Chapter Two

Sixteen Years Later

Joel pulled up in front of a large block of flats and hooted. At one time, the building may have looked exquisite with its charming Greek-style front and columns at the front entrance. The now stained off-white paint peeled over hairline cracks and chunks of concrete had crumbled over time.

Looking at his watch, he knew the sooner they hit the road, the sooner they would arrive at their destination. His worst part of long distance driving was busy traffic.

“She’s taking too long,” Joel said and cracked open the window. His eyes followed the cracks to a window on the second storey and peered for any sign of moment. They all knew it was Hayley’s room by the grubby footmarks outside the window from her continuous escape attempts to sneak out. He felt the intense heat against his cheek and closed the window quickly. “Man, it’s hot out there.”

“Give her a minute. I told you to give her an earlier time,” Sarah remarked irritably, lifting a brow at his direction. “You know time means nothing to her.”

He shrugged and hooted again. “I told her to be ready at the door.” He brushed his hand through his perfectly styled light brown hair, glancing in the rearview mirror turning his head from side to side as if a strand of hair had fallen out of place.

Sarah noticed and rolled her eyes. “You’re so vain.”

He gave her a boyish grin, “but you still love me.”

Blushing, she smiled and looked away.

“I just wish you’d open up to me.” His husky voice deepened. “You know you can trust me.”

She turned to face him with a frown, studying his face. “I- “

The car suddenly shifted to the side with hard knocking on the window.

“Hey, hey…” Hayley yelled with enthusiasm. Her face beamed with excitement as she flung the back door open and said with an excited lilt in her voice, “I hope you guys don’t mind, but I invited a friend along.”

“Stop doing that to my car.” Joel sighed in frustration. “You’ll damage something.”

Hayley lifted her shoulder and gave a small shrug. “It’s just a leased rental,” she replied with a shake of her head, opened the boot, and placed her baggage inside. “Now that you’ve graduated medical school you think you’re a big shot?”

“Hey,” Joel retorted, glancing over his shoulder, he eyed her as she jumped in the back of the Toyota 4x4 RAV. “Cum Laude, I deserve this car. Any dents my dad will have my head.”

“Okay, stop it now.” Sarah interrupted and looked back at Hayley who buckled herself comfortably in her seat, “I only booked for the three of us.”

“I don’t see the problem,” Hayley insisted and threaded a perfectly manicured hand through her hair returning Sarah’s look and appeared unconcerned.

“I will not have a stranger in my car.” Joel’s voice held irritation and stared at her from the rear-view mirror.

“Please, guys, hang on a moment.” Hayley paused, lifting her hands in the air in resignation, and sighed. “You’re both being ridiculous. You know him. It’s Mark. Mark Evans. He’s cool.”

Sarah and Joel's eyes widened and stared at her in surprise.

“Yes, yes.” Hayley’s mouth curved into a small smile and giggled. “I know what you’re going to say. He is a bit strange, but he helped me prepare for exams giving me maths lessons. I guess we hit it off. He really lives not far from here. I told him we were on our way to pick him up.”

“But, Mark Evans?” Sarah stammered, “he’s well… he’s…”

“Mark is Goth. Seriously, Hayley?” Joel’s eyes fluttered as he turned the ignition and the car hummed.

“He’s a good person,” Hayley’s brows knitted, and her voice softened. “You have each other, now what about me?”

The car filled with silence, save for the humming of the engine.

“Why do you do this to me?” Sarah responded with a sigh, “Okay, I’ll phone the Farm and ask if there is space for one more.”

“Aw, thank you,” Hayley beamed. She leant forward, placed a hand on Sarah’s shoulder, and gave a wide smile. Thank you, I appreciate it.”

“Let’s get going,” Joel mumbled. “If we don’t get going, we’ll never get there before dark.”

Although known as the maths nerd Mark Evans had a Goth look about him. He had long dark hair styled into spikes. His clothes were mostly black and white, skull-themed, and wore black boots. He was waiting patiently, standing at the side of the wrong leaning against the concrete slab, arms folded. Hayley was almost hanging out the window calling him. As he climbed inside she leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“You look good, Babe.” He said admiring her long legs, short skirt, and tank top tied to the side of her waist.

