Merry Haven - Episode 7

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The road seemed all new and alien to Annas, he hadn't had such tiresome hike for a very long time. 
 They meandered through paths, leaving civilization behind. The mysterious girl wore a different demeanor, it wasn't hostile, but it was laying Annas off. His pondering wasn't meeting his goals, she must say something, her muttering wouldn't be enough.

"I don't know how I triggered your anger, but just tell me where we are going." Annas purred, with impatience.

"Don't get ballistic. We are good, I have nothing against you." She said, still possessing her queer comportment . Annas wouldn't burst into anger, but she was pushing him. 

He halted, watching her walk along a tin path, they were sandwiched between tall bushes. "Am going back, am done with you freaks!" He purred.

"It took you time to come, and now you are willing to depart at the eve of knowing the truth?" She said, turning to face him, she was preventing a stare. It was infuriating Annas. How can a girl this pretty hate him?

"I will go! Your tales don't matter. I can't take it when a lady who is to lead me to my brother can't stand looking at me. You haven't said anything friendly." 

"We have to thread this path away from lookers

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/merry-haven

. There are enemies around.."

"I can't go with you, am going back. I have a lunch waiting in the hotel."

"Am sorry if I am not friendly. I brought you here to transport you to Kash, it will be bad when people see me and you vanishing into tin air."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I am here to literally teleport you to your brother." She said, Annas wasn't believing what his ears were getting.

"I bet you aren't normal, no wonder, now I know why you were behaving strange back at the bar." 

She moved closer to him, picking his hands, Annas felt the warmth of her hands when it was intertwined with his. He prayed she never let go. "Are you ready to see Kashees?" She asked, with the sweet voice she possessed. Annas was mute, he cherished her warmth, it gave his mind's eye the picture of a girl in a happy world, a world where he could see her everyday. His heart became placid with her presence, it took all his melancholy away 

He got the sensation of his body reducing to nothingness, he felt light, like he was turning into an atom. He found himself on a different environment.

They were in a wild jungle, with the chirping of birds as loud and sublime as the hymns of celestial beings, he knew they were out of the reach of civilization.

"Did we just disappear!" Annas said, awestruck. He waited for no answer, he was lost at the bliss and spectacle of the new environment. There was a wooden building few yards away, it backed the valleys. It was old and unkept, with a tree beside it, Annas spotted an animal, like a cat on its branches. 

There was a long path that led to the mountain, Annas could see the peak of the mountain, and a cataract filled with the richness of a flowing water, all these were leagues away.

The girl moved further, ignoring Annas, she was far off when Annas noticed her absence. He fastened his pace, heading for the old rickety building, but he was wary of the big cat on the tree.

"Regina, please is that a cat on the tree?" He shouted, trying to meet up with her. He struck an object, it felt big and invincible, like a barrier, but an invincible one. He paced back, wondering what he struck. He ran faster this time, hitting the invincible barrier again. Annas winced in pain, Reginald turned, chuckling. He loved the smile, she had dimples whenever she smile, just like him.

"Am sorry to tell you, we charmed this territory, it is shielded, think of it like a bubble, a very big one that secures the territory." Said Reginald, she offered her hands to Annas, he took it.

This time he passed unscathed. "A protective bubble, who on earth are you guys?" He asked, still surprised at what he was discovering. It felt surreal to him.

"We are humans, just like you all."

The old rickety building was a storey building, they were at the porch when the animal came frolicking around them. Annas heart wasn't with him, it felt empty. "Get this away, it's creepy!" He pleaded.

"It's a Caracal, It likes you." There was a smile on her face.

The door creaked open, Annas beheld three tall men, he recognized the man in their middle, but he had an older look.

"My Caracal likes you." Kashees hoarse and menacing voice filled Annas's ears, he recognized the voice, the manliness it possessed. 

