Pride

When I heard this from the receptionist, a part of me was happy to learn about that. "finally, I can use this as an opportunity to test this power", I said to myself, thrilled.

And it being haunted for years meant it was strong.

My siblings were frightened after hearing this from the receptionist and my mother was dumbfounded by it.

The receptionist then changed the mood by then adding,"Oh tomorrow, a book launch will be held here. Since you were our first clients to come early today, we secured the front row seats for you". after he said this, he then handed us fliers of the event.

Both my mother and my siblings' attention were diverted from the haunted restroom to the event. I wasn't that surprised that they easily got interested since my mother loved us partaking in such events and my siblings were bookworms.

"Thank you for telling us, we appreciate it" my mother accepted.

"Thank you for choosing Aqua Hotel as your number one as well". As the receptionist said this, he alerted one of his collegue workers to assist us to our room.

After a few stair-climbing and turns we finally got to our room. The keys to it was handed to my mother and soon, our attendant left.

"I wonder how it looks", I whispered. I thought I wasn't heard but my mother heard me. She then smiled and unlocked the door to our room

"Woah !" My siblings exclaimed, rushing into the room.

I couldn't hold myself from opening my mouth in shock and amazement.

The room was huge, more like a master bedroom and a Hall fused. It had well designed furniture and enough beds for all of us. There was also a glass window, showing the wonderful outside view and the sea, near the beach. I could not resist staring out of the window. The room's white colour with golden coated furniture made the room more attractive.

"OMG my friends will be so jealous when they find out I came here." jeered Amanda as she stood by the window, taking a selfie.

My brother had already switched on the 'T.V' with the golden coloured remote at hand and my mother was setting up the place to suit her preference. When I saw everyone was busy, I decided to go to the restroom.

As I walked through the corridor with the directions to the restroom in my head, I came across a certain artifact which caught my eye. I was so mesmerized by it that I stopped to have a closer look at it.

It was a carved image of a man stretching his hand to a note beside it. I followed where it pointed to and read the note beside it.

"I am the light the shines by the day

The darkness that sweeps the land in the night

Fear me and you shall be spared

trust me and you shall be betrayed" it read.

"huh?", I said to myself, puzzled. It made no sense to me actually. Attached to it was a talisman with 'ɛŋɔ' written on it. Seeing this jolted my memory a little.

"It was found in an ancient ruined temple in the Eʋe land 35 centuries ago. This hotel saw it as a privilege to have it as an attraction here". I turned to see who was speaking to me and was confronted by a bald man who looked like he was in his late 30's. His eyes were narrow and he wore a black suit.

"I love it when children are interested in historical artifacts", he added smiling down at me and then patted me on the shoulder.

"T-Thank you Sir", I stammered, like I normally did to pretend like a fearful, innocent and naïve child.

"It's 12:28 am, you need to get some sleep for tomorrow kid. Goodnight", the man spoke in a low tone.

"Well I was actually going to the res-"

I was ignored completely as he left without turning back. Without thinking too much about him, I continued my journey down to the restroom.

There was a chain of restrooms, both for males and females. As I walked passed them, I came into contact with one odd one.

All the restroom doors were silver and sparkling with crystal door knobs but this one's door was made of iron, which was rusted and also had its nob affected by the rust. There were multiple warning notes attached to the door. From seeing the restroom, I could tell this was the haunted restroom. As curious as I was, I opened to see for myself. It was supposed to be locked but the old door had soon lost is strength because of the gradual rusting.

To my surprise, it looked more terrible than I expected. The whole restroom was dim, the pipe connections were all exposed and leaking, and there were dry blood stains on the floor, wall, toilets, and sinks.

As soon as I made my move farther into the restroom the door shut close behind me. "who's there?" I boomed but there was no answer.

A dark figure started moving round the room at a fast rate.

"Who's there!? show yourself. Be the tough demon you are and reveal yourself to me", I taunted.

"Hahahaha. Hehehe hahaha". a seemingly strange voice giggled. It sounded like a ten year old girl but the voice was was a little bit coarse.

