《The Deepest Abyss》 The Dirt Path [Heart of Water] A 2004 Kia Rio drove along the quiet roads of rural South Africa, having just turned off the N0 highway and onto a smaller single-lane road. It¡¯s occupants, a married couple and their taxi driver, were heading further away from civilisation. This road put the small town of Witmond directly behind them. Tall grass encompassed the plains around the car, and scattered trees passed them by as they drove onwards. ¡°We just passed Witmond. Not long now,¡± said Roy, attempting to sound casual. He and his wife, Alex, were both exhausted from the trip there and needed a good rest and a shower. Small talk was becoming more and more difficult as the hours of the journey continued to stretch. ¡°Yup,¡± she replied. There was a coldness to her response that he didn¡¯t take personally. After all, the trip there hadn¡¯t been easy on either of them. ¡°So, what¡¯s the first thing you want to do in our... town?¡± Roy asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Roy,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯ll bet it¡¯s going to be quiet there,¡± he thought out loud. ¡°Can you just stay quiet for a sec? I¡¯ve got a headache.¡± ¡°Sure, sorry about that.¡± ¡®Our town.¡¯ It was a strange choice of words. It was more like a village, and it certainly wasn¡¯t theirs. What really was theirs was the large manor on the giant plot of land next to the village. The property just dropped into their laps, just like that. They actually picked it up at an auction. Who would have thought that people still do that? It was something organised through Alex¡¯s work. They both work as realtors for a fairly reputable firm based in London, you see. They spent a lot¡ªmore than they¡¯d care to admit. The thing is, sometimes you just need to get away from it all. The house was in Roy¡¯s home country, after all, and Alex¡¯s parents came from there, too. In actuality, Alex¡¯s uncle was the previous owner of the estate the couple had just bought. It seemed like a pretty nice idea to get to see another side of life. So anyway, one huge downpayment later, and they were both on their way to the heart of South Africa. It wasn¡¯t as expensive as you might have thought, either. The place had a sordid past, and most people wouldn¡¯t touch it. Honestly, the couple didn¡¯t really check. It was an impulse buy, and they didn''t put a lot of stock in history or ghost stories. The previous owner was a bit of a tycoon who owned both the property itself and the meat packing factory inside the adjacent town. Both of these places bore the same name ¨C Isibane. The meat packing factory was the main source of income for the whole town, for a time. He had deep pockets and a heavy sway, but not a lot of popularity. You¡¯d struggle to find anyone willing to talk much about him, even in the family. ¡°It feels like a dream. It¡¯s just so surreal, hey?¡± Roy added quizzically. ¡°Roy, shut it. And it''s not a town; it''s a hamlet.¡± ¡°Same thing.¡± ¡°It absolutely is not. Now, quiet.¡± Roy caught the taxi driver glancing at them in the rear view mirror. He thought about making conversation but figured he¡¯d already caused poor Alex enough of a headache. Some more minutes passed. The city was getting further behind them at this point, but they still had some time to go. There were no more people or villages on the side of the road. There were no farms, cows, or impatient drivers to watch out for. They were really ¡°in the boons,¡± as they would say back in the UK. ¡°We¡¯re really in the boons,¡± Roy said. Alex said nothing. She went from looking out the window to holding her hand to her head. ¡°You don''t look so good, Love,¡± Roy said while reaching over to hold her cheek. ¡°It''s bad, hey?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± came the response, although the coolness from before had reduced a bit. That would have been reassuring, but he could tell she was now in too much pain to even be grumpy. ¡°Hold on,¡± he told her as he searched their bag for some kind of painkiller. He moved all of their stuff around and was getting ready to dump the bag on the floor. ¡°Shit, sorry. I can''t find any of these things,¡± he added, frustrated with himself. ¡°I''ve got some,¡± said a kindly voice. It came from the front of the car. The taxi driver rummaged in the side of his door, produced a white folded paper, and leaned his arm back to hand it to a surprised and relieved Roy. ¡°What is that?¡± asked Alex, not looking too convinced. ¡°Muthi,¡± said the driver. Alex¡¯s mouth just copied his: ¡°Mu-thi?