hate adding this but then people say I don't give fair warning so.. Jinn thread?

"I was in grade 8 when my dad suffered a huge loss in his business. we couldn't afford to live in our house anymore. so after a lot of anxious nights, we moved in with Baji Khala.

1/n

baji khala was ammis cousin. taya ki beti (paternal uncles daughter). she was much older than ammi, almost my nanis age I'm guessing.

she was a retired government school teacher whose husband had died leaving her alone in that house. so it was a symbiotic relationship where-
2/n

she appreciated our presence in that house as much as we did (or so I hope).

Every single thing about that house screamed haunted. It was very old, and one of those houses where it's longer than its wider. 3 stories.
At the bottom started a long winding staircase
3/n

that ended at the chaat.

The house had 3 floors, one room wide. On the first lived khala, on the second my parents moved in, and we got the top most.
Every floor had one room with an attached bathroom and a living area, and khalas had an added kitchen there. Khair our first-
4/n

night in, we all decided to sleep in our parents room. half of us slept in the room, half in the living area. everything went smoothly for the first few days.

then us kids moved upstairs & things began.

it was me, my 2 older brothers & 1 younger sister. we were growing kids
5/n

and it would be a cramp, so it was decided that we would take times to sleep with Baji khala.

our first night alone, all of us fell asleep talking when in the middle of the night I woke up feeling very thirsty. I was on the bed with my sister, with my brothers on the floor
6/n

I see that the door I locked last night, that opened onto the stairs was wide open. I look around, count heads. everyones in. it's the wind. I shrug it off, have water, close it back, go to sleep.

2 minutes after I close my eyes, there is a loud crash & the door swings open.
7/n

my siblings wake up screaming. I'm screaming. my parents are running up. "what is it??" it's just the wind, they say too. just the wind?
what wind we ask, in this hot summer month? just the wind they say. my mom sits there for a while & then leaves.

I can't sleep now, but-
8/n

nothing happens.

this starts to become a habit now. the door would crash open in the middle of the night. we make our peace with it.

now one day, a couple of weeks in, we wake up to find a huge puddle in the middle of the living room. there's no leak, nothing.

9/n

the odd thing is, there is a puddle in my parents living area too, AT THE EXACT SAME SPOT. we run down to check at khalas. there is none. dry as paper. we mop it all up. it's the pipes, my dad says.

Khair days go by. we've been there a month now. crashing doors, puddles-
10/n

of water, oh and there is a strong smell of onion on the stairs. all the time. all of this is normal for us now.

one night, I'm up late trying to make small braids of my wet hair so they would curl in the morning, when I start having a really bad feeling. I can't explain it
11/n

but there is sense of death in the room. my palms start sweating. the hair on my nape stands up. I can feel pressure on my head, like something pressing down. i wrap my braids quickly & go to bed.

in the middle of the night, I am up again with the same feeling. I look across
12/

the room, and there is an old lady, the size of a 7 year old child, standing at the door.

she has dirty straggly hair, and eyes burning like coal. her face is tattooed all over and she is staring right at me with a very angry face. I want to close my eyes, but I can't.
13/

I want to scream but I can't. I just sit there, trying to breathe. she's standing at the door, but I feel like she's sitting on my chest, choking me.
suddenly there's a scream from one of my brothers. I think he sees her too? I blink & she's gone. I can breathe again.

I look
14/

at my brother & he looks like he will pass out. the others are up too. we go down to my parents, the smell of onions is so strong on the stairs it makes it impossible to stand.

it was sleep paralysis, my dad tells me. alot of people have it. my brother was just hallucinating
15/

we're not convinced. my mom's not convinced. but we know baba needs this, we don't have another place to go, so we sadly go back to bed.

Khair life goes on. We don't see her again.
Then our things start disappearing. money, trinkets, toys. and in its place, we would find
16/

dead rats and lizards. it would make ammi go sick. rats with their stomachs all open & terror in their eyes.
Ammi talked to khala baji about it. she says it's maybe a cat or something? we don't know.

Now what finally made my dad leave. almost 2 months in, one day he has to
17/

leave for a few days, my dada who lived back in Mansehra isn't feeling well. Normally he would take us all, but since baji khala is here, he feels confident leaving us alone(the man has poor judgement, as u can see by now)

first night, my younger sister sleeps with my mother
18/

rest of us are up in the room when my brother has the bright idea of going up the chhat. now this was a no zone for us. strictly forbidden by dad. but since he wasn't hear, who would tell him? little did we know :)

we sneak the key out from khalas cabinet & open the door.
19/

as soon as we open the door a strong waft of the same oniony smell hits us in the face. it makes me gag & pinch my nose. that should have been fair warning to go back but we're dumb kids :)

the roof is filled with dead insects of all kind. the same pattern of the stomach out
20/