THE RETURN

The flash of light showed by his motorcycle headlamp was so bright that it could blind the eyes of beholders. The serene environment vibrated with the creaking sound of the bike; it sped as though it was on a race track towards Lander drive. Night had befell the people of Sylvercroft, it was midnight and the hassling sound of the wind in the village atmosphere, defined the state of its inhabitants. The atmosphere is conducive for rest, calm and cool, unlike the nights when you hear cries, screams, among other uneven experiences in the village. This incidence is happening again after decades of years ago. Is this an omen of hope for the village or the reverse?

"Kum, kum, kum," came the knock on the door. This sound repeated itself three more times, and then a response finally.

"Who should be banging at my door by this late hour? Has he lost it?" Mr. White roared.

"Oh, Baby boy, you must be a strong tender. How could you stay still throughout our journey, you must be brave during the game that defines how your program succeeds; the future," he said, mindless of Mr. White's voice as he drops the baby boy wrapped in blanket on the floor, and swiftly moves away in order to mount his bike.

"Hey, you, how could you be leaving after disturbing my night rest, you didn't even care to have some introduction, and what is this little thing you are leaving? Hey! Hey!" shouted Mr. White. He lamented at the wrong time. The motor bike before him was already speeding some kilometers away from his distance. He imagined, what business can he ever have with a half-animal? The man in question was short; he perfectly defined the shortest dwarf on earth. His skins were hairy, his bare foots clutched onto the pedals of the motor bikes. He dashed into thin air as though he was a shadow.

"Pheew," he made the sound finally and collapsed.

*****

The cry of a baby was odd in the White's family. There was no child in the family and to crown it all, his wife was missing. Luckily, he got companions because he lived with his entire family. It was an extended family house that contained well-furnished, and though countable, but many rooms. The house is without doubts made up on an extensive ground. Its interior and exterior decorations proved the Whites to be wealth accumulators. But, unlikely, the location of the house is discouraging. The building was located in the middle of a large expanse of land, which was found in a lonely area, some kilometers apart, from where public houses were erected. Beholders tagged the surroundings "a private environment."

Meanwhile, Mr. White had laid some hours on the ground before a cough was heard, and then a voice.

"… You should stop behaving like a ninny; you need not to be told that you've been a man. You …" she paused abruptly. This was Nana speaking. She is the immediate younger sister to Mr. White. It was not long after Mr. White's experience with who he termed "half-animal" that Nana had come to find out what has happened. Surprisingly, she saw her brother lying beside a crying baby boy. She had to mellow the baby before she sprinkled water on her brother's face.

"You'd stop toeing my movements," Mr. White interrupted Nana as he struggled to rise. "Has he gone? The animal, I mean the half-animal-like stranger. He dropped it. Is it strange too?" he was shivering as he uttered each word.

"I don't know what you are talking about, and for the baby, I think it's sound and human," she said as she cuddled the baby in her hands. "Here, I think this is for you, I found it lying beside the baby in its blanket," she concluded with a final tone, laid the baby on the sofa in the sitting room and displaced from her position to her room.

"… What could be inscribed in this old thing," he soliloquized as he gradually unfolds the envelope in order to reveal its content. It was a letter to Mr. White. This threw him into more confusion. "… Strange," he found himself saying at last. However, he further revealed the contents of the letter and it read:

Dear Honey,

I am sorry for the hurt I must've caused you and Mama. Extend my regards to her.

It all started that night I left on my own to gain myself some time after my encounter with Nana. On my way, I saw some creatures trying to shore an oak, on first sight, I thought they were humans. Unknowingly to me, I was surrendering my life to a set of Lycans. They were brutal.

Thanks to this set of Urnals. They rescued me. They helped me to deliver our baby, and have taken care of me from that night I vanished. My condition at this moment is worst, I might not survive it. I just want you to know that I was writing this letter on a sick bed.

Please take care of our son.

 I LOVE YOU.

Yours in love forever,

Mrs. White

At this point, a droplet of liquid substance, his tears, fell on the paper, on the very point where "I LOVE YOU" was inscribed. He was lost in thought. "How should he go about it? Who are the Lycans? What of the Urnals?" All these questions and lot more hovered in his memory like flying birds looking for perches. He looked at the floor to see what dropped. It was another letter. This time around, this letter contained two addresses on its surface, the addresses of both the writer and the recipient. The front cover read thus:

 To: Mr. White and Family, From: Holpolloi School of Urnals,

 Lander Drive,  Westwood coast,

  Sylvercroft. Eldoria.

He vomited a laughter that was caused by an unknown force. He thought to himself, "Urnals, writing to me? They must be very strange," he thought concludingly as he unraveled the idea concealed in the latter letter. The school has made special invitation to the baby boy. The baby was to continue its upper grade in the school after attending any elementary school of his choice. The letter was personally ascribed to Mr. White and it reads:

 Mr. Ruben White,

 This is to inform you that your son has already being admitted into our school of Urnals. He might not start at an early age but an admission letter will be sent when he is due.

 We will also like to inform you that his name will be TRISTAN since, according to your wife before her last breath, we were instructed to call him by that name. The boy's safety is our pleasure.

 Please, take good care of him.

Signed: Management

After reading this letter, he began crying. His wife is no more. What surprised Mama was that her son was crying like a baby which lay on the sofa beside him, where he sat. She, therefore, inquired to hear from Ruben, the father to Tristan.

