TITLE: The Tri-paternal Son EPISODE: 16 AUTHOR: Mynd Babatunde had picked the perfect spot to view the blasts from a day before. The place gave him a very good view of the side and he watched the workers drill holes in the surface to lay the charges throughout the day. That night, he almost did not get any sleep. He was excited about the blast because this time he will have a good view of how the explosion isgoing to happen and nothing would be an obstruction. The morning of the blast he went for breakfast early and his aunty had his favorite meal, boiled yam with eggs. He eat it all heartily and she resounded the warning his father had given him before going about maintaining a distance between the blast siteand himself. “You know you are very precious to your father and if anything happens to you, he would not be able to take it so please watch from a distance that is more than safe. If I had my way, I would tie you to a tree to ensure that you don’t go but you are a grownman and you can make your choices but the words of the elders are still true so please just watch safely” He did not respond immediately, but the only thing he picked on was when she said “the words of the elders”. The old woman was old too and sometimes he wondered who was really older in the two of them. They seem to regard one another with respect that no one could tell the difference. He replied; “Aunty, the spot I will be looking from is not close to the site, it is just that there is nothingin the way so I will be seeing it happen. I will be safe and I can assure you of that” He picked some bananas from the house andplucked some oranges as he sat down in the sun waiting for the blasts to start. He already knew the time it will start as the company also included the time so the noise will not startle anyone since they will be expecting the loud sounds anyway. He laid a cloth on the bare floor and waited for the time to come. At some point, he felt sleepy but he fought the sleep away. It would not be a nice thing to be woken up but the loud sounds of the blasts. Lekan drove angrily to his office; he did not like that he was dragged out over an issue astrivial as that. Why did the engineer not tell the old men he was in charge? Why must he do everything? He checked his wristwatch and it was an hour to the blast time, he picked up his communicator and called the engineer. “How are you doing out there? Are you done with the inspections?” “Yes sire we are done and we are simply waiting for the time to come so we start the blast” “How about those old men? Any word on them yet? Are they out of the perimeter?” “The guards just called to let me know that they have been cleared. And the guards will be returning through another route to the office” He did not like the sound of that at all. Why should the guards come back? what if the oldmen decided to carry out some silly plan to stop the blast? “Call the guards and tell them to monitor that area instead of coming back. I don’t want to take chances with anything. Everything should be monitored and when it is 5 minutes to the time, give me a call, I want to get some shut eye” He hung up but he knew he was not going toget any sleep, he just said that so the engineer would not disturb him with anothersilly issue. His mind went back to the snake he saw and the voice and automatically concluded that the old men were behind the voice he heard. He pitied the snake though. Itwill probably be shaken out of its skin when the blasts but that was not his problem. He was more concerned with the people and their safety. He sat back on his chair and started going through the projected estimates and the costhe had incurred to get the blast going. It waswell below what was forecasted and he knows that the headquarters will be pleased with that. Less operational cost always makes manufacturers happy, simple economics. The ritual in the market place continued as the old men were joined by the men who went to meet with Lekan at the blast site. The girls and the oracle was now repeating the same thing over and over again. They had said it so many times that even those who could not understand the words could say it fluently. The cult members waited for them tospeak of a solution but none came. They just repeated the same warning and said it again. Tunde looked on to the hill expecting to hear the blasts, he knew it would come anytime now and he could not hide his excitement, he looked over so as to be sure he was at the right spot. The spot where he could see the men work the previous day. He was still thereas he took another banana and ate it. Lekan’s communicator beeped and he picked it up “Yes engineer” “Sir you asked me to tell you when it is 5 minutes before the blast and we are ready to proceed” “Okay call every guard on the perimeter to be sure one last time and blast the damn thing open. He got out of his office and climbed the back of his car armed with a pair of binoculars and waited for the usual countdown when it got to 5 minutes The old men at the market center grew impatient with the prophecy they were forced to listen to over and over again. They needed to hear something else, like how to stop whatever was coming and make sure the prophecy was adverted but nothing came. It was like the spirits were mocking them and were deliberately keeping the answers away from them. “Okay, all clear. Blast in T-60 seconds” was the voice heard over the communicator and he still stood there. He would wait until it wastwenty seconds before he raised his binoculars. There was no point looking before the blast was coming. Then the countdown from 20 started and he raised his