Three years. It had been three years since I saw my reflection smile at me. After that day, I never had any encounters with whatever it was that was in my room. I began to believe it was all in my head. I probably was just imagining things. My mum checked up on me every night since the first incident even though she didn't really believe there was anything there.

I sighed and got off the bed, then walked into my en-suite bathroom. I peeled my clothes off of my body and stepped into the shower. The hot water ran down my body, giving me a soothing effect. I applied my sweet-smelling shower gel to my body and scrubbed it off with a sponge. When I was done, I stepped out of the shower and picked up two towels from the shelf. I wrapped one around my body and the other around my head. When I was sure my hair wasn't dripping, I removed the towel to let it dry.

I was at my dresser applying my lavender-smelling body lotion when I heard something drop in the bathroom. I probably didn't keep my gel container well so it fell. When I walked into the bathroom, everything looked normal. There was nothing on the floor. I jumped when I heard the shower turn on.

"Okay Aisha, this is your mind playing games with you." I said to myself. I took in deep breaths to try to calm down my racing heart.

"Like hell that was your mind, Aisha." A voice said. It sounded sweet and I couldn't help but wait to see if it was someone in the bathroom or I was just imagining things. I always cursed at people in horror movies when they stood still knowing there was something in the room. Yet, I stood still waiting to see what it was.

"Please could you turn the shower off? Water is wasting." I said cautiously. The shower tap went off and my heart jumped out of my chest. There was really someone with me in the bathroom. Without thinking, I ran out of the bathroom. I knew jinns lived in houses with people but I didn't think there were any jinns in my house.

     "UMMA!" I screamed out for my mum. My mum came rushing and bumped into me on the way.

     "What's wrong Aisha?" she asked, pulling me into her body. Immediately my head came in contact with her chest, I burst out crying.

     "Shh, stop crying and tell me what's wrong." she cooed, rubbing her hand up and down my back to calm me down. It was something she did whenever I cried.

     "Th- there's something in the ba- bathroom." I managed to say in between sobs. My mum shook her head. I knew she didn't believe me. She didn't believe me three years ago when my reflection smiled at me.

     "But Umma..." She cut me off and helped me into the room. When I was calm, she smiled and asked me to tell her what happened.

     "I was drying my hair and I heard something fall in the bathroom. When I went to see what it was, it was nothing. Suddenly, the shower came on and I taught I was imagining things but I wasn't. I asked whatever was there to turn it off just to make sure my mind wasn't playing games with me. Umma, the shower went off."

     My mum stiffened beside me. "Are you sure of what you're saying?"

     "How can I lie about such a thing? I know there's something in there." I replied. My mum checked the bathroom and came back out.

     "I don't think so. Just say your prayers and go to sleep." I nodded and she walked out. I really needed her to believe me because I didn't know what it was that was scaring the shit out of me.

     I said my prayers and reduced the intensity of the lights to a dim red. I laid down on my back and stared into the ceiling until I fell asleep. I didn't know how long I slept but when I opened my eyes, there was a figure standing above me. It looked really scary with two holes as eyes. Its eyeballs held by two tiny strings hung down the holes. It had a gaping hole as its mouth and blood poured out of it. Its fingers pressed down on my chest and I struggled to breathe. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out. I tried to move my hands to push it away from me but I couldn't. I couldn't move my legs either. I felt paralyzed.

     It grinned and the blood poured on my face. I couldn't exactly call it blood because it was thicker and darker than blood. It raised its hands up and I could see its sharp nails. It was going to pluck out my eyeballs. I closed my eyes tight waiting for the pain to come but it never did.

     My alarm blasted around the room, making me jump up. "Subhanallah!" I had never been so thankful for my alarm. I always hated when it rang.

     I touched my face but there was no blood. Was I dreaming? It was too real to be a dream. I still remembered the figure that stood above me. It knew I was scared and helpless and that was the last thing I wanted to be. I knew from horror movies that demons fed off our fears. I needed to be strong. I got off the bed and went into the bathroom to do my morning routine. I refused to look in the mirror all the while I brushed. I didn't even check my face to know what I looked like. I just wanted to be okay. I wanted the whole thing to stop.