Heaviness had hung in the air as Simon and Kebuyu had walked side by side down the narrow, dimly lit path leading toward the market. The usual village bustle seemed to be somehow far away and muffled, as if the world was holding its breath. On the other side of the horizon, a copious cloud loomed up, dark and forbidding, as if on purpose to engulf the very last remnant of daylight.
Something gnawed at the edges of Simon's mind. He glanced sidewise at Kebuyu, very quiet, his face shrouded in darkness. The air reaching far between them was thick and heavy with silence, heavy with unspoken ideas. Simon's heart began to pound, and one creeping dread settled into his chest.
A figure would suddenly come out of the gloom at the other end of the path. Simon would squint to get better detail, but it was only the general silhouette of a person carrying a small bag. He watched as she drew closer and the dim light began to reveal her features. It was Mukami.
Simon's breath stopped at his throat. He had seen her only once, during a school tournament. Something about her had hung around in his head since then, a ghost refusing to shake away. Now, as she walked toward him, Simon felt a mix of emotions tumble over each other while questions lined up in his head: what is she doing here? why now?
"Eeh, your eyes will fall out, bro," it whipped, Kebuyu's voice intruding.
It jolted Simon back to his senses. He jerked his gaze from Mukami's, trying to regain his composure.
Simon nodded absently, his mind still on Mukami. But with every resuming step, thoughts grew darker, more insistent. Something was wrong about the whole thing. He felt a sense of being pulled into some unseen trap.
Simon bought a kangumu and soda at the market and attempted to shake off his dis-ease. Kebuyu grabbed a soda and a loaf of bread. Seating on a bench, Simon still kept on glancing at Mukami, who now walked to the nearby stalls and started browsing through it. His heart was racing, but not with the sweet rush of infatuation—it was fear.
"Want me to talk her up for you?" Kebuyu asked, his voice laced with mischief.
Simon hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, but… do it careful. I don't need her thinking I'm some creep or something."
Kebuyu chuckled, patting Simon on the shoulder. "Don't you worry, man, I'll be your wingman. Just watch."
That said, Kebuyu stood up and walked towards Mukami. Simon watched with frayed nerves as Kebuyu struck up a conversation with her. That latter stood taken aback, then smiled. Simon's anxiety lessened a jot, but that nagging feeling of dread remained.
After a few minutes, Kebuyu invited Simon to join them. With his heart thumping in the ears, Simon walked towards them. Mukami greeted him with a shy smile, and Simon returned a weak one. Brief conversations went on, but that funny feeling that something was very wrong never left Simon.
And as they were leaving, Mukami gave Simon a phone number, saying it was hers. Something about the look of her eyes did not seem right to Simon, so at that point, his heart sank. Was she trying to conceal something? Or was it his imagination playing games on him?
That night, Simon lay supine on his bed staring at the ceiling. His brain was on overdrive. The scenes of the evening played repetitiously in his head. He just could not shake off the feeling that Mukami was something beyond what she seemed to be. Maybe she was part of a sinister scheme. His thoughts spiraled, and he slept very little.
The following day, Simon again met with Kebuyu. They agreed to go to the spot that they had met Mukami, having faith that she would appear. They seated themselves under the Meringene tree as darkening clouds gathered upon the landscape, giving sign of a boding forecast.
An hour passed, and Simon was feeling deflated. He was just about to suggest that maybe they should leave the place, when Mukami walked toward them. This time, she was clad in blue jeans with a red sleeveless top. She was overpowering, but Simon was only higher in his anxiety.
"There she is," Kebuyu said, nudging his elbow into Simon. "Go talk to her."
Simon hesitated for a moment then walked towards Mukami. He could feel his heart beat from his chest. As he came close to her, his eyes noticed a very odd thing: she had a slight, barely visible bruise on her wrist. His gut tightened. Was she in trouble?
"Hi," Mukami greeted him, smiling, though there was something in her eyes, troubled.
