Must Read: The Claw, The Tail, And The Cross. - Season 1 - Episode 18

7 years ago

Must Read: The Claw, The Tail, And The Cross. - Season 1 - Episode 18

“It was terrible. I saw the whole thing happen. ”

Jenny and I were at the hotel restaurant this morning. By now the cook had taken note of me and simply asked if I would be taking my usual of bread and tea with omelet. I said yes and Jenny asked for the same. I was still a little shaken from the bad dream I had had the night before. Jenny had listened to every detail with rapt attention and was now in deep thought even as she picked daintily at her fried eggs.

“But, how could he…I mean…Did he sneak by us? Were we wrong in our assumptions?” she said, frowning.

“I don’t know.” I said. “I’m still not sure if my dreams happen in real time or if I am just experiencing something that has already happened or is going to happen. And how come I only get a heads-up when the beast has already transformed? It’s all quite frustrating!”

We were silent for a while.

“Empathic Magnetism.” she said, still looking thoughtful.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“You are attracted to that which is closest to you in power.” She said,
“That’s why you don’t see him manifest as a man because that’s just what he is; a man.

As a beast though, that is an entirely different entity. So you see the beastly manifestation and because of the huge spiritual energy it gives off, you are attracted to it, whether in your dreams or awake. It’s just unfortunate for you that the man-animal is nocturnal.

I blinked at her.

“Never mind, you won’t understand.” she said. “What we should be discussing is how to confront Obi.”
“You are still convinced he is the one?” I asked.
“Why, sure!” she said. “He must have found out that we were following him, waited patiently, and then as soon as we left he went hunting.”

I shook my head. “Without Kelvin? Why? Why did he have to do his hunting away from his hotel if he was going to hunt anyway? And why did Kelvin come to carry him and them leave him on his own to go hunting? In my dream the beast was hunting alone. There was no sign of the man in the blue Camry, not even when the beast finished it’s er…meal.”

It’s possible the Camry would have been parked elsewhere…” she said.
“If it was, I would have seen it in my dream.” I said, finishing off my breakfast.

Jenny pondered for a while, hurried her meal and then we went outside the hotel to wait for our driver who was running late as usual although this time he had a legitimate reason.

Mr. Bells had sent him on an errand the day before and he was just now getting into asaba.

We decided to discuss our strategy in the park before he arrived.

“I think we should confront Obi, try and make him confess before he hurts someone else.”

Jenny said. She apparently had her mind made up about him.

I nodded in agreement, not because I believed he was the man-animal, but because I felt there was nothing more to do at this point.

Already the lack of a good night’s sleep was beginning to tell on me. It seemed as if I had been having nightmares all the time since I had come to this place. Also I was still convinced that Obi’s aura was friendly and he was someone that could be reasoned with. And if he denied being the beast and I felt there was nothing more to go on, then we could move our investigation on to Kelvin. As we spoke, the official car drove into the parking lot and we entered and headed off towards the office.

When we got to the firm all was quiet and for a moment I though the place had been abandoned. The car drove into the compound and I saw that the other official cars were in the garage. However the security guards and the petty staff were gone.

“What happened?” I asked the driver, who shrugged. He seemed as surprised as we were. As we entered the building, it seemed like the place had been abandoned as well, but then a door opened and some of the junior staff and all of the board members came out.

I paused, surprised to see Sidney inside the building and Mr. Bells, pulling him along, as if looking for one of the rooms to keep him.

The junior staff and a handful of security went back to their posts, muttering under their breath. Jenny stopped one of them.

“Hi, what’s going on? She asked. The lady she had stopped, who happened to be a cleaner, hissed and walked away.
“What’s going on?!” Jenny almost yelled.

“They are worried about their safety.”

We turned around and saw Chioma walking towards us. She had on a grey skirt suit with a white inner shirt and high heels. She looked quite stunning. She smiled at us sweetly although I could detect a hint of disapproval when she saw me with Jenny. Jenny on the other hand returned the smile albeit formally.

