Hell Again

by Mihret Adal Gidi

Andrealphus is leaning in pain on the horned cloven-footed demon that’s flying him closer to them and past all the ladies, who are busy enjoying their power.

  His chest is hurting, and he is now surer that Shemyaza is nothing like them any longer, as much as he can’t tell what exactly he turned into. Just as the demon lowered to allow him to land, he slides off its back and falls down on the ground, sprawled against his back with his left hand fixed on his chest.

  It is clear that he is in pain that the shock brought all the seven witches to their feet, except the one more hideous and older one, who approached him. She places her left hand on his shoulder and utters a word in Theban tongue.

  “Get away!” he pushes her away from him and stands up, staggering. “Now tell me what your last order from Shemyaza was,” he asks the tempting demon, brought by the other cloven-footed demon he ordered, before he leave Shemyaza’s place.

  “I…I…” it keeps making a piggy sound as it speaks. the demon looks filthy and smells bad. It’s always naked and its mouth has sharp three frontal tooth dripping since it has no lower lip. Even Andrealphus, who teaches witches black magic; who would trade their beauty by hag looking women, looks down at it, in disgust. “I was to tempt a lady to be by a river…” he laughs in that piggy voice and opens those extremely downturned eyes at Andrealphus. “Everyone around her didn’t want her to do so but she did it…keeps doing it and finally with her friend…” he made that sound once again intending to laugh, pleased.

  “For what outcome?” he asks, frowning, his head tilting to his left. He didn’t notice all the witches gathering to his presence in worry the moment he arrived, up until this very moment.

  “Pleasing the master’s wish. Si…simple, but her friend starts worshipping…” it shrugs in fear of mentioning a name but Andrealphus can tell who it wants to mention.

  “And you couldn’t stay…” he whispers as he fills the gap. “What did Ouza said to your work?” he asks it with his eyes narrowed.

  “I did my job well…” it laughs once again as it crouches to look down at the ground with his hand. It wanted to inspect a worm there, but it disappeared as one of the witches snaps her finger. “Aha!” it says goofily, but in need to tempt her do something worst, as it looks up to her in excitement.

  “Inform Baal and the others,” Andrealphus says to the witch behind him; he didn’t fully turn to face her. “Tell them it is true and war just broke,” he adds, and he snaps his finger to turn her into a crawl and she flies away as he stands still, pressing his hand on his chest.

  ***

  “Make sure to send the girls out there in the woods, where I didn’t get to cover,” Milagros utters as she walks back into the wood to continue her search. They know how she always is, but they never saw her this determined over her visions.

  “It’s been a week since we start looking for these ladies,” Sara says, as she brushes her fingers thorough her thick bob cut black hair with her right hand’s fingers.

  All the black magic witches on earth have been gathering and ever since most of the good witches are warned in their dreams and visions, they are all coming together, and Milagros’s house seems to be the perfect place for times like this. Most of them use their power to offer the society cultural healing purposes and they hardly have to use their power but the knowledge they have; providing herbal medicines.

  She is the elder of them all and is always preparing the annual celebration of new moon night. Her house is out the city and far from any types of disturbance. If they should be concerned, they would be worried about young children’s curiosity but it’s not really much of a bother for them at all; their gathering seems quite of a big family gathering and it’s not new to have that type of gatherings in town.

  “I know I mentioned I am tired of working hair treatment for young brats, but trust me, I am getting more tired already,” Dana is always at her best, except these days. She isn’t that comfortable in taking these long walks in the woods; she is overweight and her long her that’s always loose is bothering her, as if it’s an instrument there in observing heat.

  “If you dress up properly and your hair…”

  “No, don’t even think about that…” she coughs and takes a moment as the others roll their eyes at her. “This is my instrument,” she adds. “I think I can take a moment; I need to catch my breath.” She sits on the stares to the porch.