¡±. ¡°Medicine.¡± ¡°Ah. Thank you; that''s really nice.¡± ¡°That''s Grandpa. It''s a South African thing,¡± Roy interjected, attempting to look cultured. "Yes, Baba, thank you so much!¡± He took the parcel from the driver''s hands and quickly emptied the fine white powder from inside the paper into a bottle of water that had been tossed out of the bag from the aforementioned rummaging. He then handed it to his wife. She grabbed it and shook the drink to mix the powder well. Once it had all dissolved, she drank it in one gulp. ¡°BLLEGGHHH!¡± Her face looked as though she had bitten into a sour lemon. ¡°That is truly awful.¡± The driver laughed heartily at this, seeing more or less what he expected to happen. ¡°You know, good muthi doesn''t taste good! I''m shocked you''ve never had it before. Where did you come from? This man here,¡± he points to me, ¡°He''s from South Africa, I can tell. Boetie, you sound like you''re from Joburg. As for the madam here, I can¡¯t tell.¡± Roy laughed at that. ¡°Nah, I''m actually from Port Elizabeth¡ªor Gqcbeca now. Sorry, I can''t say it right yet, but I''ll get there!¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. The taxi driver and he exchanged another laugh, which brightened up the atmosphere a bit. Even Alex was looking better. ¡°I''m from the UK,¡± she said. ¡°I was born here, though. My mum''s Xhosa and my dad''s Zulu.¡± ¡°Oh, really! Welcome back! You guys travelled far, sjoe.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Roy answered, ¡°we¡­ well, my wife here is the new owner of Isibane.¡± ¡°Ooohhh.¡± He let out a long and knowing sound that stopped the conversation. ¡°I saw it was getting renovated.¡± Alex clued on to his hesitance and so decided to probe a bit. ¡°You seem a bit surprised,¡± she said. ¡°You don¡¯t know? Ay ma¡¯am, there¡¯s ghosts in that place. Me, I come from around here. I grew up here in this area, and I work here. I went to school here, do you see? You know, back then...¡± He trailed off. He didn¡¯t want to talk about it anymore. ¡°Oh yes, of course,¡± answered Alex. ¡°Ma¡¯am, I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t mean to make a fuss. Just forget that I said anything. I¡¯m an old man, and I¡¯ve heard too many stories... I hope you make it won-derful.¡± He stretched out the sounds, partly to pick up the conversation and partly to quiet his own nerves. He went quiet again and kept his eyes dead on the road, while Alex and Roy exchanged a look of ¡®what just happened?¡¯ ¡°Old stories?¡± Roy asked, his curiousity getting the better of him. Alex gave Roy a punch and a disapproving look in response. ¡°Sorry,¡± said Roy. ¡°Eish, boetie. Just forget about it,¡± answered the driver, finally. Alex leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She really wasn¡¯t one for ghost stories. The taxi just went quiet then, same as before. ¡°Thanks for the muthi, baba,¡± Roy adds suddenly, afraid that he¡¯d overstepped or insulted the driver. ¡°We will be careful.¡± The driver didn¡¯t reply to this but met Roy¡¯s eyes in the mirror. Their gaze locked for a second, and he could see the driver give him the smallest nod of approval. * * * After a while of driving along the dirt road in more silence, the driver suddenly pulled to a stop. ¡°Alright,¡± he said, ¡°this is as far as I can go.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Alex blurted out, ¡°Are you joking around with us?¡± ¡°No, sisi, not at all. There¡¯s no road from here. You need to go on foot,¡± answered the driver. ¡°The app says there¡¯s a road just past there," added Roy, almost pleading with him to not let this be true. ¡°That road has been blocked for years now, Boetie,¡± he answered. ¡°It would have been nice if they had told us about this,¡± Roy began to complain to forces unknown. ¡°Yeah,¡± came Alex, in support. The driver laughed. ¡°Didn¡¯t they tell you that? Eish...¡± His laugh died down, and that same solemn look returned. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that,¡± he added, before returning to his silence. They were dumbstruck but had no reason to doubt the man. It was clear that the main road had been completely shut down. That much could be seen with the naked eye. An impressive collection of rocks, branches, and other various pieces of scrap made any progress on that route, whether in a vehicle or not, completely impossible. They silently and resolutely exited the car, got their luggage, thanked the driver again, and quietly accepted their fate of walking the rest of the way there, down the dirt road. * * * ¡°That taxi driver was having a laugh,¡± Alex said, after a time of walking. ¡°Ghosts and goblins and all the rest,¡± she added with a ¡°Hah!