The school bell rings. Finally. Everyone rushes out of their 6th hour classes to get to the comforts of home. I pack my bags and begin my walk. Since our house is closer than a mile to the school, we aren't provided with buses and are expected to walk. It's okay though, except in the winter no one is able to pick me up since my parents are working so it gets pretty cold.
I am partially expecting something weird to happen again on my walk home, but I manage to get to my house safely. All the houses in my neighborhood look the same, two floors, brown doors, and white fronts, but the shutters on my house are a dark green. No one should be home yet, both my mom and dad are at work, and my brother Hasan is in 3rd grade so his school starts and ends later.
I do my homework in my room for a bit and then I hear the back door open.
"Hi Hasan, how was your school day?" I call down the stairs.
"Good! Hey, Amira, look what I made in art class today!" I hear him running up the steps. I smile. He loves school and always has something to show me when he gets home.
He comes into my room holding something made out of clay.
"Look, it's a lion! I made it yesterday, but painted it today," He is grinning proudly. A lion. I look down at his art project. It is just the face of a lion, with a big smile and an even bigger mane. My breathing becomes rapid, although I'm not exactly sure why. There is no correlation. The lion you saw on the street was a figment of your imagination so stop freaking out. Stop.
"It's amazing Hasan! You sure are talented," I plaster a smile on my face and hope that Hasan doesn't realize something is wrong.
"Thanks!" He runs downstairs. I sit down on my bed and sigh. What is wrong with me? Am I going insane? I am pondering my mental stability when I hear the back door open again and walk down the stairs to greet my mother.
"Hey mama!" my mother smiles at me and I notice that my dad is home as well. "Baba, why are you here so early?"
He looks at Hasan, who is now in the room, clutching his favorite toy car, then looks back at me.
"Hasan, why don't you go upstairs and play with your car in your room? There is something I need to talk about with your mom and sister only," baba says. Hasan hesitates a moment, then scampers up the stairs looking disappointed.
"Is everything okay?" I ask.
"My friend at work told me that a stalker was seen in our neighborhood so I got home as fast as I could," seeing my expression he adds, "but there's nothing to worry about as long as you stay inside and don't answer the door for strangers."
"Why didn't someone call the police?" my mom questions.
"There's no evidence against the man, he just looked suspicious. No one wanted to bother the police for an unnecessary reason," my dad explains.
"Well, I'm glad we're all safe," my mom says, "Amira, go upstairs and finish your homework soon because I need your help preparing dinner."
I sigh and go to my room. I try to do my homework, but my brain is buzzing with the commotion of the day. First, I'm seeing weird things that no one else is, now there's a stalker in my neighborhood. Great.
~~~
My family and I are sitting at the dinner table, eating a meal that I have labored over for a whole half hour. I hate cooking. Especially making salads. If everyone just ate pieces of whole vegetables, the vegetables would mix up in their stomachs anyway. My brother is sitting next to me, his head barely showing over the dinner table. He is practically inhaling the food, despite his small size. Good. At least someone appreciates my hard work. Our dinner consists of my favorite dishes. Kubba as the main dish, tabouli as the salad, and baklawa for dessert.
Everyone is quiet, enjoying their meals, until I speak.
"Is there anything symbolic about lions?" My parents stare at me for a second, looking confused so I add, "do you know anything about a blue and gold lion mosaic thing?" I sigh, not expecting them to know what I'm talking about.
"Oh, do you mean the Ishtar Gate?" my mother replies.
"Uhh, I think?" I say, "I'm not really sure what it is though..."
"It's one of eight gates that leads to inner Babylon in ancient Babylonian times. It was built out of jewel-like blue glazed bricks and covered with golden lions, bulls, and dragons," my mom says.
"It was dedicated to Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love and war," my dad adds. Is that really what I saw? An ancient gate dedicated to a goddess? My mind is spinning and I feel like I am going to throw up.
"Habibi is everything okay?" my mom looks worried.
"Uh yeah I'm good." I finish up my meal quickly, "may I go upstairs?" I leave without an answer. I sit on my bed and look at the pale wall in front of me. How could a normal wall like this change before my eyes? Suddenly, I feel tired. The events of the day quickly weigh down on me and I just want to sleep. I look at the clock. It is only 7:15, but I don't care. I turn off the lights in my room and fall asleep quickly.
I shiver. It feels like the temperature in my room dropped 20 degrees. I pull my blanket up over my shoulders and realize that it is still dark outside. I try to go back to sleep, but I'm still too cold. I curl up into a ball, with my knees near my chest and roll onto my other side. For some reason, this makes me shiver even more and I become aware of a different sensation. A sensation that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and creates a growing pit in my stomach. The sensation of being watched. I open my eyes and scream.
Before me is the most hideous creature that I have ever seen. It is towering over me, almost touching the ceiling. Its features are human like, but more grotesque. The thing's limbs are elongated and its gray, leathery skin is pulled tightly over its humanoid body, displaying prominent, jutting bones. I force my eyes up to look at the creature's face, thinking it can't be as disturbing as its body, and immediately regret it. Where there should be a mouth and nose, there is only the same leathery skin that is covering the rest of it. The only features on its face are a pair of blank, milky eyes. Even though its eyes don't have pupils, I can feel them piercing into me. It moves closer to the bed in a fluid motion, barely making a sound, and I let out a blood-curdling shriek.
Hey!!! Sorry this chapter is so late. It's hard to write with school, and homework, and after school activities, but Amber and I are trying our best. I'm also sorry for any nightmares you get from this chapter😉
Love ya
~Cas💜
Hi guys! Thank you so much for reading the second chapter! I hope you are enjoying it! Also, the creature at the end is based off of the lizard-mutts from The Hunger Games, so if you know what I'm talking about, there's some visual representation for your nightmares!😈
Don't worry, I'm not actually evil,❤️
*Amber
YOU ARE READING
The Battle at Babylon
AdventureAmira Al-Nasir is your average teenage girl, but when she starts seeing things that she can't explain she find out that she is part of a world that she didn't even know existed.
