. She gently bit her lower lip to prevent herself from moving so that she could avoid seeing the soul. But a deafening slammed on the door, and she forcibly gets her up.

And she could hardly breathe, and takes time for her before she gasps. Eloise carefully searched the whole room, even though the light from the small lamp was dim. She could see nothing and the sound of the door getting louder, she did not know where it came from. Their door made of bamboo, and it has no hinge to create any noise.

And the sound of the door rattle was not like the sound of their door. She was held in both ears as if her imagination was haunting her. The hallucinations that give her intensified emotions.

"That's enough, stay away from me! What is my fault with you!"

Her hand was shaking, heavy breathing and granular sweat while speaking in infertility. She was pinched by a cold hand that slowly crawled from her back to her cheek.

She did not move, but her breathing intensified. Gradually her muscles trembled as she shook her whole body.

"Ely ..." A hoarse voice called her name. She was sobbing not out of fear but out of relentless interruption to her.

"Ely... What is it?"

Elena pushed her hard when she didn't answer. It was only then that she woke up and returned to the reality of life. She's not dreaming, but hallucinations attack her.

"Elena!"

Her face turned pale as she faced the sister. Her lips turned to lightly black and dry. Even in the dim light, Elena could clearly see her older sister's face.

"Again, you dreamed? Calm your mind and stop thinking about anything," said Elena.

Elena hugged her to make her feel that everything was fine. She secretly wiped away the tears and sweat. She knew she was awake, and it wasn’t a dream.

Elena went back to bed and Eloise remained sitting on the bed. She exhaled several times. And she slowly lay on the bed. She seemed to feel tired of the night preoccupation with her by elements that did not belong to humans.

A few minutes later, she thought it would be calm and sleep soundly, but again she started to hear crackles on their walls. It looks like someone with sharp nails is scratching their house.

She ignored it, she thinks it is all just fantasies. Even with voices that seemed to be whispering to her, she lay calmly. Eloise just needs to calm her mind to sleep.

After a while, she heard nothing and the noises outside disappeared. She thought it was a grateful time for her to rest the tired body.

She gently pulled her old and thin blanket to cover her body, but her nose had a foul smelling odor. Likewise, she felt like it was just next to her, and she turned to the left side to ignore it again.

But the foul smell hit her nose again, and she realized that her blanket was smelly. Her nostrils start to sniff the smelly blanket, and she couldn't believe it smelled so bad. Eloise, remembered that she just wash it and fully dry in the sun.

She threw it on the floor and grabbed her sister's blanket. Elena moved slightly as she pulled on her sister's blanket. But she couldn't stop herself from squeezing Elena in case she got to sleep.

Apart from the bugs that she was used to heard every night, she was startled by frightening sounds. She wanted to stop the disturbance, but she did not know how and where to start.

The new morning came, but Eloise's changed from previous joyful looks. Now the eye bag is black, red eyes that seem to be lacking in sleep. The cheek drooped, that seems to stress.

Her nose seems to be scored with sad emotion. But she tries to smile in front of her sister, so she needed someone can help her to go through her problems.

"Good morning, Ely," Elena greeted her.

He slowly stood up, but her vision suddenly darkened. She didn't get enough sleep, so he felt dizzy, and she knew what was happening. She had been like this for almost a week, so she decided to see the doctor who knows.

Not only that, but she opened her eyes again and remained staring at the ceiling. She forced herself to get up because she felt is okay. But as she sat on the bed, her gaze fixed on a butterfly perched on their wall.

Her eyes seemed to lock from staring at the butterfly. She stared intently at the butterfly that was slowly changing form. The wing fell off and became a large worm, a disgusting worm moving on their wall.

She did not expect was to see more worms crawling on their wall and descending towards her whereabouts. Her eyes widened, her body stiffened, and she almost lost her breath.

She was caught in her chest, lacking breath. Eloise was even more afraid of was that the worm crawling towards her. She could not open her mouth to shout ant it seemed to be hypnotized by something, she didn’t know where it came from.

In the depths of her mind, the muscles trembled, but she was unable to move. She closed her eyes and prayed to the God, almighty. Eloise did so deeply and did not overcome the feeling, even though she felt the worm crawling into her ear and nose.

Her hand trembled as she folded her palms to pray fervently. In her faith in the God, she knew he would save her.

