Over the past three days Asha had developed a fever and started to have night terrors. Talking in her sleep in a language she didn’t understand. Her arms and legs twitched and moved like she was in a trance.

Margaret did everything she could for Asha all throughout these three days despite feeling like she was one slip up away from breaking down.

Her little girl had never been this sick before and when Asha did get sick, Margaret would always find a way to get her the medicine she needs or scrounge up enough of their savings to go to the hospital.

Here, they had nothing of the sort and Margaret was growing desperate by the day.

She gave her daughter warm towel baths in bed and she changed her clothes every time they’d be soaked with sweat. She propped her daughter up and helped her drink water just so she wouldn’t get dehydrated and Margaret would get on her knees and pray like she never prayed before with the same mantra over and over again. Hoping that God, or anyone out there would listen.

“Give her sickness to me, please. Make me the one to suffer, just not my little girl.”

But Asha continued to shiver and cry out in her sleep. Her temperature rose every day to the point where it felt like she could burn at just one touch. Margaret would hold her daughter’s hand tightly in hopes of comforting Asha, and in part, herself.

And wasn’t just Asha that started to change, temple itself became warmer, the winter chill had almost disappeared from within the walls. She started to hear strange voices coming from where the portraits were hanged. In the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw some sort of ethereal, almost ghost like figure pass her by. But whenever she turned back to look there was no one there.

There was only the eerie silence she had grown accustomed to.

Yet, she couldn’t help but feel like there was someone watching her.

My God, am I going insane?

No.

This wasn’t happening. Not even in a dream, no, a nightmare.

Yes, that’s what this was. A long very intricate and exhausting nightmare. There was absolutely no way this was really happening, right?

It had to be.

She couldn’t lose her daughter. Asha was all she had. Without her she’d be left with no more reason to. . . .

Unable to handle the growing storm in her mind, Margaret had to step back and take a deep breath. Focus on what was important. Keep those dark thoughts from entering her mind.

She was strong, she could do this.

It was this strength that kept her going all these years. Despite the soul sucking job, she had to put up with, the distance she was forced to create between her family and the shadow of the man she once knew haunting her every day.

As if she became a walking corpse herself, no different from him, going through the motions every day without putting much thought behind her actions. Doing what she needed to survive but never daring to dream of more. Coming home to a pathetic excuse for a home and questioning every decision that led them to this point.

All she had was her daughter and the hope they shared between the two of them. That was enough to get them by the years.

Margaret desperately prayed it would be enough to get them through this.

Asha became everything to her after she was born and Margaret had already thrown away so much she could never get back. But there she was, her light, her hopes, her dreams, all swaddled in one chubby baby.

On that day that scars seemed to fade and it didn’t hurt anymore to start believing in miracles again.

And so, she made a promise. That she would give her daughter a good life no matter what. She’d give anything so Asha could look ahead, filled with hope and courage knowing that she’d loved and will continue to be loved.

A promise she failed to keep.

Asha hadn’t eaten anything in these past three days. Her arms were starting to get thin and she’d lost the fullness in her face.

It was as if she was looking at the result of all her failures when she felt her daughter’s increasingly weary frame tremble in her arms.

This can’t be it.

If her husband could see her now, trembling in fear and helpless to stop their daughters suffering, she wasn’t sure if he’d laugh and say ‘I told you so’ or if he’d stop and actually realize what was happening for once in his life.

The sorrow was too much, it was clouding her mind. She could only weep at the terrible reality she had to face and silently beg for a miracle.

But it was when her tears hit a familiar object that the haze in her mind cleared and she remembered something important. Perhaps, the source, if not the one thing that could give her answers to this madness.

The trinket Asha found which Margaret had fashioned into a necklace for her on the day they arrived. The one that Asha was still wearing.

Margaret wiped the tears away from her eyes and stared intently at the necklace. Taking in its design seriously for the first time.

Quite a small piece it was, cut from something originally much larger.

It was a red stone shaped like an oval slotted in metal that was chipped off on all three sides, one side longer than the other and the one on top was completely remove. Scratched and covered in black stains, it looked like it belonged on a handle of sorts or was some sort of decoration.

