The Second Sight – Episode 5

THE SECOND SIGHT EPISODE 5

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MIDNIGHT PROPHECY
Location: MADINA-37 HIGHWAY

Although the pastor’s voice is soft, the words seem to have an echoing quality that bursts through Boat’s ear-drums, making him screw his eyes tightly.

He fights the panic assailing him. This is madness. Sheer madness! He has to fight it before this crazy man turns him into a drooling vegetable.

PAUL ANDERSON

(sadly)

The truth is that you’re a very special vessel, Yaw. Your body is about to be possessed by one of the most vicious and oldest demons ever. You’re going to receive terrible and amazing powers from this demon to persecute the people of God. You’re going to be initiated into the war between darkness and light, between good and evil, between Jehovah and Satan.

BOAT

(contemptuously)

You’re stark raving mad! You’re mad, totally mad!

The man in black glares at Boat, his eyes flashing with fire, impaling Boat with terrible intensity.

His free hand shoots out and grasps Boat’s wrist quite hard, but Boat can feel the slippery nature of his palm. He is sweating, and Boat feels a faint tremor in his hand.

Boat looks at the man of God intently, and he is quite shaken to realize that there is a hint of fear in the depths of Anderson’s eyes, which shifts fractionally from Boat, and gazes with haunted intensity at something behind Boat.

His eyes came back slowly, almost as if he has to physically drag them away from whatever he had been looking at behind Boat.

PAUL ANDERSON

You think I’m mad? Explain how I stopped your speeding car! Explain why your engine won’t start up. Explain how your doors got locked. Explain how I knew about the fact that you had sex with a woman you didn’t see in the dark!

Boat says nothing.

There is nothing to say.

The man in black releases Boat’s and leans back again.

He rubs his eyes in a jerky manner, as if to clear it of an unwholesome sight.

PAUL ANDERSON

(wearily)

Listen, Yaw, and listen well. I don’t know what is going on, really. I think you’re too far gone into the hands of dark forces for me to try and change you. I don’t really think anything can save you now, but I guess Jehovah, as usual, thinks differently. He is the Almighty, and everything He does eventually turns out to be right. So listen to me, my friend, because this can mean life or death for you. You think I’m a madman, and I don’t blame you for that.

BOAT

(nastily)

Go to hell, preacher man. My father is also a believer, a Christian, a hundred times more powerful than you. If such sh*t has been going on in my life as you claim, wouldn’t your God reveal it to my father rather than to a two-pesewa freak like you?

PAUL ANDERSON

(gently)

God gives different gifts to His chosen servants, Yaw. Some are given gifts of healing, others prophesy, some are terrific soul-winners. Some are servants, some are singers. I do respect your father, Yaw. He’s indeed a terrific man of God. However, he does not have the gift of a Second Sight, like I do, and thus he cannot help you. You need me, and that is why I was sent to you.

BOAT

(hoarsely)

The gift of second sight? What the heck is that?

Boat sits up, grudgingly interested because he knows it will be one of this man’s wack crazy themes. He seems to have a million up his scrawny sleeve.

PAUL ANDERSON

(softly)

The Second Sight is a special gift God gives to a few chosen servants, my boy. You remember that other world I told you about? The world that is filled with demons and principalities and forces of darkness that the naked eye can’t see? Well, if you’re given the gift of the Second Sight you obtain the power of discernment, and you can actually see those demonic forces. Those men of God with the Second Sight are Jehovah’s soldiers who can fight the forces of darkness and get rid of them. It is the most terrible war on a level you can’t even begin to understand. A long time ago, those soldiers with the gift of the Second Sight began calling themselves the UNBLINDS, you know, like they are no longer blind but everyone else is blind. It is a silly nickname if you ask me, but I guess it made them feel special because they took a special kind of pride in being able to see things ordinary people couldn’t see.

BOAT

(wearily)

You crazy madman!

PAUL ANDERSON

(with a snicker)

Yes, it is damn crazy, my boy. These people of God, the Unblinds, have been chosen and empowered by Jehovah to combat these terrible demons of the dark. The Unblinds have the power to banish evil forces from human hosts, or from wherever they are causing evil.

BOAT

(confused)

Are you talking about exorcism here?

PAUL ANDERSON

(thoughtfully)

Well, sort of, but this is far deeper than exorcism, Yaw. An exorcist has no power of physical discernment of spirit beings. You see, a person possessed with an evil demon will exhibit visible and sometimes violent signs of being possessed, and an exorcist, upon reading these signs, employs basic faith in Jehovah to perform an exorcism and banish the evil host. The Unblinds, however, have the power to see those evil hosts in their true forms, even when they have not occupied any human being. They see real champion demons, if we can put it that way, and not those minion demons that occupy people here and there. So, if a human being is carefully selected and prepared for occupation by a champion demon, like you’ve been prepared, and exorcist cannot face such a demon. Mere faith alone cannot banish those master powers of evil, who are vicious and extremely dangerous, and who take pride in destroying and humiliating exorcists. So you see, those superior demons, who have superior powers, can only be conquered by true Unblinds.

