Satan's Gift

Chapter Eleven: Shadows of the Dark

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Hi, guys. Hope you all are having an amazing day. Welcome to chapter 11 and I hope you like it. Make sure that if you liked the story so far, then do click on the star icon on the bottom left of your screen. It would really mean a lot to me as an author and will inspire more work which you may like also.
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Xenette sat across a table on the small terrace, cross-legged and her arms wrapped around her shoulders as dusk approached. She looked at the beautiful lake which hid many mysteries in its deep, dark waters. The lake looked vicious and horrifying during the dark - completely opposite of what it seemed during the day time. As nightfall slowly devoured the environment, fog started building up and white, smoky waves of air slowly built around the place, covering the lake from plain sight. Swishing sound of the wind provided the heart with a sense of peace and a bit of uneasiness at the same time.
"I think you should come inside," I said to Xenette who finally blinked and realized the feel of reality. She let out a sigh and took a deep breath.
"You go inside, I'll come after a bit," she said, letting go of her held breath.
"I love it here. Something about this place feels so peaceful. Right now I do not feel like going anywhere,"

"Well, sooner or later you have to. Make that sooner, it's chilling cold outside," I replied and came inside where I had lit the fireplace earlier, near the bed with a white bedsheet on, covered with beautiful designs of roses. A small, multipurpose table lay next to it which had my phone and wallet on it. East wall contained the fireplace whereas the north wall was a glass one, consisting of a door leading to the terrace on which sat Xenette. West wall had a big painting hanging on it of a heron with a door on the left of it. On the far left corner of the South wall; where the head of the bed faced, was the door leading to the bathroom area. Heat of the fire and the high voltage ceiling lights kept me warm and cozy for a while as I lied down in bed and dozed off. As I had my eyes closed, I could hear the sound of the wind outside and a slight whistling sound as the wind entered the room through a tiny hole on the edge of the sliding, glass door. Closing my eyes brought me nightmares, I preferred staying awake, yet, fatigue played its part and drove me to sleep as I tried hard to fight it and forcefully open my eyes every thirty seconds to look at Xenette as she sat on the chair that she had occupied for almost an hour. I lost the fight against fatigue and dozed off. Minutes later, I was woken up by the 'schlik' of the terrace door. I saw Xenette as she closed the door and turned around.
"It's just me. Go back to sleep," she said as I closed my eyes once more. Before completely losing myself to the strong feeling of sleepiness, I could feel Xenette getting into bed and covering me with a blanket as she adjusted herself as well.

It was around 11:46pm when I heard a very strange sound on the outside. I suddenly opened my eyes and was welcomed by the darkness that devoured the room. I saw Xenette lying in deep sleep. I decided not to bother her and carefully got out of bed. Grabbed my phone and turned on the flash of it. I walked towards the glass wall, not intending to open the sliding door as it would make a schliking sound. Standing there, I observed the outside environment. The floodlight near the pool area was on and I could see fair amount of detail of the lake area - foggy, silent and giving a relentless feeling of evil that lurked on the outside. Since that Halloween night, I had acquired many abilities. I could see far and wide and I did just that. I noticed movement on the mountains that situated across the lake. Dark, terrible shadows lurked there, unclear to me of what. I took few steps back and turned around. My heart almost stopped beating as I saw Xenette standing motionless in front of the bed, looking at the lake.
"Hey," softly, I called out to her. She did not respond. It was at that point when I realized that she was sleepwalking. I walked up to her and held her by the shoulders, guiding her back to bed where she lied down again and closed her eyes without protest.

I wore my shoes, opened the entrance door and walked out of the room, closing it from the outside. Turned around and made my way to the reception area which was empty and sulky with only a single light at the entrance, providing limited visibility. I turned on my flash again and knocked at the desk couple of times, expecting to see Ms Xhaka. When I did not get any response, I thought of going to the staff room as I knew that I was the only visitor there for a very long time, and Lara was the only staff. I hesitated for a while before opening the door and getting in. The lights were on but she was nowhere to be seen. What diverted my attention was the peculiar setting of the room. Knives, ropes, guns and ammunition were stored in one corner while office stationary on the other. I took a few steps back and grabbed the door knob. "Maybe she went home," I thought to myself. I looked at the time which confirmed my doubt. I turned around while pulling the knob and my eyes met with Lara's who stood behind me.
"Sir, you are not allowed to go in there!" She growled with ferocity.
"Hey, sorry but I was just looking for you. Needed to talk to you about something," I quickly replied to Lara, who was now trying to calm down.
"I'm sorry. Yes, you may go ahead with your question," she said with a forced smile.
"Is the mountains on the other side of the lake inhabited?" I asked in a low voice, and noticed her eyes opening wide.
"I've noticed movements there. Strange movements, actually. It's quite a disturbance,"