“I brought something to help the long drive.” Hayley laughed pulling out a joint. “I bought a new Hookah and it’s bigger than my other one.”

“Don’t you dare to even think of lighting that thing in my car!”

“I thought Dillan broke your last one?” Sarah said. “Didn’t he use it at that party when your parents left town that time you were supposed to be watching him and -“

“Never mind that Sarah, Kyle is not my father. My Mom does not know and it is going to stay that way. Besides, Dillan knows better than to pull that stunt again.”

“It’s my kid half-brother,” Hayley explained to Mark. “He wants to do everything that I do, but he’s young and smart. He has the brains to become something great.”

“So do you,” Mark said, then with a wink. “I tutored you, remember.”

Joel flinched when he looked in the rearview mirror and saw Hayley reward Mark with a long kiss.

“Where are we going again?” Mark asked enjoying the attention from Hayley.

“Silver Springs Farm in the Southern Drakensburg,” Sarah said. “It’s past Underberg and I heard there could be snow. It’s surrounded by mountains and really beautiful.” She turned to face the two at the back. “It’s a guest farm and now that it’s out of season the price was good. My flatmate recommended it her family went there last year in December.”

“Let me look for it online.” Hayley grabbed her phone and began searching the internet. “How’s your aunt by the way? I remember you said she was sick a while ago. I meant to ask you ages ago but home and studying have been really busy.”

“It’s okay,” Sarah said. “She recovered and is fine now. Maybe we can do a mountain hike.” Sarah suggested. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Sounds boring.” Hayley continued searching the internet. “I don’t have takkies anyway -Hey! There’s going to be a Halloween parade, and seeing as it's Halloween weekend there must be a party somewhere.”

“It’s going to be cold, Hayley. Why didn’t you bring proper shoes?” Sarah was irritated by Hayley’s earlier remark. “If all you want to do is go partying then you should have stayed at home.”

“Ok, sorry!" She rolled her eye. "The parade does look interesting though.  I’ve never seen one before except on TV, like the American movies.”

“We won’t be near the city, Hayley. That was the whole object of this trip.”

“Then I guess we need to find a shop so I can buy appropriate shoes.”

Within fifteen minutes they were on the Highway en route to the Southern Drakensburg.

The drive from Durban proved to be longer than anticipated, Hayley needed to stop at every Petroport for off-road breaks. Passing by Camperdown, beautiful views of rolling hills, trees, small lakes, and rural villages welcomed them as they continued along the Highway. Cattle were seen grazing at the side of the road.

“Underberg is the last stop before we take the road to Silver Springs Farm. I want to stop off here for a bit.” Joel said. “I personally wouldn’t mind to stretch my legs and check whether we need anything so there are no unnecessary extra trips.” He looked at his watch. “There is time to freshen up a bit and buy anything we need. Not too long though as I don’t want to check in late.”

Joel found the Super Store and parked as close to the entrance as possible. There were many locals and tourists about, some walking around others sitting idly in their cars. There were smaller shops and vendors on the side selling tourist items, fruits, and vegetables.

Across the road directly opposite the Store was a car dealership advertising specials of the month and handing out pamphlets, a small independent clinic and adjacent were small shacks selling chips, drinks, cigarettes, and other paraphernalia.

“Meet up in about thirty minutes?” Joel said and everyone nodded.

The air was crisp, cool, and fresh. The mountains, hills, and trees expanded along the horizon, the stores and shops looked oddly placed being surrounded by nature’s beauty. While Hayley and Mark explored the smaller shops and Hayley could find her extra shoes, Joel and Sarah entered the Super Store. Unlike outside it was bustling with people. It seemed many were fishermen as they wore the tour company’s complementary shirts and caps.

