The Tale of Almatahee

This all started after I’d enrolled at school. It was an international school, but much of the resources and funding were lost after a war ravaged the country. Luckily, my friend group all happened to be in the same class. The near-legendary group consisted of me and four boys, Jason, Fahad, Todd, and Levi. Bear with me, this will be a long story. Even at a young age, we always felt our school was slightly off. There was always this strange atmosphere in the class. Every single class had the chairs arranged in a square position, with a large outer square and inner square. Whenever a student strayed or changed the arrangements they were viciously scolded, and when asked would wither get a fearful “I can’t tell you” or an agressive dismissal, dependent on the teacher. Every few months, students or teachers would vanish from the school, and even though the official reasons were cited as “moving schools”, the people who disappeared would have never brought it up in the days leading up to the incidents. Due to the situation, recovering from war, the government just couldn’t be bothered to investigate some random school because they just had so many things to focus on
There were several rules that didn’t make sense to us, including “don’t use the bathroom for longer than a lesson’s time”, “don’t look into the mirror for too long”, “always close the door when you walk in” and “don’t turn off the lights one by one”. Every Tuesday the head of our school, Mr. Tarek would lumber into our classroom and waste the first hour of the day explaining the rules we’ve heard for the umpteenth time. He appeared to be advanced in age, and walked like he was about to collapse at any moment. His knees rattled with each step, almost like he was on the bare stumps of his feet. His eyes had an odd glare to them, and he constantly spoke like he was about to have a stroke. Nobody seemed to like the man, teachers and students alike but we were always forced to listen to him ramble about his unnecessarily restrictive and random rules. 
On a particularly cold Tuesday in fourth grade, Jason overheard a conversation during recess, and decided to relay the information behind us.
“Behind the school is a large compound that appeared to be abandoned,” he began. “I’ve heard there are urban legends surrounding this place” Todd and Levi were both new to the culture, and were willing to hear him out. Fahad was the more religious kid in the group, and did not seem enthusiastic. 
“Oh don’t worry,” Todd told him with a slight shove, picking up on the expression of discomfort. “It’ll be a short trip.”
I was indifferent. As we had just begun to enter our teen years, we had concerned ourself with “building our legacy.” Fahad would eventually give in to the pressure, as being perceived as a coward in your group at age 11 was not something he was willing to let pass. I did not feel this was the best idea for a trip but at the same time we were curious, and had just begun to develop our angst rebellious adventurous teen personality. 
“Thursday,” he finally said 
At sunset, we gathered at the closed school gates, hiding behind bricks and rubble to prevent being caught by the remaining staff. Of course, I was armed with an essay of excuses in case our plan went sour. We confirmed that all the facilities in school were empty, we made our next move. We advanced towards the left flank of the school, our backs pressed flat against the brick wall so that we wouldn’t be spotted out in the monotonous sandy landscape. 
“This is the place,” said Jason, gesturing at what seemed like a village that a construction company had forgotten about. Most of the buildings were incomplete, the roads were unpaved roads, and windows with no glass. There were about ten buildings and only four had doors. Todd, consumed by his desire to be manly was the first to step in. Fahad was next, followed by Jason then me and finally Levi. The first thing I felt was the atmosphere being incredibly uncomfortable. I felt a great unease the second we were in. 
“It doesn’t feel…right,” Levi finally spoke. Even without a response, it felt as if each of us acknowledged his claim, as at this point the discomfort was constricting. No one dared speak as we found our way using the poor excuse of a road. We went to the first building that had a door. Levi reached his hand out to open the door, but was interrupted by Todd who ran into the damn thing with his shoulder. The door burst open, and he landed violently, casting a cloud of dust into our faces. Fahad coughed profusely as he accidentally inhaled a gust of the stuff. Jason walked in and I followed through. We were greeted by a completely unfurnished room, save for a collapsed bed frame and a cooler with empty cans.
“Someone’s been here before, huh?” Jason said. Todd got up onto his feet, kicking his legs out to shake off all the dust on them. Levi looked behind the staircase, revealing graffiti spelling out an Arabic word on the wall. Though I could understand the language, it was written so crudely that the word could barely be deciphered. Fahad pushed me aside, squinting though his glasses to make out what was written
“Al-ma-ta-hee?“ he barely said out loud.
“What does that mean?” Todd asked, brushing the dust off his shirt
“Almatahee?” Jason asked. “I think that means the labyrinths”. Both me and Fahad nodded in approval. Levi had already made his way up the stairs, and in an effort to keep the group together Fahad urged us to climb up. The room was unfurnished like the one before it, and this time the air grew *heavy*. We looked at the wall, and this time there were crude drawings. Jason began examining them and began to grow uneasy. One drawing showed a larger stick figure holding a smaller stick figure above its head, one drawing showed and axe and one of a cube. There were Arabic statements scribbled accros the wall. I worked with Fahad to decipher them.
“I’m assuming these are describing their actions” Levi said, shattering the silence. 
“These statements are saying bad things,” Fahad whispered. “They look like curses and upside down prayers.” He continued 
“What does that imply?” Todd asked. Though I would’ve just dismissed the scribbles as an edgy teen wanting to rebel against the system with his declarations of blasphemy in a since abandoned space, I found the specific-ness of some of these phrases to have a much darker connotation, especially combined with the images. 
“We have no business being here,” said Fahad, rubbing one of the texts with his hand. The fresh paint rubbed off onto his fingers.
“There have been people here,” said Jason, “that paint would take up to a day to dry fully.” Sunset soon turned to nightfall and the lights in the distant city were soon our only means of vision. This was before phones with flashlights were commonplace, and thus we relied on their faint illumination. We stepped outside the “abandoned” house.
“Look at that big house over there,” said Levi, pointing at a silhouette of what seemed to be the largest house in the compound. The dirt road running through the middle of the town seemed to lead to it. We could barely make out the details of the structure, and when we got there the door was jammed with an intricate collection of chains, planks, and locks. 
