Danger lurking in the dark

By Onie Ndoro | 3h ago

The house was in total darkness, but I could see that all the houses in the street were all lit up.

I knocked for the third time and still there was no response. Baba VaTata had phoned me to come around his house. His voice was urgent and in distress. It was around 9pm. His car was parked in the usual place. All looked serene.

The house was in total darkness, but I could see that all the houses in the street were all lit up.

And just as I was about to go round the house at the back, all the lights in the street went out. There was complete darkness. I paused in my tracks. Something was wrong here.

I remember Baba VaTata had told me that his family had gone to Warren Park as one of his cousins was having a wedding the following day. He was going to join them the next day.

I tried to listen to any form of sound. There was nothing. I suddenly regretted coming alone. I should have called Fatso and Rasta to accompany me.

“It’s too late, you can see him tomorrow,” Mai VaMaidei had insisted before I left the house. I should have listened to her. Naturally, she has a sharp intuition for trouble.

As I turned the corner at the back of the house, my hair suddenly stood on end. I tripped on something and almost lost my balance. It was their dog, Spot. It lay on its back, very still. On closer look, I noticed blood on its head. Someone had bludgeoned it to death.

I took a step backwards. Whoever had killed Spot might still be lurking around in the shadows.

Keep Reading

Then I saw the door. It was wide open. By now, I was fully convinced that there was something amiss. When things are terribly wrong, and there’s impending danger, there’s that gut feeling you get that you must turn around and run away. I had that gut feeling to escape. Instead of taking flight, I stood still. My biggest weakness is always getting drawn to danger. For me it’s the adrenaline pumping and the curiosity to see what happens next — that’s my undoing.

I was pondering my next move. What was lying beyond that open door?

Why is it that after making that distress call, Baba VaTata was suddenly unavailable?

Everything else pointed out that this was a crime scene. Should I call the police? My mind told me, “not yet.” My friend was seemingly in danger and I could not just run away.

I took several steps towards the open door. I stopped by the door and took a pause. There was complete darkness around me. I looked around. It was too dark to see anything. I could hear my heart pounding like a sledgehammer. My hair stood on end. I had to decide immediately. Should my next step be forward or backwards?

I took the next step forward as I crossed the door threshold. All hell broke loose.

Something or someone hit me very hard on the forehead and I saw all the stars in the galaxies. I fell with a thud on the floor as I felt two or three people rush out of the house. That was the last thing I remembered before I lost consciousness.

I regained consciousness sometime later. I woke up to the sound of coughing in the next room. I felt excruciating pain on my scalp. The blow I got on the head activated the pain receptors in my scalp tissues. I felt like a storm of invisible needles were pricking every nerve ending at once. The pain throbbed relentlessly as I tried to get to my feet.

Was it Baba VaTata coughing?

“Who’s there?” I called out.

I took one, two, three steps forward and then I reached him. Baba VaTata was lying in a pool of blood.

“Call the police, I have been attacked by robbers,” he whispered in pain. I could see that he was in pain.

The pain in my head continued to throb relentlessly. I could not find my phone. I had to alert the neighbours for help. I leaned against the wall for support as I tried to walk out to get help from the neighbours. I fell and slid to the floor. I got up again slowly. Baba VaTata needed help urgently before he lost a lot of blood. I had so many questions. But they had to wait.

The story will continue next time.

*Onie Ndoro X@Onie90396982/[email protected]