Kashees was as tall as Annas, more heavily built. He was a carbon copy of his father. He possessed the crystal white (eyes) of his father. Kashees was in his mid thirties. He had changed a bit, Annas admired his long beards, they were longer than his. Kashees also had a long dreadlocks, it  veiled his face - he occasionally clipped the strands covering his face on his ears. 

Kashees looked like a man who had gone through a hardlife and still smiles. Annas moved to his brother, covering his hands around his brother's large back, Annas abruptly withdrew from the long embrace.

"You have a long explanation to give brother!" Said Annas, feigning a frown.

"Annas, you will relax a bit. These are my friends." Kashees pointed at the men with him.

"I am Castro." Said the tall, bearded man at Kashees left. He was bald. He had a frowny look, he seemed to be a man with few words.

"And I am Miraj, nice to finally meet you, we are - I am pleased you are here." Said the youngest of the trio, he smiled to Annas. Miraj was a tall and slim young man, he had a clean shaven beard, his hair was trimmed as well, he was the neatest of the trio.

Inside the building was like a museum, they were collection of distinct and exquisite artefacts scattered all around the hall. The wooden floor was making a creak creak sound when Annas was moving, like it was about to retire. There were only wooden chairs in the big hall. There was a spiral staircase at the back of the chairs, leading upstairs. The architectural design of the house made it distinct.

A fat young man was on the spiral staircase, he was making his way to them. "Hey Jacob, I never thought I would ever see you." He said when he was with them. He had a round childlike face, his maroon jacket was too tight for him, like it was choking him.

Miraj and the fat boy was at a broad table, Kashees and Annas sat on a wooden chair. Regina (who love it when they call her Reginald) was with Castro on another, she seemed close to Castro. Annas wish it was just friendship and nothing more. 

There was a massive chandelier on the wooden ceiling. It had big burning candles that lit the hall. Annas saw a cruel looking plaque on the wall beside him. It looked like a  warrior with his cruel eyes and massive nose. The Caracal sat on his hind legs, near Annas's foot. Staring lustily at nowhere in particular. The sandy brown Caracal was a beautiful creature, Annas adored it's beautiful face, and it's dark tassels. 

"Go get some liquor Aaron! Let's welcome my brother." Kashees commanded.

The fat young man hurried away, stooping when he got near the plaque Annas had been admiring. He unlocked a bolt on the wooden floor, he went down the opened door, through a ladder step.

"Is that where you keep your drinks?" Annas asked, still not okay with their strange ways.

"Not only drinks, it is an added safehouse. It is big enough for we all." Kashees answered. "Miraj, go get me that palm wine, Aaron will miss it." Miraj did as he was told.

They returned with liquor and a gourd of palm wine. They all drank merrily, listening to Annas's tales about Merryhaven, save Regina who wasn't as keen as the others. It troubled Annas to see her harbour such hatred for him. She left the group, making her way to the door, the Caracal followed.

It was worst the next day, she prevented the boys entirely, playing with the Caracal under the tree that stood beside the old building. 
Annas planned to stay longer, His dad's Ferrari was secured at the hotel under the supervision of the hotel management, he wouldn't need its service.

Kashees was not saying anything about his reasons here. Annas needed answers that weren't forthcoming, it infuriated him.

He was with Miraj and Aaron when Castro came to him, "Kashees is at the backyard, he needs you there."

His brother was sitting on a little knoll, with the Caracal at his side. The scenery view was great, it marvelled Annas to see such nature; The waterfall, mountain, and valleys, the plateau, and the green forest. The sky shone mildly, giving all the scene a picturesque view. The wind seemed friendly, it wasn't plaguing the clement atmosphere with her furious strokes, like it did at midnight. Annas saw a godlike figure, just seeing his brother. Kashees was on a dark sweater and a roughqq jeans.

"I wish our lives can be peaceful as this." Said Kashees when Annas was with him, he seemed to be lost in the spirit - the spirit of admiring the pristine life of nature. Annas ignored him.
 
