Meeting amongst the dark ones

It was a large ominous corridor, lit by torches hanging of the sides of the wall. Slowly along its way moved a lonely cloaked figure. By her movements it could be told she was in no rush to meet what was at the end of the corridor. She paused for a second and retracted her steps, as she turned around to proceed down the path she came from, a loud voice echoed through the air bouncing back from the walls of the corridor.

“Azra is that you?”

She froze in her tracks, unsure of what to do next. Her mind was telling her to be silent, but as she began to try and back away from the source of the voice, her footsteps, thou gentle, gave her away.

“I can hear footsteps,” once again the calm but powerful voice proclaimed.

“Yes master, it is I,” she pronounced sheepishly.

“Then come on into the main chambers, I am awaiting your report.”

She mastered up some courage and continued down the corridor, she knew that this visitation would end in a bad way, but she couldn't just run away from it.

As she entered the large room, in its immensity all that stood there was a cloaked man in front of what seemed to be a large sacrificial altar. His back was facing her as he stared into the flames.

“Did you achieve your mission?” he asked, without ever glancing at her.

“I, I encountered a problem master,” she said looking at the ground.

“A problem you say, do tell me more,” he turned around to reveal a grotesque and severely burned face, almost inhuman.

“I was not able to extract his life force, some kind of force stopped me from carrying out my mission.” she delivered almost as an excuse, “Please do not be upset.”

“Me upset? I don't believe that is necessary, not yet at least.” He smiled and fixed his gaze upon her shaky eyes. “He wasn't able to detect you thou?”

“I believe he did. For a few seconds he laid there looking straight into my eyes even thou we can mask our presence from mere mortals, and before I knew it I was transported back here master.”

“Such a simple task and yet you have disappointed me. You know the forces that are at play here, and it is extremely crucial that none of our targets are able to realise their full potential, that could be dire for us.”

“I think he is beginning to awaken. From my observations in the last week, he seems to be transitioning master,” she offered.

“Very well then, there is no time to waste, this issue must be laid to rest. I trust that giving you a second chance to redeem yourself should suffice,” This time he spoke with more vigour and seriousness in his voice.

“I shall not disappoint you master; I will take a brand-new approach to this, and I aim to deliver results.”

“For your sake I hope so, or the faith that has met many in this room shall be yours too,” said he coldly, this time no smile in his face. “Is that understood?”

“Clearly!” she assured. “I have already devised a more intricate plan that should remove this obstacle from our radar, I am confident that this man will prove us no threat.”

“Very well then, I am not interested in the methods, just the result. Now excuse yourself.”

With that Azra bowed on one knee and made her way out the door back into the corridor, a single thought consumed her mind as she progressed, did he really see her, and what in the world caused her to reappear in their hideout. These were question she could only answer upon some digging, but she had a hunch.

She progressed to the lower chambers of her hideout, where she made her way into one of the rooms. Inside were large machines with knobs and gauges. The gauges were all resting at zero, some measured frequency in Hertz, and others had symbols of an unknown nature. Next to them was a computer screen shining green and a single keypad, it all looked a bit outdated like something from the 1980s. She began to start typing on the keyboard, she first entered co-ordinates like those found in maps. For the latitude she entered -36.914119, and for the longitude she entered 174.9159482, once the co-ordinates were computed, she pressed enter. Shortly after the screen came a light with the image of a white house, she typed into the keyboard and the image again then changed, now a room was apparent, in it lay somebody in a bed.

“Well there you are” she smiled. “The road to your end now begins.”

Azra then began to recite incantations in a foreign tongue, “ashna va tuku, inorok, vei ma aratok, vei ma aratok.” with her hands stretched out into the sky, a dark cloud began to manifest above her, she again repeated “vei ma aratok, vei ma aratok” and with that the cloud immediately picked up momentum and in a split second it disappeared through the roof.

“Let’s see how you manage this one.”

*

Fern woke up from his sleep. For a moment he laid there trying to make sense of what had just happened that night. He couldn't have been imagining it. The events that had occurred felt as real as day itself. He even remembered feeling the cloaked figures warm breath in his face, no dream could possibly be that real. But alas it was in the past, he figured the best thing to do was to keep it to himself, and let it rest in the past. None the least a proclamation of such an incident would only cause people to question his mental stability.

It was a bright day, much warmer than what it should be, go figure for the weather in Auckland, the city where you can have four seasons in a day. It made for the perfect opportunity to go for a walk, refresh the mental.

So that’s what he did, he first went to the bathroom, and looked himself in the mirror. A bit vain as he was, he thought he looked pretty good. His eyes showed tales of a man who had had adequate rest, far from what they had displayed the past few days. His hair was bushy, like an untamed mane, flattened at the sides, a signature of slumber. He progressed to brush his teeth, rid himself of the dried up bacteria that causes the morning breath. A dollop of toothpaste and a pirouette of the toothbrush, foam soon emerging detailing the reaction between the compounds in the toothpaste and water. A hurl and spit, lickety split, freshness was now his to enjoy. Then he cuffed his hands and a torrent of cold water was splashed in his face, instantly diminishing any remainder of sleep that still endured. He stared out the bathroom window that framed his front yard, the beauty of the Lords creation was all about, the flying songstresses filled the air with their calls, thou still early the mechanical beasts let out their howls, and every now and then bipeds transitioned through space.

