“Anana,” Narvari called out in the darkness. “Jimbaga.” The white light from her phone was the only source of illumination in the living room. Not a single thing had moved out of place in the room. That gave her hope. She moved her flashlight to the ceiling. Her hopes were immediately dashed as soon as she saw the broken bulb.
She swallowed.
“Anana.”
Suddenly, there was a loud crash followed by a shriek. By now, she knew what that devilish shriek meant. Those things were in her house and from the sound of it, they were in Anana’s room. Narvari’s feet acted on their own.
Once she reached Anana’s room, she flung the door open.
Narvari gasped. Jimbaga was fiercely fighting off two shadows at the same time. Her grandmother lay sprawled on the ground.
Narvari charged inside with her flashlight. The shadows screeched as they shielded their black hollow eyes. They melded into the darkness and were no more. Jimbaga dropped to the ground panting heavily. His face was a bloodied mess.
Narvari ran towards her grandmother but an invisible force threw her back. She lost her footing and fell heavily on her back. She had no idea where her phone had gone, but given that the flashlight had disappeared, it was safe to assume that her phone was in no good shape.
No. That light was the only thing stopping those creatures from getting any closer.
“Jimbaga,” she called out in the darkness. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live.”
That tugged at Narvari’s heart. How could he tell Jimbaga that his mother was no more and that his brother was badly hurt? Narvari’s hand trembled lightly. She clenched her fists. She needed to focus right now.
“What’s happening outside, Narvari?” Jimbaga asked. “What are those things.”
“I don’t know. We need to be alert, okay? Those things thrive in darkness.”
Narvari crawled towards her grandmother. The old woman’s face was extremely pale but at least she was still breathing. Jimbaga must have fought very hard to protect Anana. The guilt gnawed at Narvari’s soul. Jimbaga protected her family and yet she could not protect his. What kind of friend was she?
Narvari touched her grandmother’s face. “I’ll get you out of here, Anana,” she whispered.
“Narvari.” The sound of her voice was faint, but Narvari heard it.
Anana peeled her eyes open. She took Narvari’s hands and the coldness from her frail hands seeped into Narvari’s skin. It was like the touch of ice.
“Don’t speak,” said Narvari. “Conserve your energy. I need to get you out of here.”
“No. Listen. I don’t have much time.”
That shut Narvari up. Why would Anana say something like that?
“Come closer.” Anana beckoned to Narvari to bring her ears closer.
Narvari leaned in, her ear directly above Anana’s mouth as she weakly whispered the strangest news to her. Narvari’s eyes widened. She gaped.
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This can’t be. Had her family been lying to her all this while?
Narvari bit her lips. No. Now was not the time to be dwelling on such things. There was something more important at stake. She had to protect her grandmother and her best friend. She didn’t know when those shadow creatures would attack again.
“Promise me,” Anana whispered. “Promise me you won’t hate him.”
Narvari didn’t know if she wanted to make such a promise, especially after hearing that her father had kept something such an important truth from her. But she didn’t want her grandmother to worry, so Narvari nodded.
“I promise I won’t hate him,” she said. “Now stay still, okay? You need to conserve your energy, Anana. I’ll go find some light and then get us out — ”
A piercing shrieking interrupted Narvari.
“They are here,” Jimbaga shouted from across the room.
Narvari stood protectively next to her grandmother. It was futile fighting off those things, Narvari knew. Guns didn’t work on them and no matter how violently she kicked and punched them, they would get up. The only thing she had keeping the creatures had bay was also destroyed. But as hopeless as it seemed right now, she would never back down without a fight.
Jimbaga screamed when his back hit the wall. It was when Narvari saw two shadowy figures pinning her best friend to the wall that she understood what was happening. Narvari acted quickly.
She lunged towards them and grabbed one by the neck, sending a kick into its abdomen. It screamed as Narvari’s powerful kick hurled it into the wall, crashing to the ground. The shadow lay still for a moment but got right back. These things were weak but they were relentless.
“It’s pointless fighting them,” said Jimbaga.
“Light is their weakness.” Narvari suddenly thought of an idea. “Can you hold them back here? I’ll go get my flashlight from my room.”
“Okay. But hurry.”
Narvari nodded. She glanced at her grandmother. Although it was a relief, she still wondered why the creatures no longer attacked her grandmother. That was for the best anyway.
Narvari was about to take off toward her room when a shrill cry tore through the still night. So loud and piercing was the sound that Narvari shut her ears to prevent her eardrums from bursting. This was a new sound. What was that about?
She didn’t have to wait long to know what it was about. Scores of shadows leaped out of the darkness and climbed atop her body. Her body went cold as the dark cold body of the creatures clung to her. They pressed her against the wall.
“Get off me,” she shouted, struggling to fend them off. But there were too many of them. A cold misty hand wound around Narvari’s neck. The creature strangling her screeched like a banshee. A white gaseous substance began to flow out of Narvari’s mouth.
She felt her body losing its strength, and for a moment, it was as though her soul was forcefully being snatched out of her. She did not even have enough energy to move a finger, nor could she breathe because of the pressure around her throat. Slowly, she shut her eyes, the world going even darker than it already was.
She really was about to die.
How naive had she been to think that she could save anyone?
Boom! Came the explosion. Had she imagined it?
The lack of oxygen to her brain must have sent her into a state of hallucination. Yes, that was probably it. How else would Narvari explain the disintegration of the shadowy creature into nothingness? But was this really a hallucination if the pressure around her throat was no more?
The oxygen rushed into her lungs, surging through her brain to clear the delirium. Perhaps, upon seeing how easily one of their comrades had disappeared into dust, the other shadows sped away like they were being chased by pesticides.
Narvari shut her eyes when a blinding white light, several times brighter than her tiny flashlight, flooded the room. The creatures shrieked.
Slowly, she peeled her eyes open. What had just happened? Who did that? Once her eyes adjusted to the light, her gaze fell on someone in the room — someone holding a massive blue and white gun Narvari had never seen before. She was sure no such gun even existed given its bizarre otherworldly appearance.
But as breathtaking as the gun was, that wasn’t what arrested Narvari’s attention. Instead, it was the young girl holding the gun. She looked to be around Narvari’s age but where Narvari was honey brown this girl was obsidian.
In all of Narvari’s eighteen years of being around beautiful black people of all shades, never had she seen one so stunningly black before. It was like looking at a shiny black mineral.
Even still, the girl’s skin wasn’t the only striking thing about her. Her hair, whiter than a glacier, draped past her shoulder. While her eyes shimmered like a galaxy of blue stars.
What in the hell? Narvari blinked rapidly as if that would make the girl disappear and put an end to this blasted dream.
“Are you alright?” The girl spoke English in an accent she couldn’t recognize. A weird mix of English and Elvish — if Narvari knew what Elvish sounded like.
The girl smiled and Narvari’s chest tightened, freezing her completely. It was official; Narvari was either dead or she had lost her goddamn mind. Or maybe both. At the moment, she couldn’t tell the difference.