The Curse of 1977 (Book 2)

Chapter 32

"When or if you see your sister, tell her to give us a call!" Mr. Glover said aloud over the phone before hanging up.

Seated on the couch with Isaiah right next to her sucking on a cup, Mrs. Glover asked, "What did Lavonia say?"

Turning around and grunting, Mr. Glover replied, "She said she doesn't know where Lynn is. But then again, she's probably over there with the rest of them getting high and acting like a bunch of fools!"

Mrs. Glover sat and watched with troubled eyes as her long-suffering husband, still adorned in his blue night watchman's uniform, traipsed back and forth across the carpet.

"Maybe we should call the police again," Mrs. Glover wringed her hands."Just like they said yesterday, they're doing everything they can to look for her."

Mr. Glover rubbed his head. "I can't believe she just up and ran off like this!" He yelled.

"Poor Lynnette has always had her unusual ways." Mrs. Glover turned her head.

"Her ways," Mr. Glover stopped pacing. "Wilma, that girl has lost her ever loving mind! I'm sick and tired of these girls of ours acting like they've got no home training!"

"You don't have to raise your voice."

"Like hell I don't!" The man tossed his arms in the air. "You should've heard Lavonia over that phone. It sounded like she's got a party going on over there with all those kids!"

"She tried." Wilma softly uttered.

"Tried at what?" Mr. Glover approached his wife. "Just where did we go wrong with them?"

Without looking him in the eye, Wilma said, "Lynn is a good girl. There's something else going on with her. I saw it when I got her out of jail the other day. She—

"Hold on, when you got her out of what?"

Wilma's eyes immediately connected with her husband's at that instant. In what appeared to be minutes, the two just stared at each other before Mr. Glover turned away and walked over to the mantle.

"What did the girl do?" He sighed.

"It doesn't matter."

"What the hell do you mean it doesn't matter?" He roared while spinning around.

Just then, the lights in the living room all went out. At once, Isaiah began to cry which only caused Mr. Glover to go into a more rage-filled stomp across the floor.

"Shut him up while I go downstairs and look at the fuse box!"

Wilma got up from off the couch and began for one of the front windows. "It's probably another one of these rolling blackouts!" She shouted before opening one of the curtains to look outside. "But everyone else's lights are still on, Julius!"Once Wilma was through looking outside she turned back around to attend to Isaiah who was trying to climb off the couch and onto the floor."Boy, if you don't get up from off that floor." Wilma lightly warned as she scooped the child up and into her arms.

"The darn fuses are all still on." Mr. Glover announced as he came back into the living room. "You said that the rest of the neighborhood was still up and running?"

"They sure are."Mr. Glover, with flashlight in hand, went over to the front window and gawked out into the dark neighborhood.

"It figures ours would be out while everyone else is still enjoying their electricity. Boy, I tell ya, if it ain't one thing it's another."

"Maybe we should call the bus station." Wilma walked around the living room with Isaiah attached to her. "They usually have a lot of people going in and out of there."

Julius continued to stare out at the various houses before he pulled himself away from the window.

"I guess I could." He dropped his shoulders. "But if she's down there, then that means she's fixin' to skip town. And just why would she want to do that, especially with her own child still here?"

"God only knows." Wilma said. "That child's soul is so backwards now, she couldn't even—

At that very moment, a knock at the front door sidestepped Wilma's every word. Julius nearly dropped his flashlight before he turned and went for the door. Wilma stared oddly at the door before her jaws stuttered, "Don't open it."

"It's probably one of the neighbors." Julius said as he unlocked the door and opened it to see a tall silhouette with two twinkling eyes standing on the other end.

"Good evening, sir, we heard you had a power outage." A man's deep, foreign sounding voice spoke in the dark of the porch.

"Uh...yeah," Julius shined his flashlight into the man's face. "How did you get here so quick," he squared his eyes at the man.

"We were already in de neighborhood." He answered, "We saw your lights out, sir."

Julius just stood still while keeping his flashlight tuned to the man's smiling, bearded face. "Uh...look, we'll just get in touch with the power company."

