“Yoh, Joe. I’m going out!” he shouted, as he closed the door behind him and ran after Zoleka, who was running like a tornado down the street. Dumi tried to keep up, but Zoleka kept increasing her pace until Dumi was out of breath and just sat down, right in the middle of the road. Zoleka waited for him, but it was too much for Dumi. He had never run such a long distance at such a high speed.

They were a few blocks away from Zeh’s house. Zoleka ran back to him to try to get him going again. “You should know that time is one thing we’re running out of. Please get up!” She held out her hand and helped him up.

Dumi got the shock of his life when he saw that Zoleka’s eyes had changed colour. He staggered backwards and fell on his bum.

Zoleka quickly noticed that Dumi had seen her too soon. She had revealed her secret too early. Now she was certain that Dumi was not going to trust her ever again, let alone continue with her to Zeh’s home. She adjusted back to her normal human form, hoping to smooth talk him.

“I’m sorry about what you just saw,” she said. “I can teach you right now, if you want.”

Zoleka figured that this was the only way to make him trust her again. Her eyes were still shining with an orange reddish color in the pupils.

“Wha… sto… don’t get any closer to me…” Dumi was still on his bum, dragging himself down the road, trying to keep away from Zoleka, who was slowly begging him and coming towards him.

“Dumi, come on, stop! I’m not going to harm you!” she said. “Your girlfriend is in trouble. They’ve abducted her and you’re the only one who can help her.”

Dumi didn’t want to hear any of it. The only thing he needed was to be at home, behind closed doors, safe and away from these weird people.

They were on their way back to Dumi’s house to let each other know more about one another when they came across a white guy from the church who threw a punch across Dumi’s face, sending him flying onto the ground. He went blind for a few minutes.

“Damn you, Richard! You’re so going to pay for this!” Zoleka shouted as she rushed to Dumi. “Are you okay, Dumi? Come on, say something. Can you hear me?” She knelt besides the unconscious Dumi. She felt his pulse and was happy to feel that he was still breathing. She lifted his body.

When Dumi woke up, he was on his bed at home. To his surprise, Zoleka was asleep on the old sofa in the corner of his bedroom. He tiptoed out of the room, went into the kitchen and plugged in the kettle. He made coffee for himself and Zoleka, but when he got back to his bedroom he was surprised to find that she was no longer there. He called out her name and even went to the outside bathroom to look for her, but she wasn’t there. When he returned to his room he found the note on the bedside table.

MEET ME AT NORTH BEACH THIS AFTERNOON. 15h00 IS PERFECT FOR ME. DON’T WEAR COLOURFUL CLOTHES. C YA…

“Oh, not you too…” he whined and threw himself onto the bed.

His cellphone beeped as a WhatsApp message appeared on the screen.

Don’t miss out, #Tonight, at North Beach. Or there are gonna be regrets, Pearl.

Dumi remembered the box Pearl had given him in church. He felt shivers rush down from his head to his toes. He still didn’t understand this mystery. And what really worried him was that Pearl and Richard now had his girlfriend.

He hadn’t told anyone about what had happened at the church. He decided that on his way to meet with Zoleka he would pass by Zeh’s house to confirm that she wasn’t really there. And when he got there he saw that it was true; she wasn’t at home.

He went along with the plan and met Zoleka at North Beach, where he found her by the skateboarding area. She was wearing her white All Star sneakers, black high-waist skinny jeans, navy crop top and a black leather jacket.

“Hey. Looking good!” Dumi complemented her when he saw how different she looked, compared to when she was in her school uniform. She even looked a little more grown up than the day before.

“Hey, you also look really good…” She sounded so down. You wouldn’t think that it was the same noisy girl from the train. Dumi was surprised to see her looking so focused.

“How are you doing? You sound disturbed?” he asked.

“Disturbed? Yeah. I have so much on my plate.” She turned away and started to walk. “Let’s take a walk together, I have so much to tell you and so little time,” Zoleka called out.

“Sure, but where to? I’m not looking for surprises today.”

Zoleka stopped and looked back at Dumi. “Do you still remember everything that happened last night?” she asked with a surprised voice.

“Well, I remember everything that happened before I got hit by that punch.”

“I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”

She continued to walk for a few metres. Dumi wasn’t following her.

“You know I need you to come with me,” said Zoleka, checking the time. “We have so little time, please come. Hurry!”

Tell us what you think: What is Zoleka about to reveal to Dumi? Should he trust her?