IV. ... begining...

Von Rooyen Mansion, Ozuoba...

18:16

Mansions are said to be worth a lot, and Cecilia's is definitely worth a oot. The Von Rooyen Mansion is one of the most luxurious with an approximate worth of 4 million dollars on just the front view.

Her father was arguably one of the most accomplished archeologists and historians that ever lived with assets worth billions of dollars all over the world. According to Cecilia, he had built the Mansion based on findings about a certain myth.

"...yo, buzz brain," James' voice brought Max to the here and now as the machinery groan of the garage door automatically closing filled the garage space.

"We are here. Now shake off your weirdness, and bring back the Max I love," James said as he opened the passenger door; prompting Max to get down.

"If I'm having a Friday night indoors, I want to have it in style not in weirdness," James said, closing the passenger door behind Max. He led the way out of the garage through an adjourning door to the side.

Max sighed. Although he no longer has the feeling of death pestering his mood, guilt is another story.

Throughout the drive to Cecilia's Mansion, Max had been awfully quiet despite all of James' attempts to make conversation. And it's all because of the irrational sense of guilt that lingers in him.

Guilt of what? He has no idea. It's like feeling an annoying itch and having no idea where it's sourced from.

Max felt a slight jab in his arm as he walked through the waiting room and entered the hallway that connects to all other parts of the Mansion.

"This is all about that weird Ring, isn't it?" Max frowned at James' assumption as the pair walked side by side.

"I..." Max sighed.

Now thinking about it, it would make sense if his weird emotions were connected to the Ring.

"Come on, Max," James groaned in mock frustration, "talk to me."

"You know I be your pesin, ba?" James said in the indigenous Pidgin English as he playfully jabbed Max again.

Max smiled but was still gloomy.

"Mark? Is that you, Mark?" James and Max turned around to see Nana, an Irish woman in her seventies and also Cecilia's caretaker, walk out of the arched passageway that leads to the Main room.

"Yo Nana," James said cheerfully, walking back to hug the elderly caretaker.

"Where are your glasses? You shouldn't walk around without your glasses." He said.

"Ah, I forgot where I put them. How are you, James? Is that Mark with you?" Nana said, squinting at Max with a funny expression.

Max laughed;

"It's just me, Nana," Max said, taking off his hoodie so she would easily recognize his red hair.

"Oh, Max my good boy," Nana laughed at her mistake. "If you boys are here to see Cece, she went to the gym just now."

"Did you see Mark?" She asked as an afterthought as the boys turned to leave.

"I will find him for you, Nana, go and make some cookies," James called back as he and Max proceeded down the hallway.

The pair branched at the end of the hallway. They got to the gym to see Cecilia in a white gym bra sparing in a boxing ring with a black guy in his forties; literally twice her size and age.

Mark is the head of the 5 man-security team that guards the Mansion, and also Cecilia's combat trainer. But by the looks of the hits he is enduring from Cecilia, he had done his job well.

"Hey," James whispered to Max with a mischievous grin on his face. "Check this out."

Max rolled his eyes as he watched James sneak up behind Cecilia who was effortlessly dodging Mark's advances and landing a punch or two on his sides.

Cecilia sidestepped an advance just in time for James to get close to her;

"Alakah-BAM!" James yelled with a sudden burst that left Max smiling and Cecilia startled.

She lost her pace and Mark quickly took advantage. He landed a heavy blow to her face and brought another in quick succession for her nose.

Cecilia brought her hands up to block the blow but Mark didn't relent. He lashed out a series of punches and kicks with deadly speed and viciousness. Backing Cecilia into a corner of the ring as she hid behind her hands under his intense attacks.

Max counted five seconds and on the sixth, Cecilia suddenly ran into Mark without caring for his heavy blows. The sudden change threw Mark off point. Cecilia didn't stop, she pushed him back and hooked her right foot between his legs.

Mark lost balance and before anyone could blink, Cecilia grabbed his forearm, shifted into a Judo stance, and fluidly threw Mark to the floor. She isn't done; without relenting she raises her fist with tight muscles and lands a perfect punch on the floor just beside Mark's eye.

"Holy freaking candy," James laughed, clapping with excitement. "You are one hell of a rockstar, Cecil. Such magnificence."

"Sometimes I forget just how much better you have gotten," Mark groaned with heavy breaths, picking himself up as James continued to rain praises on Cecilia's skills.

Max chuckled slightly watching Cecilia stand still, panting and trying to keep a straight face. It was obvious that she couldn't bring herself to decide whether she should be angry at James' intrusion or smile as he showered her praises.

She decided to just ignore him;

"Max, what's up?" Cecilia said as Mark walked over to take off his MMA gloves and pick up a towel.

"You up for a match?" She asked with a sly smile.

