The Beautiful Beast

'What would a baby be doing in this lonely place at such early hours of the day?' John soliloquized. He looked at the direction where the sound was coming from but couldn't see into the distance because the rows of green corn stems with their long leaves obstructed his view. He bent down and continued weeding the farm ground with his hoe, paying attention so his ear would catch the faintest sound should it come again. In a short time, the sound came again, audible enough. He left his hoe, rose and began to walk in the direction where the sound was coming from. The baby's cry got louder with each step forward until he came towards the end of his farm, and there, wrapped in a towel was the crying baby. Whoever left it there must have been diligent enough to make a small heap of grass and then carefully, laid the baby on top of it. John could not bear to see the innocent child cry helplessly. He carried it in his arms and turned back, walking to a shade where he kept some other tools. He laid the baby on the ground and gathered all the items he came with and flung them on the saddle on top of the mule. Once done, he carried the child again, admiring it. It's a girl with soft black hair and brown eyes, crying pitifully. 'But why on Earth would a mother dispose of her baby?' The question kept ringing in his mind as he pulled the mule by the reins. It walked slowly beside him, heading home. His wife will definitely be happy to welcome a new member into the family. Once home, he left the mule under a tree and made his way into the house. 'I've got a surprise today!' he announced as he walked into the house. 'What could that be?' The wife's voice came from the backside of the house. 'I will have you guess what it is!' he replied and began walking towards a door that leads to the backside. 'You caught a game this morning?' Her voice came again. 'Nope, something bigger!' he replied. At this point, he was already outside the house. 'Look at what I found,' he said lovering his arms. 'A baby?' she startled and screamed gently. She kept the crochet and bundles of yarns she was working on aside, stood and came closer to see the child. 'Where did you find it?' She enquired. 'On the farm.' 'Really?' 'Yes, someone must have dumped her there.' 'Oh my, poor child.' the wife exclaimed. She reached for the baby and carried it and rested it's head on her bosom. 'It has Beautiful eyes, it's a girl.' 'I know.' John answered. 'Now we have a baby,' she said excitedly. The baby had long stopped crying. It's eyes stayed fully open. 'You must be thirsty, my angel.' She said and began to walk into the house. 'Sure, and hungry too.' John added and followed her. The weeding of the farm would wait for another day because John and his wife would dedicate the whole day to both care for the child and celebrate the fact that they now have a child. Grace and John have been childless all the while. Their many attempts to make one ended in series of miscarriages. The last one was severe and almost claimed Grace's life. She only managed to escape the chilled, dark thoroughfare of death. So John, who stood by her all through the ordeal could never shake off the fear of losing her or allow for another trial. It's obvious that he loves his wife and though difficult at first, They have grudgingly resigned to their fate of childlessness until John found the baby. Later in the evening, John and his wife went from house to house telling everyone they met about how they found a baby in their farm; they also asked whether they knew anyone who used to be pregnant. Everybody they met claimed to not know anyone that fits their description. Their attempt to connect with the baby's mother proved to be futile so they left looking for the mother and adopted the baby as their child. After a few days had passed, they organised a mini party on behalf of the baby and there they christened her Angel saying because she came into their lives by an angel from Heaven. ***** She sat under a tree in front of the house watching other children running around and building houses in the sand. Her heart longed to join them but she fought the urge. She tried to turn her eyes away but couldn't. At last, she threw in the towel and stood up. She walked to where Mary, her closest friend, was sitting and joined her to complete a house she was building in the sand. Everything went well until Bruce arrived. Bruce was a much older kid and has a bad reputation for bullying younger children. 'The dump girl is out to play again!' He said, loudly mocking Angel. Angel stutters when she talks and it gets worse whenever she is agitated. Bruce, being the bully he is, did not spare Angel. 'You should be ashamed of yourself for being petty,' Mary launched a verbal attack on Bruce. Bruce smiled and clapped his hands. 'The dump girl has got an advocate,' he continued and gave a wicked laugh, exposing a not-so-white set of teeth. The kids around laughed and pointed at Mary and Angel. Angel tried to clap back at Bruce but stutterd so badly. This provoked more laughter and mockery from Bruce and his friends. 'You know what? You're so annoying!' Mary shrieked and held Angel's arm. She tried to calm her down because tears were rolling down her cheeks. 'You know what? You're a petty advocate to a dumb girl, ha, ha!' Bruce and his company ridiculed the girls as they walked to Angel's house. They went directly to the backside of the house where the mother was. She was putting a lid on the pot sitting on a hearth. 'What happened?' She asked, opening her arm to cuddle her daughter who ran straight to her. 'It's Bruce and his friends.' Mary answered. 'Again? How many times do I have to warn them to let my daughter be?' she questioned rhetorically. 