Chapter Twenty-Eight

I don't have time to warn D'ziko as a creature I've never seen before charges us from behind. It's too fast. I rip the sword out of D'ziko’s waist and tear myself out of his arms. I push him away just as the creature stops.
Red, slanted eyes regard me.
I spread my feet, legs slightly bent at the knees and bring the Bakantwa up high. The flames eat at my skin. My whole body hurts. I want to scream.
The creature is fanged, long-armed, and has dark skin as if burned. Though the arms are toothpicks, the hands are too big. The arms stop an inch over its ankles.
“What the hell, Imani.” D”ziko. “Move.”
“Don't ya fucken start with me,” I bit out. “Stay down.”
With a sudden lunge, the creature charges me at me, jaw gaping open, claws ready to sink into my flesh. No man could match the speed of the creature.
I shift my stance, a twitch of tight muscles, trying to cement my feet on the ferns. The rain falls harder now, making it hard to see. I blink once. Twice. And swing horizontally, the Bakantwa penetrates the creatures stomach. Maggots and greenish-yellow pus ooze out. A foul smell surrounds us.
The pointy teeth snap closed on the air, an inch away from my face. Some pus and maggots sprawl out of its mouth as it roars it's frustration. They cover my face and chest. The creature's fist comes once onto the ground, making it shake and thus knocking me down. I land on my stomach. My bleeding hands hit a rock, the pain triples. The Bakantwa rips out of my grip.
D'ziko snatches it. He's battling a second creature. It's smaller. A child if ya will but just as vicious and powerful.
I lift myself and barely manage to stand. My legs have turned to clay. The ground spins, the trees wobble. Hot pain lances my hands, my arms. My own blood makes me nauseous.
My eyes find the creature. It's wound is bleeding more profusely now. It's glowing gold like my hands. The Bakantwa did us both damage. Me especially. Though the creature isn't out of commission yet.
The creature is on all fours. It paws at the ground, uprooting the ferns and unearthing worms. A ragged bull.
It charges. I side step it, jump onto its back and fish out its eyes. I pop both eyes and more pus and maggots coat my arms.
The creature falls, taking me with it. It lands on it's side. Its head hits the ground.
I leap to my feet. My world wobbles again. I pick up a branch and stab the creature in the head. It goes out at once.
My eyes scan the meadow. D'ziko is on his back. The smaller creature has dug its claw into his shoulders.
I drag myself to them, the branch trailing behind. I swing, but the creature hits me with the back of its hand and everything goes black.
I move my arm from my face.
Light.
So I hadn't fainted.
A tall shadow hovers over me.
It’s D'ziko. I cry. I’m on my side. My face is on the ground. There are maggot moving all over my head.
“Shh, I’m here,” he says. He crouches and lifts something off of me.
He’s here. I won’t die.
He puts one arm under my neck and the other under my knees. I throw up the moment I wrap my arms around his neck. Vomit covers his white T-shirt.
He's on the move.
“I'm sorry,” I say, trying to not look at my vomit. I hope that dead maggots didn't just come out of my stomach.
D'ziko jerks his head. I know what he's saying. The T-shirt doesn't matter.
I throw up again. Now I'm sure I've emptied my stomach. Thank Gods.
I feel his neck slipping away from my hand.
“Hold on, Imani.” He walks faster. “Stay with me.”
D’ziko walks into the house like its his. He doesn't seem to care that Mama could see him or worse, Kaseke.
He flickers the lights on and sets me in the shower. The pus is stubborn, he has to scrub it with his fingernails to wash it off.
"Mlondo," I suddenly remember.
D'ziko peels my clothes off and disappears with them. To throw them away, I guess.
I just sit on the shower floor and let the water pour over me.
My whole body stings. I'm shaking. D’ziko returns and turns off the tap. The quiet is startling.. I’m sitting on the shower floor with my eyes shut. Pain. My body is as heavy, made of rocks. I can’t move.
