The Knife III
1061 Words
They slept peacefully, as the night slowly faded and the light overcame.
Joe's speech was taken, a little more calmly than expected. Only a few had heard the rumors about the ghosts that flock around Joe without anyone else seeing them. Joe was going to kill a soldier and fight for them, alongside ghosts. All they needed to do was trust and believe in him.
Joe woke up beside Ada.
"I'm not sure who slept beside who but I'm sure my head's not on your chest. My head was on your chest", Joe joked with Ada, as they woke up at the same time.
"No, it was your chest beneath my head... your fault!", she played along.
"what's my fault?-"
"This-", she said, pulled him closer and put her lips on his. The kiss lasted long enough to mean something.
Joe was surprised. He didn't know how to react to that. "You haven't brushed your teeth", he said with his eyes widened.
"YOU haven't brushed YOUR teeth"
"I know... That's naughty"
"Naah, minus and minus makes a plus"
"uhn?"
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
"Glad to know you'll do it", Kalu said to Joe. That was the first time he ever approached Joe alone.
"What can I say? We have to get out of here, someday", Joe replied.
"What's your plan?"
Joe smiled at himself. "I don't even have a plan. I can't just throw a knife at him. I've imagined it a million times and every single one of them left bullets in my chest... Except the ones in which I was Superman."
"Yea", Kalu smiled. "You always speak to the ghosts and they gave you the mission. They should have a plan to keep you alive".
"Except they want me dead"
Kalu was silent. "Wait! You just thought of that?".
"Yea... but I'm still doing it"
"You know, without some impossible supernatural intervention, you can't get away with killing a soldier, right?"
"I should have died, long ago. Besides, I've seen this knife do the impossible. I trust them".
"Ok...", Kalu said, ready to go. "Wish you good luck... and, if you ever have to leave this place, in the process, let her know. Come back for her and us..... I saw the kiss".
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
"Hey, Toby?.... I need you to help me with something. You said something earlier about the daywalkers. Definitely, Stanley has already become one of the daywalkers"
"You want to see him?"
"I need us to talk with him"
"As a parting gift?... You'll be back, Joe. There's nothing to be afraid of... but I'll get him. He's probably still lost in his new environment..."
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"He said he's sorry for the rash decision", Joe said. He was addressing the people while standing before Stanley's daywalker soul. The people had come together, on Joe's request, and were glad to hear Stanley speak through Joe.
"Ada! He said he loves you and still cares about you. He wants you to live a good life and never give up hoping... Don! He said he felt the respect you gave him, disguised as an avoidance of the soldiers' intervention... and he gives it back. He gives the respect back."
Joe was silent for a short while before he started quoting. "Chuma! Alex! You were my friends while I was alive... and you still are. Idris! I've missed you and your weird sense of humor. Thinking about it still makes me laugh".
"To You, Joe!", Stanley said. "You've been weird but useful and helping".
"To Joe! You've been weird, useful and helping", Joe quoted.
Joe kept quoting Stanley's words and it gave the people hope; the hope that the ghosts exist and will fight for them when a resistance arises.
"To Ada! You should take care of yourself"
Stanley frowned. "That's not what I said. I said you should take care of Ada. I know how you feel about her. why are you hiding it?
Joe smiled. "He wishes you all good luck and he'll keep checking up on us."
Stanley smiled. "You should tell her before you go."
Everyone parted and went to sleep. It was already late. Joe went to Ada and they sat together.
Joe called Stanley again. This time, he wanted a direct contact between Ada and Stanley.
"Stanley's here with us" Joe told her.
"Uhn? he can hear me, now?'
"Yes, he can".
"Stanley? You killed me inside", she began, crying as she spoke. "You just left me without a warning. You didn't give me a choice to live with or without you. It's unfair!!!"
Joe pulled her closer to his chest. "It's alright, he has heard you"
"Stanley?... is he still here?"
"Yes."
"Give me a sign, Stan. Let me feel your presence".
As soon as her lips closed, a soft and calming breeze blew through her hair. It was Stanley's touch on her hair.
"Stanley told me to take care of you"
"Why's that?", Ada asked, smiling.
"I think he thinks I like you", Joe said it. "You know what? I love you. I'm saying this now so I don't regret not saying so if I die in this mission"
"Uhm...", Ada didn't know what to say. " Well, take care of me as he said if you truly love me"
"I do".
"So stay alive on the mission and come back for us."
"I will.", Joe said, and Ada pulled him, giving him a second kiss for the day.
"Good night" she said and turned.
"Wait!.... I love you"
"I love you too"
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"Okay, ready?", Toby asked him.
"I'm not sure right now", Joe replied. "I can't even see the target"
"Okay. Breathe in... Breathe out. You'll see the true power you hold.... Throw it. Just throw it straight at Soko in your mind".
Joe pictured Soko in his mind and he threw the knife. The knife moved at an unimaginable speed and kept turning impossibly from the wrong targets.
"Where's the knife?"
"It's in search of the target", Toby replied. "Wait for it".
They were unsure of what had happened or what the soldiers had heard but they could see virtually all the soldiers leaving the gate and moving hastily towards the same direction.
"It has happened", Toby said and the million soldiers appeared behind him. "Now it's time for war. Call your knife back".
- Writer
