Tokoloshe

Bongani was delighted. He had wanted a piano ever since he first stepped foot into a white school as a child and heard the sweet sound of music escaping from the school hall, like ancient ancestors that have finally been set free.

After damn near attacking one of the movers for scraping his new baby against the door frame, he finally had it settled in the spare bedroom. It was magnificent. He found it on one of these free classified apps you get. It was an old grand piano, with the most intricate designs carved into the wood. It had huge copper candle chandeliers protruding from the corners of the top, with space for three candles each. It was a little dusty and the chandeliers were covered in cobwebs, but nothing a little polish couldn’t fix. Bongani sat down before the majestic piece of furniture, raised his hands... and then started to play. Oh hell no, he thought to himself. It needed to be tuned too!

That night Bongani struggled to fall asleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about his new treasure. He was planning on searching for a piano tuner first thing in the morning so that he could get it sorted out before Saturday’s family potjie. He wanted to show it off!

Bongani woke up to the soft sound of music notes filling the air. It was so sweet, he could actually see the notes float over his head dripping with honey. At first he thought he was dreaming. After all, he’d been obsessing over the piano for a week. But then he was awake. It was as if someone had thrown ice cold water over his face. The cold spread down his arms and legs. Bongani lived alone. But someone was playing the piano – he could clearly hear it coming from the other side of the house.

Fumbling for his gun, Bongani got up. He slowly and quietly, made his way toward his bedroom door. He didn’t want the intruder to know that he was awake. Bongani took hold of the door handle, and very, very slowly, pulled it down. There was a soft click, as the door handle released the door from the frame. Just then, the music stopped. Bongani broke out into a sweat. The intruder must have heard him. Bongani stood dead still for a while, listing to the sounds of the night, waiting for the intruder to make his next move. But nothing happened. After a good 10 minutes and a near heart failure, Bongani decided that it was time to go and inspect. Just now the intruder decided to take a nap in the spare room? It was not unheard of.

Bongani tip-toed down the passageway toward the spare bedroom. In his mind he pictured the old Pink Panther cartoons, and just like that the theme song was stuck in his head. When he got to the end of the passageway, he saw that the door was wide open – as he had left it. He stepped in. Nothing. There was no one there. Bongani then went on to inspect the rest of the house. After finding absolutely no sign of life, he checked all the windows and the doors. There was definitely no sign of forced entry. Bongani decided to relax and go back to bed. It couldn’t have been anything else but a vivid dream! He checked his phone as he made himself comfortable. It was 03h30 – he had 2 more hours before he had to get up for work.

The grand piano looked immaculate. Bongani had polished it up. He had also arranged for someone to tune it on Friday so that it would be ready by Saturday. He had tried playing it again, but it was so out of tune that his ears bleed. Bongani decided to make it an early night. He was tired after his early morning phantom intruder. As he made his way toward the en-suit shower, he hummed an old familiar song. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it had been on his mind all day long.

Bongani finally got into bed, set his alarm for 05h30 and hit the light. It was a matter of moments, and he was out.

Bongani felt like he’d only just fallen asleep when he woke up again, to the sound of someone playing the damn piano. He shot up and listened. He was wide awake, he was sure of it, and could clearly hear the piano being played. To be sure, Bongani pinched himself. Yes, he was certainly awake. Bongani got up. He didn’t even bother reaching for his gun. This time, he was sure that someone was messing with him on purpose. When Bongani opened his bedroom door, the music stopped. He marched down the passageway and into the spare room. Again, nothing. Bongani searched the whole house and all the doors and windows, and still, no sign of entry. After checking the time and seeing that it was 03h10, he decided to go back to bed. Maybe he was dreaming. After all, the music he woke up to was pitch perfect, unlike his piano.

By morning, Bongani was dog tired. He decided that he’d get some sleeping pills during his lunch time, so that he could ensure at least one good night’s rest for the week.