“The hell is this,” whispered Todd. On the left side on the door were items strewn across the length of the wall. Random clothes, water-damaged books, and tools. I saw a slight glimmer reflecting from the distant lights and when I inspected it I noticed it was a weapon. I gripped the tool from what I assumed was its handle, only to be startled by the sharp pain of the metal edge digging into the palm of my hand. I winced audibly, and the sound of the metal striking the bare ground echoed through the dead silent compound.
“What happened,” whispered Fahad. The place had gone so quiet that even the murmurs of my friends were fully audible. 
“I think I hurt myself,” I said. I reach out and grabbed the tool, this time making sure I gripped the handle. I felt a leathery knob, and I took ahold of it, raising the tool of the ground. At this point, the light seemed to get suddenly a bit brighter, and I identified the tool. It was a large, heavy knife  about the length of my forearm 
“Knife…” I managed to say
“What’s that for,” asked Levi, mostly to himself. I brought the knife close to my eyes. There was a brass-brown mottling spread across the knife, almost like a liquid had been poured on it, and a fresh shining red edge. I looked down onto the palm of my hand. There was a shallow, but noticeable cut. We wanted to explore further, but in every single one of us was a deep feeling prevented us from taking any more steps forwards.
“Why would someone lock up the door like this? Nobody lives here! What’s behind all this rubbish?” muttered Fahad 
“And why so close to our school too?” Jason added. We stood for a moment, unable to decide what our next move would be. The atmosphere felt dreadening, and we knew we had no business being here. Our early teenage curiosity overwhelmed us and no we found ourselves in an abandoned compound. Even then, the feeling of discomfort and agitation way exceeded that of what the situation needed, or maybe it was just my mind playing tricks. As I looked around, I saw something. Something simple, something arbitrary in literally any context, something so simple and nondescript, but the fact it happened here, the fact it would only give us more questions, the fact it was completely uncalled and unexpected meant that this sight would forever be etched into my very skull, forever haunting my fifth grade.
One of the rooms, visible through the frameless windows on the furthers the house to the left had its lights on. At this point, I could literally feel my heart plunging. The back of my head went numb with chills. This wasn’t supposed to happen, there were no light switches, no electricity, no life. I looked at my friends who all shared my same expression of fear. Without verbally communicating, we all got the cue to get out of here. Todd led the retreat, following the same dirt road that ran across the compound. The sound of the pebbles crunching under our feet was deafening, and not one of us dare utter a word. 
We felt that every second spent longer in the place made us closer and closer to being doomed. The march to gates of the compound may have taken us two minutes at most, but combined with the beads of sweat freezing in the cold night, the skyrocketing heart rate, the shared fear amongst the group and the witnessing of something that simply shouldn’t be made this short walk drag out to what felt like hours of torment. I could’ve sworn that I heard a sixth pair of footsteps behind us. 
When we finally and painstakingly reach the gates that served as our escaped from this God forsaken compound, our legs broke out into a sprint. We ran, we ran beyond what our 11-year old bodies could handle, our shock and adrenaline exceeded the frosty dryness in our exhausted hearts and the agonising heat in our sore legs. We split up, sprinting back into our homes. I barged into my house and ran up the stairs, taking them four steps at a time. I launched myself into my room, slammed my door, turned off all the lights and feigned sleep for what remained of the night. 
I did not utter a single word all night, and I tossed in bed for the next eight hours, my brain full of thoughts and refusing to shut off. When the rays of the sunlight finally peeked from the horizon I was warmly greeted by a throbbing migraine headache and adamant exhausted legs that refused to hold up my body. Having to keep the events of the past night hidden from my parents was a burden I could barely lift. The weekend and even later the first two days of school were uneventful, how we whenever I slept my brain kept reminding me of what I saw 
The rusty knife, the thick atmosphere, and that god damn illuminated room. In a place where it just shouldn’t have been. A place where nothing should have been 
*Almatahee*
It was another Tuesday, and we were in class. I could hear Levi groan as the door was knocked. Interrupting our lesson was the head teacher again painstakingly lumbering to the front of the class, careful not to disrupt our absurd table arrangements.
“Greetings, students.” He said in his slurred voice. His malicious gaze pierced through us in particular. “A few days ago, some of our curious peers decided to explore the abandoned compound behind the school”
I felt a wave of shock overwhelm me. I had to nearly physically restrain myself from getting up from my chair and yelling at how he found out. I had literally seen him walk back home. I looked around, and Jason, Fahad and Levi all suppressed their shock. Todd held his head up, feigning toughness but the dread was visible behind his eyes. The head teacher paused for a moment.
“I have not identified anyone, and there will be no repercussions this time. Do be aware that if any of you were to perform such a stunt, the consequences will be severe.” 
“And why are you so adamant about not letting the people go there? It’s not school property anyways,” called out Todd, with a negligible sense of self-awareness. The head teacher cocked his head and shot him a gaze that Todd would bring up later.
“You see kid,” the head teacher began. “The compound is abandoned and nobody has been there for years. The risk of injury and falling rubble is great, and if you get injured there won’t be anyone to help.” Todd was unsatisfied with the answer and had to hold back other questions that would end up exposing the culprits. The head teacher began rambling about the weird rules we’ve heard for the umpteenth time, “don’t knock on the doors four times,” “don’t look at the clock with one eye closed,” “take off your shoes before entering the staff room”. He kept on going and going before a new rule embedded a new fear in all of our souls.
“If a student goes missing, do not speak of it,”
Fahad opened his mouth as if he was about to speak but stopped himself. 
“Well, that concludes today’s meeting,” said the head teacher, promptly leaving the room. Class went on as usual, with the occasional overheard conversation about the incident of the compound. After the class was dismissed, we gathered behind the school.
“How the hell did he find out? He wasn’t even in school” muttered Todd, pacing back and forth. Fahad swore up and down about how the school was somehow in on this, Jason was cursing, Levi began talking with Todd about the whole situation and I just didn’t know what to say. 
“Remember how I asked the the damn head of the school about the compound? When he turned to look at me, I could literally see flames in his eyes.”
