A World of Vampires: Volume 2

by Dani Hoots

  But that good time wouldn’t last that long,that was for sure.

  The screams of a young girl pierced through the music. At first I had no idea where the noise was coming from until I saw the little girl herself from afar. Everything stopped dancing and only her screams filled the air.

  A little girl dressed in a purple dress came running to where everyone was dancing. Tears were running down her face as she screeched. “Na! Papa!”

  A man and woman went running to the child and they exchanged words that I didn’t quite understand. It had to of been the Akan language. I turned to Thomas who had a grim look on his face. He had understood without hearing their words just what they were discussing.

  “What is it? What are they saying?” I asked.

  His eyes didn’t leave the family. “Her brother has gone missing. They were in the jungle and she said some creature got him.”

  I gasped. “Like a big cat or something?”

  He didn’t say anything further but kept attentively listening to their frantic conversation. A few other people joined them and they pointed out towards the jungle and grabbed torches. They were going to go search for the boy, even in this dark night. Were they not scared of whatever creature was out there? I suppose if it was my family I would do anything I could to try and get them out from wherever they were in peril.

  “Adofo,” Thomas called out and hurried to the group. “I will join the search. Let me know what you want me to do.”

  “And me,” I said, stepping up to them. Even though he had told me it was dangerous and to notgo inside the jungle at any time, he had gone ahead and volunteered himself to help search. I didn’t understand his logic behind that, but I knew that I didn’t want him to face that danger alone. I had to help.

  Thomas shook his head. I had never seen him so serious, nor had I ever seen him exclude me in anything. “No, whatever is out there is dangerous. I promised your family I would keep you safe.”

  “The only way to keep me safe is to keep an eye on me,” I said, knowing it would work to get him to let me see what this creature was and to help the poor family. “Besides, if it is dangerous for me, then it is dangerous for you and I can’t allow that. I will come with you and help.”

  He frowned and at first I thought my reasoning hadn’t worked on him, but he finally nodded. “Fine. But keep close to me at all times.”

  “I will,” I said as I handed Thomas a torch and clung to him as we started into the jungle.

  The jungle was darker than I had ever imagined it would be.

  Sure we had torches, but those torches didn’t light up all the darkness that surrounded us. Nocturnal birds and creatures sounded all around us: screeches, howling, and twigs snapping as large animals moved around. I began to wish I had stayed behind. But there was a lost child out here and I wanted to help find him. Although not everyone was entirely welcoming in the beginning, I still felt obligated to help. It was the least I could do for the people who did welcome us with open arms, even though I felt that some people glared at us as we came to help them search. Did they blame us even though we had nothing to do with the missing child? Or did they just have that much inherited animosity towards white people that they couldn’t stand to look at us? I didn’t blame them, though, especially after having been under British control and being told what they were supposed to do. So their wariness didn’t bother me too much, but I still would play it safe and stay close to those who were welcoming. I didn’t want to start anything.

  I stayed close to Thomas, as I had promised. He was breathing slowly, calmly, and taking a look all around him. It was as if this had all happened before to him. He had warned me about this jungle and I began to worry what happened ten years ago and felt as if he wasn’t telling me something. But this wasn’t the place to interrogate him, not in the middle of the jungle with so many people frantically milling around us. I would talk to him when we got back to the house. He wanted to keep me safe, and then he needed to tell me the truth.

  The parents called out the boy’s name. “Berko! Berko!”

  The mother appeared as if she was going to fall down in tears, but she kept going forward, hoping her boy was alright. The sister had made it out safe; it was possible that the boy did too.

  “Why would they venture into the jungle like this? It is so dark,” I whispered to Thomas.

  “It probably wasn’t dark when they came out here, but they should have known not to come out here in the first place. They probably got lost and couldn’t find their way back when they were attacked.”

  “Attacked by what?” I asked.

  He didn’t say anything and before I could ask again, a shriek from the mother confirmed that the boy had indeed been attacked. When I saw the body, I quickly turned and buried my face into Thomas’ chest. He wrapped his arm around me and kept me from looking again. I had seen many dead bodies before, being an anthropologist and having studied the human body many times, but this was more than I could take. The child was in shreds, limbs had been ripped away and claw and teeth marks covered the boy’s skin, leaking out deep crimson onto the jungle floor. His eyes were still open, looking up in horror at whatever had killed him. Still no one said what it was, at least not in English. I heard some say something about along the lines of alasonson or asanbosam or something of the like. I had no idea what that word meant but it had to of been what did this to that child. His poor little face would never leave my mind now.

  Some members of the search party stayed to bring back the boy’s body, while another group comforted the family. We left them alone, being outsiders and not knowing them that well. I felt horrible, almost sick, as we made it back to our lodgings. I had seen death many times, but never as fresh as that. Most of the people I had seen had died centuries before and would be dead either way. I had lost my grandfather when I was young, but this was much different. He went in peace, this was anything but peaceful. Not only that, but the child had his whole life in front of him. I sat on the cushions on the floor and stared out into nothing.

