Fading Twilight

*"Your end is here! The world you ever know was mine and now your soul will be mine”  From behind the trees I watched with peeled eyes as these words shatter the silence of the night. What grave t*****e awaits me now, I thought as hot air escaped my lungs. I’m the son of Gazi from the descendant of the andromeda – family of a billion powerful lights but, right now I’m in the dwelling of evil beings and hunted like an ant. Widening my gaze I ceased from my strides as those words hit me like boulders falling from the sky. It’s hard to tell where the sound came from but it was close like a whispering shadow. It was cold and reverberating with a thousand echoes causing every pore in my body to cringe with fear. I trembled. A shiver went up my spine like a quiet thunderbolt causing a mad rush of adrenaline through my bloodstream. My legs suddenly became light and shaky, and the force of gravity disappeared from under my feet. I couldn’t feel my feet touching the ground anymore and for one brief second, I thought I was suspending under the cool evening breeze. Fear had me in its grip. I was drowning, drowning in a sea of fear and nothing was holding me back unto the world anymore. Gripped by this wake of terror, I turned around, very slowly, but fast enough to catch the monster behind the voice but my eyes only fell on the waiting darkness of the night, somewhat reminding me once again how homeless and vulnerable I am. This dreary grove has come to be my home for a fortnight now and each day, when the light has been drained from off the clouds I’d hear a voice crawl out from the pervading darkness telling dark tales of doom and terror. One evening it came mingling with the wind and ministered great sadness to my soul. On some other night, it would come disguised as an owl and sang some of the meanest songs I’ve ever heard. But tonight, it sounded different - It came with a voice that echoes just like mine and from the closest of shadows, very close I could feel its breath caressing the back of my neck. I am eighteen but it felt like I’d come to the edge of the world and already fallen off the planet. I couldn’t breathe, even with all the air in my lungs. And sometimes, when the day goes dark I’d try to blend with the darkness hoping to fade with it before the morning comes but, each time, it’s the darkness that goes away and not me. And when the sun finally rises, it would stare at me so hard I think it wanted to burn me in its flames. The only thing friendly around me is this dusky cave lying close to where I am. As wretched and bleak as it looks, it’s the safest place I’ve come to know.   I turned again sharply to my left when I heard yet another horrible noise. This time, it wasn’t audible but came from a much closer distance than before. Maybe my end was truly here! I thought as fear ravaged my internal organs. I tried to keep my breathing still but, my heart was already pounding with such great intensity against its rib cage that I feared it wanted to escape from the terror that looms from the shadowy darkness and leave me all alone to battle with whatever it is that lurks behind the trees, standing right before me. I stood still, obviously petrified, and with all the strength I could muster muttered some silent prayers to the wind, too silent were my words that I wondered if they’d ever make it to the heaven above. Of all the times I’ve been afraid, I have never been so scared I feared the touch of my skin. With my feet glued to a spot, I adjusted my knees and tilted my spine a little bit forward, hoping to take a closer look to see the source of the sound but, my eyes soon became swallowed by the thick darkness and it wasn’t long before I realized I was staring aimlessly into a deep, dark space of nothingness. Twenty minutes have gone still, neither a ghost came rushing in nor did any monster appear. Everywhere was dead quiet! Save for my heart pounding so loud I fear it may wake the sleeping night. I was exhausted. Tired of the position I have maintained for so long a time that I thought to let my legs go. With great determination, I turned away from the direction I thought the sound came from and towards the little cave which is resting gently on the grey-cold soil of the monsoon just a couple of meters from where I am. Taking one last gaze backwards, I hurriedly sprinted for the cave and was only a few inches away when a third sound came, almost striking me dead with shock. This is surely the end! – my end I feared.  But, Alas! It was the clap of thunder hammering through the clouds like the beat of a thousand war drums! Shattering the silence once again into pieces of broken pebbles. The wind soon came roaring wild and long, pushing and shoving the trees as it makes its way through the thicket, causing the mahogany to sway and bow in a homage-like appearance. Short-white dashes of lightning accompanied the roaring thunder and were already piercing the darkness and within a twinkle of an eye, the whole wild was brought into life. But, I was slowly losing mine, or so I thought - For my head suddenly became lighter than my neck and my vision turned blue and dreamy. I could see the silhouette of trees floating away through the frosty air as though they were being carried by the wind. My eyes were rolling slowly back into its socket as I felt my soul sinking into yet another depth of grisly darkness. The thunder bolted aggressively again tearing open the already burdened clouds this time with zigzag-shaped lightning’s letting the first drop of rain escape. It came shooting downward through the sky like an arrow but before it could hit the ground, my feet lose grip of the ground and my body came crashing like a log of wood onto the snow-filled soil with a thud. Facing the sky with my back lying flat on the ground, I watched the little stars for some milliseconds till I could see them no more. I was out. * “C’mon, wake up! Brian”  Kierra’s stern voice ran through the entirety of my room and into my eardrums, momentarily chasing away slumber from my eyes.  “You’d be late for the festival if you don’t get out of bed, now.”  It was 6:45 am but the sun was up and its warm rays were already resting on every shadow in my room that I wondered if I have been sleeping under the open sky. With great effort, I opened my eyelids slowly but fast enough to catch the steaming bright beams of the sun racing through the walls of my retina, leaving behind little darts of pain. I grumbled, hissed and turned to the other side of the bed without uttering a word. I was tired and stressed out from last night walk with Jenny and wasn’t the least interested in whatever it is that Kierra is trying to tell me about, so I shut my eyes, dragged the duvet up and buried my face in it. Kierra just stood there for a while as if waiting to see if I was going back to sleep again. When she was sure I wasn’t interested in getting up anytime soon, she came a little bit closer to where I lay, stood right before me and bent down so much that her lips were just a few inches from my ear then she let out one of the loudest sounds I have ever heard:  “Brian!!!” she screamed, “Jenny have been standing outside waiting for you for twenty minutes now. I’m quite sure you wouldn’t want to keep her standing for so long.”  “Oh Gosh!” I shouted. Jumping out of bed as if just realising it's morning.  My gaze quickly ran through my hand searching for my wristwatch but I met it staring hard at me with a disappointing look.  “Damn!” I cursed, it’s 7.00 am already and I’m just getting out of bed. I was still staring at the time when my thoughts faded like clouds into the memories of last night, taking me right back to the lakeside where Jenny and I had spent hours under the teary sky. Jenny is a close friend from high school. The only friend I had in the entire school. Being a recluse, I didn’t have much difficulty in keeping people away, or maybe I’m considered weird and freaky by a lot of people for reasons I know nothing about. Maybe it’s the way my eyes shone in the dark that scare them. I had promised to meet jenny at the ravine close to the border between our little town and the mysterious ‘forest of fears.’ A forest is known for its ability to trap whatever goes in it and turn it into darkness. Even the sun isn’t spared, as none of its rays has ever made it to the bottom of the forest alive. I’ve heard townsmen say the Earth god made it so. Legends have it that no one who went in the forest ever made it out alive to tell the s********e people say it’s the closest route to the underworld where the Earth god live – a god widely portrayed as the king of hades. But we choose the location just to keep away from the horrendous activities of the festival knowing fully well no one would ever bother to search for us there for fear of being tricked into entering the forest by unknown forces. We had planned to meet by 6:am so as not to be caught sneaking from the ceremony as such deeds usually attract grave consequences.  “Brian…?!” jenny’s voice came waking me up for the third time now, only this time from the world of my thoughts.  “Oh, yes!” I said, Jolting from the shock. “...err mm…” I stuttered, “Please tell her I’ll join her in a moment…. would you, please?” I said pleading with my eyes.  Jenny just stood there staring at me with folded arms without saying a word.  “Kiieerra…” I called again this time with more pleas in my eyes.  “Alright, alright,” she said. “only wondering what you and Jenny are up to this time. You guys almost spent the whole of last night outside and now she could barely wait for the sun to rise before coming to see you…hmmm…” she paused...” what are you guys planning to do this time, huh?”  “And why should I tell you?” I hit back. “if you ain't gonna tell her I will okay,” I said walking towards the door oblivious of what I was putting on.  “Yeah right!” Kierra kicked in again. “You’re going to see her in that singlet and short boxers, right?” she asked with an amusing look in her eyes.  I stopped just before reaching the door and took a glance at myself.  “Oh s**t!” I said.  Kierra then started towards the door and stopped right in front of me.  “I never said I’m not going to convey your message to Jenny, I just don’t want to keep making up stories to cover for you. You know the trouble I went through last night just to convince mum you went to lend some notebook from a school friend. Just stay out of trouble, okay.” She said kissing my cheek as she hurried out of the room. By this time, it was already a quarter past 7 am so I rushed into the bathroom and within a couple of minutes, I was out like I was never there, quite unsure whether the shower had touched every part of my body but I couldn’t spare any time to care. But, I was uneasy as hell as I feel my heart pounding hard against my chest. With each passing time, there was this dark hollow of fear welling up on the inside of me; the dreadful thought of the unknown has already begun hovering around me like the ambient air but, I was too hasty to dwell on it. Sliding my hands through the last arm of my jacket I made my way to the door and hurried down a flight of stairs. Turning past the huge painting on the wall sitting just beside the window facing directly to my room I breeze through the last couple of steps and found myself already in the living room which is decorated with a wide variety of antique paintings ranging from nature to weird drawings of men wielding arrows aiming absolutely at nothing but shadows. Shadows? Probably hunters from centuries past in their battle with some mystical forces. There are lots of stories flying around how our little town has come to being, but the one widely talked about is how a clear majority of townspeople believe that