The Workplace

I was already in my apartment but still couldn’t shake the feeling I felt in the office. Honestly, I really didn't know what to do or what to believe in. Was it a dream or a vision? Was it really Maria, the girl that I saw on the mirror? Was it for real???

I didn't sleep well that night. Whenever I tried to, the image of Maria being helpless started to form in front of my closed eyelids. So I gave up sleeping. I sat up, went downstairs and drank hot milk. Suddenly, I felt my body became very tired but relaxed and slept on my couch at the living room. I was drifting into darkness when I heard chanting...

*********

Maria's father carried her to a hidden altar in their garden. This altar was covered with ivy and moss. In the morning, it's hard to find it because of the green sticky moss. But right now, in the middle of the night, it was covered with white satin sheet; several black and white candles were lit around the stone alter and you can smell the strong scent of incense surrounding the place.

The chant was in Latin and it was getting louder and louder as Maria was being carried towards the rock altar. The people, who were waiting there, stopped chanting when her dad lay her down on the cold stone. A tall person who was wearing a white cloak walked towards the altar and said in a loud voice.

"The time has come to deliver our gift to our lord! This is the perfect time for all of us especially those who are willing to sacrifice their own flesh and blood to our Dark Master. He will surely blessed you with riches and power," turning to Maria's parents then to the mass of people in the garden.

"So my dear followers of the Dark Master, behold, our gift!" He took out a dagger from his sleeve and showed it to the people. They started the chanting again.

Maria was gaining consciousness slowly and tried to gasp for air. Her eyes were open now and saw what was happening. She tried to sat down but couldn't. Her hands were tied on the wooden poles placed above her and her feet were tied together on another wooden pole below her. She tried to scream for help. Her throat was still very dry. She looked around and saw her mom. Her mom was looking at her. She cried for help to her silently but it seemed she didn't hear or see her. She called her mom again with a soft whimper and this time she went towards Maria. She was smoothing her long black hair and smiled at her. She kept on doing that and said nothing. Her mom put her hands back on her sides and looked above her. Maria turned to the person her mom was looking at. She suddenly screamed and felt the dagger went inside her towards her heart. A tear went down on her cheek...

*********

I screamed and sat back on the soft couch where I slept in earlier. I was perspiring and my heartbeat was fast. I was about to get up when I felt a ghostly hand stopping me from doing it. I turned to my right and saw Maria. I fell down from the couch while she was staring at me.

God! No! Please do not let her kill me, I prayed.

She knelt down beside me and whispered in my ear. The living room went to a whirl and suddenly I saw darkness once again. When I woke up, the sunlight was already streaming from the kitchen window and was shining brightly on my face. I covered my eyes and sat up. I was still on my couch and felt my head throbbing. I rubbed my forehead and the memories of last night's encounter with Maria came back. I touched my neck and felt the necklace.

So, it wasn't a dream. It was real, I thought. What happened?

Dazed, I went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for myself. It was Saturday so I had enough time to ponder on what happened. I took out a box of cornflakes from the cupboard and the milk from the fridge. I sat down on the chair and put my breakfast into a big bowl.

While I was eating, I remembered having the nightmare and waking up. Afterward, Maria was with me in the living room and told me something about a book and the altar in the building. Then, she gave me this necklace. I didn't understand why she gave me this but I liked it.

The necklace was silver and had a star-shaped pendant. The pendant was cold against my skin. I was thinking about what happened when suddenly an idea came to me. I called my friend who was a psychic and told her about what happened. She was silent for a while and told me to go to her house as soon as possible.

"I will tell you what to do when you get here", she said. After ten or fifteen minutes, I was at her front door. I hadn't knock yet when she sprang the door open. She didn't give me a chance to explain my situation. She started giving me and putting things in my bag like incense, candles, holy water, a piece of paper and a hammer.

"What will I do with these," I asked.

She sighed and explained. "When you get to the sacrificial place, which is your office building at your office floor, you light up the four white candles which represent the four directions: north, south, east and west first. Then light up the red incense next. Do not forget to count one to ten for timing is very essential here. If you lose your timing, you have to start all over again. Say the chant ten times loudly and splash holy water on the stone or rock or whatever it is. Make sure you follow all the procedures... But beware; something may happen during the procedure. It could be something out of this world. Remember, if something bothers you while you were chanting, just continue until the ritual is finished. Do not mind whatever it will bother you. After that, use this hammer to smash the stone."

The drive to the place was quite short. I was already in the office building in less than half an hour and I went up to the floor where our office was located. I stared at the mirror very hard as if I could break it with my mind. Then I noticed, for the first time, that there was a hallway inside it. I tried to look for an opening or a latch when I suddenly heard something snapped softly in between the wall and the mirror. I pushed it open lightly and looked inside before going in. It was dark; too dark for me. Glad that I bought a flashlight, I opened it and the light showered in front of me. I saw that the hallway was made of cobblestones and smelled like rotten wood and moss.

I continued to walk until I reached a dead end. I started to panic when I stumble upon a small rock on the floor. It was like a small altar or something. One thing I also noticed was there were old burnt candles standing beside it. This was the place! However, it was not like what I had in mind.

Scared to death, I removed the candles from my backpack and put them on the ground. I fumbled with my matchsticks and had trouble holding them. After placing and lighting the white candles, I used the incense next and counted one to ten. I stopped and observed the surroundings.

Nothing happened. Not yet. Thank God.

So I started to chant again when a strong wind from nowhere almost knocked me down on the floor. I remembered what my friend told me. I continued to chant and I heard somebody shrieking and shouting.

Shaking with fear, I was glad that I was at the last part of the chant. I splashed holy water on the rock. The shrieking became louder this time. I was about to smashed down the stone with the hammer my friend gave me when a cold evil hand suddenly grasped it; trying to stop me in hammering it to bits. I turned around and saw Maria's dad. He was really crossed with the idea of stopping his evil deed. I was frightened when he looked at me with those menacingly red eyes. I wasn't able to move. I was paralyzed from head to foot. He was about to strike me with the hammer when it stopped in mid-air. He tried to bring down the dangerous thing to me but it just stopped again.

"Hurry now! I can’t hold my papa’s arms any longer. Get the hammer from his grasp and smash the altar. Now," I heard Maria's voice telling me.

Without any hesitation, I removed the hammer from her dad's hand and started to smash the stone. I put all my strength into it. The shouts and shrieking became piercingly louder this time. I continued to smash it until silence fell around the room... or dungeon. I saw the stone was in bits now. Wanting to get out from the dreadful place, I dropped the hammer and went out. A bright light from the window welcomed me as I moved from the mirror and closed it. I was so tired and frightened; I sat down on the hallway floor and wept silently.

At last, it was finished. I wiped my eyes with my dirty hands and looked at the mirror. Instead of seeing my dirty face, I saw Maria who was smiling back at me while her mouth was forming the words "thank you". I smiled back at her with tearful eyes and then she vanished.