Deal with the devil

Cuatro

“What happened to you? And what are you doing here?” Maria asked.

“I’ve been looking for you and ended up in this room,” Iphigeneia explained still trembling.

And the fact was that this was her first encounter with such unknown phenomena that she had almost lost consciousness. What’s more, if she had come face to face with what she had heard and felt she might have died from shock.

“I was just downstairs and my room is the one next to this one,” Maria said as she closed the door of the creepy room.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. You forgot to tell me,” Iphigeneia said.

“I’m sorry, but now you know where my room is,” said Maria while staring at her intently.

“What’s with that room, Maria? I heard whispers and other peculiar sounds in there. And I was really terrified. God knows what might have happened if you hadn’t come along,” Iphigeneia blurted out.

“You’ve been hearing things since we came here. You have to remember this is an ancient edifice, so the timbers are old, and creak and groan when it’s stormy outside. Anyway, that room was my late aunt’s room,” Maria added.

“For real? But I’m sure I heard crawling and cracking sounds! That really freaked me out! What was that? Don’t tell me it was the old building moving on its foundations?!” she frantically said.

“Maybe it’s the spirit of Aunt Lisa and she’s welcoming you, ha-ha,” Maria added, with a mischievous smile on her face.

“Stop teasing me. What I experienced in that room really scared me to death, I swear,” she said irately to Maria.

“I’m sorry,” Maria apologized, but still silently laughing to herself.

“So what’s the plan for today, anyway?” she asked Maria as they went downstairs.

“Ah yes, I was about to tell you earlier that my grandpa Pablo needs to be checked by our family doctor because, he’s weaker now. I’ve already asked Crispin, the caretaker, to take you to some places of interest and I will join you later. I’m sorry that some of our plans have changed,” Maria said.

“It’s okay, don’t worry. How’s your grandfather?” She asked a bit worried about the old man.

“He’s in his room, resting. I’m just waiting for the doctor to come.”

“Does he stay upstairs?” She asked Maria while they were walking into the dining hall. The breakfast was already laid out on the table ready to eat.

“No. His room is at the end of the hall from here. I transferred him there, because he isn’t able to walk up and down the stairs. His body is too weak, especially now,” Maria said sadly.

“Sorry to hear that. Can I visit him?” She asked. Maria looked taken aback at this request.

“Of course. After you’ve finished your breakfast, we can go there,” Maria agreed.

“Who cooked the breakfast anyway?” Iphigeneia asked.

“I did. It tastes good right?” Maria asked.

“Wow! How did you manage to do that? We both slept so little, and you even did some exercises, so if there was someone who was going to sleep in, then it would surely be you.”

“I’m just an early riser, you know that,” Maria replied.

“Have you found out about the rats?” Iphigeneia asked, referring to the scratching sounds in the room where she was sleeping.

“Rats?” Maria asked confusedly.

“Yes the scratching sounds behind the wall,” she answered.

“Oh! Not yet, maybe this afternoon,” replied Maria.

“Alright thanks,” replied Iphigeneia, as she was finishing off the remnants of her daing na bangus.

After they had finished eating breakfast, they went straight to the room where Maria’s grandfather, Pablo, was resting. They walked along the long hallway that was without windows and dimly lighted.

Iphigeneia was suddenly reminded of her unnerving and unpleasant experiences in her own room, and the room that she mistakenly thought was Maria’s room. But she erased these thoughts from her mind. They had been walking for quite a long time, but still hadn’t reached the grandfather’s bedroom.

“Wow! Are we going to walk forever?” Said Iphigeneia teasingly.

“The master bedroom on the ground floor is at the end of this hallway. That room is the only one that has a garden view, so I decided to put him there,” Maria explained.

“That’s his room, right?” Iphigeneia asked, when she saw the last room at the end of the hallway, almost next to the back entrance of the villa.

“Yes. Wait here, I’ll just fix him up first,” said Maria.

“Fix? It’s okay, Maria,” she quickly replied.

“Just wait here,” Maria said, and then hurriedly walked into the room.

She was left alone in the murky and silent hallway. She looked back along the hallway, but couldn’t even discern where they had started from because of the poor lighting.

The aura of the place chilled her to the bone. At the end of the hallway, there was one small window, she discovered, with a view that looked out on to the garden. She peered out, and saw that the garden was more or less lifeless, hardly a garden at all – as there were no flowers, or green plants, or vibrant young trees.

The garden seemed to be abandoned and overgrown with dead leaves everywhere, and the dead trunks of decayed trees. There was an ancient fountain, but it just spouted some brown and muddy liquid at random intervals.

“Why stay in the farthest room along the hallway, if the view is like this?” She thought, when she went back to check on Maria.

She was walking towards the room, when she heard Maria calling her. She opened the door and walked inside. She saw Maria standing beside her grandfather’s bed.

Her grandfather was sitting up in bed, wearing a soiled nightgown. He looked at her. One of his pale blue eyes was covered with a film of grey. He smiled wide and invitingly to her, exposing his decaying teeth.

“How are you, sir? I’m happy to finally see you,” she greeted him.

“I’m happy to meet yet another beautiful young girlfriend of my granddaughter,” he said with a mysterious smile that sent shivers down Iphigeneia’s spine.

She felt like the mutterings of the old man portended some hidden meaning – but what?

“Thank you Sir. I’m starting to enjoy this wonderful residence,” she lied.

“Are you really enjoying?” He emitted another mysterious smile.

“Yes, especially if I can visit some attractions in the area,” she said, looking at Maria who was standing next to the old man.

“That’s good. I’m sorry that I can’t accommodate you,” he said, as he stretched out a scrawny hand trying to reach her, which made her jump back inadvertently. Maria put her hand on her grandfather’s arm restraining his unwanted approach.

“Iphigeneia needs to go, grandpa,” Maria said looking at Iphigeneia.

“Wait for me outside,” said Maria to Iphigeneia.

Maria waited for Iphigeneia to leave the room, before she helped her grandfather lie down again in his bed.

~

“I don’t understand why Maria is acting so weird,” thought Iphigeneia to herself, while pacing back and forth outside the old man’s room.