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

by Botha, Johan

  As he reached the camp, he grabbed the first piece of wood he could find and stuck it straight into the fire. Instantly, the flames lit the sky as it made its new home in the wood. Peens swung around and slashed the air with the flaming wood and shouted, “Fuck off, you bugger! Leave us alone!”

  Another sharp pain shot through his thigh and Peens screamed out in pain. “Fuck! Help!”

  Peens looked down at the gash at his leg and nearly passed out at the sight. The skin on his leg was hanging off in a thick slice, like someone was carving a ham on a Sunday. He reached down to pull it back into place, but the pain was nauseating and he nearly passed out. The slab of Peens slowly folded back off his bone and pulled on his remaining skin painfully.

  Fear gripping his sanity, he started burning nearby bushes with the flames. The grass was dry this time of year and caught alight instantly.

  “Yeah, that’s right, have some for yourself then!” Peens gave a chuckle as his sanity began to slip from the excruciating grief and set light to another bush nearby.

  A low growl came from behind a tree nearby and from it appeared a figure with unearthly fangs and a body full of warts. It stood upright, showing a leathery and mottled belly, with arms that were both muscular, and misshapen. It seemed to raise an arm towards Peens and opened its mouth to let out a screech, showing a wide, gruesome mouth too full of teeth, several rows deep. It took a step towards the Commander and revealed its huge penis, which seemed to move on its own, threatening accord, twisting around the beast’s hind leg and thumping the ground aggressively.

  Peens mind seemed to break at the inconceivable sight he was viewing and he paused in shock at first, then started running into the veld, heading for the woods. The piece of wood he held in his hand dropped to the ground and set another bush on fire.

  “JOHN!” Peens yelled as he stumbled away from the horror in front of him, leaving a bloody trail behind him.

  ****

  The smell of smoke was quickly filling the air, minutes after Peens headed back to camp. Faint screams could be heard thereafter and John’s eyes narrowed with determination. A terrible screeching noise could be heard and echoed with the sound of a thousand ancient voices. John and Peter’s eyes locked in horror.

  “Peter! Get Beth! Save her! I’m going for Peens!” Big John shouted near the water’s edge and started running towards the now burning camp, towards Peen’s voice.

  ****

  Peens was running, stumbling, and falling and could hear the creature gaining on him, growling in an unearthly way. Peens struggled through the lush wooded growth, every branch ripping at his torn thigh, pulling chunks of flesh from his wound like hungry animals feasting on his growing despair.

  He could almost feel the earth moving with each step the creature behind him made, he didn’t have to look behind him to know, the thing was upon him.

  “Fuck, this isn’t happening!” Peens screamed as he ran into the woods of Wattle trees. The air had a pungent smell to it, like death and misery that went all the way into the roots – from the soil.

  Another slash at his wrists made Peens stumble to the ground. As he looked down, he saw the life flowing from his arms, making small puddles at his feet.

  “Get away from me you fucking demon!” Peens uttered, out of breath. He clutched at his wrists, now red with blood. “John!” He tried to scream for help, but it barely came out. He began to say a prayer. He thought of the first dog he ever had.

  A dark fog dropped to surround the place where Peens crouched, clenching his teeth with pain. Peens felt a strange sensation up his leg, as if something was walking on it. A light tickling feeling, like a lovers touch, tentative, teasing, fingertips walking their way up to that special place where delight and thrills could be had… so long ago… his mind went back… it’s been so long… what a relief it would be to have this just be a nightmare and to wake in his lover’s arms, Sweet Patricia, he smiled

  It wasn’t a nightmare though, he was awake, and he opened his eyes and as he glanced at his right leg, an enormous spider with ten legs crawled slowly along his calf where the creature had slashed him. “NO!” Peens bolted, trying to brush the horrid beast from his leg. Not spiders! I HATE SPIDERS!

  He looked at the ground and saw at least seven big, hairy tarantulas making their way towards him. They were not ordinary, baboon spiders though, they had the face of the monster he saw at camp, the face of a baboon, or a half-man –creature, with longer fangs, and 20 horrible bleeding eyes, all trained on him, their mandibles chopping hungrily, moving incredibly fast, following the puddles of iron-rich blood Peens was feeding them.

  “Ah!” Peens yelled. He forced himself up and projected himself forward.

  “Peens! Peens man, where are you?” Peens thought he heard Big John’s voice far behind him. He tried to yell back, but fear gripped at his throat and he could not utter one word. Instead, he focused on getting the hell away from whatever was chasing him. And the damned spiders!

  He was crawling- running, grasping at the trees, the bushes around him to raise himself up off the ground, but everything he touched was covered with these hairy, 10-legged beasts…so many of them.

  They bit at his fingers as he clung to the tree trunks and quickly ran up his arms, biting at his neck, running down his back, into his shirt, sending Peens into a spinning motion, trying to get the nibbling creatures off of him.