Max shrugged and smiled in response; "nah Cecil, I like my face thanks."

"Don't worry, she won't destroy your face," Mark said with a laugh as he walked over to Max with a funny walk step that says his sides hurt.

"She will destroy your ribs."

"She is a robot," James said with a laugh, "she is like programmed to get out of any pickle you put her in."

"Oh shut up James," Cecilia said with a laugh, and the pair launched into another verbal war sparsed with laughs and giggles.

"Are you alright, Max?" Mark said, patting Max's shoulder. "You look...unlike yourself."

"Just having a weird day," Max smiled. "And you should have taken a step back after the fourth second."

Marked paused for a second before chuckling;

"Yeah, she is a very adaptive fighter. Well, looks like she is all yours to handle until she feels like beating me up again," Mark said and turned to leave.

"Nana is looking for you, she should be in the kitchen," Max called after Mark and all he did was nod as he disappeared out the door.

Max turned his attention back to James and Cecilia;

"...I am not that stupid, if I want to get beat up I will spar with Mark," James said with a laugh.

"Come on, it won't hurt," Cecilia whined, hugging her chest and making her cute face as she rocked her muscle-tight hourglass body left and right, showing off her tight tummy.

"If you get just one hit, clean or not, deceitful or not, I will go on a date with you." James' eyes widened.

"Don't take the bait James," Max warned in a singsong tone.

"Nah nah, "James licked his lips, "one hit right?"

He threw off his head warmer and took off his sweatshirt leaving him clad in a white singlet. He rushed to pick up MMA standard gloves from the locker on the far side and hopped into the ring.

"All bets are off, right?" Cecilia smiled and gestured for him to attack.

"Just one hit," James repeated.

'He is going to get beat.' Max thought as James threw the first jab which Cecilia dodged flawlessly.

The two rounded each other as though the fight would determine the fate of the world even though one does not need a crystal ball to know the outcome of the match.

Cecilia has been training in self-defense since she was six. Then her father died and she lost her mother's attention then she started training with professional fighters in MMA, Karate, and Taekwondo. Sometimes she dabbles in Judo and wrestling.

Unlike James who has only five years of judo-sparing experience, Cecilia had fought in state tournaments and against national professionals in all forms of her expertise.

When getting numerous trophies was not enough to get her mother's attention, Cecilia ran away and joined an illegal fight ring where all bets were off, and she stood undefeated half the time until the ring was busted.

Will James get bloody tonight? That depends on how much Cecilia likes him.

"Come on Ceci, I am smart enough to know that all my attacks will be used against me," James said after a minute of circling each other.

"Very well," Cecilia said and immediately followed through with a seven-eight left and right swift combo that left James retreating.

She came at him with a kick; James dodged, she tried a punch that left all her right side open. James saw the opening, but he knew it was a trap. So he opted to catch her left arm and swiftly shift his body to do the same Judo trick she used on Mark.

But Cecilia saw it coming.

As James threw her over his shoulder, expecting her to land flat on the ground. She landed on her feet with the agility of a cat.

She shifted her wrist out of James' hold and in the same bit grabbed his forearm and lifted him clean off the ground like a wrestler.

And before James could wiggle himself free, she threw him over the ring and onto the tiled floor with a groan.

"That's for distracting me!" She yelled at the whining James on the floor.

"Seriously dude, it is like you grow insensibly stupid whenever she makes that face," Max said with a laugh, walking towards James who was trying to pick himself up.

"How could you even imagine hitting her before you are dead?" He said and playfully smacked James in the back of his head.

"At least you seem like your normal self now. So I guess you owe me." James said as he took a seat on the ring steps massaging his head.

"Yeah, if you dare go all weird again I swear you and I will have a reckoning match," Cecilia said, taking a seat on the ring step with one arm on James' shoulder.

"Hey hey hey, you don't get to touch me after throwing me like a rag," James said with a frown shifting his shoulder away from under Cecilia's arm.

"Shut up James, you barely weigh a hundred and eighty. I lifted Mark once, and he weighs almost 220." Cecilia playfully jabbed his shoulder as she took off her gloves and unwind the strip clothes.

"Besides, Max smiled when you tried to throw me."

"You dog." James laughed.

The three joked around for a minute or two and the whole time Max felt relieved. For the first time since the training grounds, the fear of death and the anxiety and irrational guilt are forgotten, not gone, forgotten.

Through the ride to Cecilia's mansion, the feeling of extreme guilt had found its root in his heart.

"So are you not going to tell us what's rubbing you?" Cecilia asked as she jumped on his back and ordered him to carry her upstairs with James in tow.

"You know I can just tell your dad right?"

"Oh Cecilia, thanks for reminding me I have a dumbass with weird hair," James said mimicking Max's father's unimpressed tone.

''Uncle won't do anything about it. So you better tell us or I'm hiding your credit card."

