---
Atiqah, the seven year old girl, sat at Sergeant Ismat's desk, drawing on pieces of A4 paper. She looked calm, indifferent, humming the tune of 'Spongebob Squarepants' as she went to work on her masterpieces.
Sergeant Ismat stood a bit further away, feeling twitchy and nervous. Cold beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He looked at the little girl. Beside Ismat stood his superior, Inspector Rashidi, who had his arms crossed across his chest. Both of them were in uniform, even at this late an hour. It was almost half past three in the morning.
Inspector Rashidi looked at the little girl named Atiqah, his face twisted in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. He nudged Ismat on one shoulder, surprising him.
"Are you sure?” Insp. Rashidi asked.
Ismat nodded gravely. But then quickly shook his head. Clearly he too, was perplexed. "I don't know", he said. "But would a girl of seven make up such a story? Or lie? She looked way too honest. But to tell you the truth I hope to God she was making up the story. It just seems... impossible. Preposterous!"
Rashidi nodded in agreement. "But there's no way of finding out right now. In the meantime, try to get in contact with her closest kin. But don't let that girl out of your sight. She is vital to this...”
"Yes Sir", Ismat said. He stood in his place. The little girl was still drawing.
He studied the girl intently. He was deeply disturbed.
Could it be possible?
-------
A few hours earlier
At about half past twelve, Ismat, who was on duty that night, received an emergency call regarding a major house fire in the nearby residential area. Police were often required at such scenes. He arrived at the reported scene about 10 minutes later, where the firemen were already containing the blaze. Ismat, with his junior officer Corporal Syireen, were greeted by one of the firemen, who had a little girl accompanying him.
"This little girl", the fireman said, "lived here with her family. When we got here she was already outside, watching the fire, but...” The fireman trailed off, shaking his head, which Ismat and his Corporal instantly understood. The little girl's family had perished. And almost immediately Ismat asked in his mind: how did she get out?
Of course, he first assumed that one of her family members had gotten her out first when the fire initially started, and returned to rescue the others, only to succumb to fire or smoke. Ismat had looked at the remains of the house; it had been charred black. The firefighters finally contained and put out the blaze.
"Look... our team will have to go through the rubble now", the fireman with the little girl said. "I suppose you're gonna have to take the girl for now. You know, inform her... family and things"
Ismat nodded and took the girl's hand. She was remarkably quiet and calm and she looked fine. Barely a scratch on her. Ismat motioned for Corporal Syireen to drive her back to the station, and he would come back later, with the other policemen who had arrived to provide any assistance. He waited for about an hour, answering some questions from concerned neighbors, assuring them to be calm. The media would probably be here soon, considering the only survivor of the house fire was a seven year old girl.
After the hour passed the chief firefighter in charge came up to him. He had a worried look on his face.
"Is anything wrong?” Ismat asked. The fireman wiped the sweat off his brow. His face was stained by grime and soot.
"We found the little girl's family... They were found... they were found in their rooms. The parents, two older girls and a younger boy. But Sergeant...”", the man said. Ismat nodded, prompting the fireman to continue.
"They were bound to their beds with wire... and they had towels in their throats... and we found bottles of kerosene everywhere...”
Ismat paled. The youngest boy was only 3 years old. He shook his head. "Are you sure?" he asked the fireman, who nodded gravely. The stakes were now much higher. Ismat was shocked by the discovery. He felt his heart quicken. He would have to report this soon. He thanked the fire brigade, and told them to call him for any new discoveries. Secretly he hoped the firemen were mistaken but then scolded him self for presuming the firemen weren't competent; they were trained professionals, and they must have seen their fair share of death caused by fire. They certainly knew what they saw.
Ismat drove back to the police station. The little girl seemed hugely significant now, and not just as the only survivor and therefore witness of a tragedy. If it was true that the rest of the family were found bound to their beds with their mouths stuffed, then there must be a reason as to why the little girl was spared.
