Superstar: Horn OK Please (20 page)

The shattering of glass coupled with the sound of the clock striking midnight made the hair at the nape of my neck stand at its end. Winston had arrived to claim Jenny’s body. Hound saw a big, beastly wolf break the huge window by the side of the fireplace and walk menacingly towards the whirlwind of fire. The mansion was breaking apart and blocks of wood that formed the annexure had started to collapse. Flaming pieces from the floorboards above had started to fall on the floor as Hound stood by the banister, holding on the rope, waiting for the right moment. Hound burned as the flames licked him, the heat became unbearable. High on love, Hound didn’t care. It was OK to die if that sacrifice would keep Jenny alive.

The huge, evil beast growled, eyes bloodshot, anger and pure hatred visible on its face as it bared its bloodied teeth before leaping into the twister of fire and reaching straight for the Doppelganger’s throat. Winston had waited for this moment for over 350 years. The beast was out of control. The beast didn’t seem to know that it was not Jenny who was inside the Circle of Light. As the beast leaped, Hound let go of the rope as flames leaped from the ground as the flaming liquid exploded above him. He made a dash back to the door where we stood. The screaming of the banshee continued. The beast went straight for the Doppelganger’s throat and suddenly, the ghostly screams died. The evil Winston in the garb of the Devil had destroyed Jenny’s Doppelganger for good. The flames rose higher and engulfed the mansion. We weren’t sure if the fire had destroyed the evil beast.

The raging inferno was now out of control. The thick smoke emanating from the lounge and the unbearable heat had made us retreat a few steps as we stood with the others. I could barely see anything in the thick smoke that engulfed the lobby where we stood.

Cheers erupted when Hound emerged as Goose yanked the wet blanker off Hound as I threw a bucket of water on him to douse the flames. It seemed like the worst had passed. Hound collapsed on the ground, writhing in pain as Cathy went about cutting his bandages.

“Oh my God! Where’s Jenny?” exclaimed Hound when he saw everybody except Jenny standing together near the stable, staring at the mansion trying to see if the beast had been destroyed as well.

Through the smoke and fire, we had been too busy looking out for Hound in the fire. We had focused too much on the plan and had ignored the fact that Jenny might have had a plan of her own. With Hound and Derek safe and sound after Jenny’s rescue, we must have slackened. A roasted Hound hadn’t seemed like a very palatable idea and so none of us had noticed Jenny walk back into the mansion, urn in hand, held tight to her chest like a baby.

12:05 AM, A U-turn:

“She’s not around”, exclaimed Jeremy, seemingly alarmed and fearing the worst, “Where is she? I told you to keep an eye on her, Nanny!” as he looked at matchstick Nanny in disgust. Lobsang sank to the ground like a heap.

Nanny hung her head and said nothing. With time running out, Hound walked over to Nanny, grabbed her arms and shook her like a rattling bag of bones and yelled, “Where is she, you witch? Where is Jenny? You witch!”

Nanny burst out crying and amidst her sobs, she said, “She’s gone back in there. When you were all busy she came up to me and told me that only she can stop the evil Winston. She asked me not to stop her. She’s back in there. She’s not coming back!”

Derek lost his cool and tried to find a way back into the mansion but the fire was now a hellfire. There was no way we could go inside anymore. After Hound had let the buckets of petrol fall onto the beast, the mansion was breaking down. I grabbed Derek while Goose brought Hound down. We had to stop these fools from going back inside.

“Look out! The mansion’s going to collapse!” Jeremy yelled, as he watched a pillar collapse inside and come straight through the lobby entrance where we stood, “Back off, everybody!  Step back, there’s nothing we can do. Jenny’s gone!”

Goose and I pushed everyone back close to the stable so we could just watch the old mansion burn to the ground helplessly with Jenny inside the mansion…

***

Jenny walked slowly amidst the inferno, back to the Circle of Light, towards the flaming wolf. The fire barely touched her. It seemed to do her no harm. Jenny’s path was being cleared as though by magic. The flames made way for her. She reached the Circle of Light to see the huge beast snarling and burning. She could see that her Doppelganger’s mangled remains lay beside the beast and were on fire. The beast was on fire but it seemed to have no effect on the evil soul that stood in front of her in the form of a wolf.

