P.S. For new comers who just began to read the story, I started posting this story a couple of days ago, so go to older pages to start from the beginning. The story is by Royver, a Uniben alumnus.
*************
The conversation.
"We need to talk."
"What?" he asked, not looking down.
Chuks the stronger held me by the hand as he flew effortlessly back towards what I could only fathom would be my head. When he said "Let's go", I had thought I would suddenly wake up sane,but apparently things weren't going to work out that way. He had simply held me by the hand and with a mighty jump, we were headed back the way I had fallen. I watched him and marveled at his confidence, even though he looked like a six year old I knew that spirit wise he was probably much older and more skilled than I was. He was me in my simplest, purest form,undiluted,unspoilt by the logic that was the world. It was exhilarating to see this my other self, so full of confidence,so sure of himself. But watching him, watching the way he headed back to consciousness with glee, I suddenly felt worried.
"Who will I be?"
"Eh?" Chuks said, still not looking down, the force of his upward acceleration seemed to be making it difficult for him to hear me, like trying to strike a conversation with someone riding a bike swiftly against the wind.
"Wait, STOP!" I shouted. And he did. Chuks the stronger put on the brakes mid air and stood standing on nothing,
looking at me. I still hung from his hand and struggled about.
"Why don't you stand?" said chuks the stronger.
"Where?!" I gasped, looking round.
"Anywhere!!" Said chuks. "It's your mind, after all."
I still struggled about a bit, not understanding how chuks was standing mid air. "I don't get it!" I said, "how do you stand on..."
"Just stand!" chuks said.
And I did. I looked into his eyes and became calm. I imagined my feet on solid ground and hey presto! I was standing. I didn't look down though.
Chuks the younger was looking up at me with scorn, if such a thing was possible. I ignored him and looked around me for a while. "So this is inside my body,huh?" I asked.
"Its just your imagination" Chuks replied."if I were to pinpoint our exact location it would most likely be our brain. We'll be at our consciousness very soon.
"Yeah…I wanted to talk to you about that." I said. "Who will I be?"
"I don't understand…" Chuks said
"Will I be me or you?" I asked. "When we regain consciousness, who will be in charge?"
Chuks grinned again. "I will." He said, and laughed when he saw the look on my face."I am you! A lost part of you. I'm definitely not going to take over. We are one, you and I. it will be like waking up from a dream and remembering something you had long forgotten, although..." and here he eyed me pointedly, " it seems as if you have forgotten a lot. What happened to you?"
"Nothing!" I said defensively. "I remember most of my childhood, I do. Okay, maybe I stopped using my gift a lot during the time I was growing up and I lost a lot of, er… skills in the process, but I did it so we...so I...could appear normal. You don't understand the way they looked at me the first time I came to school, how I was constantly bullied for being weird or put at the back of the class for saying things that weren't there! I had to…adjust. And besides father says the reason I couldn't remember you or rather your gift is because I did something, removed something from him and mum and-"
"I extracted a lust creature, yes I know. I was there remember? I was too young physically at the time and the energy I expended was too much for my little body, but now I am a man! Think of the things I could do! I can really rock and roll when I get back!"
"Rock and roll? Who says… never mind. What I want to know is how did I remove that demon and how do I handle this one? "
Chuks sighed. For a young boy, he exhibited a lot of adult mannerisms. And I noticed that somehow he was getting older. The more we talked the more he seemed to age; right now he looked more like a teenager. I wasn't sure if he was aware of this but decided to keep mute about it. He grabbed me by the hand suddenly and we were off again.
"You see creatures not of this realm right?" he said. "do you talk to them?"
"only the people." I replied trying to hold on.
"Well, have you tried talking to a creature before?"
"I try not to." I said, "I don't want to get involved in too much stuff. Trying to stay n…."
"Normal, yeah, I get it." He said. "Well you have five senses don't you? You see, smell, taste, hear and feel. Have you ever considered doing that in the spiritual realm as well?"
I hadn't thought of it. Of course I had made contact with one or two manifestations, my previous landlady, a small greed demon I had chased out of my bosses room so I could submit an assignment in peace, Pachios himself…but I had never really delved into interacting so much.
"Well, not really, it makes me uncomfortable." I said.