Boat says nothing.

He just sits and stares at this crazy man who has lost him again, because Boat is not sure if he even understands half of what the strange man is saying.

One thing is for sure, though: Boat admits that indeed he hates the man so much, with all his soul.

PAUL ANDERSON

(wearily)

I have the power of the Second Sight, my boy. And that means that yes, I’m an Unblind. Sounds silly, I know, but that’s the truth. Now, listen carefully to this: if your body is occupied by this terrible demon planning to invade you, you will cross over to the dark side, and you will become my enemy in that world. You will exist to destroy me, and it will be my duty to deal with the demon which has occupied your body. Most of the time it ends badly for the human host. What I’m telling you is that you might lose your life, Yaw Boat.

Boat chuckles softly, and it this time it comes out a little easier. It is all simply amazing; he simply cannot believe the level of madness plaguing the man of God, if indeed he is a man of the Word.

Boat cannot believe his day could’ve started with so much promise, only to be marred by such drivel from a demented man.

One moment Anderson would strike real terror into him, and the next moment he will throw one really wild mad punch, convincing Boat all over again that he is a mature and complete madman.

BOAT

(with a chuckle)

So what you’re saying is that you see evil spirits as you walk around. I mean, you’re an Unblind, whatever the f**k that is, so you see demons no one else can see?

PAUL ANDERSON

(coolly)

Worse than that. It is nothing you ever want to see, my young friend. After thirty years of being an Unblind, I still haven’t gotten used to the horror I see day by day. You see, the Unblinds are very few, and carefully chosen, and even seasoned men of God do not know the Unblinds exist. They work in secret, fighting only the deadliest demons and forces of darkness, making life easier for other pastors and Christians in general to carry on with teaching and spreading the Gospel. But let’s not digress. Let me tell you why I’m really here with you. You see, when an Unblind is nearing the end of my service, Jehovah God chooses a successor for him. Most of the time these successors are seasoned Christians who have faith, and who have worshipped at the feet of the Lord for years, and cannot be corrupted by sin. However, even seasoned Christian sometimes beg to be free of the Second Sight, preferring madness to having this gift of absolute discernment. I was a young Christian with the fire of Christ in my bosom, but even I have never been able to get used to this gift. That is why I find it so difficult to understand why Jehovah God has decided to choose you as my successor. Someone like you, a complete pagan covered with every sin, who doesn’t even believe God really exists … how can you be an Unblind? I can’t understand it!

The laughter explodes out of Boat once again and fills the car with its rich originality.

He laughs so hard that tears run down his cheeks this time. He is not laughing because he feels mirth, but it rather it is a screeching sound of relief that releases his badly shaken nerves.

He feels an overwhelming sense of relief, a joyous feeling of redemption, a firm confirmation that this man called Anderson is the biggest madman.

He wipes the tears from his face finally and looks at Anderson condescendingly.

BOAT

Wait a damn second! Are you trying to tell me that I will see demons and evil spirits of the dark world and engage them in battle?

The pastor seems quite unaffected by Boat’s derision and insulting voice.

PAUL ANDERSON

(frowning a bit)

It will depend on who you chose to finally serve, Yaw Boat. You can choose to ignore me, and let your body be possessed by this demon, and lose your soul forever. You can also choose to accept this gift from Jehovah, and become a powerful Unblind. The choice is absolutely yours, Mr. Boat. But believe me, you don’t have much time left. The last stage of your preparation began when you had a dark spiritual sexual encounter with that heinous woman. The white crow you have been seeing and the week-long nightmare you’ve been having are all the last-stage signals. Your time, I’m afraid, has run out, Mr. Yaw Boat.

And that is when Boat freezes again.

The laughter is wiped off his face completely, and dies in his throat like a candle in a rainstorm.

He feels a terrible coldness being released all over him, making his eyes bulge as he gapes at the man in black, his face torn into shreds as goose bumps spring all over his body.

Yaw Boat shakes so badly that his teeth clatter loudly in his head.

BOAT

(tremulously)

What did you say?

PAUL ANDERSON

You heard me, Boat, and you know what I mean, so stop being foolish and bring your mind here. The nightmares and the white crow are all symbolic of your final phase of preparation for occupation by the evil demon. Time is a luxury you don’t have, my boy.

Funky Grounds!

Funky Grounds at last.

The fact that he knows of the terrifying nightmares hits Boat harder than all the rest. Here is another abnormality, a deviation from the natural, an absurdity which is so complete that it sets the heart on a collision course with the brain.

What the hell is going on?

How could he possibly know about the crow and the nightmares? Boat has not told anybody about them yet!

