Cocaine Hippos

Matt steers the pontoon boat under the canopy of multi-colored leaves as Hannah plays a podcast explaining how to rid yourself of a ghost. “When someone has a traumatic death or dies with powerful emotions, like anger, their energy signature attaches to something around them. Fire is the only way to rid-”

“Matt, I was listening to that,” Hannah says, sitting on the bench seat at the boat’s front braiding her pink hair. He arches one eyebrow, pulling out a vape.

“Hannah, please tell me your gullible butt is not buying this ghost nonsense?” He asks, shaking his head.

“Look, I’m aware ghosts may not exist, but there is no definitive proof they don’t. The afterlife is a mystery. I like to think of my mom hanging around.” She sees his eyebrow arch higher over his warm chocolate eyes and shrugs. “Silly as you may think it is to believe it’s been a comfort to me these past few years since losing my mom.”

“You had to play the mom card.” Matt won’t look at her now as he guides the boat down the river as the wind sings through the autumn trees.

“Matt, losing my mom has been hard, and grief is like this gaping wound that won’t heal, and I just keep placing band-aids on it” She zips up her hoodie, looking along the river bank where a squirrel is racing up a tree with a nut in its mouth.

“You should have pursued a career in creative writing, Hannah,” he says, as she sticks her tongue out at his turned back.

“I saw that,” He says, puffing on his vape as she rolls her eyes. “Yeah, saw that too,” he says, turning towards her with a chuckle, and she sits up and crosses her arms.

“Matthew,” she’s irritated with him now. “I have my blog, and I’ll have you know it averages 12,000 reads a month! As for my day job, I enjoy assistant nursing. You aren’t out there pursuing professional photography.”

Matt sighs and tilts his head skyward, which Hannah knows he does when he doesn’t want to continue a conversation between them. Despite their six-year age difference, she has known him her entire life as their mothers were childhood best friends who were inseparable. Five years ago, a drunk driver ran a red light, leaving them both motherless. An unbreakable bond formed as they grieved together.

“This death anniversary is hitting me hard this year, and I just wish I knew if she was proud of me. Besides, you’re the only person who understands me.”

Without looking at her, he speaks, “I wonder, Han, more than I care to admit, but we need to accept they are no longer here with us. Dwelling on insoluble things will unbalance you.”

Tears form in her eyes, and she wishes Matt didn’t see oranges where she saw apples. She holds tight to the past, and he buries his deep. She can’t even enjoy her present while he can’t even imagine a future. Losing their moms left an indelible mark on them.

After a while, his hand grasps her shoulder, and she lifts her head to see Matt’s eyes glistening with a faint sheen of tears. “Look, Hannah, let’s enjoy our time together. I’ve heard King Deus’s estate is one of the best places to explore. I mean, he even had a zoo,” he says.

Their annual trip for the anniversary isn’t enough time for her to spend with him, she thinks as she wipes her tears.

After they have the boat docked, they walk up to the sprawling estate. Stagnant water fills the Olympic size swimming pool. The once-wealthy home sits vacant and unkempt. Now, debris litters things that speak of wealth: helicopter pad, basketball court, and a large pavilion overlooking the river. They walk around taking pictures, and she records voice notes on her phone. Once inside, they wander through the 32 bedroom dilapidated home, shooting photos of forgotten belongings.

The last site they explore is the zoo. Graffiti covers the concrete, and vegetation pokes through the rusted cages. Nature looks as if it’s trying to reclaim the area. It feels creepy, and Hannah lets out a shudder.

Matt snaps a photo of the zoo with the river in the background, lowers his camera, and asks, “Are you ok?”

“This place is unsettling. I feel like someone is watching me. Do you know what animals King Deus kept her?”

He crouches, taking pictures of decayed leaves covering the floor of a rusty cage. “A lion, three hippos, and an anaconda. When the agency swarmed this place, King Deus opened the gates to the cages, letting all the animals run wild. According to the rumors, none of the hippos got captured,” he says as they walk along the cracked concrete path.

They approach the hippo enclosure. In the isolated pen, a lonely leaf blows past barren trees and scattered boulders. A stain shows where water once reached. Hannah thinks of all the animals running the night they shot King Deus to death. All the blood spilled into this estate from the drug lord and his band of merry cocaine bandits fighting back against the agents who came to arrest them.

“Before we came here, I read some reports and some claim that King Deus fed people to his animals, especially the hippos.” Hannah swallows as a chill skates along her spine. If Matt weren’t here with her now, she would leave this dreadful place.

“If it makes you feel better, hippos are herbivorous and mainly eat grass,” Matt says on his belly, snapping pictures of the deteriorating zoo.

A loud honk that hurts their ears comes from the river, followed by a flurry of splashes before silence settles on the river again.

