I see things others don't (1) 18,19,20

Continues

I hate losing things. You know the feeling you get when you
have a place where you keep your house keys and you are
in a hurry to go to work and when you finally look for the
keys in their normal place and you can’t find them? its much
worse when you lose people. I had no idea where Nina was.
Her line was not going. I had never asked where her family
stayed and she didn’t leave a place of origin address, even
at the office. I didn’t know whether to report her missing or
if she had decided to leave of her own volition. My missing
sim also aggravated matters for me. Obviously Mr A****
had swapped the sims, probably to ensure nobody knew
where I was, but then why alert my parents? And on more
than one occasion someone had impersonated my voice,
claiming to be me and stating that I was in the village. The
person probably found put I was out of the hospital hence
his saying that I would be returning to the office the next
day. What was Mr a****’s plan? And where on earth was
Nina?
One week passed. I lost my appetite and slept poorly. My
parents stayed until they felt I had recovered sufficiently
then my father, at my mum’s insistence, advised me to
“forget about this girl called Nina.” What proof did I have
that she was not enjoying herself somewhere with her
fiancee? Perhaps she had already agreed to the pact he had
been pressing on her, perhaps she was already part of the
family. Certainly she was not worth risking one’s life over if
she could not even come to visit when I was down. Or at
least she would have sent a text message or called before
leaving town. It was obvious she didn’t care about me the
way I did for her…
My dad kept on presenting points with my mum supporting
him in the background. Finally I agreed to let sleeping dogs
lie, even if it was just to get them off my back. My parents
reluctantly left me after staying another 5 days and I was
finally alone. And defeated. Nowhere to start looking from. I
called the doctor and asked if anyone had coming looking
for me after I was discharged and he said no, but would let
me know of someone did.
Mentally I was fatigued. My. Spirit was worried and I found
myself visiting chuks the stronger more often in my sleep.
There is nothing as calming as keeping connected with your
inner child, for he is your first friend and confidant. In my
case he was just below the surface in my waking hours and
at night he walked with me in my dreams.
“Surely she cannot be so important to you,” he said one
night, in one of my many restless dreams . ” you barely
know anything about her.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I replied. ” you can feel how I
feel.”
“And I feel it strongly,” he said. “But I do not see the reason
for it. Maybe I’m childish or maybe its because as you I feel
betrayed that she left just like that, but honestly we can’t
help everybody. You’ll wear us out if we do.”
I sighed deeply and remained silent. Chuks the stronger
smiled, “Come,” he said, “let me teach you how to make
fire!”
Ever since the awakening of chuks the stronger I had been
receiving lessons on how to control the Sight, and how to
harness my other senses as well. I knew I could hear, I
spoke with and listened to Pachios and previous landlady
often. And on occaaaion they could touch me, but I never
knew I could touch back. Chuks had taught me how to see
further into the spirit realm than I had ever done before,
now I could see people’s past, present and future and not
just their immediate problems. He also taught me how to
control it so it would not be a distraction. Smell, taste and
touch were new fields waiting to be explored. And then there
was fire. I had mistakenly set it off when I lost my temper
with my dad the week before. Now he showed me how to
channel my anger and how to control it also, lest I burn
myself in the process. I learned a lot from these dream
lessons and was very grateful for it although it left me
fatigued by morning.
Two weeks had passed since I left the hospital and I was
coming back from the local market when I hailed a taxi. I
was about getting in when a bike man almost ran into me.
“Hey! Watch where you are going!” I said, angrily. The bike
man steadied his motorcycle and looked up angrily.
“You too, you no go look where you dey go?!” He retorted.
“This place resemble road for ya eye?!” I yelled, pointing at
the pedestrian walkway where he had almost hit me.
“But I no hit you na, bros abeg free me jor” he replied
sullenly. Then his face lit up as he looked into my eyes.
“Come, no be you be lover boy wey I dey carry him Girl
friend for junction?” He asked excitedly.
“Who, me?” I asked.
