Silent Screams episode 1

SILENT SCREAMS
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Sequence 1
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It must have been hours later when Leila opened her eyes she looked around the room trying to make sense of where she was. Leila blinked in confusion when she realized she was lying in her bed.
She closed her eyes for a brief second and her mind took her straight back to that morning, she remembered getting into the shower, then the intense pain In her tummy and speaking of the pain, she had never felt such kind of pain before not even her period cramps were that painful. And then she remembered the evil laughter, it seemed so real, she couldn’t have imagined it.
‘There has to be a logical explanation to all this,’ she thought
Sliding out of bed, Leila realized she was still dressed in her nightgown. Who had dressed her up? Everything felt bizarre, a panic coursed through her as she scampered to the bathroom expecting to find a mess on the floor but to her surprise the bathroom was spotless and there wasn’t a hint of blood anywhere on the floor.
She trembled, ‘Was it possible that she had been dreaming all along?’
She wanted to tell herself that everything she thought had happened wasn’t real, that it was a bad dream.
Determined to put it all out of her mind, she splashed some water on her face. She went back to her room and started changing & once she was all dressed up she walked out of her room and went to the kitchen.
The house seemed quieter than normal, ‘where is everyone?’ she wondered.
She made herself a cup of coffee and walked over to the table, she set her coffee down before sitting down herself.
As Leila sipped her coffee, a chill ran through her & she felt a gloomy presence in the room. It was as if someone was watching her from behind, she jerked around but there was no one there.
Then all of a sudden, she heard her name ‘Leila” it said in a whisper. It was a strange man’s voice.
For a moment she went blank trying to figure out if she was hearing correctly.
‘Leila,’ she heard it again from a distance behind her & this time a little louder.
A stroke of fear swept through her veins, she dropped her cup of coffee and let out a scream.
Her mother and her sister who had just walked into the house came rushing into the kitchen when they heard her screaming.
She was lying on the floor shaking in fear while covering her ears.
‘Hun what’s wrong?’ Her mother asked kneeling beside her.
Leila’s heart was beating out of her chest, she had never been this afraid before.
‘What happened?’ Her mother worriedly asked again.
Leila looked up at her,’ I heard a strange voice calling me, someone was watching me.’
Her younger sister Jada let out a laugh, ‘Stop watching horror movies.’
‘I know what I saw and heard,’ Leila said defensively
Her mother could hear the terror in Leila’s voice and she had no doubt her daughter was telling the truth.
‘There is no one here baby I am sure you just imagined it.’
‘Drama Queen,’ Jada exclaimed
‘Jada please,’ her mother scolded
‘Fine,’ she raised her hands up in form of surrendering before walking to her room.
‘Mum I swear there was a strange voice calling me.’
‘Oh hun,’ her mother reached over and engulfed her in a tight hug. Leila clung to her mother as if her life depended on it. An awkward silence filled the air and no one said anything for a while.
‘Mum,’ she cleared her throat, several minutes later.
‘Yes baby.’
‘What if I am a cursed child?’
Her mother gave her a weird look, ‘Leila what makes you think you are cursed?’
‘The nightmares have started recurring and now I am hearing things.’
‘I don’t think you are cursed Leila.’
‘Then what’s happening to me?’ she asked, her voice breaking.
‘Nightmares have nothing to do with being cursed you probably don’t get enough sleep.’
Leila shook her head, ‘We both know I always sleep on time.’
‘You are not cursed Leila I am sure there is an explanation for all this but you are not a cursed child.
‘Okay,’ she stood up.
‘Leila!’
‘What?’
‘Take it easy on yourself this is just a phase it will pass.’
‘I will be in my room if you need me,’ she walked out before her mother could respond.
Leila walked into her room and sat on the edge of the bed with one leg under the other, she started to rethink the events of that day but as she was in deep thought, her phone rang.
She grabbed her phone and placed it on her right ear, ‘Hello,’ she said
‘Stay away from my brother you piece of garbage,’ the voice on the other end of the line said in an annoying voice.
‘Audrey what’s the meaning of this?’ she asked
‘nyo nyo nyo! Idiot just stay away from my brother, I don’t want him getting killed because of you.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Mtchew,’ she clicked her tongue and hung up the phone.
Leila shook her head in disbelief, ‘what was that all about?’ she thought to herself. She stared at her phone for a few minutes before she decided to call Owen, her boyfriend, they had been secretly going out for six months now.
Their relationship was kept a secret because Leila’s parents had made it clear she wasn’t allowed to date despite being 24.
‘The dialed number takes no incoming calls,’ was the response she got on the other side of the line.
Frustrated, Leila stood up and slid on her slippers, she got some money from her purse and put it in her pocket then she walked out of her room.
‘Where to?’ her mother who was lying on the couch in the living room asked.
‘I am going out for a couple of minutes, I need some air.’
‘Alright, be safe and come back soon.’
‘Okay,’ she half smiled and walked out.
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To be continued