Jenny touched the Circle of Light that was now a raging whirlwind of fire that seemed to have no beginning, no end. The beast stood in front of her, ready to kill her. The flames leaped out of its body as its eyes shone redder than the fire all around. Jenny was about to face her great grandfather’s fury.

“I’ve come for you, my great grandpa, it’s all over. You’re pure evil and I hate myself for being born of your blood. You evil, greedy bastard! You killed my mother, my granny – she was your own daughter – all for your own greed? You killed so many with your Devil’s breath!” screamed Jenny, making sure that the beast could hear her.

The Beast let out an evil snarl and spoke inside Jenny’s head, “You stupid bitch! Your Doppelganger is now the undead! After waiting for 350 years, you destroy my secret laboratory, the Devil’s breath that I so painstakingly invented? And tonight you made me destroy your Doppelganger, a being of my creation? My chances of returning are no more. But I will make sure you face my wrath. You will die and your soul will burn for eternity!” 

Jenny had managed to make it angry. It was exactly the way she wanted it. She’d known about it ever since the Wolfman had touched her. She looked at the beast and flashed a winning smile, watching it spring from the floor and come straight to her throat. As the huge beast of a wolf sprang towards her, she let the clay urn fall on the burning floor. Time stood still. The urn hit the ground and broke into many pieces.

As the urn broke, the tornado of souls trapped inside the urn was set free. Ashes rose as many featherlike white souls floated in air in a zigzag motion. Each soul looked like the apparition of a dead floating person. Jenny could hear faraway screams. She had unleashed the tornado of souls that cried out in pain, agony and sadness and the cries grew louder as she watched the souls float around her and Winston. The 199 lost souls that Winston had murdered, they now sought revenge.

As the beast sprang towards Jenny and grabbed her throat, its sharp teeth dug deep into Jenny’s flesh as she fell on the floor. The floating, ghostly white souls howled and shot backwards first, then shot forwards, all together, right into the heart of the beast. The beast exploded as pieces of flesh and bone splattered all over. The roof of the old mansion gave away and came crashing down. The deafening sound must have been heard all over the estate. From the debris, a whirlwind of fire shot heavenwards, flaming through the night sky.

***

We watched from a safe distance when the mansion collapsed. We could see the Circle of Light start from the burning remains of the mansion and shoot to the sky. From the ashes rose ghostly white apparitions, all twisting and turning around the Circle of Light. We watched in shock and awe as the apparitions floated around the twister for some time before shooting into the whirlwind of fire and in a flash, they were all gone and the Circle of Light vanished, as though shooting towards heaven like a shooting star from the ground. The wind stopped, the clouds disappeared and suddenly, there was absolute calm.

“She’s gone…” Lobsang sobbed as she looked at the stars, “Jenny’s an angel now”. We watched in silence, staring at the sky as the mansion burned in front of us. Jenny was one among the stars already…

***
 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

***

***

Roses are red and violets are blue,

She gave up her life for me and you;

Evil shall not triumph; Good shall prevail,

She fought hard till her last breath, no, she just couldn’t fail;

She could have lived, she could have survived,

Maybe she knew another way, maybe, she shouldn’t have died;

There she lay, the beautiful angel slept,

I felt her angst and pain, my heart bled as it wept;

Cleansing rain falls; the elements wash away the evil,

No more pain, no more night, no more dancing with the Devil;

She was the dark angel; a true friend – we stand tall,

She died in love, she slept in peace, she’d freed them all;

Now she slept in peace, she’d fought the battle and won,

The angel shall miss the living, she’ll miss the morning sun;

But if smiles and Imagination makes you say ‘Cheese’

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

***

Goodbye, lonely Angel:

The flames leapt higher and higher as they reduced the mansion to ashes. The lull of the night was broken down by the rumbling thunder followed by the torrential downpour. As the drops of liquid moonshine doused the fire, it ushered in a new beginning, a cleansing freshness that would purify the earth.

