*CH*5*AND SO IT BEGINS*

             "I'm thirsty"

      "You're a ghost, can it." We'd been walking on the road aimlessly for three hours and miss ghost refused to say a word except 'i'm thirsty' , seriously?

      "I'm not a ghost"

      "Well,will you tell me what you are?"

      "Not yet"

      "So when do you plan on telling me?"

      "When the time is right"

      "And when is the time going to be right?"

      "When I decide it is"

      "Is this how you're going to answer my questions?"

      "Well, that depends on the kind of question you're asking"

      "I hate you"

'She gave no response, God I cannot wait till I'm done with this person ,she is so annoying, how does someone offer to help you and decides not to answer your questions'

        "Fine ,do you need water?"

        "I'm actually in the mood for coffee"

     'Well, lucky for her I see a coffee shop right around the corner, I change course and head there, miss ghost, I'm sure is following me'

I walked into the coffee shop, thankfully,it wasn't rush hour, I ordered two extremely creamy coffee with extra sugar, I have a sweet tooth and I quite frankly did not care what miss ghost wanted. I collected my order and walked out of the coffee shop.

        "Miss ghost?"

She takes a cup from my hand and I can't see it anymore.

        "Does everything you touch dematerialize?"

         "No,only if I will it to, I don't like this coffee."

          "I don't care, you certainly don't seem to care about answering my questions."

           "The alley way, it'll look strange if we talk here."

I headed into the alley way besides the coffee shop.

             "Humans are not the only creatures that exist on this planet, there are two other species ,the witches and the vampires , although they all carry the forms of humans,so technically unless you're supernatural,you won't know who is who, vampires rely on scent, witches on aura but some of us both vampires and witches are blessed with the sight, it allows us to see what isn't there, hidden parts of other people, in your case, the birthmark on your forehead which is only visible to me and the few others who have the gift of the sight."

All the while she had been talking ,my mouth was hung wide open, I couldn't believe a word she said.

        "Wait a second, so you're expecting me to believe that there are vampires and witches in existence, you mean those things from fairy tales or rather ,the source of children's nightmares?, especially here in Africa? You're crazy, absolutely crazy."

         "Those things are very much real and yes they are here in Africa too, those things are hunting you down and you know it, you're just afraid to admit that there's much more to the world than you know."

She was right, I was afraid, I was afraid that I'd have to kill something that I didn't understand to honour the vow I made to my family but I knew that whatever had been happening to me was anything but normal, I knew she was right but with all my heart I didn't want to believe her, but then again, I guess I didn't have a choice, they did exist and here in Africa too.

       "So,what are you then?"

       "Nothing, I am nothing."

       "Are you really going to do this again?"

She gave no response, again.

        "What did you mean by 'the birthmark on my forehead?, I never noticed anything like that."

         "As I said before, only those blessed with the sight can see it."

          "What does it look like?"

           "Wrong question."

I rolled my eyes.

           "Just answer it."

            "It is the mark of the crown."

             "Why do I have a crown shaped birthmark on my head?"

              "Because the universe ordained it to be so."

               "Are you seriously messing with me right now, the universe? Even I know you're lying."

                  'She laughed, she actually laughed and it was goofy, kind of like.........that laugher, it......it sounds so ..... familiar?'

Suddenly the walls disappeared and I could see flashes of something or someone, and I could hear it, the laughter and as fast as I was pulled in ,I was pulled back out, I blinked rapidly and let out a breath.

        'what the heck was that? And who is this...this.....person? vampire? witch? conscience? thing?'

          "What are you thinking about?"

           "I'm just wondering what exactly and who you are ,but I can't seem to come up with anything and I would ask you but we both know how that would go, now I want to know, who killed my family, if what you've told me so far is true ,then I assume the killer is a vampire, judging by the purple dots I saw on my brothers neck"

          "It wasn't a vampire that killed your family but I don't know if it was a witch either, I tried but I couldn't pick up anything, what I know for sure is that the killer was still in the house when we left, I can't say where it was hiding or who it was , but it was definitely in that house, I personally was surprised when I saw you come out of the house. I was certain you were dead because an hour after you went in, I couldn't sense anything again, your scent just....just faded completely. The only reason you met me outside your house was because I stayed to honour your family by giving you a one day tribute of silence."

       "What? So how do you explain the purple dots on or rather in my brothers neck?.... because I could see a hole in it"

       "I don't have the answers to that particular question ,I apologise."

I sighed.

     'Don't worry dad, I'll find whoever it was that did this, no matter how long it takes and I will make good on my vow.'

         "One day tribute of silence?"

          "Among the vampires and witches, supernaturals, if you will, when a person dies, you honour them with a one day tribute of silence, meaning, you just stand there, praying for their soul, no breaks, no food, no talking, just absolute silence for a day."

           "So how do you pray if you aren't allowed to talk?"

           "In your mind, you pray in your mind."

            "In that case, how do you know who's praying and who's not?"

             "You don't, you just hope that the sense of unity between the people of a tribe or nation is enough to make someone pray."

              "Do you do the same for bad people?"

                "Yes."

                 "Why?"

                  "Because death is death and a soul is a soul, the grave does not know the difference between bad and good but it keeps the body of all safe, in other words ,it does not matter how a person lived his life when he or she dies, all that matters is that they have a soul and every soul deserves the respect of a proper goodbye."

              'I thought hard about what she said, I never really thought of it that way, perhaps the humans could adopt that because it's humane and that's what we humans are supposed to be.'

           "What's your name miss ghost?"

She gave no response, again, I sighed.

         'Since she isn't going to tell me,I'll give her one because I can't keep calling her miss ghost.'

         "I'll give you a name, how about 'Shadow'."

          "Why Shadow?"

          "Because I can't see you and you're always either behind me or by my side, that I know for a fact."

            "Good observation.......I think the name is...... fitting , considering the situation, so Shadow it is ,for now."

              "So what do we do now."

              "Let's get a car to take us to Ikea City Mall, I have a friend there that owes me a favour."

               "Are you kidding, that's expensive."

                "But you have the money."

                 "Fine."

I walked out of the alley way to look for a cab, I was sure that Shadow was behind me and I smiled to myself.

           'And so it begins.'