Blue ✓

♠ six ♠

The person, if they were there, did nothing at all.

Aiyla felt incredibly dumb, standing frozen for a good ten minutes, panicking up a storm inside, only for nothing to happen.

Once she regained her bearings, she immediately turned tail, ran back in and didn't consider the garden for at least a week.

The next time she went out to the garden was a weekend after the first 'encounter' – if it could be called that. Ammi had decided to clean up the garden with Suhayl. She stayed near the kitchen door, mind sharp for the same presence.

Only for nothing to turn up.

It must have been her imagination acting up, since that was her first time going outside without Ammi of Suhayl.

Her mind felt at peace.

Until dinner.

"Ammi, does anyone live next door?" Suhayl, bless his curious mind, asked. Aiyla perked up in anticipation and nerves. "It's so quiet and empty." Aiyla nodded.

"Oh? It does belong to a family. But they are on a holiday apparently."

"In the middle of the term?" Suhayl raised a brow.

Ammi frowned. "Oh wait, no, that's the other house. The one attached to ours belongs a rich businessman. They do come and stay here occasionally if they have guests or something. That's why it's not being rented out. His eldest boy has taken a liking to it too. He turns up once in a while apparently."

"No wonder," Suhayl muttered, "You can see all that nice furniture through the window, but I haven't seen anyone go in or out."

Ammi bonked Suhayl's head. "That is none of our business."

"My question about the holiday neighbours still stands. It is the middle of the term."

"Suhayl..."

So, the conversation was forgotten, from Ammi and Suhayl's mind. But in Aiyla's, it found home for an extended period.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn't replace the conversation with other thoughts, nor get away from it. It was a magnet for her idle mind, always pulling at it until she gave in and started wondering. Every thought led to it as if it was the finishing line. Was there anyone there on that afternoon? Was it not her imagination after all?

Was it him? The eldest boy?

Part of her was paranoid and wanted to never go out to the gardens ever, and part of her yearned to feel that freedom of being outside again.

So, when the opportunity arose again, her mind fell about debating. Curiosity was human nature. The curiosity to find out who that person was, if he was there, coupled with the taste of freedom overcame the paranoia.

She found herself in the garden, morning dew melting beneath her feet, soil and grass between her toes, and the sunlight brushing over her.

Like before, she fell into the throes of nature. And like before...

...she was sure there was no bee here before!

At the sound of buzzing, she yelped, stumbling back in haste to get away from little culprit. Her feet caught in grass traps. Then she was falling.

The dimension shift in the darkness was even more disorienting.

The dizzying sensation stopped. Two palms pressing to her shoulders being the cause. They pushed at her until she regained her balance. A pair of feet stepped back, and Aiyla's breath caught.

Curiosity killed the cat, and it's about to kill her too.

a/n: this isn't horror or thriller, my girl is just too dramatic for her own good.