THE GATE KEEPER (10 page)

Outside,
two blokes across the street someone had followed Phil. It was the first time
the nemesis had done so. It was neither for curiosity nor for pleasure. For the
nemesis it was simply business. Better to know the existence of the devil than
not knowing his every move at all.

Estimating
the enemy’s move was unprofessional. Dressed in a full leather suite, gloves
and a black helmet, it was impossible to identify the stranger. The tinted
visor rest atop of the helmet and one leg rest on the pavement. The stranger
made a stealthy park in between two neighbouring car and patiently
waited.   

Outside,
the nemesis had witness the light going on from within the monitored house. As
the night sky reprised its role for the day, the enemy could hardly be seen.
The silhouette only gave out an outline sketch of someone on a bike. Neighbours
were all preoccupied with their own affairs and no one noticed the stranger’s
presence. Blending in to remain a low profile was part of the game.

My
mind was racing in thoughts of all the obstacles faces today. Fascinated by the
old man I began to wonder if he was for real. I kept the unfortunate events of
mysteries for myself. I couldn’t share it with her. After all it all sound too
science fiction for even myself to believe in it. Being a witness who had felt
the fear and seen it I had become a believer. There was no doubt about that.

Still
looking outside she says, ‘I was born and raised from a little town in
Mississippi. I fell in love with someone not of my parent’s wish. In the small
community where I and your grand-parents live, this was considered forbidden.’

‘Is
it dad you’re talking of?’

‘Yes,
I was this young white girl in love with a young black boy who lived on the
other side of a small country village somewhere in Mississippi. Though we all
went to school together there was a feeling of abnormality. They were treated
as an outcast.’

There
was a pause but I wouldn’t let this chance slip away. It was the first time
that she was about to spit it out. The father I had never had a chance to meet.
She had always refrain herself from talking about it. She had acknowledged that
it was too painful to relive the tale.

‘Mum,
are you alright?’

‘Yes,
I am,’ she responded in a low pitch.

‘Please
continue.’

‘We
were planning to run away and start a life together over here at the outskirt
of Oxnard City, California but…’

At
the side of her right cheek tears rolls down. I allow her to pause once more
before she carries on as I did not want to interrupt.

She
wipes the tears and carries on, ‘somehow someone knew about our departure. The
night we decided to flee from them it was the night they seize him. White men
in white robe and mask rode the streets with wooden torch at the back of their
trucks. I could still hear their voices as they scream for our names as we run
and they furiously rode behind us.’

Mum
pause for a third time and stand up while she turns her back on me. She wipes
her face and says, ‘the funny thing is that I could ID them as their voices
weren’t new to me.’

‘Who
were they?’

‘My
dad, some young white boys I went to school with, the sheriff and his deputy as
well. They murdered him. We were seventeen years old and I was pregnant with
you. Two days later I left and came here but I had never forgotten them.’

She
walks towards the door, come to a halt and says, ‘one thing.’

 
        ‘Yes mum.’

‘I
want you to not forget where you’re from by not being racist to anyone even if
they are of different skin colour, culture or different ways of thinking. Treat
everyone equal in the same way you would have wanted them to treat you. Be kind
and do no harm to anyone my son. Have respect for anybody but do not fear them.
Those that misinterpret and abuse your kindness must face the consequences. Let
your action speak for itself and be sure not to use excessive force. Be robust
and bold when necessary to allow the wicked to think twice before they take
advantage of your kindness, may it either be psychologically or physically.’

‘Wow,
that’s quite a lot to assimilate. Thanks for the tips mum but I got the picture
of what you’re trying to say.’

‘One
more thing, have you seen the old man that came in this morning?’

‘No
I haven’t…..’ I lie but I was curious why mum wanted to know that.

‘Well
he came in this morning with a good intention to help you with your studies.
Strange, there was a sense of déjà vu. He reminds me of your father though I
had never had the chance to see him old.’

Mother
walks out of my room and I could hear her weight giving out her position as it
creaks the floorboards towards the bathroom. The door creaks open and close.
Suddenly this was followed by the sound of the key locking the door.

         
I come to my senses and sit up. It was only now that I realise that my school
bag was on my back and in it I have something which seems precious. I remove my
bag from my back, open it and take the envelope out. I was looking at the plain
brown envelope from the back. My name and surname was printed in ink with the
correct address.

Something
caught my attention that I could not resist to analyse it closely. The hand
writing looks very familiar. I take a pen from my bag and scribble down the
same name and address at the bottom of the envelope underneath the existing
information. Immediately I compare both of them.

I
notice that it was very familiar but slightly different from mine. Except that
the original one found on the envelope looks like an evolution of mine. I
thought about what the old man had told me.

I
greedily tare the envelope open and take a closer look of what I could identify
as a key. Its key ring was plastic and rectangle in shape. Engrave on it was an
address which was ten blocks down the road.
I needed to know the truth….

I
ran out of my room, lock it and call out, ‘Mum!’

‘What?’
she responds from the bath
room.