“Yes na,” he replied, coming closer. “Na you been dey with
that fine girl, I don carry am two times for your place now.
Na wa o bros, e be like say that girl dey runs you o!”
I had already entered the taxi when he started talking. I
came down immediately and apologizing to the driver,
asked him to go. He said something about woman power
and zoomed off. I faced the bike man now, my heart beating
the rhumba.
“Where did you see her?’ I asked.
“Ah ah, I don carry am like three times now from her new
place na. The first time I see am I carry am dey ask am if she
remember me, she say no. I come say okay, how far her
boyfriend wey dey stay Ikeja side. She say she no get any
boyfriend, say she jus come Lagos newly. I come laugh
come tell am say make she no deny, shebi I dey there when
una kiss on top my bike. Na him she form deaf and dumb,
no talk again. na him me too say make I leave d matter face
my business. The other two times I carry am I still greet am
but she do as if she no know me.”
I was so excited I could barely contain myself. The bike man
saw the expression on my face and laughed .
“Wetin?” He said laughing, “You no wan go where you dey go
again?”
“Bros a beg you fit take me reach her place?” I asked
anxiously.
He looked me over and smirked.
“Na wa o, you go buy me beer first o,” he said smiling.
I told him that not only would I buy him beer, i would fill his
tank with fuel as well. He laughed and rubbed his hands
together.
“Oya enter na, make I show you the place!”





Continues

2 episodes left myt be off-line for a while I’m rushing it

The bike man took me to an old estate a few kilometers away.
He chatted endlessly on the vices and virtues of women as we
went along, arguing for and against why I should keep Nina as
my girlfriend. I nodded automatically and “oh-ed” and “ah-ed”
in the right places to make him think I was interested in the
conversation and to keep him happy. When we finally arrived
at the place I was laughing and grinning along with him like we
were old friends. He seemed to appreciate the time spent and
refused the fare I handed him. We had already stopped at a
filling station earlier to fill up his tank so I felt his generosity
was a little late but I didn’t point this out. He collected my
number and said if I needed anything I should let him know.
The estate was divided into two rows of buildings, one on the
right and one on the left. He pointed to the third building on the
left and smiled.
“Na that one be her house. E be like say she dey stay there
with her ‘Uncle’ o.” He stressed the word uncle mischievously
and grinned. I thanked him and told him I’d be in touch and he
nodded and rode off.
Was this really the place? It seemed so quiet. There were no
security guards at the entrance to the estate and I presumed
the place would be protected by vigilantes at night. Some cars
were parked outside the apartments but they were not many
and given that the time was around noon, I supposed it was
because people were still at work. There was an old tarred
road that ran down the middle of the estate and all the
apartments were fenced, some higher than the others and
barricaded by huge gates. I cautiously approached the house
the bike man had pointed out, wondering how I would react if
Nina suddenly came out of the gate but nothing like that
happened. On getting to the gate I hesitated for a moment
then pushed the pedestrian gate a bit. It swung open with a
slight creak and I was able to look inside. It was a fairly large
apartment, painted yellow on the outside with green stripes at
the base of the building. Some sordid looking plants served as
meager representations of a once glorious hedge. There was
no vehicle in sight and no noise coming from inside the house.
I paused for a moment then took a stone and flung it against
the door. It bounced off the protective bars of the front door
with a clang and I waited patiently, listening for the sound of a
guard dog or someone coming to the door. Nothing. Finally I
took a deep breath and ventured inside.
