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allgaind-blog · 7 years

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Weekly Shorts

Warning: What you’re about to read is a dish of horror with a slice of humor a topping of religion and a glass of romance. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED! SILENT NIGHT.

I stood under the shower, letting the water run down my back. In my mind I pictured it washing all the anger away. I was furious and that was an understatement.

Well, yes. I’m a Christian but did that mean I couldn’t have fun like the rest of my mates?

I recalled the argument with my mother. It hadn’t been up to an hour ago since the argument. It probably happened at seven that evening. I had told my mum that I wanted to go to a vigil with my friends later that evening. It wasn’t as much a vigil as it was a party. I’d just used the vigil talk as a cover up. I was sure she was going to say yes. She was the kind of mum that took pride in her child’s spiritual development. But when she opened her mouth to reply I got riled up.

You’d probably be madder than I if you were the one that heard her words. She told me that I wouldn’t go anywhere that night, that her spirit didn’t agree with me going out.

I snorted as I turned off the shower and dried my hair. Nigerian parents and superstitions? They would never change even in these changing times! Wrapping my towel around myself, I stepped out of the bathroom and into my room.

After examining myself in the mirror for a while, I went to my bed and sank down at the side. I shared the room with Joy, my younger sister. She was thirteen, only four years younger than I. Since our age gap wasn’t much, we were quite close, and we had to be if we were going to survive our younger brothers. Joseph and Praise, ten and seven respectively, were truly pests. When they were in the mood, they could tear the whole house down for Africa. Believe me, just as Jesus said, these kind cannot be controlled except by prayer and fasting… and an extra hand. That was another place where our closeness came in. I ran my hand through my black, shoulder length hair in frustration. I preferred keeping my hair natural, retouching it now and then. I didn’t get people who spoke against wearing attachments but didn’t mind using wool and rubber on their heads. It was just foolhardy hypocrisy to me. I and my friends had planned this get together for weeks: my mother had wrecked the plan in minutes. The get together was to celebrate the successful first semester of our first year in University. I was close to tears. Picking up my phone, I dialed Jethro. He was a sweet guy and we were close friends. Actually, that’s kind of like an understatement considering he asked me out last month. Due to fear of my parents, I refused and he didn’t make a big deal out of it. He continued being sweet. I like him a lot but I’ve not said anything yet. He picked the call and my heart was in my mouth as I spoke to him: ‘Hello, Jet?’ ‘Ayo? How are you? I was just thinking about you.’ At that, I blushed so hard my cheeks glowed in the dark. When I replied, my voice sounded like I was floating on clouds: ‘I’m fine. And you?’ ‘Never better. You’ll be at the party, right?’ I didn’t want to believe I was going to a party. Mom said Christians didn’t go to parties and I didn’t want to feel bad or guilty so I defended my pending action the only way I knew how. ‘Firstly, It’s not a party, Jet. It’s just a get together.’ I could hear the mirth in his voice when he replied. ‘Whatever. But you’re coming?’ ‘Actually, that’s why I called. My mum wouldn’t let me even though I told her I was going to a church vigil. I don’t think I’ll be able to come.’ ‘What? No way! Tell you what: get dressed. Prepare yourself. By ten I’ll come pick you up. I’ll be waiting a few blocks away from yours. All you’ll have to do is to plan your house break. Is that okay?’ I hesitated before I replied. I’d never snuck out before. I’d never even lied to my parents or gone to a party- sorry, get together- before. Would I get it right? The thought nagged at my mind. I replied: ‘Yes it is. I’ll be waiting for you. Bye.’ ‘Bye, Ayo. I still love you.’ To say I blushed again was an understatement. One would think that the bulb in the room was on due to the brightness of my cheeks. Giggling like a little girl, I cut the call and sank back against the bed. I felt more relaxed now. I looked at the clock on the bedside table. It read 08:31. I smiled. There was enough time to prepare. Bola was going to be staying with one of her friends for the weekend. That made ‘operation jail break’ easier for me. I smiled. Heaven seemed to be smiling down on me- or maybe not since I was doing something wrong. I pushed that last thought away. I wasn’t doing wrong. I was just doing what I wanted. Which was alright. Depending on how you saw it. My smile turned into a sharp frown when I noticed the Bible next to the clock. I realized how far I’d gone from God. At least, in that split second I couldn’t lie to myself. I didn’t even care how he felt anymore. All I cared about was me, myself and I. At least I cared for more than one person. I hurriedly shoved the thought away. I didn’t need anything weakening my resolve now. I’d do this just this once and maybe I’d go back. Besides, as I pointed out before, I wasn’t doing anything wrong. The clock read 8:40 now. I lay my head against the foam. It had been a long day. In order to get my mum to let me go to the ‘vigil’, I’d done virtually all the chores in the house. Talk about a mess up. I was quite tired and decided to take a quick nap. Have you ever thought of taking a ten minutes nap but ended up sleeping for a whole hour? That’s what I did. I don’t know when sleep took me but it took me for quite a long ride. By the time I woke up, it was nine thirty. I immediately jumped up and set to dressing up. I wore a pink floral knee length dress and black gladiator heels. Standing in front of the mirror, I examined my self. I didn’t have any make up. My parents didn’t allow it. Therefore, I didn’t have much to do. I just oiled my hair, combed it all back and curled it with my curler. I powdered my face and glossed my lips with olive oil. I was now ready and I must say I looked good! I went towards my door trying to be stealthy. I was at my door when I realized how foolish I was. I could never be stealthy on heels. They’d just keep announcing my movements with their ‘click’, ‘click’ sound. I turned to go and change into slippers and the unthinkable happened… My heel of my right shoe broke. I was horrified. That was my favorite shoe. I pulled off the shoes and sat down on my bed. Clearly, Heaven wasn’t smiling down on me anymore. I was agitated. Time was running out. It was only ten minutes to ten and if there was anything about Jethro that I could bet my ten million dollars on, it was that he strictly kept to time. Did he say ten? He definitely meant ten. There was no time to waste. I slipped on black slippers and ran out of the room. I successfully tiptoed out of the house and was about to head to the gate when I heard a sound. My