“What do you think that was?” she asks, taking a step behind as he watches the river, and she bites her lip.

“With sunset approaching, I think we should head back to the campsite,” he says. He pulls his ponytail out of the camera strap and says with a grin that sends Hannah’s heart fluttering. “I’m grilling your favorite steaks, ok?” Hannah smooths her hair. “It’s still bubblegum pink,” he says, smirking at her before he turns and walks toward the dock, taking photographs along the way.

“It’s midnight magenta,” she mumbles as she follows him. She sees a boat on its side, caked with dirt and a tree growing along aside it, and she turns to ask Matt if he got a picture. The words die on her tongue when she sees something in the water. Goosebumps run down her arm as she sees the eyes and ears poking through the water’s surface. It’s a hippo.

“Do you see it?” She points towards the water with a trembling finger as he doubles back.

“What should I be seeing?” He peers in the direction she is pointing. After he pretends to give the water a thorough inspection, he turns back to Hannah. “Han, I don’t….”

The fear on Hannah’s face swallows his following words. He follows her terrified gaze to the boat where three hippos are flanking it. The largest one comes out and stretches its mouth into a wide yawn displaying tusk-like canines. It lets out a grunt that assaults their eardrums and shakes Hannah from her stillness.

She whispers his name, reaching out for his hand. All three hippos jerk their heads and stare towards the enormous river pavilion. They flutter their ears as they move in unison; the largest one emerges first with a loud grunt, the other two following in its wake.

“Should we run?” Her chest constricts, and each breath sends her closer to hyperventilating.

“No, do not run, Han. They can outrun us,” Matt says as she sees a vein pulse in his temple as he keeps an ironclad grip on her hand. They inch back towards the mansion. The hippos grunt, growl and stretch their jaws wide, gaping, but make no moves forward as he gestures to the door they left ajar and whispers for Hannah to go.

Paralyzed with terror, she shakes her head.

“GO!”

She sees his worry and bolts as the hippos serenade the October air with grunts and growls.

Steps away from the door, she hears Matt curse and land with a thud. He hisses through his teeth, grabbing his ankle.

She propels towards him, screaming his name. He scrambles up and limps towards her as she notices the hippos moving towards them, vibrating the ground beneath her feet.

“Hannah, get inside; I have enough meat to satisfy them.” Not listening to him, she takes his arm and slings it over her shoulder, urging him forward.

“I am not losing another person I care about,” she says, gritting her teeth. Glancing behind her, she sees the clumsy-looking beasts are gaining on them. Once they both stumble inside, she slams the door behind them as a hippo slams into it, sending a splinter down the glass.

“Strong glass,” Matt says, tense with pain behind her. The hippo backs from the door until it aligns with the others. Once united, the trio returns to the pavilion. Odd behavior, Matt tells her.

“Let me check your ankle,” she says, sinking next to him on the dirty floor and placing his ankle in her lap to study as he winces with the movement. Unsurprised to see the swelling, she tries to dampen her rising anxiety as she tells him it’s not broken, only sprained.

Their hiding spot has a large window offering a panoramic view of the lake and the opposite wall; a cracked, dirty mirror reflects the riverscape. The sun is starting its descent, dipping below the tree line running along the river.

“King Deus and his foot soldiers defended this place to the end, taking out two dozen agents. The drug lord came out shooting from the pavilion, and some reports claim he came from a trapdoor running underground from house to pavilion.” Matt says between heavy breaths, his hand over the tear in his shirt. “He killed four people before they shot him in the head.”

Hannah looks out the window towards the pavilion. A black shadow swirls under it as the hippos study the piece of moving darkness. The shadow shrinks to an orb before it stretches wide, taking a human shape. “It’s a ghost.”

“Han,”

“Honest to god,”

Hannah describes the orb and the human-like presence it takes. As soon as she can identify the arms and legs, the shape swirls back to its dark spherical shape before changing again.

“It’s that podcast. It put ideas into your head,” he says, from his spot on the floor.

“The podcast!” She turns from the window, leaning with her back on the glass. “I have a plan. You said they killed him in the pavilion?”

Concern tugs at the corners of Matt’s eyes. He nods as he pulls his vape from his pocket, gesturing for her to continue.

“We burn the pavilion,” Hannah paces. “King Deus died there, and his negative energy may have attached to the place. He died with a strong emotion-anger.” She says, remembering the podcast from earlier.

Matt sits ramrod straight, eyes widening as he looks behind her. She follows his gaze, noticing the hippo is looking through the cracked door at them. A string pulls taut across her chest, squeezing her heart as Hannah worries their luck may not hold if the hippo rams the door again. She looks at Matt’s ankle, concerned he won’t be able to run if the need arises.