"But we are de power company, sir. The name's Arthur Bushard. And dis here is my assistant, Akoni."

Julius then shined his light on Akoni who was walking up the porch steps with her own toolbox in hand. He noticed that both Akoni and Arthur were wearing white tank top shirts and dingy blue jeans.

"If you'd just let us inside we'd be able to service you better, sir." Arthur continued to gleam his teeth at a nervous Mr. Glover.

Julius glanced back behind him at his wife before turning around to face Arthur. "Look, um, why don't you two just—

"Just let us in, sir." Arthur said, sounding desperate. "De sooner we get inside, de sooner you can have your power back on."

"You certainly do not want your food to go to waste in dis heat, do you?" Akoni asked.

Julius hesitated for what seemed like countless seconds before he stepped aside to allow both of them in.

Wilma sat on the couch with Isaiah and watched with foreboding eyes as Arthur and Akoni looked all around the living room. The very last thing she wanted was to see the two of them inside her house, which was exactly why her grip on Isaiah's waist increased with every passing minute. Just their very presence gave off an ominous, if not downright appalling heaviness that engulfed the entire living room, causing the darkness to feel even more suffocating.

"You have a very nice home, sir." Arthur marveled at the area.

"Yeah, from what you can see in the dark," Julius bluntly remarked. "The fuse box is down in the basement. Let's see some work being done."

"Yes, sir," Arthur gladly complied.

At once, Akoni, with her toolbox, ventured out of the living room and towards the kitchen, leaving everyone else behind.

"You are quite fortunate dat we were in de neighborhood when we were." Arthur stated. "We've been getting all kinds of reports of rolling blackouts lately."

"We're used to it by now." Wilma said.

Arthur then pointed his eyes at the woman in a witty manner that would have suggested he was amused by her.

"Look, how long is this gonna take?" Julius asked while still shining his flashlight. "It just seems kind of funny to me the timing of all this."

"Not much longer, sir," Arthur responded. "My sister is very efficient in her work."

"That girl is your sister?" Julius pointed behind him.

"Yes, sir, for quite some time now," Arthur's smile grew larger. "Our business should not take too long."

"I could've sworn that girl looked awfully familiar. Awfully familiar," he insisted.

Wilma could not take her eyes off of Arthur. She noticed that every time Julius would remove the flashlight's beam away from his face, Arthur's eyes seemed to possess a certain radiance about them. She noticed it all too well.

"So tell me, how long have you and your sister been in this country?" Julius asked.

"Oh, for a while now," Arthur said. "We came here with our brother as well, but he moved on to other tings."

"I see. So where are you guys from exactly?"

"Jamaica, sir," Arthur remarked before turning to his left to see the mantle above the fireplace. The man then ventured over and viewed the various frames of family members that layered the mantle."I see you have a very lovely family, sir."

"Yeah, that's them." Julius shined his light on the man's bald head.

Wilma watched intently as Arthur viewed each and every picture, in the dark no less, until he came across Lynnette's frame. Right there, the man's entire body stood perfectly immobile as he stared endlessly at the young lady's face.

Suddenly, Isaiah began to cry. Wilma tried to calm the child but he just seemed to grow more agitated with every passing moment.

"I'm gonna go see what that girl is doing." Julius said as he began towards the kitchen.

"No, don't you go anywhere." Wilma fretfully commanded the man.

"De cries of a baby are someting very sweet to my ears." Arthur gradually turned around with Lynnette's picture in hand. "I have heard dem many, many times in my life."

Instantly, Isaiah ceased crying as Arthur placed his toolbox onto the floor. "We have known all along where dis house is." Both his smile and voice shrank. "But, we are having much difficulty finding your child."

"You and your sister get the hell outta here!" Julius shouted.

Something from upstairs began to rattle and stir right then. It sounded like someone was moving furniture across the floor.Without a moment's hesitation, Julius charged at the stairs only to be stopped at the very first step.

"Who the hell is that up there?" He angrily hollered.

