Worlds Within Worlds

 

Argathog raced across the valley floor. He moved as fast as all his six legs could carry him. He moved with the desperation of fear. He knew that capture meant death. He knew that there would be no mercy.

     Argathog was not alone, the love of his life, Mantissa, was with him and trying to catch up.

     He looked at Mantissa, every single eye in his large compound eyes expressed his love, concern, and devotion for this beautiful creature that was his mate.

     As she scrambled over grains of sand the size of boulders, they both heard the soul-crushing sound of the hive hunters gaining on them. They looked at each other in dismay and doubled their efforts. Energized by desperation and fear, they practically flew over the remaining sand boulders, arriving at the entrance to an underground channel that led into the caverns created by the intricate root system of a huge tree.

     They both came to a screeching halt! Taking stock of their environment, they knew they had to be very careful. They were entering an alien world and they knew that in this environment, there were other dangers apart from the chasing hive hunters.

     Their compound eyes, composed of hundreds of individual eyes; dilated to their maximum to see into the surreal gloom of the cathedral-like structures within the tree's cavern systems. The monstrously massive structure of the tree's tap root with its enumerable adjoining roots created the foundation for this.

     The itinerant lovers knew that they had to be very careful in this environment. There were many other ant-races, some of them were very hostile, and some were even cannibalistic. Getting eaten wasn't part of the plan.

     Pragaxx, the ant leading the hive hunters, was both dedicated and unrelenting. He will never give up until they are captured and returned to the hive. Even now he was still trying to use the hypnotic powers of the hive mind to get them to give themselves up. But this was an action in futility. They had drunk from the forbidden well and are now truly free. What they now craved was their individual freedom. Their minds are already free.

     With extreme caution, they moved deeper into the surreal gloom. They resisted the urge to run even though they could hear Pragaxx and the pursuers clearly in their minds, getting closer.

     Suddenly, they saw a pure shaft of light piercing the gloom and lighting up the way towards an intricate set of massive roots leading up to the sunlight. Argathog knew instinctively that this was the trap they had been warned about by the hive seer, an individual, who had achieved hive freedom but had managed to keep it hidden from the Hive for decades.

     Before he could stop her, Mantissa ran into the shaft of light and got stuck. She struggled mightily but couldn't free herself from the bonds that held her down. Her cries of desperation and horror ripped through Argathog's heart like a dagger.

     Looking at her, he knew there was nothing he could do to rescue her. At the same time, he knew he couldn't continue living without her. With resignation, he walked into the shaft of bright light to join her. Both of them are now stuck.

     As they stood there nuzzling each other, powerful ants, armed with heavy armor and pincer-like claws came out of the gloom. They were surrounded, and lunch was about to be served.

     The two lovers looked into each other's eyes, in them, they saw a reflection of their hearts, their hopes, and the future they believed they had together. They started to sing.

It was a song of the soul, heart-wrenching, and melancholy.

     As they sang, their captors watched them making no moves, yet highly intent, with the hunters' focus.

     After a while, their captors started spitting at their feet.

     Suddenly, their bonds melted away. They were free once again.

     With elation, they hurried through the network of massive roots and emerged into the sunlight.

#

Pragaxx led the 5000-strong hunting group into the massive underground cavern system. The minds of the whole group were linked together as one, to form a super-mind, with Pragaxx's mind, as the mind control center.

     This gave  Pragaxx an incredible advantage over the fugitives. He could think faster, see further, and act quicker than them.

     They must be caught. The thought of failure was unthinkable. Mantissa was carrying in her thousands of eggs that must not be allowed to hatch. It would mean the end of Hive civilization and culture as it was known.

     He could sense the path they had taken. However, something was amiss. They had stopped and for some time they had been in deep distress, but were now elated and moving again, quite freely. What had happened? Caution was needed here until the mystery is resolved. He led the hunters through the gloom until they got to the bright shaft of light.

     They all stood and watched, making no moves. He knew that this was where the sounds of distress had come from, but what had caused it.

     He sensed that something was hiding in the gloom. What was it?

     Whatever it was, it had let the fugitives through, so, why wouldn't it let them through?

Pragaxx knew the reputation of this place. He wasn't going to be careless. He sent 50 ants into the shaft of light.

     When they got to the middle of the passageway, they got stuck.

     The cannibal ants came out immediately!!

     Pragaxx had to make a quick decision. They could all stay there and get slaughtered or, they could sacrifice a small number and then charge the opening to freedom in the pursuit of the fugitives. He chose the latter.

     He instructed about 250 ants to run onto the sticky pathway and lie flat on it, creating a passageway for the rest of them to run across their backs without getting trapped.

     The remaining ants ran across the pathway, using the backs of their colleagues as footing, while the cannibal ants had a hard time capturing them because of their speed. Eventually, over 90% of the hunters emerged into the sunlight to continue their pursuit of the fugitives.

#

Argathog and Mantissa knew the moment that Pragaxx and his hunters emerged from the underground caverns.

     They had hoped that the cannibals would stop them in their pursuit. Now they knew that the superior intellect of the hivemind had given the pursuers the ability to think their way out of danger.