He walked out through the corridor and was met by his older sister; she was up early as usual.

“Sup bro, you’re up early” she let out.

“Hey, how are you?” he responded.

“Fine...” she said as she rushed pass him to the bathroom.

With that their short morning conversation was over. Not much was said, but as always there was a mutual understanding of nice to see you and have a good day.

He entered his room, the last in the corridor, quickly put on something half descent, and exited through the back door.

The morning air was refreshing. He walked down Botany Road towards Pakuranga Road and took a left into Bradbury road. He grew up in this neighborhood; it really did feel like home. An elderly woman walked past with her little canine leashed up.

“Good morning,” she smiled as her pup scampered around trying to get a quick sniff.

“Morning,” he offered, smiling simply out of politeness, but also because the dog was so adorable in his inquisitive pursuit.

As he continued down the road he began to reminisce. There were countless parties down this road he had been to. A close and beloved family friend lived down this road, which he regularly visited. Often times he would take this route to and from school, all those things, and so many more, raised a smile not only through his face, but within his inner being.

Across the street there was a group of lady’s power walking. He didn’t pay much attention, but he clearly heard from their direction, “I came to parties here.”

He thought that odd, as he was just simmering on that exact thought, but nothing to drive himself crazy thinking about.

By now he had almost walked around the block and was back to Botany Road. It was a nice walk; one he had enjoyed. It was a little past 8am, and the road was energized with activity. Children were running excited on their way to school. The road was painted maroon, the color of the nearby primary school uniform. Traffic was backed up, what only an hour ago looked like a barren and lowly populated area, now looked overcrowded and chaotic.

By now his father had already gone to work. His parking spot empty. His younger brother also went out to accomplish his labour. His sister too off to earn her living, leaving only his sweet mother as the occupant of their humble abode.

As he neared the door the sound of Christian worship music could already be heard. Their singer’s exaltations of the most-high was very admirable at the least. He thought to himself, they’re either trying to make up for some first-degree sins, or maybe, and it probably was the case, they really experienced the presence of the almighty in their life. Not to mention if praise and worship ameliorated the exemption from the torment of hell fire, then really why wouldn’t one belch out?

He opened the door, and there stood the lovely Star. She was putting her lungs through such a vigorous exercise that she didn’t even notice him making his entrance.

“Hillsong today is it,” he yelled with a smirk loud enough to grab her attention.

She jumped as his voice travelled into her auditory canal throwing her of her worship game.

“Fefe, you scared me,” she fretted in her most adorable accent.

“Just trying to put the fear of the Lord in you,” he laughed, to which she also smiled.

“And how are we today?” she inquired.

“A lot better,” he offered. His revelation seemed to have curbed some deep-seated anxiety within her, her facial expression relaxed and brightened.

“So, what will you do today?” she continued.

Fern paused in thought, such a simple question, but yet the answer he didn’t quite have. It was only a Tuesday, most people would be at work, but he had afforded himself the privilege of an impromptu vacation.

“I’ll figure something out,” he said as he walked past her towards the bathroom.

*

“It’s almost complete,” was heard, followed by rambunctious maniacal laughter.

Just at that moment Azra was journeying down one of the hallways, when her attention was grabbed. She trailed the laugher.

“And what have we almost done,” she asked, lining the door frame which opened into a large laboratory.

“Oh, just one of the greatest achievements in modern science,” he smirked.

“Do tell, I am not scientifically gifted as you are...” she offered with a smile, “but I do know a great achievement when I hear one.”

Indu, vain in his intellect, lit up by the compliment, and at this point all he wanted was to exhibit what he had been working on.

“May I direct your attention to subject no. 32,” his index finger pointed towards a cylindrical containment chamber. Within it a figure swam around in greenish fluid.

“So, what exactly am I looking at?” she squinted her eyes, “a deformed chicken?”

“You mock such great achievement,” his voice not fully, but slightly letting out scorn. “It’s all right, I wouldn’t expect such understanding from the lights of you. “

With that Azra let out a hiss and a snarl, she like most did not appreciate being made felt intellectually inferior.

“All right Mr. great scientist, walk me through this,” she said politely. “If it isn’t too much trouble.”

“Well I suppose I could, sharing is one of the charitable gifts of life.” He said, back turned to her. “After many attempts, 31 to be exact, I have finally come close to fusing two differing genes that normally would never fuse.”

“Two different genes,” she was intrigued, brows raised in thought, she offered her next question “fused as in what?”

“Well you see, think of genes as boxes, in a world full of boxes. These boxes cannot intermingle, they may only interact with their own boxes. Such as human (DNA), cannot mix with say, a hounds DNA.” He turned to reveal his face, late Victorian gold-filled glasses framing his aged, wrinkled but yet vigorous face. He pinched the side of his glasses as he aimed his stare directly at Azra. “Until now!”

