Legends of the Old Gods - Chapter 2

Johnny 2017 - @stephanus

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Johnny

When I was born my mother bought me a life sized puppet. They named it Johnny and it was around 5 feet tall. I've known this puppet my entire life and I've always been attached to it. When I died, I remembered Johnny. I began to imagine myself being Johnny. After all, I was also now a lifeless piece of mass, decaying in some box that's buried somewhere. My connection to Johnny grew stronger over the years and I was finally able to see through its eyes. Only glimpses at first, but it grew stronger. And soon I was able to see everything. I was able to project my own consciousness into this lifeless puppet. I started to become the puppet.

It took enormous mental strength to move its limbs. But I had nothing to lose. I spent my time, what felt like an eternity, trying to stand up. And eventually I was able to do it. I was able to move around in the realm of the living. I was able to seek my destroyer. But I needed help. I knew that the creature that took my life was a powerful being. It had created an entire realm of existence just for me, so it must be powerful. I remembered Mr. Conradie. I remembered that he dealt in the mysterious. So maybe he could guide me in the right direction.

Getting to his office was not an easy task. I was a puppet after all. I needed to use stealth. People don't take kindly to inanimate objects that move around on their own. So I started walking. This body does not have muscles. It does not have blood. It does not breath air. It does not get tired. So I walked and I walked and eventually I reached the town where Mr. Conradie was located. I made my way to his office. Once there I discovered him passed out at his desk. A half empty bottle of whiskey in front of him. I started pulling at his shirt in an attempt to wake him up. But he didn't move. I looked around his office to see if I can find anything that might help me. His office was small, but he had bookshelves against every wall. There were no windows and the smell was kinda musky. I sat in the corner, waiting for him to wake up.

Hours passed, I waited. Waiting was nothing new to me. I've waited in the dark abyss for years, with nothing but my hatred to keep me company. Finally, Mr. Conradie started to stir. I did not want to startle him, so I waited until he was fully awake before standing up. I knew that a living doll would freak him out. He got up, went over to a small closet at the edge of the room and took out a bottle of mineral water. He did not notice me. I decided to stand. Suddenly he peered over to me. I could see the shock in his face, but to my surprise he started speaking. "I've been waiting for you", he said. "My daughter had a dream that you would come." Who was his daughter and why was she dreaming about me? I did not speak. He said, "my daughter is special, you see. She has the gift of seeing. She predicted her own mother's death when she was merely five."

"Come, we must go meet with her right away." He picked me up, carried me over to his car and placed me in the passenger seat. We proceeded to drive to his house on the far side of town. The house was not very big. It had a white picket fence with giant Willow tree and an old tyre swing hanging from a branch. The house was built out of bricks, like most South African houses. The roof was painted green and it had a chimney.

We entered the home. Mr. Conradie called for his daughter. Her name is Sandra. She entered the room and I was surprised at her appearance. She was no older than 12 but her hair was snow white. She wore a witch's hat and was dressed oblique. She looked like a fairytale witch. She was a fairytale witch. She came up to me and started to stroke my hair. All of a sudden her eyes went completely white and she started to speak in a growling voice. "YOU ARE THE UNCLEAN ONE. THE TAINTED ONE." I was shocked, but she soon returned to normal. When she came back from her vision, she picked me up and proceeded to a room in the attic of the house. The room was dark, with flickering candles providing light. In the middle of the room there was an altar.

Atop the altar rested a book. It seemed old. She placed me in front of the altar and proceeded to open the book. She flipped some pages and suddenly stopped. "It says that I have to bind you to the doll, Mr. de Saad. You need to trust me now." She left the altar and started fiddling in a chest located at the back of the room. She came up to me with a piece of red chalk and proceeded to draw a pentagram around me. She lit 5 candles and placed them at each point of the pentagram. She murmured some words and suddenly my plastic body was floating. I tried to leave the body, but I could no longer feel my ethereal self in the abyss. What was happening? I thought to myself. I continued to float when all of a sudden she smacked the book closed. I fell to the ground. "How do you feel?" She asked. "A little disorientated, but fine, I suppose." She came over to me and picked me up. "Now it's your turn to do some magic." She insisted. And proceeded to place me atop the altar. "You have to summon your guardian, he can tell us what we must do next."

She placed new candles around the pentagram and I opened the book. It flew open by itself and settled on a page describing simple summoning techniques. I started reciting the words and to my surprise a giant flame sprouted from the center of the pentagram. Inside the flame I could see a face. A demonic face that smiled at me. "WE FINALLY MEET, I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU", it said. "YOU HAVE A QUEST THAT AWAITS YOU, GO FORTH AND FIND THE OTHERS, ONCE YOU HAVE FOUND THEM I WILL REVEAL YOUR PATH." And then it disappeared.

Who are the others and where must we find them? This only raised more questions and no answers. Sandra picked me up and carried me out of the house. She sat me down on the grass and murmured some words. Plants started to engulf me. "Your armor", she whispered. I stood up for the first time after being bound to the doll. I felt strong. So I started running, to test my new body. Faster and faster. I didn't seem to have a speed limit. As I stopped I looked back at the house and it was barely visible. A storm was approaching so I started running back. But about halfway there I saw a lightning strike. It struck the house. When I arrived the entire place was in flames. Sandra stood at the front gate, watching silently. "Where is your father?" I yelled! "He uhm he never came out", she whimpered. "He is still trapped inside."

She pointed to a window on the far side. I could see something moving. So I ran there. I jumped through the window and saw it. It wasn't Mr. Conradie. It was a monster. I moving mass of flame. It lunged towards me, but I was ready. I rolled out of the way and it pounded into the wall behind me and disappeared. I stood up and suddenly I was thrown down again. Above me the monster materialised again. Swinging it's arm like flames at me. I wasn't fire proof, and every hit made me feel pain. My armor was heating up too and I knew that I needed to either run or win this fight. I decided on the former. I jumped up and out of the window. The monster closely behind me. I ran towards Sandra. She was already murmuring and incantation. As I reached her she waved a hand. And a gust of wind followed. It blew the monster back at least three meters.

"We have to get out of here", I yelled. But she stood her ground. "Hold my hand", she said. I grabbed her hand and she started another incantation. Winds started to swirl around us. "Now focus on it", she whispered. So I did. The winds started to collect in front of us. She pointed towards the creature and the winds followed. It engulfed the creature. I could hear it scream. More and more wind started to gather until there was silence. Complete silence. The winds subsided and in its place stood a small figurine. "We trapped it", said Sandra. I went over and picked it up. It seemed very similar to the figurine I had found in the cave. Albeit much smaller. I gave it to Sandra and she stuck it in her bag. We spent the rest of the night watching her house burn down. The last peace we would have before embarking on our quest.

TO BE CONTINUED

Original story written by me for Steemit