Sunday Short: Seat No. 9

At the quiet Malaysia-Thailand border town of Bukit Kayu Hitam, the Lotus Cineplex was the last place anyone expected real horror.

Siti had always loved ghost stories. Even when her mother warned her, "Our blood is different, Siti. We carry things we don't understand," she brushed it off as old superstitions.

On a rainy Thursday night, she decided to catch the latest Thai horror film "Roh Dalam Cermin" (The Spirit in the Mirror). She bought a single ticket—Row J, Seat 9.

Halfway through the movie, the scene shifted. A young girl thrashed violently on the screen, her face twisted in demonic agony. An Ustaz entered, calm and steady, reciting verses from the Quran. The camera zoomed close to the possessed girl’s face as the verse grew louder, sharper.

That's when it happened.

Siti’s body jerked violently in her seat. Her popcorn bucket flew into the air. Eyes rolling back, she let out a guttural sound that didn't belong to her.

“Aku tak mahu pergi! Aku kena jaga dia!”

(I don’t want to go! I need to take care of her!)

The entire cinema froze. Some laughed nervously, thinking it was a prank. But when Siti stood up, her movements unnatural, twitching like a marionette on broken strings, the laughter died.

As the on-screen Ustaz continued his Quranic recitation, the air grew heavy. The lights flickered.

Then chaos erupted.

The entity within Siti, desperate to escape, leapt—into the girl two rows ahead. The new host screamed, her voice deepening unnaturally, clawing at her own face. A teenage boy near the aisle convulsed next. Then a woman in a hijab.

One by one, the djinn fled from body to body, spreading like wildfire, leaving a trail of shrieking, possessed cinema-goers.

People stampeded toward the exits—but every time the Quran verse played louder from the screen, another body fell, twisted, corrupted by the ancient spirit.

Through the panic, Siti—her body empty and unconscious—lay slumped in her seat.

Row J. Seat 9.

The projector sputtered.

On the screen, the possessed girl stared directly out of the frame—her eyes now eerily resembling Siti’s.

And she whispered:

"We are not done yet."