Two hours later, we stop at the gas station, to grab some snacks and empty
ourselves, cause it's not me, but Aliya.
She drinks a lot of water.
I've told her a million times not to drink so much water, especially while
traveling. But she does what she wants. That's the thing about her that
irritates me a lot.
We walk to the store to grab some snacks. I reach the counter two minutes
later with my snacks. A while later I see Aliya at a distance walking towards
the counter, holding a pack of six bottles of soft drinks, in both of her
hands.
"What are you gonna do with that?"
I asked her, gesturing at the soft drink pack as soon as she reached the
counter.
"Pour it in the toilet, to unblock the sewerage."
She said.
I give her a look.
"Obviously I’m going to drink it." She replied.
"I told you, not to drink so much of soft drinks. You never listen to me.
You're going to get yourself diabetes." I say.
She rolled her eyes at me, as we place our things on the counter. I ignore her and pay our bill, pick our stuff, walk back to the car and drive off.
It was 4:05. I take a look at GPS on my phone.
We got closer to our location as we drove. But when I look outside, I couldn't see any residence nearby.
It was just a long boundary wall, at the right hand of the road, the road we
were on. And an endless dark forest on the left side of the road.
Between both the roads was an endless pathway that separated both the roads. And the cracked, rough surface road continued endlessly before us.
I glance at Aliya, beside me. She was in a deep sleep.
A while later I see a road, turning right. There stood a dusty mailbox at the beginning of the turn.
It said:
"The Ahmeds"
That's it? I thought to myself.
"Aliya! Aliya, wake up." I called, giving her a little nudge.
"Hmm. What? Are we there yet?" She slowly woke up.
"Yeah. I guess we're here." I replied with a question in my tone, looking out
the window.
"Where is it?" Aliya sat up straight, looking around.
A moment of silence passed by as the cold wind hit the dry leaves on the
ground.
"In there," I said, gesturing to the main entrance.
I put my car back on the engine and take a right turn. A huge, white rusted
gate appeared before us, its paint peeling off.
I continue to drive through the entrance as the gate was already open.
"Weird." Said Aliya, taking my phone.
"What?" I asked.
"Your GPS stopped working." Replied Aliya.
"How?" I asked.
"No internet." She said, putting my phone back.
As we keep driving, we observe our surroundings. It was a single road,
going straight, with trees lining on either side of the road. The tree leaves
were dark green and some of them were red, due to the change of weather and the tree barks looked dark and rough.
The dirt covered the driveway. It had leaves littering, that fell from the trees above.
The trees blocked the view of the sun, making the driveway dark and eerie.
As we rolled up to the house, goosebumps traveled all over my body.
A large, three-story, wooden mansion stood in front of us.
As I parked my car in front of the mansion, I see another car at the front
door. It seemed like an old 90's car.
There were two suitcases and three bags right outside the car.
I pull the car and turn off the engine. As we step out of the car, a cold wind blew and brushed my hair against my shoulders. I shut the car door, lock my car and start to walk towards the house.
"What about our luggage?" Asked Aliya standing behind me.
"We'll get them later." I push the main door open and walk in
A middle aged man and woman were kneeled to their child, talking to her.
I clear my throat as we approach them. “May we come in?” I asked.
“Oh yes please.” Said the woman in a soft tone, wearing a black top, pants, and black coat.
"Hi, I’m Zainab. You can call me Zainy" Said the woman, bringing her hand
forward to me to shake mine.
"I'm Sarah," I said, taking her hand. "She's my friend. Aliya."
I said, turning to Aliya, pulling her beside me.
"Hi, Aliya," Said the woman taking Aliya's hand. "I read about you, you both
are really good babysitters."
"No wonder who told her this lie." Murmured Aliya
"Yeah, we just started. This is our first babysit." I said nudging Aliya to
shut up.
“But still, you guys seem good." Mrs. Ahmed replied with a gentle smile.
"She's buttering us" Whispered Aliya. I turn to Aliya and pass a death glare at her.
"Hello! I'm Jibran, Jibran Ahmed." Said the man beside the woman, wearing a
black shirt, black pants, and a black long leather jacket.
"She's our only daughter, Ayesha.” He said bringing the girl next to him.
“Ayesha, say hello to them."
"Hi," Said the little eight year old girl in a pink dress and two braids on
either side.
"Hello Ayesha, how are you,” I said, taking her in mine to shake. "Hope we're
gonna be good friends soon."
"Ayesha darling, come here with me," Said the woman taking her to the front
door.
"Here are some things you should know." Said Mr. Ahmed, pulling out two folded sheets of paper from his pocket handing them to me.
"These are Ayesha's routine and house rules.
Remember,
•everyone should be asleep before twelve-thirty, including you both.
•Don't switch off all the lights of the house.
And the last and the most important thing, do not touch anything. Kindly read the routine and house rules carefully." He said, pointing at the sheets of
paper in my hand.
"So, shall we leave now?" Said the woman from behind us.
"Yeah sure, I'll get the luggage in the trunk." Said the man, walking past
between me and Aliya.
"I hope he told you everything." Said Mrs. Ahmed walking to us.
"Yes, he did," I replied. “Don’t worry, we’ll handle everything.”
“I trust you,” She said, passing a gentle smile.
"Ayesha, darling!” She turns back to her daughter. “Go to bed early and
remember don't touch anything."
She kisses her daughter on the forehead and leaves, waving us goodbye.
"Ayesha will show your room!" Said the woman, as they pull out from the
driveway.
Me, Ayesha, and Aliya stand at the door and wave goodbye until they disappear.