The First Real Hint of Fear

Who: Zania
When: 3am
Where: Her room, then the halls

It was at night that Zania worked best, when the house was quiet and she could focus solely on her task. She'd decided it was time to test the molds she'd been making, and worked up a batch of resin for the test. One doll was poured, body, head, hands and feet, though it was far later than she expected when she finally looked at the clock. A quick shower and she was ready for bed, only stopping at the computer to scan the cameras, as was becoming a habit. The house was quiet, as she expected, most everyone tucked away in their beds. Clicking from room to room, she passed over the hallway feeds, then went back, sure her eyes had deceived her.

They hadn't, but she immediately wished they had. She also wished she'd had the computer on mute, for the tune sent shivers down her spine. The image, though, was what held her focus, and Zania leaned closer to the screen, eyes wide as her breath caught in her throat.

'One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret Never to be told.'

The girl was young, too young to be in the house, and jumping rope as she sang the haunting little rhyme. The dress was old in fashion, but it was the dirt that Zania noticed. Her mother would have whipped her for getting her own dresses dirty, but her mother was dead... and the child should not have been in the house. Zania shook her head, watching as the girl came closer, suddenly realizing that they were on the same floor.

"Seven secrets, seven sins, seven children stuck with pins," Zania muttered nonsensically. "One for sorrow, two for joy. Girl gets silver, gold for boy." Outside her door, she could hear her, skipping rope. Or was that on the screen? The girl was so near, on her floor even, and Zania trembled as the girl seemed to move past her room. She ran her fingers through her hair, tugging on it as she grit her teeth against the pain.

She couldn't be there, could she?!

As soon as it looked like she had passed, Zania was off, moving for the door. As she opened it, she heard a giggle, so close it had to be coming from outside her room. Zania ran after it, hearing quick little footsteps on the stairs, and she followed as quickly as possible. "Wait," she said softly. "You have to get out. You can't be here. You shouldn't be here--" Stepping into the entry hall though, there was nothing. She flipped on the lights and there wasn't a sound. If the girl had been there, wouldn't she have heard those little shoes on the marble floor?

"One for lust, and one for greed, one for those too much to feed..." Zania sang softly, moving backwards towards the stairs. There was no one there. Had there ever been? She'd seen her with her eyes, but only on the feeds. She'd heard her with her ears, but... no one else was around to verify that. "Sloth and envy, then there's pride..." Her voice broke slightly, terror creeping in before she shot back up the stairs. "But it's wrath from which I hide."

Even with the barricade on her door, Zania didn't feel safe. She slept under the desk, awake in fear most of the night, then nodding off just as the sun began to shine through the windows.