25 years later.
Lady Rebecca sat in her study reading a romance novel with an expression of distaste.
Most women who aren't romantic read mostly romantic novels, she thought.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Lady Rebecca answered.
Her manservant, Faisal, opened the door and entered the room.
"The party has begun Madam." The servant announced. "Lady Amna has also graced us with her presence."
She took off her horn-rimmed reading glasses, and stared at the butler with a bewildered expression.
"To say it's been a long time would be an understatement." She said getting up. "Lead the way Faisal."
She followed her servant down the steps to the main hall which was flooded with guests. Many of them cast her welcoming smiles but she concentrated hard to find her long-gone friend. She couldn't believe her eyes when she found her. It was Lady Amna but she looked unchanged by the past 25 years.
No, this can't be, she thought squinting her eyes. This must be a dream
Finally, she reached the hall. She passed through the array of guests lined up to greet her. She stopped dead in her tracks when she finally reached Amna. Everyone now stared at the new guest. Lady Amna smiled at them. She took a glass of wine from the tray a waiter was carrying. And raised it above her head.
"It is good to be back." She said taking a short sip of the drink.
Rebecca's aunt, Lady Sibyl, went over to Amna. She placed her gloved hands on Amna's soft cheeks.
"Is it really you?" Lady Sibyl asked in a low voice.
Lady Amna politely removed her hands. "Haven't you heard the rumors, Lady Sibyl?"
"Yes I have. But I thought they were only rumors." Lady Sibyl said with a sparkle in her eyes. "You haven't aged a bit."
Lady Sibyl was right. Amna was supposed 45 years old. But she still looked as if she were 20 years old. Or even younger.
"Rebecca, you've gotten older." Lady Amna said as they exchanged kisses on the cheeks.
"And you've gotten younger." Lady Rebecca said with a smile.
Suddenly, Lady Amna's eyes shifted towards a familiar face staring at her. She almost dropped her drink as the figure approached her and Lady Rebecca.
"Aren't you a bit young to be my mother's best friend?" The young lad asked.
Lady Amna didn't answer at first. She was sure that Lord Saif was dead. Mahmood had disposed of the remains in front of her on that rainy night.
"Don't be rude to our guest, young man." Lady Rebecca scolded him. "This is my son, Lord Colin."
"Pleased to meet you." Lady Amna said taking a sigh of relief.
He looks like Saif's doppelganger, Lady Amna thought.
Lord Colin took her hand and kissed it gently. "The pleasure is all mine."
***
Lady Amna gazed at her reflection in her dressing table mirror. She adjusted her expensive earrings. Her own beauty made her blush.
There were two knocks on the door.
"Come in Mahmood." Lady Amna said.
He did as was told.
"Madam Amna. Lady Rebecca's son Lord Colin is here to see you." Mahmood announced.
"Tell him that I won't be too long." Lady Amna said.
She saw Mahmood's concerned reflection in her mirror. He gave a hesitant nod then left the room.
Lady Amna bit her upper lip. She decided to put on some maroon lipstick. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from outside the room.
She stood still for a moment. Then continued putting on her make-up. Putting down her lipstick, she searched for her eyeliner. She found it and looked up to see Lord Saif's reflection in the mirror.
She gasped and shifted in her seat. She closed her eyes praying the figure would disappear.
"Amna. It's only me." A familiar voice said.
She slowly opened her eyes. It was Lord Colin. She exhaled a deep breath of relief.
"I told you I won't be too long." Lady Amna said angrily.
"I told that to Mahmood too." He said walking over to her with a lusty look in his dashing eyes.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him. "Is your mother here with you?."
"She's busy." He said then touched her cheek. "I think we're the same age. Kiss me darling."
He moved his face closer, reaching for her lips. She moved away from him. "You're too young Colin."
He suddenly pushed her against the wall. His face suddenly put on an inhuman expression. "Then what are you, huh?" He pushed her hard against the wall.
"How dare you talk to me like that." Lady Amna said furiously."I'll tell your mother."
"Tell her what?" Lord Colin mocked. "That you tried seducing her only son."
"Get off of me!" She shouted scratching him on the face.
He finally let her go and held the area that the woman had dug her nails into. Amna then pushed her nails into her cheek. They formed the same cut like the one he had. Slowly, the marks on her skin began to disappear. Until it was completely healed.
"What the hell are you?" Lord Colin asked backing away from her.
"Don't you want me now?" She asked seductively.
And she got a quick reply when Lord Colin ran away from the room.
***
"I do not know what to do Father." Lady Amna sobbing into a handkerchief.
She was sitting in a confessional.
"Your soul has been possessed by evil." The priest at the other side of the small window told her. "Only you can erase that evil."
"It's not my soul." She said. "It's my face!"
The priest turned to look at her through the small opening. He was shocked because he had seen the exact same woman 25 years ago, and she looked now exactly as she did before. He shifted his gaze back onto the floor. Lady Amna, feeling ignored, got up from her seat and exited the room. She made her way to the front entrance of the church.
She made her way down the steps. Suddenly, a black car parked right in front of her. Two bulky men wearing black masks with holes for the eyes and the mouth came out. One of them grabbed her by the arms.
"What is the meaning of this!?" She cried out.
She struggled to break free of his grasp, but the stranger managed to pull her into the car's backseat along with him, and the other took hold of the wheel.
