The Legend Of The Saints - Chapter 4

Legend of the saints by Mescopaul 

Chapter 4

"You deal with your mind, with your feeling, you focus on the
burning light, you become dead to your physical environment
, you become alive to the spirit world, focus on the flame..."

Allen was totally submerged in Stephen Shaw's psychic
lectures. With focused attention he gazed at the candle in
front of him and did as was instructed by Stephen. He could
really something in him, it was coming, coming, and oops ,
spoilt, as a familiar voice whispered in his ears, it was
Kimball , saying they should go home, she was feeling
uncomfortable and scared.

 With a sullen face, Allen stood up
from the mat were he sat, durst his buttocks free and
sauntered off the room while furious and angry faces stared
at them for disturbing their own meditation . Kimball made a
wave of apology at the crew and an angry Stephen then held
Allen's hand as they made for the door.

"Oh, gush, i was almost scared to the death , back in there.
We are really practicing witchcraft , don't you think so?"

Kimball was saying as they got out of the room.
Allen tried to cheer up a little.

"Oh no, i don't think so, it was merely a trance or a vision, it
could be anything but not witchcraft. "

He replied half-
angry.

"You wanted to remain in there, right?" Kimball asked.

"Mee...em..well since you wanted ..."

"You just have to be open to yourself... Go in there if you are
interested, sorry for disturbing you, I'd run along" Kimball
said curtly and walked away.

"Noo, i want to go home, i don't want to be in there, am
scared too" Allen said in contradiction to what he really
wished to say.

"Sometimes i just don't know if you know you what you
want."

"I do, I know what I want."

"Ok, so how's your STRICT granny?" Kimball asked, stressing
the word 'strict', a little grin lit up her face.

"Strict? He's not strict and oh, he's fine, and how's your
mum?"

Allen replied looking concerned.

"She's cool, but not 'strict' like your granny"
She replied
broading the smile.

"Hey! Come on Kim, don't say that again"

"And if I do?" She was now visibly amused.

"I would beat you up, you've never seen me got angry before
, have you?" Allen's face was set for a little kids play, and
Kimball was ready for that too, so she yelled,
"Your granny is
very very strict, boy!!"
Cleverly Putting a distance between her
and Allen.

"Ok you got it, you just won a full beating for yourself,
come claim it or no I'd rather deliver it myself"

 With that he
dashed off after her and the hot chase began.

Shrieking bouts of laughter erupted from the excited Kimball
as Allen was in hot pursuit like an angry bee.

Kimball ran towards the playground next to the Citadel of
Mercy Church, while Allen ran behind.

 Then there was a
thick smoke, Allen couldn't find Kimball anymore, even her
bouts of laughter seized, neither could she find Allen.

 From
were Allen stood, at the back of the church overlooking the
playground, he saw a figure advancing towards him, but
this was not Kimball , he tried to place the figure, but found
no resemblance with anyone he knew, except for a slight
identical body build features the figure shared with Grandpa.

The advancing figure was a stone throw away when Kimball
stumbled in with a start. The surge of fear through her veins
shook her from head to toe.

 The figure disappeared at once
and the duo ran hand in hand till they got to the shopping centre where people thronged each other with blarings
from angry speakers.

Kimball caught her breath lslowly.

"Al, what was that over there, did you see the figure?"
She
asked amidst large intake of air.

Allen who was still frightened managed to speak,
"Yea, i saw
him"

"I'm so scared, and the smoke! How the hell did that
happen?"
 She cried out.

"I don't know Kim, I'm scared too."

"Lets find our way home Al, we would talk about this next
time"

Between shops and people they shuffled their way home
keeping away from the dark and lonely places, while right in
the middle of the crossroads stood the figure of Aragon
grinning menacingly at them.

__________________________


Neil Hannah was startled when she saw her daughter.

"Why ! Oh my God! You're very cold!..." she screamed as she
touched Kimball's neck and palms.

"...and you're shivering , what's this darling?" Hannah asked
with eyes and mouth wide open in shock.

"Nothing mom, am ok, just a little cold, that's all" said the
out-of-this-world frightened Kimball after the ghost episode
at the playground of The Citadel of Mercy Church, but
Hannah was not ready to take that for an answer,
"Noo, girl,
you look a lil-bit shaken, have you been running all the way?"

"Yea kinda jogging...yea jogging all the way" Kimball replied
turning away from the all prying eyes of her mother.

Neil Hannah couldn't believe why she should jog all the way
home.

"Why did you do that Kim, why did you've to jog all the way?"
Asked a bewildered Hannah.

 Kimball gently pushed past her
way into the room, flung her bag on the couch and stepped
into the shower for a warm bath.

After a dry dinner , that lacked gusto and relish she snuggled
into bed, wrapped herself all over, the thoughts of the
night's event filled her completely. She believed totally in
ghost stories and was very familiar with several ghost
trackers in town, she had even followed Stephen Shaw when
he went with his crew to track the Malganean ghost that
disturbed the neighbouring town of late, but tonight's ghost-like figure, as she thought, looked more like a ghoul than an
innocent free living ghost. She was scared of being
tormented or hunted by ghosts and if this 'ghoul', she
thought, hunts again, she would speak to Stephen Shaw at
once, but her mother mustn't know about it , she thought.

The poor woman had had enough for all her years. She
couldn't continue with the endless streams of thoughts that
paraded her mind, she drifted gentle into a reassuring sleep.


The night was cold!


-------------------------------


"Are you ready for this man? You can give it a try, yea a nice
dangerous try..."
Granny rattled on to himself as he sat to a
game of Chess in the middle of the sitting room with Athen.

