What lurks in the darkness?

“What do you have to eat?” Grace asks.

Grace is my aunt by my mother’s side of the family.

“I have baked chicken and rice and peas,” I answer.

We are going on a bus trip with about fifty other people. We are leaving tonight to get to where we are going the next morning. The bus was parked at Crossroad by Miss May’s shop. People from in and around the community who are also going on this bus trip are boarding the bus. I am getting comfortable in my seat when I remember that I left a bag with my change of clothes at home.

I tell Grace that I will be right back because I have to go back to the house get the bag I packed with extra clothes.  

A taxi drops me off at my house in Stony Spring Road. I hurry inside to get my bag. I start to walk back even though I did not have anyone to accompany me. When I get to Miss Fay’s house, the light from her veranda gives me some comfort. However, the feeling of being comfortable is quickly fading because I am at the darkest, scariest, curviest, and loneliest part of Stony Spring Road.

I stand in the street away from the darkness because I am feeling scared. The street lights do not work. Tall shady trees hover on both sides of the road, creating a canopy and prevent the light of the moon and trillions of stars from penetrating the darkness beneath.

I am afraid of what lurks about in the shadows at night. Still, I need to get back to the bus, and there is no taxi available. So, I take a deep breath and start to run down the hill and into the waiting shadow. My legs are moving so fast that it feels like I am on roller skates.

I can only see a few feet away from my face because it is so dark. I let my instinct and my knowledge of the road guide my steps. From out of nowhere, a figure materializes in front of me. It looks like a male figure because the silhouette of the body stature wears pants, so I am going to refer to it as he.

He stands about six feet tall, with his hands presumably on his hips; because I see his elbows stick out on from both sides of his body. My heart starts to pound in my chest like a beating drum. I do not know if my heart is thumping out of fear or shock that I am alone in the dark with someone I do not know. I dash to the side of the road to avoid colliding into him.

“I am coming,” I call out to no one in particular but trying to put on a brave attitude to let him know that someone else is close that can hear me if something should go wrong. “I am coming, guys,” I call out again. “I am right behind you.”

I pass him without any incident. I speed down the hill, and before I turn the first corner, I look back to see if he is following me, but nothing seems wrong. When I turn my head back around, the silhouette appears again. This time, closer to me than before, but I am still unable to recognize the figure.

“Oops! Sorry! Hello! Goodnight!” I ramble to the figure probably out of been startled or just a sporadic outburst of extemporaneous words. I pass again on the left side. 

I push my legs as fast as they can go. I am almost there at the next bend, so I turn again to look back, but I do not see anything.  These incidents are so bizarre; I shake my head and move forward.

Who were those men, and why were they standing in the middle of the street? I have two more corners to go before I get to the crossroad where the others are waiting. Then, I see the figure again or, is he another person.

This time, the man’s arms are stretch open, like Jesus’s arms nailed to the wooden crucifix. Who is he and why is he stalking me? What am I going to do?

I stop and assess the situation to figure out my next move. I cannot turn back because the other two men are still behind me. Should I pass on the left or the right? I calculate the obstacles. To my left, there is a steep embankment with trees. I cannot go there because I have nowhere to escape if I need to. To my right, there is a not too big a hill, but it is lower with grass and beyond it is shrubs. I can run over there if the man tries to grab me. I decide to pass him on the right. Then, the man starts to move across the road from side to side as if he is dancing to some calypso music, Move it to the left. Move it to the right. Well, this is how it looks to me. Why is he taunting me?

Oh, my God, please help me, I pray. I have to get back to the bus before it leaves me. My feet hurt, but this is the last race of the journey. It is the hundred-yard dash. I am close to safety; I hear the sound of beeping car horns and people calling out to one another.

 If I scream, someone should hear me.

I start to run and scream. As soon as I make it around this corner, I will be okay. This hope releases a burst of energy inside of me. I am going faster and getting closer to the man who is still moving from side to side in the street. I feel the night air on my exposed skin. The neocortex and thalamus projection of my family and friends waiting for me flashes in front of my face.

I am coming, guys,” I shout louder this time. “Do not leave me.” The bag slips off my shoulder to my elbow. I grab it, place it under my armpit, and push forward, still screaming.  

Faster! Faster! Faster! Whoosh! I cannot see anything. Blackness obscures my vision. Did something happen to my eyes? I feel as if I am transported to another realm because something strange is going on. I feel as if I am no longer on Stony Spring Road because my legs are no longer running. My head feels light; I feel like I am floating around in an abyss or teetering at the edge of a black hole. I scream out; help! But no sound comes out of my mouth. Did something happen to my ears as well?

Where am I? What is happening to me? Did that man do something to me? It feels as if I am floating further away from my reality that I may no longer be alive. Then, from somewhere in the blackness, I hear a voice say, you do not belong here.

“Who said that?” I ask. I look around in the darkness with the hopes of seeing someone.

“You need to be more careful. Do not travel alone at night. Evil relishes and lurks in darkness and it is out there to harm you.”

I cannot discern if the voice is of a male or female. However, I feel a sense of relief because I am no longer alone.

“Get up and go. Go back to your family.” The voice is amplified and vibrates in my eardrums. Well, at least, I am not deaf.

“Why are you telling me to get up? I ask. “I am trying to stabilize my floating body. I can’t even feel my legs, much less stand.” 

“You can do it. Focus on my voice.”

“Who are you and what is going on here? Can you please tell me?” I ask.

“I am here to help you.”

“Who are you?” I wait for an answer but instead, I feel a cold hand, I think it is a hand, glides across my face. “What is that? What are you doing to me?” I ask. No answer.

The cold hand moves across my face, again and I slap at it, but miss and hit my eyes, instead. The hit causes me to see flashing stars dancing disco behind my eyelids. After a while, the stars begin to rearrange themselves and become stable, not moving.

Eventually, I realize that I am looking at the night sky above me. I also notice that I am laying on the ground by the side of the road. I sit up and orientate myself. My head hurts from the slap. Then, I remember the reason why I could be on the ground. I look all around and do not see him. My body feels weak, and my right hip hurts probably from the impact of the fall. But I have to get up and move to safety. I steady my legs to stand and limp the rest of the way to the crossroad. The bag dangles on my left shoulder like a weight stabilizer.

I turn the corner, and the street lamp extends its light to me. I am so happy and relieve that I walk into the light. Like it was my mother’s outstretched arms, it wraps its energy around my body similar to a protective shield, and the darkness ebbs.

The bus lingers with the engine running. People are getting on and off the bus. They are not even aware of the trauma I went through. I stop under the light to examine myself. My clothes have grass stains all over, and I have no clue what happened. A bruise on my right elbow oozes a small trickle of blood down my arm. Aside from those issues, I am happy to be alive.  

Two ladies emerge from the shadows into the light. I do not know them.

“Hey, guys. Did you see the people standing in the darkness up there?” I ask.

“No,” the one in the red blouse answers.

“Mi nuh si nuttin,” the other interjects.

“I swear to you. I saw three people lurking in the shadows up there,” I respond with a convincing tone. I am not sure if I am trying to convince them or myself that what I saw and experienced was real.

“Yuh face look red. Yuh ahright? The lady in the red blouse asks.

I rub my cheek nonchalantly. I can feel the warm pulsating surface probably because of some raptured blood vessels.

A musi duppy yuh si cause wi nuh si nobody bak deh,” the other lady says as she laughs and walks away.

A duppy? What do you think? Analyze this!

Ok, I said it!