Bongani woke up. He looked at the time. It was 03h00. He drank the sleeping pills before bed, but still woke up to the sound of the piano being played. Bongani decided to sit up in bed and listen. Listen to how long the piano playing would continue. Listen for the sound of a cracking door or window. Listen for footsteps. Bongani eventually started to dose off. He woke up with a jerk. The piano was still playing. He checked and saw that it was 04h00. The piano had been playing for a full hour. Bongani got up. As soon as he opened his bedroom door, the music stopped. After checking the house and again, seeing that no one was there, he went back to bed.

Again, Bongani was dog tired at work. After discussing the bizarre matter with a co-worker, it was noted that the music always stops playing the moment that Bongani opens his bedroom door. Either this is for the intruder to ensure that he/she has enough time to escape, or, there is some sort of recorder linked to his door. That night Bongani decided to sleep with his door open. That night, Bongani got a decent night’s sleep.

The next day it drove Bongani crazy. He couldn’t figure out how the music, which on previous nights genuinely sounded as though it were coming from his spare room, was somehow linked to his door. It was Thursday already, and by Friday night, the piano would be tuned. He felt as though he needed to solve the mystery before then, as the piano he heard was pitch perfect. After discussing his dilemma with his trusty ol’ co-worker, it was decided that he would hook cameras up in his house to record through the night, like in those horror movies.

Bongani arranged to get off work a little earlier so that he could set the cameras up. He set two up in the passageway, one facing his bedroom door and the other facing the spare room. He also placed one in the spare room with a direct view of the piano.

That night, Bongani struggled to fall asleep again. The anticipation was just too much to bare, but before long, he was out.

True as Bob, Bongani woke up at 03h00 on the dot, with the piano playing. He waited a while – he wanted to ensure that he got as much evidence as possible on the cameras first. He then got up, and walked toward his bedroom door. He slowly lifted his hand, hovering it above the door handle. The music didn’t stop. When he opened the door, the music was gone. Bongani didn’t even bother checking the house. He closed the door and went back to bed, knowing that he would solve the mystery in the morning when he checked the cameras out.

Bongani woke up, dog tired. He grabbed his laptop where the recordings were stored and headed off to work. He had the intention of going through the footage with his co-worker, but it was such a hectic day at the office, that they just never got to it. 

When Bongani finally got home, he sat the laptop down on the kitchen counter and had a look. He forwarded the video to 02h55, as he always woke up at 03h00. 4 minutes and 50 seconds went by with absolutely nothing happening. But then he noticed something happening in the spare room. He minimised the other cameras and opened the spare room camera to full screen. He rewinded it so that he could see it again.

Bongani could feel the blood drain from his face; a little black hand emerged from under the bed in the spare room, shortly followed by another. Finally a little black head popped out. Shining from its eye sockets like burning embers, were two large red eyes. The creature then stood up. It was no taller than a 2l coke bottle. It was grinning; its sharp white teeth stood out in contrast to its ashy black appearance. It then pulled itself up onto the piano stool, and started to play.

Bongani shut the laptop, he didn’t want to see anymore, but it was too late. The lights went out. Bongani pulled his phone out of his pocket to use for light. When he turned the flashlight app on, he saw that it was shining directly in the Tokoloshe’s face! It let out a shrill scream before lunging itself at him. Bongani screamed as he fell to the floor. The Tokoloshe sat on his chest, its face inches from his. Bongani couldn’t move. The little creature was as heavy as an elephant. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the Tokoloshe’s huge red eyes. It was as if the Tokoloshe had hypnotised him. The Tokoloshe then put his lips to Bongani’s and started to suck. A clear white mist escaped Bongani’s mouth and went into the Tokoloshe. Bongani started to panic; he could feel himself lose consciousness. Not in the way one does when falling asleep, but rather, as if his soul were being severed from his body.  Bongani tried to gasp for air, but instead, the Tokoloshe stole his last breath.

It was over. Bongani would not be playing the piano at Saturday's family potjie. No, he'd be joining his family's board of ancestors instead...

