Night Visions
1225 Words
"I'm sorry but who are you?"
"You're not scared. I'm impressed", the Ìròkó man sat on the floor. The shrine was like the ones Joe had seen in Nigerian movies. Though, he had never entered a shrine to confirm how it actually looked.
"You're real. You are the Ìrókò man"
"And you are Joseph... I called you here. Sit"
Joe sat on the ground. There were sacred items between the two of them
"Don't think of touching", the Ìrókò man warned.
"Wow! you can read thoughts".
"There's something wrong and you may be able to fix something that can fix it"
"I don't understand you"
"The world is going to end and something can prevent it.... That thing is caught in a mesh and you have to bring it out or else, everything ends abruptly".
"You're fluent in English. That's weird"
The Ìrókò man sighed. "You are giving up." He snapped his fingers and Joe immediately, fell in a trance.
His eyes were forced close but he could see Ada. She was sleeping... and dreaming. He could see her nightmares and she was scared. She was running with a multitude of people and there was fire, all around. A fierce wind soon caught up with them. Whatever was in the wind was too dangerous... the bodies of everyone disintegrated, leaving behind the echoes of Ada's screams. Joe fell back to reality.
"whaaa!?", he exclaimed, hardly breathing. "What was that?"
"Night visions of an preventable future. There are multiple roads and crossroads in the line of destiny", the man said. "Fate cannot be altered or prevented when the road is straight without corners but life gives us a chance to make choices, to use our discretions and do things. Crossroads are where we get to decide what to do. Whatever road you choose to follow, Fate decides the aftermath and the possible encounters. Fate also decides the juncture where you have to make a choice again. Some things cannot be prevented so sometimes you choose between countless things but all will end at the same destination. Some roads only take longer time."
"Why do I feel like I can understand you?", Joe asked.
"It's because I am talking to you from the inside. You can choose to give up or choose to continue and both will have different aftermaths"
"You want me to continue?"
"I want you to get the ghost and stop the madness", the Ìrókò man said and got up on his feet. He pointed at a mirror on the wall and moving images appeared on it. "That's where your journey should begin from. You should get answers there".
"How do WE get there?", Joe asked and stood up.
"You are a ghost, remember that!".
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
Two people dropped from the open sky.
"More people die in the world. Very few fall here", Stanley said. Many of them gathered outside, staring at the skies.
"It's because we can't see everyone. Have you ever tried checking the right side of the skies?", an old man replied him.
They all turned and looked at the right side. There was a bigger portal in the sky and bodies were dropping, too many and too frequently to be counted.
"Wow!"
"It's nothing", the man said. "We don't look to the right because the energy here drives us to looking at the brighter sides of Daylight. It's going to get worse, soon"
"I was about to ask", Stanley replied. "Maybe we're lucky to be dead".
A portal opened and Joe walked out of it.
Toby stepped forward. He had been expecting.
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
"We'll be okay", Chuma said to the people. Everyone was panicking, including Chuma and the other men who were considered to be courageous enough to watch out for them.
"They're not back, yet", One man said to Chuma, loudly. "Why are they not back yet?"
"Come on!", Alex walked to them and whispered. "The girls are panicking. Keep your voice down and find them".
"Hey! Go back!", Chuma ordered him. "That little girl may run off again".
They had only gotten free for a few days and everything had become horrific.
"Something's coming", a girl said, fearfully. "They are here, already".
The girl had tried to run away, once before, but they found her before the soldiers got her. She witnessed the brutal murder of one of them by the soldiers and has been panicking, since then.
"I can hear footsteps. They are sneaking in on us", another person said. Not only the two of them were hearing the sounds.
Chuma made gestures and whispered. "Be quiet!".
He walked to one of the doors which he suspected that the soldiers were behind. He contemplated whether or not to open the door. There was a spear in his right hand. He stood behind the door, sweating profusely.
"Bad idea!", Alex whispered.
The door was suddenly pushed by a dead body which fell to the ground, immediately it opened wide. A few seconds after, another dead body was thrown in. The two bodies had been with them. They were sent to get food from a store and also spy on the soldiers.
The soldiers ran in and started shooting at everything they came across. Chuma had been shielded by the door when it flung open. He stood there, petrified.
The screams and unending gunshots kept echoing and Chuma couldn't keep the tears from rolling down. ''I failed!", he said to himself. "I failed. I'm killing everyone".
The door shifted and he was revealed. Chuma ran at the soldier in front of him, pointing the spear. He drove a spear into his chest.
Shortly after, he turned back and a soldier smashed a sledgehammer on his head. He fell down, unconscious. Everything turned blur and he could see a soldier pointing the gun at him. The soldier said some things but it was unclear. He could only pick out one name, "Neron..."
The sound of the gunshot shook him awake.
There was no gun wound, no screams, no noise and no soldiers around. He was staring at the dark skies; a shooting star flew across. He raised his head and he could see Ada, mumbling and shaking her head. She was having a nightmare.
He touched her and caressed her hand. She stopped mumbling and shaking her head.
"It's just a dream", he whispered and she continued sleeping, peacefully.
Chuma looked at Alex, who was sweating profusely. He looked scared, shaking and saying nothing.
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
"Hey, Kenny!", the voice was startling. It was absurdly clear, despite the noise around.
He turned back to check whoever was calling him. He could see the shape of a man but he couldn't tell who it was.
It was night and the skies were dark, already. There was also smoke and dust in the air.
"Who's that?", Kenny yelled, slowly moving closer.
"Just wanted to let you know you can't stop this", the man stood still and his face remained indiscernible. His eyes shone bright and green.
"What are you doing? Who are you?"
"Neron does his things.... I'm here to allow it", the man moved closer and the face became clearer.
Kenny looked closer and got confused as it looked like a combination of many known faces. It kept distorting but only one face was common; Akeem's.
- Writer
