Freaky Sequel

The wrought iron double gate slanted to an opposite direction, apparently in motion to rest on the ground at a long glance. It had an atypical rusted padlock which seemed to have camped on it for decades. The top antique hinge on the left side appeared to have lost its grip, but the gate still formed an immovable barrier to the premise within. On the right side, from the base of the gate’s frame to just below the lower hinge was a granite erection with number 267 pasted on it. 

“Not a million years close to last occupied” Sam concluded as we blankly watched the two friendless buildings within the compound. 

“S-should we…?” I asked nervously pointing at the gate, also trying to resist the phantom of fear that was gradually getting the better part of me.

“Wait” Sam said then took two long and deep noisy breaths. “First, are you sure it’s here?”

“That’s what the text stated” I confirmed dubiously, reaching for my cell phone while gazing at the smooth granite erection written 267. I scanned my phone for the text which concluded “… MAROON GROOVE, HS NO. 267” and here it was on the face of it with no sign of life contrary to what we had expected. The gate itself appeared to have never been touched for a couple of decades, leave alone being opened. We stood side to side for another two hours gazing at the two composed old buildings within the compound and waiting for the next instruction from an anonymous instructor. My heart beat accelerated irregularly, I was certain Sam could clearly get the deafening thumps bullying my chest despite my efforts to calm down.

This had been my mission, but as soon as I set foot at this point, I became avowedly not ready for it as much as I had proclaimed earlier on. Sam was one of my assorted neighbourhood buddies, my childhood friend from middle grades. He was 21, a year older than myself and was somewhat too tall for me with a darker complexion. I had chosen him over the rest for this expedition, one, because he was the only one I was certain to give in to my request, two, all other friends had gone missing two weeks after our season’s last paper, and three because, apparently, amongst all he was the bravest. Though I wasn’t even sure if his bravery was for the natural cameras, for the several flirting slots, for his exaggerated height or a genuine one. Several boys of our age were uncontrollably vulnerable to deceptive pluck monsters. They could fraudulently drape in courage to stay safe from insecurities, to expel the fear of purported cowardice rejection or basically to fit in. I wasn’t sure if either I or Sam were being slaves to any of those, but here was an opportunity to be sure.

I gave him a quick squiz, his eyes were still fixed on the old barrier, maybe trying to figure out how we could get across it, in case the instructor demanded. He therefore failed to notice my quick glance. I checked my phone for an incoming text and there it was “INTO THE COMPOUND. SHE’S WAITING”. I raised the cellphone for Sam’s to read the text not saying a word. He paid homage, then made three quick steps towards the gate, and at this moment I realised how briskly I was transforming into a dumb copycat. But I didn’t want to appear too much of an asshole, so I made one step forward instead.

“The car?” I called out hesitating the second step.

“May be closer to the gate” he handed over the key to me still looking at the gate and its olden padlock. I had learned how to drive at fourteen, so I grabbed the key, made my way back the white hatchback, started the engine and packed it closer to the gate. We weren’t sure how long we could stay in this mysterious compound, and surprisingly not sure if we could come out our souls still attached to our flesh, or there were rogue starving humanoids waiting for an ordered meal.

“Hum” Sam called as I turned off the engine. This call however sounded strange. I don’t remember the last hour he had called me by name. It had taken us four hours to drive to this isolated location, we’ve been rooted here for close to two hours, and all along, our stories and plans had begun with the story or the plan itself no names mentioned. What made the call even more unnatural is the fact that Sam was one of my few bosom mates who had habitually insisted on calling my name in full- Humphrey. I liked it but not as much as I liked Hum. This was a kind of one of the many teen adolescence shackles, preferring “cool” names over real names. It was my name anyway why would I hate it in the first place. Wasn’t it directly proportional to self-hate?

“What is it?” I posed as I stepped out, then opened the rare door to pick up an iron rod, lying on the back seat, just in case we needed to lease some physicality. Though I knew for sure I couldn’t use it. My defense key had always been my feet. And if you think I’m kind of a kickboxer, I’m sorry. Mum had always fancied my cowardice shield, but dad? This mechanism for a man, was an insult to nature. Sam had moved closer to the gate and was holding the olden padlock on his palm, he looked shaken.

“There you go Mr. Superman” I commended as I got closer. “Crazy, how did you even manage that bra?” I asked trying a sip of an ascent I had learnt from a movie with a title out of memory.

“It wasn’t locked. Just placed for posterity” He countered, obviously turned off by my applause. “It’s a trap” he added coldly.

And immediately, my mind raced back to an ancient thought, a group of humanoids waiting for two ordered meals. Were they using some hoodoo to manipulate this place and to finally get us into their custody? Could we possibly be of the same taste if they decided to devour us?

I gazed at the padlock for a moment lying on Sam’s palm. I’m not sure what pumped an extra lump of courage to my nerves but I finally said assertively

“We are going in” I stepped forward and struggled to push the gate.

“Hey, outwards” Sam corrected as he held the left side pushing me to the right side of the gate which was so heavy pulling due to its slanting position. We finally managed to open it up after minutes of exploiting our untapped efforts.

“Who goes first?” Sam asked but I instead shifted my attention to the car.

“The car?” I asked. I was still holding the key. Something about the car that I never told Sam when we left home is that this Honda Civic hatchback was under auction, and my dad was still seeking for a higher bid. I had used it ever since my dad dropped it for his new Lexus, this time for the longest journey with no one’s consent and so it had to be taken back in its best condition. 

