Chapter 10: The Saviour

VAZAR

For me to re-tell my story, I had to take several deep breaths. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I had to do it for her to understand who I was.

My family was small for the Jinn kind. Usually, families consisted of around ten or more members in total. However, my father, a highly educated lecturer at the only teaching institute in our realm, believed that taking care of his family properly would require fewer members so each person would benefit from his attention equally. If a family had more members, then it would be difficult to take care of everyone’s individual needs.

My father played a large part in shaping the person I was today. He was a well-travelled soul, who spent decades co-existing with humans. His teachings taught me that co-existing was possible, just like we had been doing since the beginning of time in peace and tranquility.

My father was well-respected, and one of the handful of Jinns who had the passport to enter Humana, now known as Earth, with the authority of the elders. His peaceful mindset gathered information on how the humans were progressing and used the knowledge to educate his students in dealing with different species. My father was somewhat of an expert on human behaviour.

My adventurous side must have been inherited from him as I grew into a young lad who was eager to travel. I had already roamed more than 70 percent of my world and had got bored with it. My troubles began when I started sneaking out of Jumana and following Dad through the portals to roam the human world freely. I had been successful in my visits without getting caught. With my trips getting more and more frequent, my absence was noticed by my tutors who reported my behaviour to my dad. Pretty soon, certain officials got wind of my truancy from class and were instructed to keep an eye on me.

I explained to Hannah, that it was around 120 years ago, on one of my trips to Humana, that I learned human’s educational classes for knowledge were vastly different from the system we had set up on Jumana. Humans studied using books, pen and paper and we studied through hands-on experience. The classes I had been missing were actual field trips to certain places to practice the problem-solving that our tutors had created for us. The only problem was, I was done with practicing for problems. I wanted to sort them out for real and where better to find a boat load of problems than in the human world?

To gain this real-life experience, I had escaped to a city called New York. It was a cold city that was thriving with the beginnings of the modern-day world. I sat on a fire-escape keenly watching people as they went about their business. The building opposite me was warm with the glow of dinner in the oven. The smells wafted from their windows over to me and I was half tempted to take a bite of their food to see what it would taste like.

One story below me, a young lady was exiting out of the side door of a cafe from the building opposite. I guessed she was heading home after completing her afternoon shift. She was young, no more than twenty years old. Delicate and small, she was an easy target for what was about to happen next.

Several men appeared from the shadows and surrounded her. I could see the panic set in her tearful eyes. The poor woman was terrified. I should have left well enough alone, but I wanted to be a problem solver so the steep descent into my imprisonment commenced.

At first, I willed them away, but it didn’t seem to be working. So, I glided down to stand with them and heard what they were demanding of the young woman. It wasn’t what any self-respecting woman would want to do and rage ignited a fire in my eyes. They would have ripped her apart with their demands. She was crying and whimpering, begging them to let her go. I could feel my eyes heat up with the beginnings of a rage that would annihilate anyone in my path. My breathing shallowed and I recalled the techniques we were taught at school, to contain our powers. By the time, I had calmed down, two of the men had grabbed hold of the woman and pushed her up against the wall.

I didn’t have much time and willed myself to materialize silently before them.

“Hey! Where did you come from?” One of the men shouted.

“Step away,” my voice was full of menace.

“You step away. This is not your business. Get out of here before…”

“Before what?” I threatened as I revealed the fire burning in my eyes.

The men stepped back in horror. I turned up the pressure and revealed my fangs. Long and sharp.

“What are you?” Another man shrieked backing away.

“You don’t want to know. Leave now or I won’t be held responsible.” I stepped backwards allowing the men to retreat.

The two men who held the woman stood fast. They must have been the leaders of the pack.

“Last chance,” I growled.

The woman began shrieking hysterically. I noticed a steel blade against her delicate throat. The poor woman was in danger of having her life taken away from her. She was only young, maybe with family who would miss her terribly. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t allow for this evil to continue.

In one swift motion, I grabbed the blade and twisted it back, snapping the man’s wrist in a clean break. He howled in pain. His friend let go of the woman and lunged at me. Quick as a flash, my body stepped sideways, and I threw him into the wall. There, he crumpled into a heap, bleeding from his head.

By then, all but one of his friends vanished. Another knife appeared and slashed the air aiming for my chest. My reflexes kicked in and I lifted the man clean off the ground with one hand at his throat. He dropped the knife. I should have let go but my senses had left me and I squeezed with force.

How dare these men think they can take whatever they want? Had they no respect? Women were precious. Without them, none of us would be here and they deserved nothing but protection and love from those of us willing to give.

With the rage still consuming me it was only seconds later that I felt the man’s soul leave his body. Slowly, I let go and his body crumpled at my feet.

My breathing deepened as I gulped in large amounts of air. The woman began screaming again and I knew it was time for me to leave. I turned my bright orange eyes in her direction and silenced her.

“Don’t tell anyone you saw me, do you understand?”

She nodded and gulped in big, heaving breaths of air.

“Thank… thank you,” she stammered.

“It’s okay,” I retracted my fangs and did my best to compose myself.

“If you weren’t here… I … I…” The poor woman couldn’t even get her words out. She was shaking as she backed away and turned to flee into the same door she had exited from a few moments earlier.

It was time for me to leave. I shimmered myself to somewhere safe and found myself in Egypt. I was sitting high on top of a monument overlooking the Nile, on one of the slabs that had come loose.

The enormity of what had just happened began to sink in and I was terrified of the repercussions. Not only had I entered the forbidden world, I managed to kill one, maybe two of its residents. The biggest sin known to jinn kind had been committed by my very hands.