By the next week, they had installed security cameras on all directions facing the “compound”, or as we now know what it was called,
*Almatahee*
Three years later, what we saw on our trip was a memory lodged in the back of our heads, obscured by time. Days at school went on as usual and we were in the eight grade now. My friend group had gone on a camping trip, and as we sat around the fire, the mundane conversations shifted into one about the supernatural
“I never got what was the big deal about jinn,” said Todd. “I hear lots of stories and urban legends surrounding them.”
“Jinn,” I told him “are supposed to be entities that sort of exist on a “different plane” if that’s how you word it. They can see us and are around us, but we can’t see them. They aren’t exclusively evil. Like people, jinn can be good, or malevolent.”
“Do you guys believe in them,” asked Levi
“There are a lot of tales and urban legends surrounding these folk,” Fahad said. Over the years he had went full Steve Irwin, talking nonstop about animals and always held the worn out field guide of birds on all his adventures. He’d even developed a plausible Australian accent and you’d always come back from the beach him with random bird names. To this day I don’t know what a “parasitic jaeger” or “western marsh harrier” is.
Todd leaned in closer to the fire, his face warped with hear blur as Fahad continued
“jinn can manifest themselves in the form of people and animals convincingly.” I added. Fahad turned to face me, and nodded.
“However,” he said, “it is convincing, but not perfect. My dad told me that jinn can never take on the form of something one hundred percent. There will always be something off about it. For example, my grandma kept chickens, and she once told us a story about how the jinn took the form of one. It looked like the rest, but one leg was much shorter than the other and its neck was bent at an unnatural angle. It never clucked. My father always told me that when jinn take over the form of a human they will always have feet resembling that of ungulates and a strange colour in their eyes. This can be hidden by shoes and glasses but having such a foot shape can make walking a challenge. And their voice is slurred, almost as if they are humans trying to mimic the calls of other animals”
“So do you believe in all of this?” Todd repeated Levi’s question
“I wasn’t so certain at first. Of course, it’s established in my religion but I never believed the whole shapeshifting thing and I thought what my dad and grandpa said was some hot garbage. That was, until a camping trip last year. I remember not being able to sleep, then my dad walked into my trailer. He went to check on me so I partially closed my eyes. I noticed his gait to be extremely unstable, and one of his arms was stiffly extended in front of him. I swear…” Fahad said, raising his arm and raising his index finger 
I swearI could hear the clocking of hooves against the metal ground of the trailed and when “my dad” leaned to look at me, I could barely make out the obscure patterns on his eyes. The next morning I asked my dad if he had checked on me at *any* point throughout the night, but he vehemently denied anything and my mum who was in the same trailer as him affirmed his claims.”
“And do they just exist, or do they interact with people,” asked Todd.
“I’m not an expert in the religion, but I have heard from my friends…” Jason chimed in offering insight “that for the most part, jinn usually leave humans alone and will only interact when they are provoked. However, humans can talk to them, or use them for their own benefit, which is seen as prohibited by the Muslims. Some people use recitations to subdue and control them or make offerings to them, however I am uncertain of this as I am not a Muslim myself,” said Jason. 
“In extreme cases jinn can possess people, make them go irrational, clueless or even mad, again when provoked. Of course I’m not expecting you to believe the whole concept but I am basing this off what I’ve heard from others and my parents. Some say you anger them if you look at yourself naked for too long in the mirror, or forget to close the bathroom door behind you.”
“My uncle would always scold us when we threw rocks in the desert back in our childhood as he said we could hit and provoke one”
Nothing much happened following this gathering. Our camping trip went uninterrupted, neither by jinn or beasts of the deserts. This was the last time we would have such a gathering. We would graduate 2 years later and go on to live our lives. I found a part time job at the aquarium store, Levi and Jason both pursued college, Todd began his sports career and Fahad, well, did what he does best. 
I had finished my day at the aquarium store and had begun to head out. It was a Thursday, the last day before the weekend. Though I did love my job, I was enthusiastic for the week to end so I can finally acquire some rest. I unlocked my car, and drove to the nearest gas station. As I filled my car up with gas, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I ordered a single turkey sandwich and as it was being heated I checked the message. It was from our school group chat. My brain struggled to organise its thoughts as the message lay before my eyes. 
Todd: Remember Almaty?
*Fahoodie1852 is typing…*
Fahad: don’t you mean Almatahee?
*Tjones98 is typing*
Todd: yeah that place 
Todd: remember when we went there?
*Jxc.h is typing*
Jason: yeah
Jason: why are you asking about it?
*Lev_42 is typing*
Levi: oh damn I almost forgot about that place 
*Tjones98 is typing*
Todd: I don’t know man, I just feel we have to go there again
Todd: it’s been so long
I began typing quickly, so immersed in conversation that I nearly missed the Turkey sandwich delivered to me
Me: You kidding me? I don’t think this place even exists anymore
*Fahoodie1852 is typing…*
Fahad: it’s still worth a go honestly
*Lev_42 is typing*
Levi: yeah man, let’s just put a lid on this mystery 
Levi’s message really got to me. I remember how Fahad kept swearing that the school we went to had something to do with this. Almatahee, an arbitrary word was the very same thing that corrupted our childhoods, that brought forth so many questions, all of whom were addressed with answers that bore more questions. This could be our only chance, as our friend group had already begun to reach its waning days, and if the last thing we could do together is to finally quell the bubbling questions that plagued our school days, then so be it.
Me: alright, what’s the plan then?
*Fahoodie1852 is typing…*
Fahad: I’ve got two trailers, one will be our storage and one will be our residence. Four mattresses and I will keep guard. 
Me: Who’ll take care of the food and beverages?
*Fahoodie1852 is typing…*
Fahad: bring what you like. I will slaughter 4 sandgrouses and a couple hares for our fire
*Jxc.h is typing*
Jason: I’ve got a cooler, I can buy juice from the supermarket. Any of you want any beers?
Me: keep it for you and your friends if they’d like.
*Lev_42 is typing*
Levi: what about me?
