Must Read: The Claw, The Tail, And The Cross. - Season 1 - Episode 8

7 years ago

Must Read: The Claw, The Tail, And The Cross. - Season 1 - Episode 8

She steadied herself as she tried walking down
the street with her customers. The drug they
had placed in her drink was beginning to take
effect. She didn’t panic then though, she had
been drugged before. It was one of the hazards
of the trade. Some of the customers got off by
sedating the girls before being intimate with
them, they said it made them feel powerful, ”in
charge”. Her first experience of drug Molest had
been quite nasty and she had since found a
local antidote that she used whenever she felt
the effects of being drugged. She had used it
on many an occasion and it helped her to keep
a clear head although she pretended to still be
drugged so her clients could enjoy themselves.

It brought in more money for heart the end of
the day. This one however was kicking in faster
than usual. But they were already at the car
and they were behaving like such perfect
gentlemen, opening the door for her and all.

So she got in.

A few moments passed and she was out again.

She opened her purse and took out a small
bottle of Robb which had been filled with a
white powdery substance and she inhaled some
of it. The chemical coursed through her system
and her vision cleared but only temporarily.

She walked faster, trying to see if she could get
back to the junction where there were people,
where there was nightlife. She never should
have followed these strange men to this lonely
corner. There was nobody in sight. It was not as
if she hadn’t followed customers to precarious
positions before but these guys had given
started giving off a particularly bad vibe,
especially the one that was in the driver’s seat.

He just let off an aura that was…there was no
other word to describe it…evil. A little voice had
told her to steer clear but she had been
attracted by the beautiful blue Camry, the
handsome smile of the man at the back seat,
and the huge bundle of notes they had
displayed in front of her. She had followed them
in the car to this alleyway, they had shared
some more drinks and she had known almost
immediately that she had been drugged again
but she still didn’t mind, she still would have
played along, she had secretly slipped in her
antidote in the drink and was pretending to be
falling asleep when she heard the driver say
“See, she’s not going to run this time”.

The other man had said, “Good, I’m really really
hungry and I intend to sU-Ck her dry”
She smiled inwardly to herself. What sort of
perverted fetishes were these folks into?

The next thing she heard was:
“Better not get any blood on my car, I just
washed the upholstery.”

Her heartbeat began to race. Maybe they
thought she might be a virgin? Or they wanted
to rough her up a bit? She had experiences
with customers like that too.

Don’t worry. I’ll break her neck and drink
all the blood from there. She won’t
struggle.

And the world stood still as her heart jumped
into her mouth. What the hell did they mean by
that? She had decided to play smart, she was
still
in the car and if she raised an alarm they might
kill her. She had pretended to open her eyes
slowly and smiled stupidly at them.

They grinned back, looking as handsome and
innocent as ever.
“Do you boys mind if I take a pee first? I’m very
pressed.” She said.

The driver held her arm gently but firmly, “That
won’t be necessary baby. What we want to do
will not take long.”

She thought quickly, “Yeah, but it’s already
coming out, guess am gonna wet myself eh?”
and she giggled for effect.

A look of disgust came over the driver’s face.
“What, in my car? Oya go out, go out,quick!”
and he opened the door and shoved her out
despite protests from his friend at the back. It
was when she had gotten to her feet that she
realized that despite her antidote, the drug was
still making her feel dizzy. She pretended to
walk to the bushes at the side of the road as
going to relieve herself there, then suddenly
began walking towards the junction. It was a bit
far but she felt they would let her go if they
thought their drug would soon make her pass
out. That way they could collect her body
without causing a scene. Unfortunately it
seemed that that was exactly what would
happen as this was her third sniff of the
antidote and it had only cleared her head for a
few seconds.

She tried to open her mouth and call out but
her vocal cords were paralysed. She was
panicking now. She opened up the bottle of
Robb and downed its entire contents and her
vision cleared once again. She looked ahead;
the junction was an island of light a few yards
away, teeming with night life, filled with people.

Tears came to her eyes as she thought of what
her parents would say if anything happened to
her. They thought she was at school studying,
getting her degree, but here she was, in the
middle of nowhere, her life in jeopardy.

She thought of the numerous times he r roommate had warned her against these night excursions.

She had laughed and called her roommate a
“learner”, a prude, a self righteous born again.

She remembered how her mother had knelt
down and begged her to face her studies when
she got to school, to join a fellowship, to keep
with good friends, quiet friends. And she had
nodded in agreement to keep her mum happy
but deep down had decided that she would not
let her youth go to waste. Well, it seemed it
would go to waste tonight after all…

She heard the car door open, they were coming
for her, they were going to drag her back to the
car and drain her blood. She sobbed and tried
to run but her legs were heavy.

All she could do was quicken her pace a little.

Then she heard a growl. A blood curdling growl
.
She turned around and her eyes that had been
narrowed from sedation opened wide in fear. A
few feet behind her was the strangest and most
fearsome beast she had ever seen. It looked like
a leopard, like the ones she had seen in
pictures, with yellow and black spots and a
small mane at the neck. The head however was
like that of a human being. It had two tails that
swished excitedly from side to side. It was three
times the size of the largest dog she had ever
seen. It was stalking her, ambling up to her,
seemingly in no hurry. She opened her mouth
to scream but once again nothing came out.

She turned and quickened her pace, willing her
legs, her heavy legs, to run, but try as she
might she could only manage to increase her
pace slightly. She looked forward again and saw
the island of light and noise. She was almost
there. The tears were blinding her eyes as she
struggled with all that was in her to get to that
place, that safe haven. But somewhere deep
within her she knew she wasn’t going to make
it. An old memory came back to her, something
she used to do as a child in the darkness of her
room, when she was frightened and alone and
mommy and daddy had gone to their rooms,
something she had forgotten as she grew and
became wise to the things of the world;
“Jesus help me, a poor sinner. Jesus help me, a
poor sinner…”

She chanted it in her mind, for her mouth was
still numb, she chanted like a little child as she
strove towards the light. And there was a snap
as the creature stepped on a piece of wood
close to her. It had caught up, she could feel its
breath on her legs. It was behaving very un-
animalistic, an animal would have attacked,
tore at her by now. This leopard creature was
savouring her, smelling her, playing with her as
if it had a reasoning brain and was thinking how
delicious she would be…

She tripped on something and fell. Never once
did her teary eyes leave that island of light.

She cried now and was able to let out a whimper as the antidote made one final effort to neutralize
the substance she had been given. But it would
not be enough, she was still too far. Teeth that
seemed to be made of iron gripped her leg and
dug easily into her flesh as pain shot up to her
brain and she cried out a little louder this time.

Still not enough. She began to pass out as she
felt the creature dragging her limp body easily
back towards the car and she remembered
thinking it would have been better if she had
been sedated after all…
“Hey…HEY! What are you doing? Wetin be
dat?!” she looked up and in her dimmed vision
saw a man standing in a nearby bush, relieving
himself of pent up urine. She smelled the
alcohol on him and knew he was drunk.

He wouldn’t be of any help to her whatsoever. But then the man suddenly shone his torch in her
direction and must have seen what was pulling
her away because he gave out an ear-piercing
scream. Immediately people from the junction
started running in their direction and she felt
the creature relinquish its grip. There was some
scurrying of feet and a screech of tires as the
beautiful blue Camry zoomed off.

“Jesoooos!”
“Na which kain dog be dat?”
“Nna, check whether she still dey breathe o…”
A hand came close to her face and she grabbed
the hand with all her might, not letting go, and
crying feebly into the night air.