Summer madness

It's so ironic how the day that my life changed started out so normally. I think we have this perception that just before the world goes to shit, we'll have some sort of feeling - a bad omen - descend upon us, like a thick cloud of smoke. But no. It didn't happen.

It was a lazy Saturday morning. I woke up, had coffee, ate cereal, checked my Facebook updates - all the normal bull. It was the first decent summer day since winter, so I decided to rub myself in with tanning oil and go catch some vitamin D. Hell I was so white I could give Casper a good run for his money.

The latest boom-boom song was exploding through my earphones, blocking out the world and, oddly enough, sending me to la-la land. I woke up about a half an hour later, don't ask me why. At that moment, for the first time that day, something struck me as odd. I lifted my head and pulled an earplug out. Ja. Ja something was very odd. There was a strange gargling sound coming from the back gate. Now guys and girls, this is the part of the movie where the viewer shouts "RUN", only, this was real life, I wasn't a viewer, and I had no idea what was about to happen.

I got up with great hesitation. I pictured a rabid dog trapped between the bars of the gate - I would approach, and out of sheer madness, it would break free and rip my body limb from limb. When I peeped around the corner, I suddenly felt a hell of a lot better. It was just Jack, the neighbour. He was standing with his back toward me, groaning. I figured he'd accidentally hammered a nail into his thumb or something (Jack had a reputation).

"Jack, it's just you! My heart! What's wrong?" Ha! Jack stopped groaning. For a moment, he was dead silent. Eventually, he turned to face me, slowing figuring out where I was. It was when he had his eyes locked with mine that I noticed that his throat had been ripped out. Now, any normal person would, in this situation, run over and offer medical attention, however, I noticed a strange look in Jack's eye. It scared me, more than the idea that I was watching a man bleed to death. It was more like, watching a dead man, come to life.

It was a matter of a seconds; I turned on my heel and started to sprint into the opposite direction. The gargling sound was right behind me. Within no time, I was at the end of the yard, with no more room to go and I could hear Jack right behind me. I was too scared to look, I didn't have a moment to waste, and if I were going to die, I'd prefer not to see it coming. I jumped and grabbed the 6 foot wall with the tips of my fingers. I don't know where the hell my upper body strength came from but I managed to get myself up. I was just about to be over the wall when Jack grabbed my left foot! He was so quick I just couldn’t avoid it. He bit into my ankle, ripping the tendon right out. Yes, the pain was bad, but instinct took over, and I managed to lift my leg just enough to get a bit of leverage, and then kick down with full force, knocking Jack’s front teeth right out and simultaneously planting his arse into the plush lawn.

I pulled my leg over and landed on the other side of the wall. To my horror, I landed smack-bang in the middle of a scene from The Walking Dead, only, this was real and I as shitting myself. Seriously – I could smell it – nervous poop.

I began to run, but was very quickly reminded that my left foot was out of action. I hobbled so fast that I’m sure I made some sort of Guinness world record! There were deranged people – zombies – popping out of every bush and around every corner, each more mauled up than the next, looking for a quick snack. Fortunately, this snack was a bit quicker than they had anticipated. I made it a good 3 blocks before a car pulled up to me, “Get in!” He didn’t have to ask me twice.

The fucking bastard! I was in the car for all of 3 seconds before he hit the brakes and kicked me out again. Apparently he had an issue with my ankle. I looked down at it. It was nasty. I needed medical attention asap, and if the movies were anything to go by, I was in deep shit. I visualised an axe. It was my only option. I waddled over to the nearest house. With chaos upon us, I didn’t feel the need to get permission or make myself known. I just stormed into the garage and hunted for an axe. I found a panga.

I closed the garage door. I didn’t need some flesh eating bastard coming in here and ruin my survival plan. I turned the light on and sat down for a moment. I was really light headed. With all the action happening so fast, I’d forgotten that I was badly injured and losing a lot of blood. I tried to just relax and catch my breath. My muscles were zinging, my ears were ringing, I felt faint – these could all be symptoms of severe loss of blood. Or shock. Or the zombie transformation. I scrapped that last thought before I could allow myself to really think about it.