"Alright alright guys, geez you pester much." Max laughed, straining to carry Cecilia up the second flight of stairs. "I think someone is dead because of me."

They reached the first floor and Cecilia came off Max and turned to face him, holding his cheeks like a lover; "what are you talking about, sweetie?"

"Max, I know you don't talk about it at all, but that is not how it works," James said with something that looked like a forced serious face.

"There is nothing you could have done," James said, referring to Max's unadmitted guilt over his mother's death.

Although he is wrong about who the guilt is about, Max smiles at James' intuition.

"It's not that," Max said releasing himself from Cecilia's hands and walking deeper into the private parlor. He slouched on the couch facing the 60' QLED television showing a muted news channel.

"It's...it's weird."

"Dude," James laughed as he walked to the minibar to fetch a canned drink from the fridge.

"After last night's Lord of the Rings/Green Lantern stuff, nothing is weird." He said before taking a sip.

"That's right," Cecilia said moving to sit beside Max and ruffling his hair. He sighed;

"Hey, it's true. We won't judge you." She said with a reassuring smile.

"Except for deciding to turn Friday night out into a gloomy night in, I still love you, bruh," James said, moving to sit on the backrest of the couch Max sat on.

Max smiled, feeling encouraged;

"It's, I think it has something to do with the Ring that fell." Max paused, looking down at his shoes as he relived the depressing feeling of death.

"It started as anxiety and worked its way to paranoia. But by the time training was in full swing, I could literally feel someone was about to die. By the time I got home, I felt the exact second when they died. Ever since I have been feeling irrationally guilty."

"Urr..." James opened his mouth but couldn't form words.

"Max, we promised to solve the mystery of this Ring together. But all we know is that it's not a normal ring. So we should start asking some questions, right?" Cecilia blinked as she tried to formulate the perfect thing to say off the top of her head.

Even she is not sure she understands what she is trying to achieve. But Max got it.

"I get it, Cecil," Max laughed, "it's just such a weird feeling."

"Can we help make it better?" She asked, unsure if there was a way to make it better.

"Urr!" James said again.

"We could go check it out, I kind of know where it came from."

"Where is that?" Cecilia asked, a little bit of excitement entering her voice at the potential of another adventure.

"Orashi forest." Max and James said in unison.

Cecilia and Max turned and looked at James with quizzical expression. All James did to explain himself was point at the rolling headline on the muted News;

**Claw-mark case still in full swing as farmer stumbles on another body in Kuje forest**

"Wild."

"So...?" Max said, still looking at the News. "We going to check it out?"

***

Orashi forest, Ikodi, Ahoada...

21:48

Max and his friends moved through the Orashi forest as stealthily as they could manage as unwanted attention was the last thing on their wishlist.

The forest is crawling with guards, hounds, and rangers, as well as local vigilantes, combing every inch for the Claw-mark killer. And the darkness only makes it even more difficult to navigate the forest grounds.

The trio walked into the forest following Max who led them forward as though he grew the forest himself.

The crescent moon was long gone even before they arrived in Ahoada and the branches cast a thick canopy of dark shadows over the forest floor blocking what little light the stars tried to provide. Throwing everything into pitch blackness and making their going even slower.

They heard the voice of a man and all three instinctively hid behind trees and shrubs in fluid sync, listening intently to make sure they were alone.

"Okay, looks clear," James said after minutes of holding still in their hiding place.

"How much further?" Cecilia asked as she got to her feet brushing dirt off her skinny jeans.

"Yeah, we have been walking for almost an hour now."

"That is because we are taking the longer and safer route, and besides we can't use flashlights unless we want attention. But we are almost there." Max said with so much confidence one would think he grew the forest himself.

A few minutes later, they breached a clearing with police tape securing a particular area — which is the only sign of criminal activity.

"I think this is it," Max announced.

"Now we know you felt someone die," James said spreading out in careful steps so as not to disturb the scene.

"That is very crazy man, I mean...it isn't normal." James corrected when he remembered how sensitive Max had been feeling.

Cecilia switched on her phone's flash and looked around outside the perimeter of the scene and Max did the same leaving James to check the taped-off area without stepping in. It took a few minutes before any of them spoke again;

"I think I found something," Cecilia called as she removed her handkerchief to retrieve a chunk of hair from a tree several yards out of the clearing. Either the victim or the culprit has long hair and brushed it against the tree. And its bark graciously kept a sample for them.

"Hair."

"Or maybe fur," James said, "we haven't ruled out the attacks might be an animal's."

Max and Cecilia shrugged. Cecilia wrapped the hair in her handkerchief before carefully putting it in her sweater pocket as James started taking pictures of the scene with his phone.

"What are you doing?" Cecilia asked the exact question on Max's mind.