*Fahoodie1852 is typing…*
Fahad: I need you to bring whatever weapons you may find. Cleavers, knives, hammers, whatever. We won’t run this time
*Tjones98 is typing*
Todd: Thursday, just like last time. We’ll meet at 10 at the northern market. Deal?
*Fahoodie1852 is typing…*
Fahad: Deal.
*Lev_42 is typing*
Levi: Deal.
*Jxc.h is typing*
Jason: Deal.
Me: Deal.
6 days later. I woke up and took the day off, got in my car and drove to the northern market like Todd had instructed us too. I could feel my heart beat in anticipation knowing I was about to meet my friends for the first time in *years*. I dressed up in my worn-out black Adidas tracksuit that had endured years’ worth of adventures 
My hands firmly gripped the steering while, and I tried my best to remain concentrated on the road as my vision blurred with adrenaline. Several cars flew past me at speeds that clearly ignored the thirty five speeding signs that had been erected on the road. We may not have drunk drivers, but these reckless gentlemen served as the replacement. Eventually, through thirty seven minutes of roads, speeding drivers, and growing tension, I had finally made it to the northern market. The reunion would not be one of warmth, nor cold, but rather a bitter one as we had grouped together one last time for the sole reason of answering the question that haunted our thoughts throughout the cumulative years. I dismounted from the car and headed to the two people who had arrived before me: Fahad and Todd
Fahad was dressed in an olive-green t-shirt under a sleeveless tan-coloured mahraja jacket, shielding his core from the piercing wind and black tracksuit pants. Todd wore the classic plain tight-fitting shirt against a pair of denim pants. 
“So,” Fahad began, shaking my hand so firmly I could feel my fingers crunch. I stifled a laugher as I had forgotten about his accent. It just didn’t fit right on him, almost like he was being dubbed. “What do you think of Todd’s idea to gather us together one last time.” The subject of the question stood behind Fahad staring at me, his arms folded, head raised, with a proud smile.
“We’ll let’s just say I didn’t come here for nothing!” I exclaimed. Hearing the voices after my friends after so many years instilled a sense of warmth and happiness that comforted my nerves. Levi walked out of the store clutching two oranges. He had a heavy coat on
“So, are we ready?” He shouted, trying to rally up a sense of confidence within us. Soon, a familiar figure approached us on his skateboard. It was Jason. He was arguably the most well-dressed with a pair of jeans, a white shirt with an image of Stewart griffon riding a camel and a black jacket with two yellow bands at the cuff of each sleeve and a bright yellow “P” on the heart of it. 
“I see we’ve all come here.” He sneered. “Shall we discuss our plan now?”
Fahad gestured with his open hand at two trailers hooked together. 
“Like I said, one of these trailers will accommodate our food, drinks, and refreshments while the other one will have our mattresses and weapons.”
“As you can see,” said Todd, “we are touring the markets pouring out our wallets for this,” 
“It’s always better to be more ready than you have to than less” Jason added. 
“I’m the only one with the four wheeler here,” I said. “Fahad, link your trailers to my car so we can drive there.”
As he linked the hooks, I worked with Todd to fill up the water coolers. He insisted that he carry them to the truck to show off his “manliness” as he had begun to call it. All of us were indifferent to his antics but after all he was the biggest guy in the group and if you were, you wouldn’t want to pass up any opportunity to show off your place, right?
By early afternoon, we had completed the several exhausting tasks. Now, we would dive head-first into the cavernous jaws of the beast. A beast we couldn’t see, hear, or detect, but one we could feel. Fahad climbed onto my car, even after all those years the path that led to our childhood school was still fresh in his memory. I climbed onto the front seat while Jason, Todd, and Levi reclined in the back seat. Fahad started the engine. Though his work with the gear was lacklustre, once the car was on the road it got going. 
As we strayed further and further from the city, the clouds in the sky seemed to grow thicker. It was a late autumn afternoon, and the bone-chilling air made its way into the car’s ventilation.
“So, Fahad,” I said, trying to break the silence “when did you get your driving license? I remember how you told us you struggled finding space for the driving exam”
Fahad remained quiet for a few seconds.
“Oops,” he said. 
So there we were, driving to an abandoned compound and probably school in the middle of nowhere, and the one driving *MY* car has no experience whatsoever driving. As we reach the outskirts of the city, I heard Fahad exclaim “Black kites!” Before looking around him with absolutely zero attention paid on the road. Each turn he took caused every object in the car to bounce up, bang against the roof, then violently drop. I could’ve sworn my car was tilting on its side with each turn the man took. I looked outside the window to see what the fuss was about, and I saw about sixty gigantic birds all across the power lines. They were literally floating, flying above the road without a single flap of their wings. They were brown? Black? I wasn’t sure. They were the last form of life we saw and with them being gone, we were all alone driving off-road
The sun’s edge had begun to touch the horizon, and the sky began to take on all shades of orange and purple, further emphasised by the thick clouds. 
“Alright, here’s the plan,” began Fahad, his mind focused on everything except driving, “we’re going to keep heading to the location and once night falls we’ll camp for the night. We have no location services and navigating by memory in complete darkness will doom us.”
The trip was quiet and the feeling I would use to describe it was sombre. Nobody spoke, almost as if there was a unanimous resignation as the memories and questions resurfaced to greet us. I began second guessing my decision to come here, on one side this could be our chance to find something, but on the other, was it just worth the effort and danger? Fahad began to increase the speed, and at this point I could feel the car leap with every small pebble of sand that would be rolled under its wheels. 
Todd began cursing at Fahad. “Slow the damn car down! White even let you behind the wheel?”
Fahad swivelled his waist around, letting go off the steering wheel completely. 
“How about we spend the night in the middle of nowhere, jackass?” He retorted
“So your solution to getting to the destination on time is to have us all die?!”
“If that’s what you want,” said Fahad. He stepped as hard as he could on the gas, and the marker on the speedometer began to fly to the right. Every dent on the ground caused the car to shake violently, and Fahad *still* had his back turned to the steering wheel as he hurled a string of slurs against Todd. Todd returned the curses, and soon began the threats
“I’m going to cave in that brainless skull of yours” Todd said
“Try doing that and I’ll make you know what the soles of my boots taste like,” Fahad retorted. Fahad was reckless but one thing I knew damn well about him was that he always wanted to stand his ground. Even if he knew that it was the worst possible decision in such a situation nothing seemed worse to him was cowering after he escalates it.
