The Past (15) Crystals

"To make crystals one and to cause gloom?" Delilah repeated after him, "ah...that doesn't make any sense. Maybe I should read it again." She suggested and looked up at the wall. Only to see the words slowly erasing itself. "It... It... how is that possible?"

"That means I'm right," he said. She saw him smile and all she just had to do was to shake her head, annoyed. She was regretting ever following, to be exact she was regretting ever knowing him.

"Since you are right, hurray! What do we do next?"

"Check around. If there are any crystals, pack all you can see."

"What?" She glared at him but breathed hard when she recalled that he couldn't even see her facial expression, "Just because you are older, you think you can order me around? I am the one doing all the work now right?"

She still kept looking at the blind boy who was not even a bit moved by what she was saying but instead was lost in thought. "How do I find crystals in a room this dark?" She mumbled to herself. As soon as she walked away from the blind boy to check if she could spot any crystal, the lamp was put off by someone unknown. By now it was really dark. "What is going on? Ezekiel? Are you there?"

She heard no voice. She shook, terrified, eyeing at the window. This house was truly, really haunted. She wanted to scream but she knew how useless it would be if she did. The house they were in now was like a secluded house. It was! Of course, it was a haunted house after all. "Eze...Kiel are you here? Can you hear me?" She stretched her hands ahead trying to move back to where she was and not hit her head in the process.

When she didn't hear anyone, she just stood still. She wanted to pray but she didn't think she would be able to pray silently? And would the monsters or ghosts come to attack her because she was praying? She paused a moment, could this be what Ezekiel goes through? Unable to see nothing but darkness like what was happening right now?

She felt a bit, less scared but sad until the only window that was in the room brightened up. It startled her at first before she immediately looked around for Ezekiel only to see him just standing beside her. "Where did you go to? How could you leave me alone in this terrible place?"

"I was here."

"I called you and you di-"

"It's still the same." He paused as if he was sad or thinking about something, "Everywhere went suddenly dark right? I know because it was suddenly cold. It was the exact thing that happened the first day I was here. The exact timing and temperature. After that day, I became blind. I became nocturnal. I only see at night, but whenever I came here, the once visible building became unseen." He rubbed his tears, "have you found any crystals?"

"Huh..." She nervously looked around again. She stared at where she had seen the shadows pass. Beside the wall was an old portrait of a hill. It was accompanied by mountains. She widened her eyes and she imagined perceiving fresh breeze from the top of the hill while taking a look at the small-looking surroundings. "The artist did a really good job!" She whispered.

"Where can I find crystals?" She looked sideways only to see some old newspapers. She walked to it and grabbed one of it. The newspaper was ruffled and had dust all over it. She felt a bit uncomfortable when she turned one page open. The smell alone was a bit suffocating. "Wow... Year 2002? That is about two decades ago, right?" She turned to the blind boy who didn't say anything. "Arrgh...does he really think he can order me around?" She mumbled and dropped the newspaper down.

The more she continued to look at the room, the more it did not seem like it was haunted. It looked like an old man's room. Newspapers, portraits, vintage destroyed furnitures. Wait...why were they destroyed furnitures? Could it be that the owner of this building was attacked? She breathed calmly. Her almost nine-year-old brain couldn't do anything to assimilate but still, she did not fail to think about what could have happened for this building to be secluded. And could it have been haunted? Could those shadows have been real? Or were her eyes just playing tricks on her? Impossible! She saw how golden writings appeared on the wall.

And about how the blind boy became blind? Everything was just complicated. She looked back only to see him walk to the wall where the golden writings was once there. "What are you doing?" She questioned but he didn't reply. She frowned before looking around again. What does he mean by crystals? Could there be real crystals here?

"Wow...I found...1-2-3-4... I've seen them!" She knelt down, counting the crystals she just saw from no where, lying beside the newspaper paper. She picked them up and walked to him.

"Drop them and put them together."

"How? They aren't sticky of course."

"Try it."

"You have been saying 'try it' since. Why can't you try it yourself?" She refused.

Ezekiel sighed and looked out for her hand while she just gawked at him. His eyes. "Give them and I will do it."

"Oh-kay..."

He collected them from her and knelt down. He picked them one after the other, even though he had no idea of the colours. He put them together and then smiled a bit, "I remember doing this when I was six. They are all squares, being fixed together would make them a cube, then we point it to where the gold written words had appeared the other time."

She looked at him pathetically. Hearing him repeatedly, saying that he wasn't blind was pathetic. She helped him take the cubes so that they wouldn't fall apart. "I would point it to the wall huh?"

"Yes. There would be an entrance and it would be the last room. That is also called the sacred room. Something bad always happens there. Something that could change our lives forever."

"What? Don't tell me you would regain your sight and I would become blind?"

"It is not as simple as that. All I know is that, no matter what happens, always remember that we came here together."

"Meaning?"

"Nothing." He shook his head. "Okay point the crystal cube-"

"I know."