Preordained - Episode 9

Everything was still.

Night had fallen some moments ago, and I’d watched the clear sky become replaced by a blanket of darkness that had gradually smothered the scene. Yet, amongst the forest thickened by a canopy overhead, there was a camp, deceivingly small, pitched in a way that seemed almost unnatural. However, saying this was forgetting the mere fact that the camp housed three supernatural shape-shifters. The same ones who wouldn’t stop gawping at me. 

I wouldn’t stop gawking back either.. 

The incident of the past few hours had been preceded by the swiftest of introductions, and so I was familiar with their names now at least. 

Thato and Milo looked about my age. They were the blue-eyed beta, who also happened to be twins. And although, they were very much identical, some features were more prominent than the others, hence, it was less difficult to distinguish between them. 

Then there was the much older Noah, the alpha. Even in the human form, his overall ambiance refused to fade; his charisma was still very much existence. Perhaps, it came by naturally, I thought. 

“You look so much like Sheila,” Milo had suddenly blurted, almost as if he couldn’t hold it in any longer. 

And at this, my eyes had widened with an immediate pang of curiosity. “That’s my mother’s name right?” He didn’t say anything, but their unreadable expressions signified an affirmative

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/preordained

. “Tell me about her..” I urged.

“There’s a lot more to her than we can actually reveal,” said Thato. 

That statement was nothing short of vague, yet it managed to be overwhelming in its own right. It wasn’t a direct response, but it said a whole lot; a lot of things that I would forever be left to ponder upon by myself, a lot more than I could actually fathom. In a normal situation, I should be the one speaking about my mother instead, but while they’d gotten that mere chance to know her, I hadn’t.. and wouldn’t ever get the chance in fact. 

“She was one of you..” I whispered, trailing off. 

But Noah was the one who responded this time. “Yes she was.”

“And so are you,” he added much later, an afterthought. 

Of course, I’d already presumed I was one of them; still, hearing the words come out of his mouth made it sound real, more certain. 

And who, or what am I exactly? I’d wanted to ask, however, Milo had chirped almost instantly, interrupting my intention. 

“Is this yours?” He asked, flipping through the flimsy pages of Mama Yahimba’s book. Hesitantly, I nodded. “Seems like you’ve been doing a lot of research.”

“Well, yes, I have,” I returned easily. “But this is just based on a particular point of view. I want to hear your own side of the story. Tell me, what’s the genesis of your existence?” I inquired as a matter of fact, but instead of answers, all I got was silence. 

For what seemed like a minute or two, they refused to say a word. They simply stared back at me in return, as if unsure of what to say.

Read " Zakia " by the same author ( Ishola Ubaydah )

. However, it’d spanned only for a brief moment, after which Noah’s voice had echoed throughout the small space. 

“Humans are but the reason behind their doom,” He began, the seriousness that masked his beautiful features couldn’t have been more apparent. “Long ago, our ancestors were just dogs. But then, during the tenure of a particular king, the rules changed, and so, dogs weren’t just used for hunting anymore. They were also used as a source of punishment.”

“Whenever anyone was caught in an act of indiscipline, they were immediately caged in a cell with a dog. The dogs were trained to bite and tear human flesh.. Apparently, their apetite grew bigger, and so did their size. They became dangerous, but how is it their fault?” He snapped. 

He was mad, I could easily tell. “However,” he continued. “With the shape-shifters, the story is much different. Let’s just say, we,-.”

“Evolved,” I finished, and I’d notice him spare me a brief glance. 

“Exactly,” He murmured in agreement. 

“But just like everything God has created, we’re also divided into two,” Thato continued. “Somewhere along our phylogenetic tree, we sort of branched out to yield two different generations: There are shape-shifters, just like us, whilst the others are..” His voice trailed off. 

“Are what?” I asked impatiently.

“Vampires.” He eventually revealed.