The Claw, The Tail And The Cross

Episode 1
It’s past 2am in the night and very quiet, the
only sound being made is the soft dull pattering
thud of her flat and Unclad feet as she tries to
run as fast as her legs can carry her.

The streets are empty, not surprisingly as the small but fast growing town of asaba has gone to
sleep.

She would give anything now to see a
sign of human life; vigilantes, men of the
underworld even, any human being would be
far better than the thing that is chasing her
down the street.

She turns around and panicks when she sees it
is catching up. Its movement is absurd,
seemingly clumsy as it hobbles on all fours, and
yet it has already shortened the distance
between them since the chase began a few
moments ago. She opens her mouth to scream
but the substance she unknowingly drank is
still in full effect. All she can do now is sob as
she increases her speed, adrenaline coursing
through her veins, the short shiny green dress
she wore aiding her in leg movement, her
matching high heels having being kicked off
many yards away.

The young man in the blue Camry watches the
race with cruel pleasure. It is always a welcome
scene when they run. He knows this part of
town very well and is quite sure the vigilante
group on duty won’t be anywhere here for
another hour or two. He grins as he watches
the LovePeddler’s futile attempts at escape and
hope the chase doesn’t end too soon.

The drink she foolishly accepted from him when she entered his car will prevent her from using her voice for only a few minutes but he knows a few minutes is all she has.

The lady trips and falls on the tarred road.

He watches as the beast pounces on top of her,
grasps her in its jaws and shakes her from side
to side like a rag doll. He gets aroused as he
sees her raise up her hand in a feeble attempt
at defense as the creature tears at her innards.

Somewhere in his sick mind he regrets giving
her the drink. It would have been Intimate to
hear her screams, but the only sound to be
heard at this distance is the faint “thump” as
the creature throws the LovePeddler’s lifeless
body on the hard tarred road. He sighs, a little
disappointed that the show is over already.

The creature lumbers back to the car and he
stretches backwards to open the rear door.
“You could have at least played with her a little
bit more you know…”

The creature growls unintelligibly and jumps
into the back seat.
“No blood on the seats, please!” He yells,
though he makes no physical attempt to
prevent the creature from staining the
upholstery. He doesnt want to get his arm
bitten off.

The creature ignores him and settles down in
the backseat of the Camry, twitching its two
tails under its sleek, muscular body. It begins to
give off a sickly howl and the man quickly winds
up the windows, puts on the air conditioning
and some music. He hates this part.

The creature howls louder and fidgets, turning
around on the seat and then, despite the noise
of the air conditioning and the loud music, he
hears bone cracking. He does not turn around
but watches, a little sickened, through the rear-
view mirror at what is going on in the back
seat. The creature’s spine visibly shifts and
elongates. The skull bone breaks and reforms,
the knobbly limbs crack and enlarges and the
two tails fuse and become one long tail, now
one short tail, now a stub of flesh, and then
finally disappears. The face of the beast exhibits
excruciating pain and fear and its mouth is
open in a wide pitiful snarl. He can still make
out pieces of flesh between its teeth and he
remembers the corpse outside. He starts the
car and drives the car a few meters forward.

Quickly he opens the door, armed with a large
plastic bag, black leather gloves and a short
shovel. He puts on the gloves and proceeds to
gather up the remains of the young girl. They’ll
be good for a snack later. He puts the remains
in the boot and brings out the carcass of the
young goat they had killed earlier and places it
carefully in the pool of blood on the road. He
goes back into the car, pulls off his gloves and
drops them carefully in a clean black polythene
bag. He’ll dispose of those later.
“Idi0t!” He hears a gutteral whisper from the
back. “This is the third time you are letting me
chase down a meal!”

He turns around, a smile on his face to look at
the Unclad man now seated in the back seat.

His face is still contorted from the receding
pain.
“Look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t
enjoy it.” He says, still smiling.

The man at the back lets out a dangerous
growl. “Its not safe! What if somebody saw us?”
“They would be too frightened to say anything.

Relax man.” He says as he turns on the ignition
and puts the car into gear.

The Unclad man becomes silent. He seems to
ponder something.
“I still haven’t completely transformed.

I don’t know what I am not doing right. My ancestors would call me a disgrace…”
“Your ancestors had wise old people who
worshipped them and took care of them and
taught them what they needed to know.

Be patient.”
“Yes…but still,” the mam at the back groans as
the last bone in his spine snaps back into place.
‘Let’s discuss this at home, alright?” The other
man says as he shifts the car into gear.

The vehicle jumps forward, crushing the carcass of the goat and mixing its blood with that of the
girl.|

Anyone now that looked at the scene would
regard it as nothing more than roadkill.

And the blue Camry drove silently into the
night.


You May Also Like 🔥


Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*