“Can the two of you shut up?” Levi interjected, spreading the pressure between three people. “None of you should be anywhere near the steering wheel, Todd your arguing is going to get us killed and Fahad, you don’t even have a damned license!”
“Even without a license I can stil-“
“FAHAD” Jason screamed. “LOOK IN FRONT OF YOU”
I could only imagine the pain in his lungs and the possible damage done to his vocal cords in these agonising phrases. 
In front of was a huge pile of boulders. The car was driving at its full speed and with each blink of my eye they doubled in size. Fahad looked blankly at the boulders, and I kept yelling his name. He had completely zoned out and within any moment I imagined the loud crash that would fill my ears for the split second before all went black. 
“FAHAD” I heard, screams but I don’t know from who because everyone had been yelling. I felt everything slow down, as the seconds dragged on longer but the rocks increased in size just as fast as they would normally. I decided to do something, something that I didn’t know wether would save us from this or would be the last thing I’d ever do in my life. I raised my arm up and punched Fahad, not as hard as I could but still not a soft punch. My fist landed between his eye and his upper jaw. Suddenly Fahad snapped. He turned to look at me, confused that I punched him then turned to face forwards and flinched. It had taken him five seconds to realise the sight before him, but God, dear God these were the longest five seconds that I would ever experience in my life
Fahad gripped the steering wheel and turned it so violently his arms ended up crossing each other. 
You know the feeling when you’re on a plane and the pilot turns to one side? You know, when you could literally feel your body moving and when you look out the window and you can see the wing of the plane going down as it tilts?
I felt my body move to the right, almost suspended at a horizontal position. I looked out the window and all I saw was the ground, right in my face. The car tilted back onto its side and when it landed the whole vehicle was greeted with a deafening crash. I didn’t feel the car seat below me and my head touched the roof before my locked seatbelt pulled me back. I felt the strap latch hard onto my chest, almost as if someone had kicked me hard in the ribcage. 
I clutched my chest in pain as Fahad steered the car back on track, and this time he was more focused on the road. He drove fast, but not at exaggerated speeds as he raced against the darkening sky. It was a race, the race to 
*Almatahee*
The purples and oranges that adorned the sky began to fade as the sun disappeared completely under the horizon, and we were left with the intimidating silhouettes of the darkening clouds. 
“So, how close are we?” Asked Levi.
“We’ve still got a long way, but the night has already begun to fall on us.”Fahad replied “Let’s get out and camp for the night.” Fahad gradually slowed the car to a stop, the first rational decision I have seen him perform while behind the wheel. I had honestly expected him to slam the brakes at full speed.
We dismounted, emptying the trailers. Though Fahad led the process, we stayed away and refrained from talking to him. Say what you want, but none of us appreciated him nearly reducing us to a clump of ground beef stuck inside a crumpled car. 
As Todd carried the cooler above his shoulder and passed Fahad, he shot him a furious look.
“What’s wrong with him” he whispered with a smile, slightly elbowing me
“Him?” I said. “He wasn’t the one driving the car to the grave while cussing out his buddy.”
Fahad raised an eyebrow. He genuinely seemed confused by what I was saying.
“You know, when you were arguing with Todd?”
Fahad stood silent for a few seconds 
“I didn’t argue with Todd,” he said. It wasn’t like he was justifying himself or even denying it. He genuinely sounded like he had no idea what was asking him. Levi overheard conversation 
“What did you mean, didn’t argue?” He said. “You spent more time thinking about which insult you’d hurl his way than actually driving.”
Fahad looked at us with authentic dumbfounded-ness
“What insults? What are you talking about? All I remember was when we were driving at the power lines with the black kites then we were about to hit the Rock.”
I wanted to believe he was lying. I wanted to believe he was just too ashamed to admit he started a whole argument with Todd over a concern about the group’s safety. But it’s just not right, he genuinely sounded confused. Not a single stutter, not a single expression of worry, nor feigning confusion with exaggerated actions. He genuinely sounded like he had no idea what was going on. I didn’t know if I wanted to pursue the conversation any further, I just wanted to drop it and pretend nothing happened yesterday
Fahad started the fire, igniting a hut of large log splinters on a metal tray designed for the purpose of campfires. Soon enough, the flame was the only thing guiding our vision, as the sky had fallen dark and with nothing left but a moon and stars blanketed by the clouds we were good as blind. 
We are two sandgrouses that night, and though we felt somewhat uncomfortable with being out in the dark, the night passed safely. Before we slept in the trailers, we had a last conversation.
“As you can see, there are four beds, and five of us.” He began. “And I…”He began unzipping his backpack and after fumbling for a couple seconds, he pulled out an air rifle, neatly folded.
“Is that an air rifle?” Jason interrupted. “Aren’t they for hunting birds?”
Fahad nodded
“Wait,” said Levi. “An air rifle? For hunting birds? So you’re telling me your hobby is birdwatching but you shoot them too? I though you cared about birds.”
Fahad said nothing, and instead gave Levi a shrug
“Anyways where was I?” He continued. “Oh yes, and I, will be standing guard throughout the night.
We headed to the trailer with the beds, and we then went to sleep. There was nothing eventful this night, except for the occasional banter between me and the group. 
The next morning came and when I stepped out I was greeted with the unusual but expected sight of Fahad, deep asleep with the rifle loosely clutched in his arms. You could literally take the rifle from his hands and he wouldn’t even flinch. If this is what our “guard” looked like them we were a group of dead men. Todd paced aggressively towards Fahad and yelled until he woke up
“I, and literally everyone here, shouldn’t have trusted you with “standing guard” ” he told Fahad condescendingly
“Huh?” Fahad said groggily
“What if some bandits barged in while you were “standing guard” and slit our throats for the five dinars in my wallet?” Todd asked
Fahad got up to his feet, ignoring his sleep inertia momentarily
“You know what?” He said as he let the heat of the moment envelop him “I don’t care if that happens. We’re already dead men”
“Enough! The two of you,” I interjected. 
