Chapter 38

Rising and climbing over mounds of rocks, trash and debris, Lynnette and Cloyse arrived at Hollis
Estates just shy of noontime. They could have taken a bus or a cab like Cloyse had urgently insisted,
but Lynnette chose to take the hard, long way, past gang territory and even the police station to reach
the buildings.It was reaching noon.

The sun was full and blazing in the cloudy sky. Lynnette and Cloyse were sweaty, soaking messes to
where even their clothes were drooping off of their bodies. Lynnette, with Cloyse bringing up the far
rear, climbed over piles of rubble and a few old couches on her way to the very top of a brick heap to
see the three shelled out hulks standing crippled and broken down before her.

Within the lonely vicinity was a dead quiet. All around all Lynnette could see was ruin, much like a war-
torn section of some combat riddled neighborhood from decades earlier in a foreign country.She stood
there with her arms folded and her misty eyes locked ahead of her as though she were caught up in a
deadly daze.

Breathing hard, Cloyse came up behind Lynnette and said, "In my vision, I saw three buildings, but I
never envisioned dey would look like dis."

"My aunt and uncle on my mother's side used to live here way back in the sixties." Lynnette continued
to stare at the buildings. "I used to hate coming here because people would always be selling drugs."

"Well, we're certainly not going to accomplish anything by standing here." Cloyse remarked as he stood
next to Lynnette. "We've wasted enough time just walking all de way here."

Lynnette noticed that Cloyse was moving ahead of her down the rock pile and towards the buildings,
but she couldn't even take one step forward.

Cloyse stopped plodding down the mound long enough to turn around. He then sighed in agitation
before ascending the pile and facing Lynnette.



"I know you are scared, but—

"But, what," Lynnette interjected. "What are you gonna tell me? To have courage? To face my fears?
You've seen those things. For the past six months I've been doing everything imaginable to erase my
memory of it."

"But your son," he pressed.

"You don't have to tell me about my son!" Lynnette fired back. "Do you know what it's like to look at
your own son and see nothing but his father in his face? Every time I look into my child's eyes I see
Isaac!"

"So what, you're just going to stand here and let dem kill your child?" Cloyse just shrugged. "Do you
think me to be simple? Hell yes I am scared! I get scared every time I look one of dem in de eye! And
yes...I may die in dere, but I can assure you dat I am not leaving dis world until dey come along with
me! They wiped out my entire village! You cannot erase any of dat!"

Lynnette braced herself as tight as she could while trying in earnest to shove Cloyse's speech out of
her head. The main road was only sixty or so yards behind her, and it appeared so luxurious in all its
stained glory.

"Dat's exactly why you took so long in getting here, because of your fear!" Cloyse screwed up his
already disappointed face at her. "If you will not go inside and get your son, then I shall!"

Lynnette stood and watched in dread as the man defiantly walked right by her on his way down the
rubble and towards the buildings.Her legs were completely stiff to the point where just moving one of
them felt as though they would break apart.

The closer Cloyse approached the buildings the more Lynnette realized that he wasn't going to stop;
the man didn't even bother to look back at her on his way, he just simply trekked on along like the



reluctant warrior that he had seemingly grown up to become.

With sweat drizzling down her face and her fists balled up Lynnette treaded down the mound until her
feet met with solid pavement. Between both her and Cloyse was about a hundred yards, give or take.
She wasn't all too concerned with catching up to him as she was about the welfare of her child.

Yes, Lynnette pondered and worried much about Isaiah; as hard as she may have wanted, the boy
would not vacate her soul. All the drugs in the world couldn't erase her love for him. All the distance
that she kept between her and him for the past few months was never far enough to escape Isaiah. Not
once did her baby leave her thoughts, but her stuttering feet had a mind all their own.

With every step they kept on moving slower and slower, tripping over themselves every other minute
before Lynnette had to actually stop.Cloyse as well stopped just short of the left building's entrance.
Lynnette stood behind only a mere thirty feet and watched the man gaze all the way up the shabby
structure's exterior. She then ultimately met him side by side.

"Are you sure that's he's here?" She asked with vibrating jaws.

At first the young man didn't reply, he stood with his head pointed to the sky in a trance-like state.
Lynnette looked at him before slowly backing away from his side.

"What...what if he's not down here?" She whispered.

"When I was but six, for a whole week straight I had a dream of a fire dat killed seventeen people
inside a slaughter house at my village." He gently uttered. "My mother and father kept telling me dat it
was only a dream. Dat I liked to make up stories and fables. Den, after the week was over, dere was a
fire at de slaughter house. But de fire was only a cover-up for de Bushards. All five of dem went into dat
place and killed every man inside."