binoculars, he fixed his eye sight inthe direction of the hill and watched ahead. He noticed that there was a little gathering behind him consisting of workers all watching out of curiosity but oblivious to the warnings and prophecy. Tunde watched the hills and grew impatient, he did not own a wristwatch and he began to get really frustrated about the whole issues when a tremor hit the hill where he stood. He first panicked thinking the hill being blasted was the one he stood but he saw trees on the hill move and he understood that it was just reverberation. He understood the blast, first a series of blasts toweaken the rocks and then the rest to complete the jobs Lekan heard and felt the effect of the first round of explosions and he did not even feel a little bit excited. He just wanted it over with.The other rounds came and suddenly the final blasts which threw the blasted rocks came. Tunde saw as the rocks peeled off the side ofthe hill and fell to the ground. He saw little parts hurled into the distance by the force of the blast and he smiled to himself. The blast was done with and he turned to go back to the house when he heard something else. It came from the hill and it definitely was not anexplosion. It was a scream, more like a wail as though someone was screaming in pains. He looked to the base of the hill and saw nothing and then a shadow flew above his head, he looked up and he saw nothing. He assumed it was an eagle or hawk with was fleeing because of the blasts and crumbling rocks but as he moved his eyesight down, something else caught his eye A something large was crawling out of the side of the hill. It looked like the arm of a human being but it was too huge to be human. The arm was transparent and the as it moved, it threw rocks of it. If Tunde had not seen the rocks move due to the arm, he might have thought that he was seeing things but he was not. This looked real and a cold fear crawled down him back. His face was fixed to whatever it was though as he found himself fixed to a spot. All of a sudden, a head broke through the top of the hill itself and rocks were thrown in every direction and some coming dangerously close to him. He moved back a little as he still did not understand what was happening. He wished his father was here: maybe he would be able to give an explanation for what he was seeing. The head kept rising and soon, it a face started to emerge. A face he could not recognize but still transparent and then therewas another scream but this time, by an human being, the screaming continued from different directions all around the hill and that was when Tunde decided he had seen enough. He turned around to run into the house or downhill into his aunty’s place but he discovered that he could not move. They was a force holding him still and then he felt as if there was a warm liquid poured on bothsides of his head. He took his right hand to his ear and his hand felt the warm liquid, he brought the hand to his front and it was blood. His blood and that was when the pain took him. He felt a pain rip through his body as he screamed and fell to the ground. he looked towards the hill again and saw the rocks on the hill were crumbling away and the remaining body of the creature became visible as darkness took him and he slipped into oblivion. Lekan watched at the blast tore the side of the hill up and he did not give as much as a smile. He lowered the binoculars, turned around and was about to get down from the truck when he noticed that one of the workers pointed towards the hill. He shook his head and thought “That’s what explosive charges does to strong rocks, they turn it into something else and change their shapes” The men still stood watching the hill and he got off the truck not bothering to look back at what the men were looking at. His mind was already fixed on moving the excavators to the hill base. He removed the communicator and wanted to call the engineer when a huge piece of rock smashed into the complex. The other workers who have been watching the hill moved to see the rock as he got back to the top of the truck and looked to the direction of the hill which was to be blasted. What he saw shocked him He saw that the hill was still being blown apart. There was no explosion as he could not here any sound but he noticed that the sides of the hill was being torn apart as it it was still being blasted. Huge pieces of rock were flying in every direction and he wondered what type of explosion would cause that, the charges they used were light ones to just weaken the rocks and dismember it but not hurl it several paces away. He looked shocked at what he saw as more pats on the side were torn apart from the hill and just when he thought he could not be surprised anymore, the top of the hill went off as thought there was something of high pressure inside it and it was letting off its pressure. The rocks at the top were flying in all direction and some crashed into the complex itself. A huge one landed on one of their trucks crushing it immediately and then Lekan panicked. In his whole years at the job, he had never seen something like this happen. It was as though the hill was a volcano and it was erupting violently. He grabbed his communicator and spoke into it loudly but his voice was still firm; “Hello, what the hell is happening out there?” But he got no response. He tunned it to get another channel, this time the chief engineer; “Hello, somebody talk to me, what is happening?” He got a response but it was not clear, it was hampered by static “Sir, there is something happening out here. The hill……” and the engineer’s voice died off “I