WILDly (21 page)

“Valerie. Where
are you going?” he asked when I rolled down the window, a slight
trace of irritation lurking in his otherwise monotonous voice.

I didn’t back
down.

“I’m off to the
quick shop around the corner. You know, to get a ....huhh huhh,” I
cleared my throat, pretending in my best acting performance ever to
be embarrassed.

“No problem,
but I’ll have to come with you,” he answered, not even a little
intimidated.

I tried a
stronger approach. “Peter, I’m out of tampons.”

His eyes opened
wide and he stepped back from the car. Males didn’t like any talk
in that direction.

“I’ll be ten
minutes tops,” I tried to put him at ease.

“Keep your
phone close,” he answered as I switched on the engine.

I drove away
slowly, but sped up as soon as I was out of audible range. Ten
minutes were ample time to get away. And the sun was down, so Alex
wouldn’t be able to see where I was.

The closest
nature reserve was an hour’s drive away. The reserve and the
university had an arrangement of some sort, which also made it easy
for me to arrange, under the semi-false pretences of being a
student doing research on bushbabies, for a ranger to open the gate
for me. I’d never been there, but what I had seen on the web site
looked convincing and they had contact numbers and everything.

The lady that
answered the phone didn’t ask any questions, but I had to agree to
a string of rules. It was nothing more than the usual stuff:
staying within your car at all times except at indicated places, no
feeding animals, blah blah blah. I didn’t even read through it all.
A signature was required and that I gave with a smile.

The ranger
waited for me in an old Land Rover in front of a majestic wrought
iron gate. The gate was huge, at least three meters high, with a
steel buffalo standing out in the centre of the left panel. In the
centre of the right panel was the name of the reserve, with the
letters cut out from the sheet metal.

The ranger
greeted me in high spirits, a tall neat young fellow, and naive
even to my standards. He was very proud to be getting the little
reserve this type of attention. He kept asking questions about the
research and the article. For a moment or two I had to think fast;
he knew a lot about the vegetation and the wildlife and wouldn’t
stop asking questions.

He also wanted
me to mention his name in my article. He was hoping to study some
day as well and was absolutely convinced that having his name in an
article would improve his chances of being accepted.

I followed him
with my station wagon up to the closest observation point. It
wasn’t the most likely place to find bushbabies according to him,
but he looked a little intimidated when I insisted otherwise.

It seemed as if
he was dedicated enough to stay with me for the night; he simply
wouldn’t leave. But, to my great relief, he started yawning after
just a few minutes of sitting motionless on a bench inside an
enclosed observation point, looking onto a big water hole.

He excused
himself, but gave me his personal phone number. I waited for three
minutes after the rear lights of his Land Rover disappeared before
rushing outside.

The feeling of
being alone out there in the bush was amazing, exciting; I felt
carefree. Yes, it was dark, with all types of wild predators
around. But I wasn’t afraid of them. I couldn’t explain why, but I
simply was not afraid.

I was afraid
though, of all the other wild predators of the universe: the
emotional predators, the ones who fed on others with jealous teeth
and selfish claws. These predators were the worst of all, creating
a path of destruction to their desires. Life and death was nothing
more than a merciless continuous cycle, completely untamed,
wild.

The sound of an
owl broke my trance and suddenly I didn’t feel as relaxed as
before, I was anxious to get this done with so I could go out and
do what I had to do.

It was easy to
believe that everything was alive in the faint shine of the
crescent moon. I felt it, the strong vibration of life, all around
me. It was easy especially because the sense of mysteriousness and
magic raised the hairs on my neck.

At first, I
focused on a small rock next to my feet. I bent down and picked it
up to take a better look at it. It was no different from all the
others, a typical bushveldt rock, sharp edges, rough surface, one
of millions lying around.

On the other
hand, there were also millions of stars above, and they were also
alive; I really believed that. Why couldn’t a rock then also be
alive? It might not have enough intelligence or energy for its
consciousness to manifest into an ambassador, but that didn’t mean
it was dead, did it?

