I was still strapped by the strong hands, fears, and apprehension. My uncle held me tightly as I stood on the floor just outside the house. Jean stood beside me worried. I wondered whether he should worry about me since I had no problem. He needed to worry about my uncle. My uncle instructed him to hold me tightly as he went inside the house.
"Let's tie him up so that he doesn't disturb us." Uncle Jack said, opening the door to get inside the house.
"Since you don't want to talk," Jean cautioned, "we will tie you up so that you can talk." I noticed how Jean said that loudly when my uncle was still within hearing distance. When my uncle had gone inside the house, Jean whispered to me. "What is it? Is all this concerned with what I'm thinking? What did you see happening in the secret room? He whispered repeatedly. I cleared my throat before speaking.
"Release me first, then I will speak about everything that is disturbing me," I told him.
"Before I do that, you need to promise me that you will not misbehave. I don't want your uncle to come here and reprimand me for releasing you."
"I promise, I won't misbehave like the way I've done," I promised. No sooner had I finished my statement, than Uncle Jack came back with a rope. I started shivering again. I tried to free myself but Jean held me with his strong hands having seen my uncle.
"Do not tie me! I'm okay now." I pleaded, "I promise not to misbehave anymore."
"Let's tie him." I heard my uncle tell Jean. Jean was hesitant in executing the orders.
"Perhaps we could ask him what the issue is? He can talk while I still hold him." Jean suggested. Uncle Jack thought for a moment and Jean almost regretted giving his suggestion.
"Well, he doesn't want to talk. What shall we do with him?" Uncle Jack replied. "Will you talk, or we will tie you for the rest of the night!" He shouted, turning his gaze from Jean to me. "This is among the kids raised by parents who don't discipline them." I heard him tell Jean. I couldn't help but laugh to myself when I remembered the countless times that I was whipped by my mother for not doing this or doing that wrongly. If he could know that he was the reason behind all that…
"I will talk," I said at last. There was silence for a while as Jean released me. I stood up comfortably, now freed. I stretched my hands high in the air, warming them up for the cold that had started biting my bones. I stretched my legs into the air exercising them and prepared my mouth to talk. My brain selected carefully the words for the message that I was about to deliver. After a careful consideration of the whole statement, I dropped the long-awaited message. The message that I believed would bring me peace and satisfaction. This was the message that would end all my shivering.
"Well, as I was moving out of the house wildly," I began. My teeth began grinding terribly. I tried to hold my jaws together and tighter, but the biting fear and apprehension set my jaws apart, such that my mouth remained open. I felt my mind go mad, and I thought of running out of the gate and disappearing into the darkness. As I pondered about the matter, the moonlight came on and illuminated the whole compound. The lights that illuminated outside the house were not yet on, and immediately my uncle removed his phone and with a touch of a button, the whole place became illuminated brightly. I could now see his fuming face boiling towards me patiently waiting for an answer. I could also see Jean's face which seemed to ask whether the whole matter that the both of us had been worried about was true. Jean did not look at Uncle Jack at any one time, he looked at me, and at other times, he distracted himself by looking elsewhere. He seemed to fear him too.
"Perhaps I should reveal what I had seen and heard for the past few days in the house, right from the first day I came into the house so that Uncle Jack would have questions to answer us." I thought to myself. My mind then got a better answer. "I was… I was actually going to the swimming pool to have a fresh bath." I replied against everyone's expectations. My uncle's anger seemed to fade away. Jean appeared to suspect that I was hiding something.
"Are you sure?" Jean asked. That made my uncle stare at me again.
"Yes, I'm very sure," I replied without wasting time to think about anything more. "I guess something was not right with me, since I was sweating like my life depended on it. So I was going to cool myself down."
"Your answers are unrealistic. Is there not a fan in your room?" Uncle Jack asked rather amazed.
"Trust me, I switched it on to the maximum speed, but it was all in vain,"I reassured him.
"Why are you sweating in this cold weather and to make the matter complicated, at night?" Jean asked curiously.
"I don't know. That's why I said that I guess I have a problem." I replied and winked at Jean. Winking here meant that I was going to provide more details to him in the future when my uncle would not be at home.
"And how are you going to swim in this cold weather?" My uncle asked. He looked at me with dissatisfied eyes as he threw the rope aside.
"When I came out of the house, I was sweating profusely. That was the perfect time for me to swim," I answered him.
