DOWNFALL -HIERARCHY

Chapter 24: Where is Nabi?

Narrator's POV:

It was raining, the kind of rain that hit the ground like bullets made of water. Nabi sat in a room, listening to the constant, steady thrum of the downpour. Her eyes were closed and her head was resting on the headrest of her bed. After sitting there for several moments, Nabi's eyes slowly opened. She looked around the room, the plain white walls staring back at her

She looked at the rain splattering against the window; the drops racing each other to the edge of the glass pane before disappearing into the abyss below. She was at a house, deep in the countryside. It was an old, worn-down little home that Nabi's family owned. No one could possibly have found the place unless they were explicitly looking for her.

The home was surrounded by trees on all sides and was so far away from any major city that the only noise that ever came to the house was the sound of the wind. She had been locked inside this house for weeks. The home itself was fairly small and it was just large enough to accommodate the necessities for living. Nabi's family had owned the home for years and it was only used for those occasions when they wanted to be alone and get away from the city life.

Nabi's parents had decided to keep her locked away in the house and away from the world after the event that had taken place in the lavish parent night. She wasn't even allowed to leave the house, let alone attend school. The only thing she had to keep her entertained was the rain, which she often found herself listening to for hours at a time. They said it was for her own safety and that they were trying to protect her, but Nabi couldn't help but feel a deep sense of isolation.

She didn't even know what day it was anymore, the days had all seemed to blend together. The sound of the clock, its ticking echoing off the walls, filled the room and the silence that usually accompanied it. She had lost all sense of time, her days blending together into one endless stretch of loneliness. Her own demons, the hallucinations of her sister that constantly plagued her mind, were getting worse day after day. She would see her sister whenever she closed her eyes, and every time she looked in the mirror.

She would see her sister's face when she was eating, as she washed her hands and as she slept. No matter what she did, the hallucinations refused to leave. Instead, they only became stronger, her memories with her sister becoming more and more vivid with each passing day.

Her guilt, constantly reminded her of her wrongdoing. Her sister's voice would call out to her every day, demanding justice and retribution for the sins Nabi had committed. She couldn't deny that she was somewhat at fault for what had happened, so she simply accepted it and lived with the constant reminder of her own mistakes. She viewed it as punishment, a suitable
punishment for the mistakes she had made. She believed she deserved the constant torment that haunted her every waking moment.

A loud clap of thunder sounded from outside followed by a flash of lightning that lit up the window of the room. Nabi was startled by the sudden noise, the sound ringing in her ears. She instinctively covered her ears with her hands, closing her eyes as the lightning flashed again.

The rain continued to fall, the sound of it hitting the roof of the house and the rain outside became louder and more violent. The lightning flashed again, the sudden brightness of it illuminating the room before disappearing again into the grey clouds overhead.

The voices and visions returned to Nabi once again. She could hear the voices of her sister calling her name, demanding her to pay for her sins, to get justice for the mistake she had made. But she couldn't do anything about it. Nabi trembled in fear, alone in the dark house. The voices and visions filled her mind, their presence growing stronger with the storm outside. Each flash of lightning and clap of thunder only served to intensify her terror.