“We had a warning about an hour ago that the locals want to come and scatter the place.

Something to do with Sidney attacking a man last night.” She said.

Jenny and I looked at each other stunned.

Then we both turned to Chioma and spoke at the same time.

“It wasn’t Sidney!” It was Chioma’s turn to look surprised.

“I didn’t think so either.” She said.

“I mean, I’ve not always been happy that Mr. Bells brings such a dangerous looking animal to the premises but from what I can see, Sidney wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

And you’d be right in thinking that.” I said. Chioma turned to me and smiled.
“Who brought the news?” Jenny asked.

“The foreman at the Lands project, apparently he was trying to repay the kindness Mr. Chukwudi showed him and his crew by giving us a heads-up.”

Chioma grimaced as she recalled the conversation.

“It seems like they saw the half consumed body of an old security man and another lady who claimed that a leopard had attacked her around 12am in the night. Don’t ask me what she was doing outside at such an hour.”

“Terrible things do happen at ungodly hours.” Jenny said, shaking her head and trying to look surprised. Of course we already knew about the incident, definitely in greater detail.

“As far as I’m concerned there is no such thing as an ungodly hour.” Chioma responded suddenly. “GOD made all the hours. It just so happened she was unfortunate that night.”

Jenny stared at her. I watched them for a moment then intervened, though exactly what I was intervening in I honestly didn’t know.

“So what are the youths saying?” I asked.

“They want to just come and destroy the building? Isn’t that criminal?” Chioma turned to me. “An anonymous letter was sent to Mr. Bells through a young boy about thirty minutes ago, while we were still deliberating on what to do. The letter asked for the unconditional surrender of the leopard to them or we would face the consequences. Soon after, half of the staff left. The other half have bravely decided to stay although Mr. Bells had to put in a few well worded threats.

“What about the police?” I asked.

“They have been called. They said they are on their way but as far as they can tell, nothing is happening so they don’t seem to be in too much of a hurry.”

“Aren’t you worried about being in the crossfire?” Jenny asked.
”Surely Mr. Bells does not intend to keep people in harm’s way against their will? Are all the board members here?”
“Yeah, everybody is here except my boss, Mr. John. He said he couldn’t make it, that he had a tiring evening. Mr. Daniel is in there, secretly gloating over Mr. Bells misfortune of course but never mind him. Kevin is his usual bouncy self.

Obi on the other hand appears to be a little ill. And no dear, I’m not worried. No harm will come near me.” And so saying she smiled and walked to her office.
“I do not like that girl. I don’t know why but I don’t like her.” Jenny said under her breath.
“Take it easy Jenny,” I said smiling. “Let’s have a look at what’s wrong with Obi.”

We went into the board room. MR. Bells hadn’t come back from his stroll with Sydney and the other board members were sitting at the table except for Mr. Daniel who was standing near the wine cabinet, pouring himself a glass. He seemed to be in a celebratory mood.

“Ah, Jenny! Chukwudi! Come in, come in.” he said, and poured two more glasses, handed one to me and one to Jenny, “I tried to reach both of you this morning but your phones were switched off. Coincidence? I think not!”

Jenny took the glass and went to sit down, ignoring his statement completely. I decided to take a glass as well.
“Are we celebrating something?” I asked. “Yeah,” Mr Daniel said, grinning. “We are celebrating the downfall of this pompous fellow, Mr. Bells! He thinks he is so smart! If he is lucky, he might be able to go home with his dignity intact!”
“You look a little tipsy there, Daniel,” Kelvin said. “Stop drinking and sit down. In case you have forgotten, if this company goes down, you go down with it.”
“You think so?” Mr. Daniel sneered. “Dey there. I don arrange severance package for myself tey tey. The man’s own was becoming too much jo!”

