Title : A Deal with Shadows
Years had passed since Zahira and Aryan—reincarnations of Zahra and Rayan—left their past behind and began a new life together. Their battles were over, or so they believed. Time had withered old wounds. Malik and Yasmin, aged and grey, had lived long enough to see peace return to their family.
But peace is never permanent.
After Malik and Yasmin's passing, their daughter Sajiya was left broken. Losing both her parents within months of each other felt like being buried alive. The house echoed with silence, and the clinic Malik once ran stood abandoned—dust covering memories, shadows crawling across the walls.
And if that wasn't enough, Elyas, her boyfriend of two years, was now battling a rare and unknown illness. Every doctor, every hospital, every desperate second opinion—none of it helped. His body deteriorated, but his condition had no name. Like something unseen was draining the life out of him.
Sajiya spiraled into grief. She stopped painting. Stopped smiling. Her world had turned to grayscale.
Zahira, now a successful entrepreneur, never forgot the family who helped her become who she was. She stayed close to Sajiya, comforting her through the loss. When Elyas's condition worsened, Zahira went to great lengths—calling in the best doctors in the world. But every test ended the same: inconclusive. Every treatment, a failure.
One evening, when the hospital lights dimmed and hope was running dry, Sajiya found herself drawn to her father's old clinic.
It was locked. Forgotten.
She stepped inside. The air was stale with time, walls cracked, shelves collapsed. As she wandered into the dim library, brushing away cobwebs and dust, she found a thick book hidden behind old anatomy manuals—its cover worn, yet strangely warm to the touch.
Her father's handwriting filled the pages.
But these were not medical notes.
They were secrets.
Accounts of the unseen. Rituals. Names of spirits. Forbidden prayers. Warnings written in red: "Never open the gate alone."
Sajiya stared at the book in disbelief. "Why would he write this? He was a man of science…"
Yet she couldn't stop reading.
And then she found it.
A ritual. One that could call upon spirits—powerful ones, like ifrits and ancient jinn. The instructions were precise. The warning was clear: "They grant what you desire, but always in exchange for what you love."
Sajiya stared at Elyas's name in her phone. Her heart ached. "If this is real… if there's even a chance…"
She closed the book and made a choice.
One Week Later
It was a moonless night when she returned to the abandoned town—the same place Zahira once faced forces no human should ever encounter. The town was silent, devoured by decay, buildings drooping like tired spirits. At the town square, she drew a circle with crushed salt and black ash, placed a candle in the center, and opened the book.
She began the chant.
Her voice trembled. The wind picked up. The candle flickered.
"O beings beyond the veil… dwellers in shadows… I summon thee by the names buried in silence…"
Suddenly, the wind howled. Animals nearby shrieked and scattered. The circle glowed faintly. Her hands shook, her mind frozen in fear. Just before she could speak the final line—
She stopped.
Doubt gripped her. Her lips halted. Her voice silenced.
A mistake.
The chant was left unfinished.
The air around her twisted unnaturally. A rift—small, black, pulsing—tore open beside her. For a fleeting moment, something crawled through. It didn't scream. It didn't roar. It simply entered.
Unseen.
A jinn. Ancient. Starved. And now... free.
It stood beside her, watching, invisible. She didn't feel its presence. Didn't notice the way the air cooled.
"I knew this was nonsense…" she muttered. "I can't waste time. Elyas needs me."
She packed the book, blew out the candle, and rushed back toward the hospital.
But she was no longer alone.
The jinn followed—silent as death.
She thought she had summoned salvation.
She had invited something else.
To be continued…