"And after all of dat, not one of dose old fools in dat village ever questioned de odd, little boy again."
Akoni suddenly appeared from out of the middle building's entrance.

Lynnette and Cloyse both jumped at the sight of the woman. Cloyse made sure to stand right in front of
Lynnette, while Lynnette began backing away from not only him, but from Akoni and her auburn eyes.

Akoni, with a smirk on her completely healed face, steadily strolled towards them both with her hands
inside her pants pockets. "Do I appear different to you, my love?" Akoni asked Lynnette.

"Stay back, sorceress!" Cloyse hollered.

Akoni stopped and kept her eyes solely on Lynnette. "You fear for your own life." She peered at the
woman. "I have seen dat look on people's faces more times than I can recall. Did ya tink me a dream,
love, especially after what your sisters did to me?"

Lynnette held up her hands. The urge to turn and race away caused her entire body to shake. She
couldn't believe that she was actually in the woman's presence, just feet away from her. In her mind
was Isaac standing right beside Akoni with the same devilish, auburn eyes.

Pulling out a patch from his back pocket, Cloyse pointed at Akoni saying, "Come no closer, witch. You
know what dis is."

It was as though someone were pointing a gun at her face, because Akoni steadily began backing
away with her eyes opened wide.

"You know what dis is." Cloyse dared.

"I am aware of its power, just as you are aware dat her child is inside dis building." Akoni pointed
behind her.

"Wait...please, my baby!" Lynnette tapped Cloyse on the shoulder.



Cloyse glanced behind him before lowering his pouch. "Den you will take us to her child!" He
demanded.

Akoni stood and held out her right hand. After about an entire minute, Cloyse grudgingly handed the
pouch to her.

Slipping the pouch into her back pocket, Akoni asked, "You came all de way here for dis cow and her
pup?"

Cloyse only dropped his head and balled up his fists. "You know why I am here." He bitterly murmured.

Akoni studied both pathetic individuals before turning and heading straight for the middle building
ahead of her.

"You will follow me!" She said aloud.

Like she was attached to him, Lynnette unwillingly followed Cloyse, who in turn followed in behind
Akoni through a carved out section of a wooden door on their way inside.

Once inside Lynnette viewed her filthy surroundings which included soiled furniture littered throughout
what was once the lobby area. The floor was soaking wet with smelly, rust colored water while some of
the mailboxes that were attached to the walls were open to reveal dead rats and mice.

Lynnette's frazzled eyes captured everything in a rapid motion. Not one detail did she overlook. The
smell of the building was beyond putrid; the odor was an amalgam of bodily wastes and moldy fixtures.

Lynnette watched Akoni's body slink through the lobby like she owned the place before coming to the
stairwell. So badly she wanted to turn and run away, but knowing that Isaiah could be within arm's
reach compelled the young lady to remain for the time being.



Every so often Akoni would glance back at both Cloyse and Lynnette with her strange eyes and a stale
frown on her face. Lynnette's hands slid across the chipped paint of the bannisters as she tried her
hardest not to look at the woman and her scornful glare.

"Where are we going?" Cloyse asked.

"Time will reveal much." Akoni replied without looking back. "If you try to attack me, my brother hears
much and everyting."

"Is my son alright?" Lynnette's voice cracked.

Akoni did not answer; she kept on ascending the stairs as if the numerous flights were mere exercise.

As they rounded each floor Lynnette could hear voices within the hallways. She bobbed her head up
and down and from side to side trying to figure out just where the people were coming from.

The second they reached the fifth floor Lynnette caught sight of a glowing, female figure walking down
the hallway and into one of the vacant apartments.

"Who was that?" Lynnette jolted. "I hear people all around us."

"Be silent." Cloyse whispered with an index finger against his lips. "De dead do not know we are here."

Lynnette nearly lost her footing at that point trying to gulp down the man's response. After that, she
made sure to keep her eyes locked solely on the two beings in front of her.The voices, however,
became louder the higher they climbed before Akoni finally stopped at the eighth floor and ventured
down the ominously dim hallway. It was ominous for the fact that while the rest of the building just
happened to be bathed in afternoon sunlight, the eighth floor looked as if sunset had beset it much
earlier.



Akoni walked past one door after another before coming to a complete stop at a door labeled 207. The
woman then simply twisted the rickety knob and pushed open the door.Inside the apartment was a
calm brightness. The blinds were shut leaving the room in only a candlelit menagerie from one corner
to the other.

