Must Read: The Claw, The Tail, And The Cross. - Season 1 - Episode 28

7 years ago

Must Read: The Claw, The Tail, And The Cross. - Season 1 - Episode 28

“I can hear them,” he said, looking at each and every one of us in turn. “I can hear your heartbeats. The blood in your veins calls to me.”

The assistant foreman stood at the end of the table, his seat upturned, the leopard hanging unmoving in his grasp as it suffocated to death.

The room was in utter silence. Mr. Engman and the two locals were cowering in fear on the floor behind Mr. Bells who had stopped shouting and was still standing, his mouth open but silent, tears running down his eyes, as he watched his beloved pet swing about like a rag doll, its feet well above the ground with the tail trailing on the floor aimlessly. The Assistant foreman was a large fellow, easily six feet, standing taLl in the stillness of the boardroom.

Mr. Obi and Mr. Kelvin had jumped up and were now backed up in a corner along with Jenny and Chioma while I stood at the other side of the table with Mr. John. Many eyes in the room kept darting between him and the only exit, the door through which their freedom lay, the door that was now barricaded by the Man-animal’s large frame.

He cocked his head to one side, almost with cat-like reflexes, and his face wore a puzzled expression. “One of you is not afraid.” He said quietly, “One of you’s heart beats with the regular resonance of a man unmoved.”
He sniffed the air, “Fear, fear, its repugnant stench is everywhere, except…” and then he turned and faced me.

I stood up straight and faced him, my hand resting ever so lightly on the swivel-chair I had been seating on, weighing it covertly to see how effective it would be as a weapon. He looked into my eyes and growled. The sound, coming from his mouth, a human mouth, was uncanny.

“I admire your courage, seer, but in a battle of brute force, you would lose.” He said with an almost gentle smile.
“I am not a seer.” I said.
“You dare look me in the eye?” he took a deep breath and the manifestation of the leopard with two tails took position as if about to pounce. “You dare challenge me the same way this little cub I now hold lifeless in my hands did? Do you want to suffer the same fate?”
“Do not presume to know me, beast” I said, though for a moment it was not I, but the stronger. I found myself grinning. “I am far from the cub you hold in your hand.”
The man-animal gazed at me in anger.
“You, sir, please…” Jenny cut in, taking a step forward. “You are not yourself. The only reason the leopard attacked you was because he saw you were not…right. ”
“And yet he charged, despite your warning to sit still!” the man-animal turned to Jenny, his eyes blazing. “Am I not king? Am I not splendor? How dare he challenge me for these pitiful ones he calls his masters!”
“Let me help you!” Jenny pleaded. “I know the desires that are running rampant within your mind right now. I know the fury, you feel, like you are on the verge of losing all control. It ought not to be this way. Let me help make it better.”

For a very brief moment, the man-animal’s features softened and he looked as if he was about to cry. “Help me…help me, please.” He whispered.
“What’s going on?” Mr. Bells said, suddenly finding his voice. He appeared like one that was in a dream state. He took a step forward and Obi tried to draw him back but he pulled away violently.
“What have you done with Sidney? You let him down this instant!”
“Mr. Bells, please sit down,” I said, not taking my eyes off the man-animal for one second.
“No! Leave my son alone!” Mr. Bells said wildly and lunged himself at the man-animal.

The man-animal suddenly moved. He flung the limp body of Sidney at his master and there was a dull “thump” as both collided violently. Sidney’s body bounced off Mr. Bells and fell beside one of the representatives, who promptly freaked out. Screaming, he made a bolt for the door, accompanied by the other representative and Obi. As they reached the man-animal he snarled and punched the first man hard in the face, sending a spray of blood into the other man’s eyes who now stumbled blindly into the grasp of the man-animal.

The man-animal wrung the latter’s neck until a sickening snap was heard through the whole room. Obi exhibited amazing agility as he slipped beneath this entire melee and was able to open the door and run out. The man-animal bit into the broken neck of the man he had just strangled and tore out a large amount of flesh mixed with blood. The other men in the room started screaming and Chioma collapsed to the floor in a faint.