"Preparing dinner, what does it look like I am doing?"

"While that is very thoughtful, it is not permitted," Cecilia said.

"Yeah, yeah, we are on probation and stuff like that," James said in a singsong manner to make Cecilia sound stupid.

"I know."

"James, while I like the idea of getting us in trouble, we are literally at rock bottom probation," Max said.

"If my Dad catches us, only God knows WHAT THE F*CK IS THAT?" Max shouted, interrupting himself and probably drawing all the unwanted attention they had tried so hard to avoid.

James and Cecilia jerked their heads toward whatever it was. James frowned, he had been expecting to see a big chunk of evidence concerning the murder or a very horrifying monster with six heads and seventeen horns.

But they saw nothing except for trees — of course, trees, they are in a forest.

"What? What did you see?" Cecilia was the first to ask the obvious question as Max walked towards whatever it was he saw.

"I...I think I saw someone,"

"Someone?" James and Cecilia said in unison as if that was the last thing they expected him to say.

"Seriously?" They said in unison again.

"You don't understand, he was so fast I could say he was using some kind of super boots to make him go that fast except that is stupid. I am telling you, he was fast."

"And you sound so dumb I could say you forgot your pills," James said in obvious sarcasm, "except that is stupid."

Max scoffed smugly, his instinct and proud intellect telling him exactly what he wanted to hear and his memory replaying exactly what he needed to see;

"No, no James," Max said with a smile, turning to face his friends, "I think I just found the Claw killer." He said with a confident smirk.

***

Somewhere in Orashi forest...

22:19

"We have been searching for days," James protested as he hiked behind Cecilia through a rather dense part of the forest. "Are we even sure we are not lost yet, are we even going towards anything?"

"He is right, Max, it has been a while, and it is getting pretty late," Cecilia said worried about the nightmares that happen in Orashi forest at midnight.

"My legs are snoring already, and besides, even if you guys can handle stuff, I am not qualified to be raped."

"Seriously guys," Max turned around, flashing his torch on James' and Cecilia's faces. "We are getting there, I can feel it. This is the first real suspect of the claw-mark case, how can you tire now."

"Yeah whatever," James said waving Max's torch off his face.

"The one thing I am sure of though," He faced Cecilia, "no one is raping you with the black belt and the trophies you have in MMA and taekwondo. I am pretty sure you can single-handedly fight off any army of rapists."

"That's not my point!" She snapped.

"Well we have been walking for hours and there hasn't been any rapist in sight, and neither is there a super-fast dude," James said turning to Max this time.

"Guys, I am on his trail, I promise," Max pleaded, seeking his friend's support now more than ever.

Max isn't just eager to find the suspect, he wants to prove to himself, more than anyone, that the events since the meteor shower haven't driven him crazy, and he isn't beginning to see things...

"Please guys, trust me."

James and Cecilia gave each other a meaningful look. They are beginning to understand the point of the search, it is not just about getting a lead or nabbing the suspect, it is personal.

"Lead on boss," James said with a resigned sigh.

The trio moved on, brushing away low branches as they went single file deeper into the forest. They walked for another five minutes or so before Max suddenly stopped, holding out his fist to signal his friend's absolute quiet.

A few seconds passed and the only thing that could be heard was the noise of the forest; the trio in absolute silence, were hardly breathing. Then Cecilia crept up to him with the stealth of a cat.

"What's up?" She asked, scanning the surroundings as James crept up to them.

"Why halt?" She stopped scanning when she couldn't see anything, not that there was much to see since the forest grounds are darker than ever.

"Something is about to happen, something... life-threatening."

"What? Are you psychic now?" James asked, not sure how to feel about that given their position.

"Shh!" Cecilia cautioned him.

"Hey," she placed a reassuring hand on Max's shoulder, "what is about happening?"

"That."

Cecilia and James followed Max's outstretched finger into the forest, and about a hundred yards away, between twists and turns of the forest trees and shrubs, a tiny light glows.

It is a blue light glowing in the distance like a disco bulb. Another one appeared, probably hiding behind a tree before.

"Are those fireflies?" James said with a mix of thrill and fear-driven recklessness, "Because they don't look anything like fireflies."

"They are like... like small disco bulbs." Cecilia observed, "But who uses a disco bulb in the forest?" She asked, realizing how stupid her observation was.

"Tree people? Or maybe blue-skinned aliens." James replied to Cecilia with a mocking tone and a fake British accent.

"Those aren't disco bulbs or fireflies," Max said, "those are wolf eyes, and they are preying on something." He said, recalling his countless hours of watching Nat Geo Wild.

"Or someone." Cecilia offered.

"Okay, that is just illogical because there are no wolves in Ahoada, and besides I..." James didn't get to finish his observation when Max And Cecil began sprinting for the so-called wolfie eyes.