Dangerous Journey – Episode 2

(Bell of the past)
Episode 2
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Written by Bright Daniel
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The two men succeeded in entering into the building making sure the red candles were not fallen by their breath because their breathing rate alone can cause a heavy storm . They could see more red candle-light in,side the house hanging on the walls and illuminating at a very close range. Nothing could be found there except the candles.
“Hello!” Lucky shouted, but the echo of his voice was the only thing heard in return sounding repeatedly until it totally died down.
“Are you sure we are at the right place?” Fred asked looking around the horrible sanctum.
“I’m sure, this is the place”
“Then where is the spiritualist?”
All of a sudden, a woman in red robe came out from one of the dark places. Her face wasn’t visible neither can any of her body parts be seen. The two men stepped backward when they saw her. Their actions weren’t as a result of fear but was as a result of caution and precautions.
“I see blood in your hands ” the woman said walking to the windowside. She looked through it to see Regina holding Charles very well in a way her face rested on his chest. She was very scared. Immediately Charles directed his eyes to the window, she left. “Whose blood am I seeing in your hands? People like you shouldn’t be here coz its a holy place” she repeated.
Fred and Lucky glanced at each other wondering what she meant by her interrogation.
“We came as a result of our missing wives” Fred said while Lucky nodded in agreement.
“That’s not an answer to my question. The disappearance of your wives is as a result of the blood in your hands. You,” she pointed at Lucky. “you killed your mother while the man standing beside you killed your father”
“I don’t get it” Lucky stepped forward looking confused. “My father was shut dead by an arm robber approximately seventeen years ago”
“This man standing beside you was the arm robber” the woman began while Lucky took a glance at Fred who buried his face on the floor. “Your past are the ones after you now through your wives. You have to journey to get them back. That’s your punishment” she turned to leave but Fred’s voice interrupted her.
“Where are we making our journey to?”
“I believe you have an answer to the question you’ve asked” she finally vanished into the darkness.
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Outside the house, Regina disengaged from Charlse when they saw their fathers coming out like angry soldiers who were about to engage in a serious fight. To their surprise, Lucky gave a heavy punch to Fred. He wanted to continue with another hand but Fred’s blocked it and returned the punch .
“Dad!” Regina ran to them while Charles stayed back because he had a glimpse of the cause of the fight. Regina stood in between the two men wanting to become inquisitive but they left her without saying a word.
Charles meet her. “Come on, Regina, we have to follow them” he held her hand as they hurried after their fathers.
“What has come over them!?” Regina lamented.
They all entered into the car taking their initial positions before Lucky set it in motion. The speed in which he drove out was another signal that there was a big problem. None of them said anything until Charles broke the silence from the back seat where he sat with Regina.
“Dad, what happened in there, and why are both of you behaving like James Bond?”
Fred didn’t reply his son rather touched the corner of his mouth where the punch landed. Charles also didn’t need to push further with questions coz he knew his Dad would never respond to him judging from the expression on his face which he saw through the side mirror of the car after stretching his head.
On the other hand, Lucky glanced at the centre mirror to see his daughter also staring at him through the same mirror.
“Are you okay, Regina?” he asked.
“I should be asking you that!” she replied harshly. The father exhaled then added another gear, yet, never responded to the daughter. The interior part of the vehicle remained as quiet as a grave yard until they arrived to Lucky’s residence except the sound of the car engine which was barely heard. The house was a bungalow with flowers circulating it. One has to climb three stairs before opening the first door which also leads to the sitting room.
When all came out from the car, Fred and Lucky said to their children at the same time, “Go in,side the house”
“What?” Charles hesitated. “I’m going nowhere from you, Dad” he added. Already, Regina was on her way in,side.
“I said enter into the house!” Fred had to bark like a dog before the son reluctantly entered using his back.
The two men glared at each other after they had gone in,side. Of course, as adults, they had an idea that their children would be somewhere watching them. Therefore, they maintained.
“I can’t believe you were the very young arm robber that killed my father after robbing us in our family house . I feel like squeezing you with my hands!” Lucky shrieked glaring into his eyes at a very close range.
Fred stepped backward. “I’m so sorry, man. I did what I did in order to make sure my love remain with me forever. You need to forgive me. We should work together to see that we bring back the one we love and let the past be past”
“I loved my father more than anything in this world, so I don’t think I’m gonna work with the person who murdered him in cold blood” he stepped out walking into the house.
