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...

Letter to a father

As I sit here, numb with pain, I remember everything; the good and the bad. I find my mind switching from one memory to the next. Oh, how I’ve hurt you. The things I’ve said, the things I’ve done. I disappointed you to the point of severance. Not because you turned me away, but because I was too ashamed to face you, to look you in the eye. Regret is a nasty thing; hell’s torment, an ever-lasting punishment. You know I never meant to hurt you? Funny how we hurt the ones we love the most.

But you hurt me too! You chose her over me. What would mother say? But would you care? You hurt her too. She was dying. You let her die alone. Where were you? Where were you when we needed you most? Where were you when the pain gripped mother so hard she’d wet the bed? Did you love her less when the medicine began to change her? Did the swelling from the cortisone disgust you? She cried me awake most every night – alone, in pain, afraid. Where were you? Loneliness is a killing thing. It sucks the spirit right out of you and then tosses you aside like the worthlessness that you are.

But then I remember how you adored my children. From the moment my first was born, how you’d sneak out the house to come visit, always bearing gifts. Cuddling them, sitting them on your lap, each on a knee, feeding them tales with a handful of sweets; how you walked to school in the snow; your first job; when you lost your fingers to an aeroplane propeller. They’d hang on your lips and soak up everything you said. How my heart would swell with affection to watch you. Love is a wonderful thing. It heals all wounds. It forgives every wrong doing. It forgets.

You were always there for me; every time I messed up, you’d always let me come back home. I’d never stand it for very long because of her, but to know that you invited me into your home, time after time, really meant something. Even so, I think, all I ever wanted was a little recognition. I wanted you to choose me over her. I wanted you to take my side. I wanted you to put her in her place and invite me into your special circle. How I spent my days, imagining how the sunlight bounced off of the skin of the chosen few in that inner circle, longing for that feeling – sunlight – bouncing off my skin. Jealousy is a devilish thing; it turns even the nicest of people into demons. It fills our hearts with hate and vile.

Before I had a chance to really make things right – work my way into your circle, you started to slip away. How my heart ached. You were so close, yet you went a little further every day. I’d run after you, reaching out, calling for you and at first, you’d turn around and see me. You’d come back, and reach for me. But there came a day; you didn’t recognise my voice; you didn’t remember your name. You turned, looked me in the eye, and asked who I was. How my heart split in two. Before I could ever get too close, you slipped away. Day after day, I’d watch, I’d call, but it was in vain. Further and further you’d go, till no longer you were. Disease is a heart-wrenching thing. As it eats away at its victim, so too, it eats away at the world; friendships, relationships, family – chewing away at the cords that bind us together, like a cancer.

Funny how I lost you, all those years ago, yet here I sit today, with the sorrow of a thousand widows hanging on my heart, because you finally broke free. You escaped purgatory. You found freedom. The idea should have me rejoicing, but here I am, tears flowing down my cheeks and breathless jerks stealing my composure. How I loved you my dear father. How I loved you, and you will never know. Knowledge is a strange thing. How do we know when we’re better off with or without it?  I want you to know father.

I want you to know. 

Incy wincy spider

So there I was, just chilling, when this woman walked in on me, and started freaking out and then she tried to murder me!

It started out like every other evening. When it got dark, I decided to find myself a nice spot to spend the night and hopefully catch a few moths. It had been quiet the last few nights and I was starving. After hours of searching, I found a crack in the wall, which lead me to this awesome damp area. And we all know, where there’s moisture, there’s insects. I started to spin my web. I went from one wall to the next, covering the entire corner. It was a masterpiece by the time I had finished, even if I say so myself.

I was nestled in a nice little spot that I’d weaved for myself, kinda like a hammock, recovering from a hard night’s labour, when I felt the first vibration. I froze, to feel again, not really sure if there was really something there, or if it was just a breeze. Nope, there was something there alright. The vibrations started to come violently. I had to make my move before it managed to free itself. I marched over to source of the vibration and found a huge, and I mean, HUGE, moth, flapping about trying frantically to free itself. Fortunately, I’m quite talented in the web making department, and I’d managed to set up a sticky, strong silk trap that was rather capable of securing even the feistiest of meals.

The moth didn’t even see me. It was too busy trying to get lose. I snuck up behind it, raised my fangs high up into the air, like two little steak knives and came trashing down on it like a ton of bricks (okay, more like a gram, but I pack a mean punch okay!). I grabbed the moth with my front legs to secure it, and started rolling it with my hind legs while wrapping it up for later. I couldn’t believe my luck.  A meal this size would easily keep me going for another week!