¡± for punctuation. Roy chuckled himself before pausing and asking, ¡°How¡¯s your head now?¡± She touched her hand to her head, although softly this time. ¡°Actually, much better,¡± she replied. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she said with a giggle, clearly in a better mood than before. ¡°I guess Grandpa is always here to help.¡± Roy laughed. It was nice for him to see her in her usual joking mood. ¡°Yeah, Africa¡¯s grandad. He¡¯s harsh but fair.¡± They both laughed this time. They weren¡¯t even thinking of the long walk ahead of them. Roy was not a walker. He hated walking at the best of times, but he felt oddly at ease on this walk¡ªat least in the beginning. As they kept walking, though, things started to change. They began to feel anxious, not just tired. Alex¡¯s headache kept coming and going in waves, too. Though they didn¡¯t want to admit it to each other, they both felt like shit. * * * After what felt like an eternity, they arrived at a fork in the road. The landscape had changed from the typical plains of the South African countryside, and in its place was dense forest. ¡°I didn¡¯t know we were moving into the woods,¡± Alex remarked to Roy. ¡°Me neither,¡± he replied. ¡°I¡¯ve always liked the forest, though. It might be a good thing!¡± ¡°Roy, you¡¯re too positive. But yes, the trees are very nice.¡± They had not yet started down this second path, but Alex was looking weak, and Roy also needed a rest himself. It was time for a break. ¡°Alex, is your head okay now?¡± Roy asked. ¡°You don¡¯t need to ask so much, Roy. But thank you. It¡¯s on and off.¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m just worried. Should we sit down for a while?¡± ¡°Sit where? On the ground?¡± ¡°Well...¡± thought Roy, suddenly realising that the floor is not a great place for a sick woman. ¡°You know what? Yes. Let¡¯s sit on the ground,¡± exclaimed Alex, throwing her hands up. Without another word, she places her suitcase down and sits next to it. He moves over next to her and takes his own seat. He puts his arm around her and pulls her close. ¡°Hey. I know these few months have been awful, but we are almost there. It¡¯ll be a new chapter. We can just forget about the outside world here. We¡¯ll be happy.¡± ¡°Do you think so? Like I said, Roy, you¡¯re too positive... Thank God someone here is, though.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good. We can balance each other out. I¡¯ll remind you of the good things, and you-¡± ¡°-and I¡¯ll remind you that the world isn¡¯t all sunshine and roses.¡± She smiled. Roy always appreciated her dark sense of humour. It was true what she said, though. She had always been the realistic and sturdy one in the relationship. Her strength and resilience were the things he was most in awe of. ¡°It sure isn¡¯t,¡± he said. ¡°Remember, it¡¯s our town.¡± ¡°Hamlet. And yes, it¡¯s ours. I wouldn¡¯t say that to the locals, though. They might wonder who these strange foreigners are¡ªcoming in and claiming their land for themselves.¡± ¡°Indeed. Before they know it, we will have taken over the country clubs.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bet there are so many of those, too!¡± They both had a good laugh at that, which was in itself a kind of medicine they both badly needed. They were just joking, of course. They owned nothing in the town. They were just privileged people living on the outskirts. Truth be told, they were nervous about how the locals would receive them. Just then, they heard something snap from far behind them. Roy swivelled his head around and caught a glimpse of someone standing by the trees. He felt a cold wind cut through him as he stood to call out to the onlooker. ¡°Hello! Are you from here?¡± He shouted to them. There was no reply. They just stood by the tree line, silent. ¡°Creepy,¡± said Alex. She had now turned to look at the person watching them. ¡°Is that a man or a woman?¡± ¡°Woman,¡± he said, although he couldn¡¯t tell much else at that point. He squinted to get a better look at her. She was African and definitely an adult, but her exact age was hard to make out. Her hair was matted with dirt and leaves. Her clothes were old and filthy, and, although he couldn¡¯t be sure, he thought she had a smile on her face. ¡°Hey!¡± Roy shouted, more aggressively than before, ¡°Can I help you with something?