  He stumbled again, falling into the moist soil below him, momentarily feeling the urge to just give up, could he? Should he? He pushed off the ground again, hearing the keening of the biting spiders in his ears at the tore chunks from his cheeks and shoulders. They almost sounded like they were giggling. “Fucking Spiders!” Peens yelled out loud as he twirled and swatted.

  The dark fog came nearer as Peens tried to outrun it. His chest burned and he panted like a dog. He couldn’t have run that far; his wounds slowed him down.

  He glanced over his shoulder and saw a creature so fierce and so ugly; he lost his footing and fell over a tree root. His face hit the ground and he tried to turn on his back, trying to get away from the spiders and the creature chasing him. His bloody hands made red puddles in the sand as he looked up into the eyes of his biggest fear.

  There it was again, the fanged baboon-creature stared at him; warts oozing puss on the sand. The creature growled at him and seemed to smile, a slow, toothy grin that reached all the way across its face, from ear to ear. It reached out a seven- fingered hand towards Peens.

  “Help…” Peens knew that he had lost this fight.

  The creature grabbed Peens by his hair and made him stand in front of it.

  “Our Father Who Art in Heav…” Peens didn’t have time to finish his sentence.

  He felt a buzzing sensation on his head, he felt his hair pulling, his skin tightening and releasing, he thought he smelled smoke.

  Blood began to trickle down his face and into his mouth. He tasted his life, felt it in his mouth and he knew. He heard a faint sloshing sound as his brain fell from his head and onto the earth below, making a bloody brown pattern on the leaves. The spiders began feasting.

  Strange enough, Peens could still feel the sensation run through his entire body, cutting through his face and into his chest. Peens didn't know he was dead until his two halves hit the ground. Separately.

  From behind a Wattle tree, Big John emerged to see Peens fall to the ground… in two pieces, a dark fog around him…

  ****

  Peter rushed toward Beth who still stood transfixed in the water, but drew up short as a glowing vision appeared before him.

  There was Juanita, as beautiful as ever. Her brown skin glistened and her smile made the intimate memories they had shared burned the inside of his brain. She seemed lit from the inside, yet her skin was full, soft, real, her eyes were mesmerizing and seemed to look directly into Peter’s soul, reaching into him and wrapping around his heart in a visceral way he could feel.

  “Peter, I missed you so much.” Her voice w
as soft, sensual and made Peter shiver. She was almost coy, teasing, like she was when they first met. She turned and moved, Peter followed her as she moved, his feet moved on their own accord.

  “Juanita, I miss you. Each and every single day I think about you. I want you to know that I have never stopped loving you, never!” Peter gasped out, his eyes were bright with the sight of her, he wanted to embrace her, but something didn’t seem right, there was an itch of a thought. Peter just didn’t know what was happening anymore…

  “Oh Peter. You must never stop loving me. We will be together, you and I, forever. You know that don’t you?” She reached toward him. Loving, beautiful Juanita…

  “How will we be together? I am here and you are… gone.” Peter frowned at her unblinkingly. What’s happening right now? Where am I? Juanita? How? Juanita? Accident…. Peter tried to undo the tangle in his brain… am I drunk?

  “Come Peter, let me show you. I will show you that we can be together forever.” Juanita called him forward, smiling in that slow, sexy way she did.

  Everything around Peter became quiet. There was no screaming, no crickets screeching and no water rushing over the stones. Only Juanita’s voice, luring him into what he has longed for. To hold her one more time and let her know that he loved her and forever will.

  “I love you; you know I will do anything for you.” Peter said and reached for her outstretched hand.

  Juanita’s hands were warm and so familiar. Peter didn’t want to be anywhere else, just here with her.

  “Come, my love, let me show you what love is.” She reached for him again.

  “Juanita, I…” Peter knew he had to say something but his mind was clouded over. He couldn’t think about anything else than the warmth of the hand he longed for and prayed for so many nights in his drunken state.

  “Juanita, wait, there’s something I was supposed to do…, help me Juanita…” Peter said, puzzled, shaking his head. What’s happening… isn’t right, wasn’t John here? John? Who else? Beth? Was Beth here?

  “Peter, you must choose who you want. Do you want me or do you want Beth?” Juanita seemed to change. Her hand became scratchy and held his roughly.

  Hearing Beth’s name made him jolt to a stop. Beth…yes, Beth WAS here… sweet Beth….

  “Me or Beth, Peter?” Juanita said, with harshness in her voice that Peter never knew. Peter felt drunk in a way he never had before. He shook his head again, trying desperately to clear his thoughts, to explain to Juanita about Beth.

  “ME OR BETH PETER?” Juanita said, louder now, anger clear. She gripped his hand harder, the bones beginning to grind together and Peter looked at her in horror. He felt his fingers begin to break, snapping like twigs and the pain of the exposed bones hitting the air was like a splash of cold water on his face. He blinked, waking from his dream, his trance, to find his nightmare beginning.

  The hand he held instantly became cold, drawing his attention back to its now icy grip. The hand that was warm, brown and firm was now covered in oozing warts, cracked and blistered skin and brown and torn nails. He slowly looked up into the glowing eyes of a creature that made his heart sink into his shoes.