When he arrived back at the station, he had considered some possibilities: a botched robbery, a revenge attack. But why spare the girl? Did the perpetrators suddenly have a bout of compassion? But then why the girl, not the younger boy? Or all the children? It was making no sense. He would have to ask the little girl how she managed to get out unscathed.
But first he had gone to his superior, Inspector Rashidi. He told him of the discovery at the scene, and Inspector Rashidi agreed to his idea to ask the girl. Sure, she might be seven years old, but she could potentially hold valuable information as to who committed the atrocity to her family, yet spared her.
Ismat was led by Corporal Syireen to his own desk, where the little girl was. He saw the girl was still quiet, but she was occupying herself drawing pictures. Corporal Syireen, who was already trying to reach the girl's next of kin, whispered to Ismat that the girl's name is Atiqah. Ismat took a seat beside Atiqah.
"Hello Atiqah...”
The girl looked up to him from her drawings, and pushed a strand of hair that had fallen on her face.
"Hello Atiqah... I am Ismat. You can call me Uncle Ismat", he said with a smile, aiming to make the child feel more comfortable. To his relief the girl smiled back, revealing a missing tooth. She also introduced herself.
"Hello Uncle Ismat. My name is Atiqah. I am seven years old...”
Ismat nodded, and suddenly the girls' expression turned sour. "What's wrong?” he asked the girl.
"Ibu, Ayah, Kak Maya, Kak Dila and Amir are dead, aren't they?” she said in an oddly disconnected voice. Ismat did not know how to respond. He put a hand on the girl's shoulder. Then he summoned up his most comforting voice.
"It's going to be alright Atiqah. Do you know any --"
"I didn't wanna do it... But he said if I did it, then he would leave me alone", the girl said, cutting Ismat off. Immediately his curiosity peaked.
"What did you say?"
The girl looked at him, her eyes innocent. "He made me do it"
"Who did?"
"Him", the girl said and gave Ismat a sheet of A4 paper on which she had drawn a crude figure in black, blue and red pen. Ismat took the sheet from her and looked at the drawing. It showed a man with long hair and goatee, wearing spectacles. She had drawn the man wearing a black t-shirt, and blue pants, which Ismat assumed were jeans. Curiously, and somewhat disturbingly, Atiqah had colored the man's eyes red.
Ismat studied the drawing. Could this be the perpetrator? Just as he was about to ask Atiqah, she spoke again.
"He always comes to me at the house. Even when Ibu and Ayah are around. But they cannot see him. Sometimes he's funny but sometime's he scares me...”
Ismat studied the girl. "Why does he scare you?” he asked.
The little girl made circles with her thumbs and forefingers and put them to her eyes. "Because his eyes are red. And he wears funny big glasses with a word that starts with L on the sides. I think it says Live or Levi on the glasses"
Ismat alternated quick looks at the girl and at the drawing she just handed him. "Atiqah, who is this man? Can you tell me what happened tonight?"
The girl suddenly withdrew. Ismat thought he must have sounded too much like a scolding adult to her. But then the girl spoke again.
"He says his name is Edd The One"
"Edd... Edd The One?” Ismat said. He had put down the sketch and had taken out a small notebook and pen. He needed to jot this down.
"Yea... he said Ibu and Ayah cannot see him because they're not special. He says I can see him because I am special"
"Was he there at the house tonight?"
The girl nodded. "He's always at the house. Sometimes when I sleep, I see him on my ceiling. He is always smiling and sometimes I smile back. But sometimes when the lights are off I can see his eyes are red and then I get scared"
Ismat paused in his thoughts. Who could this 'Edd The One' character be? He presumed that the girl was making this up. But he reserved his presumption for now.
"Atiqah... if you can tell me anything you remember from tonight... please tell me. But it's okay if you don't want to or if you're tired"
"I'm okay... He takes care of me...” the girl said.
"Who takes care of you?"