I barely had a chance to put the moth aside, when this bright light just came out of nowhere. I was momentarily blinded. Never in my life had the sun come up so quickly. By the time my eyes had adjusted, I noticed a human. Jip. This was not good. I like humans about as much as the next species. Something like, 1 out of every 10 spiders that encounter them, actually lives to tell about it. My one boyfriend, Nick, told me all about his encounter with a human, right before I ate him. He said it was the scariest thing he’d ever lived through. He was kidnapped and held captive in a glass prison for what felt like forever. Just when he was beginning to run out of oxygen, the door of the glass prison opened. He started to walk out when the prison tipped upside down and shook violently, causing him to fall out and crash land on some sort of hard rock.

I tried to hide in the deepest corner of my web. The human came closer. A hand came pretty close but then moved away because it suddenly started raining. The human started to shed its skin, then stepped into the rain. The whole area suddenly became extremely wet and slippery and I was starting to fall out of my web. I tried to latch on but it was pointless.  Even my meal had washed away already. I couldn’t believe that I was going to die hungry. My grip was finally lost, and I fell to the floor. I was going to drown. There was water everywhere and the current was inescapable. Just before I was finally washed away for good, I grabbed onto something solid. It was the human’s foot. I ran up with the sole purpose of seeking higher ground. It was at about that this time, that the human finally noticed me.

She pulled her foot up with so much force that I thought I’d start flying. She let out this high pitch shrill that instantly drew blood from my ears. The combination of her flying foot and the sound of hell’s demons breaking lose, left me with no other choice but to bite down so that I could have a better grip. I was so frightened.  If I fell off, this human would step on me for sure. I sunk my mini steak knives into her foot and prayed that the nightmare would stop, but I’m afraid it didn’t.

I was bitch-slapped. When I looked again I was on dry ground, but the human was standing over me with an item, larger than life, smacking down at me. Fortunately this human had pretty poor motor skills, or I’d be as flat as a pancake. I started running for my life when I found a gap in the wall to hide in. The human was still screaming and smacking at the wall with the strange item. I suddenly felt faint. I couldn’t believe that I had managed to escape with my life. Soon the human would lose interest and go away.

I was right, it was much sooner than expected, that the human left. Finally I could breathe a sigh of relief. Just when I was about to leave the gap the human returned!! A different item was in her grasp this time. I retreated back to the gap. It was then that this huge deadly gust of wind and rain came flushing into the wall, knocking me out cold.

I honestly don’t know how I survived or what saved me. I woke up in a narrow tunnel busy drowning. The current was so strong I couldn’t escape. The tunnel finally opened up and the current flung me into the air with a spray of water. I landed in some sort of pond, and there I managed to grab onto something and pull myself to safety. It was a horrific experience. I hope to God that I never see another human again. I don’t even know why God created humans. They’re ugly and scary and serve no real purpose.

I lost two legs in the battle. My stumps are my constant reminder of how fragile life is. Now, I take every moment in. You never know when it’s all gonna end. 

Eater

What a beautiful man she thought, as she stroked his pale white cheek. He was still warm to the touch. Mandy leaned in and kissed his lips, softly - a small peck. She drank in a huge breath of his scent before pulling away and taking one more look at him. Mandy could feel that wicked grin take form on her face. She didn’t feel wicked though, wicked was just the description of the grin. She felt excited. She’d been dreaming about this for years. Mandy leaned in again, smoothed her nose against his chin, slowly making her way up to his cheek, running her tongue over every inch of stubble. She opened her mouth and secured a sizable amount of cheek flesh between her teeth. She was holding it there, literally drooling over him, with anticipation. Pop. It was like, biting into an apple. A crisp pop through the top layer of skin, followed by a soft marshmellow-y-ness underneath.

The distinct taste of metal excited her taste buds as the blood began to trickle. Mandy pulled back and began to chew. She’d eaten raw pork before, simply out of curiosity, fantasising that it was a man. He didn’t quite taste like what she had anticipated, but that was quite okay, as the sheer satisfaction she got from scratching this 12 year itch, made it worth her while. Mandy began to giggle like a school girl, drunk on lust and power. She leaned into him again, this time, without any of the foreplay and took a nice fat chunk out of the other cheek. Pop. As she began to chomp away, she started to laugh hysterically. This was so much better than she’d fantasised about.