Mama was a widow. She was actually from a rich family. Her story, according to her, is nothing to write home about. Well, as she has collected the pieces of writing from her son, she engulfed what each of them contained into her memory and unsurprisingly to Ruben; she was not moved by the news in the letter. She only uttered, "May her gentle soul rest in peace." Mrs. White and Mama were more like sisters than in-laws. Even to the fact that Mama was more of age when compare to Mrs. White. Mama then turns to make her way to wherever-concerns-her and her son stopped her pace.

"Mum, I'm sorry. I lost her. I couldn't protect her," he said in tears as he also knows that, though Mama is not sympathetic, she is very emotional.

Mama, after listening to the son, returned to the couch and carried her grandson in her arms. She signaled the housekeepers instructively to go and dress a room where her grandson will be occupying. She, however, asked her son to go and take some rest, since he is down. Mr. White retired to his room and decided to open his windows for ventilation. The rays of bright day pierced through indicating that it was already morning. He glanced at his wall clock at the top side of his wardrobe and discovered it was 8:00am.

"Have I been awake … Wait, I was …" he didn't complete his statement as he slumped on his soft comfortable bed and then said, "I am tired." It's true that Mr. Ruben White was a family man, with desirable features; facial appearance, body structure, among others, yet, he still behaved childish, like pre-mature. Although, Nana has always criticized him with this single behavior of his, he was still loved by many. Even though he behaved pre-mature, he thinks wisely and carries out serious matters with maturity.

There was a knock on the door. The knock came several times on the door of Mr. White but there came no response. He was already fast asleep. Since it was Saturday, a day scheduled for enough rest, he was not disturbed even if he had to sleep till the dark embraces the day with it colour. The person at the door peeped through a small hole on his door, and saw that the recipient was already in another world; peaceful one for that matter. The holes were such that only the black spot, the iris of the eye can view through it. It was his younger sister, Nana. She formed it a routine to wake her brother whenever she wakes before him. This is always an avenue for the young lady to criticize her elder brother. Unfortunately, she got no response and decided to retire to her own room.

*****

"Mama, did you read that letter?" Nana asked, hoping to get a response. There was no response. Soon, Ruben was seen climbing down the stairs, adjusting his suit on his body.

"Nana, could you help me adjust my tie to fit my neck, I want to go for an important business meeting," he said, viewing himself from the standing mirror placed at the centre of the sitting room very close to the wall. "Mum, what of Tristan, has he been up?" Ruben said almost immediately and in readiness to leave the house.

"Oh, yeah, Nnenna is taking care of him. I think she must've washed him up," Mama replied.

Nnenna? She is one of the housekeepers in the White's house, though a Black. She happened to be employed through the connection between Late Mrs. Jane White, Ruben's wife and her cousin, who worked in the same workplace as Jane. Nnenna has a role to play in Tristan's life.

The door opened, "On my way home, I will have to find a school for Tristan, he should be there to pass time in the day," Ruben said while on his way to the door.

"Ruben, don't you think he's not due for school. Is it for the reason of care, he will find lots of it in this house. Besides, I'm always home with Nana, and we have the housekeepers too. I don't think we should enroll him yet," finalized Mama, as Ruben bangs the door behind him and leaves.

The decision was finalized by Mama, since Ruben always takes heed to his mother's words.

There was a burst of laughter, it was Nana. "Was he trying to prove that he is now a man, but it seems he is still controlled," Nana said and afterwards turned to Mama. "It seems I'm not counted a member of this family, since I'm not allowed to understand what's happening. I asked earlier, what the letter sent to my brother contained and you ignored me. If I am part of the family, inform me now than later so that I can find where I belong." Nana said, out of anger.

Mama just moped at her daughter as she talked and then, pointed to the couch in front of her and left the place. She was heading to Tristan's room.

Nana moved closer to the couch, saw two letters and opened them to read. After reading the letters, she found herself uttering, "I will avenge her death."

Mama gave birth to two children before her husband's death. Nana, who is the only daughter and last child attended the same high school with Jane, Ruben's wife. Fortunately, Jane was one among Nana's friends then in school, and that was how Nana's brother picked interest in Jane. Amongst all, she was ranked most beautiful, though confident but had character. It was after the endowment of Ruben's marriage with Jane that Nana suddenly developed hatred for her. Nobody, even her closest friends could explain her reasons as she made known her reasons to no one. Now, she wants to avenge the death of an enemy. Shocking, isn't it? Well, let's continue to read and assimilate.

"Tristan," Mama called as she carried the baby in her hands. "…What?" she asked while following the direction of the boy's hand with her eyes. She looked at the window and noticed a flash movement, she shivered. She laid the boy on the bed and went forward to the window to close it. "I must be hallucinating, this is daytime so I can't be seeing a shadow," she found herself saying at the same time as she closed the windows. On turning backwards, she found the baby laughing. At first, she thought the baby laughed to her but realized its eyes were still fixed at the window as it laughed. Shocked at the moment, she invited Nnenna who had excused Mama and baby to continue her job of taking care of the baby as she dashed out of the room hurriedly.

"What does it mean," Nnenna asked herself. She was not present during Mama's earlier experience, but she had noticed the day suddenly become dark and bright at once. "Could it be that they have returned, or…," she muttered the question to the air as she was the only one who could speak in the room. She turned and looked at Tristan who was silent, and screamed. His eyes turned black and went back to normal at once.

"…the Lycans have returned, but what does the baby has to do with them," she said.