Arthur slammed Lynnette's frame to the floor, smashing the glass to bits. "A familiar face, sir," Arthur said.

Wilma sat and looked at Arthur, who without the flashlight beaming in his face, appeared more like an animal in the dark with his shining eyes.

"What the holy hell?" Julius stood back aghast as a figure came trotting down the stairs ever so slowly.

Wilma turned around to see just who in the world it was, but because of the darkness, making out a face was nearly impossible; all she could hear were footsteps.

Julius shined his flashlight at the figure before dropping the light to the floor in horror and tumbling backwards.

"Mama," he screamed out in terror.

Wilma watched as the dark figure continued to descend until it eventually reached the bottom step before vanishing altogether out of sight.

"Out of all de places I have visited, dis one pleases me de most." Arthur spread his arms out wide.

Wilma heard the man, but her eyes were relentlessly transfixed on the apparent woman that just vanished like a whisper. Just moving a simple finger at that point seemed impossible for her to do.

Julius then got up from off the floor before taking out an umbrella from the closet and advancing towards Arthur with it in an aggressive manner.

But before the man could come any closer, Arthur reached out, grabbed the umbrella and snatched it away from Julius. He then backhanded Julius across the jaw sending him to the floor.Wilma looked on at the man who appeared completely unconscious lying flat on his stomach in the dark.

Dropping the umbrella to the floor, Arthur drew close to Wilma and Isaiah who were both shivering on the couch. Wilma held the child as tight as she could while covering the boy's eyes with her right hand. All Wilma could see standing above her was a broad-shouldered profile with glowing eyes pointed right down at her.

"In dis darkness, mother, I can see forever." Arthur uttered. "We come for your daughter, but she not here. We come to finish our work, but we find only de child and no mama."

Wilma sat on the couch shaking like a leaf. Behind her she could feel a presence standing. It breathed in and out before it growled. On her bare left arm she felt something wet and warm drop. It felt like something or someone was slobbering on her.

Soon enough, the drool was followed by the sound of even more growling. Wilma only held Isaiah closer to her bosom. The child tried to whimper but she made sure that not one sound could be heard coming from his mouth.

"Where your daughter at, mother," Arthur questioned. "Tell her to come home."

"I don't know where she is." Wilma's teeth grated back and forth until they began to hurt.

Arthur only drew closer to the woman before he eventually stopped. Wilma held her breath as she looked up at the ghoul before her. Then, she felt a pair of cold, hard, sharp nails embrace her shoulders from behind. The woman held her grandson all the firmer while not taking her eyes off of the one that stared right back at her.

"What are you tinking now, mother?" Arthur asked.

Wilma would not answer, even while the claws that were restraining her began piercing her skin. But Arthur remained still in front of her. Suddenly, his movements in the dark appeared somewhat stranger than they did earlier. It was like he was hesitating to make another step.

Wilma just couldn't remove her eyes from the man. No more was she all too concerned with the beast behind her, nor was she giving much attention to her husband that was still knocked out; it was Arthur Bushard that had her full, unmitigated consideration.

Arthur stood straight up and questioned in a low, almost threatening manner, "Who are you?"

Without warning, Akoni's grip on Wilma's shoulders gradually loosened. Within a matter of seconds her once brooding presence behind her didn't feel so chilling.

"You are not afraid of us." Arthur's voice sounded small. "Why are you not afraid us, mother?"

Wilma would not speak a word. Her intimidating silence was as strange as the beings that had invaded her home. Once Isaiah had stopped crying, she pulled him away from her sweaty chest and held his tiny hands in hers.

Akoni came around and stood beside Arthur. Before Wilma stood two pairs of glowing eyes that wouldn't stop staring down at her. All four persons either stood or sat quietly as they looked upon each other as though they were daring the other to speak another word in the warm darkness of the house.

Wilma's eyes then widened as another pair of eyes appeared behind Arthur; except the eyes were a dark, glowing orange.

"Who are you?" The voice behind Arthur and Akoni hissed.

Wilma said absolutely nothing. She only held her grandson beside her on the couch and quietly observed her devilish intruders.