"Edd The One", she said nonchalantly. "Tonight after everyone went to bed, he came out of the mirror. I don't like it when he does that... He never uses the door. It's always the wall or mirror. He came up to me and said that I had to do something for him tonight"
"Alright...” Ismat said. The girl went on.
"Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amir were sleeping. Usually they don't see him anyway... He came to me and told me to get up. 'Let's have fun tonight!’ that’s what he said. And he makes me get up. His eyes were redder than usual. He gave me some bendy string and made me tie Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amir's hands and feet to their bedposts. He taught me how to do it. Then he gave me smaller cloths and made me put the cloths into Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amirs' mouths. They didn't even wake up.
Then he took out bottles of water, but this water smelled funny, like eggs. I don't know. He made me pour it onto Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amir. And they still slept..."
Ismat already ascertained that 'bendy string' was the wires that were used to bind them, and that the 'smelly water' was the kerosene. He gently interrupted the girl. "This, uhm, Edd The One made you do this?"
The girl nodded and went on, telling her story in a remarkably calm manner. "And then he took my hand and we went to Ibu and Ayah's room. I think he is a magician because his hands were empty but then suddenly he gave me more bendy string and made me tie Ibu and Ayah to their bed. He showed how to do it again. And he gave me two more cloth and made me put it inside Ibu and Ayah's mouths. And then he gave me that smelly water again and made me pour it onto Ibu and Ayah. Ibu and Ayah didn't wake up also...
I did it because Edd The One said if I did, Ibu, Ayah, Kak Dila, Kak Maya and Amir will go to a happy place, and also because Edd The One said that if I didn't do it then he would take me into the mirror and not let me go back...”
Ismat was listening intently.
"And then again Edd The One did a magic trick with his hands. He suddenly gave me a candle, a candle that already had a fire on it. He was smiling when he gave me the candle. It made his face look weird. I took the candle and then he told me to put the fire at Ibu and Ayah. There was a big fire. Ibu and Ayah tried to scream I think. I saw them moving. But they couldn't move. Edd The One laughed.
Then he quickly led me back to my room and made me put the fire to Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amir. There was another big fire and I saw Amir open his eyes when the fire covered him. They tried to move as well...
Then he told me to follow him around the house. He kept pouring that smelly water on the house and told me to put the fire to the spots he poured water on. The fires grew bigger and bigger. Finally he told me to walk outside because people will start to come by when they see how pretty the house will be. He stepped back into a mirror and was gone. So I walked outside and just sat there, and then the men in the yellow jackets came and shooted [sic] water at the fires. And then you came and the nice lady brought me here"
The girl finished her strange tale. Ismat was stunned into silence. He had stopped jotting down on his notebook. The girl must be lying or making this up, he thought. But the calmness and stillness in her brown eyes betrayed no such lie. In fact, she seemed dead serious.
"Atiqah... did you... did you set fire to... did you set the fire?” Ismat asked. The little girl nodded.
"But because Edd The One told me to"
Ismat thought of that as well. He glanced back at the crude drawing of this 'Edd The One' character. A man, long haired with a goatee, wearing plastic rimmed glasses, who had red eyes, popped in and out of mirrors, and dressed in blue and black. Who was this mysterious person? Or was he just a figment of this girl's imagination. It seemed ridiculous.
But more frightening to him was also that he was convinced that the girl did set the fire... and burned her family members alive. Ismat suddenly felt scared to be close to this girl. They were either dealing with, sadly, a mentally troubled child, or worse, an unknown madman. Ismat hoped it would be the latter.
Atiqah, who seemed to notice that Ismat had gone quiet, went back to her drawings, scribbling using the black, blue and red pens. Ismat stood up, intending to go to Inspector Rashidi to report this strange tale to him. Atiqah called up to him, without shifting her gaze from her drawings.
"Uncle Ismat"
"Yes..?” Ismat said, cautiously.
"He also told me that he made me do it because he wanted to show me something...”
"What was it..?” Ismat said.