¡± Still, he got no reply. Instead, the strange woman just raised a hand and pointed¡ªfirst directly at Roy, then at Alex. And, even though they were too far away to hear it, they could both see her open her mouth and start laughing. ¡°Is she-¡± Roy began to ask. ¡°-laughing? Yes, right at us,¡± Alex answered. They continued to watch her as her laughter went on, dumbstruck for the second time today. The woman grabbed at her sides, as if having heard the greatest joke ever told. Finally, she fell over, laughing, and disappeared under the long green grass around her. ¡°Jesus Christ... Roy, maybe we should get out of here,¡± said Alex shakily as she staggered to her feet. ¡°Yeah,¡± Roy agreed as he helped up his wife. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Roy picked up Alex¡¯s suitcase as well as his own, and they continued along the path. He kept a close eye out, glancing back as often as he could without giving away how nervous he was to Alex. He didn¡¯t want to ask, but he was quite sure she felt the same sense of unease. Thankfully, they saw no further sign of the woman. Neither of them had a chance of relaxing until they reached their new home; they could still feel her watching. The Welcome Party [Heart of Water] A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The First Look [Heart of Water] The next morning came like an old friend for these two travellers. They woke up later than they would have back in the UK, around 11 AM or so. The warm rays of the sun shone through the thin curtains and created a lovely, warm atmosphere in the master bedroom. "Good morning, babe," said Roy. "Great to have a sleep-in, hey?" "Morning, morning", Alex replied, as she gave herself a big stretch. "I slept like a rock." "This place is amazing. The pillows were so comfy I could have just slept on those." "Well, maybe tonight you can take the pillows on the floor and I can have the whole bed." "I wouldn¡¯t even be mad!" Roy then tackled Alex playfully. Startled, she went down screaming and laughing. "Roy, you monster! Give me a chance to wake up at least!" "No!" he said, continuing his assault. A sharp clearing of the throat punctuated their child-like antics. Before they could even consider where it had come from, the couple had jumped up to their feet on separate sides of the bed. Their faces bright red, they turned to see Bheka standing in the doorway holding a newspaper. His face held no expression, but his eyes were fixed to the ground. "Oh! Oh, Bheka! How¡¯s... are you?!" asked Roy, his brain only just managing to string a phrase together. Bheka, of course, did not answer. He stepped forward into the room, evidently treating Roy¡¯s greeting as an invitation to enter. He walked over to the fine oak desk that was on the opposite side of the room from the bed. He then placed the newspaper down neatly in its centre, turned, nodded to Roy, and swiftly took his exit. The couple did not say anything for a time. Finally, Roy broke the silence and said, "That was-" "-weird," completed Alex. "Yes, weird. Should I-" "-say something? I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t want to get him in trouble." "No, ja, for sure," said Roy, scratching his head. "He didn¡¯t mean to impose, I¡¯m sure. I¡¯ll just talk to him and let him know about boundaries." "No, Roy! You can¡¯t do that," said Alex sharply as she bolted upright in the bed. Roy stared at her, now confused. "What¡¯s wrong with that?" he asked. "You can¡¯t just go up to them and complain! We only just got here." "Sure, you can. I¡¯m not going to get mad or anything; I just want to have a word. Plus, we¡¯re the boss here and our boss does it all the time." "Babe, do you really want to have the reputation with these guys that our boss has with us?" Roy mulled it over in his head. "Good point," he said. "Fine, I¡¯ll find Mr. Dladla and ask him to have a word." "Okay, good," Alex said. She breathed in and exhaled strongly. "You know what? It¡¯s not really a big deal, is it? But do have a word. Better to sort these kinds of things out earlier rather than later." "Yeah, yeah, I got it covered. Anyway," he said while jumping to his feet. "let¡¯s get ready and go explore our new place! Do you want to start with the house or garden?" "House, definitely. I want to see everything this place has to offer! Perhaps even rearrange things a bit," she said with a wink in Roy¡¯s direction. "No! Not decorating!" he mourned in sullen despair. "Yes, decorating!" she answered with a witch''s cackle. "Okay, fine!" exclaimed Roy. "Let¡¯s get to it." * * * The couple began their self-guided tour in the dining room, the same one in which