Jonathan and Other Weird Stories

Jonathan, See-quelling (three)

The whole place was lit with a near-blinding white light. Jonathan pulled the dagger and the pain heightened, like a burn eating through every muscle in her body. The white light caused her to flinch and squeeze her face in shock. She covered her eyes, and opened it slowly, squinting through the bright rays. It worked. She couldn't believe it actually worked, and she soon began the forget her pain. Her eyes eventually accommodated and revealed a smirking face staring right at her. Jonathan, and his ridiculously charming face. He wore a singlet over a pair of shorts, and his feet were bare. His brown eyes gazed at her with a sense of familiarity. Why was he smiling like that?

Funmi pushed herself back on her feet and pointed her fist at him. "You stabbed me," she said, straining the veins in her neck.

"Relax, it's nothing fatal. Check. Do you still feel any pain?"

Funmi glanced at her side, where he had stabbed her, but there was nothing there and the pain was dissipating. There was no blood and no tear in her skin. "I—I don't understand. I felt the pain, it was real." She poked a firm finger on his chest and said, "You tried to kill me."

Jonathan scoffed, shoving her finger aside. "I can't possibly kill you, Funmi. I'm just someone in your head. I can't directly cause your death. The only way you can die in this place is if you end your own life."

But Funmi still glared at him, her chest rising and falling, all with rage swelling inside her. "For me to die here, you're saying I have to commit suicide?"

Jonathan nodded. "That works too."

Funmi squinted her eyes at him. "How do I know that isn't a lie?"

"I just stabbed you and now you've healed. If I was lying, wouldn't you be dead already? Look, I'm sorry I attacked you, okay? It had to be sudden for it to work." Jonathan stared around smugly. "And look, it worked, didn't it? You can see now."

Funmi stared around too, and the glare on her face dissolved. Finally, she had light—for a moment, she had feared she was blind; at least, now she knew she could see. She was in a building, a wooden structure. The walls were built with wood, unpainted, and there were long benches lined up on either side of the building. Pews? Funmi and Jonathan stood in the middle, in what seemed to be an aisle. The architecture was outdated and unfamiliar, with catholic carvings in the wall, depicting the journey of Jesus. Funmi had never been in this building in all her life, she knew that for sure. Jonathan's gaze shifted to the front of the church, and Funmi's eyes followed, like a tourist following her guide. She found an altar, which seemed ransacked. The statues and the candles were scattered all over the altar, and the pulpit must have been axed down to splinters of wood. Only one thing remained up, which Jonathan stared at. The crucifix—a statue which represented Jesus Christ nailed to the cross.

Funmi strained her eyes for a better look. The crucifix hung on the wall, at the edge of the altar, but the statue of Jesus wasn't in view. Old cloths draped the cross and covered its length, as though to hide the statue. Only the feet of Jesus peeped out from underneath, but it was blackened, like it had aged terribly, without good care. Every object in the church was old like that.

Funmi turned to Jonathan, and he still stared at her. That was when she knew why. She was still naked. "Turn around!" She rushed to cover her private parts with her hands.

"What?" Jonathan showed her his hands like he was innocent.

Only Funmi's mother, sister and her childhood maid had ever seen Funmi naked. But the maid used to say her father was a pastor in his village, so Funmi always saw her as a saint and did not mind if she saw her naked. Once again, Funmi wished she was a boy—maybe then, she wouldn't care so much about being nude in front of Jonathan. "I don't want you to see me like this."

Jonathan sighed and frowned. "I've been staring at your naked body since I walked in here. Funmi, I don't care about your body. Trust me."

"I don't care what you care about. Just turn around."

Jonathan shook his head and slowly obliged. "What now? You need me to buy you clothes?"

That gave Funmi an idea. Her eyes darted around. "The crucifix. Help me get the cloths covering the crucifix."

"Oh no, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"You shouldn't just go around touching things you don't understand."

The urgency in his voice filled Funmi with worry. For the first time, she considered the idea that she might be in actual danger. "What exactly do you want to save me from?" Funmi asked him.

"From the woman," Jonathan said, still facing the other way. "You heard her voice asking you to open your eyes? She's out there. Somewhere. And she's your worst nightmare. Trust me, she's going to kill you in ways you can't imagine. You have to do as I say."

Funmi scoffed. "When she spoke to me, it sounded kind, like she wanted to help me—certainly more than I can say about you."

"Look, I never called myself a saint. I'm cursed, literally, and by my own mother. It's because I'm evil; it's why I'm here, in the darkest part of your subconscious mind. This is still where I belong. Everything that comes from here is dark and evil, including the woman. And let me assure you, she's the evillest thing you'll ever know." Jonathan said the words dramatically, with cruel passion, as though he could see the woman in his head, and it made Funmi tremble.

Funmi gulped. "Who is she? Why does she want me dead?"

Jonathan sighed.

She pressed a foot forward and when she spoke, it was in harsh whispers. "I thought you said I couldn't die here, except I kill myself. And now, this woman can kill me?"

Jonathan laughed dryly. "She has her ways. She's going to do things to you that you'll wish you were dead. And she can kill you. I can't, but she can."

Funmi wrapped her arms over her bosom, as cold washed over her. She hated the church—it was too spacious, with open windows staring at her from every angle, and it made her feel vulnerable. "Why am I here, in this church? I have no memory of this place. If we're truly in my head, in my mind, then how come I don't remember ever being in a building like this?"

"So many questions." Jonathan groaned, slapping his forehead. "What makes you think that just because something is in your head, like this church, then it has to be your own memory? What about me? Have you met me before? Do you have any memory of me at all? So how am I in your head?"

Funmi swallowed. Staring at his back, she said, "If it's not my memory, then whose memory is it?"

"The woman, okay? It's hers."

"How's that even possi—you know, you keep asking me to trust you, but you've not proved yourself to be trustworthy."

"What?" Jonathan turned around to stare at her, squeezing his face like he was offended. "I've answered every question you've thrown at me. I've done everything you asked. I helped you get light. I've been completely honest with you the entire time."

"You lied about being able to see me."

Jonathan's face relaxed and a smirk shaped his lips. "That. Okay, look... I was doing you a favour. I saw how embarrassed you were, and I wanted to spare you from all that. I didn't want you to freak out that I could see you. That's all."

Funmi did not care that she was naked anymore. She rubbed her arms, craving heat and shivering. "Tell me about this woman. Who is she? Why does she want me dead and how can she kill me?"

He heaved a breath. "You shouldn't ask questions to answers you don't want to know." His gaze pierced her frightened face, squinted and full of intent. "Let me tell you a story. I hope you believe in witches."