heart skipped and I hung in my steps as though someone pressed the pause button on me. Slowly and carefully, I turned my neck to check where sound was coming from. If you were watching me at that moment, I’d probably remind you of Tom or Jerry about to be caught in the act of stealing milk. I would have laughed at myself if my heart wasn’t doing acrobatics in my chest. Oh! Words are not enough to describe my relief when I found out that it was just my dad and he was sleeping. On his knees. Probably thinking he was praying. He usually prayed outside by this time. I realized how lucky I was that he had slept off on his knees the same day I planned a house break. I chuckled a bit but realizing that I had no time to waste, I kept going and when I got to the gate, I slowly opened it and went out. Since I’d be back by twelve no one would know I’d gone out. I’d lock the gate when I returned. I looked around for the car. In the silence and darkness, fear engulfed me and along with it came guilt. What if something happened to me? Who would know. My parents would be so disappointed in me if they found out. God was probably totally dissapointed in me right now. I didn’t have much time to think on this as, from three blocks ahead, a car’s headlights flashed twice. I became curious. Could that be Jet? I walked over to the car. It was a black Camry. Just like Jethro’s Father’s. It had to be him. Although I had to wonder how he got it from his father. I got to the front passenger’s door and stopped. It wasn’t Jethro who was in the car. It was a strange guy, radiating a strange beauty that didn’t seem to come from outside. A strange presence seemed to surround him. In short, I was attracted to him. I pushed the thoughts and feelings aside. This was a stranger I was talking about. Besides everything I felt was probably a fiction of my imagination; a trick played on me by my mind due to the fear. I cleared my throat as I regained my composure. ‘Sorry.’ I said with a small smile. ‘I came to the wrong car.’ I was just about to go when the guy called me back. ‘Wait. No.’ I turned back with a questioning look on my face. My patience was really drained. ‘Are you not Ayo?’ he continued before I could give him a piece of my mind. I was shocked. ‘How did you know my name. I don’t know you.’ ‘I know you don’t. But I was sent to you.’ My curiosity dropped and my temper rose. I didn’t care any longer how he knew my name all I knew was that he was wasting my time. ‘Look mister-’ Once again he cut me off before I could give him a piece of my mind. ‘Jethro sent me to get you. I could put him on the line for you to speak with him.’ He held out his phone. I took it from him. Sure enough, the first number on call log was Jethro’s number. I looked at him suspiciously and he gave me the cutest, confident smile ever. I began to lay my defences down. ‘This is even his father’s car.’ he confirmed my thoughts earlier. ‘How am I sure you’re not going to kidnap me?’ ‘Call Jethro and ask him. Time is running by the way.’ He pointed to his watch. He sounded so assured so I gave in. But even if I didn’t give in what happened next would have made me jump into the car still. Three men with sticks came running towards us. 'Hesss, young girl, wait.’ They shouted. The first question that entered my mind was: wait for what? I jumped into the car, screaming for the guy to drive. And off he drove at Max speed. It was after we’d drove for a while, I realized I didn’t know his name. I asked him for it. He didn’t answer at first. I frowned. 'Ah, I asked you a question na. What’s your name?’ He looked at me strangely then he said: 'Okuku Iranshe.’ I wondered why it took so long for him to reply but more than that I wondered at his name. 'Iranshe? Are you serious?’ I laughed. Probably that was the reason he hadn’t replied me before. 'That means dark messenger in Yoruba. Why would your parents name you that?’ He didn’t reply but kept a somber face. I guessed he too was embarrassed by the name so I didn’t push it anymore. I just wondered why he hadn’t changed it till then. 'Okay, I’m sorry. I know you didn’t choose the name. I shouldn’t have made fun of you.’ He looked at me and smiled broadly. 'Don’t bother,’ he said, 'Very soon, my name wouldn’t be much of a mystery to you. Besides, my name isn’t going to be the weirdest thing you’d encounter tonight.’ Immediately he said that my heart jumped. His statement spooked me. What on earth was he insinuating? 'What do you mean?’ I asked, worry clear in my voice. He laughed. 'I was kidding. See it as payback for laughing at me.’ I relaxed at that and punched him hard on the shoulder. 'Don’t ever scare me like that again. I was beginning to think I really was in a car with a demon.’ 'You’ll never know,’ He said still laughing. 'Oh, you’d better stop that.’ This guy was really beginning to freak me out. He kept on laughing. I was so relieved when we finally pulled over at the house that I audibly sighed. 'Seems like you’re really longing for Jetlove.’ I blushed at that. 'No, we’re not like that. We’re just friends. That’s all.’ 'Really, then he probably won’t surprise or hurt you.’ I looked at him questioningly. 'What do you mean?’ Okay, so I’ve had it with this guy. 'Nothing. Enjoy your evening. The morning may not come.’ At that, I jumped out of the car. 'That’s it!’ I said as he laughed. I just ignored him and headed up the front stairs to the house. I figured he’d be coming in so I didn’t even look back. He’d have to apologize for continually frightening me before I spoke to him again. I got to the door and just as I was about to knock, the door swung open. Before me was Jethro and he looked confused. 'How did you get here? I thought your parents wouldn’t let you go out.’ Now I got confused. 'What do you mean? You sent Iranshe to pick me up, remember?’ 'I didn’t send anyone to pick you. Besides, who’s Iranshe?’ I started panicking. 'He just dropped me off with your car. Look.’ There were about three other cars parked there. I pointed to the car only to find it empty as though no one had used it. Jethro dipped his hand into his back pocket and pulled out his keys. 'I’ve been with my keys all through. There’s no way anyone could have driven the car.’ I walked up to the car with Jethro following close. The car felt cool as though it hadn’t been used. I gaped. 'No way…’, was all I said and I became speechless. 'Are you sure of what you’re saying? Are you all right?’ I looked up at him wide eyed. 'Are you trying to insinuate that I’m crazy? I’m telling you I came in this car and it was driven by a guy named Iranshe.’ I immediately remembered, 'He even had you on his call log. Give me your phone.’ We went through his call log and the first record was that of an unknown number. I showed Jethro. 'You mean this? The owner of the number flashed me earlier this evening. When I called back he didn’t pick so I didn’t bother myself with the person.’ My heart was dancing wildly within me. 'Let’s call it.’ I suggested. And we did. The outcome set my heart twerking wildly. 'The number you dialled doesn’t exist.’ was the reply of the operator. I looked at Jethro wide eyed. 