"Everything burns", the girl said, her eyes never leaving the piece of paper.
Disquieted, Ismat left her side and went to see Inspector Rashidi.
-----
Present time
When Ismat had relayed what the girl told him to the Inspector, he was greeted with disbelief. The Inspector made him tell the story twice, and then had asked to be taken to the girl, so he could hear it for himself. Ismat initially thought it would be a bad idea to ask the girl to re-tell it, but she did, and in exactly the same way, with no details changed or forgotten. She could not have been lying.
Now Ismat still stood in one place, looking at the little girl at his desk. He suddenly felt tired. He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands, stifling a yawn. When he brought his hands down, he suddenly saw another figure beside where the girl was sitting. Ismat stared, not believing his own eyes: beside Atiqah, he saw a tall man, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. The man had long messy hair and a goatee, and Ismat saw that he wore black framed glasses. There was a reddish light in his eyes, which he could see even from meters away. He was leaning with his hands on the desk, looking down at the girl as if studying her drawings.
Ismat blinked; suddenly, the figure was gone. Ismat rushed to the girl's side. She looked up at him with a confused look, and went back to drawing straight away.
Ya Allah I must be tired, he thought. I'm seeing things.
He sat on the desk. The girl had suddenly stopped drawing; in fact she had fallen asleep on top of her last drawing. Ismat gently pulled the drawing from beneath her head. Ismat felt his stomach tighten when he looked at the drawing; Atiqah had drawn a house on fire, and in the windows of the house were figures of people crying.
Ismat sighed. Then something caught his eyes. On his desk was the outline of a hand; a much larger hand than the girl's, with strangely long fingers. Ismat bent down; he touched them and pulled his hand back. They were hot, and then Ismat realized the outline was charred onto the desk, as if branded on. As if they were made by fire.
He felt suddenly weak, and frightened. The words of the little girl rang in his mind.
Everything burns.
----
note:
a bit long. inspired by a quote from The Dark Knight.
Atiqah, the seven year old girl, sat at Sergeant Ismat's desk, drawing on pieces of A4 paper. She looked calm, indifferent, humming the tune of 'Spongebob Squarepants' as she went to work on her masterpieces.
Sergeant Ismat stood a bit further away, feeling twitchy and nervous. Cold beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He looked at the little girl. Beside Ismat stood his superior, Inspector Rashidi, who had his arms crossed across his chest. Both of them were in uniform, even at this late an hour. It was almost half past three in the morning.
Inspector Rashidi looked at the little girl named Atiqah, his face twisted in a mixture of disbelief and confusion. He nudged Ismat on one shoulder, surprising him.
"Are you sure?” Insp. Rashidi asked.
Ismat nodded gravely. But then quickly shook his head. Clearly he too, was perplexed. "I don't know", he said. "But would a girl of seven make up such a story? Or lie? She looked way too honest. But to tell you the truth I hope to God she was making up the story. It just seems... impossible. Preposterous!"
Rashidi nodded in agreement. "But there's no way of finding out right now. In the meantime, try to get in contact with her closest kin. But don't let that girl out of your sight. She is vital to this...”
"Yes Sir", Ismat said. He stood in his place. The little girl was still drawing.
He studied the girl intently. He was deeply disturbed.
Could it be possible?
-------
A few hours earlier
At about half past twelve, Ismat, who was on duty that night, received an emergency call regarding a major house fire in the nearby residential area. Police were often required at such scenes. He arrived at the reported scene about 10 minutes later, where the firemen were already containing the blaze. Ismat, with his junior officer Corporal Syireen, were greeted by one of the firemen, who had a little girl accompanying him.
"This little girl", the fireman said, "lived here with her family. When we got here she was already outside, watching the fire, but...” The fireman trailed off, shaking his head, which Ismat and his Corporal instantly understood. The little girl's family had perished. And almost immediately Ismat asked in his mind: how did she get out?