Lying directly in the middle of the floor, side by side, were three blood soaked sheets that were
covering three large lumps. Lynnette's body was shaking so much that she couldn't even hold herself in
place. Her eyes were witnessing a malevolence that only made her wish that the drugs she had been
abusing for the past few months had all but finished her off completely. She wanted to break down and
just curl up in a corner. She knew full well that she was wide awake, and that fact alone nearly stopped
her heart from beating at that moment in time.

With a right hand motioning to the floor where the sheets were lying, Akoni said, "You will forgive
brother and I, we were quite famished dis morning."

"Where is her child?" Cloyse screamed.

"Your boisterous tone knows no boundary, does it?" Arthur, with Isaiah coddled in his arms, casually
came out of one of the bedrooms. "You were just as demanding back home, farm boy."

Immediately, Isaiah reached out and cried for his mother, but Lynnette remained in place, seemingly
not wanting to take a step forward.

"Look at her, she is terrified beyond words." Akoni mentioned with a grin.

"Yes, I can see." Arthur tried to restrain Isaiah. "Do you not want to come and see your boy, mama?"

Lynnette stood absolutely still. Her child's cries were shrill and deafening, but taking at least one step
forward only seemed to send a piercing tingle of pain down her legs that made it feel as though her
veins were going to burst.



"Come, mama, come see your boy." Arthur motioned for Lynnette to come.

"Let her and her child go!" Cloyse stepped in. "Let dis be between us!"

Lynnette watched as Arthur restrained Isaiah underneath his armpit. "Please, don't hurt my baby!" She
shrieked.

Arthur took the baby and slammed him down onto a couch. The very second the boy tried to get up,
Arthur turned and growled at him, which in turn caused Isaiah to jump back and whimper.

Turning back, Arthur said, "Now dat we have you all here, let us commence with de ceremony."

"We have before us, Cloyse Hoyton of Negril." Akoni presented. "He, along wit de rest of his village
idiots have hunted us down for years. Now, he is all dat remains. Den, we have Lynnette Glover,
associated with Isaac."

"Ahh, my Isaac," Arthur proudly rubbed his hands. "But he did not complete his final duty dat night."

"He was only my boyfriend!" Lynnette breathlessly objected.

"But you two were to be betrothed? Were you not?"

"No, no, that was never the case!"

"Do not capitulate to dem, Lynnette, dey know all." Cloyse held her hand.

"Yes, he is correct. Did he regale you wit our family history as well?"

"I told her enough. Now, free her and her son...and I shall at last be yours."

Arthur and Akoni glanced at each other for a moment or two before Arthur reached into his pants
pocket and slipped out something shiny.



To the naked eye the object was small and odd shaped, but to the keener observer it was something a
whole lot more poignant.

Cloyse's shocked eyes made sure to emphasize that startling fact.Clutching his chest, Cloyse yelled at
Arthur, "Slaver! You are a slaver!"

Lynnette stood back and watched as Cloyse began to rush at Arthur only to have Akoni grab him from
behind and tackle him face down to the floor.

Cloyse wrestled and tussled while being restrained by the woman whose body looked as if it hadn't
been nourished in weeks.

"You all will go to hell!" Cloyse hollered with all his might.

Holding a diamond in his left hand and a cheesy smirk on his face, Arthur remarked, "Hell? You are in
hell, farm boy!"

Cloyse fought more and more before finally relenting and resting his body on the floor with his eyes
pointing straight up at a frightened Lynnette.

"It is valiant when one tries to resist." Arthur said to Lynnette. "Isaac tried dat night to resist our master,
but he failed, hence, why you and your bastard are still here." He then looked down at Cloyse. "Even
your dear sister tried to resist, but her best efforts led to her end."

"You and her are all dat is left," Cloyse spat on the floor. "Your father, mother and brother are all dining
with de Devil! Soon, you both will be under his fucking hoof!"

Placing the diamond on the floor, Arthur stepped forward and knelt down saying, "You came all dis way
to seek us, and look at what you have found."



"Call Jesus now, shit grinder." Akoni snarled before taking her clawed right hand and digging it right into
Cloyse's back.

Cloyse screamed out loud in pain while Lynnette bawled and cried to her knees. All she could see was
the man writhing in agony as Akoni used her hand to dig deeper into his back, ripping and clawing
away at his flesh.

Arthur stood up and laughed at the entire incident before Cloyse, seemingly as a last ditch effort,
managed to roll over and impale the woman through the stomach with something sharp enough to end
the frivolities altogether.