can’t hear you clearly, speak to me damn it” Instead of a response this time, he got a scream. He knew the engineer’s voice well and the screaming was his. Other voices joined as the number of people screaming suddenly increased. This went of for about 10 seconds and suddenly, it stopped. Lekan could not hear anything again. The communicator was still connected but there was no response on the other side. The only response he got was the falling rocks close tothe communicator as his hand dropped to his side. All of a sudden, he snapped out of his shock and got down and started barking orders. “All of you, I want you to find out who and who is missing from work today and find outwhat their excuses are.” He pointed to a security guard; “Hey you, take some of your men and secure the charges store. Nobody goes in and no one goes out” He pulled his communicator out and spoke into it; “John I want 10 of your best men armed with rifles and meet me at the gate 5 minutesago. Get a truck and meet me there right nowand send a message to the other guards, I am shutting this place down, they are to ensure that no one comes into this complex and no one goes out. I just sent someone to the store, I want that place shut down right now” There was only one response for whoever hewas barking orders to; “Sir what is going on” There was only one solution he could give, one answer he could think of “Someone or some people just decided to help us blast our hill and the person is doing a good job of it” All his thoughts now fell to the engineers at the observation spot they had picked for them to observe the blast. They had to have been attacked and since the security with them was not armed, they would have been easy to jump on and arm but he would be damned if he just allowed that slide. He walked to his office and pulled out his 9mm and. The gun always had bullets in them as a rule because he expected locals to attack them any day and at any time. He got out of his office and got into his truck,driving furiously, he approached the gate and saw the chief security John with about 8 more men all carrying AK47 assault rifles withthem. He did not bother getting out of the car rolled the window down and said; “John, I need you to stay back here and keep an eye on things. Your men however will go with me, there is something funny happening out there and I have to check it out” The men got into the back of the truck as Lekan drove out furiously. Lekan did not stop to think for once that he might be facing something beyond his power, he did not even think of getting the police involved in it because there was only one thing on his mind; some people had killed his staff and there was no way in hell they would get away with it. He drove so fast some of the men at the back of the truck almost fell off as a result of the bad road. All around, rocks were crashing to the ground, a lot of them small but every now and then a large one crashes into the forest. The birds all around were flying and the animals on the ground were also trying to get away from the raining rocks. The snake he saw earlier came to his mind ashe remembered the warning that came after he saw the snake. “I should have had men check the area out” he thought to himself as he was still convinced that the old men had something todo with what was happening. He felt his anger and he stepped on the accelerator harder as the car increased speedand lunged dangerously forward. He was still lost in his thoughts went a huge piece of wellcut out rock flew towards the truck and seemed to heading for a collision with it. He did not see the rock come on time so applying the brakes was out of the picture, the road was barely wide enough to even take the truck so there was nowhere to pull up to but continue to go straight. The rock did not seem to change direction as it came crashing in with blinding speed on the truck. **************************************************************************************** The old men grew impatient, this was not something they were expecting. It took them a lot of energy to catch these spirits because they were so old and they were likely to know a lot about what happened in the past. Even if they did not exist then, they would know what happened and they would be more likely to know the prophecy but this seemed not to be working and they grew impatient. Any minute from now the blasts will start and it was possible that what they prophesied about might come to pass and they needed a way to protect themselves. Protect themselves from something they always knew was coming but never knew how to fight or hide from it. The girls keep chanting the same thing and the oracle kept repeating the same translations until from one corner, one of the women who had been crying suddenly got un and ran towards the circle they had created, she ran screaming the name of a girland just as she got to the edge, she was held back by one of the cult members. The member held her by her hand as the woman struggled with him, kicking and screaming. The man pulled her back with force and she was lifted off the ground by the suddenly jerk. There was a little sand gathered by her shoes as she struggled with him as she was lifted, the sand poured down and cover just alittle part of the circle drawn with the white material. The man pulled the woman away and flung her to the floor by her hand then he turned back to focus on what was in the circle only to be shocked. The girls suddenly stopped chanting as the fell to the ground motionless. Confusion showed on the faces of the members standing around the circle as they could not understand the reason