Superstar: Horn OK Please (19 page)

Jeremy was sober and lipstick Nanny was drunk. Usually, it was the other way around. It was a freak show and the party went on till sundown. Jenny was a happy woman.

It was 11:30 PM. It was time to put the plan in motion. It was time to lock and load…

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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Roses are red and violets are blue,

There she lay in the Circle of Light, not knowing what to do;

Soon the Beast would come, it was close to midnight,

And she saw herself standing there, she would’ve died of fright;

In her friends, she sought comfort from darkness,

Her life had been in shambles before, it had been a mess;

But now they tried hard, they wanted her to live,

She was so in love, she just wanted to give;

Pain, fear and agony, they all came together,

The Doppelganger stood there, it came so near;

She stared at death, she saw the undead one,

She was going to die tonight & wouldn’t see the morning sun;

She wasn’t afraid anymore; she knew what to do,

She had it all planned out before, nobody knew;

The pain was hers and hers alone to keep,

She would find solace in darkness, soon she could sleep;

She had loved, she had feared, she had cried, she had bled;

Enough! And so her soul danced to the song of the dead,

But if smiles and Imagination makes you say ‘Cheese’

Drive on, that’s the spirit of Horn OK Please…

***

Get in the ring:

It had been a very busy day for all of us. I mean, it’s not a simple plan to burn a house down, that too when the house happens to be a huge mansion. But we were all set now. Beyond Jenny, it was our way of getting even with Jeremy who had tricked us into planning a vacation here at the ‘Mansion of the Gods’.

The grand plan, it was best understood by Lobsang and Cathy while Jenny had a plan of her own of which we were not aware of. The rest of us just knew which part to play. No questions were to be asked for there was a life to be saved tonight – the precious life of our precious Jenny.

As the sun set, darkness fell over the estate like fog. It was quick, dense and cold. The howling wind picked up and soon the D’Silva mansion was in the midst of an evil fury. The slight drizzle was the icing on the cake. With 30 minutes to midnight, we shifted base to the stable right outside of the mansion. Goose made sure that Motormouth was just a dash away and the fuel in the tank was full.

Since it was decided that we would not stay in the mansion that night and so we made ourselves comfortable inside the stable, this arrangement was far better for us if not for the horses around us who made their displeasure known by their constant neighing. Though tied to their harnesses, the horses moved around restlessly inside the enclosure. The howling wind seemed to scare them no end.

Jenny was talking to the horses as though she was trying to calm them down, telling them that this would be over tonight.  She looked beautiful in her white gown and jacket. Holding on tight to the clay urn with one hand, she patted all the horses with the other, one by one. I wondered if she was saying her final goodbyes to them. I didn’t like it one bit. We all sat huddled close to the five lamps kept at the center of the stable. Nanny had been thoughtful enough to have had arranged for many blankets as the night was damp and cold.

Jeremy switched on the battery-powered lamps before darting off to switch off the mains. The eerie mansion plunged into darkness and Jeremy returned within no time. He was scared no end, so were we. The faint light from the lamps bathed the stable in eerie bluish light. Everything had been put in place to bring down the house and we’d been through the drill a number of times rehearsing who’s to do what.

“It is time”, said matchstick Nanny in her trembling voice. Everybody got up and switched on their flashlights, about to execute the plan. We had just 15 minutes to action.

“Cover your nose and mouth well!” ordered Hound as he picked up a blue-color, circular, fire-resistant mattress that he had made for Jenny to use when she would lie on the floor, inside the Circle of Light, as she would wait for her Doppelganger. It was 11:45 PM, exactly fifteen minutes to showdown. Soon enough, as if on cue, the howling of the beastly wolf started. It sent shivers down my spine as all of a sudden, we could see the clattering of the windows all around the D’Silva mansion. The frequency of the lightning increased and the mansion looked as evil that night as it had seemed beautiful during daytime.

Gently placing the clay urn down near the lamps, Jenny walked across to Derek and cried for a few moments as Hound tied her hands loosely at the back. Derek held her tight as we looked on helplessly. Cathy put a loose gag around Jenny’s mouth and said, “Look, there’s nothing to worry. We’re here with you, you know you can wiggle out of these ropes easily and tear away the gag, right? You’re my brave Jenny. It’s all going to be over in 15 minutes and you’ll get rid of your Doppelganger forever!”

Jenny nodded in acknowledgement as tears streamed down her cheeks. Derek quickly tore away from Jenny and led her behind him. He was wearing fire-resistant gloves and the thick wet bandages covered his face with just space for the eyes to look through. Tightly wrapped and mummified by Cathy, he looked like Tutenkhamen’s cousin. Hound looked like his evil twin brother-in-bandage. We had marked Derek to run through the flames to rescue Jenny because only he could pull it off for his sweetheart.