As soon as he took his eyes off me I whipped the chair I had been gripping in an arc above my head and sent it crashing into the man-animal. The force was large enough to make considerable impact and he dropped his prey on the body of the man he had knocked out previously. He snarled and was about coming for me when we all heard shouts from the corridor. Obi was bringing help. He licked his lower lip and I saw a large cut from where the chair had connected. I was expecting to have caused more damage with the impact the chair made. This guy’s hide was tough.

He grinned at me, viciously. “We’ll see again.” He said, and dashed out of the room. I looked around. Mr. Bells had crawled up to where Sidney’s body lay and was holding the leopard’s head in his hands and crying like a baby. Kelvin was trying to revive Chioma. Jenny ran towards me.

“I have to get in close proximity with him. If I can touch him with the ring, I can strip his powers from him.” she said, massaging the ring
“That sounds like a really dumb idea.” I replied but nevertheless I ran out of the room, Jenny close on my heels.

As we ran down the corridor, we saw the trail of havoc the man-animal left behind. Most of the staff that had intercepted him had been flung aside but thankfully no one was seriously hurt. They all pointed in the direction he ran even before we asked. It was the security men at the gate that suffered it the most. Thinking him to be some sort of thief they had accosted him with their batons. Currently three of the security guards lay bleeding and unconscious and the fourth had locked himself in the security house and was praying violently in his native tongue. By the time we got to the gate the man-animal had long gone.
I stopped and tried to catch my breath as Jenny ran up behind me.
“He escaped?” she said her eyes wide. I glared at her.
“Look at all the damage he’s caused. From the looks of it we were the ones that ‘escaped.’”
Jenny looked around and sighed. “We should get back to the others, see what we can do to help.” She paused. “They’ll want some explanations. They saw us talking with the man-animal. What do we tell them?”
“We’ll think of something.” I said.
We hurried back to the boardroom where Obi had already called for paramedics to help those that had been injured. Both representatives were dead and Sidney was still being held tightly by Mr. Bells.
“My son…My son,” he whispered.
“He’s been murmuring that over and over again.” Obi said to me, looking very worried. “I think he’s gone crazy.”
Chioma had been revived and was already on her feet, seeing to the damage, going outside to help those that had been hurt in the corridor.

Mr. John was on the phone to the police.
‘Yes…Yes.” He was saying. “A mad-man, yes! Well hurry up before something else happens!” he cut the call and for a moment it seemed like he wanted to smash the phone against the wall.
“That was no mad-man,” Engman said, his Caucasian skin a bright red, his nose still flaring. “That guy was possessed.”
“Hey, don’t let your imagination run amok.” Mr. John said authoritatively. “I’ve had some up close and personal experiences with mad people before. That fellow was manic. They are usually strong like that.
“Mad or possessed, I think we are saying the same thing.” Obi muttered from across the room. “Did you see how he strangled Sidney?”
“When I moved into my apartment in Lagos a few years ago, there was a mad man that used to terrorize everybody on the street.” Mr. John said. “It took twelve strong men, me included, to subdue him and tie him up. They are very strong, I tell you…”
“Hey, Chuks,” Kelvin said, turning towards me. “How far? Were you guys able to stop him?”

I shook my head, no.
“It was a brave thing you did, standing up to him like that, but also dangerous. What if he had attacked you?” Kelvin said.
“Dangerous? I was about doing the same thing!” Mr. John said heaving his great chest. “He had already killed two people and would have probably done more if Obi had not escaped out the door and gone for help”
“And since when did you become a psychiatrist, Jenny?” He said, walking up to her and giving her a hug. “That was magnificent, trying to talk him down like that! I’ll definitely ask Mr. Bells about giving you a raise…eh, the moment he feels better.”
“Thanks sir,” Jenny said, gasping for air as he released her from his bear hug. She looked at the corpses of the two dead men on the floor and shuddered.
“Oh, I’m sorry, where are my manners?” Mr. John said, “Everybody out of the office. The police were being a bit difficult but they said they’ll be here as soon as possible. Let us leave this horrible scene.”

