The Devil in Eden

Daybreak brings with it a heat that bakes the wet earth, the imprints of the night’s visitor firmly embedded in the mud, and with it, the sound of people, wailing at the loss of a loved one, and terror amongst the villagers as the light of day reveals the destruction to the hut.

Once more the “Devil” has paid a visit to this remote village, and once more a life has been taken to appease the ancestors. The “Devil” has visited five times over the past three months, always after the full moon, when the night is at its darkest, the people sleep in fear within the village, the doors are wedged shut before the sun goes down.

A group of the braver men gather outside the hut where the attack took place, armed with spears and knob kerries, they move off, following the imprints of the spoor in the drying mud, towards the thick foliage at the edge of the forest, more for show than anything else as they know that they will not find anything, other than the site where the “Devil” had his meal.

Grass in the area is flattened where the Lion ate, and the rain from the night before has washed away any signs of blood. All that remains of the old woman is a broken bracelet lying discarded in the tall grass, other than that, the area is empty. The scavengers of the bush have feasted well on the remains of what was once human.

Spoor of the night visitor vanishes into the forest, and no trace can be found of him having ever been there. Fear and superstition spreads its leathery wings over the village.

***

The lion moves slowly through the forest towards his lair, the leaves under his paws cover his tracks as he moves into the foothills towards his destination. Sounds of the waterfall come to his ears and he picks up his pace as he nears the lair, hidden from the eyes of man.

“Devil” is a fully grown black mane male, who was cast out of his pride by a younger male, and in the process lost his left eye in the fight. He now finds it easier to prey on the people in the villages rather than on his natural prey, and he has developed a taste for human flesh, much like a supermarket, he just walks in and helps himself when the need arises as man is the easiest prey of all.

He has no fear of the humans, for they are the source of his food, and there is plenty to be had in the Zambezi Valley.

***

The sound of an axe striking wood reverberates through the forest, as more join in the chorus, the rhythm of the sound of wood being struck rings out through the trees, and one by one, the trees fall to the ground, and hurriedly are turned into stakes to be used to reinforce the walls of the mud huts, to keep the “Devil” at bay.

Slowly the work on the reinforcing of the dwellings in the village starts to take shape as the sun climbs to its highest point in the sky, and then starts its descent towards the distant horizon, and with it, a cold blanket of fear covers the village as darkness starts to creep in.

The time of the “Devil” has arrived.

A wooden stake has been placed in the center of the village, and an offering of a goat has been secured there, in the hopes that the “Devil” will accept it as a sacrifice and allow the villagers to live. In fear they huddle within the huts, the fires inside blazing, throwing grotesque shadows up against the walls and outside there is nothing but silence as fear stalks the village in the darkness.

***

Two nights later the blazing flames from the main bonfire in the centre of the village dance in the night, the goat bleats in terror as the fire throws the shadow of the lion across the open ground, to climb up against the walls of the huts as it pads past, ignoring the goat in its path. The hut stands to one side, and the scent of the man inside reeks of fear and of sickness.

Inside the hut, the fire burns slowly down to embers. The man lies under his blankets, on a stained mattress, shivering with the onslaught of malaria and hears the sound of movement outside the hut.

He watches the light from the outside fire being cut off as a body moves past the crack in the door, then hears as something brushes against the outside wall, and with eyes bulging in terror, watches as the far wall of the hut takes up the weight being applied to it. The wooden poles hold the weight, and the noise disappears, all is silent once again.

He lies back in his bed and hears the noise again, but this time it’s not coming from the side of the hut, or the door. The scratching sound is coming from the thatch roof of the hut, slowly he starts to see the night sky through the hole, and silhouetted against the stars is the massive head of the “Devil.”

A man’s screams shatter the African night as the lion springs into the hut and attacks him as he lies in his bed. The screams are cut off so suddenly that the neighboring huts are not sure what they have just heard.

The lion leaves the hut the same way he came in, through the roof, taking his victim with him, all that remains is a blood soaked mattress, and blood smeared across the floor that ends under the hole in the roof.