Tom opened his eyes with difficulty. His head felt incredibly heavy, and a throbbing swelling had formed at the back of his skull.
Jasmine leaned over him, her voice tight. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
Tom pressed his upper teeth against his lower lip, bracing against the pain, before replying, "Sorry for what?"
"Jasmine is the one who hit you," Lona said angrily, standing over him like a shadow. "She was right next to you when you pointed that gun at us. Have you lost your memory, or what?"
Jozef stepped forward, adding, "You seem to have lost your mind entirely. Can you explain why you pointed a weapon at us?"
Tom struggled to his feet, his lips moving slowly as he tried to steady himself. "It was just my imagination," he muttered. "You worried me when you started talking about cannibals and all that... and then, hearing that scream, I just became agitated."
Jasmine handed him a glass of water. As Tom drank, Jozef leaned in, his eyes narrowing. "Why didn't you just confess?"
Tom raised his eyebrows, setting the glass down. "Confess what?"
Jozef let out the exact same eerie chuckle he had unleashed during dinner. "Nothing at all. It's just that... with your extraordinary hearing, we already know."
Tom’s breath quickened, a cold dread washing over him. "You... you meant to scare me," he said, his voice trembling.
"Yes," Jozef replied with a sinister smile.
"But what about the screaming?" Tom demanded, looking around the room.
Lona shrugged coldly. "Just a recording device to capture your attention."
"Then what do you want from me?" Tom asked, his heart pounding.
Suddenly, the three of them burst into merry, chilling laughter. Jasmine turned and walked into the kitchen to prepare coffee, leaving the couple to watch Tom like a specimen. Spread across the table were their research papers on paranormal phenomena. Among them were complex scientific documents detailing how to psychologically anesthetize a victim before conducting experiments on them.
Tom stared at the scattered research papers written in a strange, intricate script. When he demanded to know what they were, he realized the truth with a jolt of horror.
The papers were written in Arabic.
_________The End
Written by Lama, mother.dragons.
Photo by pixby
Link
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/little-red-riding-hood-wolf-9300338/