Jenny’s death was an epitome of ultimate sacrifice to stop evil from rising on earth. We sat and watched silently from inside the stable and within minutes the sound of raindrops thudding against the leaves echoed in the atmosphere. It had begun to grow cold as the moist breeze lased against our faces. The heat from the fire kept the place warm.

Derek was physically with us in the stable that rainy night, but his soul floated with Jenny in the past. He remembered the beautiful times they had spent together. He remembered the walks and the talks amongst the beautiful trees. Every inch of his body yearned for her presence. It was hard for him to believe on the fact that Jenny was gone. All what was left behind a charred wick. He lifted his right palm and touched the drop of blood. It was Jenny’s. His heart burned as he helplessly watched the mansion burn with Jenny trapped inside. He looked heavenwards time and again, as if trying to communicate with Jenny.

His face was devoid of any emotion. He was angry with himself for not keeping an eye on Jenny and let her walk into the claws of death. He could have stopped her. She could have been alive had he tried. She was his love and now she would be his pain till the day he would breathe his last breath. She had to die for him to realize how much he loved her. She meant the whole world to him. The realization had happened a bit too late.

Derek used his tee to wipe his sweat and raindrops from his face, maybe, there were some tears as well. Maybe Jenny knew something more about Derek before she left us all. Maybe, that’s why she loved Derek. He reached for his jacket and took out the gift that Jenny had given him. He clutched Jenny’s Diary close to his chest and closed his eyes, as though feeling her presence somewhere deep inside. He would never share his emotions with anyone. This was between Jenny and him. A part of him had died along with Jenny that night.

Probably Jenny had unveiled a new side of Derek, the sensitive and caring side. Her laughter had tickled his heart and invoked some goodness in him. He now knew how it felt being in real love. He missed Jenny. He missed her soft lips, he missed the rosy smell of her hair, he missed her smile. Only if life could have given him another chance, he would have brought Jenny back from hell’s fury. But eventually he would have to learn to live without the love of his life. Easier said than done!

Hound sat on the ground, staring at the fire through misty eyes. He kept wiping his tears now and then. Jenny had meant an awful lot to him and Hound had never been ashamed to bare his soul about Jenny. It had been very painful to accept the fact that Jenny loved Derek and not him. But the misery would have been tolerable had she not died. Had she been alive, he could have been there for her selflessly, loving her endlessly. Jenny had touched Hound’s soul the moment they had met. He had saved her one night just to watch her die another night. Maybe, he should have listened to Derek and let her jump off the bridge.

Maybe, he should never have stepped out of Motormouth that night. A broken heart would have been far easier to live with than a dead muse. Jenny had walked into Hound’s life like a bouquet of roses, full of life and spirit. All she wanted was love and all he had to give was love. Unfortunately, Derek, had come in the way. Jenny gave love and Derek took it away from her. Hell! Wasn’t Derek supposed to take care of her since she didn’t belong to Hound?

The stormy sea of thoughts churned with the twister of memories as Hound tried to imagine Jenny’s sweet face. Even her distant presence was a benediction for him. The first time he had come across her pure soul, he had made a promise to himself that he would always be by her side and that he would help her sour by being the wind beneath her wings. To Hound, she was the zealous zephyr who danced around merrily with the ecstasy of a little butterfly. His heart still thumped for Jenny.  

Something snapped deep inside him and suddenly he got up. He grabbed Derek by the collar and dragged him to patch between the stable and the burning mansion. The cleansing rain continued to pour. Goose and I watched as Hound stood up and punched Derek on the face. Goose hushed Jeremy and signaled everybody, instructing not to react. Jeremy was crying over Jenny, he couldn’t care if the world around him crumbled. It was the same with Nanny. Goose and I knew this had to happen someday and chose not to interfere. It was best for the volcano to erupt.