'Where are they?' she asked. 'They are over there,' Mary said, pointing towards the playground. 'This is the last straw' she said and began to go to where Bruce is. Mary and her friend followed the mother from a distance but before she could get there, Bruce and his fellow bullies had run away. 'Hello kids, did you see Bruce?' She asked the remaining children playing in the sand. 'He was here but he left when he heard you were coming.' 'He should thank his stars that I didn't meet him.' she said. She let a few moments pass and began to address the children.. 'Listen to me kids, Angel is your friend okay, she may stutter but that shouldn't stop you from being friends with her.' The kids remained silent and attentive while she spoke. 'How many of you want to be her friends?' She asked then. 'I want to be her friend,' one raised the hand. 'Me too,' another joined and another, and another till all of the kids raised their hands. 'Good,' Grace exclaimed. She then called Angel and her friend to come join the kids. They did and played happily. About Bruce, Angel need not fear whether he would return because is neither as bold as he thinks nor as brave as he appears to be. ***** Under the covers of the dark sky with twinkling stars scattered all over its surface, and the moon which appeared to be hiding in the clouds, the bands of marauders descended on the mountain-side community. Their faces were covered with fierce looking masks and their bodies with armours. They moved like guerillas and they went from house to house. Their swords were so sharp that they could easily cut through a bone. They rode on horses upon which they would carry their loots. They attacked people in their houses, looted valuables, maimed many and killed some as well. When it was day, many families counted their losses, many more nursed their wounds while others mourned their dead. Luckily for John, his house was one of the houses that were spared in the night's attack but that would not suffice to calm the trepidation that saturates the air. The community have come to realise that they are in the middle of a big mess and that they needed security but above all, they needed a king. After the passing of the last king, there arose a great argument about who should succeed the king. Unfortunately, the king had no offspring so his brothers and sisters fought bitterly against each other to win the throne. This led to decades of battle and blood spill for each member of the royal family had garnered enough support as would be sufficient to make an army. The battle continued until the whole community was fed up and so unitedly abolished the office of the king. It was indeed a hard decision but it proved itself efficient in ending the decade long battle for the throne. The next morning, some selected men in the community met and discussed on how to organise a vigilante group. They summoned the young men and the best among them were chosen. They quickly got their weapons and armours ready and so the task began. ***** Angel sat on a chair with arms folded. She began to think of all the humiliation and mockery she had to bear. All the names that people had called her and the feeling of inferiority that made her feel less than the least in the community, all because she couldn't talk smoothly like every other person. As a result, she hates being in the company of people except Mary, her best friend, and her parents who adopted her. 'My Angel.' She heard mother's voice. She turned and saw mother standing akimbo behind her. 'You're crying again, my Angel.' 'N...n...no, I…I...I am… n...n...no...t...t...c...r...ying' she stuttered, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. Grace patiently waited for her to finish and then placed her hand on her shoulder. 'You are my angel, always remember that okay.' Grace assured her. She nodded, releasing herself to the warmth of Grace's arms. She cuddled her warmly as balls of tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't try to fight it, she just let it flow freely on mother's shoulders. 'It will pass my child, it will surely pass,' Grace whispered as she rocked her back. John who had been watching the women wouldn't want to disturb them, not in such a time as this. He clenched his fists and tried to connect with them on a higher level. ****** Angel tried to open her eyes but couldn't, she tried to scream but still couldn't. She was awake but couldn't move a muscle. She felt paralysed and all she could see was darkness with some flickering, scattered tiny lights suspended in the darkness. She continued to hear a strange sound and also, she felt as though a mysterious creature was sitting on her chest. She kept struggling until she managed to push off the suffocating mass and sat up, breathing heavily. 'Another dream,' she muttered. She placed a pillow between her back and the wall. The pillow helped to cusion her back and save her some back aches. 'Why am I having these kinds of dreams?' she thought to herself. She touched her face and felt the sweat that had gathered around her forehead. 