Mandy got up. She wanted to get a butcher’s knife from the kitchen. This was her first kill. She didn’t want any of the meat to go to waste. She didn’t know when she’d get another opportunity like this. Mandy exited her garage as fast as possible, trying to open and close the door with lightning speed so that no one would catch a glimpse of the corpse inside. This looked so much easier in the movies. People usually had big properties all to themselves to commit all kinds of mischief on. Mandy had a townhouse. It was tricky, but doable. As she ran over to her front door, she caught a glimpse of herself in the window. She still had that stupid love-struck grin on her face, which on its own would be okay, only hers was covered in blood. She frantically started wiping her face as she ran into the kitchen.

She collected a chopping board, her butcher’s knife and some freezer bags.

“What are you up to?” Pauline asked, with an overly friendly smile on her face but a great confused frown on her forehead. It was Mandy’s neighbour. She’d caught Mandy red handed, leaving the house for the garage with equipment in hand. Shit, Mandy thought to herself; “Oh hi Pauline. I’m... Just making biltong...”

“Oh I didn’t know you made your own biltong?”

“Ja, I normally don’t, but my brother brought me this huge chunk of wildsvleis, so I thought I’d better make the most of it before it goes off, you know?”

“Oh lekker, I hope you plan on sharing!?”

“ha ha, we’ll see if there is any left”

Pauline smiled at Mandy and went back into her house. Mandy felt like she could hardly move. The adrenaline had just kicked her so hard that she felt like she was about to pass out. Pauline can thank her lucky stars, she thought to herself. She had no desire to eat a woman, but if she happened to kill one, well then, there’d be no point in letting her go to waste now would there?

Back in the garage, Mandy began to undress the beautiful man. When she removed his shirt she realised that she’d made quite a mess of things when she had killed him. It was a pity as she could have used some of that meat. She’d just have to find another way the next time that she did it. It was very important that she didn’t ruin his head or his face though, because it was the cheeks that she’d been fantasising about all these years. 

Naked and stretched out, with his right arm over the chopping board, Mandy took a swing with the butcher’s knife.

There was blood everywhere. Mandy had been chopping at him all afternoon, but a simple domestic butcher’s knife was no match for human bones. It was such a mess. Mandy started to feel a little sad. She had started with this project with such great expectations and then she went and ruined everything with her lack of experience. She curled up into a ball and held her knees together, wondering what to do. There was no turning back now. If she couldn’t manage to cut the body into bits with bones and all, she’d have to somehow strip the meat from the bones. Mandy started with the hacked up arm. She dug the knife in till it reached the bone, then scrapped the knife downward, along the bone, slowly lifting the flesh off. It was a hefty task that took her till midnight to complete.

The alarm went off at 5am on Sunday morning. Mandy had managed to refrigerate most of the meat during the early hours of the morning, but she’d have to make a plan with the internal organs and bones that lay scattered on her garage floor. Mandy put on her tracksuit and made herself useful. While staring at the mess in the garage, she was hit with an amazing brain wave. Mandy gathered up the leftover organs and carried them into the backyard. She discarded the lot into the braai. She then went back for the bones.

With an early morning fire crackling in the back yard, Mandy began to reflect on her weekend activities: As happy as she was, finally fulfilling her lifelong fantasy and all, Mandy couldn’t help but wonder if she’d miss her brother at all. Ohhh I wonder if I still have marshmallows!

Author's note: A special thank you to Patrick B Vince for sparking the idea for this story!

A moment of insanity

I can’t fathom what is happening here. I simply don’t understand how I even got here. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been successful and that meant I always got what I wanted. I’ve always been the best at everything; the fastest runner, the smartest kid in class, the young successful business man that all the women swoon over. So what the hell is this? I thought Candice invited me over for dinner. Why are we sitting on the couch like this? I feel like I should engage in this “conversation” and change its direction, but the moment I heard “It’s just not working out”, my ears started to ring, I started to feel light headed and at this very moment, I actually feel like I’m starting to see white! She’s still sitting there, making all these overly expressive hand movements to accompany her flapping lips, only I don’t hear anything but the deafening ring that started earlier.

 I stare blankly at her, sweat dripping from my forehead, when I notice her beautiful legs. She’s wearing that tight black pencil skirt I like, cut just below the knee, with a pair of FM pumps. Her legs look so smooth, like she had them waxed today... Why is she wearing this? What kind of message is she trying to get across? I can feel the frown starting to take form on my forehead. I look back at her face; she’s still talking. She’s really beautiful. That’s why I picked her to begin with. It wasn’t meant to be anything serious, but if anyone was going to be walking out of this relationship, it was going to be me. I’m the boss here. Not her. I don’t know who the hell she thinks she is, but I’m going to have to set her straight. Sure, you think you’re pretty now, but who do you think will want you if you didn’t look like that eh?