“You selfish bastard! She died because of you”, hissed Hound as he yanked Derek out of the stable.

Derek didn’t fight back. He was in no mood to react. Maybe for Derek, this was a punishment that would set him free for letting Jenny go, maybe this would get his guilt off his chest. He stood there, taking the blows from his best buddy. This was hatred coming straight from the horse’s mouth. Hound’s punches had torn Derek’s lower lip and he started to bleed. Hound then kicked Derek on the stomach that made him reel and fall like Goliath on the ground. He clenched his fists and stood in the rain waiting for Derek to rise and fight.

Hound was hopping mad, his bursting heart had to explode on Derek for letting Jenny die. I watched Derek writhe in pain as he lay on the ground to one side. It showed on his face. Hound stood in front of him and kicked him again on his stomach till Derek howled and curled like a baby on the ground. Hound turned and walked back inside as Derek howled in pain. It wasn’t just physical pain. Poor Derek, he was up the creek without a paddle.

“Bloody hypocrite!” snarled Hound as he stormed past me and sat down beside me.

“Happy?” I asked, as we watched Derek writhe in pain, out in the rain. I didn’t bother to look at Hound. He didn’t bother to reply. Goose got up and helped Derek walk back into the stable.

I was happy that this incident had happened. The cleansing rain would help us all make a new beginning. Jenny must have watched them fight; she would have hated it. A few more hours to dawn and the flames would die down. We would look for Jenny’s remains.

“If you’re done fighting, let’s all get some rest now. If Jenny’s watching you now, she must be really happy that she’s dead”, I said sarcastically and closed my eyes not to sleep, but to think of Jenny.

The rains lashed the estate continuously, purging it of all evil from the past 350 years. It went on for many hours until the break of dawn.

It was a peaceful sleep. Is spite of losing our beloved Jenny, the thoughts came to a standstill as I slept. Was it because of the extreme tiredness, or was it because of the death of the evil force, I didn’t know. But one thing I knew for sure that Jenny had done her best to save the lives of the ones she loved, and now it was our turn to make sure that the legacy continued. 

I opened my eyes, woken up by the screeching brakes of a van. I heard the banging of doors as I saw Goose, Jeremy and Nanny walk over to greet an elderly Priest in white, who stepped out of the van. I peered over to look at the debris of what used to be the Mansion of the Gods. Though the roof of the mansion had collapsed, some of the walls were still intact.

“She’s gone, isn’t she?” said the Priest, grim-faced and serious. Jeremy nodded.

“The curse has ended. It was the will of God. Jenny has not died in vain. I hope we all remember that. She was a beautiful child. I’ve come prepared”, said the Priest as he held the Bible tightly and looked at the debris. He then beckoned to his helpers and pointed them to the stable.

Saying goodbye to Jenny was not an easy thing for anyone. She had been the embodiment of life, a quintessence of pure love. She had died for the sins of her great grandfather. She had paid for his greed, with her life.

The rain had stopped and the fire had subsided. I watched Lobsang and Cathy shout out to Hound and Derek, giving them directions where to look. I ran to the debris to the place where Cathy and Lobsang stood. We watched Derek and Hound walk amidst the ruins and muddy remains of what used to be a beautiful mansion just yesterday. As the smoke left the lacerated remains of the mansion, it formed a thick layer on the ground as if enshrouding the dance of death of the previous night. 

“Be careful!” shouted Cathy, “The floor might just cave in!” Derek and Hound were moving towards the fireplace where Lobsang had created the Circle of Light.

I could see them standing on the wooden beams of a semi-collapsed floor, pointing to the ground. Suddenly Derek genuflected with his head hung low. He was in that position for a minute before Hound patted his back. Derek wiped his tears, as reality seeped in. They were wearing the same tough gloves. Hound bent down to lift a heavy beam as Derek helped him lift it up. As Hound held on the heavy beam, Derek got down on his knees to gently lift up a limp body in a white gown. They had found Jenny’s dead body. 