they had eaten dinner the night before. Alex¡¯s strange taste sensation¡ªor lack thereof¡ªpopped back into mind for both of them upon crossing the threshold into the room. "Oh," said Alex. "Oh," said Roy in response. "Last night I couldn¡¯t-" "-taste anything, yeah. You must be sick. Shame, man!" "I guess so. I feel fine, though." "You hungry? Let¡¯s get some breakfast. We can check your taste buds, too." "It¡¯s 11:30, Roy. Normal people are getting ready for lunch." "Breakfast is a state of mind, my love." "Whatever, just wait a few minutes," said Alex, as she moved further into the room to take in all the details. The first thing one would notice in the dining room was the gold trim lining almost every surface. The furniture was imported from Italy and made from some of the most beautiful and durable wood that money could buy. Everything from the floor to the ceiling was an antique. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Honestly, I¡¯m afraid to touch anything. I feel like a security guard is going to run up and grab my hand," said Roy. "If you break it, you buy it, love," replied Alex. "Well, I already bought it. I¡¯m still nervous!" Once they were done in this room, they moved into the living room. There were actually three of these¡ªa public one, a private one, and one now exclusively for the use of Roy and Alex. In addition to the dining room and the living rooms, the mansion contained an assortment of other rooms, which would probably boggle the mind of any of the townsfolk still remaining in the neighbouring town. There was the billiard room for a nice game of pool. There was the indoor uncovered swimming pool for mid-afternoon cocktails. There was the rooftop deck for basking while watching the sun set. There was also the basement relaxation area and music room for listening to one¡¯s favourite tunes in the evening. All this and more was available to the young couple and was theirs, and all theirs, to enjoy. As grand and beautiful as each new part of the house was, the actual design of it left a lot to be desired. The swimming pool was located directly in the middle of the house¡¯s area. In any other place, it would be fairly simple to find, but, in this case, it was another story. The corridors of the house seemed to twist and turn in ways that were both confusing and disorientating. Although not quite a maze, one could be forgiven for thinking of it as such. To get to the swimming pool from the master bedroom, they had to go down a long corridor, through the dining room, into the living room, past the security gate, into the kitchen, up some stairs, through another long corridor, and then down some more stairs to reach the central room. Truthfully, the couple would never have found it if they hadn¡¯t met Bheka and Jabu in the kitchen preparing for lunch, who silently pointed the couple in the right direction. On the way there, they stopped off at various rooms to inspect them. Unfortunately for Alex, it would take a while to properly scope the place out. No redecorating would be done on this day. From the kitchen, which was adjacent to the living room, the couple entered another hallway. They were confused upon coming across their first dead end and were frustrated with the second one. Had it not been for the directions given by the groundskeepers, they certainly might have gone down one of the many corridors to nowhere that were scattered all around the house. "I''ll really need to ask Mr. Dladla about that. Who on earth designs a house like this?" Asked Alex, mystified. "Your great uncle, apparently," answered Roy. "I didn''t realise he was this batty," said Alex, half with a chuckle and half with a sigh. "Also, he¡¯s more of a great, great uncle, once removed." "What does that even mean?" "Nobody knows." "Also, they remodelled this place before we got here, right?" "Yes, exactly." "I guess they thought all of this was normal," he said while gesturing around him. "I think they just didn¡¯t want to change the design. This house is quite the antique," replied Alex. "Doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s not ugly." Thankfully, the explorers did not lose hope and eventually found the pool area in the centre of the house. The entrance there was directly out of a seemingly average corridor and down a rather random staircase. The first thing Roy noticed was how you could see straight into some of the rooms from which they had just ventured. This included the dining room, living room, and kitchen. He pointed it out to Alex, who was wearing the same frown she had on