I get up; every muscle in my body is zinging. I feel like I’m going to burst out of my suit any minute and turn into The Hulk. Candice is standing too now. Her lips aren’t flapping anymore; she’s just staring at me. She looks confused. She’s confused? How the hell does she think I feel? I’ve always been the one in control. Does she have any idea how it feels to have that taken away? Like some silly little woman has the goddamned mentality to even know what the fuck she wants?

I storm over to the door with every intention to just leave because I can’t take this, but the door is on the other side of the kitchen, and I’ve just spotted something on the kitchen counter that stopped me dead in me tracks. It’s like... It’s like something’s come over me. I don’t feel like myself anymore. I don’t have any emotions right now – I’m not even angry anymore. I don’t have any intentions. I don’t have any plans. I’ll just take it as it comes.

I reach for the counter and pick it up – the object that prevented me from leaving her house. I hold it with both hands, and see the emptiness in my eyes, in its reflection. Looking up, to meet her stare, I see that Candice, who had followed me this far, looks like she’s just seen a ghost. I’ve never seen the look of fear in her eyes before, but it’s just ignited this strange sensation of power within me. I don’t know why the idea that I have caused fear would have such an exhilarating effect on me. Maybe it’s  just because it’s the polar opposite of the feelings she extracted from me a few moments ago in her rejection? Without taking the time to think about this, or to rationalise my emotions, I lunge forward. She looked so much like a frightened cat that I knew that I had to grab hold of her on the first try, or she’d get away.

It’s as if I’ve just come to. But I remember everything. Every part of me that died on Candice’s couch this afternoon, just came to life. I’m sitting on the kitchen floor – I think I sank into this position when my legs started to go numb. I look at the deep red fluid covering the floor and for whatever reason, swish my hands through it – to feel the wet sticky texture, to break the mirrored smoothness of its surface, to make sure it’s real. Lifting my hand to get a good look at my blood soaked palm, I start to cry. Oh god this is real. What have I done? I reach for Candice and pull her limp mutilated body into my lap. Her eyes are still open. That look of fear and shock that just moments ago, invoked the demon in me, now has my stomach turning. I lean a little to my right and start to puke violently. I feel guilt like no one has ever experienced it in their lives. It’s a heaviness, like an elephant, sitting on your chest. I look at Candice again and close her eyes. I will never be able to take away her last memory of me. I will never be able to undo what has happened. She will move on, to where ever the fuck we go, and I will be known – to her at least – as the devil that sent her there. That idea alone enrages me all over again. I grab the knife, still next to me, and pluck out her eyeballs. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but somehow it makes sense to me. In one of the drawers, Candice keeps resealable freezer bags. It would work perfectly to transport a pair of ice blue eyes.

I don’t know what I’m going to do, I’m kinda just winging it as I go along. The house has been cleaned up with bleach, I’ve burnt my clothes, put on a clean change of clothes, and Candice is wrapped in a blanket and cling wrap, and stuffed in my boot. Dead bodies are surprisingly heavy. It’s not like I haven’t picked Candice up in the past, but dying apparently added 50 kilos. I had to completely remove myself from the situation, in order to get it together. Even now as I’m driving to god knows where with a body in my boot, I feel like a removed entity, looking at myself through a glass panel.

The first thing I do when I get home is have myself a drink. I’d been driving around for hours but it was all in vain. As I sit here at my desk, bottle in hand, she lay in the boot of my car, wrapped in blankets and plastic. I reach in my trouser pocket and retrieve the reasealable freezer bag. Staring at the contents of the bag has put me in a zoned out state. It took quite some time, but when I finally snapped out of it, it was because I’d somehow come to a decision to make things right.

I put the, now empty, bottle of whiskey down on the desk, and open the draw. There lay my gun. It should be in a safe. But I liked to keep it here. I liked to be able to pick it up every now and then, feel its weight in my hand, and imagine its destructive capabilities. It’s loaded. I made a point to keep it loaded at all times – in case. Looking dead ahead, I lift the gun to my right temple. I subconsciously squeeze the freezer bag in my left hand, because I’m a coward searching for the guts to do this, when I feel the sensation of a pop. I don’t even have to look to know, but it was enough. Popping Candice’s eyeball in my hand was enough of a reality check to get me to do the deed. Click.