It was time, I was frightened by the idea of hacking my own foot off, but more frightened by the idea of losing myself to this animal madness that had taken over. I was on the verge of doing it, so close, when the garage door opened. It was another survivor, obviously looking for shelter. It was rather amazing. I took one look at this person and all I could think about, was flesh. I can’t tell you if it were a man or a woman that entered the garage. I can’t tell you what he or she was wearing, how old they were, or if they even had hair. All I could see was meat. Delicious, juicy meat.

I think that this person did try to talk to me, perhaps even, offer me assistance, since I was the one in need of medical attention, but when the survivor got closer, I stood up on both feet. I no longer felt the pain in my left ankle. In fact, I felt fantastic, and I knew that if I just had a few bites out of this person, just a few little nibbles, I’d recover in no time. I mean hell, just looking at this potential meal made me feel all energised.

I launched myself forward. I was unprepared. This person was faster than me. The panga was confiscated and used against me. I felt myself fall. I rolled a few times, floor, oh look, my headless body, ceiling, garage door. Floor, body, ceiling, garage door. Floor, body, ceiling, garage door.

The garage door opened, I watched my meal leave. I was going to starve to death. How shitty this day had been, all I wanted was a tan, dammit.

Anna's Ghost

Tears were streaming down Anna’s cheek as she marched through the dark. She’d just had a huge fight with her boyfriend and in a fit of rage decided to get out of the car and walk home. Anna just couldn’t believe it when he sped away the moment she slammed the passenger door shut. She knew he could be an arsehole, but she never thought he’d stoop that low!

Going over the events of the evening in her head, Anna decided that this was it. She was NOT taking him back this time, no matter how much he begged. She remembered how angry he got when another boy had asked her to dance. She remembered the sting on her cheek, almost as hot as the sting in her heart, when he slapped her in the parking lot. Yes, there was no way that she was taking him back.

It was a dark, quiet night. Something in the night air gave Anna the chills. It was still a good 5km walk home. The sound of an engine could be heard long before the lights of the car appeared. It was approaching from ahead. Anna just knew it was Mark, no doubt regretting his decision to leave her out here all by herself. On the one hand, she wanted to ignore him and continue marching forward, but on the other hand, she knew that she should probably just get in the car, go home, and deal with him in the morning when she was on safe territory.

The bright lights blinded Anna, so she couldn’t get a look at the car, but it did slow down and come to a stop before her, so it was definitely Mark. Or so she thought.

Anna walked up to the passenger door, when she realised that it wasn’t Mark’s car. Anna gasped with fright and took a step back. A middle aged gentleman stuck his head out; “Need a ride?” Anna didn’t respond. She just had the living daylights scared out of her. “I don’t bite, love. Girl like you shouldn’t be out here all by yourself at night. Get in, let me take you home.” Anna looked at the man. He was well presented, he had a nice car. It was dangerous being out here all by herself and if Mark hadn’t returned yet, he probably wasn’t coming back for her at all.

“Okay, thanks” Anna got in.

“Where to?”

“I live a few streets down, near the mall. I can direct you from the main road?”

“Sure, no problem. So what are you doing out here all by yourself? Don’t you know it’s dangerous to be out on the streets at night?”

“My boyfriend and I got into a fight at the school dance. I told him to take me home, but then he dropped me off here in the middle of nowhere and left.” Anna knew that it wasn’t the full truth – she’d told him to stop and she got out of the car to walk. She shouldn’t be pinning the blame solely on him, but it was too late now, she’d already said it.

“Well that wasn’t very nice of him. What’s your name love?”

“Anna.”

“Nice to meet you Anna, I’m Rick. How old are you? You mentioned that you were at a school dance?”

“Yes, I’m 17. It was the Matric dance. Oh, it’s a left here at the next stop”

At the next stop, Rick didn’t turn left. He went straight over.