  Thomas sat down next to me. “It’s okay, stuff like this happens sometimes. Kids aren’t careful enough and they wander out into the jungle when they shouldn’t. Adults know better and I will make sure nothing like that happens to us, okay?”

  I nodded but didn’t say anything. I knew what he was saying, but I still couldn’t help feeling sorry for the parents. No one should lose a child like that.

  “What could have done something like that? The wounds appeared deeper than what a jaguar could do. It looked almost... Like a knife. You don’t think—” I began.

  “No, it wasn’t of human origin. There are many creatures in the jungle, which is why I was saying we should stay out of it. You would be surprised how much damage a big cat can do.”

  I shook my head. “But wouldn’t it have kept the body if that were the case? For food? I didn’t think animals left...”

  “Don’t think about it too much, you will make yourself sick. Now go get some sleep, tomorrow we will be interviewing people about the festival. Work starts tomorrow.”

  I started to stand up, when I remembered the word I had heard. “Asanbosam. That was a word I heard the people saying. What does it mean?”

  Thomas looked as if his skin turned pale, but it could have just been the dim lighting from the candles. His eyes softened into a smile. “It’s just a legend of a creature that haunts the jungle. It’s nothing to worry about, it’s not real. It was just an animal attack. Now, please,” he ran his hand over my hair. “Go get some sleep.”

  He did that on purpose, so I would get distracted by him and stop asking any further questions of him. But he was right, I should get some sleep. I wanted to know why, though, he was keeping something from me, something about that jungle. What exactly was an asanbosam? And why were the people so afraid of it?

  We took surveys on the next day about the people’s experience with the festival and detailed notes of the activities going on that they recounted. Th
e family of the boy that had been killed didn’t participate in the festival any longer, as they were getting ready for burial arrangements. I thought about trying to help, but I didn’t quite know anything about their customs and knew it was more of a family matter than anything. I still felt guilty, as if I could have done something more, but also was curious as to what could have done such a thing. Most of the people didn’t speak English so I couldn’t really ask anyone around me and Thomas ignored any of my questions. I could have asked Adofo but I worried that he would tell Thomas I was asking him about the jungle and Thomas would then get irritated with me. So I would wait it out and see if I could piece together information all on my own.

  Today was the second day of the festival; therefore, they offered yams to the burial ground where ancient ancestors were laid to rest. It was a colorful ceremony, more than the day before which had surprised me greatly. I found the similarities that this festival had to the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico and some rituals in old Celtic England very interesting, in that they sacrificed part of the harvest to the ancestors for good luck in the New Year. I guess the closest thing we had was Halloween, but that somehow got warped along the way.

  I thought about asking Thomas if we should visit the family that had lost their child, but I didn’t think that would be a good idea, even though it could give us some insight into how their culture viewed death. I don’t think I would have been able to ask them any questions, having seen firsthand what they had seen, and it just wasn’t in my nature to not get attached emotionally to the suffering of others around me. I would wait and talk to them later, when I felt up to it...

  Thomas had said we would be here for at least four weeks, maybe more depending on the pacing of our work, and then we’d return back to England. It was barely a day since we had gotten here and I felt like it had already been such a long time since I had seen the city of London, though that could have been due to the long plane ride here. It wasn’t that I was homesick, but after seeing the parents of the boy last night, I wondered how much my own parents were worrying about me at this moment. They trusted Thomas enough, even they would make comments all the time. For some reason, though, this made me feel a little better at the moment.

  I did miss my sister Katherine, however. Especially since she was the only one I could talk openly to. I wished there was a way she could have been here with me, but I knew that could never happen. I just hoped all was fine for her, and the girl she was with. I prayed to God that no one would find out, during my time away from her, since I couldn’t be with her if our parents chastised her. My promise to her was that my door was always open, just in case.

  Once the ritual was over and I finished taking notes and surveys for the day, I felt completely wiped out. As for Thomas, he seemed to still have a lot of energy left over, as if the type of detached observation needed for the field of Anthropology gave him more life than ever before. We had taken surveys in London and Ireland, but I had never seen him this giddy while working.

  He saw me staring at him as he was talking to a group of kids and then walked over to me as they ran off to play a game. “What is it? Why are you smiling?”

  I laughed and shook my head. “It’s just that you seem to be full of energy today. I’m still tired from our travels.”

  Gesturing all around him, “we are in a far off land, how are you not excited? I can’t sit still knowing that there is so much more of the area to explore.”

  “What about the jungle, could we maybe explore that for ourselves? And figure out what exactly happened?”

  For a moment, he looked almost frightened. He glanced over to where we had gone into the jungle the night before. “I already said, it’s dangerous out there. And it was a large cat attack, it happens all the time here,” he stopped, as if a memory were suddenly coming back to him.

  “What is in that forest that you aren’t telling me about?” I asked. “You acted the same way last night about going out there. Are you afraid of the wild beasts that are out there? Or is there something else going on?”