‘Please
don’t wake me up as I’m going to sleep. I’m too tired.’

‘What
about your dinner?’

I
slowly and quietly lock the door of my room then reply, ‘No, thanks.’

Quietly
I head for the stairs and to the main door. I slide the key for my room and the
main door in my pocket and left.

Hours
had gone by since the nemesis had been keeping the resident under surveillance.
The nemesis had become impatient. The nemesis comes off the bike, stand in the
middle of the road, out of plain sight and afar from the street light which
were at either side of the tarmac road. Under the cover of darkness the biker
stealthily head towards the monitored residence.

Gathering
intelligence was a vital task for the biker. Thinking about the possible
findings at the other side of the surveillance door made the biker excited that
running became inevitable. The biker starts with a light jog and slightly
increases it to a sprint.

To
the biker’s amazement the light from inside fill the door step. The biker could
also see the shadow of someone coming out. A quick emergency reaction has to be
formulates to evade being notice. Immediately the biker dive to the pitch black
ground in front of a parked van nearby and slightly opposite the prey’s house.

The
stalker remains still on the ground overlooking the house. The military
technics and tactics of concealment had to be applied.
To see without being
seen
, he thought. The stalker’s victim walks out, slowly close the door and
lock it as quietly as possible. He then glances in both ways before he finally
decided to depart the opposite way, away from the biker.

Hidden
under the cover of darkness the stalker keeps a watch on his enemy as he walks
away. When the prey was far enough the biker stands up, slowly move backwards
and start to pace back from the middle of the road. There was no way the
predator could have been spotted. Darkness became the biker’s best friend in
the art of concealment.

10

I
managed to get out without being notice by mum. The walk had been filled with
doubts and curiosity. I gave thorough thoughts about what I was told by the old
man. Something wasn’t right but I couldn’t see through yet. What he had told me
felt like an anxious mystery.

Had
he committed suicide purposefully? If yes why? Why was he afraid of the police
from the flying automobile? Where they real police officer’s vehicles? Where
are they from? Is it the future like he had tried to convince me to believe or
just a futuristic project undertaken by the government? Perhaps they were
extra-terrestrial from another dimension of the galaxy.
I just
felt like I had to know the truth.
After what I had witnessed I had to
keep an open mind about the possibilities of where they might be from.

Something
from behind had interrupted my thoughts. I turn around to see what it was while
I walk backwards. All I could see was darkness from the road and I was alone.
Near my mum’s house was my mum’s car and the opposite was a van. Both vehicles
were hidden in darkness. The nearest lamp post shed minimum light on the
street. Beyond the illuminating light I could see only dark unrecognised shadows.

Deep
in thought I swear to myself that I had heard the sound of an engine coming to
life but my eyes confirmed the opposite. The feelings that I was being watch
had corrupted my mind though there was no suspicious movement or light. The
street remains quiet for now. I come to a halt and pause my heavy breathing
while I listen to my surroundings. There was a faint sound of engine roaring at
a distance but still there was no movement.

I
pace myself backward while I search for any sign of movements within my
surrounding of thick spacious darkness. Without realising I was at the address
engraved on the key ring. I reach for the key in my pocket. With partial light
from the lamp post I confirm the address number on the key ring.

25
Palmer Road matches with the number on the door. There was no doubt that I was
in the wrong road. The road which I had known and learn how to survive it for
years. I had stand up against so much injustice and resist the temptation of
joining a gang of bullies.

The
house had been deserted for years. Words from the kids on the street state that
it’s a haunted house. Superstitious beliefs were not my cup of tea but after I
thought of it the fear factors were catching on. It had been uninhabited for
years after its landowner passed away.

Dull
light from the nearest lamp post made part of the house quite visible. I suck
in the saliva of fear and walk up the three wooden steps to its porch. Every
step I take the old wooden board gives in a creaking sound. Precaution had to be
taken once on the porch to avoid the fallen and collapse of the rotten floor
boards. There was no light coming from its windows.

I
slowly move towards the nearest windows and try to see through it. Nothing
could be seen except thick blackness. I made my next cautious move towards the
main door which was engraved with the number twenty five. I insert the key,
unlock and open the door. 

The
engine was on and running. The biker had remained still for a few minutes while
surveillance had been kept at its height. The predator had seen every move of
its prey. Closing in on the prey was the next step for the biker.

Still
camouflage in darkness the biker kick in the sides stand with the heel of the
cowboy boots. Suspiciously the biker remains camouflage in darkness while
staring at the prey. Making him feel secure and alone was the name of the game.
The biker wanted to know what he was up to.

Without
the main headlight on the biker made a slow approach in the middle of the road,
hidden in thick darkness. The prey disappears from the porch of the house as if
swallowed by darkness. The biker’s bike trail in darkness to minimise the
engine revs as it moves closer to house number twenty five.

One
block away from the house, the nemesis stops the bike and brought the bike to
its sides stand. The biker come off the bike and slowly walks to the house in
search for the prey. Close enough to where he was Lasts seen, underneath the
porch of the house, the biker realised that his disappearance made sense. The
main door of the house was staring at him.