Todd turned to face me. He was fuming and behind his eyes boiled a sense of anger and distrust.
“So you commend his persistent negligence,” he almost muttered
“No,” Levi said. “We just want you both to shut up”
Todd marched towards him, and stood mere centimetres from Levi. He towered over him, and was much more heavily built.
“Hm would you say that again”
Levi paused for a moment.
“I want *you* to shut *your* mouth.”
Todd was taken aback by Levi’s defiance. He tried to hide his shock, as when he bossed us around he never expected any pushback. He took a step forwards, and used both his arms to shove Levi. He lost footing, landing on the ground. He, however maintained his composure and did not fold to Todd’s intimidation. Jason sprinted and confronted Todd
“Look man that’s the last thing we need now.” He began
“The last thing we need is a negligent clown that held our li-“
“THE LAST THING WE NEED NOW” Jason repeated, interrupting Todd. “Is for this to go on. We’re literally in the middle of God knows where, and if we fall to this infighting *WE FALL*. You don’t have a choice. Either you put up with his ridiculous antics or isolate yourself in literal demon territory.”
Todd couldn’t respond. As upset as he was by Fahad had done, he knew Jason was right. The day went on, and luckily the morning’s scuffle seemed to have simmered, but Levi was still understandably upset about Todd’s aggression against him. We were able to locate a nearby abandoned village in the afternoon, and assuming that it was the legendary location that clouded our childhood, we all had the urge to visit.
“Look at this place” Todd told us, gesturing at the rundown buildings. “Let’s go there, the mystery is close as ever to being solved,”
Fahad insisted the place was not Almatahee, but we just didn’t trust the guy anymore 
“No offence,” said Jason, “but I’m no longer going to believe anything you say. Aside from being the only one who knows the way back you’ve just been a liability and a huge risk.” Fahad was at his boiling point.
“You couldn’t East from west here yet you think this is the place?” He said. “I’m only coming along to see the looks on your faces when you see how wrong you were”
Ignoring his demands, we went to the place. It was about a ten minute’s walk from our “fortress” It bore a striking resemblance to Almatahee. There was the dirt road, incomplete buildings, and unfurnished rooms. However as we examined the details, Fahad’s words began to reflect on us as they had been the truth. There was no graffiti on the walls, no clothes or tools, no evidence of human contact whatsoever and no evidence of our school, not a single brick. Fahad looked at us smugly as we found out he was right after all. 
“I wonder what this place is for,” Jason said, trying not to give in to the pressure Fahad applied to all of us.
“There’s no sign of life anywhere around, no markets no water what the hell could this be for?” I asked. 
Fahad refused to say anything. I had a feeling he knew what these were but just didn’t want to tell us. 
“Is this the right place, Fahad?” Todd asked him
“Go figure” Fahad said, snarking. 
As we toured the village, we felt unwelcome. We were suddenly alerted by Todd to a crumbling building about ten metres away. We looked at it and we saw a jackass standing on the roof. However it didn’t resemble any normal donkey. Its back legs looked like they were attached facing the opposite direction and it’s front legs were bent all wrong. It was a sickening site and I averted the group’s gaze from it, telling them to ignore the “donkey”. We never brought it up again.
We gathered at what would be the “town center” and began discussing our thoughts, without Fahad of course.
“Do you think this is an abandoned village or just a forgotten construction project?” Todd asked
“It just feels off seeing quasi-advanced buildings in the middle of literally nowhere, there’s no life for miles and miles” Jason said. 
“It looks a lot like what we saw at Almatahee, but it didn’t have the big central building with all the chains and it’s much smaller too,” I added. 
We recounted the events of what happened in the morning, and eventually we touched down on the incident with Todd and Levi
“I really, really don’t appreciate what you did to me earlier today,” Levi told him
“Oh, why don’t you be a man and suck it up.” Todd said. I looked at Jason and he considered intervening, but at this point he just couldn’t bother anymore 
“Why are you like this?” Levi yelled at him. “You think you’re tough,”
“That’s because I am,” Todd said, folding his arms.
“Todd you’re such a piece of garbage,” he said, his increasing frustration began to make itself obvious to us 
“You’ve always been a wimp,” Todd told him, “you’re not a *real* man”
“Who are you to say that,” he yelled, fighting back tears of frustration 
“Aww, did I hurt your feelings,” Todd said mockingly, “only *women* cry!”
“I hate you Todd, I’ve always fucking hated you” cursed Levi, he left the town hall, presumably to go back to our trailers. 
As dusk approached, I noticed Todd kicking at the pebbles that lined the road. Like Fahad, neither me nor Jason had been interested in talking to him after his antics, while Levi went to God knows where. 
Out of sheer boredom, Todd picked up a rock and tossed it. My gut found itself tied in a knot when I saw what happened next.
You know how the ball bounces when it hits the wall right? That’s exactly what happened with the rock he threw. But, how do I say this the rock hit *NOTHING*. It was, it was like he picked it up and threw it and it bounced off nothing. Me and Fahad were witnesses to this and I could feel the numbing chills at the base of my head once more, while Todd looked confused and Jason was simply not looking to see it happen
“The hell happened?” He said, almost to himself
“I think,” Fahad said, the first words he said all day. “That you might’ve provoked one of them.” 
Fahad’s words communicated everything. Their almost faint tone communicated frustration, anger, bitterness, fear, dread, and most importantly they were a command for us
To get the fuck out of here.
We sprinted at full speed, just like we did so many years ago on that dreaded night. I remember how I said that I swore I though I heard footsteps behind us. This time, *this* time I heard them damn well. Even though the sprint was shorter, even though we could literally see our trailers I still felt an incredible wave of fear. Jason was the first to reach the trailer, followed by Todd, then me, then Fahad. As we stepped in, we noticed Levi wasn’t there. We were too afraid to check the other trailer, and I turned to close the door. As I turned to close it, I caught a glimpse of Levi limping towards our trailer. 
