MVUTO

chapter 58 - hold on tight

"Test succeeded. We have something to work with," Zuri texted Mvuto.

"I share your satisfaction", Mvuto replied and added, "has your father recovered?"

"Subdued" was Zuri's return text.

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The storm within Zuri's household eventually subsided. 

"Okay... okay, sweetheart... I'm not yelling at mum anymore. It's not her fault you're clever..." dad's backhanded appeasement continued, "... and you outsmarted both of us, hah! So wha.. what did you do in the city?"

"walked... bought a birthday present for Carlton's mum..."

"er... what was that last part? Carlton's mum? Why would you buy a present for her?"

"I didn't. Papa... Mvuto wired the money to Carlton so he could buy it."

"what?" dad hoarsely yelled, unable to believe his ears, "you were with Carlton again?" he swallowed bile."I needed escort..."

"what? Escort?!" apparently, Zuri used an incorrect term and unwittingly triggered her father.

Not long after, Zuri's dad was face down on the lawn of the Davidson residence with his arm twisted behind his back. His fingertips nearly reached the nape of his neck, forced there by none other than Carlton's mum, a former competitor in martial arts and retired security officer. Carlton's dad stopped his son from going to the rescue of Zuri's dad.

"No, son. Your mum knows her strength, all Zuri's dad has to do is concede. Let's wait and see how this pans out" he smiled, quite sinfully in Carlton's opinion. Carlton stood amazed at the snickering rubberneckers on the other side of their fence. If the fight ended in a reversal of positions, what would those people have done? Continue recording? Carlton would seriously question humanity if they did. In his defence, Carlton had tried to explain to Zuri's dad the coincidence of Zuri already being on the bus into town. And that he tagged along with her to ensure her safety.

The truth was a little different -

Zuri mentioned that Mvuto texted her that she would find Carlton on the bus and he would escort her. Zuri showed him the text message as proof.

"I can see it's from Mvuto ... but what language is that?"

Zuri looked at her phone, "oh!" they had used the modern alphabet to communicate in a type of pinyin language.

"You 2 text each other in another language?" Carlton asked, flabbergasted.

Zuri nodded as she turned off her phone, slipped it into her backpack, and turned on the special device within, ready for when they arrived in the city.

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In Zuri's bedroom, "what's with all the electronics, honey?" mum asked Zuri while dad was off to get his arse handed to him by Carlton's mum.

"it's to improve the radio frequency of our phones and stop anyone copying the remote key for the garage door," Zuri replied.

"oh..kay, so this is why our bills are so high this month."

"not entirely... while I was trying to rebuild my phone, I kept turning it into a brick and needed to re-install the OS a few times." Zuri hoped her Luddite mum had sucked that up like a vacuum cleaner.

"so that's why you've been a shut-in lately and ... your room looks like it could be declared a disaster zone", looking around the room at the random items piercing the plaster walls.

"why these trips to the city with Carlton?" mum continued her queries.

"papa ... Mvuto recommended him for my safety. Carlton ... knows and won't tell... he owes that to m ...Mvuto because he saved Carlton's life."

"How did Mvuto find out about your uniqueness? Did you tell him?"

"no... I said I wouldn't tell anyone. It's just that Mvuto knows others like me too."

"Does he? ... so there ... are others?" mum stared incredulously at her daughter's back. During the conversation, Zuri rarely lifted her head from her work. Instead, she nodded hesitantly, wary how her mum, or dad for that matter, would take this revelation.

"How do these people keep hidden? I've never heard of them? Are comic book superhero characters based on these people?"

"Pfft! No! Duh! Why would someone stand in front of bullets and risk collateral damage from the ricochet if he could move faster to avoid them?"

"Okay, what about any yokai?"

"There are no demons... anymore."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"the story goes. Long ago, the creator separated malevolence from spirit, even from within himself. human souls were once again joined when his own malevolence rebelled and broke the barrier between worlds. Humans now carry their own demons into every existence."

"wow! That's... wow! you mean ... ah there ... there was a hell?"

"um... hell still somewhat exists."

"what! Where?"Zuri paused a moment to weigh whether to enlighten her mother or not.

"nooo.... don't tell me... this, this is..." mum pointed down even though unwitnessed. Zuri blatantly continued to focus on her gadgets strewn all over her study desk.

Since mum had already guessed, Zuri confirmed, "we exist in the new hell 2.0, better than the old one. At least now humans experience the consequences of their actions. Before that, demons existed in the darkness beneath the earth, never meant to see the light, preying on each other in an endless cycle of death and regeneration like a snake eating its own tail." Zuri babbled while her mum wavered, momentarily catatonic. "how... how do you know all this?" mum stumbled.

"I was there... noo noo", she waved any pre-emptive ill-considered suggestion off, "not as a demon! But I was being punished for insurrection... imprisoned in rock oblivious of my own existence for billions of years." Zuri finally glanced at her mother to notice her collapsed on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Zuri strolled over and eclipsed into view, "I must say you're taking this better than I expected! I told all this to someone else in another lifetime, and they didn't take it as well as you! In fact, they called me a heretic and tried to have me executed!"

"really... hah! Crazy people!" mum whimpered and suddenly registered additional abnormal behaviour of her daughter, "you're talking more than usual now...!"

Zuri normally voiced fragmentary sentences, but now spoke more cohesively.

"mm, that's because you're slowly coming to grips with what's going to be revealed to you."

"oh, and what is that, dear?" mum squeaked, a tad apprehensive of the answer.

"how do I explain it? um..." Zuri took a vague stab, "I only appear to be a normal human".