Joe had asked at the reception for a pot of ginger tea to be taken up to their room in case Poppy needed some more. After drinking another cup, Poppy felt much better and fell asleep immediately.

A feeling of unease awakened her in the middle of the night. Once again, she was feeling a tightness in her stomach. The cramps had come back, and she felt nauseous.

She got up. Bent in pain, she slowly made her way to the bathroom.

Grabbing the toilet bowl, she emptied her stomach and sat on the floor, trying to catch her breath.

What on earth? Where are those voices coming from?

Despite the temptation to stay on the bathroom floor and recuperate, she dragged herself to the window of her room.

A small group of people were being guided and made to gather in the garden.

What the devil are they doing there?

She reached for the window handle when a sharp whistling sound made her jump. She let out a scream and covered her ears.

What is this?

Eventually, it stopped, and she let out a sigh of relief. She turned the window knob handle, quickly glanced at her uncle, exhaled, he is still sleeping and pushed it open.

She popped her head out a little and heard the rustling of the leaves coming from the right side of the garden. She pushed herself even further and noticed a door hidden behind some climbing plants opened. She frowned and pulled back as a man came out of it.

He slowly made his way toward the group.

Who the devil are you?

Poppy squinted, hoping to catch his features, but it was too dark. She threw her arms in the air when he finally passed by a garden lamp and she jumped.

Mr Harris? What on earth is going on? Clearly, Hanane was wrong; Peter’s father is still in Egypt. Where the hell is his family? And why is he holding a rope?

Mr Harris stood in front of the group and tied up their wrist. Shockingly, they were standing still and silent.

Why are they just standing there like zombies?

Eventually, one man from the group turned around and made his way back into the hotel. A couple of minutes later, two more people, hobbling, came out, and the man left them standing on the terrace before rushing down to join the group again.

"Oh come on now, can't I just have a bit of light? I can't see their faces," she whispered.

One person joining the group passed under the only lit lamp in the garden. Poopy quickly covered her mouth to not scream. She had recognised the pink-and-white glow in the dark crop top. It was Lucy’s.

She took a few steps backwards and slowly the gravity of the situation sank in. Her hands trembled and her heart started beating faster and faster by the second.

Oh my God, what is happening? Ok Poppy, don't be a coward. You know the girl down there, try to find out what is going on.

She approached the window, leaned further out the bedroom’s window and called as quietly as she could, “hey! Lucy!”

Lucy turned her head slowly, then raised it. Their eyes locked, but her face showed no emotions at all. Neither did she say anything. Tears started rolling down Lucy’s cheeks, and she reeled a little.

One man returned and stopped next to Lucy. He raised his head and immediately clenched his fists.

Oh no, he saw me.

Their eyes locked, and she whispered to herself, “Ali?”

Ali, the concierge, who always smiled at the hotel guests and was always available when someone needed help, looked very different tonight.

With his clenched jaw, eyebrows furrowed, and a mouth forming an angry smirk, Ali looked terrifying.

He turned around, whistled at Mr Harris, who nodded, and he ran back to the hotel.

Poppy’s heart jumped. Oh my God! He is coming,

Her heart was pounding out of her chest. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably, and the rest of her body followed suit.

She quickly ran to the door, pushed the guard lock, and then jumped on Joe’s bed to wake him up.

“Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe! Wake up!” she called while shaking him as hard as she could—but he was unresponsive. She looked around—not knowing what to do—when she heard a pounding at the door.

Ali had arrived on the first floor and was banging on her door. She let out a scream.

How is it that no one hears that racket?

“Stop banging at the door, Ali!” she yelled, but he kept going.

“Okay! You know what? Go ahead, keep pounding on my door! The more you pound, the more likely you’ll wake the entire hotel!” She shouted.

He is about to break the door, and Uncle Joe is still unresponsive. What am I going to do?

Her breathing sped up. Her heart was beating so fast that it even sounded like footsteps.

She quickly got to the window and screamed, “help me! Anyone, please help!”

But the sound of her voice seemed to get lost in the wind. Frightened and confused, she looked around, not knowing what to do.

What is going on?

Poppy looked out the window and noticed the window ledge. It was large enough for her to stand on but too narrow for Ali.

She heard the door crack, climbed out the window quickly, and moved as far as possible from the window.

“Come back here immediately, or I’ll come to get you,” said Ali when he saw her climb; he let out a cry of frustration.

Poppy closed her eyes. I need to be strong; if I am not, he might kill me.

Ali popped his head through the window and extend his arm, attempting to grab Poppy’s pyjamas, but she was out of reach.

Furious, he started pounding on the walls to scare her. Eventually, he calmed down and started looking around. He spotted a wooden chair, broke it and started throwing the pieces at her, but failed to hit her.

After throwing all he had, he pulled out a knife and waved it at her. “either you come back, or I will slit your uncle’s throat.”

“No, please,” Poppy says begging.

"Don’t hurt him. I'll come back inside.’’ And she promptly returned to the window.

Ali was waiting with a smirk on his face. ‘’ Get in here, you vermin!’’ He said, grabbing her by the collar and throwing her across the room towards the beds.

She let out a moan. She had landed and broken her bedside table. As she tried to use the floor as a support to lift herself, her hand landed on the coin Ius gave her. It was enough to give her hope,

all is not lost!

She swiped the coin off the floor and snapped it in two. A couple of seconds went by—and nothing happened! She looked around, still waiting for Ius to appear.

Ali noticed Poppy was looking around the room.

He giggled and asked, “looking for something?”

Oh, shut up!

“Yes, reinforcement! Thanks to you, half of the hotel is already up. I just have to give them enough time to get to me,” replied Poppy in an arrogant tone.

Ali slowly shook his head while wagging his finger at her, “Tsk, tsk, tsk. I don’t think so!”

He walked up to Joe, cupped his mouth, and shouted. “Hello! Room service!”

There was no response, and he started laughing again. “Sorry, Habibi! No one is coming! This whole place is under a sleeping spell. It’s just going to be you against me. Now get up!”

Poppy's heart broke, and she lowered them

Everything was making sense, why she was alone, why no one heard Lucy and the others leaving the hotel, why her uncle did not wake up. The hotel was bewitched!

A sharp pain hit her heart; her muscles hurt. She could feel the cold air coming through the window.

It's over! The coin didn’t work. Ius is not coming. Ali will either kill me or take me away like the Harris’, somewhere no one will find me.