Lady Black and the mysterious creature of the night

Chapter 11

It had been raining for days now. In such weather, no parent in their right mind would let their kids play outside, because the kids would catch a cold or even worse, bring in mud into their small shacks. The rain did come with cold winds, and so, no-one was comfortable touching water and cleaning. The rain also came with loud thunder and striking lightning. Karabo did not come home and Mpho was getting worried. Just like the past few days, Mpho thought that she would come home and Karabo would have made a warm cup of coffee for the both. She thought that they would sit on their matrass, cover in blanket and play a game of cards. But that was not the case. However long she waited, sitting at the table and staring at the door, Karabo did not walk in. Her brother was never one to stay out. If that was to be case, for the first time, Mpho knew Karabo to be very reliable, he would have left a letter or written a text. 

Very early the next morning, Pinky budged in after banging on the door so loud. She had news for Mpho concerning her brother, Karabo. Tiger had him locked up, “and from the little I could hear, your brother lost Tiger’s g*n powder! He had buried it under the bench at the park and from the rain it has all melted away. Tiger found out about that.” Now, Mpho raced out with Pinky to try and find—and possibly, save—Karabo. They reached the Lantern Brothers’ gate. It was heavily guarded, and Mpho knew they could not get in there. Mpho knew that she had to head back home and device a better plan to rescue her brother.

Mpho could come up with nothing in that panic mode. Mpho had heard stories of people disappearing in the community without any trace, and for a long time, she had suspected the Lantern Brothers for that. It was burdensome to think that she would not have her brother back. In such desperate times, she had to remember her friends. Mpho had to remember that she was never alone. In fact, she always had a good friend in Zukisani, the police officer. They had dated a while back but their relationship went into turmoil when she resorted to violence in the community and he joined the law enforcement. For many years, they avoided crossing paths. Mpho knew that it was Zukisani's duty to arrest her since she started a g**g, and her name travelled in the wind dragging a punishable reputation with it. His career forced him to chase her g**g—and all other gangs—to prison cells. However, her life path was not as it seemed. She, in fact, dedicated her time and efforts in helping the police. However, due to historic patterns in g**g that started with the same course, police did not believe that her good intentions would last. Hence, it was imperative that they hunt her g**g down. Mpho had found means of disguise in order to seek help from him. She went to him in the Great Black's mask, and he never suspected. 

Zukisani was home when he heard a knock on the door. He was off-duty that day. Zukisani dragged himself off the couch and opened the door. There was no-one in there. He did look around to see if he could catch anyone but still, there was no-one. He shut the door and turned back around. There, he saw her. He saw the Great Black standing in his tiny living room. His stomach flipped from the fright. "Lord, darn it! Use the door!"

She was very calm, she stood looking at him.

"You just can't... You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. And in fact, I might just arrest you for intrusion."

"A boy is missing. Age 16. Name, Karabo Polile."

Her words rang in his head like a million voices speaking at the same time. It was always fascinating to him how she could speak without parting her lips. He was never one to believe in superstition but through her, he did believe in telepathy. He knew she was communication with him through his mind. "Karabo?! Mpho's little brother?" He was concerned, "How? Where's Mpho? Is she okay?"

"Help me retrieve him from Tiger's den. And don't involve the police."

"A child is missing. I must involve my colleagues!"

"I said, no."

"How do you know Tiger has him?"

"Don't be foolish. We have been doing this for years now. We know he is to blame. Now, come. Let's go."

"We can't just budge in there, I need a search warrant." She went and yanked him with. She was taking him to LB's mention.

Great Black only needed Zukisani as a destruction to the guards at LB's. She knew that Tiger  had the entire place heavily guarded since he had taken Mpho's brother. She knew that Mpho had made quiet a gory reputation for herself over the years. Everyone has had to think twice before ticking her off.

The labourers got distracted by officer Zukisani patrolling thoroughly into their mention, this made it easier for her to leap over their high fence. A truck had just driven in, it was carrying goods and Zukisani was itching to know what that may had been. He ordered to look into their packages and this time it was nothing out of law. Now he proceeded into their garage. The labourers could only ask dubiously, “What are you looking for? Can we see your search warrant?”

“Um, no you may not,” Zukisani knew these boys where only small-timers and hence, they did not know their rights just yet. It was perfect for him this way. In fact, he began wishing that Tiger would often not be around like that.

In the dark corridors, Great Black began hearing mummering sounds and she hoped that was Karabo. These sounds were at the distance and as she neared her ears started catching on the banging noise, almost as though there was some beating going on. Quickly, she found the room that all the noise was coming from. It was in one of the doors on the dark corridor. She was not hesitant to kick open the door. There she saw them, beating the frail man on the wheelchair. That was not Karabo. Soon as they saw her, they flocked towards her, each wanting to be the one to take the notorious character down. These were not some small timers as those she maneuvered past outside. These were the actual Lantern Brothers. Normally, there's ten of them but at the moment, in the room at the basement was only five of them. Three of them were getting summoned by the ringing siren, Tiger had gone out and the last one of them being the Eagle was in hiding in Black's Castle. 

