Craig had woken up from his afternoon nap. When he opened his eyes, he noticed Sarah staring at the ceiling.
'Hey,' Craig said touching her arm. 'What are you thinking about?'
Sarah managed a smile before she looked back at the ceiling again. 'What do you think happened to that man we found on the road yesterday?'
Craig sighed, 'don't know. Someone's hurt him pretty badly though.'
'But who would do such a thing and why?' Sarah asked. Craig could hear the distress in her voice.
'There are sick people in this world my love. I wish he could tell me his name at least.' He held back on the detailed information on what he had seen, especially on the poor soul's split tongue. 'I think he might have suffered from shock and therefore could not tell us what happened. Who knows, maybe he was involved in an accident. You know, one of those hit-and-run cases.'
'It would seem like that, but why would a person drive away after hitting someone? I mean he could have been killed. He almost looked dead. If it wasn't for his arm waving to get our attention, I would have thought he was dead.'
Craig recalled the condition of the stranger and he could still see the expression on his face, fear and desperation despite the blood and bruises. Something terrified him with his wide-open eyes, showing his white eyeballs. 'Yeah, people are worse than animals nowadays.'
'How do you feel about the new job?' Sarah asked turning to her side to face Craig.
'Not too excited, I must admit, but this will be the last remember. I have to make it work and take no shit from nobody. Well, at least I don't have to be there in another week's time,' Craig said staring at the ceiling. 'Usually, companies close over December, but I suppose they want me to start on certain projects as soon as possible.'
'Yeah. They need that brain of yours. We'll be fine,' Sarah said placing her hand on Craig's arm. 'I love this house. No, I adore it. It's old and rustic with lots of character. You know what they say...a house finds its owner and not the other way around.'
Craig laughed, 'I'm sure you're right. It needs a little maintenance though. Maybe a few sneaky leaks. A paint job and a lawnmower will make a huge difference, but I'm sure we can get garden service around here somewhere. In the meantime, the kids can help us with a few things while we get settled in. School only starts in a few weeks.'
'We can get loads done before then. Maybe we can drive around in Saldanha tomorrow. Most of the shops should be open on a Saturday, I hope. We can get a few things at the hardware shop. We also need to get some groceries. Just the necessities,' Sarah said.
'Sounds good. We can get up early and see where the road takes us.'
Craig could hear faint voices from outside. Soon it was replaced by the children's loud voices as they entered the house.
'This is a lovely room,' Emily said making herself comfortable on Craig and Sarah's bed. 'It's so big. I wish my room had an en-suite.'
Andrew and Patrick stood by the foot-end of the bed.
'What have you guys been up to?' Sarah asked looking at Emily. 'Hope nothing sinister.'
'Ah, just strolled down the beach and checked out the place a little,' Emily said and noticed there was still sand stuck on her feet.
'Dad, I think there are some weirdos in town,' Andrew said sitting down on Craig's side of the bed.
'How so?' Craig asked.
'We found this thing on the beach, a drawing or altar. It looked like a sacrificial thing. Feathers, wood with carvings, pentagram and some other drawing of a rams head and horns,' Patrick said reading Andrew's mind.
'That sounds satanic,' Sarah frowned.
'Yes, and it had these poles at each corner,' Emily said.
'Maybe just some kids who had nothing better to do,' Craig said glancing at Sarah for support before looking back at the kids.
'Most definitely, as long as you guys always avoid those things,' Sarah added trying to change the direction of the conversation. Something inside her became restless at the new knowledge of satanic signs. Somehow, she connected it with the person they had found on the R27 the day before. She tried to hide her concern. 'What do you guys say about heading to town tomorrow? We need a few things. After that, we can cruise around to check out the place a little.'
'Yeah, let's do that,' Patrick said. 'Why don't we get up early so we can sort out the shopping in the morning still?'
'That's the plan,' Sarah said.
Craig's mind drifted towards what the stranger had written on the piece of paper. He could see the vivid image of the number 666 as if he was actually looking at it smeared in blood.