Chapter 281

He couldn’t believe it, he knew of the fact that he couldn’t take such a terrible hit now he felt like a puppet being played. It seems the old man wanted him to make this move. Finally after running for few minutes Sammy decided to stop so he could catch his breathe. He was panting heavily all thanks to exhaustion. “Old man this isn’t funny. What’s happening now? Are we playing the game of hide and seek?” he said trying to catch his breath.

“I was about telling you my next weakness; it’s all about losing my control on other people’s weaknesses”

(Speechless) “How is that a weakness? Grandpa where am I now?”

“I had told you this is my formation didn’t i? If you can find your way back to the house, then I would commence your training as soon as possible. Don’t bother using your powers here, it’s ineffective. It seems you have been in the human world for centuries and you are beginning to act as one, I think that would come in handy now because here in my world even the gravity is a bit too hard. Make it in time for dinner, don’t be late!” Sammy heard the old man’s force echoing throughout the forest. “Damn it, this is torture” Sammy said stomping his feet on the ground. It seems like an adventure to him but the only difference its that the old man was the one dictating the fun. Bringing out his cellphone there wasn’t any signal, the sun was scorching hot and it was begining to irritate his skin. Now a good compass would be of help now since he couldn’t use his power and he didn't know where he was at currently. Tye right way if saying it is that he was lost and only the compass could give him directions. 

Sammy had been to many camp trips in desolate places with his elder brother and he had survived it all, there were many tricks he learnt from his brother. Moving up the tree, he plugged out a broad leave from the tree, after that since there wasn’t any moisture, it seems there had to be a stream close by. All he needed was to find a flying bird; it would lead him right to the stream. Luckily for him he was fortunate because he saw a tiny bird in the sky and immediately followed it, birds are natural creatures they would always reside where there is a constant water supply and based on his hunch he was right, it lead him right to the stream.

Based on the old man’s formation it wasn’t breakable, he had a circle printed in his mind, so to avoid walking the same path a thousand times it was better he made a local compass. This would help guide his path and help avoid so many stress of having to mark a spot over and over again. Bending down closer to the stream he dipped his hands into the water and fetched a little using the closed fingers system,it was as good as a cup. Having just enough, he poured it on the fresh leaf he had plugged earlier. There is one vital information when one is stuck in an unknown place or a formation and this is ‘do not eat or drink carelessly” this is the only way to stay alive and if you need a drink so badly, make sure you get or see a living animal drink from the stream or the source of water available and after that has been done wait for half an hour, if the animal still looks healthy you can go ahead with a drink. It would be a shame if you are trying so hard to surface and you ended up dying of food or water poisoning.

Now what he needed as the last ingredient for the local compass is a needle, using a leaf and a needle would do the trick but Sammy prefers using a leaf, drops of water and a needle. That’s was because when there is a movement in the wind, the water is resonated in waves and the needle would give the direction whether the wind is moving to the North, South, West or the East. Suddenly, Sammy remembered something so he immediately dips his hands into his pocket. He had recalled earlier during breakfast he got some meats stuck to his teeth while eating, in the process he took a toothpick and was playing around with it. All he remembers was that he had placed it into his pocket, since the act was beginning to irritate the old man. Since he had no needle the only alternative was to use the tooth pick.

(Laughs) “You don’t know how happy I am to find you still sitting there. It’s seemed you saw this coming so you got the meat stuck in my teeth for a reason. Let’s show that old man what we are made of” Sammy said with a warm smile. Holding the toothpick he placed it into the water on the leaf. (Sigh) “I hope you work, now let’s wait for the wind “

Placing the toothpick on the leaf, it began to give directions as the wind blew. There was a saying which goes like this “The wind always has a place to go and when it moves quickly, it has a house in mind it wants to pay a visit to’ and just like that his local compass was more effective than he had imagined after an hour of walking, he found himself in front of a building and he immediately got in. it had been chilly outside, so the warmness in the room made him feel more comfortable.

“I never expected you to be back so soon, it’s barely four hours and you have already found your way back”

(Smirks) “Sorry to disappoint you but I have a hard core to survive I am not as weak as you think, if i had my powers I am sure I would have made if back in seconds. “

“Why didn’t you use your powers then? You would have saved yourself the trouble” They old man said chopping some onions, it seems he was really preparing dinner, Sammy was indeed very surprise he never knew the old man knew how to cook. Though he had heard such stories from his father but he couldn’t believe it. How could such a heartless and cold man know how to cook?

(Speechless) “Because you already told me that my power won’t work here” Sammy said glaring at him

“Umm, I remember saying your powers are ineffective here not useless "

(Speechless) "What are you trying to say Old man?" Sammy said looking very confused, he didn't understand a thing what was the difference between something beimg ineffective and it being useless?

"Did you try using it and it didn’t work?” he asked

“No I didn’t”

“Why?’

“Because I trust your words and you had no reason to lie to me. Based on how cruel you are I am sure you would make my powers useless here after all it was your own world” Sammy said looking at the old man who had an apron around his neck, this time he was chopping the beef to pieces (sigh)”Putting your trust on the same man who locked you up in the formation? That doesn’t sound wise to me”

“You mean my powers were active this whole time?’ he said with his eyes widely open. If that was the case then he was the stupid one, he just stressed his butt for nothing.

“How would I know? You never tried it, so we can’t tell” this was the reply he got from the old man.