The five put a fight. This was personal to them. It was because of the Great Black that they lost their leader, Eagle, to Gama's capture. They had sworn long ago that they would avenge. It was not very easy, but in the end, they managed to capture the Great Black. They had her sedated and tossed in the same cell as the man on the wheelchair. 

When Great Black rose from her slumber, she was rather surprised to see the man on the wheelchair. He had crawled all the way to her, and his hand reached out to her mask. He had been trying to remove her mask. She had risen with a yelp. Shortly, she started crawling back and away from him. She realized that was Luthando, Gama's youngest son. "I'm sorry, I... I was just curious," said he. 

She would not talk back, her identity was precious to her. She was afraid, he would recognize her voice. Even though, as Aggie she would lower her voice and speak softly she still believed people would find the similarities.

"So, why are you here?" he was surprisingly chatty. "Did you come here to save me? Did my father send you here?"

She would not say anything. Instead, she began tending to the cut on her bicep. It was bandaged. He had torn a piece of cloth from her cape and bandaged her with it. He did the same with the stab-wound on her shoulder. "You kept bleeding. Look how much blood you lost," he pointed at a pond of red. "Who are you? You put up quiet a fight in there. You would've won if they hadn't cheated and sedated you."

Zukisani had already ran out of tricks on stalling the men. He was surprised that Great Black was not out yet. This was bad. He had to go back to the station to file a report, and possibly get back-up. At the same time, he knew that he would lose Great Black's confidence and trust. He went back. His plan was then to seek out Mpho. He had seen her abilities in street fights. He believed she was capable. He budged into her shack and there was no-one. In that little home, he began reminiscing about the past. He remembered the good old times when they considered each other family. He remembered how he helped her build that shack when she first came into the community. It was exactly 8 years ago. She was still a teenager then and Karabo was a little boy whom wept day and night for his missing family. Zukisani remembered how he would gather food from his mother's kitchen to feed Mpho and her brother. It was on the very same table that they would sit and eat. It was in the very same four corner  room that they would device a plan to get back at Gama for burning down the village. It was in the very same compound that they parted ways.

Luthando was very curious of the small framed woman hidden in all things black. Soon, he was surprised to see her calmly sit cross-legged to meditate. She completely zoned out of the area. She barely, heard him talk.

Back in Crescent Castle...

It was in the middle of a session. The kitten had his patients sitting in a circle, telling their feelings one by one. Suddenly, something spiritual fell on him, he could recognize the energy, “Mpho?” he said. He stood upon his four paws; his eyes closed so that he could focus on the woman in his vision, “Mpho, you finally mastered the art of astral travelling!"

"We are trapped in Tiger’s basement. Myself and Gama's son. Ask Black to come and help us out. Only her strength can get us out of here. Hurry!”

Black did see this as her opportunity to get back at Mpho whom once drove a knife into her belly in her past life. “Ow, I couldn’t be bothered by such petty snags.” She said stretched by the indoor swimming pool, “My only duty in this lifetime is and only is, to reclaim the lost souls trapped by an escaped angel of doom. Now, is she a lost soul? Darling, I beg to differ.”

“Your other duty is to make amends with your greatest enemy—Mpho. Or should I say, Banele—your lover?”

“Ow, there is nothing loving about that traitorous boy—”

“Girl. He’s a girl now.”

It did take much persuasion for her to finally get up and get going.

The kitten could only stay outside the LB mention, while Black had an easy way in. She went past the guards who had no ability to see her. A while went as she was destructed by the mention’s delicacies. She marvelled at the modern paintings, sculptures and overall design of the interior. Straight to the chase, she did find Great Black. She ventured into her body and kicked the door open. Luthando was only surprised that a ‘simple meditation’ brought about such power within this woman. He had not seen Black, he too did not have the ability to. Luthando watched her kickdown every guard that ran her way. She had looked for Karabo but it seemed that Karabo was nowhere near that mention.

In Crescent Castle, Luthando was given a room of his own. Meanwhile, Mpho had a word-fight with Black. "You rushed us through! I'm pretty sure, if we had looked thoroughly, we would've found my brother We have to go back!"

"Kid, I told you, your brother is not in that building. He's not! He's probably taken somewhere else! Or maybe, he’s dead—"

"Don't say that! He's not dead, he's just not dead. I know he's not dead," she stormed out of Black's office. 

Mpho headed back to her shack. She was hoping some alone time might help her think. Mpho found Zukisani rummaging through her things. She was shocked. There was, indeed, a moment of silence. "I..." Zukisani tramped on his words, he had to explain what he was doing there. "I was hoping I would find some clues on your brother's whereabouts. And what I found is this..." He held out Great Black's weapons. "Mpho, are you...? Are you Black—the night's creature?"

Mpho only broke down and cried.

"I heard that your brother has been missing since yesterday. I am here looking for clues, and this is what I find?"

"He's not there." She said in her sob, "He's not, I looked for him. He's taken somewhere else."