“Bring it in” Sam responded. I picked up the rod, I had dropped it down while opening up the gate, handed it over to him, in case he was attacked while I’m in the car, it never crossed my mind that I could join the battle. I then dashed back to the car, started the engine, forgot earlier precautions and drove directly into the compound, Sam watched amazingly. I looked at him through the side mirror before jumping out and I was certain he was aching to ask what has taken over me, which he didn’t, he instead suggested we close up the gate behind us, which we did with ease and carefully because this time we were standing on its slanting direction.

The two superficially unoccupied dwellings stood in a serene way, as if they had voluntarily chosen isolation for themselves. We stood for some time watching the scene, then matched to the larger building but it was locked. Genuinely locked with a medieval padlock. Sam pulled the padlock to see if it could open like he had done with the one at the gate but, it didn’t. We then matched to the smaller house, astonishingly it wasn’t locked. I stepped forward, about to peep through a little opening but Sam pulled me back.

“Humphrey stop” Can one really shout in a whisper? Because I think that’s exactly what he did. Loud enough to be a shout and silent enough to be a whisper.

“Why? Wanted to see if I could figure out anything” I defended myself.

“A bullet might just be waiting for your eye balls” He explained. Though this sounded movish, I capitulated. Anyway, movies were close to reality. The only difference is that they made the relationship between problems and solutions more direct which was not logical in real life. My cell phone vibrated. I had put it in silent mode as I stepped out the car.

“INTO THE HOUSE” the strange source commanded through a text. I passed the phone to Sam who nodded as he led our way in. The floor of the house was bare, the walls were dusty and in genuine need of a mere paint brush, with some bit of historical wallpaper histories. Could someone be held in here for two weeks? I wondered. The smell was a mix of dust and certain fresh typical perfume, giving us hope that someone might have visited this strange place in the recent past. Someone familiar.

“WHAT NEXT?” I texted back.

“WAIT FOR THE NEXT MOVE” a response came in swiftly.

“Hey” Sam whispered “What did they say?”

“We wait”

It was getting late; we’ve stayed at one point of the room, apparently the sitting room for close to three hours still no sign of a figure. I had made my mind by then, I needed to see a living figure besides Sam. Whether it was a humanoid or just a rogue human being. I was becoming more nervous as the room got darker and stuffy. Just in front of me laid an old novel with no covers which I hesitantly reached for. I shook my head to maybe get rid monstrous fantasies, sat at one point at the center of the dusty floor and began reading, but hurriedly dropped it down on realizing it had certain elements of horror. Meanwhile Sam was immersed in an old magazine he had picked from the floor. The back page showing a picture of a lost kid and a compensation for whoever found him. We remained silent not to attract uninvited guests. It was already dark and I had already experienced enough fear to drive out successive fears. Fear for my parents’ worry about my whereabouts, fear for their auction car, fear for my friend Sam and his parents, and why I had to drag him into this, fear for being devoured in this strange place where our corses could only be discovered after days of rotting beyond recognition, fear for my girlfriend Liz who had gone missing two weeks ago and fear for the dark.

“I need to pee” I finally said. It was about half past nine.

“It’s alright” Sam responded though I could no longer see him.

I put on my phone’s flashlight, I didn’t want to move any further, so I resorted to corner within the room. But immediately I stood up, and faced away from the voice of an invisible Sam to pee in one of the corners. The door to our camp flew open. I didn’t see it but I heard the sound the strong wind that followed up. The next sound was Sam’s fading scream through the door to the compound and then completely into the air. I took in the pee. I couldn’t feel it anymore. At this moment I realized the corner I was facing to pee on had a mirror just on my left side. I rubbed my eyes with my hand shaking rapidly, and one glance at the mirror I knew I was next. May be a desert after a meal of Sam. I could blurrily see three gothic figures rushing towards me. I took what I thought was the fastest turn ever in my shortlife but they were too fast for me. 

They wrapped a cloth round my face and carried me along with them. They were human, at least that’s what I felt from their touch, but again devils always approached human in form of human. I struggled not sure where they were talking me, but they were again too strong for me. So, I silently said a short prayer “Lord I pray they only feed on my shadow if that would be possible”. I then closed my eyes waiting for my execution, but when they released my head from the cloth a few minutes later, I was seated in a stupidly comfortable armchair, I couldn’t recognize Sam who was now part of my kidnappers , Liz whose disappearance had brought us to this strange location was part of the crew and was holding a cellphone on her hand which I later learnt to be the source of the texts. All my friends who had gone missing two weeks from our final paper and two weeks just before today were all part of the crew. Surprisingly, my mum was also part of the mix. How they’ve managed to trick this inflexible lovely woman into this, I had no idea.

“Happy Birthday Hum” Liz smiled broadly as she approached me, arms wide open. That charming smile had always got the better part of me. She hugged me while the others including Sam began cheering up. No, they have been cheering all along, I just didn’t notice, and I still had no idea who or what I had transmuted into, where I was and what this was. Being hugged by a girlfriend while mum watched was unheard to me. I rubbed my eyes and slowly began connecting the strange puzzles. When I finally managed to regain mu conscious self, I realized we were in the compound’s larger house that had initially been locked, and yes, it was my birthday, I had been too much preoccupied with my Liz’s mysterious disappearance that I couldn’t even figure this day out. What a freaky sequel? And what a surprise doyenne I’ve had for a girlfriend?