23/08/2026
PART 2….
The next morning, I woke up with one thought in my mind.
The red towel.
I opened my bedroom door slowly.
And there it was.
Lying directly in front of my door.
The same red towel my father had tied around his waist the previous night.
I stared at it.
I didn’t touch it.
I didn’t even want to go near it.
Then I noticed something that made my stomach turn.
There was mud on the towel.
Fresh mud.
But my room was inside the main house.
How had it gotten there?
I quickly stepped over it and ran downstairs.
My father was already at the dining table, eating breakfast.
He looked at me.
Then his eyes moved to the empty space beside me.
“Where is the towel?”
My heart skipped.
“What towel?”
He stopped eating.
“The red towel.”
I stared at him.
“You know about it?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he calmly put down his spoon.
“Did you go to the shed last night?”
I remained silent.
My father looked at me for a long time.
Then he whispered,
“You shouldn’t have followed me.”
My hands became cold.
“So you knew I was there?”
He nodded.
“I saw your shadow through the window.”
I couldn’t believe it.
“Why didn’t you stop me?”
He looked away.
“Because I wanted to know if it was finally time.”
“Time for what?”
He didn’t answer.
I became angry.
“You bow before a statue every night, Daddy! You tie a red towel around yourself and whisper strange things. What am I supposed to think?”
My father’s eyes filled with tears.
For a moment, he looked less like my father and more like a frightened old man.
Then he said,
“That statue has been in this family longer than you know.”
“Who brought it here?”
“My father.”
“My grandfather?”
He nodded.
“Why?”
My father stood up and walked toward the window.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered,
“Because your grandfather was dying.”
I frowned.
“Dying from what?”
“The doctors couldn’t explain it.”
He paused.
“His body was becoming weaker every day. He couldn’t walk. He couldn’t eat. He was losing his mind.”
“And the statue saved him?”
My father shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Something saved him.”
I felt a chill.
“What something?”
My father refused to answer.
Instead, he walked to an old wooden cabinet and removed a dusty photograph.
He placed it in front of me.
It was a picture of my grandfather when he was young.
He was standing beside the same statue.
But there was something written on the back.
I turned it over.
My grandfather had written:
“I gave my word. My ß|00d|!ne will repay the debt.”
I looked at my father.
“What debt?”
He took the photograph from my hands.
“Some promises don’t end when the person who made them di£s.”
I suddenly remembered what I had heard the previous night.
“Please don’t take another one.”
I looked at him.
“Who did it take before?”
My father went completely silent.
“Daddy?”
His eyes became watery.
Then he said,
“Your uncle.”
I froze.
I had an uncle I had never met.
My father had always told us he d!£d when he was young.
But suddenly, everything felt different.
“What happened to him?”
My father sat down.
“He disappeared.”
“How?”
“We woke up one morning and he was gone.”
“Did you search for him?”
“We searched everywhere.”
“Did you ever find him?”
My father shook his head.
“No.”
Then I noticed something.
His hands were trembling.
“But why did you say, ‘Don’t take another one’?”
He looked directly at me.
“Because last month, I heard the statue call your name.”
My entire body went cold.
“My name?”
He nodded.
“Three times.”
I couldn’t speak.
Then my father leaned closer and whispered,
“That is why I bow every night.”
“Why?”
“Because I have been begging it to leave you alone.”
I felt tears in my eyes.
“But why would it want me?”
My father looked at me for a long time.
Then he said something I was never prepared to hear.
“Because you are the first girl born into this family in thirty-two years.”
I didn’t understand.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
My father didn’t answer.
He simply looked toward the back of the compound.
Toward the shed.
Then he whispered,
“Tonight, don’t sleep in your room.”
“Why?”
His voice dropped.
“Because whatever is inside that shed…”
He swallowed hard.
”…has already found a way into the house.”
That night, at exactly 1:17 a.m., I woke up to a sound coming from the corridor.
Someone was walking slowly toward my bedroom.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Then the footsteps stopped outside my door.
I held my breath.
There was no knock.
No voice.
Just silence.
Then I heard something being dragged across the floor.
I slowly looked underneath my door.
And my heart almost stopped.
A red towel was slowly being pulled away from my bedroom door.
To be Continued…
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