Of course, he first assumed that one of her family members had gotten her out first when the fire initially started, and returned to rescue the others, only to succumb to fire or smoke. Ismat had looked at the remains of the house; it had been charred black. The firefighters finally contained and put out the blaze.
"Look... our team will have to go through the rubble now", the fireman with the little girl said. "I suppose you're gonna have to take the girl for now. You know, inform her... family and things"
Ismat nodded and took the girl's hand. She was remarkably quiet and calm and she looked fine. Barely a scratch on her. Ismat motioned for Corporal Syireen to drive her back to the station, and he would come back later, with the other policemen who had arrived to provide any assistance. He waited for about an hour, answering some questions from concerned neighbors, assuring them to be calm. The media would probably be here soon, considering the only survivor of the house fire was a seven year old girl.
After the hour passed the chief firefighter in charge came up to him. He had a worried look on his face.
"Is anything wrong?” Ismat asked. The fireman wiped the sweat off his brow. His face was stained by grime and soot.
"We found the little girl's family... They were found... they were found in their rooms. The parents, two older girls and a younger boy. But Sergeant...”", the man said. Ismat nodded, prompting the fireman to continue.
"They were bound to their beds with wire... and they had towels in their throats... and we found bottles of kerosene everywhere...”
Ismat paled. The youngest boy was only 3 years old. He shook his head. "Are you sure?" he asked the fireman, who nodded gravely. The stakes were now much higher. Ismat was shocked by the discovery. He felt his heart quicken. He would have to report this soon. He thanked the fire brigade, and told them to call him for any new discoveries. Secretly he hoped the firemen were mistaken but then scolded him self for presuming the firemen weren't competent; they were trained professionals, and they must have seen their fair share of death caused by fire. They certainly knew what they saw.
Ismat drove back to the police station. The little girl seemed hugely significant now, and not just as the only survivor and therefore witness of a tragedy. If it was true that the rest of the family were found bound to their beds with their mouths stuffed, then there must be a reason as to why the little girl was spared.
When he arrived back at the station, he had considered some possibilities: a botched robbery, a revenge attack. But why spare the girl? Did the perpetrators suddenly have a bout of compassion? But then why the girl, not the younger boy? Or all the children? It was making no sense. He would have to ask the little girl how she managed to get out unscathed.
But first he had gone to his superior, Inspector Rashidi. He told him of the discovery at the scene, and Inspector Rashidi agreed to his idea to ask the girl. Sure, she might be seven years old, but she could potentially hold valuable information as to who committed the atrocity to her family, yet spared her.
Ismat was led by Corporal Syireen to his own desk, where the little girl was. He saw the girl was still quiet, but she was occupying herself drawing pictures. Corporal Syireen, who was already trying to reach the girl's next of kin, whispered to Ismat that the girl's name is Atiqah. Ismat took a seat beside Atiqah.
"Hello Atiqah...”
The girl looked up to him from her drawings, and pushed a strand of hair that had fallen on her face.
"Hello Atiqah... I am Ismat. You can call me Uncle Ismat", he said with a smile, aiming to make the child feel more comfortable. To his relief the girl smiled back, revealing a missing tooth. She also introduced herself.
"Hello Uncle Ismat. My name is Atiqah. I am seven years old...”
Ismat nodded, and suddenly the girls' expression turned sour. "What's wrong?” he asked the girl.
"Ibu, Ayah, Kak Maya, Kak Dila and Amir are dead, aren't they?” she said in an oddly disconnected voice. Ismat did not know how to respond. He put a hand on the girl's shoulder. Then he summoned up his most comforting voice.
"It's going to be alright Atiqah. Do you know any --"
"I didn't wanna do it... But he said if I did it, then he would leave me alone", the girl said, cutting Ismat off. Immediately his curiosity peaked.
"What did you say?"
The girl looked at him, her eyes innocent. "He made me do it"
"Who did?"