  “You don’t have to do this,” Milagros says, as she clears a string off her face. She is sweating hard because of the sun that seems like it is struggling to melt them all down. “This is my obligation,” she says, as she starts her walk.

  “Okay,” Dana says to the growl-like stare she just gets from Sara.

  “You know we won’t leave you alone in this,” Sara says, following her. “You were there for us when we don’t know what to do with our nature.”

  “I am not a coward or something,” Dana takes over, following them both. “I am only a poor fat ass…”

  “Fat everything,” they both utter in a voice and they laugh.

  “Oh, okay, I am fat and that’s funny…” she utters playfully. “This is a gift,” she adds, pointing to her own body. “Many would kill for this,” she adds, making them laugh more.

  “Milagros!” another middle-aged woman runs to their direction in excitement.

  “Tessa,” Milagros whispers, as she presses her chest. She can feel she bares news, perhaps news she is hoping for.

  “We…”

  “You found them,” she whispers and Tessa nods. She looks quite a mess and as if they were digging.

  “Oh my!” Dana gasps a smile.

  “They need help…they…”

  “Water and towel,” Sara says, but doesn’t waste even a minute. She runs back to the house to get what she just mentioned.

  “Are you okay?” Dana holds Milagros, who is standing in shock, as if she just got hit by something so suddenly.

  “Yes,” she whispers once again. “You know what this means,” she says, as she looks up to Dana and back to Tessa.

  “Yes, but…” Tessa is not in the mood to speak properly with her heavy breathing. “We are preparing for this,” she says and coughs but turns on her heels to proceed back into the woods.

  “She’s right,” Dana says. “The day we fear is approaching but we shall embrace what we can’t escape.”

  “More like fight it,” she says, as they follow Tessa in equal speed.

  They don’t get that far to get to the spot Tessa leads them to. Other five girls are around and there is a tall lady already out and struggling to catch her breath. She looks extremely tired and has finished her energy. Her attention seems more into what the other five ladies are working on, as if she has left something quite important behind and is willing to go back no matter how tired she is.

  This was how she saw it in her vision; Milagros knew she would find them both, but she also knows what she fears the most is about to happen as well. She looks at her and at a muffled screaming coming from the left to where the lady is looking towards, she sees another lady pulled out from the ground; just as tired as the first one, but seeing her seems a relief for the other women that she passed out on the ground just like that. It’s all like a deja vu. She shakes her head to what she is looking at, in hope to blend the situation in her mind.

  “I got her,” Milagros says, running to Abebi, who just passed out, after confirming Zhai is out.

  “Here,” Sara hands her water and towel and walks to Zhai’s body. The ladies are working hard to resuscitate her. “Will she make it?” she asks, but before anyone answers anything, she gasps air in as she wakes up to their shock at the same time with Abebi, who did the same thing as Milagros touched her with water on a towel.

  ***

  Days have passed since I have left the hospital and I keep playing everything that has been happening to me, like a movie in my mind. Nothing is going easy on me and things feels like it just started, and it will take like forever to end.


  We are trying our best to never speak a word about what happened to me but I take time talking with Mum at night; truth is, I am not honest with her and she can tell, but every night after a scream of a nightmare, she will come to my room and we will talk until sunrise. Dad is still not understanding to the why I have decided to keep this life in me. After all, I don’t know either, but I just couldn’t get rid of it as well…for that matter, I am not even sure if I am ready to love it. I always thinks about giving it up, but then I can feel it, in my heart that I can’t.

  I am getting attached to it and I fear I might not give it up. I can’t even take my hands off my belly and I smile for every kick and movement I feel, but I am struggling to not love something I am already loving. In the first place, I am holding on to it and yet still pretending as if I don’t want it, I don’t even know what for.

  “We’re here,” Mum says, as she stops her car in a rich neighbourhood. Tilting my head to the right, I look at her quizzically as I smile. “I have to admit that this is something I was supposed to do long ago,” she says, smiling.