"Almighty God, I trust in you. Help me get out of this nightmare. Lord ... help me ... Amen," her mind shout out loudly.

Panting, she bent down on the bed and chased her breath. She finally got out from a curse lingering in her sight. She knows everything is just an illusion, but she finds it hard to escape whenever it bothers her.

"Ely, what's wrong with you? Why are your weird actions so frequent? Is there something bothering you?" Elena asked confused.

There was mixed concern as Elena caressed Eloise's back. She is afraid that their family problems may cause her older sister to lose her sanity.

"Elena, there are things I can't say yet. I need to see a doctor, so we can be sure," she replied.

"What do you mean, you're sick?" Elena asked tearfully.

She turned to her sister with a sweet smile, she held her sister's hand to lessen her worried. Maybe it was time for her to slowly explain to her sister the problem she was facing.

"No, Elena, I'm not sick. Don't worry,, and I'm always here for you. I just have something to face that I can't tell you until there's a formal explanation for it," she calmly said.

"Okay, but if you think need help, just say so, and I'm ready to help you," Elena said.

"Thank you, but George and I will take care of it. We will leave you at his mother's house first so that I can see a doctor," Eloise added.

"No problem Ely, promise I will pray you!"

Eloise hugged her sister and felt the support of her young sister. Even if they are just the two of them, they can be strong with each other.

An hour later, George came to accompany her to see a doctor. They had to take Elena to George's house, and they also had to leave early because they were going to cross a big river.

Elena grips Eloise's hand tightly, she gives Eloise stability before leaving. Eloise gave a smile before turning her back on her sister.

They take a motorbike driven by George to another town to find out the mystery that is bothering Eloise. Along the way, Eloise couldn’t help but be nervous about what she might discover.

She was getting tired because every minute she was having frightening visions. At the slow speed of the motor, she saw a woman wearing a white dress suddenly crossing the road. Her heart seemed to jump in fear that George would hit it, so she screamed out loud.

"George, stop!"

Eloise shook George's shoulder from behind. To her boyfriend's surprise, he suddenly stopped. At a sudden stop, their motorbike overturned.

George immediately stood up and helped Eloise. Her knees trembled as they clung to the boyfriend's arm. She couldn't stand well because of extreme shaking of her knee. So, she decided to sit at the side of the road first.

"A-Are you okay? Are you in pain?" George asked worriedly.

"N-Nothing George!"

She shook at George, but her breath would almost suffocate her with great fear. Even during the day, she feels hallucinations.

"Did you see anything strange?" George asked.

Eloise nodded, and she didn't know I was just tricked by her sight, even though she blinked a hundred thousand she didn't see a soul beside them.

George, gets the motor when he realized that no one had hurt them, and they were almost get accident on the road. They had already begun their journey towards the old doctor's home.

Eloise could no longer be considered because she realized that it was dangerous for her to travel alone. She knew that the ghost would follow them. She was not harmed, but she would probably be killed in a panic.

She sighed, clutching George's shoulder tightly. Eloise wanted to close her eyes, so she couldn't see anything. But she is afraid that when he wakes up, her mind will take her to a more frightening situation.

They reached the boundary of their town towards the other place which was their destination. They will cross a long bridge that connects the two towns to which they belong.

Before they could cross the bridge, she saw a man fit to jump off the bridge. Again, her heart jumped with the excessive pressure. A man wanted to commit suicide, and she did not want it to happen.

"George ... George, please stop for a while!"

"Why?"

She gently shook to George, so she would stop the man for committing suicide. Again George stopped at the side of the road right above the bridge. Eloise immediately went down to stop the man who wanted to jump. But she was so stunned that she never see it where he was standing. She hurriedly went to the railings of the bridge to peek at the man below.

"Eloise, be careful! Don't come near there!"

George shouted out in concern, but Eloise seemed to hear nothing. But Eloise nothing sees, she searched all around, but own eyes deceived her again. Eloise, held by the head and seemed to be mentally deranged.

To George's worried, he hugged her from behind. He felt pity for Eloise situation, he knows what his girlfriend was going through.

"Come on, don't pay attention to the things you see. We'll only be tolerant if you let the emotion into what you see. Fight back and don't succumb to any imagination," George's whispered.

She felt a little relieved of George's support. She just couldn’t help but be passionate about what she saw. Life is more important to her because there is hope waiting, no matter how hard it is.