Neron II
1081 Words
Idris ran towards him, immediately Kenny entered through the gate.
"Sorry, I have a quick question", Idris said, keeping his eyes focused on Kenny and walking backwards.
"Ok. Fire on"
"Do you know if any of your fellow soldiers bear the name, 'Neron'?"
"Uhm... sounds pretty familiar. Where did you hear that name?"
"It's kinda funny. A dream. A nightmare, rather".
"Wow!", Kenny stopped, looking amazed. "We probably have to talk, then".
The three 'dreamers' seemed to no longer care about the nightmare which they suspected to be a vision of the future.
Chuma and Ada were chatting and daydreaming.
"If I wasn't here, I should still be with my boyfriend, now", Ada said. "He might have been killed, already".
"Well, if I wasn't here, I'm pretty sure I'll be expecting a baby", Chuma said. "I was about to get married when tragedy struck".
"Sorry, s**t happens... Kenny's coming", they eventually noticed Kenny, as he approached with Idris.
"Hey guys!", Idris said to them. "I told him about your weird dreams... Uhm, forgot to tell you. They dreamt. I didn't".
"Oh... Ok", Kenny replied. "He asked if any of the soldiers is known as Neron but..."
"Uhm, sorry. Gotta visit the toilet", Idris said and ran off.
"Ok, as I was saying", Kenny continued. "I can't know the name of every soldier out there but I need to know what you two saw in your dreams".
"Three of us, actually", Chuma replied. "The same dream. We escaped with many others and stayed somewhere. Unfortunately, the soldiers found us and killed everyone... and one of the soldiers mentioned the word, Neron"
"I had a dream, too", Kenny said. "I saw Akeem, your friend, and-"
"who's Akeem?"
"Your friend, the one that got free", Kenny replied. "One of the soldiers helped him and he has secretly become one of the soldiers. We're keeping his identity as a secret, now, and it's more dangerous. He'll be executed, immediately his secret gets out".
"Uhn?!", they chorused.
"Well, in the dream, there was fire, all around me. It was probably the aftermath of a war 'cause there were bodies. I saw this Akeem guy and he mentioned that same name".
"Hello", Alex interrupted. He had brought Jerry with him. "I brought the guy who knows Nerons"
"Hi", Jerry said and the two of them sat with the others. "Glad to help out in any way".
"Thanks... I'm Chuma"
They all introduced themselves before Jerry began to speak.
"If you actually heard that name from a dream, it's not weird to me. I know one Neron that is capable of haunting".
"Uhm, ok", Kenny said. "Who's he? and what do you mean by 'haunting'?"
"Neron is my father; Neron Williams. I hated him when he was alive and I still hate him while he's dead.... He refused to take care of the family. My mother was killed by his tyranny. I have to admit that he was pretty intelligent. He had notes and diaries which seemed stupid till he came back to life in another body".
"Uhn?", the chorused.
"Yes, my father wrote about the afterlife before he died. According to him, there are two sections of afterlife and every soul is allowed to choose. There's the dark section which gives the souls new chances to live by entering a newly dead body"
"So they literally possess a dead body?"
"Yes... My father was desperate for power and control. He was assassinated but he returned in the body of another person. He came back home and a discussion with him proved his theories. He had weird abilities and a more insane desire to control everything and everyone. I already hated before I found out about his OCPD".
"Where is he now?"
"The story's more complicated than it sounds... He hunted down the assassins and brutally killed some of them but he was killed again... And he returned again, in another body. Each time he returned, he was wilder and he killed more innocent people than the assassins that actually offended him... But he was killed again... and again, and again. Till he returned in another body and confessed to me that he didn't complete his research. He said there was a limit to the number of times he could return and that was his last time. He was desperate to keep living so he killed everything that felt like a threat... He could see the hatred in me and I knew it. I was scared of him and I knew he saw me as a threat so I acted faster."
"You killed him first?", Ada asked in a whisper.
Jerry nodded. "I felt I had to do it... He cursed me with his last breath... said If he doesn't get to live, I will lose my life while watching my loved ones lose theirs too. This is probably a manifestation of the curse. I mean, we are not living our lives. We already lost it".
"Hmm...", Alex commented. "We should blame you for this, then... if that's true".
Kenny sighed. "I don't know how much I believe this but I really want to know how Akeem gets into your story. If he's not in the story, why do I keep seeing him? Why does he feel so different?"
"I don't know about that... but if he mentioned Neron, there are many possibilities... He's probably dead"
"Wait! How do you mean?", Chuma asked, perplexed.
"Well, only a dead body can be possessed".
"So he's possessed by Neron?"
Turning his face to the side, Jerry could see a soldier, staring from the gate.
"Are you sure other soldiers are not angry with you for being here?", Jerry asked. "There's one staring at us"
They all turned and looked.
"Isn't that Akeem?", Chuma asked.
"Akeem? That face doesn't even look familiar", Jerry said.
"You can't know and recognize everyone, here".
Kenny could see the greenish glow in his eyes, just like the nightmare he had. "He is the one".
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
"What are we doing, now?", Toby asked.
"We go back... I'm setting them free"
"You know they can't work with us, right?"
"Yea", Joe replied. "I just want them free while we end this"
"How are we ending this?"
"We get to the President, put a ghost in him and make him command the release of the captives"
"Ok... that sounds like a plan... make sure you think of the aftermath"
"Sincerely, I can't guess what happens next"
- Writer