'You don’t think…’ He cut me off, laughing, 'Okay, get over yourself, Ayo. I don’t know how you got here but you are clearly over imagining things. Let’s go inside.’ As we headed inside, I was deep in thought. Was I really imagining? If so, how was I here now? Could Iranshe really be a… No! No way. He couldn’t have been an evil spirit. I shuddered in the cold night’s breeze. All that mattered was that I was safe here and now. Try as I might, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of impending doom. After what just happened, I couldn’t even shake at all. I just wished I had obeyed my mother and stayed at home. We entered the house and the interior distracted me from my thoughts. The lighting made the place look like a night club. I’m sure I don’t have to talk about the loud Afro music playing, do I? I was quite impressed. The party was supposed to be for eight people only but, apparently, some people had thought to bring friends along. Funny enough, even the friends too had invited other friends. I pursed my lips. People just wouldn’t change. 'The party is just about to start,’ Jethro said. 'How do you know?’ I hadn’t been to a party before so it was only normal to ask. 'Sign one,’ he pointed to the DJ who was just getting his act in order. 'Sign two,’ he pointed to the people mixing stuff in the bowl of eve 'Sign three,’ he pointed to people gathering in small groups. 'And the party begins.’ He concluded. We walked over to a group of people headed by one of our friends, Peter. When he saw us, he hugged me and gave Jethro a handshake. I didn’t know the other five people there so, Jethro introduced them to me. There was Joseph and his girlfriend, Blessing; Abdul and his girlfriend, Chinaza; a really good looking guy named Raphael or Raf for short, who claimed to have no girlfriend. I blushed so bright that I could have singlehandedly little up the whole house when Jethro introduced me as his girlfriend. I know you’re probably thinking I blush a lot but I’ll have you know that’s an important part of teenage girlhood. Anyway, the boys began to hail me, calling me 'our wife’ while the girls looked at me with jealousy radiating from their eyes like the sun on a very hot afternoon. I was going to say the truth that there was really nothing between us but I didn’t and just played along for two reasons: One was that I didn’t want to embarrass him before his friends. I knew a little about boys and their ego and didn’t want to be on the wrong side of it. Two, I was really enjoying the look on the other girls faces. It was so rare for girls to envy me over anything since I had always been 'Bible girl’ all through my life. I began to wonder how boring my life had been. In fact, the only reason I was here with Jethro was that this semester, I had given him a short tutorial on maths and also helped him in the test. He didn’t break up connection after that like other people but kept calling me and sending me text messages. He kept being so sweet to me, I wonder why I still don’t have diabetes yet. I also wonder why those girls had eyes on him when they already had boyfriends. Talk about hoes and cutlasses. Joseph offered me a drink from his cup, asking me if I’d tasted black bullet before. I was going to tell him that I didn’t drink at all but Jethro pinched my hand subtly and I got the message. I didn’t want to disgrace him or make him angry but my faith and resolve was suffering for it. Putting on a smile, I said I hadn’t and with the urging of the rest, I took a sip. I coughed as the drink burned its way down my throat and gave the cup back. Everyone laughed. 'Don’t worry,’ Joseph said, 'I trust Jetman. In no time, you’ll be an expert at this.’ They all laughed again. I laughed with them outside but guilt was killing me inside. At that point, I began to distrust Jethro. We talked with them for a while then we went towards another group where the party host, Jemima or Gem for short, was. I knew the people in this group so I didn’t need any introduction. We greeted the group of four girls and Jethro excused himself to use the restroom. As Jethro left, I turned back slightly only to notice that Raf was staring at me. When he saw that I noticed him, rather than turn away, he winked at me and gave me a confident smile. His hands were in his pockets so he looked so stunning when he did that but I controlled myself. He probably was the kind of guy that thought he could win any girl over with his charms. Those kind of guys didn’t hesitate to throw girls away. I kept my face expressionless and, ignored him. From the corner of my eye I saw him laugh. I noticed the other girls were looking at me and smiling mischievously. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable so I blurted: 'What?’ Sarah, one of the girls answered, 'Somehow you managed to catch Jethro. Now Raf is looking at you too. Hmm. Na wa oh! You are upgrading.’ 'As in…’ Favour, another one of the girls chirped in. We all laughed as I blushed… Typical me. Just then, a girl walked into the house. She walked shyly and looked around as if looking for someone. Gem immediately went to her hugged her and brought her to the group to introduce her. 'Girls, this is Angel. You guys probably know her. She’s that shy girl from school.’ Angel bowed her head at that. 'I invited her and, mehn, look how good she looks!’ Angel didn’t say anything. She seemed extremely shy. 'Come on,’ Gem urged, 'say hi to the girls.’ 'Hi.’ she said, timidly. We all laughed and took to gossiping. Or maybe I should say they all laughed and took to gossiping because I wasn’t even concentrating. I looked at Angel. She looked very familiar. I know I’m supposed to know her from school but I felt as if I had seen her recently. I just couldn’t put my finger on where, when and why. What surprised me was that when Angel looked up and saw me staring, she gave me a very subtle wicked smile as if she knew me and was up to something then she returned her attention back to the girls. I was surprised. Clearly, there was more to Angel than she was showing. My thoughts drifted to other things. What the girls were saying was very vulgar. I couldn’t join in. I wondered how I ever thought that I could hang out with such people without doing what they did. I’d just played myself. I learned from the girls that inside the bowl of eve, they had mixed vodka, power horse and black bullet. What a wild combination! I regretted coming. I didn’t fit in at all. The party was at its peak when Jethro came back and took me with him, telling the girls that we had a discussion. The girls seemed to understand something I didn’t and began to giggle amongst themselves. One of them winked at me and suspicion gripped me. Could it be… I had been wondering what discussion I had with him but now I didn’t even want to think. They had to be wrong… It couldn’t be that, could it? He took me to a room and I became sure that it was. He wanted it bad. He sat on the bed and invited me to sit by him. I giggled trying to sound confident. 'No, I’m not going to.’ He smiled as though thinking I was joking. 