“Levi!” I yelled out, hyperventilating 
“I twisted my ankle” he cried back, his voice marred by the exhaustion of his undoubtedly agonising journey back. When he finally got here, I closed and bolted the door. We had all made it
Levi stumbled and sat on one of the water coolers. 
“Is your foot alright? Do you want me to check up on it?” Todd asked, his concern very slightly noticeable in his voice. I felt Todd wanted to reconcile with Levi, but he felt too ashamed to bring up the topic
“No, no, I should be fine. It’s just a sprain…” he said. 
“Hold on, I’ll get you some water,” he said, reaching for the other cooler.
We rested for about an hour, trying to get our thoughts together.
“The hell went on?” Jason finally asked
“We were out in the town center,” Fahad began explaining. “Todd picked up a rock an-“ Fahad was rudely interrupted by a loud *bang* on the outside of the trailer.
“The hell?” He shouted.
Almost in response, a loud scream from outside. It sounded like a man screaming his lungs out, almost in pain. But as human as it sounded we knew damn well that what awaited outside was anything but. A few minutes later, we were also taken off guard by the same bang. Five hours later, and the assault on our trailer seemed to have ended. We felt it was safe to talk again, and we gathered around Levi. 
“How’d you get hurt?” Jason asked him
“I was-I-I was out at the back of the village and then I saw a figure. I saw you running but when I followed you I spr-ained my ankle when it slipped of the rock”. I felt chills, this time running down the entirety of my spine. He still sounded very, very tired
“Thank you f-foah waeting for me” he said, almost laboriously. 
“Levi?” Todd asked, concerned. “Your voice man, you alright?”
“He sounds like he’s having a stroke,” Jason whispered. We tried to get him to talk more. I heard being hydrated could improve recovery from a stroke. I got up to get Levi a cup of water, but as I turned around I was greeted with the sight of Fahad pointing his rifle directly at me. I instinctively raised my hands. He moved to the left, pointing his rifle at the others. They soon realised and turned to face him.
“Fahad, what the hell,” Todd whispered.
“Move out of the way, all of you,” he commanded, ignoring Todd’s question. “Except you…” he said, pointing the rifle at Levi’s throat. We followed suit. Nobody wanted to disobey the madman with a gun now. He stood between us and Levi. 
“So, “Levi”…” he said assertively, shaking his head when saying “levi” to express quotation marks. “Take off your shoes.” 
Levi looked at him, confused. He sat there looking for an answer but when he tried to say it he could only unintelligibly stammer
“I SAID TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES!” Fahad yelled. 
Again, no response. Without looking back, Fahad began commanding us again.
“Go to the other trailers, I’ll take care of *it*”
As Jason and I walked out of the trailer I heard Todd arguing with Fahad on wether to stay and how it was the “manly” thing to do. We ran to the trailer and when we got in we bolted the door. We heard the banging of metal and we heard Fahad somewhat murmuring. Not so loud as to be understood but we could still recognise his voice. A few seconds later, we heard soft knocking on the door. 
“It’s me, Todd” he said, in a clear but shaken voice. We let him in without hesitation. 
The banging only got louder, and we could hear Fahad screaming phrases we simply couldn’t understand as the crumpling of metal got louder. 
“What’s going on over there?”
Todd struggled to speak. I have never seen the expression of fear so blatant in his eyes. Amidst Fahad’s chants and the trailer that I assumed was being ripped to pieces, Todd finally got his thoughts in order
“F-Fahad stood between me and “Levi”…” he said, clearly stammering. I heard him whisper something and then, and then-“
Todd tried to continue, but the familiar sensation of barbed wires constricting the throat interrupted him.
“And then-“ he repeated, this time almost choking as his voice quivered. Todd’s eyes glistened as his vision was blurred by tears. His breath was shaky, and he tried hard to compose himself. 
“And then I saw something grab his throat.” He finally managed to say.  
“Did you see what happened to “Levi”?” Jason asked
“I-I caused all of this,” he said, trying all what was in his ability to suppress his sobs. I assumed he had misunderstood our question, but I just didn’t feel like correcting the man. “I took you there and,” He didn’t bother wiping the tears that trickled down his face. His eyes looked down in shame. “And we lost Levi and now Fahad’s being ripped to shreds”
Neither me or Jason knew what to say. This was the first time we’d see Todd cry. He sat on the bare trailer floor, leaning his head on his right wrist hiding his tear-stained face from us in shame as he let out his feelings for the first time in years. The banging was just as loud as it was moments ago, and Fahad’s chants grew into cries for help. They dragged on, and on. I remember at one point I was waiting for it to stop so that we knew that Fahad was put out out of his misery, but for the duration of the ordeal we could hear him scream and scream. About fifteen minutes later, I heard the familiar door of the trailer shut, and Fahad’s cries ceased. Half of the “fortress” had fallen and now our trailer, our sanctuary in this disaster of a desert was under siege. We were startled by three heavy knocks on the door. It didn’t sound like whoever knocked on them was knocking with his knuckles but instead with the side of his fist. At first we didn’t respond, not knowing if opening the door was the wise choice. The knocks grew more frantic
“Let me in it’s not going to be long until it figures out how to get out of there,” Cried out Fahad’s familiar, shaken voice. I reluctantly opened the door, and the drop I felt my heart perform was literal. Fahad was a mess, with both eyes black, deep across his neck and arms, a bleeding mouth, and a limp right hand. He walked in muttering in Arabic and refused to ever speak a *letter* about what went on in the other trailer. He fumbled in his backpack for a while, before taking out his Quran which he read in panic for the rest of the night. Todd silently wept for about an hour before starting to gather his composure. We sat on the same side as the window so that when looked through, none of us could be seen. Fourty minutes later, we heard a near-explosion come from the other trailer, then a deafening metal bang. We heard the laboured footsteps before a loud thud at the window resonated thought the trailer. Nobody dared look at it. Nobody dared speak through the night. 
