Lady Black and the mysterious creature of the night

Chapter 9

Aggie took a tray of food into Gama’s room for the wife. It was easy keeping this secret from the other helps considering they were all a bunch of walking-dead bodies. “Good morning, madam Boniswa.” She had put the tray on the bedside table and went ahead to open the curtains letting in the light. Aggie helped the woman on the bed sit up. She took back the tray in her hands and put it aside the woman. “So… Do I feed you or…” as if she waited for the woman to respond. There was no response. All the woman did was stare at the girl and not move a limb on her own. “I guess, I have to feed you. I was told to make you a sandwich. Although, I wonder how you would chew it. You seem perfectly incapable of doing things yourself, let alone chew on bread—”

She got interrupted by a certain noise. Aggie got up to look into the woman’s bathroom, following the noise but there was no-one there. “Did you hear that too? There was a sound, almost like someone was coughing or moaning.” Aggie quickly dismissed herself when there was no response from the woman. Aggie remembered, “Oh! I left the tap running in the kitchen. I have to go. I’ll be back,” she left the room. When she arrived in the kitchen, she found Luthando—the youngest son of Gama—mopping the floor from his wheelchair and the tap was closed. “You left the tap running and now there’s a flood in the kitchen. Where did you go?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I was trying to fill that pail up so that I can go wipe the chairs in the dining room.” She took the mop from Luthando, “Let me do that.”

“Who allowed you into my dad’s room?”

“Himself.”

“Am I supposed to believe that?”

“You can ask him yourself when he’s back from work.”

Luthando was tempted to know how she even got the permission to enter Gama’s room in first place. None of the previous workers had been allowed in before. However, he had become anti-social ever after the car accident. He began wheeling out of the kitchen—

“Lebogang told me about your accident.” Aggie said, she had always wanted to communicate with the mum and isolated young man, “He told me that it happened back in Italy, and it was a hit and run. I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t know why he told you that. He should have kept his mouth shut. Finish up and knock off early today.”

“Sure.”

Aggie went home and jotted a letter for Mpho. When Mpho came into form, she remembered something she had been putting aside for some days now. It was mainly because she just could not have the room to herself. However, at the moment she was alone in that shack as Karabo was still at school. This was her chance to search the room for the parcel that Tiger had given Karabo to hide. Mpho searched through the bags and even in the pails but found nothing. It had taken her hours searching the tiny room. It was hard given that she had no idea what exactly Karabo was assigned to hide. She had turned the room upside down and would tidy up again just in case, Karabo walked in. Mpho wanted to keep her knowledge of Karabo’s dealings with Tiger as discreet as possible.

Soon an idea popped into her head. Mpho impersonated her brother for that moment. She asked herself where else in that tiny room would she hide a parcel if she was Karabo. There was one place she had not looked. That was in the floor under the bed. “I would lift the matrass up, and start digging. And toss the bag in there.” As she lifted the matrass, she saw a shift on how the floor was supposed to look. It was very clear that something was dug in there. Hearing the door unlock, she quickly put down the matrass and began tidying the bed. “What are you doing?” that was the first thing Karabo said walking into the room. She tried to laugh it off, “Just tidying the bed.”

“I tidied it in the morning. What, you don’t like the way I do it now?”

Mpho could sense the boy’s tone, it was somewhat suspicious of her and at the same time angry at her. “I took a nap while you were not here. I got home early today. And what’s with all the questions? Get changed and prepare dinner. I’ll be right back.”

He only watched her put on her jacket and step out. Normally, he would ask where she was going and protest to go with her but at that moment, he would rather she stepped out a bit.

Now, alone in the house. He knew he had to be quick. He lifted the matrass and had a peek under. The floor was untouched by another. It looked the same way he left it, with the markings. That was enough confirmation that whatever he hid was still in there. Karabo knew that it would be risky to dig it out now as his sister might walk in anytime. Just like that, he put everything back to its place.

Their home had become uncomfortable as they suspected each other. Karabo suspected that his sister knew about what was under their bed, and the sister suspected that Karabo knew that she now knew everything. They were at a constant bicker however, silently and indirectly. Karabo thrived to keep a secret hidden and while, Mpho focused at literally, unearthing the secret. Karabo would rush to go home after school, and he would not leave the house to go play as he used to. Mpho looked forward to those small opportunities to lift the bed but to success.

“Mpho, have you seen the time? It’s 6:30.”

It was early in the morning and Mpho was still in bed, “And so?”

