Tokoloshe: When you hear the drums, it's already too late!

by Botha, Johan

  “Beth, I know this sounds crazy, but this whole thing…” he shook his head and added quickly, “but, when Juanita fell…I heard drums, Beth.” He stated. “I heard drums and I saw a flash of light, and the way she fell, Beth…it wasn’t… right.”

  “Peter…are you saying?” Beth asked, voice shaking…Was he blaming the Tokoloshe for Juanita’s death? Could it be true?

  “I know! It’s insane right? But look at what is happening around us? Look at what is happening here on this mountain! It’s ALL insane Beth! When did it start?” Peter said, his voice elevated.

  “I can’t believe it! So all this was happening even before the shooting of that… thing?! Oh my God Peter…” Beth said slowly, feeling a deep emotion for Peter and the loss he had to bear.

  They both sat staring at the fire, Beth absorbing this new information. The Tokoloshe took Juanita from the mountainside. It had to be true. Peter and Juanita were both good climbers…the accident had been unexplainable.

  Beth felt sick. The anticipation was killing her.

  “What’s taking so long? You’d think something would have happened by now…,” Beth said, poking at the fire with a stick, clearly anxious. She kept her voice low so they could listen for John and Peens in the field.

  “I don’t know, Beth, this whole thing is exhausting.” Peter confided. “I know we should be grateful things are quiet, maybe it’s all over,” he glanced at her hopefully, “but, I know,…it’s coming… it’s not over.”

  “This thing, started a long time ago, maybe before even Juanita’s death. I mean, why? Beth,” he looked at her, “Why would they take her and not me? There’s got to be more… its more than me shooting that creature, more than Juanita, it goes back even farther… as if all of this was pre-ordained…” his thoughts wandered.

  “Oh, Peter…” Beth took his hand and look at him worriedly. “If this is what you think it is… this might be our last night on this earth.” Beth hesitated and chuckled nervously at the thought. Peter’s eyes glowed warmly in the dying firelight.

  “God, Peter…” she lowered her head, “I feel like I have to tell you this…. and I am really scared… to say it…” she stuttered, breathing hard. “I know this is probably not the right time…but we are running out of time, Peter… aren’t we?” Beth said awkwardly.

  “What? What is it?” Peter jumped in, asking nervously.

  “Jesus, Peter… why do you have to make this so hard for me…” she looked up quickly, “ do you Not Know that I love you?” a tear fell onto her arm and caught the light of the moon as it did.

  Peter blinked twice, taken aback.

  “I know,” Beth continued quickly, “I know you love Juanita, I know it’s too soon, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have even told you, but, I don’t want to die tonight, Peter, without telling you. You don’t have to love me back, the same way, but you have to know…” she babbled, trying to cover her nervousness.

  “You do? Never! I didn’t know! Oh, Beth …” he grabbed her face and turned it upwards towards his own, willing her to meet his eyes. “How could you? Look at me? I’m a loser… I have always been… not good enough for you Beth… look at YOU! I always wanted you, but, I didn’t ever want to hold you back… you were so talented, you ARE so talented… I thought for sure you’d leave the kraal …” his voice dropped, and now it was he who avoided Beth’s gaze.

  “Oh, Peter, you are a good man… and always have been.” She knelt in front of him, in the dirt in front of the fire and kissed him gently, knowing that his heart was still healing.

  He kissed her back, tears rolling down his face slowly, as he thought of the lost time, the lost journey, the lost adventure. He wondered how his life may have been different if he had known of Beth’s love long before now…

  This kiss felt right, in a way it never felt with Juanita. It felt like everything comfortable and calm and peaceful and strong and good and unconditional. Peter pulled away from the soft kiss to look into Beth’s questioning and worried eyes.

  “I understand now…I get it, finally. I’m so sorry it took THIS.” Peter said, cupping Beth’s face in his hands as she leaned in between his knees. He smiled “I think I’ve always loved you too, Bee.” he confirmed, using his childhood nickname for her. “Thank you for waiting for me…” he continued, deepening the kiss.

  Beth kissed him back, happily, understanding that this passion may be fleeting, afraid that he would change his mind, that it was the eerie night that brought him out of his 15 year fog and into her arms, but she enjoyed feeling his hands in her hair. A moan of delight grew within her as his tongue danced within her mouth.

  Peter pulled Beth up to a standing position as he stood, and locked her in an embrace that was unbreakable. His passion built as she responded to his kiss and he ran his arms down around her back, pulling her lower body to his growing arousal.

  It was if it all the emotions from the past 3 months came crashing forward. Grief and gratitude, fear and adrenaline, passion and empathy, excitement for the future and a final willingness to put the past away expressed in a passionate kiss.

  One hand reached back up to her hair, to hold her head in place as he kissed her hard, again, moaning at the release of pent up emotion and energy. He took her breath away, and when she turned her head to gasp, he bent his head to kiss her neck, and hold her tighter still.