     They hurried on as quickly as they could. Green sweat poured out of the pores between their exoskeletons, as they raced through a forest of sharp-bladed grass.

     Mantissa suggested that they could hide in the forest of grass, but Argathog reminded her that although they were free from the influence of the Hive mind, it could still detect them; as they could detect it. Hiding from it is an impossibility. They just had to keep on moving until they were so far away that they would never be found, ever again!

 

 

#

The couple traveled a whole day without rest until they got to a black rocky plain. It was a very strange environment as the ground constantly shook with the roar of thunder. Although they were terrified they had to continue their journey forward. The hunters were not far behind, as they could constantly sense them in their pursuit. They continued without respite, without rest. Until they got to a place where the rocky black terrain changed to a white, flat, and sterile one.

     The thunderous vibrations of the environment continued unabated. It was a constant reminder of how vulnerable they were in the universe.

     After some time, they got back on the rocky black plain and hurried on. They later exited it, climbed up a grey mountain, and rested at the top of its plateau. At this stage, they had been traveling non-stop for 3 days. The adrenaline and fear that were driving them were now exhausted. They just had to rest.

     For some time, they believed they had lost the hunters. However, suddenly, they could feel their presence in pursuit again. Argathog urged his mate that they should get moving, but Mantissa was too exhausted to care. She was carrying so many eggs that were almost due. She did not have the energy to leave where she was; she was resigned to fate.

     Argathog looked at his mate, wiped out by exhaustion. He knew that he could not get her to move from where she was. He resigned himself to fate and sat beside her, as she tried to regain some of her strength. All the time, the presence of the pursuers kept on getting stronger and looming larger in his mind. He knew that Pragaxx and the hive hunters were closing in. Yet there was absolutely nothing he could do. Mantissa couldn't move from where she was.

     The presence of Pragaxx and his hunters kept on looming large in their minds as they approached.

     Argathog looked everywhere in desperation, there was simply no way out. Despite his desperate entreaties for them to move, Mantissa couldn't get up from where she lay.

Her exhaustion was like that of the dead. As she gazed at him, rivers of purple tears started rolling down her big beautiful compound eyes in a river of love and resigned fate. She begged him to continue without her but, he refused and told her never to speak about such a thing again. With that issue resolved they waited for the inevitable.

#

From their vantage point at the top of the plateau, they watched as Pragaxx and the hunters poured across the black rocky plains. Their pace quickened with the realization that their prey was not moving anymore. The hunt was almost at an end!

     The two lovers could sense the malicious glee of their antagonists as they approached. It was obvious to them that there will be no mercy. The images conjured by the minds of the approaching group were anything short of evil. They were to be sacrificed to the demonic hive gods as a lesson to others.

     The hunters kept coming closer and closer until they became visible to the hunted. Pragaxx was in the lead as was expected. They poured across the black rocky plains. The doomed couple watched.

     Suddenly, a roar of thunder more terrible than anything they had ever had before reached their ears. A huge black mountain flashed by in less time than it took to blink an eye and swept the whole hunting party away.

     The couple's minds perceived the screams of horror that emanated from the death of thousands of ants in a flash. There was a mighty wind, and the whole column of hunters was swept away, the rest, pulverized on the black rocky plain!

     The couple put their arms around each other and slept. After sleeping like the dead for an indeterminate number of hours, they woke up and searched for nutrients, then continued on their journey.  Mantissa's eggs will soon be due, and they have to find an appropriate nest.

     They traveled for a few more days without incident until they got to a very fertile place full of nutritious microbes and other delicacies that will nourish a whole colony of ants - smart, independent, and without a hive mind.

     Argathog settled down to start the business of building their hive while Mantissa looked for the best spot within the same location to create their first nest. After everything was in place, Mantissa started preparations for laying her eggs.

     Suddenly, they felt the presence of Pragaxx jump into their minds. It was as if their mind was playing tricks on them. They had seen Pragaxx swept away by the wind of the gods, and the rest of his hunters destroyed on the black rocky plain; how could they now be feeling his presence in their minds.

     However there was no ignoring what they felt in their minds, it was as real as the world around them, and they had no choice. They had to begin to accept the fact that they are not yet free. That they are still in danger, but how?

     Reluctantly, and with huge discomfort for Mantissa, they left their new hive and nest and continued inland. They got to a nice secure place where they did not feel threatened. They felt that this was where they could establish a new hive and Mantissa could lay her eggs.

     It took a long time for Mantissa to completely lay her eggs, and the process was very stressful for her since she did not have the strength of the hive to make it effortless.

After she had finished the task, she secured the nest and followed Argathog to forage for nutrients and sustenance.

     After the lovers had had their fill, then they returned to their new hive and nest. On arrival, they received the shock of their lives. Surrounding the nest was Pragaxx and the rest of the hunters. They all looked rattled and bruised. Every ant in the hunting party had an injury of sorts. There were a lot of broken limbs, punctured eyes, limp antennas, and bruised exoskeletons; but they were all still functional.

     The hunters and the hunted looked at each other in grim silence. There was nothing to say or do! There was nowhere to run! It was over!