“You’re running late for work.”

“I have a night shift today.”

Karabo knew this was bad. He had to think of something. He could not leave the house to her like that. “That’s nice then, because I actually have a stomach ache. We’ll spend the day together.”

“If you’re sick, you should go to the clinic. Should I go leave you there?”

“No, but thanks. I think I should stay in bed instead. It’ll go away.”

Mpho knew exactly what was going on. She did not push any further.

Their day together did bring up old wounds. Mpho was devastated to hear her brother bring up their past, “I thought you were working as an Accountant for some rich guy.”

“I am.” It was noon already and they were at the round little table in the kitchen. They were playing a game of card—crazy 8, to be precise.

“Cut back on lying to me. You’re pushing another maid job. You lied to me, Mpho. What other lie have you told me? That you’ll find my parents? You said you’d find my parents. It’s been years now but you’re still quiet about it.”

“Karabo, how do you remember all that? You were just a kid back then.”

“I remember everything like yesterday. How they invaded our village, burned down our homes and killed our people. They slaughtered and gunned down all those that tried to escape. My life has never been the same since then. Now how do I forget that? You actually saw them butcher your mother and sister. How does that not motivate you enough to get moving?” he had to stop when he saw her tear up. Her family was one topic, she could not hold back the tears from. She had seen the death of her mother and sister with her own eyes. That vision haunted her for years. She collapsed on the kitchen floor, “Why did you have to remind me?”

Karabo felt some guilt build up inside of himself for doing that to his sister. He went and comforted the woman in his arms, “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry, Mpho. I am so sorry.”

“No, you’re not. Now, it’s all back in my head. I cannot unsee it. Why would you do that?!” she had pushed him off with that.

“You’re losing focus, Mpho!” he gathered himself in one place. “I had to remind you of the promise you made me 8 years ago. They took everything from us, they killed everyone we knew.”

She said her last words before storming out of the room like a teenager, “You think I don’t know? I was there! I was 18. I don’t need some teenager reminding of it!”

During night shift, Aggie was glad to have some privacy in the mention. Gama was not home that night; he had called to announce that he had gone on a business trip. She had stayed up all night tangling the pieces of black kinky hair together, this was for her wig—Great Black’s wig. Often, she collected people’s hairs when cleaning and would attach them to the wig.

Aggie thought that Mrs. Boniswa Gama was asleep considering that it was mid-night but when she tip-toed into her room, she was not there. She was not in her bed, not on her chair and not in the bathroom. It was strange that the paralyzed woman was out of bed, and what’s worse was that her wheelchair was unoccupied at the corner of the room. Aggie had seen a door through the bathroom the other day, now was her chance to see what was in there. A part of her did caution her to be careful.

She had walked through, by now she was descending a smooth trail down a dark passage. Taking more steps further, she could hear moans of a man, almost as though he was in pain. Mpho had gained consciousness while still in the resemblance of Aggie. It all happened in the instance. She had her phone torching the passageway. She had to be careful enough as the gradient of the slope was getting steeper, otherwise she would slide down. Mpho went down a flight of stairs. The house was getting spookier to her but she had already gone through the door, she had to see it to the end or she might never get another chance. Now below the stairs, she was faced by a door. She simply pushed it open and walked in. In there was a room, unfurnished and only one small light bulb shone.

The room reeked of blood and perhaps even a rotting body. Below the light bulb she could see a man sitting down and his arms tied behind his back on the pole. He had his head down and constantly rocking back and forth, gently to soothe the pain. She spread her sight around, and there was a skeleton flat on the ground far aside—the person probably died and decomposed to bones. She went closer to the man alive in the middle of the room. Mpho went down to him. “Hey,” a whisper. Being close to him like that he appeared big, very big. She brought her palm to lift his chin, and saw that it was the Eagle. “Oh, no. What have I done to you?” she lamented to herself.

“Mpho?” it was obviously hard for the man to talk but he pushed himself anyway. “What’re you doing here? How did you find me?” the man was stinking from bleeding and not bathing for many days.

“I should get you out.”

“No. No, you need to leave. She is in here, run!” they made sure to keep their voices low.

“She? Who? We’re the only ones here. I shall untie you.”

“Mpho, listen to me! You have to get out. At least, come back another time. You cannot defeat them on your own, go!”

