CHAPTER 1 : The visitor of the Night

The night had grown even heavier by the time Adili arrived home carrying Zawadi on his back. Sweat rolled down his face despite the freezing wind blowing through the dark streets. The faint smell of dried blood followed him with every step.

He stopped in front of their small rented house and knocked urgently.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Adila! Open the door!” he called out, his heart pounding with anxiety.

Quick footsteps echoed from inside. The door swung open, revealing Adila with fear written all over her face, her eyes still wet with worry.

“Adili! Why are you so late? We were worried sick—”

Her words suddenly stopped the moment she saw the girl on his back.

“Oh my God…” she whispered painfully. “Who is she?”

Before Adili could answer, his mother, Bi. Sauda, stormed out of her room wrapped in her khanga, her face burning with anger.

“What’s happening here at this hour?” she snapped.

The second her eyes landed on Zawadi, her expression darkened even more.

“So this is why you came home late?” she shouted. “You were out there with women?”

“Mother, it’s not like that—” Adili tried to explain.

“Then what is this?!” Bi. Sauda stepped closer, pointing at him angrily. “You bring another woman into this house in the middle of the night? Right in front of your wife? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

Adila stayed silent, her eyes lowered. Her lips trembled slightly, and Adili noticed how tightly her fingers were clasped together. She was trying not to cry.

Adili took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm.

“I found her in the forest,” he explained quietly. “She was trapped in a hunting trap. She was badly injured. I couldn’t leave her there.”

Bi. Sauda laughed coldly.

“You keep picking up strangers without knowing who they are! One day you’ll bring home demons instead of people!”

“Mother…” Adili said tiredly. “She’s hurt. Once she wakes up, she’ll leave.”

Bi. Sauda shook her head with disgust before turning away.

“Fine. But by morning, I don’t want to see her in my house. This is not a shelter for prostitutes.”

Adili clenched his jaw but said nothing. He knew arguing would only make things worse.

He carried Zawadi into the small guest room and gently laid her on the bed.

The moment he placed her down, a strange coldness spread through the room.

Like someone had opened a freezer.

Adila quietly followed him inside.

“Her injury looks serious…” she said softly, trying to hide the pain in her heart.

Adili grabbed the small first aid box from the cabinet.

“I’ll bandage her wound. You should get some rest.”

Carefully, he began cleaning the blood from Zawadi’s leg.

But every time his fingers touched her skin, an icy sensation shot through his body like electricity.

And something else felt wrong.

The bleeding had already stopped completely.

The blood looked almost… frozen.

This girl isn’t normal, he thought silently.

But he said nothing to Adila.

A Strange Night

Later that night, the family sat quietly around the table eating dinner.

No one spoke.

The only sounds were spoons tapping against plates and the rain beginning to hit the metal roof outside.

Finally, Bi. Sauda broke the silence.

“Adili,” she said sharply, staring directly at him, “I hope that woman leaves early in the morning. I don’t want trouble in this house.”

Adili lowered his eyes to his plate.

“She’ll leave, Mother.”

Adila remained silent.

But every bite of food tasted bitter in her mouth.

After dinner, everyone went to bed.

Adili lay beside Adila, but sleep refused to come easily. Thoughts of Zawadi haunted him—her cold skin, her strange eyes, and the fear he couldn’t explain.

Eventually, exhaustion dragged him into sleep.

The Dream

He found himself standing inside a thick white fog.

The cold there was worse than anything he had ever felt before.

In front of him stood Zawadi, dressed in a long white gown. Her hair floated gently around her as if blown by an invisible wind.

“Adili…” her voice sounded soft like music, yet it sent chills through his spine.

Slowly, she walked toward him and touched his face with her icy fingers.

Suddenly, intense heat rushed through his body like fire.

His heartbeat accelerated wildly.

The dream felt terrifyingly real.

The scent of night flowers filled the air around him.

Then—

Adili jerked awake violently.

“Ahhh!” he gasped, sitting upright in bed, drenched in sweat.

Beside him, Adila was still asleep peacefully.

Adili wiped his face with trembling hands.

“What kind of dream was that…?” he whispered.

But his heart still raced as if he had never left the dream at all.

Something was pulling him.

Slowly, he climbed out of bed and walked toward the guest room where Zawadi was sleeping.

The door was slightly open.

He was certain he had closed it earlier.

Carefully, he stepped inside.

Then froze.

The bandage he had wrapped around Zawadi’s leg was lying on the floor beside the bed.

And the deep wound—the one that had been bleeding heavily before—was completely gone.

Not even a scar remained.

“What…?” Adili whispered in horror.

Zawadi sat quietly on the bed staring directly at him.

Her dark eyes glowed faintly in the darkness like burning coals.

Adili stepped closer slowly, his legs feeling heavy.

“Your injury…” he said shakily. “How did it heal so fast?”

Silence.

“And how do you know my name?” he continued carefully. “Who are you really?”

Zawadi stared at him for a long moment, almost as if she could see every secret hidden inside him.

Then a strange smile appeared on her face.

“You really don’t remember me?” she asked softly.

Adili frowned.

“Remember what?”

Slowly, Zawadi raised her eyes toward him.

“You are my husband…”

Adili’s heartbeat stopped for a second.

“…and the father of my children.”

BANG!

The front door slammed violently from outside.

Bi. Sauda’s furious voice echoed through the house.

“ADILI! GET THAT WOMAN OUT OF MY HOUSE RIGHT NOW!”

Adili turned sharply toward the door.

Zawadi’s expression suddenly changed.

Her strange smile vanished.

And her eyes became darker than before.

“What?!” Adili whispered in complete shock. “What do you mean by that?”

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