We all left the Board room; Obi and Chioma were finally able to pry the weeping Mr. Bells from the leopard. We relocated to his personal office where a nurse came and gave him a sedative. He accepted without complaint and soon he was sleeping peacefully on the sofa there. We left him in the company of the nurse and went to the reception.

Most of the staff had already gone home as it was heading towards 5pm. The few that had remained to witness the unfortunate incident were huddled together in a group outside, discussing excitedly. I looked and saw Chioma talking with them, apparently trying to calm them down. Eventually she left them and came to meet us at the reception.

“They are frightened,” she said. ‘A riot yesterday, a mad-man today, it’s a little too much for them. They think Mr. Bells did juju to get his company to become so rich and now the juju is backfiring.” She shook her head bitterly.

“Tell them to go home, take the rest of the week off.” Mr. John said. “At least that will give us time to get this thing sorted out.”
“The contract staffs are asking for their money. They say they don’t want to work here again.” Chioma chewed her lower lip nervously.

“Tell them to go home! If by Monday they still want to resign then fine, we’ll pay them off.”
“Yes Sir,” Chioma said and went back to the crowd who were waiting for her.
“Annoying set of…” Mr. John spat.
“Take it easy, John.” Jenny said, holding his hand comfortingly. He smiled at her and calmed down.

“You guys can go home, it’s almost getting dark. No point all of staying here. When the police come I’ll talk with them.”
Kelvin and Obi nodded.

“I’ll stay sir,” Chioma said coming back and overhearing his last sentence. The crowd had already dispersed.

“Nonsense, Chioma.” He said, wrapping his hand around her small shoulders.
“You have had a rough day as well. You go home and I’ll stay behind with the medics and the security detail. I’ll brief you all on the state of things tomorrow morning.
“We can all go with Chuks’ driver,” Jenny suggested, pointing at the car which was about heading out of the gate. She waved to the security to stop the car and they did.

Soon we were on the way to my hotel. It was a bit of a tight fit, with myself, Obi and Kelvin in the back and Jenny and Chioma in the front, but nobody complained. I think we all wanted to be together after what had happened. A kind of bonding had occurred due to the terrible event we had all just witnessed.
“So, is that the man animal you were talking about, chuks?” Kelvin asked.

Jenny looked around abruptly and he laughed.
“Oh, don’t worry, Chuks and I were discussing this morning. I told Obi about it, so it’s only Chioma that is not in the know.”
“Not in the know about what?” Chioma said.
“Hey man, I told you that thing in confidence!” I said.
“Yeah, yeah. Look Obi was asking me as well what Jenny meant yesterday so I had to tell him. And besides the whole thing is easily explained away now. Either it was the mad-man that attacked the old fellow that night – you could see how strong he was- and if he thinks he s a leopard he would probably bite the man the same way he did in our office today….”

“And fed on him?” Jenny asked incredulously.
“Did we see the corpse? Abeg leave that matter, people tend to exaggerate a lot jo.

I’m sure the man just bit the old fellow in some places and everybody started to shout. If he fed on him completely what body did they see to say that the man had been killed by a wild animal?” he said, smiling smugly.
“Or the two events are totally unrelated.” Obi said, shifting uncomfortably. “A wild animal on the loose at night, and a mad man running rampant during the day.”
“This firm needs prayers.” Chioma said.
We were all silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.
“What?” Chioma said, smiling a little. “It’s true na.”

We rounded a corner and headed towards the street that housed my hotel. Our driver was about turning another bend when the car in front of ours swerved suddenly into the next lane without trafficating. Our driver swerved quickly to avoid him and Jenny was all but thrown bodily into him. She grabbed his shoulder to steady herself…and then she stiffened. He jerked away from her like he had been electrocuted. He glanced at his arm, then at her hand.

“A Revealer Ring?” he said, his voice sounding very familiar.
“Hey, man, keep your eyes on the road!” Kelvin said in alarm.
The last thing I remember was white dust from somewhere being blown into our faces. And then all went black.