Chapter Seven

Vera stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom, trying her best to process everything that had happened over the past few days. All she had wanted when she had come on this excavation with her father was to make a name for herself as an archeologist, but now she had to put that dream on hold to deal with her current situation. She still couldn't believe that there was a creature possessing Kareem.

Her mother had always been a devout Christian, and had taught Vera as much as she could before her death, so she knew that possessions were possible. She had just never expected to actually witness one. What perplexed her the most was Amias's assertion that he wasn't a demon. It was possible that he was lying, of course, but what reason would he have to lie? And there was also the little nagging voice at the back of her mind that kept repeating what he had said about taking "different forms". She felt as if she had heard those words before, but couldn't place them.

She sighed and twirled one of her curls around her finger. One thing was certain: she would speak to Halsten about everything as soon as he returned from town. He would probably think she had gone mad, or "spent too much time in the sun," but she had to at least warn him about what was going on, just in case Amias tried to come after him too.

"Vera, are you here?" her father's voice called from downstairs.

She groaned and heaved herself to her feet. It would have been much better if she could have spoken to Halsten about everything first. He was much more rational about things and wouldn't overreact. Her father, on the other hand, tended to be more emotional and coddle her too much. And he wouldn't believe her. She knew that for a fact. Oh, he would most likely humor her and say she had a wonderful imagination and a talent for coming up with great stories, but he wouldn't take her seriously.

"Ah, there you are!" he said as she descended the stairs toward him. "I was worried about you when you just took off earlier today. Are you feeling unwell?"

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Papa, I would like to talk to you about something, but I would like to wait until Halsten arrives."

He smiled at her. "Well, let me share my news first then. Come, let's wait for Halsten in the sitting room and I will tell you what we've found out today."

Vera took a deep breath and wiped her sweaty hands on her trousers. If it turned out they didn't believe her, she wasn't sure what she would do. She needed to help Kareem somehow and she wasn't sure how to do it without their help.

"So you will be happy to hear that your friend Amias has deciphered the cave markings and they have everything to do with that piece of stone you found the first day! Do you remember?"

Vera's ears began to ring loudly and she couldn't hear anything her father was saying. He was referring to the piece of stone Kareem had told her portrayed a jinni. Suddenly everything made perfect sense. The words Amias had said about taking different forms had sounded familiar because she had heard them before. She had read them in the book her father had given her about jinn.

... jinn can also take the form of any human or animal they choose....capable of illness, possession, and even death... masters of deceit and illusion. Jinn are invisible to humans unless they choose to appear...

"Vera is something wrong? Are you alright?" Her father's eyebrows furrowed and he frowned at her.

"Yes, Papa. Something is terribly wrong," she heard herself whisper from what seemed miles away. "And you aren't going to believe me, but I swear to you it is the honest truth."

Just as she was about to tell him everything, Halsten walked through the door. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She wasn't sure why she felt safer with their butler than with her own father, but she did. Perhaps it was because Halsten had been a soldier once a long time ago.

He took one look at her and she could tell from the way his eyes swept the room looking for threats that he knew she was terrified.

"What's going on?"

Her father shrugged at him. "I have no idea. I was merely informing Vera about the discovery we made today and she became very upset."

Halsten had been looking directly at her since he arrived and refused to look away. "Tell me."

Before she could stop herself, she started rambling. "If I tell you, you have to promise not to think I'm crazy and don't say I've spent too much time in the sun either because-"

"Vera," he interrupted. "Just tell me what's happened."

"It's Amias, well, not really. He's actually Kareem..." she trailed off, not really knowing where to even begin explaining.

Both Halsten and her father were looking at her in concern.

"Why don't you just start from the beginning, Vera," her father advised her.

She took a calming breath and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see their faces.

"It started right after I found that piece of stone, the one with the painting of a jinni on it. I took it to Kareem and he tried to warn me about it. He said jinn were dangerous. I thought it was silly superstition at first, but then I started hearing things and things started happening to me-"

"What sorts of things?" Halsten interrupted.

She rubbed her hands over her face. "You remember when I had the incident with the tea? Or what happened to my books?"

"I remember you telling us about those things," he said. "We never actually saw anything happen, Vera."

"Right. Well, they did happen and now even worse things are happening! Amias is a jinni and he has possessed Kareem and has convinced everyone Kareem never existed."

She opened one eye and peeked up at Halsten fearfully. His face showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever. Her father's on the other hand looked almost exactly as she had imagined it would. He looked torn between worry over her and confusion.

"I know I sound like a complete lunatic right now, but I swear to you that I'm not making this up and I'm not lying," she told them.

"I believe you," Halsten reassured her.

"You do?" both she and her father asked him at the same time.

He sat down in the chair next to her and nodded. "I believe that you believe it. Whether or not I think it is factually true is irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. You believe this Amias is some sort of jinni, correct?"

She nodded, feeling hopeful for the first time since beginning the conversation.

"Vera, I trust you. You've always been a sensible girl. If you think this is happening then the only thing I am going to concern myself with is helping you."

Her father sputtered with protests. "You can't be serious, Halsten! She's just a bit unwell, that's all. She doesn't know what she's saying. If we help her at all it will be to get her to a physician."

Halsten frowned at him. "Just because we deny it does not mean that Vera will stop believing it's true. It won't keep her safer and it won't stop her from feeling afraid. I daresay it would do the exact opposite, Thomas."

Her father sat speechless, looking between the two of them in disbelief. Her father, obviously realizing he was outnumbered and that his protests were falling on deaf ears, threw up his hands and left the room muttering something about everything making more sense after he had a good night's rest.

Halsten turned toward her once again and sighed. "I think you should tell me everything. Don't leave out any details, Vera. It's very important we know exactly what were dealing with here."

Vera smiled at him and felt immensely better than she had a few hours ago. She launched into the story, feeling none of her earlier hesitation.

...

Hey, guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know it's a bit short, but it was needed. Let me know what you think in the comments or vote if you like! Thanks for reading!