INFRARED – 4
Wendy has a deceased relative called Tendayi who died when she was over a hundred years old. Tendayi was responsible for organizing the vadzimu, or spirits of deceased ancestors, for the family of the ancient Chief who eventually became the bitter ngozi.
In her time, Tendayi was a close associate of Charwe Nyakasikana, the living Nehanda mhondoro, a powerful spirit medium who helped to inspire Zimbabwe’s first Chimurenga, or revolutionary war. The Nehanda helped to unite the Matabele and Shona in war to resist the British South Africa Company led by Cecil Rhodes. The revolution was ultimately defeated, but the Nehanda resisted to her death; she refused to convert to Catholicism and was subsequently hung. It is said that she used her powers to resist death and only relented when she was stripped of her tobacco. She vowed that she would rise again, that her bones would not rest.
Tendayi was something like a medium herself and lent her considerable powers to the Nehanda, before she insisted that Tendayi leave her side so that she might survive the surrender to the British. She agreed, but only because it would be her responsibility to help the Nehanda who would no doubt manifest in the future when she was needed.
The Nehanda inspired her people just like the Alia, and she was an early example of the Aliarum, powerful individuals who could amplify the powers of the Alia. But the Nehanda did not know the Alia of her generation.
Tendayi met the Alia when she fled the newly christened Rhodesia and headed west. Tendayi would eventually return to her home country, but not before enjoying the honor of serving as a student to an extraordinary Ethiopian woman who could bring rain with the snap of a finger.
Tendayi hates Miriro more than everything and her soul would not rest as long as Miriro still stirred.
This fourth installment of the adventures of the brave Chimutengwende sees Wendy go to war, and luckily she has the ancestors on her side.
Warriors of Old and New
After the ancestors banished the witch from Wendy’s vicinity, they turned their attentions to finding the Alia. The two called on a powerful ancestor for advice.
The woman was very old and she stood in Wendy’s kitchen outlined in a distinct, sky blue glow that made her look weightless. Wendy sat at the table and Isheanesu and Anesuishe stood just behind her. She smiled at Wendy and it was obvious that she cared very deeply for her.
“Ohhh,” the woman said gleefully, “this one is very strong. The Alia will be happy to meet her.”
“She never wanted us to meet the Alia,” Isheanesu said bitterly to Anesuishe, who rolled her eyes dismissively. “We weren’t special enough, sister.”
“Hush,” the woman said playfully. “Miriro isn’t worth bothering the Alia, she is our responsibility. This red man, he is dangerous. And he has our Chief.”
“I thought he died,” Wendy said. “Didn’t he disappear on the wind?”
“To return to his current master, yes, but he is still very much in this realm. You have to help the Alia kill the red man so we can free the Chief for good.”
Wendy doesn’t understand the chaos that her life has been for the past two months, but it’s been very good for her morale to be distracted from feelings of loneliness that had made her life miserable as of late. She hadn’t thought about the temptress Maria, or the dead love of her life, and she even took a sabbatical from work so that she could use all of the vacation and sick days she had accumulated over the course of her employment at the IBF. It was vital for her training that she spend intimate time with each ancestor that she would let inhabit her body so that they could work together and Wendy could avoid the nightmare of any smart medium; the possibility of her soul being permanently displaced from her body. It was a small chance that something like that could happen to her because of the support of her amadlohzi, but Anesuishe wanted Wendy to be aware of the possibility. They were preparing Wendy for the fight of her life and she could not be properly equipped if she did not know all of the dangers that she faced. But Wendy is a very willing participant.
When Wendy accepted the mission of the old woman, she entered Wendy’s body and introduced herself.
“Tendayi,” she said chuckling. “I should have led with that. I will do my best to protect you as we approach the red man. He is like a leech, he can suck the energy right out of you, but I’ll block him as best I can so you don’t pass out.”
Wendy drove through the night, northeast to North Carolina where Tendayi had identified the location of the Alia. It took her all night to arrive at the house that Tendayi had shown Wendy in her mind and they were surprised that the house was empty as they approached it. Wendy pulled into the driveway and stopped on the sloping hill. She talked to the ancestors who sat in her backseat, though to an outside observer, it appeared that she was alone and talking to no one in the driveway of an empty house.
“This is where the Alia showed us, but she’s obviously not here now,” Wendy said. “Tendayi is reaching out now.”
There was a violent rush of wind that took Wendy by surprise. It was so strong, that it flipped Wendy’s car over into Clay’s lawn and her airbag deployed, hit her like a punch and caused her to lose her connection to Tendayi and the amadlohzi. She fumbled out of the inverted car and sat next to it, then grabbed her head. Rhode descended on a tiny tornado that held him like it was sentient and responded to his command. It dissipated into the ground as he landed and Wendy made the audible equivalent of an eye roll.
“What is going on here?” Rhode asked as Miriro separated from his body.
“Stupid boy, the Red Father is that way,” Miriro pointed in the direction of the house where the evil man was located. She was extremely upset and it showed on her face. “We have to get her there. Where are your people?” she asked Wendy.
When she didn’t answer her, Rhode said, “Answer her! Where are your ghosts? They can stop this red dude right?”
“You made me lose my connection, you fucking idiot!” Wendy screamed at him. She held her head in both hands and she closed her eyes, trying to focus her thoughts. She yelled loudly, louder than she ever had before, and she cried.
The area is quiet as the sun rises. Everyone within a five mile radius of the house where Ivan’s body levitates sleeps as their bodies are mined for energy by the Red Father, the nefarious old soul who seeks revenge for his banishment and reverence from a people for his power.
Because the neighborhood is quiet, Alia hears Wendy when she yells at Clay’s house. She reaches out to Wendy’s mind.
“Tendayi?” Alia asks.
“Wendy, Anesu.”
“Alia, you should meet me here.”
Wendy follows Alia’s lead, ignoring Rhode and Miriro, who she cannot see, but they both follow her. When they arrive to the street in front of the house, they find Alia, Clay, and the Don in a disagreement.
“We have to regroup,” Alia says. She calls the attention of the men to Wendy and Rhode who stand nearby. “There’s new people here who can help and we have to have a plan to free Ivan. Clay, you have to stop running in unprepared, you’re gonna get hurt.”
Suddenly, the house in front of them explodes into billions of small pieces that all fly up and float high in the air. Ivan stands in the space where the house had been and he is surrounded in a raging red fire that reaches almost as high as the tiny pieces of the house. His body is bigger than it normally is and he has a scowl on his face.
“Ivan!” Clay yells.
“Even with help, you are not enough to repel me,” the Red Father says with Ivan’s mouth. “My servants should be a more difficult challenge this time around.”
Ivan lifts his hands and pushes the red fire around him forward. The fire moves and separates into three flames that become the jinn, who Alia recognizes as Selassie the repulsive, the ngozi, who Wendy knows is the Chief and her greatest forefather, and the dyinyinga, the large spider woman who identified Clay as anes.
PRL Serials 