11 – 11

IT stared me back in the face. You’d think I was crazy to say that a random wooden box was staring back at me, but I knew it wasn’t just some normal box. It held a dark secret unbeknownst to anyone; a secret that kept calling me. 

Almost too suddenly, the box began shaking violently; shuddering, trying to let out the mysterious possession it kept entrapped. The door of the box flew open, and as I stared into the pitless void of the box, something reached out and pulled me inside.

“Strange… Do you remember anything distinct about this box in particular?” I closed my eyes and strained to picture the latest vision from my nightly terrors. Strangely, I saw nothing. My mind was blank. My eyes fluttered open. ‘I- I can’t see anything.’ 

Her eyes immediately shot up and pierced into mine. She came over and held my hand in hers, her eyes not leaving mine for a second, “This is YOUR subconscious. Remember what we spoke about? You are in full control here. No one can harm you. Remember. Control. Now close your eyes and try again.” I took a deep breath in, and did as she asked. 

Bits and pieces from the nightmare began floating through my mind, forming the complete picture. The cobwebs. The rats scuttling away from me. The dusty wooden floor creaking beneath my feet. And there it was. The wooden box. I gulped down the fear, forming a lump at the back of my throat, and made my way over to it. As I inched my hand closer to the box to clean off the dust, I felt it. A strange connection. A beckoning. 

Ignoring the chills going down my spine, I touched the box. A cloud of dust shot into the air. I kept wiping the box off what seemed like centuries old dust, when my fingers came across a strange marking in the box. Using both my hands now, I vigorously scraped at the cobwebs and dust to make out what it said. Instinctively, I whispered what it read; ‘11.11.’ The box abruptly shot open and an ice-cold hand, from which flesh was rotting away, grasped at me. I screamed and pulled back my hand, waking myself up.

I sat there, gasping for breath, my eyes wide open, unable to speak a word. When my breathing slowed down and my heart began beating at its regular pace, I saw what she was doing. She was evidently trying to find a particular book. 

And then she found it. “The Bible?” “Yes. You see, I heard what you said. ‘11.11’ There are several interpretations as to what that number means, but I believe in your scenario, it’s related to the bible verse; Jeremiah 11.11.” I keenly listened as she read, ‘Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.’

“Is it a curse of some kind that I’m connected to?” “I believe so yes. A curse that makes you see visions, if not, terrors, at night. For now, since we don’t know much, try preventing your mind from going back there. And whatever you do, do NOT open the box. Who knows what it holds?” I nodded, afraid of what this could mean for me.   

Where was I? I looked down and saw the all too familiar wooden floor. “No… not here again, please,” my voice breaking, as tears of fear crept into the nooks of my eyes. And then I heard her. I heard a voice from the box calling out my name. I turned around to find the wooden box; the 11.11 clearly engraved on it. “What do you want from me?!” I yelled, fighting back my tears. “You and I…” her voice rasped, “…we are connected in a way that is beyond this universe’s understanding. Open the box and I will show you.” 

I don’t know why I did it. It felt as if though I was in some sort of trance. But I still did it. No matter how much I heard her screaming at the back of my mind saying not to. I opened it. I opened the box.

As I slowly woke up again, I saw the look of worry on her face. “What is it?” I asked. “You unleashed something in your mind. Something powerful. Something beyond the control of our world. And now, it’s going to eat at your mind, little by little, until it will break you completely. Oh, my dear, what have you done?” 

Imara Idrees