Total Control
Date: May 5, 2019
May arrived, casting a pale light over the Miraj Al-Ghaib Estate, but the sun’s rays seemed powerless against the gloom that had settled within its walls. The oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily on Laura and the children, the air thick with unspoken dread and unrelenting fear.
Thomas stalked the halls with a restless energy, his eyes constantly darting, searching for something unseen. His words, once loving and gentle, had turned harsh and cruel. The slightest provocation sent him into a rage, his voice echoing through the mansion like a storm.
“Is this how you show your love for me?” he spat at Laura one morning, his face twisted with contempt. “You can’t even keep the house in order. You’re useless.”
Laura swallowed her fear, her eyes downcast. “I’m doing my best, Thomas.”
He sneered, his eyes narrowing with malice. “Your best? Your best is a joke. This house deserves a queen, not a worthless maid.”
She flinched at his words, her heart pounding. The fear in her children’s eyes was a mirror of her own, and she knew they were all walking on a knife’s edge.
Supernatural events had become a terrifying norm. Doors slammed shut with bone-jarring force, objects flew across rooms, and cold, disembodied whispers echoed through the halls. The house seemed to feed on their fear, growing bolder with each passing day.
One afternoon, while cleaning the library, Laura’s hand brushed against a loose floorboard. Desperation and curiosity drove her to pry it up, revealing a small, dusty compartment. Inside, she found more diaries and documents, their pages yellowed and fragile with age. She began to read, her heart sinking with each word.
The documents detailed the torments of previous residents, their battles with the unseen forces that haunted the estate. Each family had been driven to madness, their lives unraveling under the weight of supernatural oppression.
One diary entry, dated May 12, 1892, caught Laura’s eye. Written by Eliza Al-Farouq, a distant relative, it spoke of despair and entrapment.
We are trapped within these walls, bound by a curse that has haunted our family for generations. The spirits whisper constantly, their voices a relentless tide of fear and command. We have tried to leave, but the house will not let us go. It feeds on our fear, our pain, and grows stronger with each passing day.
Laura felt a chill as she read, the words mirroring her own experiences. She flipped through the pages, finding more entries that painted a bleak picture of the estate’s history. Eliza had discovered the hidden compartment herself, filled with documents that previous residents had missed due to the house's ever-changing nature.
As Laura absorbed these grim revelations, Thomas’s behavior grew increasingly erratic. He accused Laura and the children of conspiring against him, his eyes flashing with a dangerous light. “You think you can leave me?” he hissed one night, cornering Laura in the kitchen. “This house needs us. You’re not going anywhere.”
“Thomas, please,” Laura whispered, her voice trembling. “Think about the children. We need to get them out of here.”
His laugh was cold and hollow. “Get them out? They belong here. We all belong here. This house is our destiny.”
The children, sensing the danger, clung to Laura. Emily’s nightmares had become nightly terrors, her screams echoing through the halls. Sam had grown more withdrawn, his eyes haunted by the things he had seen. The house seemed to revel in their suffering, each supernatural event a testament to its malevolent power.
One night, Laura woke to find the house plunged into darkness. The air was thick with tension, and the whispers were louder than ever, filling her mind with a cacophony of voices. She moved through the halls, her breath visible in the freezing air. Shadows danced on the walls, and she could feel eyes watching her every step.
In the library, she found Thomas standing over the open diaries and documents, his face contorted with rage. “You think you can use these against me?” he snarled, sweeping the papers to the floor. “You think you can find a way out?”
“Thomas, please,” Laura pleaded, her voice shaking. “We have to leave. This place is destroying us.”
His eyes burned with a mad light. “You don’t get to decide that. I do. And we are staying.”
Laura knew then that reasoning with him was futile. The house had him completely in its thrall, his mind twisted beyond recognition. Her only hope was to find a way out, to escape with Emily and Sam before it was too late.
That night, as Laura sat in the library with the hidden compartment open, she felt a cold draft sweep through the room. She looked up to see a ghostly figure standing before her, its face pale and sorrowful. It was Eliza Al-Farouq, her eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and urgency.
“You must leave,” Eliza whispered, her voice echoing in the silence. “The house will not let you go easily, but you must try. For the sake of your children.”
Laura nodded, tears streaming down her face. “How? How do we escape?”
Eliza’s form flickered, and she pointed to a faded map among the documents. “There is a passage, hidden in the basement. It leads to the stables. It is your only hope.”
Laura clutched the map to her chest, her mind racing. She had to act quickly, before Thomas’s paranoia reached a breaking point. She spent the next day secretly planning their escape, knowing they would need to move fast when the time came.nowing they would need to move fast when the time came.
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