“Lucky!” Fred called him before he stopped. “You have no choice. Remember, this is our punishment which I don’t know if we gonna survive it. Our past has visited us, so we need not only to accept it but to face it too” he walked closer to him then asked with a very low voice. “You killed your own mother, can you tell me why?”
“It’s none of your business” Lucky finally went in,side followed by Fed.
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Without time wastage, the two men set for another quest without their children this time. They wanted to know the exact place to find their missing wives. The children remained at home sitting opposite each other from different cushion in the living room. They have not been told by their fathers the outcome of the first quest they made but believed everything would be fine. As both occasionally glanced at each other, Charles stood up walking the direction of a television-stand where the picture of Regina’s mother rested on the base of the wall. He picked it up then turned.
“That’s my mum” Regina broke the silence.
“She’s beautiful” Charles smiled. “Your Dad must have sacrificed a lot to have her” he kept it back, walked and sat beside her.
“What do you mean?” she looked at him with a worried face.
“You know, when you love someone, it requires a lot of sacrifices. But can you kill or commit a crime because of the one you love?”
“Well, I love my mum so much that I can do anything within my power to make sure she’s safe”
“What about your boyfriend?”
Regina twisting her mouth. “I’m not in the mood to talk about that” she said.
“And what makes you think I’m so much in the mood to talk about it?” Charles stared at her the same way she never averted her eyes from him.
“I think I’ll be in my room now” she stood up and flung her butt into her room as Charles fed his eyes with her beauty.
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Fred and Lucky met a man who had knowledge about maps . He was an old man with gray hair all over his head and jaw. He sat in his office wearing a white robe like doctors. On his face was a small pair of eyeglasses . The two men sat opposite him after handing the papers gotten from their wives to him. A table full of voluminous books and lamp demarcated them from the man, and on the walls were maps of the worlds and other geographical areas. After taking a look at it, he removed his eyeglasses.
“Young men, may I know why you want to embark on a journey to this dangerous place?”
“Hum.. It’s personal” Fred replied.
“Just tell us where the place is and how we can get there” Lucky added.
“It’s located at South East, sixty degrees North in the forest of Hoom”
“Well, we don’t know the place” Fred said.
“But I just told you the place” the man laid back on his chair swinging it gently in a hammonic motion.
“Wait!” Lucky shouted then all eyes went to him. “I once heard my parents talking about Hoom when I was little. I guess the place has to do with spiritism”
The man sat up. “Were your parents involved in some secret society?” he asked.
“I’m not sure” he placed his hands on the table. “Please, tell us how we can get there” he requested pitifully…
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The next day, the man did not only show them the way to Hoom but also gave them chopper (Helicopter ) with two pilots, male and female.
Fred set to leave without his son but that was like a war between Spartans and Persians right in the living room. He quietly met him standing and boiling in eagerness. He placed his two hands on his shoulder like the father he was and said, “Listen son, Your mum will be back but if I don’t come back alive, remind her that I did what I did for the love I have for her. Make her understand that I love her so much, and I love you too”
“I must go with you, Dad! Never will I let you out of my sight!” Charles sparked with tears in his eyes. He disengaged the father’s hands from his shoulder then walked towards the door.
“It’s a dangerous journey, son!”
“I don’t care!”
“I won’t forgive myself if anything happen to you”
“Neither will I forgive myself if I see you no more” he turned looking at the father. “I told you I’m with you, Dad, no matter what. We are on this together and we gonna finish it..”
“You got it all wrong, son” the father interrupted taking a few steps forward. “This is as a result of the mistakes I made in the past, this is the bell of the past ringing now, so it’s my cross to carry”
“My father’s cross is my cross” Charles concluded.
Fred had no choice but to let him go with him, so as Lucky to his daughter. All went in,side the chopper and were set to fly.
“Welcome onboard, I’m Agatha, and this is my co-pilot, Sam” the pilots introduced then began the journey. Charles and Regina looked at each other in the chopper with much concentration and observation. After an hour of flying in the sky, the helicopter crashed and fell right in,side the forest of Hoom but the distance from there to their destination was something one cannot write home about…
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TO BE CONTINUED

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