Finally, the girl complied. She left the room and went back to bed. She could not sleep that night. All she thought about was what she saw. It was scary, even for her. It was inhumane and traumatising. Mpho was proud of one thing however, she had finally, found the Eagle—forma leader of the Lantern Brothers. Now, there rouse a good question, how would she get him out of there? She cracked her brains for ideas the entire night. That must have been the man Aggie heard coughing earlier on. Mpho was beginning to gratify Aggie for being on high alert.

Not only did she find a secret room below the mention and find the Eagle, but she also gained control over her subconsciousness. She could be Aggie and Mpho at the same time. It was a remarkable breakthrough for her, especially, since she had been trying for such a long time.

The next day, Mpho had her chance to look under the bed in her shack, but to her dismay the parcel was dug out. Karabo must have dug it out on the night of her shift at work. This was bad. Where else would she start looking now, because it was obvious that the parcel was now moved away from the shack? One problem at a time, she thought.

Another night shift for Aggie—Mpho. She was down in the room with the Eagle again. She was feeding him a porridge and he was sucking it out of the hole she made on the plastic bag. “It will build you up and make you stronger. It is way better than what they feed you here.” He sucked on it while she was also applying some herbs over his cuts—careful enough to keep him looking the way she found him. “I will get you out of here as soon as I think of a plan, I promise.” Mpho also asked him a question that had been reeling in her mind, “Hey, the other night, you kept saying ‘she’. Who is ‘she’? Did you mean to say he—as in Gama?”

“You see that door?” he gently tossed his head backwards. “Go, peek through the keyhole.”

Mpho did as told. All she could see was a hand of a woman swaying femininely, she was obviously sitting on a throne as a part of it was showing. Mpho only heard mummering from her to pair with her hand gestures.

She went back to the Eagle. “Who is she?”

“A beast. A demon… Someone you do not want to come across.” Soon, they changed topic and the Eagle was telling Mpho how he was captured by Gama. “I had a fight of the decade with Great Black. I lost. She wanted take me with her. Suddenly, we were ambushed by Gama and his soldiers. They wanted to capture us both but she escaped and I was caught. Gama brought me here.”

“The next time I come back; it will be to set you free. The LB has gone rampant without you. Tiger is doing his own thing and the boys are also doing their own thing.”

“How is Tiger? Does he show remorse at all? Does he regret betraying me?”

She took a pause, bracing herself to relay the harsh truth, “He couldn’t care less about you right now. Tiger is more focused on his side business—he is distributing firearms. The worst part is he gets children involved in this.”

“Disgusting!”

“In my opinion, he is building his own army—”

“An army made of teenage kids?!”

“Only your boys are interested in raising the ransom for you. Gama had issued out a statement that he would only release you on an upfront payment of the random. Your boys are broke, since only you know where your monies are.”

“Nonsense! He’s only fooling around with them. He has no intentions of setting me free.”

When the night came for the Great black to release Eagle, a surprise awaited in the shadows. This mysterious woman of the night was caught off guard upon seeing the Eagle now in chains and gagged up. She then approached Eagle whom would not stop groaning with the ball of cloth in his mouth. She released his mouth from the cloth.

“Get out!” he managed to cough out those words right before Gama jumped from the shadows, and onto her pinning her down. He may have been heavy on her small frame but she was quicker in motion. She managed to slide the heel of her palm through his arms and jabbed at his nose. That provided exposure to his neck which she punched with her knuckles. That was enough to get him off. He began coughing hysterically and rubbing the pain on his throat. She got up and had a rope tied around his neck until he passed out. She did wonder how Gama was back from his trip and where could Mrs Boniswa Gama be, but she would not bring herself to speak. She was only trying to protect her identity.

Now she had to untie Eagle, and point him through the passageway. Cutting the chain would take her a lot more time. Her bat which she carried around could not break the metal. At this point Great Black could only wonder within why the queen in the room had not come out yet, considering the noise she was making while hitting against the chain.

“She is in hibernation. She’s probably off scouting for more souls in this night. Her paralysed body is laying on her thrown,” Eagle responded to her burning questions almost as though he had received telepathic messages from her.

Great Black had to see this, she ventured into the next room and there she was, her body peacefully rested on her throne. It was Mrs Boniswa Gama. The view made sense now, she had seen a painting like the view she was gazing at. In this painting was a queen, full of life and evil. Her hands held onto chains that cuffed the necks of her apparent slaves. She had seen this painting in Black’s room. Black had mentioned to her that she had seen this vision on one of her astral travels during her dark night of the soul. However, Great Black could not see the alleged slaves of this demon, but still, it all made sense. Great Black could only see the living and not the departed souls.