Sarah decided not to follow Joel inside the Super Store as there were a few smaller shops inside the Store. She entered a small shop selling a variety of African-themed items; she greeted the person behind the Till point and browsed around noticing a lot of items bearing the Lesotho history. She knew about King Shaka and the war against the Sotho Tribes forcing them to hide in the Drakensburg Mountains, but one thing caught her attention.

“Excuse me.” She approached the man at the Till. “What is that hideous creature drawn over there.” She pointed at a small picture of a dark creature with unnaturally long stick arms reaching the ground, the hands fanned out into five thick claws. The body was bony exposing rotten flesh and covered in thick ice. The legs were buckled and hairy, thick legs and feet. The back was hunched pressing the skeletal animal-like head forward, antlers protruding from its head. The eyes were a daunting dark yellowed-brown with a fleck of red. The creature was dull and dark with browns and black, there were vibrant colors in the background almost pushing the creature forward. Underneath the image was written “Wedeego” and a small signature to the lower right.

He did not have a South African accent. “Lesotho is the Kingdom of the Sky, Maluti Mountain. The people hid there and because of no food, some had to eat each other.  There are many legends.  It is the one cursed who eats human flesh. It hides in the Mountains. There is another worse, its human heart is alive and beats, and body is ice.  Man eats the flesh and takes the other man’s strength and his spirit.”

“Wow, now that’s a story to tell my friends.”

“No, it’s not a story. Legend is true.”

The man clearly felt strongly about the subject, and Sarah decided not to debate further. “I’ll buy it.” She smiled and paid the amount even though it was probably overpriced.

As she left the shop someone from the Super Store was yelling, Thief! Thief! The person was fast, pushed past Sarah and she fell back hitting her head hard against the wall and blacked out.

Sarah woke up with a throbbing headache. Faces peered at her as if she were from another planet. Joel was by her side calling her name, Hayley was crying and Mark consoling her.

She tried to get up but the Medic stopped her and placed something soft underneath her head.

“Rest,” He said in a strong deep voice. He pulled out a thin long torch-like device and shone it in her pupils; instantaneously she squinted and closed her eyes. Another Medic checked her blood pressure.

“Can I get up now?” She noticed there were police around who spoke to what looked like the Store workers or managers. A man in casual clothing approached her. He looked tall, greying hair, held out his badge to Joel and to the medics who confirmed he could speak to her briefly.

“How are you feeling?” He asked bending down.

“I have a headache.”

“I’m Detective Ray Banks. It just so happens that the day I’m off duty I find the man I've been searching for, for months.” He studied her face carefully. Police were taking down statements while a few of the Store workers were checked by the medics.

“I’m sorry that you got hurt.” She seemed familiar to him. “Can I ask you a few questions?”

She gave a slight nod. “Yes.”

“Are you from around here?”

“No. My friends and I are spending a weekend on holiday.” She closed her eyes, the throbbing was getting worse.

“I know the moment must’ve been quick, but do you remember anything about the guy that pushed you over? You see he was armed and you were lucky he did not shoot you. He’s a dangerous wanted man in this area. Fortunately, he was only interested in the Store’s Safe.”

“No. I only heard someone shout and then the man knocked me out of his way.”

“I think you should go,” Joel said annoyed, leaning shifting to his left foot. “She clearly needs rest.”

Sarah wondered if he was more concerned they reach the Farm before it got dark.

“You’re right. I'm sorry.”  Detective Ray Banks stood, “Thank you for your time, and hope you have a speedy recovery.” He handed Joel his business card.  “Please if she remembers anything give me a call.”

The Medic helped Sarah sit upright. “You need to take it easy.  If you feel dizzy, your headache gets worse you could have a slight concussion.  I recommend you see a doctor if you do not feel better within twenty-four hours.”  He gave Joel a document to sign as Sarah did not want to be taken to the hospital.

Mark and Sarah switched places in the car so Sarah could lie down. Soon everyone was huddled up inside the vehicle and what was a slight breeze suddenly turned into a brisk cold wind.

Joel checked the GPS coordinates for Silver Springs Farm.  Breaking the silence in the car he allowed Mark to choose the radio channel.  Kesha blared through the speakers.