This time, I
looked at the rock with new eyes, with believing eyes. But it
looked the same, no matter how long I stared at it. And it was
getting harder to keep the belief high: true to human nature, I
doubted quickly.

With
determination, I gathered myself. This rock was alive. I believed
it. I closed my eyes and kept repeating it over and over in my
mind:
This rock is alive, I believe it.

It happened
suddenly.

One moment I
was chanting with my eyes closed, the next moment I could literally
feel the energy radiating from the rock in my hand. I opened my
eyes and dropped it to the ground in shock.

It was still
the same old rock, it certainly looked the same, but its surface
was vibrating. It vibrated so fast that the surfaces and edges
actually appeared solid.

I stared at it
for a long time, letting my emotions run wild.

I believed in
the unbelievable!

I loved knowing
that my faith was strong enough to open this world up, to really
see God’s creation in its full glory.

My eyes moved
to a bigger rock close by, and its surface also looked blurry from
the vibration. As did the tree, the grass, the water and everything
around me.

Everything
around me, every single thing, big and small, was vibrating.

A tremendous
sense of awe filled me and I felt humble at the sight.
If
only
the rest of the world could see
, I thought.
No
one would ever think of polluting again, of hurting this magical
planet of ours.

I knelt and dug
my hands into the sand, feeling the vibrations, feeling more and
more connected by the minute. Not only did the sky have a new
dimension for me, but also the entire area around me.

The sky was
already colouring in the west, and I didn’t have much time
left.

I still wanted
to explode something, and I picked the rock that I had in my hands
earlier. It was easy to believe, now that I had access to the
Earth’s energy, that it could explode.

I visualised a
flow of energy from the centre of the Earth to the rock, and then
opened my eyes to try it.

The rock
vibrated more violently and slowly grew red. I could feel the heat
from where I stood, almost three meters away. The red turned
brighter, then almost white and suddenly there was a loud crackling
explosion. Pieces flew all over the place.

I felt guilty
for killing the little rock, but close examination of the smaller
pieces revealed that they were vibrating as well, and I felt better
about it.

Without a
doubt, this was the real thing. For the first time, I’d accessed
the Earth’s powers. What I’d done at my parents home was nothing
more than the weather responding to my moods.

I was about to
try again on a bigger rock, when headlights lit up the entire area
from behind me. Frightened, I turned and raised my hands. Four
lights from two cars pinned me to the spot. My phone was still in
the car and I had no option but to stand still.

Both cars
stopped mere centimetres from me, one black, one white.

Oh, great! Not
again! Caught out. How had they found me?

Alex climbed
out of his white Lexus, glowing slightly. And he had brought along
his entire entourage. Benjamin, Peter, Wilfred and Leo climbed out
of the black Merc. I was in deep trouble: I’d betrayed Peter’s
trust, which was ultimately Alex’s trust. I strongly doubted if
Peter would trust me again. I’d have to think of a new plan next
time.

I had to admit
that his glow was impressive; it suited Alex, confirmed his
authority. It also made him look even more like a Greek god. He
walked up to me with quick strides. Benjamin also came closer, but
stopped about half-way; the other three Reds remained a little
distance away around their car.

“Alex!”
Benjamin called warningly.

I drew a quick
breath of nervousness. My heart pounded harder than usual, whether
because of Alex’s anger or the mere sight of him, I didn’t know. He
didn’t bother to greet me, just grabbed me by the upper arm and
dragged me into his car. I felt so intimidated by his white glow
and his immediate closeness that I didn’t try to protest or resist.
My mind wandered to the other day when I had to wake him, how close
he was then...

He opened the
door for me and then held out his hand.

“Car keys?” he
spat the question out.

“Uhh...
ignition,” I answered quickly in a shaky voice, feeling slightly
lightheaded.