"I need to know why am here, and there will be no excuse this time." Said Annas.

 "Do you ever imagine why you see those figures when you are drunk or high?" He started with a question.

"Dr Bitrus said it is a--"

"It doesn't have a medical name, Ernest is hiding the truth from we all. Thanks to the help of uncle Benjamin, he told me about our family curse. There is a way to avert it."

"What curse?"

"Let me tell you about your so called medical condition, what you are seeing are real, they are all your families who were massacred with impunity." 

Annas memory flew back to all the people he was seeing in his drunken state, he remembered the men, women, some were young, with blood flowing out from their frail and gorged skin. It gave him the dread again. Why was the fear returning? this was a part he had long forgotten, why was his brother reminding him of his woes.

"I didn't kill them, why are they tormenting me?"

"In every generation of our family we have one who sees them, they are begging for revenge, they want you to end their misery. Is not easy being an ancestor that can't help abate the suffering of his children here on earth."

"I don't get you." 

"Let's get back to the curse then. For the past seven hundred years, we Jacobs have been plagued with a curse; in every generation of our family one of the family will destroy all the family, leaving only one of the family to continue the family tree, if he has his own children, one of them will kill off the whole family leaving only one survival. 
 The survivals survive not because they were free to, they fight to escape. The one who kill all the family might commit suicide because of depression or he might be killed by the one who escapes, that's how it has always been. One of the family continues the family tree, and one destroys, leaving a survival to continue the bloodline."

"I don't think so! we are not cursed! dad and uncle Benjamin are alive, what do you say about that? Why are they both alive, I thought you said it is only one that will continue the bloodline!" Annas purred, hoping Kashees tales were not the truth, but deep down he knew it was. 
 The Caracal moved stealthily, hoping to pounce on a bird along a long narrow path. They both ignored him.

"Dad and uncle Benjamin have been the only two that survived. They fought well to save their lives." 

"And what about their siblings, the one that killed all the family?"

"Suleiman was still hunting them, so they killed him." Kashees answered. Annas prayed it wasn't his family that was in this mess, they seemed perfect and happy, why should their life end this way?

"Who or what cursed us?"

"Our very great great granduncle, seven hundred years ago." 

It was too much to take in, why should a kin curse his own offspring, it was one of the most fiend thing Annas had ever heard.

"Our very great granduncle?! He must be a fool! I dunno that my ancestor can be this cruel."

"He is still alive." Said Kashees. The Caracal leaped very high into the air, he was like five feet in the air when he captured his prey. Annas was marvelled at his skill, but he never showed it.

"Meaning? How can a man live for seven hundred years. No juju can do that."

"Unkuriamima can, he is a master of time. He meddles with time, time moves very slow around him. He has the power to go back and forth in time, he can erase one from life's timeline. Unkur is a master manipulator, he is very wise, he has seen what the future holds, and what history has laid down."

"Time Magician." Annas quipped in. "why did he do it?"

"Hmmm... time Magician? He doesn't call himself that."

"Why did he do it?" Annas persisted.

"Let's say he was on a verge for revenge." Said Kashees. Annas was ready to know more. Kashees noticed his seriousness, he continued, "seven hundred years ago, Unkur was the third son of Ache. Unkur's mum was the first wife of Ache. Ache had four wives. When Unkur was born, he had a blue eyes with dots of gold."

"Just like my eyes?!" Annas asked, not feeling okay about it. Kashees nodded. The Caracal relaxed while devouring the dead bird.