There
was a light. Exceptional rays of light which forms from underneath the crack of
the screens of the window became visible. The nemesis moves closer to
investigate the light.    

I
was in and I was amaze to see that there was no corner blind within the
interior. The door had mysteriously closed by the force. No entity was present
but I came to the conclusion that it had been shut by an unknown source of
wind. I could feel its presence and it seems to have come from inside. There
was also a flickering source of white light.

Outside
I could hear the porch creaked once but stop as I focus on the movements by
staying quiet. There was no time to allow myself to be frozen by panic. My legs
had become heavy but I have gone too far to let go of the truth. The old man
had promise me that I shall find the truth through the envelope. There was no
turning back. 

The
room I was in was empty. I went for the white light which was in another empty
room across. I made a few steps to the door that lead to it on my left. I took
in fresh air, exhale, relax my body and conquer my fear for what awaits for me
on the other side. I walk in the room which were filled with the mysterious
flickering white lights.

Unstable
flickering white lights were dashing in every direction from within the room.
At its core there was a glowing oval shape machine. What appears to be the door
was open and I could see its interior.  Baffle and aghast I remain still.

Then
the hair on my skin stand up as tingling sensation runs underneath my skin. I
look at the unusual machine and I felt compel to seek for the truth. The
extreme desires to give it a try. I hide my fears of worries and head for it.

‘Do
not be afraid,’ an electronic voice from the machine spoke out.

I
could not dispute over the burning desire I had for the facts which was beyond
it. I try to relax and seek for answers, ‘Who are you?’

‘Your
guardian….’

‘Why
can’t I see you?’

‘I’m
the Artificial Intelligent you help created.’

‘I
have no recollection of such creation.’

‘It’s
not the place to talk about it but once you’re on the other side of the fourth
dimension I promise that you shall receive answers to all your queries.’

Confused
I try to control my nerves and stay mute for a while. The unexplained source of
weightlessness slowly descends my body towards the opening of the machine. As I
approach the machine I could see blue laminating light fills its
interior.  The non-natural lightening flickers at each adjustment of my
body through the door.

Once
inside the electronic voice says courteously, ‘Please sit down. Try to remain
calm and enjoy the ride.’ 

The
door of the machine starts to close and I nervously ask, ‘Where are we going?’

‘Into
another world….’

‘Which
world is that?’

‘Your
world Mr Smith….’

‘…but
my world is here.’

‘I
am referring to neither your present nor your past.’

‘Then
you must be referring to my future.’

I
receive no answer. The little window on the door gives a perfect view of the
unstable flickering lightening outside the machine. Then it becomes wild as it
agitates faster. The machine’s engine roars to life.

‘Please
try to remain calm. It shall help you through your journey,’ the electronic
voice said.

I
lie back on the pilot chair and try to relax.

‘Ten
seconds before departure,’ the voice from the machine warned.

I
breathed deeply as I try to control and eliminate the fear factor. The
countdown began to decrease and I could hear the announcement at a distance, as
if I was becoming deaf. My mind was focus on the slight abnormal pain which was
attacking my muscles.

‘Five
seconds,’ the voice said at a low distance pitch.

I
could hear my own heart racing. I hold the arm rest firmly as I embrace the
pain which the machine induce through my body. I scream as I become dizzy. The
machine disappears and I could see the effect of the agitated lightening as it
reacts on its invisible body. Immediately it appears back and I found myself
within a visible machine. 

         
‘Two seconds,’ the voice from the machine announced.

The
same visible and invisible effects happen once more. Only this time the
lightening moves faster and the pain became quite bearable. I look at my hands
and they seem to be moving fast as if I couldn’t control it. Every slight movement
I look and feel as if I was moving in a flash.

I
scream my lungs out as my hands and leg starts to disappear. The machine was
out of sight again and I was surrounded by enormous source of light combine by
the powerful source of lightening. I could see myself changing with the surreal
unstable environment. Scary was the right word at that instant.

         
Ahead the source of lightening hit the wall. At its centre it creates and enlarges
a whole which appears black in colour. Then it grows bigger and bigger until I
found myself covered in vast blackness. Stars appear at the edge of the thick
black surrounding.

A
distance away I could see a representation of what we call the galaxy. It
disappears and the vastness of space seems to shrink. Ahead it focuses on a
sole hole which quickly opens up. My surroundings begin to take form as bricks
quickly arrange itself from concrete ground to a man-made feature.

Into
a fascinating and fashionable chronological order, the bricks miraculously
forms an enclose room. My hands and feet slowly become visible. Immediately the
inside of the machine partially appears from the bottom and slowly the rest
starts forming up, as its flickering lightening slows down. Its engine
diminishes its roars until it finally stop. After its completion the door of
the machine slowly slide open on the outside.

Dizziness
had caught up with me through the dilemma. I take in the fresh air, quickly
stand up, made one pace outside the machine and vomit all I had on my chest. I
feel much better but I was in another place, perhaps another world and confuse
I was.