Derek stepped back and Hound let go of the beam and it fell down with a thud and carefully walked out of the ruins slowly as they made their way to the stable. Jenny’s body was intact and unburned with just smears of charcoal and bloodstains on her clothes. The fire hadn’t harmed Jenny at all. Derek walked in and placed Jenny’s body on the ground. The Priest looked at Jenny with a calm face. He was smiling. Then placing his hand on her forehead, he spoke, “Rest in peace, my child. 199 done. You become the 200
th
soul. You know your resting place. You always knew, didn’t you, Jenny?”

The helpers placed the coffin beside Jenny. Hound and Derek gently lifted the cadaver and placed it into the beautifully decorated peace box. The shell, the lining and the golden corner plates of the coffin had been handcrafted to perfection and reflected Jenny’s taste. The body of the casket was made of pine wood. It emanated a sweet scent characteristic of the wood. It seemed to have been prebuilt by the Priest and Jeremy for they had anticipated this day. Once Jenny had been placed into the upholstery, Jeremy bent down and crossed Jenny’s hands, gently placing a red rose between them.

Jeremy then stood up and folded his arms in reverence and said, “Happy Birthday, Jenny”. Cathy and Nanny sat by her side for a few minutes, smiling at Jenny lovingly before Goose and I lifted the lid and closed it. Suddenly Nanny got up and rushed away. She didn’t have the heart to see her sweet child getting buried. Right from the time when Jenny was a baby, Nanny had taken care of her. She had always made sure that she was safe and out of harm’s way. Today, there had been too much harm her way and Nanny couldn’t protect her.

Jenny’s funeral:

We reached the cemetery – it was Jenny’s favorite hang-out place.

“So that was Jenny’s resting place…no wonder”, said Goose as I eased Motormouth into the small clearing right at the gates of the cemetery where Jenny had got us that night.

Goose was right.
There was this one grave that was very prominent, a grave that stood out in the dark as Goose had flashed his torch to get a good look at. The grave had a life size statue of an angel right beside it. The angel’s face seemed to rest on her palm as her elbow rested on the cross. The other hand firmly holding a wreath as her drooping wings almost touched the ground. It was almost like she was trying to say that she had tried her best yet she couldn’t save the person from death.

Jenny had told Derek that there were exactly 200 graves in the cemetery. 199 deaths were caused by her great grandfather -Winston. No one knew whom the 200
th
grave belonged to. Winston had this cemetery built to count the deaths and the souls he had trapped inside the urn. These souls belonged to the Wolfman in return for Winston’s riches and powers. Winston had planned it all along. He had built the 200
th
grave for the last heir in his ancestry. That person just happened to be Jenny. Winston had to wait 350 years for Jenny. Somehow, Jenny knew about it all along.

Jeremy had insisted that Jenny be taken straight to the cemetery and no time be wasted. So the funeral services were held at the cemetery itself. This was not to be a regular funeral. There was a small table kept inside the room where we had spent the night talking. It was in that same room now where photographs of Jenny were kept for special remembrances. We sat down inside the small room, now filled with memories of the recent past since we met Jenny. “I will rise”, a ballad played in the background. The piano and strings of this song gave a haunting feel to the cemetery even at daytime, but it made the parting with Jenny a respectable one. 

       
“And I Will Rise when he calls my name

       
No more sorrow, No more pain

       
I Will Rise, on Eagle's wings

       
Before my God fall on my knees, and rise

       
I Will Rise”

Jeremy, Cathy and broomstick Nanny went about the eulogies before the priest opened the service for the gathering. “I am the resurrection and the life, 'saith the Lord; 'he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. I know that my Redeemer liveth...” said the Priest solemnly.

The gravestone had been removed and soon it was time for the committal and Derek watched solemnly as Jenny’s coffin was lowered into the grave. This cemetery had special memories for him. Hound let a red rose drop as the Priest said, “ We therefore commit Jenny’s body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life."