The stone looked like it was a pure gem, a ruby. One’s that would go for thousands in her home country. Its shape was perfect and despite its stains it shined brightly against the firelight. The metal it was put in had elegant swirls engraved into to it which reminded Margaret of some of the designs she saw around the temple.

Margaret gently took the necklace off her daughter which made Asha stir.

Her hopes were dashed when Asha eyes still hadn’t opened and she tucked herself deeper in her mother’s arms unconsciously.

Sighing, Margaret lifted the trinket to her eye level and gave it a curious look.

This was the same thing her daughter used to hold whenever she felt nervous or afraid. Margaret thought it was just a strange habit she picked up because of the anxiety of being alone in such a new and scary place for too long.

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However, it couldn’t possibly be a coincidence if the reason why was because it was connected to that specific thing?

The one thing they’ve both been avoiding since the first day that arrived.

The book that had frightened her daughter to the point of tears at just a glance. The place where Asha would linger for long periods of time. Arguing with herself, testing her resolve to confront whatever it was and what it could have meant to her. Ultimately failing and turning to the necklace for comfort. Rubbing it between her fingers while muttering and looking off into the distance.

That man she had seen that day, the one who stood in the place of her daughter and looked at her with eyes filled with so much emotion. . . .

It might have been just a guess but, perhaps he was related to that book? Maybe his name was one of the words her daughter would speak in her dreams?

There was only one was to find out. And Margaret was ready to find out.

She parted from her daughter, tucking her in and kissing her softly on her forehead. Her expression of sorrow turned to determination as she clutched the trinket in her hand.

“I’ll be back.”

With that Margaret went to go find the answer’s which had been eluding them for so long. Every step she took was filled with resolve, her face determined and unwavering.

This might be her only chance to save her daughter. And nothing was going to stand in her way.

As she moved through the temple the voices and the ghost like figures became more apparent. She could hear their hushed whispers and see them hide when she came too close to them. And this time she could understand what they were saying.

They were scared and anxious for what the future may hold. Who she was and what she was doing. Her daughter’s name and the promise of a destiny.

Those strange words from foreign tongues finally made sense. And from the drum like beating of a certain object coming from her clenched fist, she could guess why.

Were these the things her daughter had to face without her? All this time Margaret was unaware of the things Asha was seeing, the whispers in her ear and the creatures that haunted her.

The things Asha had tried to keep hidden from her until it was impossible to hide it for any longer.

Had this been the answer all this time and she’d just been too blind to see it?

This wretched thing that had been the cause of all their suffering, the reason her daughter was pulling away from her. The reason they couldn’t leave.

Was that it?

She clutched the trinket in her palm so tightly for fear of throwing it against the wall in sheer frustration. Her steps became heavier and faster. She was pushing past every impulse, every fear, every doubt.

Then she arrived, in front of the door that had remained closed. Margaret paused to look at the trinket in her hands.

The gem inside was glowing bright red, pulsating like a heartbeat. It felt alive under her hands and there was this supernatural pull towards what was inside of the room.

Light was seeping from the cracks in the door and she could hear the sound of chaos coming from within. Rattling furniture and strong winds

It was waiting for her.

Whatever was behind that door came alive and beckoned whoever would listen to come. The whispers behind her stopped and no spirit had dared to move.

Finally, answers.

Tentatively, Margaret pushed the door open. Inch by inch against the raging of the forces that would be. She would not waver when so much was on the line. Whatever was behind that door would have to face the wrath of a mother scorned.

The strong winds from inside threatened to sweep up everything in its path, creating a storm in the middle of the room. Flying books, chairs, shelves and the heavy table all circled the room and threatened to pull her in but she stood her ground.

And in the middle of it all was the book.

Its pages were turning rapidly while it flew high in the air. A glow was emanating from it, not too different from light one her trinket had.

Margaret took one step forward and the door shut behind her with a loud thud. Undeterred she pressed forward, holding up the trinket with conviction while trying dodging the large objects that came flying towards her.

“What do you want from us?!”