“So, you are implying you’ve outwitted nature?” She thought this idea most remarkable.

“If I must be honest, not fully. I have spent a great deal of time, effort and frustration trying to understand the essence of life. From organism to cell, from cell to DNA. Genotype, phenotype, alleles, chromosomes, and everything that makes anything, anything.” He sighed. “But through determination and persistence I fell I have entered the final phase.”

“So, your work is not complete?” she almost mocked.

“Is anything ever complete?” his rhetoric silenced her.

His medium figure walked across the room. Through the containment chamber, past a large desk, fully decorated with loose papers, where beakers and tubes in racks stood tall like the skyscrapers in city skylines. Furthermore, he continued until he was at a large tan brown vintage cigar English club chair. The chair was in the corner of the stone masoned room, next to it was a crystal coffee table supporting an ash tray balancing a half smoked Cuban.

Indu sat himself in comfort, folded his legs the way man of business do, and gently lifted the cigar with his right hand. With his left he reached inside his science coat and pulled out a vintage silver sterling lighter emblazoned with intricate and beautiful patterns.

He signaled at Azra who still stood there with no apparent purpose. He made the gesture that most people instinctively know means you’re excused as he placed the cigar in-between his lips. She turned around, and slowly headed out into the corridor. The earthy smell of the cigar seeming to escort her out.

*

Fern was out the shower, feeling fresh as ever. He investigated his wardrobe and gave thought as to how to present himself to the world today. He sifted through his clothes and gave eye to the top shelf were shirts were neatly folded. He agreed on a plain white tee, which he picked out from the middle of the stack. He then retrieved some black skinny jeans, and to finish his presentation, slipped on some black and white Nike sb’s which had been gifted to him by his brother.

Next to his bed was a bed side table which held his wallet and keys, he swiftly grabbed and pocketed them. As he made his way down their corridor his mother emerged from her room.

“Off to enjoy your day?” she smiled.

“Yup. Just going to cruise around for a bit,” he said.

“Ok, go with God son,” she gestured.

He reached over and planted a kiss on her cheeks.

Out in their driveway awaited his mode of transport. A 1998 Lucino, in an appealing emerald green. It by no means was the prettiest thing in the road, but driving it filled him with so much joy, as it belonged to him. He walked around it and pressed the immobilizer. The indicator lights winked for a moment, and the sound of the locks giving way was heard. He slid into the driver seat and brought the machine out of its slumber.

He journeyed south on Botany road; the footpaths had returned to their emptier existence. Every now and then the odd elderly drove their walkers down the footpath. He drove past the x-treme towards the botany junction. He knew Al would be home.

He entered a recent development complex. The houses looked nice, the roads were a bit tight, but it probably served to slow traffic. At the end of the cul-de-sac to the left stood a duplex, number 10, it was styled in the fashion that seemed to be the rave in the development game around the area.

He pulled-in to the driveway and parked. He tried the knob, but it was locked, so he knocked.

Out came his long-time friend, so close he regarded him as family.

“What up my guy,” he offered a welcoming hand.

“Upto bum-fluff,” he reached forward and grabbed his hand, interlocking them in a gangstarish handshake.

They went past the main atrium, family photos and works of art graced a glass table. One message bearing artwork caught his attention. It read life’s a song. In consideration that seemed to ring a truth.

“Got a cig,” asked Al.

“Yea,” was the response as he exposed a pack? They went past the living area, through the sliding doors and out into the backyard.

Al was the first to light his cigarette. After the flicker of the lighter, he handed it over to Fern, who also sparked up his ciggy.

“What you been upto?” asked Fern.

“G, nothing much, just chilling,” he said in his usual carefree way.

“Bro you won’t belief what happened to me last night,” smoke escaping through his lips.

“What,” he laughed. “Don’t tell me something gay happened?”

“Do you believe in ghosts and spirits?”

“Nah g, don’t come with that kinda shit...”

“Bro, this creepy thing was in my bed last night. Crawled up my body while I laid there stiff unable to even make a sound,” Said Fern with a strange excitement.

“G, you out here summoning demons and shit,” he laughed.

“Hahaha, and then I cried out Jesus Christ and the thing disappeared behind the foot of the bed. I WAS LIKE WTF." he took another drag. “Got up to check and there was nothing there.”

“Nah g, that’s some freaky shit,” he looked to be thinking about it more deeply, but his usual disposition usually gave the impression that even under great thought, he really didn’t give much of a care.

“Anyway, what you been doing… any nightly visitors,” he smiled.

“Nothing like your shit, just being trying to figure things out.” He took the last toke of his cigarette.

“Interesting. How’s work going?”

Al had this extreme talent of finding employment quickly and losing it even quicker. To this point his jobs numbered so many, some would say he was overqualified at handing in CV’S.

“Just waiting on this other job, I got lined up,” he meekly said. It seemed even he was tired of always hunting for a job.

“You always get a job, you’re lucky that way.”

“Yea…” his word stretched.