"Hi," Simon replied, forcing a smile. "Is everything okay?"
She hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes, everything is fine.
But Simon wasn't convinced. He could feel the quiver in her voice and the shake in her hands. He just wanted to probe further into her life, asking her instead what it was exactly that was happening, but he didn't want to spook her. So, he decided to play along, hoping she would open up of her own volition.
They sat and talked for one hour, just about nothing. But Simon was feeling this tension emanating from her, between them, like a tempest was going to outburst at any moment. He watched Mukami very closely, trying hard to read into whatever secrets were mainly behind her smiles.
Just as they rose to leave, Mukami suddenly seized Simon by the hand. Her grip was tight, almost desperate.
"Simon, I…" she started off but trailed off.
"What is it?" Simon asked, his heart racing.
Mukami glanced about, a furtive look to her face, checking to make sure that they were not being watched by anyone. Then, in low tones, she said, "I need to tell you something, but… not here. Can we meet somewhere else? Somewhere private?"
Simon's heart was racing. This was it. The moment he had been waiting for, the time for her to tell him some horrible truth. He nodded, keeping his voice steady. "Sure, where?"
Mukami shrugged again, "There's that old abandoned house at the far end of the village. Meet me there tonight at midnight."
Simon's heart seemed to leap into his mouth. That old house would soon be theirs, and it was rumored to be haunted; he got away evil was done within its walls. But how could he refuse her, looking so desperate.
"I'll come," he said.
Midnight that night found Simon lurching toward the abandoned house. The trees soughed with the wind, darkness closing in further and further, his heart pounding within him at each pace that brought him closer to that old, tumbledown building.
The door groaned, and Simon stepped inside. It was dark, the air acrid and heavy with dust and the stench of rot. His footsteps creaked on the floorboards, as did the shadows that danced upon the walls. He called out Mukami's name, and his voice echoed around the empty halls.
There was no answer.
The farther inside the house he got, the more frightened he became. What was he even doing here? Why was Mukami asking him to come to see this place? He shivered when he struck the top of the stairs.
Then he found her.
Mukami was at the furthest dim corner of the room her back at him, shoulders shaking and Simon could tell she was sobbing, softly
" Mukami?" Simon called softly " What's wrong?"
Mukami turned to face him. Slowly. Slowly. Her face was ashen, eyes wide with fear. She opened her mouth to speak. And no words came out. She just raised her hand and pointed behind Simon. Simon froze. He felt his blood turn cold as he spun around. His heart thudded in his ears.
There, at the door, stood a shadowy figure; the eyes gleamed with evil light, and the lips seemed lifted in a sardonic grin. It was suffocating, something he just couldn't shake as it came closer toward him. It was suffocating, something he just couldn't shake as it came closer toward him.
He tried to scream and run, his body would not respond. The figure reached out its hand, icy and unbending. Simon felt the force that was pulling him into the darkness; he blurred his vision, the world slipping away.
And the last image he could see before everything went black was Mukami's face, that of intense terror and regret.
Simon woke up lying in the middle of the village square. The first light of dawn was just breaking over the horizon. His head throbbed, and his body ached as if he had been beaten. He had no recollection of how he got there, or of what had happened after the figure appeared.
But as he struggled to his feet, a lonely realization dawned on him.
Mukami was gone.
But nobody in the village saw her, nor did anybody know where she had come from. She might never have been. Yet Simon knew the truth. She was real, and she had led him into something dark, something dangerous.
And whatever it was, it wasn't finished with him yet.
Even as Simon went back home, the shadows of night clung to him, whispering promises of terror and despair that, in his heart, he knew he had crossed the line into a world he could never understand.
And now there was no turning back.
The night had been long, troubled by uneasy dreams and the echo of the figure's evil grin. And there stood the old house indeed; a monument to some fear he had yet to fully comprehend. Somewhere out there in the dark, Mukami waited; her secrets buried deep in shadow. But for Simon, it was only now that the real nightmare began.
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