"No chuks" chuks replied. "it makes you afraid. Fear is a barrier to so many things beyond the veil. It makes you second guess yourself, it makes you have friends you don't need and enemies you can't afford. Our FATHER from before the veil made us Dominators, Conquerors. But as soon as we pass through the veil we are distracted by the noise of this little earth and by the shiny things man has made for his pleasure, and we forget it all. I came through with my memories of the other side as a baby. I didn't come through with only my sight. And yet even I that have been in slumber for so many years, even I have forgotten so much. But I am still a child, and a child does not think of fear or impossibilities. Things only become impossible when you stop to think about them. "
I was quiet. I felt him now more than ever, like I was the one talking and holding him by the hand instead of the other way around.
"We are nearly there." He said and looked down at me. He was smiling. I smiled back and suddenly we were in another room. Just like that, no door, no entrance, nothing. But this room didn't feel peaceful like the one I had found him sleeping in. it felt tumultuous, frenzied, and I heard whispers, whispers which grew into babbling, incoherent, continuous babbling. I looked for the source and when I couldn't see it I asked chuks the stronger "Where is it?"
"Where do you want it to be?" he replied and he looked ahead. I did too and sure enough I saw it. Seated on a golden stool, making a terrible mess of the place with oozing green liquid and screeching horribly was the cross-eyed, monkey-bat like creature I had seen earlier in the cave. It bared its fangs and gave off a fearful howl. I took a step back.
Chuks the stronger looked at me, puzzled. "No," he said, "You did not just step back did you? Are you afraid? Look at what you did."
I looked and right there and then the creature grew bigger. It expanded its wings which had nasty looking talons and it became twice its size. It shrieked again even louder and I took another step back. Chuks the stronger slapped me at the back of my head, hard.
"OW!" I said. "Hey, that hurt!"
"Better you feel pain than to feel fear," he said. "What's wrong with you? This fella is sitting in your head like it owns the place and you are here doing a backslide? Show it whose boss!"
I stared at the creature again. It had grown to four times its size and was now massive. It flapped its wings, spewing green stuff everywhere and screeched loud-
"AWWWW SHUT IT!!!" Chukwudi the stronger yelled loudly and the creature closed its mouth immediately. He gazed at it with fire in his eyes and it shrank back to twice its normal size. He walked a few feet then turned, backing the creature and facing me.
"Fear is like a spiders web. The more you struggle in it, the more it will hold you down. Ignore the fear! That thing is seating on your seat!"
I looked at the creature again and indeed it seemed out of place on that golden stool. In fact, it seemed very out of place in this clean room, messing up everywhere, making a nasty ruckus. And I got mad. I got really angry. And I walked past Chukwudi the stronger and approached the creature confidently. It watched me coming with apprehension in its eyes, and then I saw, it was afraid!
"Get the hell outta here!" I shouted getting closer now and noticing the creature shrink even more until it was almost its original size. "I own this place, this is my domain!Get out!"
I was close to it now. It raised one disgusting wing and made to swipe at me and I grabbed that wing midair with my right hand. With my left hand and with a loud yell I pounded the creature on the head with a mighty blow. It wasn't as strong as I had imagined and I felt its skull crack and it collapsed, still on the stool. It tried rising again and I went all out for it, shouting, yelling and tearing; I broke its wings and snapped its neck, then I hurled the carcass off the golden stool and unto the floor where it remained still for a while and then disappeared. I could feel my hands and face covered in gooey smelly stuff but I felt great! I shouted in exhilaration! I had done it! I picked up the golden stool, cleaned it as much as I could and sat down on it proudly. Then I saw the look of shock on Chukwudi the stronger's face.
"What?!" I said.
"That was very violent and messy," he said shaking his head. "I mean, you could have just commanded it off when it had shrunk back to its normal size then chased it out or used the sword to finish it off. That's what I would have done…"
I looked beside me and saw a sword on the floor.
"Wait,"I said trembling, "there was a sword there the whole time? The whole time?!
Chukwudi the stronger laughed and came up and shook my shoulder. "The point is, you got the job done! Congratulations! You see, you could have done that by yourself all along! Now we can regain consciousness with our sanity intact. But first, abeg, let's find a way to clean you up.
********
The conversation.
"We need to talk."
"What?" he asked, not looking down.
