The haunting at the construction site.
I couldn’t believe it when my uncle finally called my father and told him that my cousin had spoken to his project manager, and he agreed that I could come and train with them on-site occasionally as a fresh graduate engineer.
At that moment, I was beyond happy and eagerly awaited the day when I would become Engineer Zeinab, whose work would be talked about by everyone. I had worked incredibly hard during my studies, waiting for this moment, and I had big dreams, imagining that I was heading toward paradise.
But reality hit me hard when I found out how difficult it was to find a job, and that even if I did, I would have to travel far away. This led to a psychological struggle for two years. Two years of searching for work, hoping for half a chance to prove myself. Then, out of nowhere, I found out that a project was about to start only half an hour away from where I lived.
It turned out that my cousin was one of the engineers at that site. This was my chance! I asked my father to talk to my cousin and see if there was even half a chance for me to go to the site, even just for training, so I could get a certificate of experience. My father promised he would try once, twice, and however many times it took to make it happen.
Today, we finally received the news from my cousin that the project manager agreed. He said there was no problem with me coming to learn during the workers' break times, maybe twice a week, and if I proved myself, he would consider hiring me. It felt like a dream come true, something I never imagined would happen so easily.
I started nagging my cousin to take me to the site so I could experience it firsthand. Finally, after my constant pestering, he agreed to take me on Thursday after the workers had left, so I could tour the site without being bothered and see if it was truly worth it.
I eagerly awaited Thursday, and when it finally arrived, I met up with my cousin, and we immediately headed to the site. He explained that on Thursdays, the workers leave early for the weekend and return on Saturday. We arrived at the site, which consisted of four towers still being excavated, surrounded entirely by a mountainous area.
My cousin excused himself for a few minutes to take care of something, leaving me alone in the middle of the site. As I stood there, I thought about the tough life the workers must have, working in such a harsh environment with no restroom or place to eat or drink. But when I imagined this being my workplace, I felt a strange sense of unease.
While lost in thought, I suddenly saw a woman standing with her back to me near the crane, swaying gently back and forth in a slow, steady rhythm. I was startled by her presence and even more by her strange appearance. She was wearing a dress, and her long hair flowed down her back without being tied up. I considered waiting for my cousin but felt it was harmless enough to approach her and see who she was. I cautiously walked closer and called out, "Excuse me, miss."
But she didn’t respond. I moved a bit closer and called again, but still, there was no answer. She just kept swaying in the same way. I walked around her at a safe distance to see her face, but to my shock, I was met with her back again. I thought maybe she had turned around quickly, but that seemed impossible given how still she had been. I circled around her again, and there it was – her back again, as if she had no front at all.
At that moment, fear gripped me, and I felt like my heart was going to stop. Then I heard her voice, low at first, humming strange sounds that grew louder and angrier by the second. Suddenly, I saw her back charging toward me, as if she was coming to attack me, moving with her back facing me the entire time. Imagine something running at you with no face to show, only a back.
I screamed with all the fear in the world and ran as fast as I could until I crashed into something and fell. I looked up, terrified, to see my cousin, who was just as startled, asking what had frightened me. I looked around and saw nothing. Everything was as it had been. I stood there trembling, and all I could think to say was that I had seen a snake and thought it was going to bite me.
He warned me that this was a desert area and I should be careful. I told him I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to leave, and he obliged. I spent the rest of the day haunted by what I had seen, feeling like something was watching me, waiting for the right moment to harm me.
Who was that girl? Why was she standing like that? And was this the end of it, or was there more to come?
Later that night, I tried to calm myself down and finally managed to drift off to sleep. But in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a rhythmic knocking sound.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I woke up, confused, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I got out of bed, about to turn on the light when I noticed a faint glow coming from the mirror. I looked at it in disbelief and saw that it reflected a palace, as if a video was playing on it. I could see a grand, majestic palace, and the scene moved until I was inside it. There, I saw a girl standing in the palace hall, looking anxious, holding a broken statue that resembled a piece of art. At that moment, a large woman approached, saw the scene, and her face twisted with rage.
The woman began beating the girl, who cried out for help in vain. Then, just as suddenly, the scene vanished, and I heard heavy breathing behind me. I turned around in terror and saw the same girl with her back facing me. I fainted from fear, convinced I was going to die.
The next day, I woke up trying to convince myself it had all been a nightmare, but the bump on my head from fainting told a different story. I went to the bathroom to wash my face and clear my mind.
As I looked into the bathroom mirror, there she was again – the same girl, with nothing but her back visible. But this time, I didn’t feel as scared. Instead, I felt like she was trying to send me a message that I couldn’t understand. She was silently crying, and I could see tears – blood-red tears – dripping down from between her thick hair. I felt as though she was pleading with me for help. Then, she extended her hand toward me from inside the mirror. Without thinking, I reached out my hand toward her.
At that moment, the mirror sent a strange electric shock through my body that made me jump back. I left the bathroom, trembling, and sat in my room, crying from fear, anxiety, and the sheer confusion of what was happening to me.
That day, my cousin called me multiple times, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer. The day passed, and that night I found myself alone in my room again, staring at the mirror. This time, I saw a new scene. I saw the large woman carrying a heavy bag and struggling with it as she left the palace. She stopped at a remote spot, began digging, and buried the bag before the scene faded and the girl with no face appeared again behind me, growling. Once again, I fainted.
This repeated for a week until I was on the verge of losing my mind. I felt like I had no choice but to return to the site. I asked my cousin to take me there, and when I got close to the spot near the crane, I started seeing strange shadows and hearing whispers in my ear.
“Dig here.”
I became convinced that something was buried near the crane where I had seen the girl. I told my cousin everything in detail, and I pleaded with him to help me. The strange thing was, he admitted that there had been a mansion on that land about twenty years ago, belonging to a wealthy landowner.
At that moment, everything clicked. My cousin said he would help me and would find an excuse to dig in that spot within two days, but he needed to convince the project manager first. Two days later, he called me, sounding extremely agitated, and told me they had dug and found a skeleton buried there.
After that, everything stopped for me, and I was able to live my life again, understanding what had happened.
After some research, I found out that the owner of the mansion was a very wealthy and cruel woman who had treated her servants terribly. One of them, a girl, had broken an expensive piece of art, and the owner had tortured her to death before burying her in front of the mansion. Her spirit remained bound to the place until her remains were given a proper burial.
The strange thing was, the project manager was so impressed with my cousin after they chatted that he insisted on hiring me to work with them.