***
Lady Amna was taken out of the car. She was blindfolded so she couldn't tell where she was. The two men dragged her across a rocky path. Her hair was pressed against a beaded cover as she was taken inside a room. They stopped. She tried to make something out of the blackness.
"Good. You managed to catch her." A familiar voice said. "Take her blindfold off."
They did as they were told. Madam Natasha was the first face Lady Amna saw. Another figure, in dark-brown robes and wearing a hood that concealed most of the face, stood next to Madam Natasha.
"You!" Lady Amna exclaimed. "You're that mad fortune teller."
"How can I be insane when what I predicted came out to be true?" Madam Natasha protested.
Age hadn't been kind to the gypsy whose hair had become white, with deep wrinkles below her eyes.
"Look if I had offended you or anything, I apologize." Lady Amna said. "It is rude to pick people up unexpectedly. Especially when they are departing from the church."
"I'm certain that you had a whole lot of confessions to make." The hooded figure said.
The voice sounded recognizable to Amna.
"Did you mention Saif in the list?" The hooded figure asked removing the veil.
"Michelle?" Lady Amna whispered.
It was her niece. She had grown up to become an attractive woman. She stared angrily at her bewildered aunt.
"Why do you look so surprised Aunt Amna?" Lady Michelle asked. "God has sent you here for us to exorcise the devil inside of you."
"You're my niece. Don't you have any respect?" Lady Amna asked.
"Did you show respect to your beloved nephew when you killed him?" Lady Michelle asked.
"I didn't-"
"The last time I met him. He said that he would be going to your mansion." Michelle explained.
Amna turned to run away. But the two muscular hoodlums stopped her.
"Bring her over here." Madam Natasha said.
They dragged her across the room. And shoved her on top of the table in the middle of the room. They held her wrists and ankles down. She struggled to break free. Her head was hanging over the edge of the table. She saw the lamp's light deflecting onto Michelle's face. Her emerald eyes looked horrific in the dimly-lit room.
Madam Natasha came over holding a sizeable container.
"What are you idiots doing?!" Amna shrieked.
"Redeeming your soul." Madam Natasha said.
She tilted the container in her grasp. The boiling water fell like a waterfall over Amna's face. Her features started burning. She couldn't scream. The liquid got inside her throat. Her skin started peeling away. Her features were slowly becoming horrid.
The masked men let go of her. She fell off the table. She hid her face behind her hands and sat up on the cold floor.
"Aunt Amna, would you please be as kind to show us your face without make-up." Michelle teased.
Lady Amna stood up. She slowly turned around and removed her hands from her face. To reveal her perfectly healed face. The group standing in front of her were all awestruck.
"She is a demon." One of the men whimpered.
Both men exited the hut, leaving Madam Natasha and Lady Michelle alone with Amna. Madam Natasha reluctantly approached Lady Amna. She touched her skin. It felt warm underneath her fingers.
"What... what have you done to yourself?" Madam Natasha asked.
"She must be killed!" Michelle took out a switchblade.
She ran towards Amna holding it above her head. Amna grabbed Madam Natasha and held her in front of herself like a human shield. Michelle accidentally plunged the knife into the gypsy's heart.
Lady Amna pushed the dead woman towards Michelle and both of her opponents fell to the ground. Surprisingly, Michelle managed to swiftly slither out from underneath the dead weight.
"Look what you made me do!" Michelle growled angrily. "Wherever you go death follows."
She took out the knife from the dead medium then raised it at her aunt again. Without any hesitation, Lady Amna grabbed the container off the table and sprayed what was left of its contents onto Michelle's face.
The knife fell out of her hand. She pressed her palms against her burning face. Screaming in agony, she fell backwards on to the floor, while her skin was getting peeled off by the liquid.
"Now, don't you wish your beloved Saif was here to see you without your make-up on?" Lady Amna mocked.
She gave one last glance to her howling niece, then after dropping the container, she walked towards Michelle and knelt down next to her.
"Michelle, how did you find out about Lord Saif's murder?" Lady Amna had taken the fallen knife and pointed it towards her weakened niece.
"M-Madam N-Natasha had envisioned it." The poor girl stuttered.
"That is all?" Lady Amna inquired.
"Please don't kill me." Michelle sobbed. "I'll tell you everything I know."
"What else do you know Michelle?" She held the knife just inches away from her niece's jugular.
"Natasha told me she saw Lady Rebecca reading a letter. She envisioned it on the night of your return." Michelle drew a hand out towards her aunt. "Please, Aunt Amna. Fix me like you have yourself. Give me your blessing."
"That's where you're sadly mistaken my child." She slit Michelle's throat and watched those emerald eyes slowly lose their light. "It's not a blessing. It's a curse."
***
Lady Amna had gotten into a taxi then visited the nearest tailor's shop that she owned to get dressed up again. From thereon, she debated whether to go back home, or visit Rebecca directly. She was also surprised not to have found Mahmood near the church where she had last seen him.
Must be with some old fling, she thought when the taxi stopped outside the church.
"Driver, take me to the Parker Mansion."
Thirty minutes later.
"Greetings, Lady Amna." Faisal opened the mansion's front door.
"Hello, Faisal." She gave him a warm smile. "Is Rebecca home?"
"I must say I'm surprised that you are here Madam." The manservant remarked. "Just about an hour and a half ago Lady Rebecca had requested the driver to take her to your mansion."
"Oh, I did not know that." Lady Amna said hiding her surprise. "Good day Faisal. I'll just be taking the taxi back home then."
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