Allen was in his room. He had a lot to think about , a
confused and troubled young man he was now. He thought
of telling Granny about the ghost, but decided against it.

 He
needed to 'tackle' this on his own, needed to be a man for
once. Well, he decided , if the ghost should show up again
he wouldn't scamper off as he had done tonight. While Allen
was lost in his unending flow of thoughts, the duo
chattered on loudly as the chess game grew tense for granny
and Athen.

Allen closed his eyes to sleep, then,
"Bang!!", on his window.

He flew out of bed and gripped the bed pole at the extreme
end of the room adjacent to the door. He saw a shadow
pass behind his window, stopped in the middle of the
window, then another, "bang!!!", on the window glass, but this
time Allen only hissed and cursed under his breath as he
snuggled back into bed. The voice came very clear from
behind the window, in a whisper.

"Come on man, I'm cold outta here, open the goddamn
window".
It was Sammy's voice.

"Go to your home, Sam, its night already, you can't play
video games by this time, and if granny gets to know , you
know what that means. So please go now, Sam!"
 Allen
replied firmly, his face all frown.

"Oh no, you can't do this man, I would only play a round
that's all man! Open up man!!"

"Get out boy!!" Allen barked.

"Big fool man!!" Sam fired back. Sammy hissed and cursed
as he stepped out from behind the window and walked
towards his home. Sometimes he wondered if his friendship
with Allen had gone sour. Maybe Allen no longer cared about
him , he thought. He remembered those days when they
were nicknamed Sam-Al, yea those were really good old
days, but now things had gone really sour, poor Sam
thought. He shook his head sadly and disappeared into a
bend that led to his home.

-------------------------------------

It was Saturday morning and Allen had little or no work to
do. He did all that was required in the house and set down
to read a comic book he had picked up from the City Library.
Granny had to check on a friend and Athen was out with his
chubby set of friends.
The sun was hot, and the air was warm, he felt very hot
inside. He peeled off his shirts and relaxed on a cane-
weaved chair. The door was slightly open and the windows
were not closed, the gentle cascading breeze filtered into
the sitting room, pushing the door close, a 'click' sound
confirmed that the door was tight shut. Allen didn't bother to
unlock or open the door. In the dining section, the fridge
opened and the sound of pouring water was audible enough
to disturb the reading of Allen.

 Throwing the book aside and
casting suspicious glances around the room, Allen stood
and tiptoed to the dining, wondering who the intruder
might be since Athen and granny , the only remaining occupants
of the house were out. Allen hid behind the wall and peeped
through the side of the curtains at the figure of Aragon,
seated casually on the table and seeming to drink the water
from the glass cup, but the water in the cup remained at its
original level. Without turning the figure spoke.
The voice was casual but hoarse.

"Allen Philips!" It came clear and audible.

Summoning courage , Allen asked with lips, hands and
legs quivering and trembling , he thought he would collapse
any moment in time. His feet wobbled under him as he
asked.

"Who are you, what do you want from me?"

A roar of laughter , coarse and throaty was the reply.

"You would be very useful to me sometime Allen, but for
now, take your time, I'm Aragon, your dad told you about me
right?", and with that he turned and faced Allen who was still
peeping from the behind the curtains. His face registered
familiarity at once, he looked almost like granny ,with bushy
hairs and dirty unkempt moustache, only that his shoulders
and hips were broader and when he walked he seem to
count his steps.

Allen wasn't sure if he was seeing a ghost or not, with a
black hat that covered part of his face, making him look like
a cowboy, Aragon walked up to Allen, grinned wickedly at
him, then walked out through the door and slammed the
door after him. Allen ran to the door at once, yanked it open,
popped out his head, looked left and right, but saw no one.
Putting on his shirts and trousers, Allen took his book and
ran out of the house towards Ray Sammy's.

Sammy saw Allen running towards his house and was
surprised and happy to see him.

"Wow, friend, you don't look good at all, you looked washed up".

"I'm not good Sammy, I'm jinxed", Allen replied hurriedly.

"Hey man, calm down, i just made some sandwich , care for
it?"

 Leading the way Allen pushed past Sam into the house,
closed the door firmly and breathed hard, his head suddenly
became so hot, as hot as the goldsmith's furnace. His brain
was throbbing . His heart beating was abnormal , he was
totally demented.

Sammy in his jovial and loudmouthed characteristic manner
rolled out more annoying questions.

"Hey man, are you okay?"
Allen grasped his head with his hands and pressed tightly.
The pain in there was much than he could.

"Hey man! Don't! You might crack your skull you know, I
know of a guy who cracked his skull with his own hands, the
guy should have been alive now but...."
Sammy rattled on while Allen was lost in a world of pain, rolling all
over the floor.

Allen was terribly irritated.

_"when will this bogus_ _mouthed friend of mine learn to think_
_and talk sensibly?",_
he thought.

Sammy wasn't done yet with his speech,
"......you know it
was just like what was announced yesterday at the game
park, and it threw all the boys into a
frenzy....the...the...gracious God..."

"Shut the hell man!! Are you mad!!!" Allen exploded.

 Sammy
plunged headlong behind the couch and remained still.

When he came out, Allen was groaning in pain.

"Man I never knew you could explode like that", he started
but seeing Allen groaning,

 "Are you groaning?",,
He asked, his
face white all over.

From clenched teeth Allen replied,
"No I'm munching, I'm
munching your goddamn sunken brain!!".

Sammy only stood and stared, confused.