when encountering the dead ends from earlier. "You can see in, but not out?" asked Alex rhetorically. "Yeah, it seems like it," answered Roy with his second scratch of the head that day. "I don''t know how comfortable I am with that, honestly." "I''ll have a word with them about it." "You might be having a lot of words," said Alex, clearly becoming a tad frustrated. "I guess my uncle really was a madman if he lived here. There''s definitely some changes we need to make before this is a liveable home." "Do you think they''ll be fine with us just coming in and renovating like that?" "It''s our bloody house, Roy." "True, true. I just don''t want to step on any toes." "I suppose. Still, though, the one-way mirror walls are just... weird. Someone could always just be-" "-Watching, yeah. It''s just us and the guys here though, Love." "I don''t want them watching us eat, either." "That''s not what-" Roy got cut off by a large clang that echoed throughout the pool''s area. The glass seemed to reverberate in an odd way and gave the acoustic impression of a deep cave rather than an outdoor courtyard. The clanking gave way to a tremendous crash and subsequent crunching sound which echoed in the courtyard and into the hallways. "What the hell?!" Roy exclaimed as he threw his hands over his head. Alex, who had also ducked for cover, ran back up the staircase from which they had descended. "What was that?!" She shouted down to her husband. Roy wasn''t sure initially, but a quick scan of the courtyard revealed the likely source of the sound. What was once a glorious depiction of a guardian angel was now in several large pieces, all over the floor and in the pool¡¯s water. Underneath the what had been the angle¡¯s torso was a set of (now crumpled and smashed) metal poolside furniture. The central table of the arrangement had completely buckled in the centre. The chairs had been flung to the side and were now broken and utterly useless. "Well, there''s your answer," said Alex with a bitter snarl. "That could have killed us!" Roy was speechless, barely managing to force a constrained "What..." out of his tight throat. "Roy, that could have killed us!" "Y-yes. Yeah, you''re right. Wow..." His legs were shaking and weren''t listening to his brain. He told them to go ahead and look over the crash site, but they wouldn''t allow him. He just stood there like a deer in the headlights of a car that had already crashed. Alex, on the other hand, was pacing up and down alongside the pool and hyperventilating wildly. "Sir! Madam!" The voice belonged to Mr. Dladla, of course, and the call had come from down the hallway somewhere. His footsteps quickly approached, followed by two more distant set from behind him. He nearly jumped out from behind the corner at the top of the stairs and stopped dead when he saw Alex and the state she was in. "Madam, what..." "Are you serious?!" she interjected "We could have just f-" She paused to catch her breath. "That thing almost just fell on us." She was trying very hard not to unleash her anger on the wide-eyed gentleman. "Madam", he stuttered, "I don''t..." Jabu and Bheka arrived in that second. Although they were silent as ever, their faces told of their own shock and worry. Jabu, in particular, had sweat rolling off his brow. Mr. Dladla turned to them, and they both shrank away from his gaze. He slowly turned back to face Alex as Roy had managed to get back up the stairs himself. "Madam and sir. I do not know what has happened here today. This house was inspected before the sale by a very qualified team. No cost was spared on the manor¡¯s reconstruction. For them to miss a danger so obvious as this is unheard of. I honestly do not know what to say." Alex did not say anything, but tears were welling up in her eyes. Sensing the volatility of the situation, Roy snapped to his senses and stepped in to try and defuse things. "Love, let''s just go sit down. The guys will take care of it, right?" He said this not with the commanding tone of an employer, but with the pleading tone of someone who needed to finish the conversation as soon as possible. Mr. Dladla picked up on this and nodded his head firmly to Roy. "Madam," he said, "please accept my apologies. I will get to the bottom of this at once." Once again, Alex did not reply. She was now looking down and struggling to maintain her composure in the face of everything¡ªa new land, new people, and, apparently, new dangers in her would-be paradise home. She managed a nod as the couple passed the three men and departed back to the master bedroom.