  “I hope you’re not seeing someone; I can tell you and Dad are getting way better,” I smile as I open the door to my seat, but she holds my left hand with her right and looks into my eyes as I turn to see her. I can tell she is sad but grateful.

  “This person helped us in ways,” she says a little hesitant and I frown. “I mean by the time we lost you, she gave me all the hope I was looking for to wait for you.”

  “Someone other than the Sergeant,” I smile. “She,” I nod, playfully. “I guess she helped you look for me,” I add quietly, as a closing sentence to my thought that just make both of us breathe a smile.

  “I wasn’t willing to get you registered…” she couldn’t complete her sentence and in the way of telling her that I understand her, I press my hand on hers and smile. This is something Dad keep mentioning every time the conversation started about the times I was missing; peoples would come over home to check on us for the conversation to start and Dad would tell me how stubborn she was for not believing that I would be dead, the fights they got into and many things.

  “I know, I heard the story a million times,” I roll my eyes, smiling. “I just don’t understand why you don’t want Dad not to know about our visit here,” I shake my head and arched my forehead at her.

  “I mentioned she gave us hope,” she says and lets my hand go as she sits straight. “She told us you would come back home,” she says quietly, and I frown. “She is…”

  “A spiritual guide?” I am not even sure while I am asking her. It’s unbelievable they came this far, it’s more unbelievable that Dad come this far.

  “Something like that,” she says sadly. “It was anyway hard to find her after that day and now I managed to find her over the phone we choose this time, her husband won’t be around,” she says. I load my chest with air, a bit shocked. “And your father loves to respect his wish dearly.”

  “Okay,” I utter, breaking the momentarily awkward air. “Um, so I would love to meet her and thank her as well.” I look to her direction. She is stressed and her arms stretched on the wheel.

  “Okay,” she breathes a smile.

  “Okay,” I smile, nodding as well. We both left the car and start towards the main gate.

  From the neighbourhood, I can tell its level up area; quiet and with modern and beautiful houses lined up well. My family’s living area is quite different than this one; we have to walk through chaos to reach to our home. There’s small market by the main road, you would face sordid types of road because of the fruits everywhere and we would walk into a cobblestone and we would bump into children running or neighbours who would pull to kiss you; by the time you’re at home, there will still be neighbours making coffee and laughter louder, you be welcomed… It’s different here; its quiet and classy, it reminds me of life back at home; not that we’re classy but our neighbourhood is quiet.

  Middle aged men opened the door for Mum and we walked in, one after the other. The compound of the house is beautiful and refreshing. I like it here, but I can tell it requires quite an investment to own a property here. I press a smile to Mum, who just turned around to look at me and my eyes focuses past her to the woman standing on the porch. She looks excited to the point that seems like she is about to blow into smaller particles. Her hands on the handrail as her arms stretches her up. I can’t forget her chubby cheeks, those small round lips, the eyes, her long hair and that look; how can I ever forget her? This is even better proof for me to be sure to how real what happened to me is.

  I simply drop my purse in my hand to the ground, and gasp, looking at her and she presses a smile that is halfway to being proud, halfway to sadness, halfway to happiness and halfway welcoming. We can both read and understand each other with no words exchanged; I can tell she is being treated like she has lost her mind, just as I am mistaken; I can tell she is having a hard time to understand to what exactly happened, just like I. I can feel her as much as I can understand she feels me as well. I just can’t take my eyes off her and so does she. It’s like finding that one person who can understand and feel everything that I passed through; she is the one and only person who will believe me, the only person who can understand me.

  “Are you okay, honey?” Mum walks back to me, confused, and picks my purse up from the ground.

  “The intruder,” I whisper, feeing like crying out loud and surface my entire pain. I feel like this is my right in this very place, since I will be heard and get the proper help I am looking for. After all, we followed her path; I am able to get home. Does this mean Zhai and Abebi will get home too, or does this mean they might be safe?

