Negril, Jamaica

"What can you hear, my boy?" Old man Sunta said into Cloyse's ear in a raspy, Jamaican dialect.

Cloyse, feeling completely restrained and helpless, heard everything, from the roaring waves of the sea that sounded as if he were right next to them, to his old friend, all the way to a wheezing grunt that seemingly surrounded him.

Cloyse struggled to move, but it felt as if his entire body was shut down. Just trying to wiggle one finger was like trying to sprout wings, it was virtually impossible.

"I...I cannot—

"Do not try and speak yet, just focus on trying to see." Sunta spoke softly into the young man's ears.

Cloyse did as he was told and bore down in the hopes of trying to revive his vision all over again. In fact, his eyes were wide open; it was just the blackness that appeared more like fog that kept him from seeing clearly.

"Dey gone...dey gone far away," the wheezing individual from somewhere within the area groaned.

"Be silent, devil!" Sunta scolded the man. "Now, continue to focus on what you want to see, my boy."

Cloyse squeezed and stretched until the blackness in front of him gradually formed into splotches.

"I can...I can see it." Cloyse fought to utter in his own broken English.

"Good, good, now keep on!" Sunta gleefully urged.

Cloyse kept stretching before even more forms began coming into sight. Before long, globs and splotches eventually turned into brightness. It was so bright in fact that Cloyse had to shut his eyes momentarily just to shield from the rays.

"Can you see now?" Sunta asked.

Cloyse ever so slightly nodded yes before going back to trying to twist his finger all over again. Much like before, attempting such a task was arduous, but the man kept at it until one moving finger turned into three, and after three, an entire right hand.

"You can move now?" Sunta sounded surprised.

"No good, boy, you be dead by sundown." The nearby groaning man uttered.

"Please, keep on! You are almost free!"

Cloyse persisted until he was able to fully operate his right hand. All of the sudden, the young man began to cry like a child. He wept so hard that his entire body began shaking inside the chair in which he was seated.

"God be praised, he is coming back!"

the mysterious individual kept gasping in and out as

in his chair until it began to wobble back and forth. Eventually, the man ended up

"Are you alright?" Sunta hurriedly aided the

Crawling about on

Sunta said as he hoisted both Cloyse and his chair right

Cloyse felt all over his hairy face before inquiring, "How...how long have

"Three weeks, I

making a sort of snoring racket before saying, "You be

Cloyse sat in his chair and locked his hazy eyes upon the man who was seated across from him inside

torn and ragged pants looked as if he had worn the same clothing for years without ever changing. His emaciated, grey-haired, bare chest looked like he hadn't been nourished in ages. He appeared such a pathetic sight, but inside Cloyse's heart, only disdain seized him. There wasn't a

"Where did you capture

and stood next to Cloyse. "Doi was returning to de world when I found him. It was quite

Doi questioned

do know where my sister...is." Cloyse

side before

was beating

Cloyse ever so diligently studied the old man's entire body before sitting back and breathlessly

"He keeps saying dat, but he is

no, Arthur, Akoni and Damerae are gone,

the entire hut. The thundering

dey are." Cloyse said.

"It does not matter now." Sunta's voice shook. "Wherever dey are gone to, not even God in heaven

God." Doi grunted. "God not here no more, mon. Who won test de devil now dat

for endless minutes before he glanced back at

"But where, mon?"

of here," Cloyse sullenly

"Kingston, mon?"

said. "I want my sister, old man!" he reached

sister, mon." Doi shook his head. "No...I

eyes and fangs before both Cloyse and Sunta. Before long, a sinister growl ran up and out of Doi's throat as his face began

at full strength, all Cloyse could do was try and scoot backwards,

pointy stick in his right hand, approached Doi. He took the stick and struck it against the gravely floor before igniting

a hold of Cloyse and dragged him out of the blazing hut and onto the sandy beach

"Look back no more, boy." Sunta helped a staggering

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