16 Ichi

The sun came out as bright as ever. The sun rays became spears of a soldier and it started stabbing John in the face. The sun rays peered through his eyes and woke him up. He partially opened his eyes and then turned around. Before he went back to sleep he opened his eyes slightly again. He felt something staring at him and opened his eyes fully.

It was a horrific scene. Two big round eyes were looking at him close to his face. The eyes were looking curving out of the face. Its face was round and furry. It looked like a monster. John became scared and he jumped off the bed. He fell down on the floor and looked at the bed. But he saw nothing. Suddenly he felt something standing behind him. He turned around and saw Natasha was standing there.

John felt relieved. Still he looked at the bed but saw nothing. He said,

"Don't scare me like that Nat."

Natasha started laughing. She said,

"It wasn't me. I didn't do anything."

John was shocked to hear that. If it wasn't Nat then what was it? He looked at his bed. But there was nothing. His heart was beating so fast but he felt something odd because Natasha was still laughing.

He got up and stood straight. He wanted to be strong in front of Natasha. He walked towards the bed and stared at it. He looked at Natasha and she was laughing. He took the blanket and pulled it out .

Suddenly he became shocked to see what was on his bed and he closed his eyes. He looked at it again. It was just the lemur he brought yesterday.

He exhaled heavily. He looked at the lemur and said,

"You scared me, you little rascal. I almost had a heart attack."

The lemur was looking at him curiously. It was standing on two feets and its hands were holding up. He felt sad because John scolded him. The lemur's face was expressing its feelings. It was almost like it understood everything.

Natasha laughed loudly. She said,

"I've been trying to make you scared for years. I tried all the scary faces and yet you just became scared of a cute face like that."

She came closer to the lemur and put her hand on its head. The lemur was happy and it started making sounds like a cat. The lemur liked Natasha and John noticed that. He sat on the chair beside his study table. He picked a pen and started rotating it through his fingers.

John remembered yesterday. He said bye to Donna and came back. Thinking about Donna made his face red. But he concentrated. Yesterday he brought the lemur back here. It seemed like it was somehow special.

But that is not the problem. The problem is the things the ghost and poachers said. Both of the ghost's said someone is manipulating me. Also they said someone will betray me. The poachers said I'm the one. What do they mean 'the one'?.

While he was in deep thinking. Natasha and the lemur were playing together and they had so much fun. Natasha looked at John while holding the lemur. She asked,

" June, can we keep him? He's so cute and so friendly."

John looked at Natasha and then he looked at the lemur. He was sitting on the chair and got up, walked towards the bed and sat on it. Natasha put the lemur down. It looked like it was a little afraid of John. John showed his hands towards the lemur like he wanted to touch it. It took a few steps back and moved closer to Natasha. John took his time to let the lemur come to him. Natasha showed the lemur to touch John.

It looked scared but slowly it started coming towards him. The lemur walked on four of its legs and came towards John in suspicion. First it smelled his hands. That time John looked at Natasha. She smiled at him and whispered to him not to move. John was sitting there like a statue. The lemur grabbed his hands and started checking it. Within seconds the checking changed into playing with it. And in some minutes they both become close friends.

John laughed and said,

"I think we will keep him till we decide what to do with him. Besides, it's not safe for him to go out there. The poachers might come back."

Natasha agreed to John. She looked at the lemur. and asked,

"What will we call him then?"

John started thinking for a long time and he looked at the lemur with a mischievous smile. He said,

"Ichi. We will call him Ichi."

After saying that he looked at Natasha. She was looking at him with a disappointed face. She said,

"You thought for all this time and got this. Ichi, is that the best you can come up with?"

She looked at him and he was smiling. So Natasha and John fixed that name.

John didn't know what to feed him so he went to the kitchen to get some milk and any fruits he could find. On the way he saw the children getting ready for the morning exercises. Right after that they will take a bath and then it's time for breakfast. After breakfast the classes will begin. The priests and the abbess are the teachers of the kids in the orphanage.

He reached the stairs and saw the cleaning lady. He said,

"Good morning aunty. It looks like another pleasant day."

She was busy cleaning but she recognised his voice. She said,

"John…! Good morning to you too. Yeah you are right, it's a pleasant day indeed. So Tell me John. How is your pet doing?"

John was surprised. When did she see I brought the lemur? He asked,

"When did you see that aunty?"

She smiled and said,

"I see everything happening inside this church, my child."

She laughed. John smiled and he walked towards the kitchen. He picked some berrys and a glass of milk. He thought of buying a pet-bed for the lemur. He gave the milk and berries to the lemur. It snatched the berries from John's hand and ate it. But it looked at the milk in suspicion. John took a plate and put the milk into it. Then he put it in front of the lemur.

The lemur acted like it had never seen milk before. It first smelled the milk, then he licked it. That time the lemur's face became wider like it loved it. I started drinking it. John and Natasha watched it. It was a joyful sight to see.

That time John heard a knock on the door. Je walked towards it and opened it. It was Fr. Michael. He was having a smirk on his face. He said,

"John. The senior asked for the report. And he told me to remind you that you should give the report by the evening. It's not like everyday someone has to come here and ask for it."

In reality Fr. Andrewson didn't ask Fr. Michael said something like that but he said it to make John feel bad. But John knew Fr. Michael said something like this. So he said he will come quickly.

After submitting the report John decided to go and buy some things for the lemur. He told Natasha to keep a watch over him.

He went out to the city in his vehicle. For some reason he felt like something was dragging him towards some other direction. John decided to follow it. On the way he saw some people removing a dead body of a cow which looked not too old. He felt it's a bad sign.

He stopped his vehicle in front of a house which looked like a haunted one. It was very old and almost ready to fall down. He got out of the vehicle and moved towards the house. Suddenly something came on his shoulder. John looked back. It was some older guy. He looked like a giant. He asked,

"Boy. Who are you and why are you going towards the house?"

John looked at the guy and showed him the card. The guy didn't know what it was but he understood that John is a priest in training and an exorcist. John asked the guy about the house. The guy said,

"My name is Ben. I'm the caretaker of this house. The people who lived in this house were farmers. They came from a faraway place to find a job. They lived only for a year in this house. Almost everyone died in one night and their bodies were found from the well behind the house…"

John was shocked to hear that. He looked at the house. It's not unbelievable to think of a house like this as a haunted one. But how did they all die in one night? And what really killed them? If the bodies are found in the well, why is this house said to be haunted? A lot of questions came to his mind.

While all this was happening the black and white fur cat was sitting inside the house.

It watched John and waited there for him to do something…