  “Me or Beth?” The creature shouted again through broken and twisted teeth that went back three rows in a face that was nearly split in half with a frightening grin. The creature, giving up its deceptive cloak, now mocked Peter for his romantic heartache and leaned in, pursing it’s sore-covered lips for a kiss.

  “I… I choose… Beth.” Peter stuttered, realizing that he finally had the courage to let Juanita go and trying to pull his hand away from the jeering beast.

  “I choose Beth!” Peter shouted with more confidence.

  Peter pulled back again and the creature let loose its hold, leaving a ripping tear across the top of his hand. As the visage disappeared Peter looked down and saw that he was standing at the edge of a cliff; the very cliff where he had lost Juanita. He wheeled back from the edge with a shout and fell back on his ass.

  “Holy fuck!” Peter cried out loud as he scurried on his hands and feet a few more feet back from the edge; breathing heavily before turning back towards Beth.

  He stood up and looked back toward the river; the only light that appeared in this too-deep jungle came from the river. There was an unnatural glow there that was filtered now by the increasing smoke from the fires near the camp. What was happening with Peens and Big John? Thoughts of his brothers in this fight crossed his mind as he ran.

  At the river’s edge, Beth was walking deeper into the river, neck-high now she was unblinking, tears running down her face, he thought she was calling someone’s name, but he couldn’t make it out.

  Peter splashed into the river, tripping and falling over his own weight, and the pull of his shorts and shirt in the water trying to get to Beth as she began swallowing the river water surrounding her.

  “Bee!” Peter called to her as he re-emerged from the water, splashing loudly, coughing out water as he felt the pull of a new current underneath them.

  He was nearly to her when he saw her go down, under the water.

  “Beth!” He swam forward, kicking hard against a current that shouldn’t exist, feeling Beth’s hair at his fingertips, quickly becoming entangled with the plants living under the surface. “BEE!” He dove under.

  He saw Beth, completely under the water now, her mouth still moving, saying something he couldn’t figure. Was she calling to him?

  Peter grabbed at her arm, which seemed to be floating upwards on its own accord, and he yanked her with his good hand, trying to get them both back to the shore, only a few feet away, but impossibly far it seemed.

  He beat at the water with his broken and mangled hand, the sheer pain of it kept him alert and gave him the strength to pull Beth and himself back to the shore. He heaved Beth’s lifeless form onto the sand and began pounding on her chest, attempting to revive her, his medic skills thankfully automatic.

  Beth coughed up water and he rolled her on her side, looking back toward the water whose edge seemed to be growing closer with each moment they remained on the beachside.

  “Beth, wake up honey,” Peter said, slapping her cheek as gently as he could to bring her around, but feeling the pressure of the situation growing.

  Beth opened her eyes slowly at first and smiled at Peter above her, it only took her a moment to remember where they were and what was happening and she sat upright quickly with a start.

  “Oh my god Peter, you saved me.” She looked at him, soaking wet and bleeding badly from his hand. They helped each other stand up as the river reached their feet.

  “There is no time for that now! Bee, we gotta run! Can you do that? Run Beth, run!” Beth nodded, more than ready to shake off the memory of what she’d just been through and ready to conquer this beast that put her through it.

  Peter grabbed her hand and started running towards the camp, now in flames. The crackling sound was loud, roaring. Peter was amazed and frightened by the size of it. This was a bad idea… he thought… what a stupid idea….

  “Will we be safe here, near the fire?” Beth asked swallowing hard, her erased memories now fresh again, the grief renewed and trauma ripe.

  “I don’t know,” Peter yelled above the screaming flames. He looked at her and noticed a difference about her. “You okay?” he squeezed her hand, realizing they’ve been through more than people should be already this night, “We have a long way to go before this is over Bee.”

  Beth knew Peter didn’t understand what had just happened to her – he didn’t know anything about Stacy, or the fire at her Aunts all those years ago… How could he – she didn’t even know! There was time for all that later – she looked in his eyes and saw a new strength in him. He saved her. He came back for her. He was going to be alright. They were going to be alright.

  Beth mustered a smile, nodded her head and grabbed a torch.

  The smoke was a wall, playing games with their drying eyes. Shadows seemed to dance upon the oran
ge glowing clouds and the snapping trees and crackling of the wet leaves sounded like a council of Ancients deciding their fates.

  “Peens! Big John!” Peter shouted, coughing through the smoke.

  The sound of African drums could be heard in the distance. Once it seemed like just a few, now sounded like thousands of drums in unison. The deep throbbing sound grew louder and softer in a seductive dance that seemed to encourage them to stand still.

  Luckily they had each other and the feel of their hands together helped keep them in this world. Peter squeezed Beth’s hand and they ran into the low, smoke cloud into the unknown, hoping it was still the trail area they had scoped out earlier.

  Behind them, a low growl made them run even faster.

  “Bethhhhhhhhhhh” a voice hissed behind her, pushing her to run faster, keeping pace next to Peter. “Do you hear that?” she yelled to him.