Chuks the stronger held me by the hand as he flew effortlessly back towards what I could only fathom would be my head. When he said "Let's go", I had thought I would suddenly wake up sane,but apparently things weren't going to work out that way. He had simply held me by the hand and with a mighty jump, we were headed back the way I had fallen. I watched him and marveled at his confidence, even though he looked like a six year old I knew that spirit wise he was probably much older and more skilled than I was. He was me in my simplest, purest form,undiluted,unspoilt by the logic that was the world. It was exhilarating to see this my other self, so full of confidence,so sure of himself. But watching him, watching the way he headed back to consciousness with glee, I suddenly felt worried.
"Who will I be?"
"Eh?" Chuks said, still not looking down, the force of his upward acceleration seemed to be making it difficult for him to hear me, like trying to strike a conversation with someone riding a bike swiftly against the wind.
"Wait, STOP!" I shouted. And he did. Chuks the stronger put on the brakes mid air and stood standing on nothing,
looking at me. I still hung from his hand and struggled about.
"Why don't you stand?" said chuks the stronger.
"Where?!" I gasped, looking round.
"Anywhere!!" Said chuks. "It's your mind, after all."
I still struggled about a bit, not understanding how chuks was standing mid air. "I don't get it!" I said, "how do you stand on..."
"Just stand!" chuks said.
And I did. I looked into his eyes and became calm. I imagined my feet on solid ground and hey presto! I was standing. I didn't look down though.
Chuks the younger was looking up at me with scorn, if such a thing was possible. I ignored him and looked around me for a while. "So this is inside my body,huh?" I asked.
"Its just your imagination" Chuks replied."if I were to pinpoint our exact location it would most likely be our brain. We'll be at our consciousness very soon.
"Yeah…I wanted to talk to you about that." I said. "Who will I be?"
"I don't understand…" Chuks said
"Will I be me or you?" I asked. "When we regain consciousness, who will be in charge?"
Chuks grinned again. "I will." He said, and laughed when he saw the look on my face."I am you! A lost part of you. I'm definitely not going to take over. We are one, you and I. it will be like waking up from a dream and remembering something you had long forgotten, although..." and here he eyed me pointedly, " it seems as if you have forgotten a lot. What happened to you?"
"Nothing!" I said defensively. "I remember most of my childhood, I do. Okay, maybe I stopped using my gift a lot during the time I was growing up and I lost a lot of, er… skills in the process, but I did it so we...so I...could appear normal. You don't understand the way they looked at me the first time I came to school, how I was constantly bullied for being weird or put at the back of the class for saying things that weren't there! I had to…adjust. And besides father says the reason I couldn't remember you or rather your gift is because I did something, removed something from him and mum and-"
"I extracted a lust creature, yes I know. I was there remember? I was too young physically at the time and the energy I expended was too much for my little body, but now I am a man! Think of the things I could do! I can really rock and roll when I get back!"
"Rock and roll? Who says… never mind. What I want to know is how did I remove that demon and how do I handle this one? "
Chuks sighed. For a young boy, he exhibited a lot of adult mannerisms. And I noticed that somehow he was getting older. The more we talked the more he seemed to age; right now he looked more like a teenager. I wasn't sure if he was aware of this but decided to keep mute about it. He grabbed me by the hand suddenly and we were off again.
"You see creatures not of this realm right?" he said. "do you talk to them?"
"only the people." I replied trying to hold on.
"Well, have you tried talking to a creature before?"
"I try not to." I said, "I don't want to get involved in too much stuff. Trying to stay n…."
"Normal, yeah, I get it." He said. "Well you have five senses don't you? You see, smell, taste, hear and feel. Have you ever considered doing that in the spiritual realm as well?"
I hadn't thought of it. Of course I had made contact with one or two manifestations, my previous landlady, a small greed demon I had chased out of my bosses room so I could submit an assignment in peace, Pachios himself…but I had never really delved into interacting so much.
"Well, not really, it makes me uncomfortable." I said.
"No chuks" chuks replied. "it makes you afraid. Fear is a barrier to so many things beyond the veil. It makes you second guess yourself, it makes you have friends you don't need and enemies you can't afford. Our FATHER from before the veil made us Dominators, Conquerors. But as soon as we pass through the veil we are distracted by the noise of this little earth and by the shiny things man has made for his pleasure, and we forget it all. I came through with my memories of the other side as a baby. I didn't come through with only my sight. And yet even I that have been in slumber for so many years, even I have forgotten so much. But I am still a child, and a child does not think of fear or impossibilities. Things only become impossible when you stop to think about them. "
I was quiet. I felt him now more than ever, like I was the one talking and holding him by the hand instead of the other way around.
