Split Blood: The Ancient Codex - Part One (Book #1 ) - COMPLETE

CHAPTER FIVE - FINDERS, KEEPERS (Part 9)

CHAPTER FIVE – FINDERS, KEEPERS

(Part 9)

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Not long after, a weird smell engulfed the room, nearly choking me and invading my body. They began chanting.

I looked through the crack in the door and saw five women, between the ages of 50 and 70, waving bunches of lit weeds and herbs around the room in a connected motion.

Alin was stood closest to the wardrobe and I could sense her anxiety.

The women were dressed in similar long, pleated skirts, matching kaftans, headscarves and beautiful, chunky silver bracelets on both hands (along with colourful beaded necklaces). They looked determined as they covered every section of the room. ‘Come and help,’ one beckoned Alin towards her.

‘I don’t want to mess it up - I think I’ll just stand here and watch, tanti,’ she replied as she backed away, edging closer to the wardrobe door.

The woman did not give up on her quest to get Alin to help. ‘Hold this,’ she demanded as she inspected the room.

She pulled open drawers, searched under the bed and behind doors. ‘What are you looking for, tanti?’ Alin asked with a shaky tone.

The woman looked at her with her good eye. ‘Something doesn’t feel right in here.’ She continued her hunt.

I could see the concentration on her face as she used her right eye to guide her to the source of her torment; the left eye rested behind the cataracts which plagued the pupil.

The others left the room and continued their ritual in the corridor, leaving the three of us alone with the tense atmosphere. ‘Let’s go into the lounge now, tanti. I don’t want you to exhaust yourself just on this one room,’ Alin begged.

But the woman ignored her. She moved closer to the wardrobe, sniffing the air like an animal detecting the scent of their next meal. ‘What’s in there?’ the woman questioned as she tried to peek around Alin.

Alin started to stammer. ‘It’s just Luther’s old clothes.’ But the woman was determined - she pushed her niece aside. ‘TANTI! NO!’ Alin shouted.

The woman turned back and regarded Alin with a stern look on her face. ‘What is the problem?’ she barked.

‘I didn’t want to say anything but its where Luther keeps his “special” magazines…’ she quickly lied, slightly embarrassed as the woman chuckled and walked away from the wardrobe.

‘Well… why didn’t you say before?!’ she said as she walked towards the door. Alin shrugged her shoulders and gave a palpable sigh of relief. ‘Boys will be boys, I suppose Alin!’ the woman joked as she went to join the others in the hallway, leaving my host to slump to the floor and whisper through the crack to ensure I was okay.