All the while I had been outside the compound I had sensed
nothing, but the moment I entered I was assaulted by a variety
of sensations. The walls of the building emanated strange
vibrations that made me feel uncomfortable. There was an old
dead looking broom that had been lying by the corner that I
had seen before I entered but now I saw the old, dead looking
broom had a gold chain attached to it. The chain was pointing
straight upwards, defying gravity and waiting for an unlucky
person to pick up the broom and start sweeping. I avoided it
and moved towards the door where I heard a cacophony of
noises from above. I looked up and sure enough, those Bat-
like creatures I had seen the day I was abducted were
hovering just above the roof with a few perched at odd angles
in some places. They screeched when they saw me but made
no move to attack. I ignored them as well and went to the front
door where a sheet of white cold flame barricaded the inside
from unwanted intruders. This place had charms all over it. I
was sure I would see more when I moved inside. A flicker of
fear crossed my mind but I (chuks the stronger) stifled it. I
honestly believed there was nothing here that I could not
handle. With that I passed my hand through the cold white
flame and knocked on the door.
The sound seemed to reverberate through the whole house and
I waited for a while for the echoes to die down. I knocked
again and received no answer. I felt around the protector and
saw that there was a padlock which had been put in place but
not locked. I turned and removed the padlock, opened the
protector and then twisted the door knob. The door swung
open.
This was it. Anything else I did right now would be regarded as
breaking and entering by the law. I paused again only for a
second before walking through the door. Normally this is
where a thief would have stopped. The white flame would have
prevented him from opening the door and even if he somehow
succeeded the broom would have called to him and he would
have had no choice but to answer that call. As soon as he got
to the broom the gold chain would wrap around his wrist. The
thief would have swept that compound till the owner came
back. However I entered unharmed and instead when I turned
back I saw that the white flame had disappeared and the gold
chain attached to the broom now lay lifeless on the floor. I
entered into a short and narrow corridor that led into the parlor.
The whole house seemed empty, there were some pieces of
furniture around but they were mostly old and outdated stuff.
The television that rested on a stand must have been about
twenty years old and the floor was cemented with an archaic
rug at the centre. All in all, a shabby old place. Two windows
provided ventilation to this room and without thinking I went
over and opened them. At least while I was here, let small
fresh air enter the place.
I entered into another room, a bedroom filled with better luxury
items unlike in the parlor. Obviously whoever lived here stayed
in this room most of the time. The room had a singular foam
mattress which was placed on the floor. Around it, books and
magazines littered the place and there was a mirror with a
small shelf for placing accessories. I left that room and went
on to the next door which opened into the kitchen. The dirty
pots and pans in the sink coupled with fungus growing on the
chopping board indicated a person with poor hygienic taste.
There were some tubers of yam and potatoes on the floor and
a small working fridge with fruits and sachets of drinking water
inside. The walls of the kitchen had been blackened by years
of cooking with a kerosene stove. It gave off the feeling of a
makeshift place for me. Whoever was staying here wasn’t
planning on staying long.
So far I had not encountered anything out of the ordinary since
I stepped into the house, much to my surprise. Whatever
paranormal activity that was in the vicinity seemed to be
outside the house. I had just made up my mind that the house
was totally empty and was about leaving when I heard a slight
cough. I stiffened and held my breath. I heard it again, more
like someone clearing their throat this time. I looked cautiously
around the corridor to see if I had missed a door. Sure enough,
there were three other doors at the end of the corridor. I had
not spotted them at first because a large clothes hanger had
been placed across the corridor, making it look like the
corridor had ended midway. I gently placed the clothes hanger
sideways and moved down towards the three doors. Two of
them were obviously the toilet and bathroom; they had
symbols indicating this on their pedestals. The third appeared
to be a store room and it was here the coughing had emanated
from. As I got closer I noticed a glowing light from under the
door, coming from inside the room. The person coughed
again. It was a dry, throaty cough, like someone in need of
medical attention. I tried peeking through the keyhole to see
who was there but try as I might I couldn’t get the person in
my line of vision. I tried my best to pick out anything at all that
could clue me in on what was happening in the room, what
was giving off that faint light, and finally I saw it.
Lying at the far end of the room, pulsating in its own
effervescent light, was a single white feather. A feather so
large it could have only come from one place. I closed my
eyes and braced myself for a showdown. And then I pushed
hard on the lock. It opened easily enough, it wasn’t locked
either, and I almost fell as I rushed in.