for the sudden change in attitude of the girl and then suddenly a woman screamed from somewhere and then another from somewhere else. The members looked around at themselves and knew just one thing could be responsible for that, the circle had been broken and the spirits have been freed. The members looked at one another and did not know what to do. Trapping the spirits itself was hard work and now they have escaped and it would be impossible to do again. They were still looking around when the blasting started. The first set of blasts set them all worried as they looked away from the commotion around them and looked towards the hill. Thehill was blocked by a forest but the tip showed from the top as another blast erupted. And some of the members who were backing the direction of the hill moved away as if there was something about to come out and rip them apart. A loud blast came and they heard in a distance the sounds of crumbling rocks, sounds of stones falling in a very far distance and then there was an uncomfortable silence.Everyone in the market did not talk or stir, they just stood looking at one another until a loud ear piercing sound ripped through the silence but it did not come from the directionof the hill, it came from the woman who had broken the circle around the girls and before she was done with her screaming, another woman screamed, before long, the whole market centre was filled with screams and wails. The screams were not pain or horror but shocked as if they had each seen something that was ripping their very souls from their bodies. same voice. The voice was not human as if they were the same person and they were speaking through a series of speakers. The eyes of the women and children who had been screaming turned red. And they stood frozen. Their voice gave one message And he is coming The evil lord who hold a grudge No one can escape him And only one thing is certain Death They shall stand to fight him And they shall fall There is no escape And even the gods shall turn their backs to their subjects And if a solution would come it shall come in the form of…….. They were about delivering the continuation of the prophecy when a huge rock smashed into the market center and killing 5 people instantly, the rock then rolled up to one side as more came crashing into the market somesmall and some very big, the women and children who were delivering the prophecy suddenly came to their senses and ran. The cult members who were still alive also took totheir hells and ran as fast as their old legs could carry them as everyone ran for their lives including the oracle who the falling of the rocks brought out of his trans. *************************************************************************************** Ojoade turned his back on the bush baby and followed the voice of the river. The voice was gentle and sweet. No doubt it was feminine just as most rivers were. He preferred feminine rivers and streams because they were usually gentle to travelers than the maleones who were always aggressive and apprehensive. The voice was easy to locate as it was the only water body around so there was no mistake, he got to the bank and immediately, he heard the voice of the plant he had been looking for. The bank of the river had some space separating it from the huge trees of the forest as just little plants grew on the banks. And Ojoade thought perhaps after he had gotten the plants he needed, he might rest at the bank.The plant which had proved elusive all this time was there and even more than he needed so he took a little as he would not need a lot anyway. He looked into the water and the voice was filled with purity.He knew the water was drinkable from its taste and he brought a container to take a little. He looked up stream and said; “Please, I just need a little of your flow for sustenance, I mean no harm” He bent down and started filling his container when he suddenly felt and increasein the energy around him. the increase was not minute by any means, It was massive. He took his container out of the river and lookedaround then the energy got stronger fast, it felt like whatever was given it off was coming towards him and it was coming in fast. He did not get up, rather he turned his back to the direction whatever it was was coming from as he became encapsulated by his defensive ring. He did not bring the hammer because after years of training, he realized he could just tighten his fist and the hammer comes immediately. The energy grew stronger and Ojoade knew it would be a matter of seconds before it got to him. He tried to look as though he did not know anything was coming as he felt the source not slow down. He felt the source of the energy break through from the trees and into the space and Ojoade turned around with all his will and power. He produced a bolt of lightning from his hands but this was not just a bolt coming inform of a flash, it was like a rope, it was continuous. Energy flowed in the strand as Ojoade threw it in the direction of what produced the energy. The bolt wrapped itself around a creature flying towards Ojoade and Ojoade threw it in another direction while the bolt was still around its neck. The creature fell to the ground as Ojoade tighten his fist and the hammer appeared then he said; “I can remember you and your energy, but this time, I am prepared for you. This is not twenty years ago and there will be no escape today. Today, I send you into the darkness you belong Watchout for episode 17 Target: 10 likes
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 19:25:16 +0000
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