He pushed me
into the passenger’s seat and then bent over to put my seat belt on
for me. I let him, partly because of him being so close and partly,
the smaller part of me, because I didn’t want to test his endurance
any further.

He closed my
door and I slowly released my breath. He climbed into the driver’s
seat but didn’t bother to buckle up himself.

In the side
mirror I noticed Benjamin climbing into my station wagon. At least
they didn’t plan to leave my car alone in the bush but had the good
manners to drive it back.

We flew off,
leaving a dust cloud the size of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. I
worried about flying stones hitting my car and the Merc.

We reached the
gate in milliseconds. But where the impressive gate had been a few
hours earlier, there was now nothing left. The gate was completely
missing, just the posts standing. Then I noticed something shiny in
a tree. The gate wasn’t missing; it was lying in smithereens all
over the place. The closest tree had a piece of the buffalo’s head
stuck in a branch. Judging from Alex’s glow, he had blown up the
gate, using his powers.

I had to
toughen up; the bollocking of my life was waiting. And for once, it
wouldn’t come from my dad. If only it was from my dad!

The tyres
screamed and the car swayed slightly as we spun onto the tarred
road. The other two cars were out of sight, probably because they
were being driven by half-decent human beings instead of screaming
along like a maniac. My fear slowly changed into irritation and
then exasperation as we tore through the night.

I shouldn’t
have sneaked away, that was a given. But I wasn’t a child and Alex
didn’t own me, no matter how infatuated I was with him.

The wind
streamed lightly along the car. Alex didn’t seem to notice. We
drove in absolute silence; there wasn’t even tyre noise in the
fancy vehicle. car.

But a few
minutes later, the clear sky of earlier turned dark. The wind
wrapped more strongly around the car.

“Alex, you’re
going to get us both killed. Slow down and drive decently, please?”
I said asked in a pretend blasé tone, feeling displeased with him
for being so reckless.

He ignored me
completely and suddenly I got angry.

“Alex, I’m
warning you, slow down or I’ll jump out.”

Luckily he
didn’t call my bluff, but my little threat had the right
effect.

He hit the
brakes, hard. So hard, that the seat belt pulling on me actually
hurt. The car came to an almost immediate stop in the middle of the
road.

He stared out
blindly into the rising sun ahead of us.

“Have you gone
crazy?” I asked with a slightly raised voice, furious with his
little temper-tantrum. I had turned in my seat, facing him.

He slowly
turned his head towards me, fire burning in his eyes.

“No,” he bit
the words out. “Have
you
gone crazy?” His voice was icy, so
soft it was like screaming.

My blood
boiled. The cheek! This following around had save me a time or so,
sure, but this was getting out of proportion. I felt
claustrophobic, especially because of Benjamin. I was apparently
Alex’s ‘responsibility’ as he had put it the other day, but it felt
like I was his prisoner.

Oh to heck with
that! I
obeyed
not out of respect necessarily, but because I
had feelings for him. And he probably knew it and was taking
advantage

“Just because
I’m in love with you, doesn’t mean that you own me!”

Crikey! Did I
say it out loud? I was so deep in thought, about what he had said -
I really hoped that I had not. I waited nervously for his
reaction.

His eyes opened
wide. Then he blinked.

***

Chapter 18 –
Star crossed

The look on his
face spoke volumes.

My heart sank
to my shoes. What was I thinking of? Alex was the Sun, the Ruler of
the Milky Way! And he had a girlfriend, who happened to be my
planetary sister. Maybe if he didn’t have Lisa I would have had a
chance, one less obstacle in my way. But she was there, and she was
also my best friend, the best friend that I’d ever had.

I didn’t have
the courage for the rejection, so I unbuckled the seat belt, opened
the door and jumped out. The Reds were close behind and I knew I
wouldn’t need to wait for long.

“Valerie, get
back in the car!” Alex demanded. “Valerie? Valerie!” he called
angrily after me.

I took the
longest strides that I could manage to get away from him. In
return, he revved the car as he spun it round and drove up behind
me.