At first, all was quiet within the room, that is until Akoni looked up at Arthur with pain-stricken eyes and
a trembling bottom jaw.

"Hell waits...for us all, you bitch!" Cloyse gasped before pulling Akoni's lips to his and pressing them
together as hard as he could before she could release herself.

Akoni then got up off of Cloyse and held her bleeding stomach. She looked up at her brother who was
wearing the most casual appearance on his sweaty face, as to say all was well in hand.

"Brother!" Akoni grunted out loud.

"Let it out." Arthur simply responded.

Lynnette didn't require much explanation, she could tell just what the man meant by his three words,
which was why she slowly backed up until she bumped into the same couch that Isaiah was sitting on.

Lynnette picked up the child, but just before she could mount an escape Arthur happened to spin
around and stare her down without even saying one word.Lynnette, still holding the baby, stepped back
into the corner and ever so unwillingly watched as Akoni undressed before dropping to her knees.



From there, the woman began the most dreadful thing that Lynnette's eyes never wanted to witness all
over again. Claws, fangs and fur all sprouted from the woman's body before a snout took her entire
face completely over.

Lynnette couldn't tell what was worse, watching the transformation, or hearing the bones crack and
twist to form hind legs and two pointy ears. All she could do was sob while shielding Isaiah's eyes from
the horrific scene that just would not end.

The entire ordeal took well over three minutes to complete, but by the time it was through, not only was
Akoni all but gone, but the sun that was once shining so brightly outside the windows was becoming a
faded memory as well.

Lynnette watched in terrified dismay as all around her the looming veil of death reminded her that both
her and her son's lives were slipping away like sand through a tiny hourglass.Lynnette looked up to see
the beast growl and stomp about on the floor.

Its shining eyes immediately caught sight of mother and son, but before it could even roar and attack,
Arthur stepped right in front of the thing and yelled, "No!"

Like a trained animal, the beast stood down and prowled about the floor back and forth like a caged
lion awaiting its next command.

Turning around, Arthur asked Lynnette, "In your culture, what do you name dat?"

Lynnette couldn't answer the man, her tongue would not move and her legs were more wobbly than
they were than earlier.

"Did your friend tell you of me?"

"Who," Lynnette shook from head to toe.



"De dead man on de floor," Arthur pointed behind him.

"No...no, he didn't." She stumbled.

Arthur grinned and said, "Dat is a shame. He and his entire group of people are all gone now. And dey
take my secret wit dem to hell." Arthur then approached Lynnette. He stood over her like a towering
nightfall. He took her right hand and examined it. "Your beloved Isaac took your finger dat night."

The beast roared out in a scolding rage at that instant. Lynnette peeked over Arthur's shoulder at the
thing that looked as if it were two seconds away from tearing past the man on its way over to finish her
and Isaiah off.

"My dear sister approved of his actions. I hope you approved of my actions when I took my brother's
life in dat alley a few days ago. I handed you a little more time to bring yourself to me, so to speak."

"Please, don't kill us." Lynnette wept uncontrollably.

"Ohh, but I will kill you and your boy, just as de master ordained."

"No...please, God, no!"

Arthur laughed before saying, "God? Each and every time dey scream out for God." He then stood
back and spread open his arms. "But each time, he never shows his face."

Lynnette held Isaiah tighter to her chest as she took a glance out the boarded window to notice
darkness as far as her eyes could see.

"Where...where is the sun?" She profusely sweated.

"Lynn...do not be...afraid," Cloyse spat up blood before allowing a switchblade to fall out of his right
hand and onto the floor. "They will never kill...us."



At that very instant, the beast that was prowling and growling about on the floor pounced on top of
Cloyse's body and proceeded to devour him.

Lynnette continued to block Isaiah's face away from the massacre while keeping her own eyes turned
away.

Picking up the diamond from off the floor, Arthur ventured over to mother and son before calmly sitting
down on the couch beside them.

"Look at how it shines, mama." He whispered into Lynnette's ear.

"No!" She squealed.

"Dere are dose back home who mine for dese on a daily basis. I long for only two tings in dis wretched
life, more diamonds...and my beloved child."

But all Lynnette could hear was the tearing and chewing of flesh from just a few feet away from her.
Even bones weren't discarded as they were eventually gnawed on as well.

Lynnette kept her eyes shut as tight as possible while Arthur's fingers caressed and lingered all over
her hair and sweaty neck in a lascivious fashion.


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