Sitting on a chair, looking thin and sickly was Nina. Her wings
still shone as bright as the day I saw her but now the gold
chain binding them was emanating a bright red fiery glow. And
even though from what I could see it appeared to be causing
her great pain, her features were blank, expressionless. She
barely blinked when I rushed towards her and held her in my
arms. Her body was cold and clammy, as if she hadn’t been
out in the sun for a while.
“Nina! Nina!!” what’s the matter? Say something!” I shouted
but she remained mute. I looked around to see if she had been
bound somehow to
the chair but I couldn’t see any restraints. I lifted her up from
the chair but then she made the first voluntary movement
since I had met her in this condition. She forcefully sat back
down again. I carried her up and she struggled away from me
and sat down again. And then I saw what the problem was. A
thin stringy substance like steel cobwebs was attached to her
head and some of then ran down her head to the chair. She
had been hypnotized. I had seen it on some other people when
I was younger. Someone else was in control of her thoughts
and didn’t want her to get up from that chair either till he
returned or he gave the order for her to do something else. I
went behind the chair and saw the intricate network of wires
and I closed my eyes. How would I get her out of this? What
did I have to do?
“You can see them can’t you? Then remove them! Don’t think too
much.” said chuks the stronger.
I waved my hands over the steel webs and they burnt away as
soon as they made contact with my skin. I continued until I
had burnt away every last string. Then I carried Nina up. This
time she remained in my arms.
I carried her out of the store and into the other more
comfortable room and lay her down on the bed. she appeared
to have regained consciousness and was crying. I told her
everything would be alright and rushed to the kitchen to get
some water. I found a clean bowl and fetched some water into
it from the tap. I also looked in the fridge and took a sachet of
water for drinking and rushed back to the room with Nina in it.
She had sat up in bed now and was looking at me bewildered. I
gave her the water to wash her face and the sachet water to
drink.
She did this and soon enough was looking more relaxed. She
held my hand as if I would suddenly bolt from the place and
leave her alone again. I assured her that we were alone and
that nobody was around at the moment.
“But what happened?” she asked, “Weren’t you at the
psychiatric hospital?”
I explained the whole story to her, how I had been abducted by
her father in law, how he had set me up to appear mad and
thus my incarceration in the hospital, and how I had finally
freed myself from his creature.
She listened wide eyed and trembled occasionally. Obviously
she had been through some experiences of her own and I
asked her what she was doing here.
“I don’t know chuks, really!” She said, still looking bewildered.
“The last thing I remember was coming back to your
apartment to bring your clothes for you. I got to the hospital
and my father- in- law took the clothes and told me to wait in
the car. I said, no I wanted to see how you were doing. The
rest was like a dream. Like I wasn’t myself. I’ve been
dreaming a lot lately, but the most scary is that once in a while
it is as if I wake up and my father- in- law is there, asking me,
almost pleading with me to do something, something that I
can’t remember right now. And each time I refuse. Then he
takes me to a small room, that small room we were in, and I
sit there for hours and hours! Wait…did I quit my job, or was
that a dream as well?
I told her she had been hypnotized and yes she had quit her
job but that could all be sorted out once we escaped from this
place. Right now I felt we were in the belly of the beast, this
was Mr A****’s hideout, where he came to do his shady deals
while in lagos. We needed to leave here as soon as possible.
She agreed and I stood her up from the bed.
“One thing,” I said, “Why do you keep calling him father- in-
law? Have you agreed to marry his son now?”
She shuddered. “Are you crazy? After all this? Never! It’s just
force of habit I guess. I have never been comfortable calling
him M r A****.”
“Okay then, just to be sure.” I said although my heart had
missed a few beats just then
She eyed me mischievously. “What, you wouldn’t have come
to save me if I had agreed to marry his son?”
“What? No!!! I mean Yes, of course I would have come to save
you even if you…”
She kissed me then, a sudden, full mouthed kiss that left me
breathless. I now understood why American movies depicted
kissing in the direst of situations. Even now, as we faced
unknown danger, that kiss drew us away from our
predicament and into a wondrous sphere of peace and calm.
