The Progeny

The Progeny - Part 5

Dalia instructs Estella to lock the door and make sure the windows are fully barricaded. She shuffles over to a small wooden trunk and opens it, taking out seven small white candles and a large piece of slate. She brings the goods over to the small table just in front of the even smaller couch, she nods at the table, gesturing for Estella to clear it in order to make room for the contents in her hands, Estella rolls her eyes, but does as she's instructed. Dalia places the large slate onto the table and using a small stick of chalk she draws the same seven-pointed star that's scratched into her door, she then continues to place a candle on each point. "Put the fire out" she orders Estella, Estella looks like she's about to knock this old woman off her feet, her hands are balled into a fist either side of her waist and her teeth are clenched, I wonder if this woman knows that Estella is one of the most deadly predators on this planet, if she does then she's very brave. The old woman notices Estella's anger, "do you want my help or not?" she questions in her soft voice, Estella rolls her eyes for the hundredth time and goes over to the fire, she throws a bucket of water over it and I watch as the flames burn out, leaving blackened burnt wood slowly crumbling into ashes. Dalia strikes a match and gives light to all seven candles, "Lie back onto the couch dear", I look back at the small couch and wonder how my 6ft body is going to fit, I gather some pillows to rest my head on and place them at the far end against the arm of the couch, Dalia nods in encouragement, "that's it, lie flat, make yourself comfortable", as if she can hear my thoughts Estella interjects,

"I'm not sure how comfortable he can possibly make himself on that tiny piece of shit, you've seen how tall he is right?", Dalia throws daggers with her eyes,

"Why don't you go and wait outside, I'm sure you're hungry, go and hunt a squirrel or something!" she snaps, Estella's eyes widen,

"I'm not going anywhere", her eyes flick to mine and I feel the same rush of electricity that I felt when she touched my hand before, probably the last thing I should be thinking about right now, but lately I seem to have no control over my thoughts.

I lie back on the couch and stare up at the wooden ceiling, "here put this on", Dalia hands me a black eye mask, "it will help clear your mind if you're in total darkness with no distractions", she glances over to Estella, who's now stood back against the wall, her one leg bent up behind her and her arms crossed, my heart beats fast, oh Christ does she think Estella is a distraction, have it made it that obvious! I take the mask, slowly pull it over my eyes and lie back onto the cushions. "Good, now empty your mind of all thoughts and remember, no matter how real this all seems, it's all in your mind, these things can't physically hurt you", her soft voice echo's into the darkness around me, she begins to chant some sort of African voodoo, I can't make out what she's saying, it's in a foreign tongue, but it's sending me deeper and deeper into a state of sleep, before I know it I'm dead to the world.

I slowly open my eyes, I must be inside a dream of sorts as I'm no longer in the wooden cabin and Estella and Dalia are nowhere to be seen. I'm in an unfamiliar house, the white walls are covered in newspaper cuttings, there's a large cherry wood desk covered in papers and dirty mugs of leftover tea, the brown leather couch that I'm led across is pushed tight against the opposite wall only inches from a warm fire slowly crackling, I stand to my feet and walk over to the newspaper cuttings, a headline reads, 'Fifth body found drained of blood.' I skim over to another which states, 'Mysterious killings out of control', I'm about to turn my attention to the papers scattered across the large desk when a man enters followed by a young woman. "Mother!" I shout, but no one flinches, I run towards her and try to touch her, but my hand swipes through her like she's made of smoke, I then realise she can't see me and she can't hear me, like Dalia said, this isn't real, it's all in my mind. She's wearing a white, linen, V-neck dress that flows bellow her knee, the short sleeves puff out and there's a small band pulling her in at the waist, her feet are pushed into light brown sandals and her hair is pulled back into a ponytail, she looks so young. The man she's with is unfamiliar, it's not my father that's for sure, he's tall and a lot older than her, his formally brown hair is now scattered with grey intruders, exposing his age, he's wearing heavy brown boots with dark jeans turned up at the bottom, a buttoned up brown checkered shirt is tucked into them, for his age, he looks in shape, I can see his toned physique through the material on his body. My mother follows him with a pleading look on her face, "please daddy, don't make this into something it doesn't have to be", daddy? This guy is her dad? My grandfather? "Please look at me, I can't do this without you", the guy, I guess my grandfather turns to her,