DO NOT OPEN – Episode 18
© Brian Ngoma
s£nzo parked the car he borrowed from the station and checked the address. This was it. He got out of the car and walked to the gate. He knocked and there was no response from inside. He peeped throu-gh the gate and saw cars parked and the doors to the house locked. It was like people were not home or yet awake inside the house. He checked his watch and it was almost 2 PM. Who wouldn’t be awake this time? Perhaps, they had gone somewhere but looking at the cars, he didn’t want to believe that. He paced back and forth at the gate. He decided to call Ngoma.
“Are you there yet?” Ngoma asked.
“I am here but the gate is locked and I peeped throu-gh. It seems like there is no one home.”
“Are you able to count the number of cars in the yard?”
“Three. Why?”
“Nikiwe and her husband own three cars. He couldn’t have left all three plus switching off his phone.”
“What should I do?” s£nzo asked.
“I don’t know, detective. You’re the one on the case. What would you do?”
s£nzo looked around. There was no one in the streets. His eyes were set on the wall fence. It was high but unsecured. He rushed back to the car and drove near the wall fence. He got off, climbe-d the roof of the car and reached for the edge of the wall and pu-ll-ed himself up. “I am about to jump in, sir.”
“Go in and check, I’ll call you in a moment.”
The detective’s feet landed in the yard. It was as quiet as the graveyard. Something was definitely wrong. He could feel it. He reached for his gun holster and re-moved his handgun as he walked to the main door. As he stepped his right foot on the veranda, he was startled by a scream from the house. Urgently, he ran to the door and tried to push it but it didn’t badge.
“Help!” A boy cried inside.
Not on my watch again, s£nzo thought as he tried to think of a way to get inside. He ran round the house but all the doors were locked. He went back to the front door and started hitting the door with all his strength. As he kept hitting, the windows blinds moved and Jackson was shouting and crying to be helped. s£nzo rushed to the window and before he could do anything, the boy was pu-ll-ed away from the window.
Feeling helpless and fearing another person dying on his watch, he looked around and saw a a very big stone lying on the ground. He put his gun back in it’s holster. He rushed to the stone and gr@bb£d it. He ran to the door and hit it powerfully it the door handle broke. He kicked it open. He saw Zindaba laying on the floor unconscious and Jackson was being dragged to the other room. In that moment, he relived what he saw the night his parents were murdered.
He rushed to the unconscious Zindaba on the floor and saw blood coming out of his mouth. His mind stuck between saving Zindaba or Jackson who was being dragged down. Zindaba coughed. He’s alive, he thought. Relieved, he ran to the other room and found Jackson being strangled by the possessed Clarence. Without hesitation, s£nzo ran towards him, jumped and punched him in the face he let go of Jackson. Everyone fell to the floor. s£nzo quic-kly got up, and helped the boy up but Jackson couldn’t even move. He was struggling to breath. His n£¢k was covered in bruises. His eyes kept closing. “Don’t die on me,” s£nzo said as he carried him.
As they tried to leave the room, s£nzo was dragged from behind by so much f0rç£ and pu-ll-ed back inside he let go of Jackson who fell to the floor. There was no way to tell if the boy had survived that fall. s£nzo on the other hand was being dragged around the room and his head was repeatedly being ban-ged against the walls. He tried to maneuver but his efforts didn’t match the power he was being subjected to. In no time, he was lifted up in the air and thrown against the wall.
Breathing heavily on the floor and bleeding from his wounds, s£nzo heard footsteps coming towards him. “What do you want!” He yelled.
“I know you,” The witch said. “Yes, I remember you. Joe Sinkebu,” she laughed. “What are the odds?”
“You ruined my family,” s£nzo tried to get up.
“Your sister ruined your family not me,” The witch said as she gr@bb£d him and raised him up.
Face to face, in her true form, s£nzo saw her. “Why?”
“The fun. The power. The screams.”
“Leave this man and his family alone,” s£nzo negotiated. “You’ve done so much damage alre-ady. What else do you want?”
“All I want is to kill the boys and teach that woman a lesson that she shouldn’t be following things that don’t concern her.”
“Who? Nikiwe?”
“Yeeeeesssssssssssss!” The witch whispered in s£nzo’s ears.
“You don’t want to mess with her, I promise you. If it’s burning herself down to protect her family, she will do that. Leave now before the worst happens to you,” s£nzo warned her hoping she would have a change of heart.
“Like you know her.”
“I don’t but what I know is mess with a woman’s children and you will definitely see her wrath!”
The witch annoyingly laughed and started strangling him. “Nob©dy threatens me.” She lifted him up.
In his struggle not to lose breath, he remembered he had put his gun in his holster. He quic-kly went for it and sh0t the possessed Clarence on the shoulder he let go of him.
“Nooooooooo!” The witch screamed, looked at s£nzo angrily and before he could pu-ll the trigger one more time, she quic-kly maneuvered her way to him and he was outpowered. His gun dropped to the floor. “On second thought,” she said. “Clarence’s b©dy has become weak and useless with these injuries. Yours can do now.” She pinned him down to the floor.
Suddenly, the envelope appeared as s£nzo was f0rç£fully held down. The envelope opened and the note la-id on the floor for s£nzo’s eyes to re-ad. He tried not to but eventually, he suc¢v-mbe-d. Clarence’s unconscious b©dy fell to the floor next to Jackson’s. s£nzo began convulsing on the floor and st©pped. In a while, he coughed and got up. He looked around the room and stretched himself.
A phone rang. It was in s£nzo’s pocket. He gr@bb£d it and answered. “Hello!”
“s£nzo? Is everything alright there?” Ngoma asked his voice shaking. “I have been calling you. What’s happening there?”
Silence.
“Detective, I am talking to you.”
“Everything is just fine here,” he looked at Clarence and Jackson whilst walking to the door. In the other room was the young Zindaba trying to get up his voice so low it couldn’t even be heard. “As a matter of fact, everything is perfect. Nikiwe’s family is in good health.”
“Oh that’s good. You gave us a scare when you weren’t answering the phone. I was about to s£nd backup. Good everything is fine. Let me tell Nikiwe so that she should st©p worrying!”
“Okay,” with a grin on his face, he dropped the phone to the floor and stepped on it. “Let’s finish this.”