She remained quite for a moment, as if she was looking for excuses and said, "Yes. It's inhabited by a local tribe. They have strange practices which they perform at night. We've reported about the disturbances to the police before. They just don't seem to understand," she replied, answering my question. With each question I ask about this place, she seems to have been getting more and more afraid of something.
"Okay. Try informing the authorities about this and see if they can do anything about it. I'll get going now," I informed her and left the gloomy lobby, making my way to the suite. I stood at the door and inserted the key, unlocked the door and entered. I turned around and closed the door. Went near the bed and jumped on it. 'I need sleep,' I thought to myself as I closed my eyes, lying in bed horizontally. I immediately opened my eyes and realized that that Xenette was missing! I got up and went near the north wall, which had low visibility through it as fog had made it blurry. I slid opened the door and got out on the terrace. Chilly breeze sent shivers down my spine as I turned on the flash.
"Xenette?" I called out her name, not getting any response as the strong breeze swiftly blew through the rustling leafs of the trees that surrounded the resort. I took steps that lead down on the ground and kept walking forward, with limited visibility of only eight metres ahead of me. As I advanced, I stepped foot on a dock that could be seen just in front of our room on a sunny day of high visibility, just thirty metres away. Advancing on, I saw a figure of a woman from the backside becoming clear to me which stood at the very end of the dock.
"Xenette, there you are!" I shouted, relieved to find her safe. I kept covering the distance between us and a splash could be heard.
"Xenette!" I screamed and without thinking twice, jumped into the deep waters. My heart beat raced. Time froze for a while as I touched the surface of the water and inch by inch, I sunk in. It was very dark inside, absolutely nothing could be seen. I was not very good at swimming, holding my breath, I turned on my phone's flash which was still in my tight grasp. I swum my way deeper inside, looking everywhere for her. My heart beat raced faster and faster, lacking oxygen. I immediately swum upwards to surface desperately. I emerged, taking a long gasp for air. I looked around me and not a single sight of Xenette. Realizing the situation, I went in again. By now it all became real. My eyes searched all around. Finally, I saw an arm stretched out, going down. I swum further down, grabbed her hand and pulled her towards myself, desperately making my way up and surfaced. Continuing my swim, I managed to grab one of the logs of the dock and found shore. Getting back on my feet, I pulled Xenette on dry ground. She was unconscious and pale, no life within her. I knelt down beside her, panicking within and not knowing what to do. It was time to apply my artificial respiration training into reality.

I pressed onto her chest multiple times as little by little, water squirted out of her mouth. I pressed again and again, tears rolled down my cheeks, camouflaged by water droplets on my face.
"No! No! No!" I shouted, pressing harder. It had been more than two minutes. Everything dear to me was being taken away, 'not her,' I thought to myself. I leaned down, giving her mouth-to-mouth, her lips dead cold.
"Come back, damn it!" I cried as it started pouring down. Rain with thunderstorm. I joined my palms in hers, heating my hands in the process, providing her with warmth in her now cold body. While all her fingers were between mine, I leaned and tried breathing life back into her once again. Had I failed? Time had frozen as she laid lifeless on the ground. Everything I had left dying right in front of me.
"Aaaarrrggghh!!!" I cried, followed by sobs and cries of helplessness as it felt like the end of the world for me. A surge of pain engraved into my heart. I felt dead inside. Felt as if my heart was stuck in my throat. I sat on my heels, closed my eyes in defeat. Flashes of memories circulated in my head.
I could hear door banging as I closed my eyes helplessly. Screams of agony echoing in my ears.
"HELP!!!"

I immediately opened my eyes. Voices of my parents haunted me till this day. Looked in front of me where Xenette lay, lifeless. 'Not this time,' I thought to myself. I started pressing against her chest and giving her mouth-to-mouth respiration in between.
"I won't let you do this to me. Not this time," I kept saying it to myself under my breath as I continued. Ten minutes had passed. Hope slowly fading away. It was heart-rending to see her. I broke down into tears again, filled with misery. I closed my eyes, tears still rolling down as I continued pressing. Leaned to give her a mouth-to-mouth for the last time when she gurgled out a mouthful of water and gasped for air while quickly sitting upright, holding my shoulders. I held her in my arms as I begun crying loudly as she breathed heavily. She sat on the ground while I held her in my arms, kneeling in the unforgiving rain. She wasn't the only one who was brought back to life that night... it was me who was given a lifeline.