'What could this mean?' she kept thinking. Angel cannot fathom why a post-teen would often see herself in the dream transforming to a particular kind of beast, nor could she understand the reason for the recurrent sleep paralysis. She thought of telling her parents who are sleeping in another room but she feared what they would make of her. She had once tried to share it with her best friend but stopped when she noticed Mary was going pale and having goosebumps because she was scared by what she heard. Mary didn't say anything about it since then so she thought it better to let it die that way. But she began to observe that Mary was getting more uncomfortable in her presence and tried everything possible to avoid her. She also stopped visiting regularly, thus leaving Angel to feel more isolated which in turn, made her regret ever telling someone a thing or two about her personal experiences. As she tried to sleep again, she began to hear some sounds coming from outside of the house. Sounds of clashing metals which preceded muffled groans and also, of people who seem to thread disorderly. She listened as the pace approached their house but stopped at the door which was bolted from the inside. She listened as the feet went back growing fainter with each step away till it vanished. The thought of her childhood experience began to weigh on her mind again. As she thought it through, she began to feel as though something was about to burst out of her, she began to run temperature and her whole body quaked. She tumbled and rumbled, trying to regain control of her body until she fell backwards on the bed and the feeling vanished almost immediately. Just then she began to hear a ratatat at the door that links her room to her parent's. 'Angel, are you okay,' she heard John's voice call. She rushed and opened the door, still panting. 'I have been knocking since, is everything alright?' 'N..ni..g...ght...m...m...ar...e' she stuttered. 'Sorry Angel,' John said and threw his arms around her. 'You will be fine okay.' he assured her. She nodded and went back to bed. John waited until she had covered herself with the blanket before exiting her room, making sure to close the door gently which did not stop it from creaking. ***** As the sun rose to the sky, spreading gentle rays of light to the earth, the people of the Mountain-side community woke to yet another gruesome reality. Nearly all of the vigilante members lay in their pool of blood, either dead of half dead. The rest who managed to survive sustained various degrees of injuries. John's family found the body of a dying vigilante member just in front of their porch. Grace was the first to see him and screamed when she did. The rest of the family rushed out to know why she screamed and there they found her pointing to the body of a dying vigilante member. 'He's still breathing!' John confirmed after he had examined him. He seems to have been hit with a brutal force to the side of his head because this helmet caved in at that point. John screamed to alert their neighbours who came out and gathered around the dying soldier. His breathing was slowing down but John did mouth to mouth resuscitation which helped to keep him. 'What do we do with him?' Mr Arnold asked. 'I suggest we take him to the healer.' answered another. Without hesitation, John made ready his mule and the neighbours helped him place the body on it. The men accompanied him to the healer's place while the terrified women stayed back. They sat under a tree, too traumatised to say a word. On their way to the healer's place, they found that it was not an isolated incident but people gathered in various places either carrying a body, or examining one. One thing was clear, the community is under attack by a powerful band of marauders. ***** 'Did you hear the sound last night?' A neighbour asked John. 'Oh yes, I did but I was too terrified to come out.' 'Me too,' admitted Mr Brown, another of John's neighbours. 'My wife wrapped herself up with the blanket, while it lasted last night. She nearly dissolved due to fear. It was so horrible.' 'At a point It felt like they would attack my house, I'm happy to be among the lucky few who's homes survived the raid.' John said. 'How long do you think luck will last before it runs out?' Mr Brown asked. Mr John could not help but peer on the ground praying silently that his luck never runs out. The people are as confused as they are terrified. They began to forge weapons and more young men volunteered to join the vigilante. As for the dead, they were buried but not forgotten. The crux is that they don't even know where the Invaders came from. They just show up like ghosts to plunder and to loot and also, to exterminate any one or people who would stand in their way. According to one of the survivors, Their horses are as swift as eagles and so was their strength. No part of their body is left uncovered. They hardly make a sound but when they do, they speak in a foreign language. This made the people conclude that the Invaders must come from a distant place. They're probably only looting people they have no communication with. ****** Angel sat alone on the bed. She was the only one in the house. John and his wife had gone out for a social function. Angel had promised to go visit Mary but changed her mind as soon as her parents left the house. The thing is, she cannot bear people staring at her and whispering at the same time. Not once nor twice has she overheard two or more people gossiping about how she looked beautiful but her beauty was spoiled by her stuttering. This made her feel more self-conscious and made her think that every whisper that people make when she passes is about her. As a result, she hardly leaves the house. She'll rather be at home, playing with her pet dog than meeting with people. As she sat on the bed that afternoon, she allowed herself to drown in the river of unpleasant memories that made up her childhood. As she kept brooding on them, she felt a surge run through her body, she shook so greatly, she rumbled trying very hard to retain control of her body. It hurt so bad, she closed her eyes tightly and resisted the incomprehensible force. She began to feel claws growing out through her fingers, and her skin began to be covered with fur. At that point the pain was so unbearable that she screamed and collapsed on the bed with tears running down her eyes.