Eleven's Ghost

Chapter 5: Rare Magical Beast

Yayis poked his tea cup. “Sirkus is much bigger than you think.” He bit his lower lip and closed his eyes, clenching his fists. “Too big for me and too big for the father I swore to kill.”

Shams frowned. “What?! I don’t understand anything!” He showed him the book he had with him. “Look! Sirkus saved us from the evil angel and the vicious jinn!”

“There is no evil angel.” Yayis slapped the desk. “Angels are always on the side of good creatures. They are incapable of committing evil. God made that impossible for them. Unlike jinns and humans, angels are pure creatures.”

Shams glared at him. “Why would I believe you? I have never seen or talked to an angel. I’m sure they’re evil!”

“You’re not sure that they’re good because you have never seen them or talked to them. How comes you’re sure they’re evil while you never saw them or talked to them?” Yayis folded his arms on the desk and gazed into Shams’s eyes. “And you ought to believe me because I’m a jinn. Jinns are very much capable of evil. In fact, most of us are evil and anti-humans. At least they used to be that way, before something happened.”

Before he finished talking, a trumpet noise started, and everyone on the streets ran in the same direction. Yayis stood up. “This conversation is taking too long. I will jam everything into your head, and you will see it with your own eyes.”

Shams became scared. “What do you mean?”

“Show me your hand.”

Shams placed his hand in Yayis’s. The red-haired gazed at it then poked a spot on the back of his hand. “Every human gets an injection here when they turn eleven, right?”

Shams nodded. “It’s very painful, and… I felt like my head was about to split for days. Apparently, everyone is like that.”

Yayis glanced at Un. She smiled at Shams and held his hand. “Do you trust me, Shams?”

He nodded. “I love you, big sister!”

She patted his head and closed her eyes as a blue shadow appeared from behind her and crawled along Shams’s skin. His eyes widened, staring at it. He felt no pain or pleasure, and that made him terrified. “What’s happening?! What?”

He gasped, feeling his brain going blank suddenly. His vision went black as he fell backwards. Yayis caught him and stared at the blue shadow fading into shining blue dust. Un smiled sadly and sat down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten him. I removed the brainwashing curse they injected though.”

Yayis glanced down at Shams then at the people running. He sat down on the benches and squeezed his heart. “I feel… alone… in a crowd of fools.”

The trumpets got louder, and more instruments joined them. Un sat next to him and squeezed his hand. “It must be difficult… being so far away from your master.”

Yayis tilted his head backwards, panting. “This music… is torturing me,” he whispered, “It’s worse… than my father’s voice.”

She frowned. “Do you… miss him?”

“How can I miss him?” Yayis shut his eyelids. “I have no right. I don’t have that luxury.”

He caressed Shams’s hair. “But… In a way, maybe I can take this child as my own.” He smiled faintly. “Just as I promised Zultan, I will be the father and the mother at the same time. Then… We can be family.”

“For a jinn, you’re strange.” Un smiled softly. “When you’re with Zultan, it’s like you’re the child, and he’s the parent. With everyone else, it’s the opposite.”

“He’s my master, after all.” Yayis eyed her, blood dripping from his pointed ears. “I can’t help it. I find myself relying on him without noticing. Even the strongest creature needs a shoulder to lean on every once in a while.” He moved his gaze to the window to look at the people again. “For me, it was Zultan.”

“You can still save him, right?”

Yayis closed his eyes again. “I don’t know. You see, Zultan is a cruel master.” He tilted his head back in ahead. “If he dies, my ownership will instantly move to Shams. I will never know if he died. I will never know if he’s okay or where he is.” He gritted his teeth. “All this… to keep a lowly jinn like me safe.”

“I’m sure he’s safe. I’m sure… his father wants him back. He wouldn’t hurt him.” She patted his shoulder. “I must leave now. I did what I came here to do anyway. You carry on explaining everything to him. I will go back to meet the governor. He’s a very patient man, but I hate to abuse that.”

She left the café. Yayis placed the bandages back around his eyes. “Shams, I will tell you a secret.”

Shams slept peacefully in his arms. “Zultan’s name means the emperor. Your name means the sun. Mine…” He paused to take a deep breath. “Mine means…”

Colourful fireworks burst in the sky.

“Despair.”

Everyone screamed with joy and clapped as the Sirkus carnival started on the big screen in the centre of the town.

Yayis smiled. “Ladiiiies and gentlemen,” he whispered in a low voice, but the announcer’s voice echoed across all ten underground villages.

“Welcome to Sirkus! I’m so glad to see that every single one of you is here! So many! Well, I see a few of you are missing, but that’s okay! I’m sure they will join in the fun soon!”

Yayis opened his eyes, feeling the sound of a gun loading. He saw masked agents pointing their weapons at him. “Let go of Shams. He was missing for the circus performance. What did you do to him?”

“Nothing at all.” Yayis looked at them, worried. “Ah, I’m sorry. He just felt sleepy. I slept a bit too. I’m sorry! We will get there soon!”

He carried Shams on his back and ran to the town centre. He saw the yellow-haired that stabbed Zultan talking on the screen. The yellow-haired grinned as he eyed him. “I see that everyone is present now?”

Yayis’s eyes widened slowly as the spectacle started.

“They’re monitoring us in real-time?!” he whispered, looking at the men in black hiding behind buildings from the corners of his eyes.

“Now, the first magical beast who will entertain you this week is a very rare one! This is his first public appearance, mind you. He was very hard to tame, but he’s ours now! Welcome him!”

The yellow-haired moved aside to show a creature with long white hair that stretched along the floor. It had a layer of hair that was shorter on top, and a longer one that reached his feet. The creature had long white claws and skin white like snow. It seemed to be sleeping, and everyone watching laughed. The creature had a black ring around its head and several other rings in different areas of its body. It was dressed in a long light blue robe decorated with golden embroidery and had golden shackles around its arms.

It slept using its arms as support for its head.

The yellow-haired then took out a whip and kicked the white-haired, his smile widening.

Yayis gritted his teeth, his red eyed shining underneath the bandages as his fangs grew longer.

“Calm down.” He blinked as a voice rang inside of his head. His eyes widened, seeing the white-haired stand on his feet, resting his shackled arms in front of him. His black mask covered his face and neck, but everyone heard his voice and fell silent. The yellow-haired stood in front of him again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this beast is from the land of the jinns. In fact, he’s their leader, their lord! We have him under control right now, so you don’t have to be scared.”

He pulled the jinn by his hair and pushed him down on the floor before stepping on his head. “This is the infamous Sheitan leader, the vicious demon who caused the demise of the human race. This is Iblis!”