Stars exploded in my head, imaginary stars, not spiritual, and I
could sense chuks the stronger savoring the kiss as well.
When she finally let me go it took all my willpower not to drag
her back in my arms for another one.
“I was just teasing you, you know.” she said smiling, “I knew
you would come to rescue me. Let’s go.” And she went ahead
of me.
I savored the kiss a little while longer and made to go when I
felt a gentle tug in my mind. I held my hand to my mouth and
pretended to be
coughing. “What is it?” I whispered under my breath.
This girl…that kiss…wow. This girl is something else, said chuks
the stronger.
“Now? Really? You want to analyze a kiss now?” I thought
angrily.
“The taste of her, the aroma of her breath, the softness of her skin,
even her spirit went into that kiss.”
I moved forward and tried to ignore chuks commentary in my
brain. This was not the time to be behaving like a schoolboy
having his first kiss.
We were through the corridor and were almost out the door
when I heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. We both
froze at the door, hoping the car would pas but it didn’t. it
remained purring at the front gate and then somebody came
down and opened the gate from the outside. We ran back
inside and watched from the windows as the car drove in. It
parked across the front door and the driver went back to close
the gate. We waited in anticipated breath, hoping he was
alone, maybe he came to collect something but we were
having no such luck. The driver went to the back of the car and
opened the doors and out stepped Mr A*****. Nina let out a
small scream and I closed her mouth with my hands and led
her to the kitchen. We hid behind the kitchen door with the
hope that when he entered and went to check on her we would
be able to make our escape. We heard the parlor door open
and Mr A****’s calm voice, telling the driver he could go. He
obviously handed him something of value because the driver
started to thank him profusely and finally we heard the car
come to life again and drive out of the compound. Mr A***
seemed to settle down in the parlor and for a while everything
was silent.
Nina’s body trembled beside mine as we stayed behind the
kitchen door, waiting for a chance, for him to make a move.
After about what seemed like an eternity although in reality it
couldn’t have been more than ten minutes, we heard Mr A****
yawn and say to himself, “I’m tired of all this.” There was a
little more silence then he shouted.
“Mr Chukwudi, will you please stop hiding and come out where
I can see you!”
Nina almost fainted. I felt her knees buckle and held her up as
she trebled even more uncontrollably. We were still silent then
I heard his voice again:
“Surely you remember what I told you before about my pet
bats, or wasn’t that what you called them? They are my
lookouts, my sentries. I have been alerted of your visit ever
since you entered this compound. Please come out.”
In my mind I felt Chukwudi the stronger giggle. “That’s more
like it. Let’s have this over and done with!” Then he became
quiet again. I stood up and decided I might as well come out,
but Nina could stay behind, he had no way of knowing I had
freed her from his spell. If he did I would find out soon
enough. I motioned for her to stay hidden and came out. Tears
were streaming down her eyes and she looked terrified. I
smiled at her and whispered there was nothing to worry about,
we’d be fine and then I walked out of the kitchen into the
corridor. As I approached I felt Chuks the stronger in my mind
pushing, straining to say something. I stopped.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The girl…that kiss”
“Honestly Chuks, now is not the time! We are about to face Mr
A***! The one who put us in a psychiatric hospital! Goodness
knows what
arsenal he has at his disposal and you are here going gaga
over a kiss!”
“Well, yes.” Chukwudi the stronger said. I could feel him
becoming uncomfortable, like he was about to admit
something that was very unpalatable to him.
“ What is it?! ” I asked out loud.
“Good, you finally decided to show, Chukwudi.” Mr A**** said.
“Come out, come out, I won’t hurt you”
“Are you happy now? He has heard us!” I said angrily.
“You were going to meet him before anyway, weren’t you?”
Chuks said. “Relax. Besides, from what I have seen I don’t
think he is the one you
should be worrying about.”