She prays to her mother, asking for her guidance and her light to protect her. With hippos outside the door, Matt injured, and night coming, she prays. Tears sting her eyes as she imagines her mom vibrant with life.

“Hannah,”

Between them, suspended in the air, are two incandescent orbs. A vibration emits as the orbs bend and grow into human shapes. Soon, Hannah’s mom stands before, her facial features pushing through the light, crystal-like but smiling at her. A similar body appears in front of Matt.

“Hannah, you can’t keep your fire contained forever. Life is short. Unleash your fire and trust it won’t burn everything that it touches.”

How good it is to hear her mother’s voice again. In amazement, she listens as her mother tells her where to find gasoline and matches. When she reaches her hand out, her mom’s spirit touches her, and warmth spreads through her body. Hope, like a shot of morphine, burrows its way inside of her.

“Matt, pain is a part of life, and by avoiding it, we make it inevitable.”

His mother whispers to him, and his eyes widen at what she reveals.

The glow intensifies as they shield their eyes before it shrinks at light speed, returning the room to its previous gloom. Outside, the moon’s glow reveals the hippos have wandered away. They stare at each other as they absorb the miracles of being with their mothers once again.

The cacophony of the hippos breaks the spell, and they urgently exchange the information their respective mothers shared with them. Matt grimaces as she helps him up.

Outside, they aim for the boathouse with the night singing around them. Across the yard, a football field distance away, the apparition of the pavilion looms. The silence from the hippos is unsettling, but they enter the boathouse without incident.

Inside, it looks like a tornado raged through, swirling the overturned canoes, discarded safety vests, and a broken umbrella around. Next to a toppled shelf, they find what they came for, the can of gasoline, and Hannah grabs it, feeling eager to end this. They walk back to the house without running into any hippos, only hearing Matt’s heavy breathing and the gas sloshing around in the container. After finding matches in the kitchen, they enter the library and head towards the desk. Underneath, Hannah slides her fingers along the edges until she finds the hook. They pull it up to reveal a ladder leading to the darkness below. With a quivering arm, she shines her phone down, revealing a ladder and a brick tunnel.

At the bottom, Matt pulls a false brick out, grabbing the gun his mother told him about it and the box of ammunition next to it. Once it’s loaded, they walk down the dark tunnel by the flashlight on the phone, and when they reach the end, Matt is the first to climb the ladder. With a gun in hand, he pushes the trapdoor open, letting it slam with a hollow thud before he reaches down for her.

As Hannah pops through the trapdoor, night greets her along with a sense of relief; no hippos are visible. “Let’s get out of here,” he says, and she nods in agreement as she beings pouring gasoline around the perimeter. He follows the gun by his side, wincing when he presses too hard on his bad ankle. The black orb floats alongside her, and she trembles as she feels its icy tendril reach out and touch her arm. She jumps, and Matt responds by raising the gun and pointing it at the shadow. The shadow lifts one of her braids. The ghost yanks it before dropping it. The shadow roars with a gust that makes Hannah stumble back into Matt. He curses as they see the hippos approach, but they stop when the black shadow swirls around them, reaching out with its tendrils. Keeping his grip on her, Matt leans in to whisper his plan into her ear, “Run zig-zag, not straight, go for the hill and straight for the boat. When I say go, light the match and run,” Matt says, gripping her shoulders, as she reminds herself, this is the person she trusts most in the world. After seconds pass, he murmurs in her ear to go.

Her hands shake as she lights the match before dropping it and running. Remembering Matt’s words, she runs crooked before booking it up the ridge, ignoring the racket behind her. He follows sweat dripping from his temples as they hear the thundering steps of the hippos behind him. Flames have engulfed the pavilion, and she looks back to see the lumbering beasts coming up the rise. As they race down the other side, Matt yowls as he lands on his ankle, but he closely follows Hannah. As the flames lick the sky above, an inhuman roar explodes, and the hippos halt at the top as Hannah makes it to the boat with Matt at her heels. He ignores the throbbing of his ankle as he leaps on and lands on his opposite ankle, and rushes to get the boat started. After three attempts, the engine turns over, and the boat powers up as the hippos remain unmoving on the hilltop, the backdrop of flames reaching towards the sky.

Hannah takes Matt’s hand as the boat tugs away from King Deus’s burning estate and the semi-aquatic animals from who they escaped. She stares into the deep brown pool of his eyes, thinking of her mother’s words and all the feelings she wants to unlock. He looks back at her, tired of pretending he doesn’t feel these emotions, and he opens his arms as Hannah turns on the podcast. She steps into his embrace, and he holds her close as they drift down the river, unaware of the luminous orbs shining behind them.