"We are nearly there." He said and looked down at me. He was smiling. I smiled back and suddenly we were in another room. Just like that, no door, no entrance, nothing. But this room didn't feel peaceful like the one I had found him sleeping in. it felt tumultuous, frenzied, and I heard whispers, whispers which grew into babbling, incoherent, continuous babbling. I looked for the source and when I couldn't see it I asked chuks the stronger "Where is it?"
"Where do you want it to be?" he replied and he looked ahead. I did too and sure enough I saw it. Seated on a golden stool, making a terrible mess of the place with oozing green liquid and screeching horribly was the cross-eyed, monkey-bat like creature I had seen earlier in the cave. It bared its fangs and gave off a fearful howl. I took a step back.
Chuks the stronger looked at me, puzzled. "No," he said, "You did not just step back did you? Are you afraid? Look at what you did."
I looked and right there and then the creature grew bigger. It expanded its wings which had nasty looking talons and it became twice its size. It shrieked again even louder and I took another step back. Chuks the stronger slapped me at the back of my head, hard.
"OW!" I said. "Hey, that hurt!"
"Better you feel pain than to feel fear," he said. "What's wrong with you? This fella is sitting in your head like it owns the place and you are here doing a backslide? Show it whose boss!"
I stared at the creature again. It had grown to four times its size and was now massive. It flapped its wings, spewing green stuff everywhere and screeched loud-
"AWWWW SHUT IT!!!" Chukwudi the stronger yelled loudly and the creature closed its mouth immediately. He gazed at it with fire in his eyes and it shrank back to twice its normal size. He walked a few feet then turned, backing the creature and facing me.
"Fear is like a spiders web. The more you struggle in it, the more it will hold you down. Ignore the fear! That thing is seating on your seat!"
I looked at the creature again and indeed it seemed out of place on that golden stool. In fact, it seemed very out of place in this clean room, messing up everywhere, making a nasty ruckus. And I got mad. I got really angry. And I walked past Chukwudi the stronger and approached the creature confidently. It watched me coming with apprehension in its eyes, and then I saw, it was afraid!
"Get the hell outta here!" I shouted getting closer now and noticing the creature shrink even more until it was almost its original size. "I own this place, this is my domain!Get out!"
I was close to it now. It raised one disgusting wing and made to swipe at me and I grabbed that wing midair with my right hand. With my left hand and with a loud yell I pounded the creature on the head with a mighty blow. It wasn't as strong as I had imagined and I felt its skull crack and it collapsed, still on the stool. It tried rising again and I went all out for it, shouting, yelling and tearing; I broke its wings and snapped its neck, then I hurled the carcass off the golden stool and unto the floor where it remained still for a while and then disappeared. I could feel my hands and face covered in gooey smelly stuff but I felt great! I shouted in exhilaration! I had done it! I picked up the golden stool, cleaned it as much as I could and sat down on it proudly. Then I saw the look of shock on Chukwudi the stronger's face.
"What?!" I said.
"That was very violent and messy," he said shaking his head. "I mean, you could have just commanded it off when it had shrunk back to its normal size then chased it out or used the sword to finish it off. That's what I would have done…"
I looked beside me and saw a sword on the floor.
"Wait,"I said trembling, "there was a sword there the whole time? The whole time?!
Chukwudi the stronger laughed and came up and shook my shoulder. "The point is, you got the job done! Congratulations! You see, you could have done that by yourself all along! Now we can regain consciousness with our sanity intact. But first, abeg, let's find a way to clean you up.
********
I hate losing things. You know the feeling you get when you have a place where you keep your house keys and you are in a hurry to go to work and when you finally look for the keys in their normal place and you can't find them? its much worse when you lose people. I had no idea where Nina was. Her line was not going. I had never asked where her family stayed and she didn't leave a place of origin address, even at the office. I didn't know whether to report her missing or if she had decided to leave of her own volition. My missing sim also aggravated matters for me. Obviously Mr A**** had swapped the sims, probably to ensure nobody knew where I was, but then why alert my parents? And on more than one occasion someone had impersonated my voice, claiming to be me and stating that I was in the village. The person probably found put I was out of the hospital hence his saying that I would be returning to the office the next day. What was Mr a****'s plan? And where on earth was Nina?