"Him", the girl said and gave Ismat a sheet of A4 paper on which she had drawn a crude figure in black, blue and red pen. Ismat took the sheet from her and looked at the drawing. It showed a man with long hair and goatee, wearing spectacles. She had drawn the man wearing a black t-shirt, and blue pants, which Ismat assumed were jeans. Curiously, and somewhat disturbingly, Atiqah had colored the man's eyes red.
Ismat studied the drawing. Could this be the perpetrator? Just as he was about to ask Atiqah, she spoke again.
"He always comes to me at the house. Even when Ibu and Ayah are around. But they cannot see him. Sometimes he's funny but sometime's he scares me...”
Ismat studied the girl. "Why does he scare you?” he asked.
The little girl made circles with her thumbs and forefingers and put them to her eyes. "Because his eyes are red. And he wears funny big glasses with a word that starts with L on the sides. I think it says Live or Levi on the glasses"
Ismat alternated quick looks at the girl and at the drawing she just handed him. "Atiqah, who is this man? Can you tell me what happened tonight?"
The girl suddenly withdrew. Ismat thought he must have sounded too much like a scolding adult to her. But then the girl spoke again.
"He says his name is Edd The One"
"Edd... Edd The One?” Ismat said. He had put down the sketch and had taken out a small notebook and pen. He needed to jot this down.
"Yea... he said Ibu and Ayah cannot see him because they're not special. He says I can see him because I am special"
"Was he there at the house tonight?"
The girl nodded. "He's always at the house. Sometimes when I sleep, I see him on my ceiling. He is always smiling and sometimes I smile back. But sometimes when the lights are off I can see his eyes are red and then I get scared"
Ismat paused in his thoughts. Who could this 'Edd The One' character be? He presumed that the girl was making this up. But he reserved his presumption for now.
"Atiqah... if you can tell me anything you remember from tonight... please tell me. But it's okay if you don't want to or if you're tired"
"I'm okay... He takes care of me...” the girl said.
"Who takes care of you?"
"Edd The One", she said nonchalantly. "Tonight after everyone went to bed, he came out of the mirror. I don't like it when he does that... He never uses the door. It's always the wall or mirror. He came up to me and said that I had to do something for him tonight"
"Alright...” Ismat said. The girl went on.
"Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amir were sleeping. Usually they don't see him anyway... He came to me and told me to get up. 'Let's have fun tonight!’ that’s what he said. And he makes me get up. His eyes were redder than usual. He gave me some bendy string and made me tie Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amir's hands and feet to their bedposts. He taught me how to do it. Then he gave me smaller cloths and made me put the cloths into Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amirs' mouths. They didn't even wake up.
Then he took out bottles of water, but this water smelled funny, like eggs. I don't know. He made me pour it onto Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amir. And they still slept..."
Ismat already ascertained that 'bendy string' was the wires that were used to bind them, and that the 'smelly water' was the kerosene. He gently interrupted the girl. "This, uhm, Edd The One made you do this?"
The girl nodded and went on, telling her story in a remarkably calm manner. "And then he took my hand and we went to Ibu and Ayah's room. I think he is a magician because his hands were empty but then suddenly he gave me more bendy string and made me tie Ibu and Ayah to their bed. He showed how to do it again. And he gave me two more cloth and made me put it inside Ibu and Ayah's mouths. And then he gave me that smelly water again and made me pour it onto Ibu and Ayah. Ibu and Ayah didn't wake up also...
I did it because Edd The One said if I did, Ibu, Ayah, Kak Dila, Kak Maya and Amir will go to a happy place, and also because Edd The One said that if I didn't do it then he would take me into the mirror and not let me go back...”
Ismat was listening intently.
"And then again Edd The One did a magic trick with his hands. He suddenly gave me a candle, a candle that already had a fire on it. He was smiling when he gave me the candle. It made his face look weird. I took the candle and then he told me to put the fire at Ibu and Ayah. There was a big fire. Ibu and Ayah tried to scream I think. I saw them moving. But they couldn't move. Edd The One laughed.