  Thomas shook his head. “There isn’t anything else, there can’t be. Some people say that there is a creature that lives in the forest that is evil, like a demon. But it can’t be true, things like that don’t exist.”

  “Then why are you so afraid?” I whispered.

  He let out a sigh. “I’m not afraid. It’s just, last time I was here some people went missing in the jungle, again at night, and the people of the village here told me some stories. They aren’t true, they can’t be true, but one can’t help but wonder.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Folklore stories? That’s what this is about? A story of a demon has you frightened?”

  He laughed. “I know, it’s silly, I shouldn’t be worried. But even so, I think we should stay away from the jungle. Something did attack that poor child and I don’t think I would be able to handle it if anything happened to you. Besides, we both know all folklore comes from something emotionally true and these people believe in a lot supernatural things, such as spirits and the like. Strange and unexplained scary things have happened here.”

  He had altered the conversation yet again. He seemed to have done that a few times now, changing the subject so I wouldn’t press him any further about his past experiences with these strange deaths that occurred because of this shadowy creature that lurked in the jungle. It only seemed to be about the jungle though, and the mysterious entities that dwelled there. Oddly enough, he didn’t seem to have worried about coming here, otherwise why would he have returned here? He must not have believed the stories from the last time he was here, but the child dying made him fear that maybe they were true. It was strange to think about, demons like that didn’t exist, but animals did. I knew the risk coming out here with so many wild beasts surrounding us. I decided that I would take his advice, though, and stay away as well, but I couldn’t help to wonder what was really out there.

  Darkness finally fell and people danced and sang around the fire once more. I couldn’t believe my eyes as to all the people that celebrated this holiday, even after the events from the night before. I supposed it was because the events couldn’t be cancelled or postponed, and that people would face the grim facts after the light-spirited events. Had there been other attacks around this same holiday, at around the same time? I probably shouldn’t fret too much about it, but instead try to fully participate in another round of festive fun.

  As with last night, I got to experience more of the cuisine of the area and more of that palm wine. It was a lot better tasting than the other stuff I had tried already and I felt like it didn’t affect my mind at all, which could prove very dangerous if I kept drinking beyond what I could reasonably handle. One reason I liked Scotch, it didn’t hide its effects, it wasn’t sneaky like some alcoholic beverages proved to be. It all seemed like the perfect metaphor for what happened last night, in that much like sneaky alcoholic beverages, that attack occurred without any warning right in the middle of a period of high spirits.

  As for Thomas, he seemed to be drinking as much as he could manage. Whether or not it was to ease his anxiety over my safety, or if it was because this is what he normally did, I don’t know. I just knew I would have to keep a close watch on him and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid, not that I thought he would. It was just in case something went awry.

  He grabbed my hands. “Come on, let’s dance.”

  I shook my head. “No, I’m not feeling it tonight. Go ahead and have fun, I will stay here and watch.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing, just a little bit of a stomach ache and head ache. I am fine, really. Go on and have fun.”

  Thomas brought my fingers to his lips and kissed them softly. “Feel better, none of this is fun if you can’t join me.”

  He gave me a half smile and went off to the fire to dance. My heart was beating quickly, surprised at what just happened. He must have drunk a lot to be that loose, but I thought about
all the times we had gone out to the pubs. He had drunk the same amount there and never acted this way. Did he actually have feelings for me? Was my sister right?

  I watched as he clapped and spun around, stumbling every once in a while. I laughed as he made a fool of himself but none of the people seemed to mind, they found him entertaining. A lot of them had gotten to know him ten years ago when he had first visited the area. This journey had been one to strengthen his research about the region so that he could write it up and publish it as a reputable essay. He had worked hard to get to where he was at in the academic world and I hoped that one day I could do the same. Maybe even together.

  I pondered on what he must have been like ten years ago, what he was like in his thirties. He still would have been five years older than I, but I couldn’t help imagining how handsome he must have been around that time. Although he was still rather handsome now...

  Taking my eyes off of him for just a second, I got rid of those thoughts in my head. He was my mentor and I didn’t want to ruin our strong friendship. I glanced over to the jungle. Something was moving around, I could see limbs and bushes moving.

  Did I see glowing yellow eyes?

  I stared out there for a while. No one seemed to notice the eyes that watched us. Without thought of what I was doing, I instinctively stood up and started walking towards the eyes in the jungle. There were eight eyes, it had seemed. Maybe everything was blurry. It was almost like I was in a trance, I could hear a voice calling me. It didn’t say any recognizable things, but I knew that it wanted me to come to it, that it needed me to come to the jungle. I didn’t know what I was doing but my body took one step in front of the other and before I knew it, I was in the dark jungle.

  What I was doing in the jungle, I didn’t know. I blinked, as if waking up from some kind of bad dream, and found myself in complete darkness. I tried to turn back to the village but I had no idea as to which way it was. I could still hear the drums in the distance, but the sound was bouncing off all the trees in every direction, making it seem that the sound was coming from every direction around me. I couldn’t tell which way was which and I began to panic. What was the best thing to do in a situation like this, I wondered, what can I do?