“God be with them”, said Lobsang as Cathy squeezed Lobsang’s hand and started praying. Jeremy hugged broomstick Nanny, who was shaking like a leaf and continuously sobbing, “My child….my poor child….Heaven help her…” She had sobered up in fear. Or maybe it was the lack of pink in her life right now.

Armed with flashlights, Goose and I rushed inside the mansion and started emptying out the petrol from the jerry cans. Hound followed making sure he lit Jenny’s way with his flashlight.

Dashing up the stairs and cutting through the lobby, we were soon inside the lounge. No words were spoken as Goose emptied the last few jerry cans into the buckets and signaled out to me to hoist it. I slowly hoisted the buckets with care and Goose helped me tie the knot. Hound clumsily put a circular, fire-resistant mattress that perfectly fitted inside the Circle of Light. The bandages made it difficult for him to move.

Derek eased Jenny to the center of the circle and lay her down gently as she coiled like a baby, sobbing hysterically. My heart wept watching a girl full of life going through hell then. Hound and Goose watched silently, I’m sure they also felt Jenny’s pain along with me.

The petrol filled buckets hung exactly above Jenny. We had taken extra care to ensure that there was no petrol spilled inside the Circle of Light.

Goose went about checking if everything was thoroughly soaked in petrol around the fireplace as Derek stood outside the circle watching Jenny helplessly through his mummified attire as endless tears seemed to gush out of Jenny’s eyes.

I placed the candles inside the lasso and checked to see if all wicks were connected to the rope. There wasn’t room for any oversight. The petrol fumes made the air inside the mansion pungent and strong. It was quite difficult to breathe inside then.

Seven minutes to midnight:

“Time’s up. Let’s get out of here and stand at the door”, Goose said as words seemed to have trouble coming out of his mouth. Jenny lay wide-eyed, shaking like a leaf. She must have felt fear, pain, hopelessness and helplessness all at the same time as she watched the ones she loved walk away from her slowly, leaving her all alone to face her Doppelganger.

“Don’t you worry, love, Derek’s right here. He can’t speak right now. I’m not going to stand here watching you die. We love you Jenny…”, said Hound in a muffled voice, barely audible.

Derek gave a knowing look to Jenny through his tears and then we all slithered into the darkness, waiting in anticipation. Jenny’s muffled cries filled the dark mansion as we stood at the lobby, barely 20 feet away. Goose held on to the rope and I had two lighters with me, just raring to start the fire. Hound clenched his fists and was breathing heavily as Derek stood poised, one knee bent, about to make a dash as soon as Jenny freed herself and cried out.

My eyes were now accustomed to the darkness as we waited for Jenny’s Doppelganger to arrive. The howling of the wolf, coupled with thunder and lightning lit up the lounge from time to time. There she lay in a white gown, all trussed up like a pretty chicken, whimpering helplessly, waiting endlessly for her death to arrive. The faint flashes of lightning illuminated the room just enough to see where she lay inside the Circle of Light. The white rope of the lasso seemed like a huge snake that lay on the wooden floor of the lounge. The fireplace was dead, just filled with piles of petrol-soaked firewood.

Cathy, Lobsang, Jeremy and Nanny stood outside the stable, fervently praying. I could see them for we stood at the threshold of the lobby that separated the lounge and the porch outside where they stood, all huddled up, barely 20 meters away.

Six minutes to midnight:

Sure enough, it came. With its head titled to one side, as though broken, it looked exactly like Jenny as it emerged from the darkness and stood beside Jenny. Dressed in black, I’d almost missed seeing it as it peered down at Jenny in a strange, twisted manner, just a foot away. It must have been confused for it didn’t expect her package to be delivered this easy just when it was a few minutes away from midnight. I could see Jenny struggling to loosen the ropes that tied her hands. Jenny’s muffled shrieks of horror rang through the hall as her Doppelganger continued to stare at her, seeming confused.

“Wait! Not yet, let it get closer”, whispered Goose as he saw me tighten my hand around the other end of the rope attached to the lasso.

Sure enough, the Doppelganger took the bait and walked closer to Jenny and an evil cackle of laughter rang through the lounge as it lunged towards Jenny and grabbed her by her neck.

Four minutes to midnight:

“NOW!” shouted Goose as I ignited the rope with my lighter with a flick. Within the blink of an eye, the fire started from the rope and spread right across to the lasso and the Circle of Light came to life. The fire briskly spread across the hall and a raging inferno started as Derek made a dash towards Jenny through the blazing flames and smoke.