"The chief priest told Ache that his son bore evil and sorrow with him. They was no one with such eyes in the whole of the clan. Unkur's mum pleaded with her husband to keep the baby, which he accepted with hesitations. Unkuriamima grew up to become stronger than his age grades, he had a love for herbs and healing. Unkuriamima was the type that searched for herbs that some great herbalist had never seen or heard of. He was a great healer in his time, at the age of nine he was already healing people from leprosy, yet the whole clan scorned and hated him. 
    "He wasn't seen in social activities and festivals because they wouldn't want him there, during full moon he wasn't even allowed to join the other kids that gathered in the evening to listen to moonlight tales. He was even hated by his elder brothers and his half brothers. Ache married a fifth wife for want of a girl child, he was praying and hoping seriously for a girl child, but she gave him boys. Unkur's father hated him, yet he tried to get a  remedy for his father. Getting a herb that could give his father a girl child was his top priority, but his herbs were rejected by his father. Unkur, in a bid to make the world his home lived a life of solitude - studying his herbs and what they could do for him without the clan's prying eyes. He was a savant in the field of herbs. 
     "He often visited rivers, he loved nature and the peace it brought. He met a lady in the river, apart from his mum, she was the only being that loved Unkur. Unkur often met her at the stream. She was a mysterious lady, some say she was a goddess - she was the lady that gave him more powers.
  "Unkur's mum brought forth a baby again, this time he had the same eyes like Unkur. The chief priest warned Ache of the dire consequences if he should keep him, but with his wife plea, he kept the baby. Unkuriamima and the boy were inseparable, he couldn't do anything without the boy. They were always together, slept together, crafted their tales during full moon together. Had their own little festivals together.
  Something happened, Ache  was the next in line to rule the whole clan, but he was given a condition."

"So we are from a royal family?"

"Long ago. Then they had seven ruling class, they shuffled the seat of government among themselves. This era it might be a different ruling class, next it might be a different one. That era was ours, the last ruler died and the seat was to come to Ache. But he must fulfill their condition before he rules. Their condition was that for him to rule he must kill his two abominations." Said Kashees. The breeze whizzed past their face. The wind had ears as well, do they hate the word 'abomination'? Annas wondered.

"What later happened?"

"He planned to kill them both. He persuaded them to ride with him on his royal horse, which they did. He drove them to the forest on a pretence of hunting.. They rested on a large tree near the stream. Ache told Unkur to look after the horse, he took Unkur's brother to the stream. Unkur waited for hours without hearing from them, he decided to go check on them, to  see if all was well. That day was a day that made Unkur got rid of his humane virtues. He saw the decapitated head of his brother at the river's bank, his dad was probably cleaning the sword in the water, because he didn't see Unkur. Unkuriamima ran away from the scene, but his dad followed, trying to get rid of his life as well. As the tale went, he survived. He wasn't himself anymore, he only wanted revenge, a revenge that will leave a scar forever."

"How did it affected us - his unfortunate offsprings?" Annas asked.

"On a verge of revenge, Unkur went to the mysterious lady to seek for powers that will make his father pay. The lady felt empathetic to his plight and asked what he wanted. He asked for powers to end his father's life and those that are close to him. She welcomed him into the plains of the spirit realm, he learnt many powerful sorcery when he was in the spirit realm. He mastered time and made it do his bidding. With his magical prowess he laid a curse on the offsprings of Ache, that they would be the ones that will bring death and destruction to themselves. But he started the destruction."

"How did he started it?"

"He cast the first die. Keeping his father for last, he killed all of his family, making Ache see the massacre; he killed  his whole brothers, their mothers and even his mother."

"But he loves her..." Annas somehow felt sorry for Ache.

"He does, but he was out for revenge, he wanted his father to feel the loss and the pain."

"But weren't there people witnessing the murder, can't they help?"

"They didn't see it, he used mind game to deceive the sight of passers by. They were only seeing a family that were going on with their normal activities."

"Can people be that evil." Annas muttered.

"Am sorry, there are people that aren't suppose to be human that lives with us.. After the massacre, his eldest brother escaped. He migrated to a different clan, with time he settled down with a wife, and wives, he had children as well - all boys. The time came, one of his son killed him and his family, but one of his son escaped. The survival settled in a different clan. With time he settled down with wives and children, the same happened to him, and that has been how we have been suffering from the curse. Even if we decide not to get chilren, a force greater than any thing on this earth will lure us to."