It was only when the sun finally peeked from the horizon where we felt safe walking out. Part of me, in fact most it, wanted us just to go home and forget any of this happened, but a part of me, a very small part of me still wanted to go on and conclude this mystery. It was only by evening that Fahad finally broke the silence. 
“We’re going to Almatahee.” He declared. Normally I’d think he was a madman but now our situation was abysmal. Stranded in the desert, running low on resources and now parting with one of our friends. At this point we had nothing left to lose
“We’re going to solve this mystery,” I said
“And if we don’t,” Jason added
“We will be buried alongside it” Todd finally said. 
Fahad laid a heavy branch on the fire. After several failed attempts at getting the thing to burn. When it finally caught fire he raised his now makeshift torch. 
“A torch?” Todd asked, with a sneer “I see you’re trying to be fancy”
“Why not? If we’re going to go back to that damned place we might as well go all out” Fahad asked in return. “Follow me this time.”
We really were in no position to deny the command. We followed his flame, as we walked for hours. This time the moon was visible in the sky and the day was clear so we could almost see the buildings when we finally reach the location. We first saw our school, or more precisely what was left of it. The place was a ruin, with most of the buildings razed to the ground. I could see the familiar city lights in the distance. Of course, it wasn’t the school’s deserted remnants which we were after, but rather what stood behind it. 
Almatahee stood in the darkness, identical to the day we first saw it. We walked closer and just like what was nearly a decade ago, I could feel the air growing thicker in my lungs. I felt a combination of nostalgia and fear as I approached the place. The atmosphere grew dreadening, and I could feel a great unease descend on us. Fahad was the first to step in, holding the torch in his one good hand as we all marched to our destination: the big building at the middle of the road. 
The unpaved road crunched beneath our shoes. We approached the large building in the centre and ignored all others. The great building in Almatahee had finally made itself visible to us 
The heavy bolts, locks, and chains that once closed all access of this place from us had vanished, and the door lay wide open. It was almost as if they *wanted* us to come in. Fahad took an audible gulp and we stepped in. Like the other building we explored nearly a decade ago, the room was barren. Fahad raised his torch against one of the walls, and the wall was full of eyes graffitied onto it. Todd rubbed his hand against the paint, and this time it did not stick to his fingers. 
As I paced around the room, I nearly plummeted to the ground as I accidentally stepped on a stair’s step. 
“Fahad” I called, almost instinctively. He came over, along with Todd and Jason. There was a staircase hidden behind a wall at the very corner of the room. The hinges indicated a door was once there. 
“Should we go down?” Todd asked
“I feel we’ll end up regretting it, but I just don’t care anymore,” said Jason.
Fahad led the descent down the stairs and we followed. When we reach the bottom, we were greeted by the odour of dust and metal before the sight illuminated by the torch. There were bones, bullet casings, and shirts strewn across the floor. Todd picked up one of the shirts, inspecting it. It was about the size of a child’s.
“That’s our school uniform…” he whispered. 
“The hell is that doing here?” Jason said. Of course a question meant to be rhetorical, but as we explored the answer faded in more and more clearly.
Fahad made his way forwards, before stopping
When we followed to inspect what he was looking at, we saw a cage with an axe beside it. It was a small cage with thick bars, I could probably barely fit in it if I were to crouch tightly. Jason decided to walk further, before nearly tripping over something. Attracted by the loud clatter of steel, Fahad moved in, the flame’s light uncovering a metal bench covered in brown stains. As he moved the torch up, a shelf containing several skulls was revealed. Each skull had a single hole between its orbits. 
“The fuck…” Todd managed to say. The expressions of terror and curiosity that plastered out faces were shrouded by the darkness. But most disturbingly, the answer to the mystery stood in the middle of the room. Fahad swivelled with his torch, and what was revealed answered the questions that plagued our minds since childhood, save for one:
*Why?*
A large white platform, engraved with curses and inverted prayers sat in the middle. Unlike everything else in that damn room, it had been scrubbed clean. It almost *shined* when the light of Fahad’s torch fell on it.
“What kind of magical shit is this” asked Todd 
“This isn’t anything supernatural…” Fahad whispered, as the reality dawned on him.
“This is the work of man” Jason finally said.
We had returned to the trailer. At the cost of solving the mystery so many questions were left behind, none of them had answered. If this was the work of man, how does that explain what happened at the trailers at night? How does it explain what happened to Levi? How does it explain the deformed donkey we say on the roof of a town miles from any civilisation. How does it explain why our teachers were doing this in the God damned room in an “abandoned compound”. 
And frankly, I didn’t want the answers to any of these questions. I just wanted to forget about the place and everything that occurred. 
On the next morning, we spotted Levi walking around our trailer. The relief I felt was immeasurable. I could literally feel my shoulders lighten and my chest loosen when we found out he was alright.
“Levi!” Todd called out. “I thought they took you!”
There was no response. He was walking as if on autopilot, his eyes glued to the sky and his mouth wide open. Our relief vanished, in its place panic was reinstated as we realised he responded to nothing. Jason jumped out of the trailer and began to move him by the shoulders, like a farmer guiding his beast of burden.
Luckily we were able to guide him to our car as we prepared to leave the place for good. He sat on the car seat cluelessly looking up with his mouth agape. Within about an hour, he collapsed. After Fahad had returned everyone home, he took Levi to the hospital, explaining our story in a more “convincing” matter. Levi lay on a hospital for four more days, or more accurately, his last four days. He would never wake up. Doctors officially told us that the cause of his death as an aneurysm but we felt, and we *knew* they ere hiding something 
We solved the mystery of Almatahee. One that occurred beneath our noses for *years* and we never noticed that the people who we were supposed to trust were the ones responsible. But as the years wore on, I  asked myself, was it worth it? Was all the pain, anguish, despair, loss of life and mind worth it in the end? All for some dumb childhood mystery that doesn’t even matter anymore because those involved vanished off the face of the earth? Th3e end to this mystery was not the ending we wanted, nor the one we deserved, but simply it was the one we got.
Category:Longpasta