'Come on, Ayo. I know you want me as much as I want you. Stop playing hard to get.’ At this point, I was heart broken. I had hoped it would never get to this. I had hoped it would always be deep friendship between us. I had hoped he was different. But I was disappointed. I was so tempted to give in. I knew that my saying no now would probably be the end of our friendship. I really wanted to keep the friendship. But what kept me was the fact that I’d made up my mind over this issue a long time ago. I’d promised myself that I would get married as a virgin. I meant to stay pure till then. What, then, are you doing in such a place?, A voice seemed to speak into my ears. I completely regretted coming to the party. I frowned then. 'I can’t believe you, Jethro. You know I’m a Christian. How could you ask me of this?’ 'Oh, for once forget that Christianity and have a little fun. You’ll just waste your youth in the name of Christianity. Besides, you wouldn’t be here if you were a Christian so stop pretending when it comes to the main thing.’, He began to move towards me, I began to move back. 'I promise you’ll enjoy it as much as I will. Don’t worry, I’m an expert at it.’ He winked at me as he said that. I was extremely repulsed by him then. I tried opening the door but I found it was locked. One of his friends would have done that for him from the outside. I was terrified and began to scream, banging the door. He moved quickly, trying to force himself on me. I was utterly devastated. I didn’t believe that would ever happen to me. He began to drag me towards the bed. Just when all hope seemed lost, the door swung open and there stood… RAF! Never had I thought I’d feel so glad saying that name. 'Let go of her,’ he screamed. In the shock of the dramatic entrance, Jethro gave some space and I ran quickly and stood behind Raf, clinging to his arm. 'Ah, you are running to Raf. He’ll do worse than me.’, Jethro laughed as he said. 'Are you alright?’ Raf asked me, ignoring Jethro. I was so broken, I couldn’t reply him. Looking back at Jethro, he said, 'I can’t believe you would do this.’ 'Spare me that. You know you’ll do worse so, stop acting like a saint.’ I could see the shame on Jethro’s face when he said that. I couldn’t recall what I found attractive about him before. Raf hissed and walked me out of there as Jethro sulked in anger and shame. When we were back to the sitting room, he sat me down on one of the sofas and went to get me water. I took a long drink then set the disposable cup aside. Once again, he asked me, 'Are you okay?’ I nodded my head. By then tears had stopped streaming from my eyes although the shock from the experience was still there. I just sat in silence thinking about it. What would have happened if Jethro had had his way? What if Raf hadn’t come in when he did? There and then, I promised God that I’d be a better Christian. Sometimes, someone would pass by and, looking at my face, would ask what the problem was. We’d just tell them that nothing was the matter. I was only suffering from aftereffects or the concoction bowl. After a while, I just felt like being alone so, I told Raf that I was then okay and wanted to be alone. 'Be strong, okay,’ he said to me as he smiled, 'The aftereffects will wear off after the night’s rest. Just try to have fun now. Anytime you need me, I’ll be around.’ He then left. I stood up from the sofa and decided that I needed to go home. I was going to ask Raf for a ride but all of a sudden I didn’t trust any guy enough to be in the same car with him, alone. I went to the bowl of concoctions and, forgetting what it was made up of, thought to have a drink of eve. I poured myself a quarter of a cup… I put the cup to my mouth and drank… Guess what happened. If you think I got drunk then you couldn’t be further from answer because what happened from then on was enough to keep me perfectly sane even after ten bottles of bloody Mary. I screamed as I threw the cup away and jumped back. Whatever was in that bowl certainly wasn’t eve. It certainly was blood. Blood dripped from my mouth as I spat out in a bid to eradicate the taste. 'Jesus,’ I screamed again, 'There’s blood in the bowl!’ Everyone was alarmed. They came over and, after taking turns tasting, they confirmed it to be true. 'Who’s playing this kind of dirty trick, pouring blood in the drink?’ Joseph asked angrily. Everyone was becoming apprehensive and then to top it off, two other screams came from the corridor leading to the other rooms in the house. We all, including the DJ, who left his work due to fear, went there cautiously. The screams were from Chinaza and Abdul. They were standing just outside the room that Jethro and I were in. They were in such a state of shock that they couldn’t say anything when asked what was up. The rest of us then went inside to take a look. I almost threw up my bowels. On the bed was a dead Jethro. His legs were spread wide apart. His trousers and underwear had been drawn down to his ankles and in between his legs, at his crotch, was a bloody, rotten hole. Maggots were moving in and out of it as sticky blood dripped onto the white sheets of the bed. His eyes and mouth were open wide as if he had died in extreme pain and shock. Everyone was speechless, at first, staring at the corpse. Then Gem slumped and everyone, including the guys, began to scream. We took Gem to the sitting room and poured water on her. She immediately regained consciousness and began to cry. 'What’s going on,’ she lamented, 'My parents are going to kill me when they get back from church tomorrow.’ A very agitated Blessing cut in, 'Look, whatever is happening here is going too far. I’m going home.’ Everyone consented and began to gather their things when Gem called out. 'Wait, guys. Don’t leave me. I’m so scared.’ I felt pity for her. I was broken. No matter what Jethro had done, I still loved him deep down and it hurt a lot that he had died in such a strange disgusting way. 'Don’t worry. We’ll go to my house. My mum will be happy to have you.’ My family and hers attended the same church so we knew each other quite well. Then I remembered, 'Oh. I don’t have a means to get home.’ 'I’ll drive you,’ Raf said, 'My car is outside.’ his dark face looked pale. 'Thanks,’ I said. I was a bit relieved 'But what’s going to happen to the body?’ Joseph asked. All of us looked at ourselves. Finally, Peter said, 'We have to dispose it. Or else we’d all get in trouble with the police.’ 'It’s true oh!’ Raf cut in, 'This looks like a murder case. But who would have done it?’ He said looking around. *'Abeg, no be now wey we go solve that mystery. I don dey go house.’ Sarah said in pidgin as she went to the door. Everyone agreed with her. The night was too spooky to be solving murder mysteries. We all agreed to dispose the body and not say anything to anyone. It was really not a nice way to treat the body of a dead friend and his parents would spend the rest of their lives wondering what had become of their son but out own lives were in danger. Clearly a psychopathic murderer was among us even though we didn’t want to bother searching. Also, if anyone found out, we’d all be taken as murder suspects to the police station and my parents were going to really kill me if that happened. Joseph and Abdul agreed to dispose the body as all of us headed to the door. Even the Dj followed us, forgetting about his stuff. Sarah was wasting much time with the door knob, claiming that the door refused to open so Raf- my hero! - moved to get the open. The door still didn’t budge. All of us were beginning to get really perplexed. The night was beginning to turn to one of those horror stories. Just then Abdul and Joseph entered the sitting room, carrying Jethro. 'What’s up?’ Abdul asked. 'The door seems to be locked.’ Peter replied. Abdul and Joseph dropped the body and came towards the door. 'Guys clear. Let’s break the door down, ’ Joseph said. He, Peter, Raf and Abdul took turns hitting the door with their legs and shoulders. The door paid no attention to them and stood still. I was shocked. The door was made of wood. Granted, the wood was a fine one but it was still wood. It should have come down, considering the force the boys were using against it but it didn’t. It was as if it was reinforced somehow. Chinaza laughed a fear filled kind of laughter. 'This is becoming just like one of those horror movies, 'She said.’ Before you know, all the lights will go off.’ I felt like killing her when she said that because immediately, all the lights in the house went off. There was no power anymore in the house but in other houses, as far as we could see, there was power. All of us were going to turn on her for making such a statement but something else caught our attention. One by one, starting with the left then right, all the street lights within four blocks of the house turned off. Everyone was silent. In the darkness of midnight, everywhere was pitch black. 'Whoever is doing this is going too far. You’d better stop now!’ Dj Burnboy warned in a pathetically quivering voice that echoed all our emotions. Chinaza and Gem began to cry. I was about to join them when I got an idea: 'Someone should call someone for help. Gem you can call your parents.’ I was trembling so hard as I said it that I sounded as though I had spent the whole day in a refrigerator and was just coming out. 'Great idea!’ Gem said, pulling out her phone. When she looked at it, she frowned and began to wail as a child. 'What’s the matter?’ I asked. 'There’s no network signal.’ she lamented. Others checked their phones and it was the same thing. If my heart was twerking in my chest before, it was vibrating as fast as light now. My heart finally jumped out of my chest when a phone began to ring. We all began to look among ourselves, hoping that by some miracle, the signal had returned. Alas, the call wasn’t from any of our phones. There was still no signal. The call stopped then after a while it picked up again which was strange considering that there was no signal. The call continued till Raf pointed out: 'There! In Jethro’s pocket!’ He moved and pulled out the phone from the pocket. 'Who’s calling?’ I asked. 'It’s an unknown number.’ My eyes widened at that. Could it be… 'Let me see.’ I went to him, took the phone and picked the call. I put in on loudspeaker for everyone to hear. 'Wait for me, Ayo,’ Iranshe’s voice started. 'I am coming… I am here.’ The voice that finished made me realize something strange and I could tell that every other person noticed it too. 'Where’s Angel?’ I asked no one in particular. 'Presently present.’ A female voice said. I turned to the sound and shock fell like a mighty flood upon me. It was… Angel. She came out of the kitchen, holding a burning candle in one hand and a wine tumbler in the other. She was smiling so wickedly that I was sure it was the devil I was looking at. Then it hit me… Iranshe’s voice was first on the phone before hers… She looked exactly like Iranshe… As though he were a male version of her… His words in the car… Her scary wink…. I realized how much of a fool I’d been all along. But you really couldn’t blame me for taking his words and her winks for granted. I gasped. 'It’s… It’s you… Iranshe!’ She laughed like Dracula just before a blood feast. You may not realize the accuracy of that comparison but she was actually holding a tumbler full of blood which she twirled like the Queen of Hell. 'Correct, Ayo. I always knew you were a sharp girl who had sense when she had to. It’s just so unfortunate that it took you so long to realize that.’ She walked to the central couch and sat down there, crossing her legs, one over another and pouting. 'you know her?’ Raf asked me. 'It’s a long story.’ I couldn’t start talking there. 'You killed Jethro, you witch! After all I did for you, bringing you to this party, ’ Gem screamed, accusing her. She lunged at Angel but the guys restrained her. Clearly, Gem was mad beyond all sense. 'Oh! Yes. That’s right. I have to say a big thank you to you Gem. You know, I was running out of time getting the blood of youths for the coven cleansing. Then, you talked about the party in my presence. That was the best thing you could do for me: giving me legal ground to take lives. All I had to do was just to manipulate you to let me come to the party. Easy peazy. And Jethro? Oh! A girl has to have some pleasure at some time, right? He just made the mistake of digging his thing into the forbidden place.’ She placed her hand on her crotch seductively, twisting her hips. 'Wait a second,’ a look of surprise crossed her face. 'I think I let him do it on purpose. Something about wanting fresh blood for me alone… Oh well, I don’t seem to be able to help myself when it comes to these matters.’ She let out a wicked laugh. 'Don’t feel bad, Ayo. It was just a one time thing. I swear Jethro was head over heels into you. Too bad he had roving eyes when it came to things in skirts.’ She pouted with puppy eyes then burst into laughter. I could feel the fear in the room like a thick blanket. Even the guys were barely managing to conceal theirs with a look of bravery. Altogether, we were sixteen in the house including the DJ. Prior to this almost everyone was drunk but now, I was so sure that alcohol was no longer existing in their system. If anything, it must have turned to adrenaline. She stood up and, with a look of amusement on her face, she said, 'Don’t fear, guys. Look, I was going to kill you all at once but that would be kinda boring. Also, I need the blood of just fifteen people. So, here’s what we’re going to do.’ Her voice became deep, dark and dangerous. 'There are eight rooms in this house plus the kitchen and toilet. Out of all of them, only one is safe. If you enter the wrong room, I’ll kill you but if you enter the right one and stay till dawn I’ll let you live and leave. Only one person can remain. If two people find the safe room, both of them will die. You can stay in the corridor for only a minute after which I will come for you.’ She smiled cutely and her voice became sweet when she said, 'Those are the rules of our catch and kill game. Do we all understand?’ 'We don’t want to play. You can’t boss us around. Who do you think you are?’ Peter challenged. She looked at him with wicked eyes, frowning. He began to choke. He held his throat with both hands as some unseen force asphyxiated him. We all begged her to have mercy while some bent down to attend to him. He was so close to death when he took a long gasp and began to breathe heavily. 'Now, I’m counting to five. By the time I am done, no one must be left in the sitting room. One…’ And everyone, including Peter, who could barely stand a second ago, zapped out of the sitting room. We stood in the corridor Contemplating on what to do. Everywhere was totally dark. We all were in a tight situation. 'Look, let all of us move together. That way, we have a greater chance of survival. Granted, someone would have to die but it will be a case of survival of the fittest.’ a guy called Tolu said. 'That makes sense,’ I agreed. 'It will be harder for her to get us.’ Everyone agreed to the plan with nods and mumbles. The corridor had three rooms to the left and three rooms to the right. The toilet was at one end of the corridor. The sitting room was at the other end. The kitchen and dining area were left of the sitting room. The play ground was quite large… Or death ground as the case may be. The first room on the right was the males guest room, the left one was the females guest room. The second at the right was Gem’s brother’s room. The one at the left was Gem’s room. The last room on the right was the Father’s and the left, as you probably must’ve guessed, was the Mother’s. We were all about to head off towards the male guests’ room when a shrill voice, like that of a Banshee, screamed, 'A minute is over.’ and a dark cloud swept Tolu away. It wiped him against a wall and engulfed him. I could still hear his screams as we all ran into the room. I was devastated . Tolu had just right in front of my eyes. We all sat around in the room, sullen and quiet. We hoped we were in the safe room but we were all on our guards in case we were wrong. I stood by the wall close to the door. Chinaza, Sarah and Abdul were sitting on the bed. Blessing, who was with me by the door, said: 'Guys get up oh! She can appear anywhere at anytime. 'Too late.’ said a hiss like voice and from no where, Angel appeared in their midst, on the bed. The last thing I saw as the rest of us ran out of the room was Angel raising a fist and the three of them choking on the floor. When we got to the corridor, the sight of Tolu’s corpse scared all of us and we screamed. His body was putrid with sticky blood and worms all over him. His eyes and mouth were opened wide like Jethro’s We didn’t waste time in the corridor. With immediate effect, we headed for the next room on that line. Everyone except Blessing, that is. 'Blessing, what are you doing?’ Raf called out from the door of Gem’s brother’s room. 'I am not going to follow the crowd and die like that. I’ll make my own decisions. I may be right. Who knows?’ With that, she didn’t waste time in entering the mother’s room. We all called for her to come back. 'Don’t enter there. It’s my mom’s room. Even if I survive this, my mum will kill me.’ Gem cried and I had to struggle to stifle my laughter. Gem really was optimistic about this our little game, don’t you think? All plea fell on deaf ears as Blessing entered the room. We all entered the room- after dragging Gem inside- and closed the door. Gem was crying furiously as she sat on the floor. All of us just looked ahead hopelessly. No one tried to sit on the bed. We heard a scream from outside. Blessing had died. Gem screamed and we all sprung to action only to realize that she was only crying. Her head was bowed, in between her laps as she sobbed profoundly. Most of us were at the door then. DJ Burnboy and Favour were still by a standing mirror. All of us relaxed and were about to go back when the sobs slowly but steadily turned into insane laughter. Slowly, Gem lifted her head and all of us gasped. Blood was spurting out her mouth. Her eyes were blood red. She looked like a demon. She kept on laughing like a maniac then stopped abruptly. She spoke and it was Angel’s voice: 'Hello, again.’ The mirror shattered with large force sending glass pieces spraying out. DJ Burnboy and Favour dropped to the ground. Gem joined them a second later. The rest of us tried to protect ourselves from the glass pieces as we ran out of the room. We entered another room. I think it was Gem’s room. We were nine left so we stayed close. Don’t be fooled by that statement. Even though we stayed close, each of us was ready to run for our individual lives once she appeared. We stayed close to the door and waited. Ten minutes passed. Then, twenty. Nothing happened. Could we have found the safe room? Even if we did, we were more than one. She should have come for us by then. Something wasn’t adding up. Could something have happened to her? An hour had passed. Some of us had begun to doze off on the floor. We were all tired. I almost slept but Raf kept me up, telling me how dangerous it was to nap on duty. I checked my wrist watch. It was three thirty. Only two and a half hours left. I prayed to God to have mercy on me and let me escape this. I was about to doze off again when Joseph stood up and moved to the bed, looking carefully at it. 'Guys, doesn’t this room look familiar to you? It’s strange but it looks like we’ve been in this room before.’ The few of us left looked around. It was true. It looked like the first room we had entered… as though the room had been camouflaged with some kind of magic that was slowly wearing off. I didn’t want to believe it but I had to when Joseph removed the blanket over the bed to reveal the bodies of our three friends. The way almost everyone jumped up was so fast even light couldn’t be compared to it. Remember I said almost? A guy called Raymond was still dozing and so it took him a while to stand up. We all ran out as Angel’s voice wafted through the air. 'Break time is over!’ Slimy tentacles extended from the corpses and pulled Joseph, as he was the closest to the bed, and Raymond to the bed. I don’t know what happened to them after that but I can never wipe out the sound of their screams from my memory. I also knew one thing: They were dead. Lesson: A soldier never sleeps on duty. We were about to enter another room when Peter stopped us and said he had an idea. He led us through the sitting room into the kitchen. He pulled out knives and other utensils and distributed them to us. 'When she strikes again don’t be afraid to stab her. Do it fiercely and run.’ It sounded like a good idea so we all nodded and waited. 'It was strange,’ Raf said, 'We thought we had entered a different room. How did the rooms switch places?’ 'That’s for me to know and for you to fall for.’ Angel said with a laugh as she, all of a sudden, appeared behind him. Unknown to her, we were prepared for our deliverance. Raf quickly turned and rammed his butcher knife into her shoulder. Peter moved next, piercing her through the stomach with a sharp long knife. A guy named Mark hit her hard on the head with the thin hard edge of a garri turner. We watched her fall to the floor, bleeding and twitching. 'Run!’ Peter yelled and all of us obeyed. We headed for the door that lead outside. This was our freedom. We were finally free! Peter began to struggle to get the door opened. The door held for a while then opened abruptly causing all of us to stagger. By the time we gained stamina and stood straight to run out, a knife from no where across the street flew straight into Peter’s head. We all gasped in fear as Peter’s body fell to the ground. We looked across the street, trying to figure out where the knife came from when we saw a girl with disheveled hair. A butcher’s knife was stuck in her left shoulder blade and another knife was stuck in her stomach. She walked like a zombie and headed towards the house. I don’t have to tell you who it was, right? We slammed the door shut and ran back inside the house. I guess that part of deliverance was wrong. There were four rooms left. We were seven people remaining. This was truly a horror movie come to life. We entered the Father’s room. The room was well organized and neat. Very soon, the room would be stained with blood. We all stood at the door, ready to escape when the time came. 'I can’t believe my life would end like this.’ A girl called Ebube said, shaking violently. There was a knock at the door. We all jumped back in fright. Raf quickly moved forward and locked the door. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, we had weakened her powers so she couldn’t walk through the door. Raf was in front of us facing the wardrobe. The wardrobe just opposite us flung open and a butcher knife shot out of it. Raf quickly dodged it and it lodged itself in Ebube’s skull. Out of the wardrobe came a stark raving mad Angel with knives stuck in her. We all moved to unlock the door. It was a literal case of 'all hands on’. Finally, after fumbling with the door knob, someone finally unlocked it and all of us struggled with one another to go through the door first. Raf grabbed my arm and pulled me with him through the door first. We were followed by everyone except Mark who was struck by a large wooden log that came out of no where. He was still in the room and we just couldn’t leave the room opened. We shut the door and ran into the female guests’ room. You’d think by now we’d have already realised that door weren’t much of a barrier to her. Now it was only I, Raf, two guys named Daniel and Joshua, and a girl named Chinemerem, Chiny for short, that were left. It was four forty-five then. I was hopeful. Chiny began to complain that she was pressed. We all looked at her crazy. She kept complaining about it. 'Are you insane?’ Raf asked her angry. 'Can’t you see what’s going on?’ 'I know. I’m not blind. I’m just tired. If it’s to die, I *don ready. I just want to use the rest room. If she will kill me let her do it once and for all. Besides, who knows if the toilet is the safe room.’ She was about to go when Joshua held her hand. 'Wait. I’ll go with you,’ he said. 'You know she’s going to the toilet right?’ Raf asked. It was now Joshua’s turn to be looked at crazy. 'I know. I just think it would be best for her not to go alone. I’ll face the door so you won’t have to worry about privacy.’ I rolled my eyes at him. It was common knowledge that Joshua was sweet on Chiny. But even to the point of death? Even over a girl that didn’t care about you? I concluded that he must have been foolish. 'Thank you,’ Chiny said, hugging him. They left the room. The three of us who were left hissed in unison and focused our attention back on the situation at hand. We looked around us for abnormalities and kept our guards up. A lot of minutes passed by without us seeing anything. Everywhere was eerily quiet. Thirty minutes had gone by. No Angel. This time nobody slept. We kept watching. Suddenly we began to hear a dripping sound as if water was dropping slowly from a tap. We got on alert but no one ventured further than the door. We only looked around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. We couldn’t find out any source. It was quite confusing but no one got distracted. Something dropped on my shoulder. Then on Raf’s and Daniel’s shoulders. I used my index finger to wipe it off and look at it. Blood. Slowly, we looked up and… Above us hung Angel, upside. The blood was from the wounds we had inflicted her. She smiled a devilish smile and jumped down. Raf swung the door open using it to slap her away. I and Raf ran out but before Daniel could run out she jumped and took him to the ground. I and Raf stood in the corridor as we heard David’s screams. Immediately, Joshua ran out of the toilet, screaming in fear. Something pulled him back inside and shut the door. Just a room was left. Gem’s room. The safe room. Two of us were left. We had less than a minute to remain in the corridor. Raf pushed me towards the door. 'Get in!’ he ordered. 'No…’ He cut me short with a brief full kiss on my mouth. 'I love you. Just so you’d know. It was love at first sight.’ He gave me a rue smile. His eyes widened and he pushed me into the room as a force flung him against the wall and engulfed him too. I screamed into the darkness as he screamed my name to death. I locked the door and leaned against the wall crying. It was funny. It hadn’t taken much time but I’d fallen for him. I knew it was probably just initial fascination but then I’d become attached to him. He had given himself for me. He kept pushing me even when I was tired. I remembered the kiss and touched my lips. It was wrong. I knew. But I couldn’t bring myself to feel guilty. I sank to the floor and kept crying. Slowly, sleep took me away but I let it come. I was in the safe room but I still had till daylight. I had a nightmare so I jerked up from sleep. Angel was beginning to affect me even the dream. I checked my time. It was five thirty. I had slept for over an hour but it felt like I’d only slept for five minutes. I rubbed my eyes. I had thirty more minutes to go so I decided to be vigilant and to plan what I was going to tell my parents and the police. My parents would be so disappointed in me for sneaking out and the police? Let’s just say that they wouldn’t be letting me off the hook easily after being the last person in a house of over fifteen dead bodies. I thought about the parents of the deceased too. How would Gem’s parents feel coming home to see the bodies of dead youths, a bowl of blood and disco lights? I was going to think more but I was distracted by a sound. Sobs were coming from somewhere. I stood up and looked around. My heart skipped. It was Blessing. I began to shake as I walked towards her. She looked up at me with so much sadness in her eyes. 'Blessing? How did you get here?’ She didn’t say anything she just kept sobbing profoundly. Slowly the room began to change. It was a subtle change but before I knew it, the room was different. Where there was only a full standing mirror before, a standing mirror with a stand for cosmetics and jewellery was there. Before long, the room had the effect of an adult. I had been deceived. This was not Gem’s room. It seemed to be the… Mother’s room… Where Blessing had died. Blood began to stream from Blessing’s neck as her eyes rolled back and she fell down, dead, on the bed. I gasped and drew back. I ran to the door and tried to unlock it but the key didn’t turn a radian. Fear gripped me as my heart sky rocketed. I struggled to get a grip on myself. I had only a few minutes till dawn so I decided to struggle for my life. I pulled the knife that Peter had given me in the kitchen from my leggings. It was a small bread knife but it was sharp anyway. I was glad I hadn’t used it before. It was time to fight for my life. I looked around me for something else I could use and a funny idea occurred to me. It was a rather wild one but it was worth the try. I went to the dressing mirror. There was also a Bible and a half filled plastic bottle of water there. I slipped the knife into the Bible and placed the Bible on the water bottle. I started to pray fervently over them. If you saw me then you’d probably think that I was a member of the prayer squad at church. I was expecting her to come by then but she didn’t. I began to wonder why but I rounded up my prayer quickly and slipped the knife back into the leggings while I held the bottle under the skirt of my gown. I checked my time again. It was five forty-five. Fifteen minutes till I was safe. I ran back to the door and tried the key again. It turned this time and I was able to unlock it. I turned the knob so as to leave the room and the door opened. I jumped back. There she stood, at the other side of the door. The lightning flashes made her look all the more formidable. I jumped back and the door slipped close. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest as I looked around in the darkness trying to find her. 'Please,’ I begged, 'Don’t kill me. It’s only a few minutes till daylight. You said you only needed fifteen people. Have mercy please.’ 'Mercy? That word doesn’t exist in my vocabulary.’ The voice came from behind me but when I turned to look, there was no one there. 'Ah! Please, don’t kill me.’ I kept begging. 'You know you were always my favourite. That’s why I went the distance of bringing you here myself.’ I turned again to look at her but she disappeared. She was like a ghost, just appearing from and disappearing into thin air. 'Are you scared?’ She asked, once again, vanishing before I could turn to face her. I began to wonder at her question. Could this be a Nigerian version of scare tactics? Was this all a joke, somehow? I earnestly prayed it was. I nodded my head yes and whimpered a pathetic reply. 'Yes.’ Her laugh reverberated round the room and in a second she was right behind me, speaking right into my ears, 'Don’t be.’ That was all I had been hoping for, to be in close range with her. I quickly turned and emptied my bottle of holy water on her. She screamed and I could perceive the smell of rotting flesh. I ran out of the room feeling like Lara Croft and I went straight into the real Gem’s room. I recalled that the window in her room didn’t have bars so I ran straight for the window. I had already jumped out when a hand gripped my leg and pulled me back causing me to crash on the floor. The impact flushed the air out of me but I kept struggling with Angel. One minute, I was on top of her, the next minute, she was on top of me. That’s how we kept wrestling on the ground. I fought like a tigress for my life. One last time, I was on top of her so, I pulled my knife from my leggings and moved to stab her right in her heart region. Unfortunately, she was more powerful so, she simply placed her palm on my chest and I flew backwards off her, landing on the ground with a large thud. I rolled on the ground, groaning in pain. She walked like a cat and stood right over me. She laughed. 'I’m really not impressed. Really? Holy water? Holy knife? I just watched you praying over those things and couldn’t help but think how ridiculous you were.’ 'Please, don’t kill me,’ I cried. 'I shouldn’t kill you? But you tried to kill me.’ 'I’m sorry. Please, have mercy.’ small rays of sunlight were starting to stream in through the window so, I added, 'it’s daylight already. Please, just let me go. I’m in the safe room. You promised not to kill under these conditions.’ She bent over me, a wicked glint dancing in her eyes. 'Really? Hmm, I guess I lied then.’ She brushed a strand of hair off my face. I was too weak to do anything. She then raised the knife over me. 'This one is for me and me alone. Now, DIE!’ She brought the knife down with force. I screamed. I jumped up from the ground, breathing heavily. I looked around me. My whole mind was in a flurry. Slowly, my confusion cleared and I realized that I was in my room. It had just been a dream. My breathing slowed down and I began to relax. I looked at the clock. It was nine thirty. I recalled the call with Jethro and once again I realized I was running late. I paused. The dream came to me again. I paused then I convinced myself that it was only a dream. I moved to get dressed. The window was flung open by a sudden gust of wind and I jumped in fright. My Bible flipped open. I relaxed. It was only the wind. I walked to the bedside table and as I was about to close the Bible a verse caught my eye. I had highlighted it. It read: Proverbs 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. I hesitated. Once again, I tried to convince myself that it was only a dream. I went straight to my wardrobe and pulled out the dress I planned to wear. It was a pink floral dress with a black gladiator heels. I hesitated. Could it be? I shook my head and slipped on the dress and shoes. I put on my 'make up’ of powder and olive oil then I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked pale but beautiful. I smiled and pinched my cheeks. Slowly colour returned to them. I took my purse, walked towards the door and stopped, recalling that the heels kept making noise that would get me discovered. I turned to get it changed. The right heel broke. I hesitated and this time I swallowed hard. I convinced myself, once again, that it had only been a dream. I went quickly and put on my leggings and black slippers. I sneaked out of the house successfully and was about to head to the gate when I heard snoring. I paused in fright and slowly turned to see my father sleeping on his knees. All the colour drained from my face. I breathed in and out heavily. It was just a coincidence, I tried to convince myself. I headed for the gate and left the yard. I looked around. Jethro’s father’s car was two blocks away. The headlights flashed twice and I went towards it. With my heart pounding in my chest, I peered into the window. I relaxed considerably when I saw the person’s back as he was looking out the other window. He had Jethro’s build and hair cut. Even the shirt was Jethro’s. I entered the car and was about to tell him about my crazy dreams when he turned. It was Okuku Iranshe. Jethro’s words from the dream came to my mind: Step one. Step two. Step three. And the party begins. I screamed. Pidgin reference * Please it's not now we'll solve that mystery. I'm going home. *'Don' is the Nigerian pidgin for 'am'

#horror #spiritual #fiction #my writing

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