Shroud: Jinn

26 - Reborn

A deep voice rustled from inside the hut. A man with long white hair and a beard to match emerged at the door and chanted some words in a tongue I did not understand. The moment he did so, the shadowy figures' eyes flared a purplish hue before they simmered back to a crimson red and the misshapen ghouls hissed as they retreated.

"You can see them," he mused as he dragged a huge, black ceramic pot. "Fascinating."

He grabbed a fistful of its contents and threw it to the ground, inciting the ghoulish shadows to fight among themselves as they raced towards the items. It was too far for me to make out what was thrown.

He repeated his actions several times and I sucked in my breath when a few of it landed near my feet.

Bones.

Strings of decayed flesh were still attached to the bones stained with old blood.

I screamed internally as a white figure crawled in between my legs and gnawed on the bones hungrily. I repelled myself away from the ghoul's now hunched form and staggered to an empty spot shakily.

"Come," the man beckoned me over before disappearing inside the hut.

With nervous sweat creasing my brows, I made my way towards the hut. I tiptoed as if I was treading on thin ice that was about to crack at any second. I was careful not to step near the ghouls' personal space as they feasted on the bones.

The interior of the hut was dark, aside from a few lighted candles that gave off ghostly glows. Several skulls littered at every corner of the hut. Carved wooden masks of a hellacious nature decorated the walls. A sense of heavy dread mixed with repulsion lingered in my chest as I found their presence most disquieting. Strings with a questionable bone attached to each hung from the ceiling. I steered myself away when I collided into another group of strings which dangled strange handmade dolls that reeked of death. My stomach churned on the insides when I saw that they were torn and decayed flesh. 

Old jars filled with various contents sat neatly on different shelves. Some contained blood. Some contained teeth. Some contained hair. Some contained what looked like clippings of nails.

There were a few jars partially hidden in a corner. Those were filled with what looked like tiny foetuses floating in a strange, sticky liquid. As one of the foetuses rolled in slow motion, it faced me and took me by surprise. Its body was a dark shade of green, almost black like seaweed. It bared its tiny but sharp lime green teeth as it sneered at me and its black eyes glowed a haunting red.

I looked away hurriedly and quickened my steps towards the old man sitting cross-legged on the floor near the back of the hut. A small pot of burning incense sat in the middle of a tray in front of him. The man was engrossed in his chants as he waved a keris, an asymmetrical dagger with unique blade patterning, over the smoke. There were two small bowls on the same tray. Fresh limes sat in one bowl while the other held eggs marked in different dotted patterns with an unfamiliar red liquid. I quickly realised that those were not meant for consumption. For whatever purpose they held, I honestly did not want to know.

"Sit," he ordered.

A small pile of square-shaped yellow cloths rested by his feet. On those were hundreds of golden needles. The man noticed my curious stares as I sat down on the floor in front of the tray.

"Beauty comes at a price. Are you good with pain?"

"Excuse me?" I looked at him in confusion.

"The golden needles that you see," he began. "These are highly sought after. Very expensive. Once inserted into the soft tissues of your face, you become the most handsome and most charming man on earth. You can get anyone that you desire. An elixir of youth, age has no impact on you. But susuk (charm needles) have many conditions and restrictions. Are you ready?"