“You missed it” Anna said as she turned to look at Rick. He had a stone cold expression on his face and he didn’t respond.

“Rick, you missed the turn off, but you can turn left at the next stop too. Rick, did you hear me?”

“I heard you”.

Again, at the next stop, they just went straight over. It was at about this point that Anna started to feel really uncomfortable.

“You can stop; I’ll just walk from here”

“You can stop whining. We’ll be home soon.”

“Whose home?” Anna didn’t like the way he said it. And she knew it wasn’t her house; he was blatantly ignoring her directions.

Just then Rick reached for something at the side of his seat, then swung over and hit her in the head. Anna was lights out. “That’ll stop your incessant whining.”

Anna woke up. Her head was throbbing. It was pitch black, she couldn’t see anything. There was the familiar stench of a dead animal; the smell was so vial, she gagged a little. Her hands were cuffed around a cold metal pole. Anna got to her feet and tried to slide her hands over the top of the pole, but it continued all the way up, probably to the ceiling. Anna yanked at the pole to see if she could pull it loose. Her cuffs were clinking and clanking against the pole. Just then she heard stomping coming from upstairs “Shut the fuck up girl, or I’ll come down there and shut you up myself”. Anna stopped moving immediately. She was petrified. She didn’t know where she was, or what was going to become of her. She suddenly remembered every story she’d ever seen on the news where women were discovered or rescued from some dodgy guy’s basement after 10 years of rape and torture. Just then and there, Anna decided that she wasn’t going to be another one of those headlines.

Anna sank to her feet. There was clearly nothing she could do. She was stuck here. Anna eventually passed out, probably with a little aid from the concussion, but was plagued with nightmares of Mark, dark streets, strange men, satanic basements and dead cats.

Anna woke up the moment that dawn broke. She couldn’t believe she slept at all. She’d been cold, uncomfortable and kidnapped. Who sleeps in a situation like this? Anna looked around to suss her surroundings. It didn’t take long for her to start screaming like a stuck pig. There were at least 3 corpses that she could see. One was almost completely decomposed, and one was of a girl that must have died in the last week or so – beaten and tortured to death, clearly. Anna saw the man from the night before –Rick – come marching towards her. She started screaming even louder, petrified of the thought of what he might do – he had a metal pole in his left hand. Rick grabbed Anna’s face with his right hand and squeezed so tight that she thought her cheek bones might crush. Rick leaned in nice and close, to the point that she had to squint to focus on his eyes; “Time to teach you how to behave, when you’re in my house, girl”.

Rick took a step back and swung the metal pole at her. The first shot hit her right in the ribs. Anna let out a blood curling scream “the more you scream girl, the more I teach” Rich said as he swung another shot, this one hitting her right on the back. The pain sent shock waves through Anna’s spine, instantly causing numbness in her left foot. It was too painful, how could she not cry out? Rick hit her a third time, this time in the head. Anna’s vision blurred and her ears rang, just before she collapsed to the ground. The blow was, unfortunately, not severe enough to knock her out completely. Anna lay on the ground, a contorted mess of broken bones and blood, gasping for air in between her sobs, trying with all her might to stifle them, but failing miserably.

Rick grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her head back so that she was forced to look at him. His eyes were glazed over and there was white foam collecting on the corners of his twisted grin. “Look girl, the rules are simple. If you listen, you’ll live, the problem with you girls is always the same; you think someone’s gonna hear you. No one is gonna hear you out here. If we get that one thing straight, we might just be able to get along” Anna could feel her bottom lip start to tremble “please, let me go. I won’t tell anyone. Just let me go?” Ricks eyes rolled back. He let go of her hair and let her head drop to the floor. He walked out of the basement without another word. Once alone, Anna let it all out. She sobbed till nightfall.

Anna had been alone in the dark for hours. The house was dead quite and Anna wasn’t sure if Rick was even still at home. Anna tried to stand up, but her left foot was still numb and pain shot through the rest of her body, so intense that for a moment, Anna thought she stood on a live wire. She must have made a noise, because it was moments later that Rick was back in the basement with her. Anna instinctively started to tremble, a low hum involuntarily creeping from the back of her throat.