D’ziko scoops me from the floor, carries and places me on the bed over a bath towel. He disappears to the bathroom and comes back with the first aid kit from the medicine cabinet and begins working on my injured hands. The blood makes my head spin. I moan and gulp. It really won't do me good if I start spilling my guts out. He’s showered too.
"I was supposed to meet him and Luleka," I say, trying to get up. "What if they're hurt."
D'ziko pushes me back against the bed and glares.
"I have to find them," I try again but I already know he won't let me leave.
"They're fine."
"I can't just--"
"Ya look green," he says, as he pushes the window open to let the cool wet night air in, hoping it will help calm me.
I shrug and a shiver rocks through me. I am freezing. He pulls the window shut again.
"Don't look," he says quickly, his eyes anxiously searching my face. "I will take care of ya. Just close yer eyes, think of a happy place."
"I want to see ya, just like this."
"I've never seen ya so green before." He touches his fingertips to my forehead. "At least ya aren't burning up. Not yet."
I groan as another gag convulses through me. I hold my breath. My body feels heavy, while my head feels as though it is not getting enough blood. I hope my stomach can stand the sight much longer. I'm not breathing.
D’ziko clenches his jaw.
"Imani...?" he asks, his tone harsh. “I don’t ever want ya to risk yer life for me. Not ever. Okay?”
“Not ever again.” It's a lie. I've been raised to tackle obstacles head on. If a creature wants a fight then I'm game.
I concentrate on breathing through my mouth. When there is no longer blood, I sneak a breath through my nose, the air is still heady with the bitter smell of blood. Sweat breaks out in my forehead.
He squeezes merryz juice into latex gloves, pulls the gloves over my hand and bandages me up. My hand and half of my arm are white.
"Are ya staying tonight?"
"Sleep," he says. "I'll see ya tomorrow." He kisses my forehead.
“Where are ya going?” I ask.
He is silent.
“Are ya cheating?”
His eyes bulge. “What? No!” He looks at me with that deep, meaningful gaze. “It doesn't matter what ya do. I will never leave ya. I will never cheat on ya.”
“Ya said ya’d never deny me anything,” I say. I’m looking away from him as I speak, I don’t want him to see me cry.
He is quiet.
“Why won't ya tell me where ya're going?” I ask.
“I think I saw a third creature,” he says.
“So ya're going on a hunt?” I ask.
He’s quiet.
“If ya leave, don't bother coming back,” I say, throwing the covers over my head.
It is quiet. Too still. And then I hear a zipper opening, clothes hitting the floor. He gets in behind me.
I turn to face him. He's trembling. Angry. I hug him to me. He doesn't return it. I don't care for I'm doing something I've always wanted to do since the day I met him: falling asleep next to him. He's the last thing I'll see and the first thing I'll see in the morning.
“D'ziko,” I whisper against his skin.
He shudders. “Hmm.”
“Someone was following us tonight. What if they know about my deceit and try to...”
He taps my back once. “He won’t…” he says.
“But you know how……”
He taps my back again, twice this time.
“Sleep Imani, don’t worry about it, I took care of it,” he says, so simply and so…confidently.
“You killed him, didnt you?!” I hold my breath.
He taps my back three times.
That means sleep Imani.
Someone raps at my door. Bang. Bang. Bang.
D'ziko startles awake. His panicked movements force me to a sitting position. I groan and cover my eyes with my hand to stop the sun's assault. If this continues I'll be blind by the time winter decides to make an appearance.
"Hurry," I tell D'ziko as I tidy up. Getting rid of any evidence that he was here.
"Imy!" Mama says, voice low. The quieter Mama's voice is, the angrier she actually is.
"Go. Go. Go." I motion toward the window behind me.
He draws back the curtains. . He takes a step back toward me but there's a flash of pain on his face, and he turns away.
“Come here,” he says, stretching his arm out.
I run toward him and wrap my arms around his neck. My back is on his chest and he has his arms around me, his chin is on the top of my head. He kisses the exposed skin on my neck. My whole body tingles. It rocks with them. It only lasts a second.
“Are you going to say anything?” he asks. “You look nervous,” he says.