Hound poured a bucket of water on himself as he watched. Within a few seconds, he had covered himself with a wet blanket, wore protective gloves and wrapped a huge, wet scarf around his face. He had to mummify himself for he would have to dash in next if Derek needed his help.

Three minutes to midnight:

Jenny’s Doppelganger was taken aback when she saw the lounge burst out in flames. The fire had taken it completely off guard and it started to wail like a banshee. We could hear the screeching, but couldn’t see exactly what was going on inside the Circle of Light. A thick wall of reddish-orange flame surrounded Jenny and her Doppelganger. Jenny’s heightened state of fear and panic made the flames rise to the ceiling but it would not touch her. Her mind was fuelling the fire.

The Doppelganger shrieked continuously, the sound of death echoing in the room. Jenny struggled briefly and managed to free her hands. The Doppelganger’s grip tightened around her throat as it’s nails dug deeper into Jenny’s flesh. Drops of blood trickled down Jenny’s throat as she struggled to pull away from her Doppelganger with one hand and used the other to tear the gag away from her mouth.

For a brief moment, Jenny stood inside a cylindrical whirlwind of fire as she stared in horror at her own undead self. The twisted, broken neck of the Doppelganger was a reflection of what it was about to do to her. As Jenny looked into the black, lifeless eyes of the creature, she knew it was exactly what Jenny was to become once her soul was sucked away by the creature. She was on the verge of blacking out, Jenny in white and the Doppelganger in black, when a tight, firm hand grabbed Jenny’s stomach from behind and yanked her out of the Circle of Light.

The love of her life, Derek had rescued her on time as he’d promised to do so. He lifted her and dashed towards the lobby and was out in no time to reach the stable. He gently lay Jenny down on the ground as Lobsang bent over and held Jenny tight. I threw a bucket of water on him as we desperately tried to douse the flaming Knight in shining armor.

Two minutes to midnight:

The Doppelganger was trapped inside the twister. Only her ghastly screams filled the mansion and the night skies beyond. Strangely enough, Jenny’s panic seemed to have added fuel to the fire as the flames burned a crimson red and yellow on the Circle of Light. It was like a whirlwind that seemed to suck in the flames from all over the room. That was good, for that kept the flames in the other parts of the mansion at floor level. The floor now had a very thick carpet of fire while its epicenter was the Circle of Light. This had helped Derek reach Jenny without much effort. However, it had been a stroke of pure luck and love that he’d pulled out Jenny and not her Doppelganger out of the whirlwind.

Derek knelt down beside Jenny trembling, burning as the flames had scalded him. Cathy was busy snipping away with her scissors expertly as she went about removing Derek’s bandages that covered his face. He was more worried about Jenny who immediately seemed to wake up and cough loudly as blood oozed down her white gown, trickling down steadily from her throat.

“The Urn, I must have the urn now”, said Jenny, shakily trying to get back on her feet and clumsily ran towards the lamps in the stable. Derek watched her go, not wanting to stop her. He knew that Jenny had to do it. Lobsang and Cathy rushed to help Jenny as she picked up the urn and headed back towards us, but Jenny stopped them short and said, “Please don’t stop me now, I must do this. You know I have to!”

Stumbling, she walked towards us as we waited for the beast to show up. The twister of fire raged inside unabated, like yet another being from inside Jenny’s mind. We had managed to trap the Doppelganger and the clock was about to strike midnight. It was time for Winston’s evil soul to appear.

Sure enough, the wind velocity picked up and the sound of the wolf’s howling came much closer than ever. The banging of doors and windows in the mansion continued as Jeremy and Nanny prayed fervently. Lobsang stood beside us, pouring water from a bottle on Hound to ensure he was safe. She was chanting some prayers as if trying to protect Hound from certain death. Cathy was tending to Derek. I helped Jenny stand at the threshold of the lobby along with us as she stood there, sphinx like, firmly clutching the urn in her trembling hands. Looking back, it was a mistake and I should not have let Jenny come close to the flaming mansion.

12:00 AM, Happy Birthday, Jenny!

And then the howling stopped. The wind dropped. The dark, night sky lit up with bolts of lightning as the rumbling of thunder shattered the silence. The sound of the grandfather clock struck midnight.  Hound turned to Jenny and said, “Happy Birthday, my love”, and dashed inside to the banister at the end of the staircase. It was his job to undo the rope and let buckets of petrol fall inside the Circle of Light once the beastly of a wolf attacked. Hound reached the staircase and undid the knot that I had tied to hold the fuel buckets in place on the ceiling.