"Oh, you want to to see me? I'll show you then… And soon after, I'll devour you." it giggled.

Suddenly, the spiritual aura became so great, my feets started trembling. Then, from the far of corner, something crept out, making the demon's form clear to me. It was a human-like demon; as the voice sounded like, a ten year girl looking demon, wearing an old fashion long dress which was tarted. It complexion was dark blue and one of its eyes was gouging out.

As soon as it showed itself, it quickly made a move for me, showing its huge hands with long, sharp, thick claws. She swung her hand at my direction, with the aim of slashing my head apart. If it wasn't for my good reflexes, I would have been dead. I quickly ducked, making her claws get stuck in the wall.

Finally, that was my chance to summon my sword and finish her off.

I went a few meters back to start the summoning process. But time wasn't on my side,"Come on, come on!" I screamed, impatient. The demon girl was almost successful in drawing her claws out.

But before I could complete the spell, it was already too late. The demon had freed itself and was ready to tear me apart.

"hehehe, I'll eat you now!". The mood on her face changed to a hungry one and her canines became wider and longer. Not only did her canines become larger but her entire body, including her claws.

"This is your last breath mortal!!", her voice became mature as she jumped in my direction with her mouth wide ready to devour me whole.

I had no choice but to give up and die a death without honour. Atleast I had 99 chances more.

The moment I closed my eyes to accept my fate, the words came back to me, they might have save me, or not but I could give it a try.

"Here goes nothing… ɛŋɔ."

My vision suddenly turned pitch black.

(third person narrative)

The leaves danced in perfect sync with the calm winds, birds chirped, and the soothing sound of running of water graced ears.

Melchiah was no longer in the familiar haunted restroom, but in a rather peaceful terrain with all the elements almost present. In front of him was a female sitting on a three-legged stool,

Melchiah finally opened his eyes, hoping his only trump card worked.

"huh?", his eyes widened."what happened? ...where am I?", Melchiah was puzzled.

" You are awake aren't you?"

"Umm... Yes". He wasn't quite sure what was going on or where he was. He kept on looking around, amazed by the terrain.

"You are here for answers"

"Is that a question or are you just saying?"

"Follow me", she offered Melchiah her hand, which started glowing. He had no choice but to do as she said.

As soon as they held hands, the whole environment changed to a disastrous event.

"Melchiah, do you remember this time?"

"Yes… t-that's when the demon Lord attacked."

"Good... during this time I was brought to life… by a priest in the sacred temple." She paused for a bit then continued,"I was supposed to help, but it was too late. I thought I won't be of any use but now I am. My name was a cryptic language to mean pride. 'ɛŋɔ' it was". She lectured.

She kept Melchiah's hand in her's and snapped her fingers eventually sending them back to their former location.

She then uttered,"Now Melchiah, I'm going to transfer all the knowledge of the book into your mind... You will remember some but you will have to suffer to remember all".

"Why?", Melchiah groaned.

"Because you can't get everything easily. You have to strive to get what you want."

"Ugh"

"But to thank you for using me finally, I will also give you some power".

"Yes, yes please do, I need it", Melchiah's eyes brightened.

"Of all these elements, which one do you prefer?", she looked up at the terrain.

"Well.... The wind is appealing, the water is smooth, but the earth has most advantages and it calms my soul. So I prefer the earth." he said, pleased with his answer.

"Then I shall make you able to master your earth element."

As soon as she said this, Melchiah's vision went black once again and he was strangely teleported back to his first location, the haunted restroom.

(First person narrative)

I came back to my present location and everything seemed to be in slow motion. My sword finally appeared in my hand and with everything moving so slowly, I had no time to waste. I immediately stood up and slashed the demon's neck. The blood splattered on the ground and my face as her body soon turned to nothing but dust.

"Finally." I said to myself walking out of the restroom. As I got out, there was a slight tremor and I could hear a strange sound which seemed like something huge had emerged from the earth.

"What was that!?", I asked in my head

Curious, I walked out of the restroom and was almost left deaf by the shouts and screams of people,

"Tch! What now!?"