  Beth loved the feeling of being in his arms. At last, his strong embrace wrapped her up, she felt both safe and captive, held a passionate prisoner, and she couldn’t get enough.

  “God… Beth…” Peter moaned against her ear…

  Beth grew wet with desire, and as Peter ran his hand over her ass, and pulled her closer, a low aching sound started at the bottom of her throat.

  “This is not the place…” Beth said softly, remembering they were standing in the jungle next to a dying fire.

  “You are right, your tent or mine,” Peter joked as he begrudgingly let her go.

  “Whew,” Beth chuckled, “Wow. I’m going to wash my face in the river...be right back…” Peter held her hand as she stumbled away.

  Peter sat down with a THUMP on the log. Trying to catch his own breath and will the hard-on in his shorts to a more manageable size. Wow is right, he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and relived the last few moments, Wow.

  Beth walked the short 20 yards down the path to the river and leaned forward to splash her hands in the water. She really just wanted a chance to catch her breath and think about what was happening or would it allow them to grow? Was Peter ready for this? Would he regret it, afterwards? Would it ruin their relationship? Beth gazed into her own reflection in the river, watching the way the moonlight created a halo behind her head. Her eyes were unblinking as she looked into the smooth glass of the water, imaging the league of Ancients gathering behind her…they almost seemed real…coming closer…

  Chapter 17

  Big John and Peens emerged from the bushes, looking puzzled.

  “We didn’t see a damn thing!” Peens seemed frustrated.

  “Nothing?” Peter asked, getting up from the log he was sitting on.

  “Not even a little shit pile.” Big John said and sat down near the fire. He had an uneasy feeling that things were not as tranquil as they seemed. He feared that as the night wore on, the darkness would come closer and consume them all.

  “We’ll get it, don’t you worry.” Peter was confident that they would be successful. With what happened between him and Beth a few moments ago, it felt like he could conquer the whole world!

  “By just smoking it out of this place when we see it? It seems a bit too easy don’t you think?” Peens said.

  “Yes, if you put it that way, it seems too easy. A Tokoloshe is an unnatural being, a dark spirit that fucks with your brain. You have to be strong within yourself to be able to resist the temptations the Tokoloshe will bring over you. If you can do that, we stand a chance of getting rid of it.” Big John stood up and addressed Peens and Peter. “Once
one of us sees the Tokoloshe, you must resist the urge of the images it wants to plant in your brain,” he pointed to his head. “

  “By resisting it, you are taking away its power. When its power is taken, make sure that you have something you can stick into the fire and point it straight at the Tokoloshe.” Big John took a long stick lying near him and put the end of it into the flames for a few moments. When he withdrew the stick, flames crackled into the night and made dancing shadows with the smoke around it. He pointed it into a random direction and slashed the air, sending pieces of flaming debris into the darkness.

  Peens jolted at the sight and stood up. “You mean, we gotta actually kill it with fire?”

  “Yes, that was the plan from the very beginning Peens.” Big John said, frowning.

  “Shit man, how will I know if this thing is fucking with my brain or not?”

  “You’ll know.” Big John assured Peens, plopping down on the warmed earth near the fire.

  “Hey, where’s Beth?” Peens asked, looking around the camp.

  “She’s down by the river, washing her face or something. She shoulda been back by …” Peter said with a little grin on his face. It was only a moment before the grin left his face replaced by a look of terror. “Oh no, no, no…”

  All in union, Peter, Peens and Big John started running towards the river.

  ****

  The water seemed clear, unnaturally clear. She dipped her hands in, lifting it to her face and splashing it over her closed eyes. The water felt good, refreshing after the heat of Peter’s body, his face, his lips…

  She dipped her hands again, letting the water run over her arms as she lifted them towards the moon. She closed her eyes, she felt light-headed, care-free, younger.

  She reached down again, into the water, and somehow into the past, it seemed. As her hands broke the glassy surface she seemed to gaze into a vaguely familiar place, she could barely make it out. She leaned closer to the water’s surface.

  Beth bent lower still, her nose almost touching the surface of the water. Then she saw it. She felt as though a veil had been lifted from her eyes. Her mouth opened with a stifled scream. She was 16 years old.

  Just below the surface, a baby, about five or six months lay tangled in pink sheets. The baby was crying.

  She saw the whole scene, as if she were removed from her body, viewing it from the ceiling. She could see the clean room, neatly decorated with love. There she was, her younger self – lying in her narrow bed – but there was something wrong, and her face was filled with terror. Her eyes were wide and staring at the crying baby – but she would not move. Beth screamed at her to get up, but the girl in the water remained fixed.

  The memories seemed to come back to her as she watched them replay below the surface of the moonlit river. She felt the terror that her younger self felt when she saw the candle falling over in her room and engulfing the curtains in flames.