It was difficult to maintain her composure. Fighting against some sort of power that had the strength of a storm with no regard for what was caught in its clutches.

She’d been hit by one or two books at this point but she held on.

“I’m telling you to stop. This ends right here, right now! I’m not letting whatever you are keep on hurting us.”

A voice replied, echoing throughout the room, otherworldly.

Hurt. . . . pain. . . . all too familiar

“If you know what it feels like then why are you doing the same to us? We never did anything to you. Let us go!”

You do not understand

The books pages started to fly away, one by way, encircling her with images and words, chapters that told different stories but had the same endings. Everyone more miserable than the last.

And in one of them she saw someone who looked that the man she saw on that damned night.

Can you see how the cycle repeats?

The book floated down towards her. Nothing was left but the cover and the ghostly image of a distorted face looking back at her. It struggled to form something recognizable almost animal like but it struggled to make its own visage clear.

Fading in and out, struggling to bring itself to life.

There will be no happy endings

Margaret fell silent, every part of her body wanted to hit and scream at the book. What right did it have to dictate their lives?! To keep them trapped in this place for so long, for what? She didn’t care about destiny, that wasn’t for someone else to decide. After living her life like this for so long, helpless and afraid“I’m sick of so people who don’t even care making every single decision for us! You say there won’t be any happy endings? Well, you’re wrong. She won’t have to go through all these things because I’ll be by her side.”

The entity wavered, the storm inside became weaker and he stayed silent for the longest time. Margaret took a step back while she was still holding the trinket in front of her as though it would protect her from it if it ever tried to do anything to do.

But that wasn’t the case when the voice answered like it was shaking and afraid like she was.

Can you promise that to be true?

Margaret took a deep breath.

“I can try.”

The room became still, books and furniture started to fall, then it started to shift and she found herself in the quarters with her daughter. Asha was still sick but her breathing had evened and the painful, almost agonizing look on her face had calmed. Margaret ran to her side and embraced her daughter.

Shortly after she could hear the sound of something else come into the room. The sound of wood bending and another sound she couldn’t quite explain, it sounded like a piece of glass shattering.

Turning back, she saw the door had changed. As she looked towards the door, Margaret noticed the subtle shift in the air. It was as if the very fabric of reality was being reshaped before her eyes. The once-solid door now shimmered with an otherworldly glow, its surface rippling like the surface of a pond disturbed by a gentle breeze. It’s visage reflecting the image of their freedom.

She didn’t waste any time grabbing anything she could fit inside a rucksack that had been hanging on a wooden peg on the wall inside the quarters. Clothes, portions of food she had left in the room, utensils and tools, anything she could use to help them survive outside.

Margaret gently lifted Asha into her arms, swaddling her in thick blanket. It would be cold outside but this was their only chance to leave. She didn’t trust this strange entity to offer them another way out when it clearly wanted them to stay.

It will be difficult to return later on.

The voice tried to warn her but Margaret could hardly consider it a warning when all they’ve done nothing but struggle in this place. The implication of staying was laughable to her.

“Why would I ever want to go back to this place?”

So be it.

As much as she hated to admit it, there was some hesitation inside of her when it came to leaving. The temple became their home in a way and she wasn’t sure what was waiting for them outside.

They went through the door and were greeted by the morning sun rising over the snowy horizon. A vast expanse of land, not unlike the one they had arrived in. The mountains stretched on for miles and most importantly. Other signs of life.

There were animals, snow rabbits that were hopping around, she saw squirrels running up a tree and red birds flying past them and into their nest.

Margaret wondered in awe at the life that they were denied. Hope bubbled up in her chest, strong enough to push down the sorrow of realizing this really wasn’t a dream.

It wasn’t going to end if they left. If anything, a new set of challenges would await her and Asha. But this time they had the power to look for help. If this world was real then there would be other people living in it. People who could heal her daughter.

And despite the doubts she had due to having little to nothing aside from their minimal supplies in the winter, she would have to press on and find help soon.

Because it was too late to second guess herself and turn back. The moment Margaret looked over her should the temple was no longer there. There was only the snow canopy and the beaten road that led to nowhere.