I stopped short.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve been trying to tell you…” he said with a jovial voice,
“The kiss… the girl we left in the kitchen. She is stronger than
both of you.”





******************
Ah, Mr chukwudi, welcome.” Mr A* said invitingly. “Please
have a seat.”
I declined. As much as I would have loved to sit down to
camouflage the shaking of my knees, I was much too wary to
sit. I could see Mr A****’s ever present bodyguards, as clearly
as I could see them that day although now they both wore
sheaths on their waists. Mr A**** himself was dressed in his
usual native attire and a cap with many feathers on his head. I
closed the Sight a little and saw he was actually donning a
simple grey french suit and grey trousers. Even then his spirit
guards were visible. I could only hazard a guess that their
spirit pressure was so much that even a lay person would have
gotten the shivers by getting close to him. I however, due to
my abilities, was so engulfed in their aura that I had initially
thought them to be real people. I could feel chuks the stronger
gearing up for a fight and the last thing he had told me about
Nina was kept aside for now, I would dwell on it later.
“I would rather stand, thank you.” I said calmly.
Mr A***** studied me briefly, he gazed at my head and I knew
he was wondering about the creature he put there.
“Don’t look too hard, it’s gone.” I said.
“Obviously,” he replied. “But how? Did any of those
meddlesome pastors that come to hospital to preach pray for
you? I have encountered some with real powers. Perhaps that
was how you escaped.”
“No,” I said. “I ripped it apart with my bare hands.”
“You?” he laughed gently to himself. “You don’t have any
power. Even now I’m talking to you I can see you trembling.”
“One might tremble out of indignation or anger or excitement.”
I said. “One does not always tremble from fear.”
“We shall see,” he promised and tried looking over my
shoulder. “Have you attempted to free Nina? What did you
make of my hypnosis spell?
Wonderful, eh?”
“Yes. Interesting.” I said, noting his confident tone in thinking I
had attempted to free her. I didn’t want to reveal anything yet,
I wanted him to continue underestimating me. “Why did you
do that to her? I thought you said you needed her free will.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat then and I noticed the
dust swirl around his feet. This was actually the second time, I
had noticed it earlier when he was looking for his lunacy
creature and had attributed it to a gust of wind. But now I was
beginning to feel it held a far more significant meaning. Like he
was getting ready for battle. He sighed, looking very
despondent all of a sudden.
“I can’t waste any more time. I need her to perform the pact
with my son and align her destiny to my lineage. Do you know
how rare it is to find someone of her caliber, someone with
such a rich and powerful destiny? I tried to trace her parents;
the real people taking care of her- that is, my cousin and his
wife, are just her guardians. I suppose she has already told
you this. I thought if I could find her parents, maybe I could
suck out some of the power she inherited from them, but try
as I might, spiritually and otherwise, I wasn’t able to find them.
And so I stuck with their daughter, tried to get her to marry my
son, tried to get him to exchange blood with her so she would
fall under my authority, but that hasn’t worked either. I was
actually coming with him to lagos this time to observe them
and see how they were getting along, to see if there was any
hope of consummating the relationship with the pact soon, but
then I saw you, a visioner, lurking around her. I saw your
flames of passion and deep love engulfing you and her, and I
knew if I didn’t act fast she would gather enough courage to
leave him and come to be with you. I couldn’t let that happen,
not after making boasts in certain, er…spheres, that I was
soon going to become more powerful than any of them! I had
to get rid of you somehow, without drawing too much attention
to myself. Hence the idea of driving you mad, like I have done
to numerous
people that have stood in my way. It has always worked
before but then, I have never used my skills on a fellow seer
before either. Since that didn’t work, I guess I’m going to have
to find another way to deal with you. Then I will work some
more on Nina. If I cannot get her destiny to be mine, I’ll do it in
such a way that she will never shine, I will increase the fire in
the chains I have already put around her, stifling her
potentials! I will have her power or no one else will!
And then he made a sudden gesture with his hand and one of
the demon guards rushed forward, arms outstretched.