"Let's leave him alone now," my uncle said. "Let's see whether he will swim in this cold. Jean, go to the gate and continue with your work. Let me order something to eat, now that our little one here has spoilt our evening."
"Okay, Sir," Jean replied.
"One more thing," he stressed, "Don't forget to close the gate. Do everything as you're supposed to do." Jean then left for the gate after receiving the orders. My uncle got inside the house. I was left standing alone in the cold. The wind began blowing hurriedly to the west, carrying with it the branches of the trees in the home from right to left. I could also hear water movements and when I looked in the direction, my sight caught the swimming pool. There it was, stunningly beautiful. I looked at the small water currents and imagined them moving over the whole of my body. It would be wonderful! I then took the slow steps towards the swimming pool. I decided not to dip my finger in the pool to feel the temperature.
"One, two, three, go!" I counted before throwing myself into the pool. I felt the cold splash of water on my tired body. I dived my head inside the water and counted for thirty seconds. I felt cold water coming in contact with my hair. I almost felt the water diffusing through the skin to my head and coming in contact with my brain. I felt very good. I felt all my worries seeming to vanish. I felt refreshed. As I washed myself with the water, the woes of using anything related to the occult gnawed at me mercilessly. I stood in the water terrified. My eyes were wide in horror.
"Oh my GOD!" I shouted jumping out of the water with lightning speed. My clothes were dripping wet with water. I glanced at my bike in the parking area. I then glanced at the car that was parked beside my bike. The thought of escaping could not be the solution during that night.
As I pondered about the matter, my wet clothes clung to my body and made me extremely cold. I was afraid of going back to the house associated with the occult. So I sat on the floor stranded on what to do. Time passed, with the cold wind blowing my body wild. I drifted to sleep.
I saw myself sitting in the living room with my phone in hand, browsing. I couldn't remember what I was browsing. My uncle, who had told me that he was going to work, came instantly to the house in a rush. He did not look at me, his phone was in his hand and he headed straight upstairs. I was startled, I watched him curiously as he went to his secret room and locked the door loudly behind him. I quickly tiptoed upstairs and my ears were keen to capture even the slightest scratch of an insect flying through the air.
Minutes of silence passed before I heard him sobbing. I was terrified. I moved closer to the room and listened again. He seemed to be talking to himself while blowing his nose. For some time, I heard him call my name.
"Mike!" I didn't answer. "Mike! Mike!" He called this time louder and in a panic-stricken voice. I could hear the terror in him, but I still decided to wait for some more time. Suddenly my shoulder was shaken gently, I thought it was Jean who had come to witness for himself. So I looked back and surprisingly, I saw Uncle Jack. His face showed concern and worry for me. I heard his hand touch my neck, and when he felt how cold I was, he touched my vest which was still wet from the swimming.
"Come on!" he said worried, "You still went ahead to swim?" I screamed when I heard his voice. "What's the problem? I'm your uncle. Are you dreaming?" He asked repeatedly. I woke up and looked all around me. The swimming pool was still in its place. The house still looked as beautiful as it always was. My bike was still there and the car too. My uncle lifted me.
"Oh my GOD!" I muttered.
"Come on, it's just a bad dream. You will be fine. Let's go inside for you to have something to eat. You also need to change and put on something warm and dry." He escorted me slowly to the house. I was weak and when I reached the seat, I fell over it. I opened my eyes and saw that food was on the table. A bowl of steaming hot rice with beef. I have liked rice since time immemorial. So the sight was enough to wake me up and eat. When my uncle ran upstairs to get me dry clothes, he was amazed when he found me eating as he came back.
"So you're alright." He said smiling. He then went upstairs to return the clothes and came back to the table. "When you're done eating, go to the washroom and freshen up and put on clean clothes." He advised further. I ate ravenously. When I was satisfied, I did exactly as I had been told and came back to the living room. There I found Jean eating his food and my uncle watching the television.
"I'm done now. I feel better." I said taking my seat.
"Now tell us what was disturbing you. I need you to speak plainly without beating about the bush. Remember, I'm your uncle, Jean is also here for any help." He emphasized.
"Are you comfortable with anything that I will say?" I asked.
"Yes," he answered, "Jean and I are here to hear you out. Tell us what has been disturbing you since you came here. We're like you're parents now and you need to tell us everything." I saw Jean looking at me as if asking me to speak. My uncle also looked concerned about the matter, and only then did I realize the weight that the matter weighed.
I cleared my throat, and adjusted my position in my seat, ready to spit out nothing but the truth.