A/N: Here is chapter two and hope you all like it. Sorry it's so short.
Sinbad awoke, startled, in the middle of the night, feeling like someone had just punched him in the face. Of course, nobody was there but Sinbad looked around his cabin to make sure. No. Nobody. Then what caused him to wake up? His imagination? Suddenly, something caught his attention. A soft sound. A voice. Sinbad sat up in his bed. Who could be up at this time of night?
He got up, took his sword and slowly walked out of his cabin and down the corridor. Everything was silent except for the small cabin emanating from a small cabin on the other side of the kitchen. The visitors' cabins were there and the only visitors on board at the moment were Rowan and Malika. Sinbad crossed the kitchen, still following the sound of the voice.
He stopped in front of the door. Malika's door. He slowly opened it and peeked inside. The little girl was sitting upright on her bed, legs crossed and her hands resting weakly on her knees. She was still talking but to whom? Sinbad pushed the door open a bit more and walked inside. The little girl was alone.
"What should I do then?" Malika asked.
Silence followed. Malika's interlocutor was probably informing her of what she should do. The little girl nodded.
"What about Rowan? He doesn't believe me."
Another silence. Malika smiled and Sinbad felt a chill run up his spine. It had been such a weird smile, a possessed smile. Was Malika in fact possessed?
"Sinbad is okay," she said giggling. "Wanna say hi?"
Malika rapidly turned to face Sinbad and what he saw sent even more chills up his spine. Malika's face was paler than before and her eyes had stopped moving. Sinbad examined her closely. She seemed to be in some sort of trance. He remembered Maeve being in one of those before but she had definetely not looked like this. He didn't know whether it was the moonlight shining in through the small window or just the trance that made Malika look so demonic. Maybe it was a little bit of both.
Their eyes met and Sinbad felt another blow in the face yet, he couldn't look away. Images of Maeve flew before his eyes like a really fast clip of snapshots. He could hear wind in his ears. As suddenly as it started, everything stopped. Malika smiled again, not at Sinbad even though she was looking at him. She seemed to be smiling at whoever it was she talking to.
The room was silent. Malika didn't move nor did she speak. She continued to stare at Sinbad. The little girl was giving him the creeps but for some reason, he found himself incapable of leaving the cabin. Something was holding him there. He was glued to the ground.
"Say hi Sinbad. Don't be shy," Malika then said.
"Say hi to who, Malika?" Sinbad replied, speaking for the first time.
Malika simply laughed.
Even her laugh gives me the creeps. He thought.
"To her, of course."
"Who's her?"
"Her."
That's all she seemd to be able to say. There was another minute of silence during which Malika seemed to be listening to her, whoever it was.
"She says not to be afraid." Malika said, in a rather soft voice. "She says that if you looked inside your heart, they will be free."
"Who's they and who's she?"
"Look inside your heart, you'll know."
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"Just look inside your heart."
Sinbad sighed, exasperated.
"You know Malika, you're a pretty stubborn kid. How do I look inside my heart and what am I supposed to even look for?"
"Do what I say!"
Her tone had been sharp. She was obviously frustrated. Or was it her who was frustrated? This was just too weird.
Sinbad closed his eyes and tried to look inside his heart. Feeling rather stupid, he opened them soon after.
"You're not trying."
"Malika, if you would only tell me what I am supposed to do, it would really help."
Wind picked up in the cabin as Malika stood up on her bed, still looking at Sinbad. Bolts of lightning flashed in her eyes, making the cabin windier and windier.
"You're upsetting her. You're not trying very hard."
Sinbad could barely hear the child through the wind. It was too loud.
"Malika, can't you do anything to stop this thing?" he yelled through the wind.
"Stop what?"
This girl is definetely crazy. He thought.
Then, out of nowhere, coming through the wind, he heard it: her.
"Let me talk to him!"
Sinbad's head shot up and and he looked at Malika. The wind ceased blowing and calmness settled back in the cabin. Sinbad felt his throat go dry and his voice cracked as he asked:
"Who said that?"
"I said it."
Malika's mouth had opened but it hadn't been her voice that had came out. Instead, it was a mix of Malika's own voice and some other woman's.
"Sinbad, please look inside your heart. I know you can do it. And once you succeed, we shall be free."
The woman's voice almost sounded desperate.
"Who are you?"
"Look inside your heart, Sinbad. For me. For us." The woman's voice said before fading out.
Malika smiled and sat back down
"I'll tell him it was a witch." She whispered before laying down on her bed.
The spell that had glued Sinbad's feet to the ground vanished. He slowly walked up to Malika and looked at her. She was asleep without a doubt. She looked so peaceful and Sinbad decided to let her sleep. He went back to his cabin.
He stayed awake for the rest of the night, not able to fall asleep. He replayed tonight's event in his head over and over again, trying desperately to make some sense of it. Who had Malika been talking to? Who had talked through her? Why had that person wanted him look inside his heart? How was he even supposed to do that and who was he supposed to be freeing by doing so? All of this was driving him crazy. He knew he would never get the answers he needed unless he talked to Malika about it. Finding finally some kind of peace, he fell asleep a few hours before dawn.
Small A/N: Just thought I'd mention that I accept anonymous reviews so feel free to drop me a line or two on what you think of this story so far.