  We are both holding hands as we are sitting on a two-person seat sofa; staring into each other’s eyes and we still don’t exchange words at all. Mum is sitting on a single seat sofa placed right before the sofa we are on. I can feel Mum feeling a bit awkward since she keeps clearing her throat over and over again.

  “I…um…” I hear Mum’s voice but I still couldn’t turn around and look at her. “I will use the rest room,” she whispers, after clearing her throat. I can hear her walk and stop for a moment. “Metsedaja bet…” I heard her whispering and then she proceeds on her steps while I hear a step in flipflops. Perhaps a person she asked is leading the way.

  “Anchi,” she whispers in Amharic. I nod to her word; it means, ‘you’, though I don’t know what she meant; I don’t know if she means if I am back, if I understood her or if she meant if it really is me. She looks down at me and touches my belly and I suddenly couldn’t control my tears any longer.

  “I’m alone,” I utter in bad Amharic.

  “I am tired of seeing,” she says, and I don’t know what she meant by that. Perhaps I have mistaken her Amharic to what she meant to say to me. “I can see everything,” she adds to clear it for my perception. “Eyemetulish new, tifi,” I think she just said that they are coming for me and I should run away.

  “Mannew?” I ask her, who she is talking about, who is coming for me?

  “All of them,” she says but starts crying. “You are God’s plan, but you should be saved,” she adds, and I frown even deeper. I don’t know what she means. “Protect your child,” she adds, and I hold my belly as she once again touches me with both her hands. I am trying my best to stay focused, listening to her good Amharic or I would avoid any chance to miss a point.

  “My friends,” I shake my head, since I use English. “Guadognoche, Zhal and Abebi…”

  “Denanachew,” I smile in relief and happiness. She just confirms to me that they are fine. “Go! Run!” she says, and I stand.

  “What is going on?” Mum asks. I can tell she is in shock. I think she was here long enough to hear our last conversation about the friends they all thought I was making up.

  “She will be taken, but she must find her friends,” the women stand as she speaks to Mum. I can’t go back, and I can’t stay longer as well, I simply speed out the house, an
d moment after, Mum follows me, and we steer to our way home. No words are exchanged, we stay quite throughout the entire drive.

  Just as we reach to our neighbourhood, she stops her car and we take a moment to breathe. I slowly turn to see her only to find her still; her hands on the steering wheel, her eyes still fixed on the road ahead of us, more like the car that’s parked before us, her lips shaking and her eyes watery. She still hasn’t fully recovered from losing me; after all, I come with nightmare and a story hard for her to believe. Even worst is the fact that Dad will never accept that I am carrying a child that belonged to a…broken angel…whatever he is.

  “I…” I utter but got interrupted with her outrageous screaming as she hits the wheel while crying. Muffling my mouth behind my hands, I take the moment to cry in as hard as I can.

  “Please, stop,” she says as she calms down. She takes me in her arms and allows me to cry. “I…we didn’t give you the time to cry. I didn’t give you a chance to tell me the truth. I am so sorry.” We both sobs. We take our time for a while. “I didn’t believe you.”

  “What am I to do now?” I whisper as we calm down.

  “Tell me everything and I will listen to you,” she says, looking at me with her eyes filled with tears once again.

  ***

  “War has broken!” Sara says as she wakes up from her astral travel. She looks worked up and soaked from her own sweat. It would make sense to say that it’s warm and she is laying near the fireplace but it’s too obvious that she was struggling to escape her astral travel to get back.

  “What’s going on?” Milagros asks her, frowning in concern.

  “They are fighting with someone and the tree of path is on fire.” Not to mention, most demons are making their ways through it. The seven ladies waiting for her waking as they have assisted her to travel murmurs in shock. They were waiting for this day, but they didn’t expect it to be this soon.

  “Man is easily tempted,” Dana says, shaking her head sadly.