AncilChapter 33: A Dead “Friend”
The more I looked back at the fire, the guiltier I felt for leaving Sara behind. I probably could have saved her and I kept beating up myself over it. She trusted me. Clive trusted me. But I let them both down. It killed me inside to know that I couldn’t keep them safe but it killed me even more knowing that the last four words that I uttered to her was: “I will kill you.”
I tried to come up with a plan to go back and get her but falling branches and the intense heat of the burning trees kept me busy. The rainwater in the rainforest which was supposed to have kept the fire at bay was the very thing that caused it to spread so quickly. The chemicals in the rainwater were extremely flammable so one spark was all that was needed to set the whole forest ablaze.
All Megan and I could do was run. We had no idea where we were going nor had any plan of action. We just needed to survive. That was it. There was no more Anansi or Cornell or Maggie or Bookman or Sara and her siblings. It was just Megan and I. It was only us but that didn’t last for too long. A hand grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me. My heart skipped a beat.
“Where are you two going?” Cornell asked.
“We’re just trying to get out of here,” I said.
“Head to the river. The others are there. You should be safe there.”
“So why are you not there?” Megan asked.
“I came back for you two,” Cornell answered.
“Good. Take Megan to the river I will meet you there,” I said before heading back in the direction I came from.
“Where are you going?” Cornell asked.
I didn’t answer but just kept running. Cornell and Megan would have probably ran after me but they knew just as well as I did how dangerous it was. I didn’t care. I had to go back for Sara even if it killed me. If the fire or the Lagahoo didn’t get Sara smoke inhalation would have done the job. The thick smoke made it almost impossible to see even though the light from the fire was blaring. There were cattle skeletons spread throughout the forest floor making it evident that the Lagahoo had a feast and Anansi did his job of releasing them from the farm. It would have definitely kept HIM busy.
I went back to the same area where we left Sara but there was nothing left of it but a pile of burning bush and a rising plume of smoke. There was too much fire and smoke for me to be able to tell if Sara was even in the fire. That was problem number one. Problem number two was that I was now surrounded by fire and a thick smoke that could suffocate the devil. Problem number three came shortly thereafter. A giant figure fell from the tree tops and within the fires. The fire seemed to have no effect on the beast and I could tell right away that it was the Lagahoo. His arms alone were bigger than me. Towering twenty to thirty feet into the sky the wolf-faced beast with skin blacker than charcoal looked directly at me pinching a nerve causing me to shake like I had turrets syndrome. The scent of sweaty and WET FUR overpowered all the other smells. My feet felt glued to the floor as I froze in place dropping my gun in the ashes. Megan and I had went over a million times what we would have done if we saw the Lagahoo but my brain went blank at the moment when I actually stood face to face with the beast.
HE smiled at me showing off his teeth which was now stained with blood and ash. Sara’s blood? I hoped not. His smile wasn’t a warm smile but a kind of menacing grimace that could only mean trouble. I couldn’t move. Fast heartbeat. Sweat. Salty eyes. Raised pores. Charred skin. I was mortified.
A white substance suddenly came out of the bushes and put out the fire around me. It seemed to catch the Lagahoo’s attention because his fiendish smile instantly collapsed. Suddenly, the Lagahoo was pushed away by a big white ball of webs. Webs?! Anansi!! Out from the fires Anansi came swinging through with his webs and I felt a little safer. Just a little. Anansi quickly came up to me and told me to head to the house. I tried to convince him that I should head to the river to meet the others but he kept shouting at me to head to the house so I did.
On my way I saw Anansi’s body being flung through the air and into a tree breaking it down. I didn’t stop though. I just kept running towards the house. It wasn’t the first time that I had seen Anansi being flung through the air on my trek to the house. It seemed like the Lagahoo was persistently running into Anansi and flinging him at trees in an attempt to weaken him. He was too busy with Anansi to even notice me.
I entered the home and as soon as I did I saw a shotgun being flung at my face. It was slow enough for me to grab it in midair.