What happened next, I cannot really explain. For a moment it
was me, and then it wasn’t me. The next thing I knew was I
had guard by the neck, lifted him off his feet and slammed him
to the floor. I maintained my grip on him and then my hand
caught fire and so did he. He screamed and writhed but I held
firm and did not let go. and there was a fire burning in my
chest and every fear and indignation, every anger and shame I
had felt in the past few days in the hospital, at work, at home,
went into that hand, and in a while the writhing stopped and all
was quiet, the only physical acknowledgement of what had
happened being a swirl of dust on the dirty floor.
I looked up at Mr A**** and saw his bewilderment at what had
happened. He looked on as his guard turned to ashes and
disappeared. Then he looked back at me and for the first time I
saw uncertainty in his eyes. I, on the other hand felt good, like
I had relieved myself of some pressure or burden. I couldn’t
feel Chuks the stronger again and slowly it dawned on me, that
I was Chuks the stronger . I felt free, alive, volatile . And i loved it.
“Can I ask you something?” I said, breaking the silence and
startling Mr A**** a little. He stood up slowly from the chair
and I watched as an
ancient looking spear with a wooden handle and strange
carvings formed in his right hand. I shook my head.
“Just one question before we continue” I requested again. “It’s
been really bugging my mind.”
“Go ahead.” He said.
“It’s about the hospital admission and the phone calls,” I
replied. “You could have driven me mad, then dropped me off
at a remote location to leave me wandering about for the rest
of my days, but you chose to keep me in a hospital. Then my
parents, I am assuming you were the one that alerted them
after searching through my contacts on my phone. You called
them to come and then you changed my SIM card. I don’t get
that part.”
“Simple,” he said and I saw him make a slight gesture and the
spear increased in size and the tip slowly began to burn
reddish gold. “I normally keep my victims admitted until I am
sure they are properly labeled as mad, that way if they ever
regain consciousness like you did, the drugs they will be
placed on will keep them subdued and even if they refuse the
drugs, the social stigma that goes with someone being
officially certified as being crazy will stick with them forever.
Their credibility will always be in question, and if they run
across me anyday and dare to raise an issue, I can always
argue that their madness is beginning again. I had a fellow like
that who regained consciousness after some prayers by some
overzealous Christians. He tried to confront me and I made a
mockery of his statements in public, even offering to pay to
have him re-incarcerated. He couldn’t take the shame and
commited suicide soon after. As for you, however, I wanted to
see your parents. I don’t know how or why some people will be
gifted in having special children like you that are born with
unique abilities while I had to toil for mine. It’s not fair. And so
I called your parents to size them out, and see if they had any
special powers I could benefit from. However I didn’t see
much to impress me and so I planned on showing some
money around, offering to take care of your finances with the
hope that they would entrust you to my care and return to the
village. I had plans of hypnotizing you and sending you there
to kill them and then kill yourself on the way back. Everyone
would weep at the tragedy of the young man who went mad
and returned home to massacre his own parents and then kill
himself. But then I checked on you in the hospital and found
that you had gone, that you were better, that your file had even
been closed as a case of misdiagnosis! I wanted to strangle
the doctor! All the careful planning of calling your colleagues
and getting them to believe you had travelled already had been
punctured. So I made some adjustments and told them your
parents who you said were sick were now better and you
wanted to return to work. I was willing to let things go at that
point. I felt you would be too scared to continue the issue and
besides there was no way of you knowing that Nina was still in
this lagos and hadn’t gone back home to marry my son.
Imagine my surprise when my monitor Bats came to alert me
that you were in the house! I was greatly impressed. But now I
have to tie up loose ends. I won’t make the same mistakes
with you again.”
