AncilI toppled over from my knees and jammed my forehead into the dirt in front of me and yelled a soul-deafening cry of defeat. My roof had now fallen off in the rain and all the positivity in me flowed out of me in a sea of tears.
The Midnight Robber looked on at me, judging me quietly. “This didn’t have to be this way.”
“You’re a monster,” I said.
“So are you Jed. So are you. We both very alike. We both fighting for a cause but some causes just not worth fighting for. Some causes only good for getting you killed Jed. So I beseech you Jed. Find my daughter, bring her to me in the Red House, dead or alive. Two Days. And no one else will have to get hurt.”
“You’re not going to get away with this,” I started, my sadness morphing into an unquenchable anger. “I’m not going to let you.”
“Two days!!” The Midnight Robber said before turning and walking off into the forest.
I quickly picked myself up and tried to lunge at them but the Lagahoo vigilantly stood guard, blocking my path. I looked up at the beast and I saw him looking down at me, his red eyes glowing. I didn’t feel the same way I had felt when I saw him for the first time. I wasn’t afraid of him and I stared back into his eyes with a grimace. He remained there, breathing heavily, his giant chests expanding and contracting until the Midnight Robber and the Blue Devils vanished into the forest.
The Lagahoo then followed after them. He leaped away as I stood staring out into the forest with my mind lost in so much disarray that I didn’t even notice when Anansi came up beside me. I was stricken with so many thoughts and I contemplated chasing after the Midnight Robber and avenging Sara’s death but my strength wouldn’t let me.
Ray Carter also came rolling outside in his wheelchair and he asked, “So what do we do now?”
I felt my fists clenching. I felt my veins popping and my heart racing. I felt my lips and cheeks shaking uncontrollably and my eyes going bloodshot. The shaking in my reddened face then cascaded to the rest of my body. I grabbed the wide brimmed hat from Anansi’s head and slowly placed it on mine then I said, my voice deeper than it ever had been, “WE KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH!!!!”