One week passed. I lost my appetite and slept poorly. My parents stayed until they felt I had recovered sufficiently then my father, at my mum's insistence, advised me to "forget about this girl called Nina." What proof did I have that she was not enjoying herself somewhere with her fiancee? Perhaps she had already agreed to the pact he had been pressing on her, perhaps she was already part of the family. Certainly she was not worth risking one's life over if she could not even come to visit when I was down. Or at least she would have sent a text message or called before leaving town. It was obvious she didn't care about me the way I did for her...
My dad kept on presenting points with my mum supporting him in the background. Finally I agreed to let sleeping dogs lie, even if it was just to get them off my back. My parents reluctantly left me after staying another 5 days and I was finally alone. And defeated. Nowhere to start looking from. I called the doctor and asked if anyone had coming looking for me after I was discharged and he said no, but would let me know of someone did.
Mentally I was fatigued. My. Spirit was worried and I found myself visiting chuks the stronger more often in my sleep. There is nothing as calming as keeping connected with your inner child, for he is your first friend and confidant. In my case he was just below the surface in my waking hours and at night he walked with me in my dreams.
"Surely she cannot be so important to you," he said one night, in one of my many restless dreams . " you barely know anything about her."
"I don't know what to tell you," I replied. " you can feel how I feel."
"And I feel it strongly," he said. "But I do not see the reason for it. Maybe I'm childish or maybe its because as you I feel betrayed that she left just like that, but honestly we can't help everybody. You'll wear us out if we do."
I sighed deeply and remained silent. Chuks the stronger smiled, "Come," he said, "let me teach you how to make fire!"
Ever since the awakening of chuks the stronger I had been receiving lessons on how to control the Sight, and how to harness my other senses as well. I knew I could hear, I spoke with and listened to Pachios and previous landlady often. And on occaaaion they could touch me, but I never knew I could touch back. Chuks had taught me how to see further into the spirit realm than I had ever done before, now I could see people's past, present and future and not just their immediate problems. He also taught me how to control it so it would not be a distraction. Smell, taste and touch were new fields waiting to be explored. And then there was fire. I had mistakenly set it off when I lost my temper with my dad the week before. Now he showed me how to channel my anger and how to control it also, lest I burn myself in the process. I learned a lot from these dream lessons and was very grateful for it although it left me fatigued by morning.
Two weeks had passed since I left the hospital and I was coming back from the local market when I hailed a taxi. I was about getting in when a bike man almost ran into me.
"Hey! Watch where you are going!" I said, angrily. The bike man steadied his motorcycle and looked up angrily.
"You too, you no go look where you dey go?!" He retorted.
"This place resemble road for ya eye?!" I yelled, pointing at the pedestrian walkway where he had almost hit me.
"But I no hit you na, bros abeg free me jor" he replied sullenly. Then his face lit up as he looked into my eyes.
"Come, no be you be lover boy wey I dey carry him Girl friend for junction?" He asked excitedly.
"Who, me?" I asked.
"Yes na," he replied, coming closer. "Na you been dey with that fine girl, I don carry am two times for your place now. Na wa o bros, e be like say that girl dey runs you o!"
I had already entered the taxi when he started talking. I came down immediately and apologizing to the driver, asked him to go. He said something about woman power and zoomed off. I faced the bike man now, my heart beating the rhumba.
"Where did you see her?' I asked.
"Ah ah, I don carry am like three times now from her new place na. The first time I see am I carry am dey ask am if she remember me, she say no. I come say okay, how far her boyfriend wey dey stay Ikeja side. She say she no get any boyfriend, say she jus come Lagos newly. I come laugh come tell am say make she no deny, shebi I dey there when una kiss on top my bike. Na him she form deaf and dumb, no talk again. na him me too say make I leave d matter face my business. The other two times I carry am I still greet am but she do as if she no know me."
I was so excited I could barely contain myself. The bike man saw the expression on my face and laughed .
"Wetin?" He said laughing, "You no wan go where you dey go again?"
"Bros a beg you fit take me reach her place?" I asked anxiously.
He looked me over and smirked.
"Na wa o, you go buy me beer first o," he said smiling.
I told him that not only would I buy him beer, i would fill his tank with fuel as well. He laughed and rubbed his hands together.
"Oya enter na, make I show you the place!"
Intriguing
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