Obi sat quietly at the other end of the large table. He said nothing but occasionally moved his right arm, as if it hurt him. His aura was perfused with the yellow stuff and Kevin kept casting anxious glances at him.
“What’s wrong Obi?” I asked. He looked at me, startled, as if he didn’t know when I had entered the room. Then he looked at Kevin as if for support, then back at me smiling.

“Nothing o, just woke up on the wrong side of bed I suppose.” Kevin heaved a sigh of relief. I watched Kevin for a while then returned my gaze back to Obi. Flustered, and probably wanting to remove my concentration from himself, he asked,
“Did, you hear the news? Some old guy got torn to shreds last night by a wild animal.”
“Yeah, what do you know about that?” I asked. Obi looked at me, his eyes widening.

“Er…nothing. Just what I heard about this morning.”
“You think it was Sidney?” Jenny asked from her seat. Mr. Obi turned towards her.
“Well, it is possible. That leopard is dangerous. Who knows if it didn’t escape from where Mr. Bells kept it the night before?”
“You would want us to think Sidney was the killer wouldn’t you?” Jenny said, her eyes flashing.

Mr. Obi looked at her bewildered and Kevin leaned forward.
“What’s going on here?” he asked.
“Ask your friend.” Jenny said.
“Jenny…” I warned, but she refused to meet my gaze.
“What on earth are you guys blabbering about?” Mr. Daniel said, looking from one person to the other.

This isn’t how I wanted to do it. I thought it would have been better if we had called him aside and spoken to him but obviously Jenny wasn’t the subtle type. I think I mentioned that somewhere before.
“Where were you last night, Obi?” Jenny pressed.

“Hey, Hey!” Kevin said, getting up. “What sort of question is that? Are you insinuating that he had something to do with the old man’s death? For goodness sake, we don’t even know if the gist is true or not, talk less of a nameless old man!”
“And you are pretty defensive of him aren’t you?” Jenny countered. “When did you guys become such strong buddies?”

“Leave her alone, Kevin,” Obi said, trying to smile. “She is obviously joking.”

“No I’m not.” Jenny said, “I know what you two have been up to. You better own up or I’ll go to the police!”
“And tell them what?!” Kevin shouted.
Mr. Daniel suddenly grabbed the bottle of wine and rushed out of the room, saying “Wait oh, make I commot. I no wan be witness. The wan wey I carry dey heavy me sef.” And he was gone.

Kevin was staring at Jenny as if he wanted to strangle her. I saw the malice bleed out of him, an oozing, toxic substance that erupted from the pores of his skin.

The blood that I had seen on his hands previously now flowed out, fresh, as if he had just committed a murder. It was then I realized what Jenny was trying to do.

Obi on the other hand just remained silent, his hair burning a bright yellow. However his little box of secrets had been unlocked. I could steal a glance inside if I could just concentrate a little harder…

“What are you two up to?” Kelvin said sharply and the manifestation was gone. I had to turn my attention towards him, he sounded like he was about to pounce on someone.

Jenny was going to say something when we heard the sound of running footsteps and a scream. We all rushed outside, argument forgotten and headed through the corridor to the reception area. From the corner of my eye I saw Obi cringe in pain as he accidentally bumped his right shoulder against the wall.

He nursed the shoulder for a while before continuing the run. And I remembered the bullet that had penetrated the beast. As we got to the reception area an alarming sight stopped us in our tracks.

What was left of the staff had gathered at the front and were talking excitedly. Beyond them, at the front gate, an angry looking crowd had gathered. They were made up of mostly youths and some of them brandished weapons.

They must have been up to a hundred in number. I looked closely and saw the foreman and some of the workers of the field were with them, although they seemed to be more of hostages. The foreman seemed to have been manhandled already and had his arm and head in bandages. They were shouting and chanting for Mr. Bells to come out with his leopard.

At the very front of the crowd was a young girl and she looked very determined. It seemed as if the crowd was centered round her. I looked more closely and recognized her from my dream.

“Well,” I said to Jenny. “It seems my dreams occur in real time after all.”