"It seems our great great grandfathers weren't aware that Unkur placed a curse on them." Annas noticed.

"It was the fourth generation that found out about the curse, since then they have been looking for ways to abate the curse."

"All to no avail... They haven't done anything, no success." Annas muttered.

"There is now hope!"

"Where are their graves, do the survival just run without giving them a mass burial?" Annas wondered.

"Some came, but they didn't bury them with their complete body part."

"What do you mean?"

"Whenever the survivals come, they do see bodies without heads."

"So Unkur was beheading them! Where is he keeping the heads?"

"In his fortress, it gives him joy to see it by his side, they are all stored on shelves that looks like a bookshelf." Kashees said. It was too macabre to process, Annas heart was beathing very fast. He couldn't stand a great great great granduncle that watches his offsprings severed head with victory, all for the sake of 'revenge'.

"How did you know where he stores them?"

"He took me there before, his fortress is a place you wouldn't wish to go. He is too evil."

"What took you there?"

"We had once duelled."

"And you survived?!"

"He wouldn't kill us, we are already doomed and cursed."

"What if we die by accident, without experiencing the curse?" Annas wanted to know.

"It has never happened - It wouldn't happen. There are times Unkur might have saved you from a minor accident, or illness. He just want us to meet up with our doom."

"So we are damned!" Annas muttered. Life was unfair. Kashees drew closer to him, placing his arms around Annas's shoulder. Annas needed someone to lean on, he wanted  to rest on Kashees chest - like old times, but he couldn't, he was not a child any longer. "I wish it is all a tale by moonlight."

"Me too.. We must do some thing, and we have a plan! There have been three more murders last month in Merryhaven." Said Kashees. 

 "What do you mean.. there are no other murders, it was only one."

"No, the first was publicised. Uncle Benjamin, and Ernest with our help have been cleaning all the mess."

"Who died this time?"

"Uncle Benjamin workers."

"Why is he still troubling us, is the curse not enough?!"

"The time is near. We are very lucky, it came late in our generation. We could have been gone about seven years ago, but Unkur was somehow imprisoned in a different time. For seven years."

"How did that happen?"

"I will tell you about it later, not now, that doesn't matter anymore."

"Why me?"

"Sorry?"

"I mean why me, why didn't you tell Sydney. Why bring me into this strange world of witchcraft and doom?" 

"Not now Ann, first thing first."

"Why did you cross the second match figure on the marking in the prison?"

"Just that I find Sydney kind of too spoilt, he has always been father's favourite."

"That doesn't answer my question, so you still hate him?"

"I don't, but - but he wronged me and you know it."

"Was that why you crossed his figure?"

"I'm sorry about it, then I was naive. Love should always triumph, I know that now. I will never x a family, not again."

The Caracal seemed oblivious of what they were saying, Annas wish he could be as calm as the Caracal. Just devouring his prey without worrying for what  the future holds. But it wasn't possible, they must work to stop Unkur, whatever plan they would use.
Kashees never made mention of his plan, they chatted more about Professor Tapshat, the symbols  and the Eigengrist (Kashees hid some facts). Kashees spent time glorifying uncle Benjamin and his kind gestures toward him. Uncle Benjamin made Kashees stood for his family, no matter what challenge he would face.

"Family is paramount. We must uphold our name, and fight with resilient heart to abate this curse." Kashees was saying, they had spent time on the knoll, catching up, just like old times.

"Family is paramount." Annas added.

"Yes family is paramount, it is what shapes who we will become. We wouldn't trade it for gold."
 
 Annas admired his brother's benevolent heart. Kashees was scorned and disowned by his father, yet he loved the family. That's what family do, they stick together. Family is paramount, Annas chanted in his mind.