several brave warriors had carved out the land from the hands of dark forces in decades of countless battles and wars. I even heard the festival is celebrated yearly to appease the sand gods to keep evil away from the town for the Earth was cocooned by a thick, dense cloud-like matter that made it impossible for the sun rays to reach the ground, decades ago. While most people consider these weird stories to be true, very few persons believe them to be only a product of the imagination, folklore fabricated to poison the minds of people so they will never dare to enter the ‘forest of fears’ as only through it lies the way out of the town. I belong to this few. Never getting used to these odd-looking drawings hanging almost on every wall I turn, I found myself staring at them again like I always do each morning that I fail to notice Jenny’s presence in the living room. “Brian!, what are you doing standing over there staring at the wall? Do you have any idea what the time is saying?” Said Jenny rhetorically. Some coarseness in her voice.  “I have been waiting for close to an hour and there you are admiring the paintings on the wall” Turning to the opposite side of the wall, I saw Jenny sitting on the edge of one of the sofa impatient and angry.  “I’m sorry Jenny,” I said, as calm as I could with remorse in my voice. “...just that I woke up late and now these drawings are….” “Oh, it’s alright,” She said. Interrupting me. “Can we just get going now?” “yes, yes,” I said, striding towards the entrance door.  Jenny too was already advancing towards the door and I was just about to open the door when I heard a whisper. It sounded like a thousand droplets of rain all combined to make one horrible sound. With my right hand still wrapped around the door handle, I turned back and found one of the wall paintings staring at me – it was the one with the Earthen frame with a completely dark centre painting with small-green strokes surrounding the black centre. I narrowed my gaze when I saw a quill dangling by itself amid air on the surface of the painting. Gripped with fear I jerked the door with full force hoping to open it but nothing happened. The door just wouldn’t open. Choking under my breath I pointed towards the drawing signalling Jenny to see, too shocked to say anything. But she just looked at the wall and return her focus to me, raising her eyebrow in such a way that I could tell she was wondering what I’m saying.   “what are you pointing at? She asked, clearly perplexed, confused lines marking her face.  I opened my lips in a stiff stutter but no words came out only tensed air leaving my tensed lungs.  Still unable to say anything I kept my dreamy eyes on the portrait, then, it revealed words dripping with blood from all sides that reads… Let me take you to a place the sun don’t shine You do not belong here Allow me to take you to the darkness you belong “Jenny!! Can you see that!” I screamed in stark terror, finally finding my voice. Pointing to the wall with jittering hands. “See what? There’s nothing there. What’s happening, Brian, you sure you’re okay? “That…that writings on the Earthen paintings…don’t tell me you can’t see it...”  Jenny just took two, three steps and was there, standing right in front of me. “What writings? There nothing there just the old drawings… are you sure you’re alright, Brian?” I didn’t know what to say in answer to her question so I didn’t try to open my lips, I was just standing there petrified to the bones staring at her. I was still in this befuddle state when Kierra came rushing down the stairs having heard my scream. “Why were you screaming so loud?” she began, walking straight to where I am. “I could hear your voice even from the shower. Have you seen a ghost?” She asked mockingly. At that moment, I couldn’t tell if she was kidding with the question or not but with all my heart I wanted to shout – ‘YES!!’ but then, I couldn’t let any words out and I would have been considered weird and dementia if I had so, I kept my mouth shut…. but not for long as I heard some words escape from underneath my breath... “handwritings…words…on the earthen paintings...” Pointing at it once again.  Both ladies turned in the direction in unison and turn back almost immediately. “I understand you didn’t sleep well last night but right now you’re freaking me out so bad” echoed Kierra. “there’s nothing on the damn painting!” Jenny nodded in agreement.  What!! “I couldn’t be the only one seeing it, could I?” I heard myself say in a voice only I could hear. I used my hands to wipe my eyes a few times but the words were still there staring me in the face. And, for once, I started to question my sanity. Or maybe the stress from last night is already taking its toll on me I thought. Still, in the lost state, I noticed someone grab my sweaty hands and lead me to the nearest sofa. It was Jenny. “Here, sit down,” she said, while Kierra offered me a glass of chilled water. I needed some rest they thought. I collected the glass and after a short gulp, I felt calm and a little relaxed. “Can’t tell what’s going on with you but try and make it to the festival?” Kierra said getting up and walking to the door. “you know what happens if you miss it, right”? she paused as if waiting for a reply but when none came she walked out of the house and banged the door behind her. Jenny turned and gave a worried look. ”Can you still make it? She asked.  Knowing fully well what she was saying I nodded my head in a positive response.  “I have to,” I said. “We won’t get another chance if we didn’t go today.” Standing up from the sofa I started for the door while jenny followed. It’s 7;30am already but it’s better late than never. Before shutting the door behind us, I took one last look at the drawings and was pleased when I couldn’t see the words anymore. Maybe it’s just the stress after all I said, heaving a sigh of relief.