  Beth convulsed in agony as she watched the scene play out below her, yet she could not look away. She watched her younger-self try to jump up and rescue her daughter, but she was paralyzed, as if something was with her in the room that night, something that held her feet and arms, clamped to the bed, forcing her to remain motionless. Her parents had sent her away to have the baby, and she was still living at her aunts… were they holding her? Beth remembered thinking that at the time, now; looking thru the water she thought she saw a creature lurking there under her bed…

  Beth shrieked as she recognized the Tokoloshe in the room under the water’s surface. NO, it can’t be true!

  Beth continued to watch her younger self lay there, struggling to free herself, while watching the infant burn, screaming in an unearthly way. Her own screaming was the only thing that drowned out that noise, and it wouldn’t stop, till her lungs filled with smoke.

  Beth had always had a gnawing feeling that something was missing, but through the years, she had completely blocked out the memories of that fatal night. She was so young, so far from an adult that it seemed nearly impossible for her to ever think of anything else. But now, all the fear and guilt of what happened washed over her like a tidal wave. The memory of it was too much to bear. She retched in the water.

  The vision of the past continued, Beth was not so easily released from her tortuous hallucination. She stumbled to her feet by her eyes remained stuck to the mirror-like surface of the lake around her. Soon her ears were ringing from the screams of the past, once again paralyzing her from all movement and relief.

  The screaming transported her back to the nursery. It wouldn’t stop and consumed every inch of her ears, planting itself so deep in her brain that she felt she could burst from it. She tried to reach out to her Stacy girl, but no matter how hard she tried, something – the Tokoloshe, kept her hand pinned at her side. The flames ran cradle now and across the room. Beth yelled with all her might but knew that it was too late. The flames would soon be right at her own feet and she was ready for the pain to still what she had just seen.

  They dragged her from the burning home, the home of her Aunt and Uncle, everyone else safe except her own infant daughter. Stacy. She begged her family to kill her; she tried to crawl back into the burning wreckage of the home, back to the splintered and charred crib. The firefighters had to sedate her to keep her from leaping back into the flames.

  Eventually she woke up on a straw bed, with a painted face staring down at her. “Lala.” The face had said. “You do not need to remember. Seeing such a thing at your age will only haunt you for the rest of your life. Must I make you forget? Forget that horrible fire and what happened?”

  Before Beth could answer, she felt a sweet calmness fall over her as the Sangoma weaved her hands close to Beth’s eyes.

  Beth watch the whole scene play out before her – seeing the Tokoloshe steal her infant daughter from her life, and try to destroy her younger-self entirely. Had it not been for the grace of the Sangoma taking away her pain, she would not have made it.

  But now… the pain was compounded, and the image of Stacy’s infant body remained in front of her eyes, just out of reach, in the water, calling for her mommy.

  Peens, Big John and Peter run to the water’s edge and they immediately spot Beth standing at the river’s edge. She is staring to a spot in the water. Her arms outstretched, her face twisted in anguish.

  Drums could be heard in the distance…a faint throbbing, like a heartbeat, but drums, certainly…

  “Fuck. It’s here.” Peter could not think of anything else to say as he stared wide eyed at what loomed over the water; a darkness he would have never thought of or even dreamed of.

  Dumdum dum dum dumdum, the sound throbbed on.

  “Shit man! We are all gonna die here! This was a Bad idea!” Peens was losing it as the sheer fear took over.

  “Keep it together Peens!” Big John shouted. “Remember what I said! Get something to make a fire with! Fight it with fire Peens!”

  The Guardian was silent a few moments ago, but now the sound of drums were all around and getting nearer. An unnatural force was at work and clouded the mountain with a dark fog, hiding what was going on.

  Dumdum dum dum…

  Peens turned and started running towards the camp where the fire was still smoldering. His mind raced faster than his feet, I can do this, we can do this, this isn’t really happening, what’s wrong with Beth, why is it so dark, unbelievably dark…

  He could sense something following him, gaining on him as he ran. The leaves from the bushes that surrounded him slapped him in the face with their wet sharpness, making his way slower and tiresome. His eyes darted left and right as he quickly made his way back to the safety of the campfire. Gotta get a torch, gonna beat this thing, this murderous monster, it’s just a thing, we can do this…Peens cheered himself on to push his own weight through the tangled underbrush on the path.

  He could hear the harsh breathing behind him and the beat of the drums all around him. He turned to look back; he saw nothing
behind him but the pitch blackness that blocked out the jungle that closed in behind him. He tried to open his eyes wider, to make out the brighter sky near the river, John or Peter, but saw nothing. The terror in him grew. He knew he was alone now in his battle and he had to find the campfire.

  A sharp pain on his calf made him stumble and he nearly lost his balance. First an icy feeling, then hot and torn. He reached down instinctively and felt the ragged edge of his skin and the meat underneath. Blood trickled into his shoe and made a sloshing sound as he kept running.

  “Fuck, I don’t want to die now! Please, I don’t want to die!” Peens begged to whoever might listen. He had never been so scared in his entire life! He pushed on, making ready for the fight. He knew it was on now.