believe?”
Jeanne gives Maryam another encouraging side hug. Rubs her arms.
“Maryam has a gift.”
“More like a curse,” Maryam speaks for the first time. Her voice hoarse and raspy.
“And how is this gift going to help me?”
Jeanne shakes her head.
“She’s going to try and help you… find the reason for your… edginess.”
He swallows.
Pulls his hoodie tighter.
Focuses on the door to his right.
Exit sign on top.
He looks.
What was she on about?
“Maryam… please… help Pete out.”
Maryam focuses on his face.
Rests her dark, brown eyes on his.
She swallows and shakes her head.
Did her eyes just turn red, right in front of me?
Or were they red from the start?
ض
"Behold, you shall have no power over My faithful servants. And your Lord suffices as their Guardian."
Surah Al Isra (The Night Journey) 17:65.
“It is all very simply really.”
She takes a sip of her tea.
Closes her eyes in satisfaction.
“Whether all of this is true or not. One thing is clear. Satan controls us and has the power to do so. Whether this torture business is true or false, possession a reality or not… one does not need any of this, to be under his control. Gods says it clearly to us. Only God’s servants will be safe from his control. Without God, we are powerless against satan and he can do with us whatever he wants. It is only when we submit to the one true God, the one with no children and no partners, that we will be free from satan’s control.”
She takes another sip of her tea.
Stares at him.
He frowns.
Can all of this really be as simple as that?
“And remember, we are the ones that act upon the attacks from satan, therefore, we are guilty of what we do. He has no power to make us do this, he can only invite us to it. Instigate it within us. We are ultimately the ones responsible for whatever deeds it is we do.”
He nods in agreement.
That says it all.
We are to blame for it.
Why blame him?
Excuses is what I think.
Must be… yes.
Or aliens?
Drew.
ط
“I think… I believe that these people are trying to call out to us… by whatever little way they can.”
“But I thought they were unaware of what they are doing?”
“Yes. That leaves me with the thought that it is their… controllers… handlers… mocking us. But we are too blind to see. No, this song is about her alcohol abuse or this song is about his ex-girlfriend. The deception… distraction.”
He looks Peter-John up and down.
“So, you say Drew went for rehab?”
“That’s what his note said. I didn’t speak with him personally.”
He shakes his head.
Stares at Peter-John.
“Rehab is only code for Re-program. Re-torture. And they all come back blonder than before, after they went for rehab.”
Peter-John looks at him curiously.
It just can’t be.
Not Drew.
***
“I’m begging you for mercy, why won’t you release me” Duffy, Mercy.
“Let her go” Passenger.
“Let me go” Avril Lavigne
“I’m in here” Sia
“We can’t stop” Miley Cyrus.
“Please Stop” Miley Cyrus.
“I’m a slave for you” Britney Spears.
“Puppet” Jake Miller
“I was only a vessel” tweet, Amanda Bynes
“All Bad” Justin Bieber
“Broken” Justin Bieber
“All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us…” Michael Jackson, They don’t care about us.
“Let her go you big, ugly monkey!” Sherwin Esterhuizen, Whisperers
***
Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned.
"Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."
Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2:286
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