Beckoned Through The Dark

78 // Lesego // Top Agenda

I went downstairs and found my uncle chatting with my mother. They were speaking in hushed voices and stopped when I arrived.

"Hey, Lesego," uncle greeted.

"Hi, uncle," I hugged him before joining him on the couch.

"How is your sister?" He asked.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes, Karabelo wasn't such a huge fan of mom's brother, I didn't understand why he still bothered with her.

I shrugged. "She seems better," I muttered and abruptly changed the topic. "Where is Duncan? I haven't seen him since this morning."

"He left with Jack," Mom said, and I look away at the mention of Jack.

"You know, you don't look like someone who was on the brink of death." I tensed as my uncle said that.

I stood up and gave him a weak smile. "It wouldn't be my first time," I commented dryly and walked away.

My mother looked like she was ready to disappear as her eyes wandered all over the place. "Vincent, you must be hungry, I'll make you something to eat," she said hastily and rushed to the kitchen.

I was so stressed out, because Karabelo was pretending as if everything was okay whereas she was the one who kidnapped Dineo.

On top of that I was concerned about what happened when I arrived at that house earlier.

I decided to swallow my pride and visit Bridgette to consult, imagine my surprise when I found Abigail instead.

"Abigail, what are you doing here?" I asked, but she quickly ushered me inside the house and closed the door. "What's going on here, where's Bridgette?"

Abigail bit into her fists while pacing around the hallway. She was a mess, she was wearing blue faded jeans, a white T-shirt, and a navy-blue sweater.

Her long natural curls were tied up in a messy bun.

"I don't know anymore, I don't know," she muttered to herself. It was as if she did not notice that I was there. "I don't know who to trust when things are like this." She looked at me with wide eyes. "Bridgette left, I think she ran away," she said.

"What?" If she was gone, who was going to help me? Abigail steered away from having to use her gift.

She ran her hand over her head. "Bridgette is working with your mother. I think she's the one that helped to suppress your calling. I..."  she cackled and shook her head, tears slowly rolling down her face.

"Abigail–" the pain in her eyes was unbearable.

She walked away, and I followed her to the kitchen where she was drinking water. "You've already been initiated," she blurted, "you were initiated when you turned 12, and then they did a ritual to stop you from practicing."

"Why don't I remember?" I asked absentmindedly.

"You were right to think Bridgette and Adelaide have agendas." She handed me a bottle of still water. "Bridgette is doing this to gain the favour of the ancestors so that they can give her back her powers, because she hasn't been practicing for years."

A lone tear rolled down my face, and I quickly wiped it. "I went to the mansion earlier and I had a very strange experience when I arrived. It was as if something had taken over my body, like I was possessed, but not really."

Without warning, Abigail pulled me into a hug. We hugged tightly and just stood like that for some time.

"Lesego, do you believe in astral projection?" She asked, and we pulled away.

I nodded. "What happened?"

She gestured for me to take a seat, and we both sat on the kitchen island.

"It's Claudia, her soul left her body. She's been out for over 48 hours now." For the first time ever, the dark circles around her eyes were visible. "I've been trying to get her back, with no success. And the strangest thing is that I can feel her, it's as if she's close by," she said, exasperated.

"What does your mother say?" I asked. Abigail scoffed, and I didn't miss the anger and frustration in her voice; she was really trying to warm up to Bridgette, but the woman kept disappointing her just as her other mother did. "Has the baby been found?" I tried to change the topic, but it seemed like I was putting more strain on her.

She lowered her head while massaging her temples. "I don't really care about that. Nomalanga knows where her baby is, she just won't tell us. Ryan has been trying to get her to talk, but she won't cooperate. So..." She shrugged.

That reminded me of something.

"I think this belongs to you." I fished out the necklace from my pocket and placed it in her palm. "He said to tell you that he loves you." She stared at the necklace with teary eyes, and then she kissed it before wearing it around her neck.

"Thank you,” she said. My mind drifted off to Clay, and my heart soared. "Are you okay?" I looked up in surprise at the question.

I took in a deep breath and shook my head. "My mother brought Karabelo into the house."

"What?" She bellowed and jumped off the island top. "But how..." She trailed off, her shoulders slumbering as something in her clicked. "Of course – Bridgette."

Wait, what? "You think Bridgette helped her out?" I asked, but she shook her head.

"Bridgette hasn't been practicing for years, which means the entire cleansing ceremony was a ruse."

If that's the case, then why did Karabelo wait out her return?

And if Bridgette hasn't been practicing for years, then–

"Was Karabelo even trapped in that forest?" The words were like acid to my ears, and as soon as they escaped my tongue, there was no taking them back.

I felt my heart drop to my stomach as Abigail wailed in response.

What the hell was going on?