Then he quickly led me back to my room and made me put the fire to Kak Maya and Kak Dila and Amir. There was another big fire and I saw Amir open his eyes when the fire covered him. They tried to move as well...
Then he told me to follow him around the house. He kept pouring that smelly water on the house and told me to put the fire to the spots he poured water on. The fires grew bigger and bigger. Finally he told me to walk outside because people will start to come by when they see how pretty the house will be. He stepped back into a mirror and was gone. So I walked outside and just sat there, and then the men in the yellow jackets came and shooted [sic] water at the fires. And then you came and the nice lady brought me here"
The girl finished her strange tale. Ismat was stunned into silence. He had stopped jotting down on his notebook. The girl must be lying or making this up, he thought. But the calmness and stillness in her brown eyes betrayed no such lie. In fact, she seemed dead serious.
"Atiqah... did you... did you set fire to... did you set the fire?” Ismat asked. The little girl nodded.
"But because Edd The One told me to"
Ismat thought of that as well. He glanced back at the crude drawing of this 'Edd The One' character. A man, long haired with a goatee, wearing plastic rimmed glasses, who had red eyes, popped in and out of mirrors, and dressed in blue and black. Who was this mysterious person? Or was he just a figment of this girl's imagination. It seemed ridiculous.
But more frightening to him was also that he was convinced that the girl did set the fire... and burned her family members alive. Ismat suddenly felt scared to be close to this girl. They were either dealing with, sadly, a mentally troubled child, or worse, an unknown madman. Ismat hoped it would be the latter.
Atiqah, who seemed to notice that Ismat had gone quiet, went back to her drawings, scribbling using the black, blue and red pens. Ismat stood up, intending to go to Inspector Rashidi to report this strange tale to him. Atiqah called up to him, without shifting her gaze from her drawings.
"Uncle Ismat"
"Yes..?” Ismat said, cautiously.
"He also told me that he made me do it because he wanted to show me something...”
"What was it..?” Ismat said.
"Everything burns", the girl said, her eyes never leaving the piece of paper.
Disquieted, Ismat left her side and went to see Inspector Rashidi.
-----
Present time
When Ismat had relayed what the girl told him to the Inspector, he was greeted with disbelief. The Inspector made him tell the story twice, and then had asked to be taken to the girl, so he could hear it for himself. Ismat initially thought it would be a bad idea to ask the girl to re-tell it, but she did, and in exactly the same way, with no details changed or forgotten. She could not have been lying.
Now Ismat still stood in one place, looking at the little girl at his desk. He suddenly felt tired. He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands, stifling a yawn. When he brought his hands down, he suddenly saw another figure beside where the girl was sitting. Ismat stared, not believing his own eyes: beside Atiqah, he saw a tall man, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. The man had long messy hair and a goatee, and Ismat saw that he wore black framed glasses. There was a reddish light in his eyes, which he could see even from meters away. He was leaning with his hands on the desk, looking down at the girl as if studying her drawings.
Ismat blinked; suddenly, the figure was gone. Ismat rushed to the girl's side. She looked up at him with a confused look, and went back to drawing straight away.
Ya Allah I must be tired, he thought. I'm seeing things.
He sat on the desk. The girl had suddenly stopped drawing; in fact she had fallen asleep on top of her last drawing. Ismat gently pulled the drawing from beneath her head. Ismat felt his stomach tighten when he looked at the drawing; Atiqah had drawn a house on fire, and in the windows of the house were figures of people crying.
Ismat sighed. Then something caught his eyes. On his desk was the outline of a hand; a much larger hand than the girl's, with strangely long fingers. Ismat bent down; he touched them and pulled his hand back. They were hot, and then Ismat realized the outline was charred onto the desk, as if branded on. As if they were made by fire.
He felt suddenly weak, and frightened. The words of the little girl rang in his mind.
Everything burns.
----
note:
a bit long. inspired by a quote from The Dark Knight.
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