There are so many questions Boat wants to ask, but he knows he can’t. He just wants the strange man to leave his car and leave him alone. Maybe it is a dream he will wake up from. This is the most horrible day in his life, and he just wants it to end.

PAUL ANDERSON

(urgently)

The choice is yours, Boat. You can join them, and perish, or you can choose to be an Unblind, and fight them. Jehovah God does not force anybody’s will, but He just makes a strong case at conviction.

BOAT

(tiredly)

Go to hell and maim yourself, old man. I don’t believe any of the chicken pie you’ve been feeding me, although you’ve done some strange things I can’t explain, and revealed secrets about me no one else knows, I really don’t give a f**k. I’m not working for your Jehovah. That’s my final word. Now please bugger off and leave me alone!

He looks at Boat for a long time, and then he nods.

His face is strangely calm, serene even, as he opens his coat and pushes the huge gun into a shoulder holster. It is really funny to see a man of God packing a gun, and Boat would have laughed any other day.

At the present though, the last thing he feels like doing is laughing.

PAUL ANDERSON

As they say, you can run but you can’t hide, kid. But I want to tell you that this is not over. Jehovah also wants me to tell you that you’re going to receive the gift of the Second Sight on the stroke of midnight this very day. Your eyes are going to be opened, and you will have the ability to become an Unblind, able to see things the ordinary eye can’t see. This will last until you make a final choice between us and them.

BOAT

(chuckling)

Twelve midnight today I’ll have a Second Sight? You mean I’ll have the power to see demons and spirits? You’re so f****ng sick, you know? If you’re done just get the f**k out of my car!

PAUL ANDERSON

(unfazed)

Yes, at midnight today. You’ll begin seeing into the dark world. Let me warn you, it is going to be a harrowing experience. I wish I have time to be with you, to guide you, but I can’t. I have to go now. I’ll give you time to let it all sink in, and then you will hear from me again. Midnight, Yaw Boat, midnight. You’ll be an Unblind.

There is a soft click, and his door opens. He swings himself out of the car with fluid deftness, and then he is a quick blur as he walks round the car and then heads for the flight of stairs on the outer edges of the inner lane railings leading from the highway.

His hat is pulled low, his hands thrust deep into the pockets of his overcoat, his head down. Boat turns and watches him as his legs disappear down the steps, then his waist, his shoulders, his head, and finally the crown of his hat.

Boat suddenly becomes aware of his surroundings.

Cars are still flashing by, honking angrily. He sits behind the wheel, forcing his mind into a blank. He is trembling.

He wishes he has something strong to quell the tremor in him. Even a little bit of alcohol would have been enough, but he has nothing because he was going going to meet Elaine.

Who the hell is that man? Second Sight, Unblinds, demons … a load of crap! A lot of silly nonsense!

One thing is certain, though: his day is totally ruined.

There was a tap on his window, and he looks up sharply.

He suddenly sees the flashing blue and red lights of the police pick-up truck parked behind his car.

One cop is still sitting in it, whilst the other cop is beside Boat’s car door, knocking on the window.

Heart thumping with trepidation, Boat touches the power window button, and his breath of relief is almost physical when the window winds down soundlessly.

COP

(hard-toned)

You got a problem, kid? This isn’t a place to park. You got three seconds to ride or we tow you. Traffic obstruction is still a great offence, if you don’t know.

BOAT

(sheepishly)

Sorry, sir. Having a little engine trouble.

COP

Then you should’ve set up your triangles. As it is now you’re an accident waiting to happen. Get down. We’re towing you in.

With trembling fingers Boat turns the key in the ignition. The engine fires and hummed smoothly. He looks enquiringly at the cop.

The cop turns away.

COP

Move on, kid.

Boat glances at his wristwatch.

There is just no way he is going to be able to make it in time. Elaine would have left the restaurant by now, but maybe this is the night she will wait for him.

Boat drives on with a screech of tyres as he takes out his phone and calls Elaine.

Her phone is switched off.

Forty-five minutes later he is at the restaurant, combing its breaths and lengths.

She is not there.

She is gone.

Boat begins to get a little angry. She could have sent a text message, or called, at the least.

Once again he calls her number, but her phone is still switched off. He quickly types a sorry text to her, and then gets back into his car once more.

He isn’t so much disappointed though because he still cannot shake off Anderson’s drivel, and he needs reassurance very seriously.

Because midnight is just around the corner!

There is only one person he knows who can help me: his father!

Suddenly Yaw Boat feels like a little kid again, needing comfort, assurance and fatherly love.

BOAT

(savagely)

Damn you, Anderson! Damn you to hell!

He is accelerating.

He is going home.

He needs to see his father!

To be continued…

©Aaron Ansah – Agyeman

All Rights Reserved.

 

ALL EPISODES OF THE SECOND SIGHT