"I have a question for you, did I offend you in my past life? "

"No you didn't, you were very nice to me" 

"What! I had a past life?" Sammy said sounding very surprised

"I thought you recalled your pass life that was why you were asking me those questions?"

"It's just a normal question, I never knew I had a past life before this one. So what was I like?" He said sounding Curious.

"You were still my grandson" The old man replied

"What an ill luck" Sammy said sounding very displeased, this wasn't want he wanted to hear.

"Too bad for you, you would always be my grandson in whatever life form"

"So being your grandson then did I successfully stab you with a knife when you were asleep?"

"You did"

"You must be bluffing"

"Why did you think I am always trying to kill you then? I want to make up for the past" he said sounding very serious.

"Really? (Smiles) At least I got a chance to kill you that's a good thing. I am sure you were terrible, cold and heartless" He said happily

(Laughing) "Sammy dear, your grandfather is just pulling your legs, if there's anyone who has a past life it's him. Go freshen up and come eat dinner" Lily said patting him on the shoulders.

"Grandma, I didn't know you know where we are"

"I sure do, when I got married to your grandfather I barely understood a thing. For weeks your grandfather would disappear and come into his private space. I was just an ordinary human with no skills so I had no choice than to always wait for him, I didn't even know where he was off to. But he would tell me this 'No matter how long it takes, I would always find my way back to you' so I got use to it and I would wait for him. After I conceived your father there was a lot of changed in me, I developed a very high amount of strength, a sharper and clearer sight and my hearing was extremely good. It was so good that I could even hear the footsteps of an ant and voices from miles away. At firstt it had a way of interrupting with my sleep that was because I could hear everything even when I am asleep. With my permission your grandfather left again, he said he wanted to create some special ear lobes so I wouldn't have difficulty sleeping. Three days came and passed and he was no where to be found, guess what happened?"

"What happened grandma?" 

"I got so fedup about the whole thing, so I closed my eyes and focused on my surroundings and before I knew it I found myself here. You need to have seen the look on your grandfather's face, he almost had a heart attack for my sake, it was more like a panic attack, he couldn't believe it himself " Lily said Laughing, the memories were still very fresh. "And from that day onwards he didn't hide a thing from me, we spent just two days here and the world were already so tensed, my family were so disturbed they were thinking we were kidnapped because it was already 3 weeks and they couldn't find a trace. (Sigh) I had to think of something reasonable to tell them, finally they let go" Lily said with a warm smile, now the same family she had was now gone, she was now alone in the world.

"Grandma, you ain't along in this world and you know that, we would always be here for you. I would like to give you a hug but my body stinks" Sammy said sounding very helpless. A good bath would do him a lot of good, he was sweating profusely from all the stress and he was mentally depressed he wished he had tried using his skills. He wouldn't have acted like Mowgli in the jungle. 

All he did was to waste his energy,his time, strength and his brains also ran out of battery. He suddenly felt like hugging his elder brother and maybe cry in his arms. Because whenever he shed a tear in his brother's arms, his tears to him wasn't weakness but now if he did shed a tear, the old man might shot him on the head. Just because he looked weak and acted weak Infront of the old man it almost cost him his life. Gathering himself together, he walked up the stairs but suddenly it turned on him that this wasn't the old mansion and he had no room here. So where the hell was he going to take a shower? And he walked confidently up the stairs like he knew where he was heading. Seeing him stopped , Lily moved closer to the stairs case "Darling is anything the matter?"

(Looking confused) "Grandma this isn't the palace, I was about to go take a shower" he replied

"Don't worry darling, it's the same blueprint as the mansion. Your room is located in the same place" Lily explained with a smile.

"Owh, okay" Sammy said heading upstairs just as she said the blueprint was exactly the same. So confidently he walked into the room he was dumbstruck to see that it was exactly like his room in the mansion. To settle all doubt and his curiousity, he walks up to the wardrobe and to his surprise it was filled with his own clothes. It seems like they hadn't moved at all, he couldn't bring a reasonable explanation so as to satisfy his conscience. But he had recalled the old man's statement 'you can design it however you want to your own taste' so it seems the old man designed it to his own taste but how could it explain the clothed in the wardrobe? So confusing, he could as well ask them this question when he gets down for dinner. He immediately got in to the shower, he didn't have difficulty finding anything because the were already in place and he was very familiar with his old room which was the same thing as his new one. 

After taking a nice shower, he got busy searching through the wardrobe for something very nice he could put on. Let's say he was looking for something more cute and adorable. "This would do the trick" Sammy said picking up a total blue jeans and a yellow polo shirt. This attire gave off his youthful age and have him the adorable look he was looking for. After the dress code has been settled it was now time for the hair styling, moving to the mirror he placed some gel on his long soft hair using a little comb, he got a fascinating design done. Spraying some perfume he heads downstairs for dinner, by this time the old man was already done cooking.

"Sammy Darling, come sit close to grandma" Lily said looking at the adorable young man Infront of her. Sammy looked up to see the old man's reaction but he got nothing and this made him heave a sigh of relief. As obedient as he was, he sat beside her as instructed. "Grandma, my room here is the same as the one over at the place. How come?" He couldn't help but ask, it was rude of him to ask such a question when they were about to have dinner but he couldn't help it.

"Only your grandfather has an answer to that and with time I am sure you would also understand. Let's have dinner before it gets too cold. It's been long I tasted this old man dishes. You should eat too, the old man rarely allows anybody eat the meal he cooks, he's stingy."