He suddenly stabbed the other demon guard with the spear
and it roared in pain but remained where it was. I watched as it
increased in size and took on the shape of a large gorilla
instead of a muscular man that had been there previously. I
had an image of Marvel’s “the hulk” and wondered if this is
where the artist had gotten his inspiration from. Probably he
had possessed the Sight as well…
The Guard –now-Gorilla lunged at me. I stepped aside,
keeping an eye on Mr A**** but he did nothing to join in the
fight. The gorilla guard turned and rushed me again and was
able to get a hold of my arm. I felt myself being lifted bodily off
the ground and then I went sailing through the air to crash on
the ancient television. It made a popping and crashing sound
as it broke and I felt pain as shards of glass tore through my
shirt and into my back. Mr A**** was laughing in the
background.
“So you just gathered some small energy and thought you
could defeat me eh?” he chuckled. “Stand up my friend!”
.
.
.
.
I felt good.
I mean, it was painful, my back hurt like a b-----d and the
front of my shirt had been torn from the hurling through the air,
but…but…I felt good.
I wanted this, I wanted to fight. I wanted the exhilaration to
last and last. And so I got up, dusted myself a bit and then
said:
“Do you always talk so much?”
Mr A**** was infuriated. He expected me to be cowering on
the floor but here I was standing and then I started to
advance.
“I have never been much of a talker myself,” I said, “Takes the
fun out of all the action.”
The gorilla guard rushed at me again and I stepped back and
stuck out my foot. It tripped clumsily and crashed to the floor
and I went behind it and wrapped my arms around its large,
sinewy neck, and squeezed, tighter, tighter, and it struggled
and attempted to get up but I forced my knee down on its back
and squeezed, shouting now, screaming, feeling salt in my
mouth as I choked whatever animated its monstrous form out
of it, until with a gurgling sound it finally lay still and I dropped
its lifeless carcass on the floor.
it lay there for a while and then it too vanished.
I had gotten up and was standing over the creature when I
heard a yell and footsteps. I knew Mr A**** was rushing
towards me and I waited a bit, timing it to the last minute then
turned as he tried to run me over with the spear. I grabbed the
spear by its s---t and it shone brightly and Mr A**** yelled like
he had been burned and let go, backing away slowly.
“No…No! That is the spear of my forefathers! No one can hold
it but me!”
I held the spear in both hands, put it over my knee and broke
it.
Mr A**** shouted out in alarm and the regalia of clothes he
had been manifesting in, disappeared.
“I just broke a noble spear because of you,” I said, for I could
feel the spear in my arms, its pride, its shame, its weeping.
“You are the first person in your line to use your family gift for
evil. You are a disgrace to yourself and your ancestors!”
Mr A**** cringed and cowered near the old sofa. He couldn’t
understand what had just happened. I could feel his
manifestations slowly dispersing as he lost control of them,
the bats overheard shrieked and started flying away, the house
began to lose the misery it had been steeped in, and he
suddenly began to look older in my eyes.
“Please, please,” he said. “Spare me!”
“You think I’m going to kill you?” I asked, disgustedly. “I’m not
like you. I would prefer it if you saw the error of your ways and
changed. With what I feel in this spear you were wielding, you
would have been a source of great joy to a lot of people
instead of allowing greed and corruption eat into your heart. It
is not too late. You can change. Anybody can change if given
another chance.”
He didn’t say anything, just remained cowering in the corner.
Nina must have heard all that was going on because she came
out and ran to meet me. Mr A**** looked at her in shock.
“You, you are free?” he cried, “But how now?”
She didn’t answer but held on to me tight. “Please let’s go…”
she said. I agreed and we started to move to the front door. I
will admit I was distracted, I wasn’t looking at Mr A****
anymore, he had appeared so defeated there on the floor. The
next thing I knew Nina had flown back into his arms. It was as
if an invisible cord had tugged at her waist and she had been
propelled backwards. I shouted and made to go after her but
Mr A**** did something and the gold chain that held her, that
had been glowing belligerently, suddenly caught fire. Nina
screamed in agony and I stopped in mid rush.
“Good idea,” said Mr A**** grinning wickedly from ear to ear.
“I may not have much of my powers but I still have enough to
kill her with pain. Now step
back!”