Screams broke the peacefulness of the night. Terror flooded the estate as coldness gripped the hearts of the residence like a vice. Armed guards at their respective stations braced themselves, their senses kicked into overdrive at the sound of the scream.

Everyone was alert.

Footsteps pounded against the marble floors as a few guards stationed nearest to the area swiftly made their way down the hallway. The first to reach the door bulldozed his way into the room. "Miss!" The guards yelled, assessing the room for the danger.

With danger nowhere in sight, the guards sheathed their weapons.

"Nailah!" The patriarch of the house rushed into his daughter's quarters afraid for her. He was soon joined by the lady of the house, his other children and various persons he employed. 

Nailah, however, was speechless. The girl who was about to come of age sat frozen and terrified. Her eyes looked wildly into the distance, not even aware of the several presences in her room. The child was experiencing turmoil, vivid images recounted in her head and the more she saw the more afraid she became.

"Sweetheart" Ebonee reached out and brushed her knuckles against her daughter's cheek. The reaction she got floored her and everyone surrounding Nailah. The sudden stimulation to her face caused Nailah to lash out, slapping her mother's hand away. The girl's body jerked violently away trying to avoid who she thought was harmful to her.

"Nailah" Hasani's firm voice brought the girl from her frightened state. Her eyes darted around her room, quickly taking in the expressions of each person before her eyes landed on her father again. "What did you see?"

Nailah was familiar with the question, but no one was prepared for what she'd confess. The princess who had now begun her sixteenth summer would violently rock the foundation of the Jusar household.

Tears spilled from Nailah's eyes as she inhaled shakily. "I-It's after me."

"Who's after you, honey?" Ebonee asked taking her daughter's hand, completely misunderstanding her child.

Nailah started to sob as she recalled the scenes. "Death, mama. Death is coming for me."

From that moment the Jusar estate was under tight security. All external connections were temporarily severed with the exception of the streak of seers, psychics, fortune tellers and the like coming and going.

Each of them had one purpose, and each had the same conclusion. Nailah was destined to die. Hasani, left with no other choice, sealed his second daughter to the east wing of the estate, limiting her contact with only a select few in the estate.

Each night, Nailah had the same premonition, she quickly grew afraid of everyone and everything. She was trapped in an estate full of suspects and the people she trusted most were amongst the pool of potential killers.

So there she was with her wild eyes darting between her guard and the corner of the room where she pointed. "Miss Nailah" her guard called softly "there's nothing there. It's only you here."

Nailah shook her head, she knew what she saw and she saw something take a form in her room. "It was there. I know it was!" She cried.

People who had contact with Nailah realized that the young girl seemed to have lost touch with reality. She screamed on occasion ushering the guards to come in and fight the shadow she saw. They pitied her, assuming her senses were overloaded with the recurrent premonition she had. After all who wouldn't go crazy dreaming of their death each night?

The guard tried to comfort her as best he could until her parents showed up. The two leading people of the household didn't look as haggard as their daughter but the exhaustion they felt was clear as day.

They were frustrated with the situation and fearful for their daughter. They were doing the best they could yet it seemed it wasn't enough. Stepping through the magical barrier that was placed around Nailah's room Hasani gestured for the guard to leave. "Dad, I am not crazy" Nailah insisted.

"No one said you were honey" Hasani retorted while pinching the bridge of his nose. He and his wife were having unusual headaches since Nailah's premonition started. They chalked it up to the stress of everything.

"Your mouth doesn't have to, your eyes say it enough."

"We don't think you're crazy Sweetheart" Ebonee sighed "The situation is. Parents never want to hear that their child is going to die."

"But I am. The first princess of the house Jusar is destined to die" she scoffed.

"First? Don't you mean second?" Ebonee asked. Her question went unanswered when she felt a piercing pain in her head that made her fall onto Nailah's bed.

"Mum? What's happening?" Nailah panicked.

"She's remembering" the soft voice had the three occupants turning their gaze to the doorway. The youngest of the household, Kissa, stood fidgeting with a forlorn expression.

"Remembering what?" Hasani questioned as he stood.

"That the Jusar family only has two daughters."

Hasani's body went cold as dread rushed through his being. Sweat formed at his brow as his head started to hurt. His mind was telling him what his youngest daughter was saying wasn't true. It couldn't be true, his memories were proof. "No. Hasina is-"

"Is after Nailah. She's a shadow dad" Kissa stressed "ever since she showed up you all have treated her like she's been here from the beginning. Everyone included her in memories she's never been a part of. When I tried to get you guys to snap out of it you'd go into a trance for a few seconds then forget what I'd said. But now Nailah sees her too, and you're remembering-"

Nailah's screams for her sister cut through the room as she saw the dark smoke appear behind Kissa. However, no one was able to do anything as Hasina drove a sword through Kissa's back. The guards immediately went into action trying to catch who they now recognized as a stranger. But as Nailah had described, Hasina was a shadow and she moved like one. Or rather, her entire being was one, the guards were unable to touch her as she slithered through the protective barrier.

Ebonee and Hasani took guard and didn't hesitate to defend their daughter. They were soon joined by the bodyguards of the estate, as they all struggled to eliminate Hasina. However, Hasina made quick work of them.

 One by one, each guard collapsed from a fatal wound she had expertly dealt them. Hasani and Ebonee rushed at Hasina, the wife quickly dropped doing a sweeping kick causing Hasina to lose her balance while the husband delivered a punch to the chest immediately after, knocking Hasina down.

"Don't you dare get in my way!" Hasina screamed.

Hasani and Ebonee were thrown against the wall by the dark mass that emerged from Hasina's hands. The force broke some of Ebonee's ribs and Hasani's left arm but they stood once again regardless.

Nailah in a desperate attempt placed Hasina in a chokehold. "Dad! The sword!"

Hasani wasted no time in picking up the discarded weapon a damn charging for Hasina. Just as he was about to pierce her heart Hasina pleaded "Daddy stop!" With tears in her eyes and a broken expression, she had successfully caused memories she planted to surface in Hasani's mind resulting in his hesitation.

The mere second was all she needed to morph a portion of her body into a sharp object and pierce Hasani's liver with it. He collapsed much like his soldiers did, causing Nailah and Ebonee to rage. Hasina laughed as Nailah swung wildly, but her pleasure ceased when she realized she was in the middle of a trap. One that little Kissa had discreetly made in the chaos of the fight. "How does a child know such things?" Hasina glared.

Kissa shrugged as she smirked, "that isn't what you should be worried about."

Hasina's eyes darted to Ebonee who slowly approached her with a weapon in hand. Her breath quickened the more she tried to look for a way out. "S-Stop" she stuttered "you can't kill me, if you do that child will die" she bluffed while pointing to Nailah "you won't kill your daughters will you?"

Ebonee raised the weapon as she loomed at Hasina, memories of her time with the girl and memories that Hasina had fabricated came to the forefront of her mind, a safety net she had planted as a last resort. But this time it didn't cause the host to hesitate, instead, it was a source of anger that drove the host to kill her.

"You are not my daughter" Ebonee denied vehemently.

Fear had overwhelmed her as Ebonee swung the sword, there was no escaping death. She had finally realized that before she was beheaded.

The soul collector had extracted herself from the child she temporarily shared a body with. Kissa would not remember that an angel of death had inhabited her body for a time, but she will have a lasting sense of danger for the rest of her life. A sixth sense some call it.

The shadow, who now existed on the astral plane tried one last attempt at an escape "and where are you going?" Grim asked sweetly "let's chat. I want to know all about how you and your friends slithered your way out of hell. You won't disappoint me will you?"