“The key!” cried Eagle from the other room. “Reach into the pocket on her robe. And don’t wake her up.”

She went in with caution and she found the key. The only key in her robe. It must have been the master key. She went and unchained Eagle. They rushed out of that den and did not look back. While running through the long corridors, Great Black could hear voices almost in her head. “Why are we stopping?” asked Eagle very eager to get out of that darned place.

“Help! Dare you not leave us behind!” the voices repeated in her head. “Get us out of here!”

Great Black took that moment to look around and pay attention. She had seen the zombie-like workers of the Gama household when she walked in but at that time, she paid them no mind. Now, paying attention, she could still see them pacing around as if carrying out their household duties. Listening in, she heard their cries masked in the mutter. In their numbers and internalized voices, they had managed to connect with her telepathically. She only hoped that her voice was more powerful than the spell their bodies were tied to. To her dismay, her voice could not break through the curse. From her hair, she pulled out the moldavite crystal she had gotten from Mfundi—the palm reader. It did not break the curse, per se, however, she found that the zombie-like bodies compelled towards it. She picked up Eagle again and had the rest follow the crystal in her hand. Great Black took them to Crescent Castle. They were to stay there until the demon was conquered. Black had stepped in and completed her rituals to break the curse giving them their minds back. They were dispersed to their rooms. Great Black was leaving—

“Wait!” cried Eagle.

She went closer to him. He had refused go to his room just yet, he wanted to have a moment with the opponent that had taken him down many, many nights ago. “Thank you. I did not think you would come for me. Thank Mpho for me too.” The mysterious creature of the night only nodded and set to leave the castle only until Black stood at the door. Quick as a flash she lifted the mask of this being and there stood Mpho. They were all shocked. Except the kitten which taught her how to leap from one roof to the next. “Mpho, you are the Great Black?” cried Eagle.

Mpho stood in the centre of attention, almost abashed. A certain level of disgrace began lingering on Eagle. The man was rumoured to be the beast of the street and to be taken out by a kid like her did tone down his ego. For a long time, he had come to believe that the Great Black was some mysterious creature with powers of some sort. He had been rehearsing all by himself over the years in Gama’s arrest that she was far beyond a mere human being. Now as to realise that it was the little girl who grew up before his eyes was a total shock. “It was you? How did you get so powerful?”

“We looked up to you for many years to take care of our community but you turned on us at some point. You sold drugs to our young brothers and sisters. You injured and caused harm upon us. We trusted you as a community,” she had spoken driving him away from his question.

Now, Eagle launched onto the couch and had a deep breath, “I know… I know. I failed you all. I had built a vigilante with my 10 brothers. We were to be the lantern to our community, but greed got the better off me. Oh, I failed.”

“You can still revive your group but stick to the goal this time. Your brothers need you. Go back and realign your purpose. Clean the streets again and shine your light. And your son, Innocent, needs you. Tiger is no good influence on him.” Mpho then turned to Black, “I may have seen what you saw. The woman of that mention could be our greatest enemy. I had a face-off with Gama; such a weak man. Our main opponent here is the queen. She holds so much power and strength.”

A man, bathed and dressed, joined the living room, “I think I recognize your face. Who could you be?” He was one of the zombie-like bodies rescued by the Great Black.

“Mr. Polile, I see you have refreshed. We come from the same village. The same village that Gama came into and washed out with his fire. Only I and a boy—8-year-old at the time—survived and escaped,” Mpho answered. “I have your son, Karabo—”

The man gasped, there was a sudden excitement, “Karabo! Where is he?”

Mfundi held the man down. And Mpho continued, “He is fine. He lives with me. But you cannot leave this building just yet. Gama probably has his soldiers searching for all of you all around town. It is not safe for you out there, but I promise that you will meet with your son when all the dust has settled. Where is his mother?”

“She died in the fire. She did not make it.”

Mpho also mentioned her father and the man was sad to tell her that even he did not survive the fire just like her mother and her sister. It was sad news. She had spent 8 years in search of these people in hopes that her father was one of them that were taken, only to find that they all died on the day of the fire.

“I wasn’t going to tell you this, but your family is being caged by the queen,” spoke Black. It was obvious that that only meant her family had become dead people in form of living souls trapped in the queen’s chamber. This was even more devastating. Mpho began sobbing on her way out.