Chapter 21

Meanwhile, back at the camp of the vamps and Lycans Blackclaw had planned to have Divina captured whenever she left her protective circle. He had sent Darren Divina’s ex-boyfriend to get close to her whenever possible and also to watch her house day and night and he was glad when he put in a call notifying him of the latest.

“Good news, follow her and bring her to me alive,’’ he instructed.

“Yes general,’ Darren replied with gusto. It was time to move up the ranks. He would show Blackclaw that he was worthy. 

The bitterness that engulfed his heart because of the way Divina ended their relationship had pushed him too. It was the perfect way for him to get his revenge. So, when Blackclaw came knocking he couldn’t refuse.

“Divina, you will finally pay’’ he said with a wry grin.

Divina pulled up at the available slot and waved at Melissa as her friend came rushing towards her. The scenery was beautiful and the cool breeze made her forget all the problems that had plagued her life. Seeing people mill around smiling and laughing happily only made her feel like she was carrying the burden of the world on her shoulders which was absolutely true. She didn’t want to be a witch. At first it had sounded appealing but as she watched others her age letting loose and just having fun. She wanted that life too. 

Yet she couldn’t fully let go. Knowing that within the darkness laid those who wanted her dead for simply being a witch. 

“So, you made it!’’ Melissa asked hugging Divina.

“Well, your offer was too good to turn down,’’ Divina replied.

“Yeah, let me introduce you to some cool dudes,’’ she said pulling Divina along.

Hours later she had forgotten that she had planned to stay for only an hour before rushing back home. Glancing at her watch she exclaimed. 

“Oh no mum will kill me!” She said hastily looking for Melissa who was nowhere to be found. Oh, on earth had so much time escaped her.

Just as she was about to turn on the ignition of her grandfather’s rickety Peugeot Melissa suddenly appeared from nowhere.

“Running away again,’’ she said half-drunk swaying on her feet. 

“Mum is goanna kill me I told you,” Divina said. 

“She won’t,’’ Melissa said as she jumped into the passenger’s seat. In less than ten minutes of dropping Melissa off at her house she was turning through the last highway into the lonely road as many town people called it, music blaring from her speakers. She could easily see why the town folks called it the lonely road. 

The road stretched out, the asphalt-cold like the night. It was roomed with trees and a canopy of luminous stars materialized amongst the ocean of blackness. Some were dull, merely flickering into existence every now and then, but there was an adequate amount of shimmering stars to illuminate the dark, moonless night. From a distance, you could hear the ancient zoom of the Peugeot 501 with its antiquated engine accelerating not more than a speeding bicycle. Definitely, the car had been through thick and thin, but it was still standing on the verge of cessation. The owner must have enjoyed it and loved it so much that they couldn’t let it go. It was just as hoary as the owner. The difference which existed between them was life, real life. But even in its slow pace, soft rock music blared from its stereo, Divina wasn’t caught in its antediluvian world. 

She was a young blond-haired person with thin lips and blue eyes. She had striking physical features which announced her presence even before she was aware of others. An outgoing youth with an inconsistent personality. Divina was singing loudly along with the song 

‘. . . Am saying right now right now am free am free am free. . . This is my big hello, if you’re hearing now let me know I can finally see, it’s not just a dream when you said am free am free am free’

One would have thought that her voice and the song from the radio was the same. She really loved rock music and hated boredom. Then, finally giving up the ghost, the antiquated junk on four wheels broke down. Divina hit the steering wheel angrily. She blamed her dad for allowing her to spend her holidays with her Pa. Her stay had been frustrating and not until now did she wish that she had refused her father’s request. So much had happened in a short space of time she was finding it hard to come to grips with her own feelings. 

“He wants to see you, I bet you don’t understand that because you are still young,” her father had said.

But he never mentioned that he had a broken car, and she had forgotten that his house was in the middle of a walled large expanse of land which made sneaking out of the house almost impossible without a car or a bicycle. The town was fun filled but her old Pa was sick. In the hospital with a brain tumor, shouting words that now Divina knew were bad. 

She got out from the rickety thing and tried to open its bonnet. After seeing the horrible engine with twisted wires which were more confusing than any jigsaw puzzle, she lost hope of using the car anymore. She would walk home. Since she was now going on foot, it would be easy for her to pass through the woods, which would be the perfect shortcut. Pa had a torch in the trunk. She remembered seeing it when she was checking out the rusted death on wheels. 

In minutes she found herself within the fresh organic smell of dark bleak nature, surrounded by the aged trees and a castle of woods. Creaking branches stretched away on the forest floor. Everything seemed fine for the first five minutes of walking.

Only the rustle from underneath her feet could be heard. The path was dark. Nothing could be seen beyond the light of the torch which cast shadows by the tall mossy pines on either side. The swaying shadows gave her the creeps and a chill ran down her spine. 

She noticed that a thick mist began to cloud her legs, turning into a dense fog. It wasn’t natural and her mind went into instant panic. 

She had a sense that someone or thing was watching her, the hairs on the nape of her neck prickled. All the horror movies she had ever watched flashed in her mind, it gave her a sense that something was a little off, but she continued the journey down the bleak part, until she heard the soft footfalls of something or someone behind her. She turned sharply her eyes doing all the work. Her heart began pouncing almost hitting her ribs. The unidentified object or thing ran past her swiftly, and then a branch fell off a nearby tree. That was all she needed. Her heart leapt in her chest rattling against her rib cage as her breath halted in her throat. For a second, she was rendered immobile. Glued to the spot in utter terror.