Rick didn’t say a word. He also had a mask on – nothing special, just a plain white mask, covering his face, but his presence was unmistakable. He might have felt like a different person, but she knew exactly who he was, and what he was capable of. Rick un-cuffed Anna and picked her up like a child. He took her over to the far corner of the basement. There was a chair next to a basin. Rick seated Anna in the chair and filled the basin. Rick then picked up a remote, and turned on some music; there was a surround sound system hidden in the dark, and from it, played Allan Pettersson’s Concerto per orchestra d’archi n.1. Anna didn’t recognise it, but the dark classical piece made her hair stand on end. Rick started to wipe Anna down with a cloth soaked in warm water. The basin soon appeared to be filled with blood – the water transforming a little more with every dunk of the cloth. Anna wondered how much blood she’d lost – it looked like more than what she’d initially thought.

Rick then took something from the mirror cabinet above the basin and put it down on the basin’s edge – a scalpel. Anna knew that something bad was going to happen, she could feel the impending doom rising from the ground like a vibration of sound, moving through the air and filling the room. Rick turned to reach for something in the draw on his other side. Anna seized the opportunity and grabbed the scalpel. The sudden motion forward coupled by her paralyzed leg and the intense pain slammed her to the floor with bone crushing force. Anna rolled over to her side so that she could see what Rick’s next move would be. So that she could brace herself, and maybe even make use of the scalpel she’d just risked her life for. Rick stood over her. She couldn’t anticipate his next move; she couldn’t read him through the white mask.

Anna found herself hopping along a deserted road in the pitch black dark. She couldn’t piece the final events of the evening together, but that didn’t matter. She’d somehow managed to escape and she needed to get help before Rick came after her. A set of headlights could be seen in the distance. Anna was concerned that it might be Rick coming after her, but logical deduction told her that Rick would probably be coming from behind – where she was running from – and not ahead. Anna desperately started to wave while standing in the middle of the road. The car slammed on its breaks and screeched forward, stopping only inches from Anna’s knees. A young man got out “What the... Are you okay? What the hell happened to you?” Anna just collapsed to the ground, whether from relief, pain, or the adrenalin rush, she couldn’t tell. But then she started to sob uncontrollably. No matter how many times the young man asked, she couldn’t bring herself to calm down enough to answer a single question.

The young man helped Anna into his passenger seat before speeding off towards the nearest hospital. Anna could tell by the look of shock and horror on the man’s face that she must have been in a poor state. Anna looked down at herself; she was wearing her pretty blue dress, the one that she bought just for the dance, but it was covered in blood. Anna’s shoes were missing and her left foot was badly crushed. She could see the bones of each and every toe, exposed. The sight made her think of road-kill. Anna held her hands up and noticed that one of her arms had been severed at the elbow. The realisation sent a shockwave through Anna’s body, followed by the strangest sensation she’d ever felt in her life. It was almost like déjà vu - a suppressed memory, starting to surface. Anna looked up at the young man driving the car. He glanced back at her too. One look at the expression on his face, and Anna suddenly remembered everything. She pulled down the passenger visor to look in the mirror; she had a few strands of hair left on her head. The flesh on her face was rotting away, exposing bone and teeth, and a few maggots. Disheartened, Anna looked back at the young man “I’m sorry” she whispered before disintegrating into the night, right before the young man’s eyes.  

The young man slammed on his breaks once more, the smell of rubber and smoke choking the night air. He searched frantically for the girl that was just there moments before. It was then that he realised who he’d picked up. He just sat there, in shock. After a good 20 minutes, Mark put the car back into gear and pulled away, guilt crushing his chest with every kilometre that he progressed. It was 5 years to this night that he’d left her out here all by herself. At the time he didn’t realise that it would be the last time that he would see her, but by that same token, never had he thought that he’d ever see her again...