     Despite his terror, Argathog wanted to know how they were found without Mantissa and himself being aware of it. It simply seemed impossible that such a thing could happen.

     Pragaxx looked at them and shook his head, his broken antenna swinging back and forth before his one good compound eye. He promised to humor them before destroying them.                           The issue of capture was no longer feasible; they were too weak and wounded to return to the hive.

     Pragaxx said that the moment Mantissa laid her eggs she lost the ability to communicate with the Hive mind and since Argathog was linked to her in the mind, he lost that ability too. And without their hive mind, they were nothing. Once that connection was severed, it could never be restored. This was the danger, not only to themselves but to the ant population. It was the reason that anybody who drank from the forbidden well had to die. Sacrificed to the ant gods. Are the nutrients in the forbidden well worth the costs to whoever drank from it? Is it worth it to develop individualism through independent thought? This may be desired, but at the end of the day, it destroyed society and made it weaker. Ants are not meant to function as individuals, they were meant to function as a collective and their survival was and is in the collective. So the cancer of individualism had to be uprooted.

     Argathog listened to this stoically while Mantissa was begging for the life of the little ants that would soon hatch out of her eggs.

     Argathog understood what was happening. The nutrients from the forbidden well gave those who drank from it an individual mind, capable of emotions and independent thought. It made them sentient. They were completely free from slavery. A situation whereby the collective mind was controlled by the Hive Queen. This was what made the difference.

      In the past, there was only one intelligent being - Hive Queen, with the rest as morons. The only exception to this situation was when the queen decides to bestow intelligence on an individual to function for her controlling and directing the collective. Except for such a situation, every other ant was a moron.

     Only the Hive Queen was allowed to drink from the forbidden well. It made her a god among the insects, and it gave her the kind of power that she would not like to share with her inferiors. This was the secret of the hive. This was why they had to die, this was why they couldn't be allowed to live. It was all about power, it was all about control. Of course, it was the Hive Queen speaking to them now through the agency of Pragaxx, but they already knew that.

     As it was customary the nest had been built in the spine of a huge leaf. Argathog and Mantissa were instructed to come together with their eggs so that they will be annihilated. The couple obeyed their captures and huddled around their offspring, waiting for the inevitable.

     Suddenly, it started raining and a huge wind accompanied it. Massive columns of water fell from the sky washing away Pragaxx and his hunters. Then the wind carried the nest for four days. It finally landed on a stream where it was carried on for another two days. By this time Argathog, Mantissa, and their offspring are in another universe far from those who could hurt them, far from those who hated their freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON? (FICTION)

      

My name is Munira and I live in Abuja with my family. I was born and bred in Minna, a town in the north-central part of Nigeria. After I finished my secondary education, I moved in with my aunt to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. Staying with my aunt was a delight. She treated me just like her own child. I attended the University of Abuja and got myself a degree in sociology.

       It was while I was at the university that I met my husband, Jamu.

      I had attended a Christian meeting on campus. After the event, Jamu introduced himself to me and we started talking. It turned out that we were from the same place and, we even knew some mutual friends. With time the relationship grew from friendship to intimacy, and we became an item.

       Jamu graduated two years before me. By the time I graduated, he was already working in a government agency earning a good salary with nice perks to go with it. After graduation, I was fortunate to be posted to a neighboring state for my compulsory year of national service. This made it easy for Jamu and me to continue our relationship without much difficulty. He drove down to where I was posted every weekend so that we could spend quality time together. By the time I finished service, we both knew that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. 

          I moved in with Jamu and, six months later we were married in Minna. We had our first child a year later and we named him Daniel. Daniel was a lively and energetic child. He was smart and inquisitive. He brought a lot of joy into our home and life was good. Two years later, his twin younger brothers were born and, they were named Clement and Charles. At this stage, Jamu and I decided that we had enough children.
       Two years later, we lost my father and my mother was devastated. Jamu suggested that she should come and live with us in Abuja and, she agreed. My mother stayed with us for about six months then, suddenly decided that she wanted to go back home. We tried to dissuade her but, she was adamant. She said she missed her home and the familiar faces in the neighborhood. After trying in vain to stop her departure, we agreed to drive her home. That was when she requested that Daniel should come and spend the rest of the holidays with her. I was intuitively reluctant to grant her this request, Jamu said that it didn't matter. He said that we would pick Daniel up in two weeks when the school holidays ended. He said it would be a nice experience for Daniel and would make grandma very happy. So, reluctantly we took grandma home and left Daniel with her.
        I spoke with grandma every day. I didn't want her to feel that she was abandoned. However, each time I called her, I asked to speak with Daniel. Her response was always that he was playing in the big family compound with his age mates so; he was unable to take my calls.
       Two weeks flew by in a jiffy and we were on our way to Minna to pick up Daniel and see grandma. Little did I know that that was going to be the beginning of hell on earth for my family and me.
       On arrival at grandma's place, we passed through the gauntlet of neighbors and kinsmen who welcomed us. Grandma was at the door to welcome us and we embraced each other enthusiastically in greeting. I was surprised that Daniel hadn't rushed out to meet us and I asked of him immediately. Grandma said that he was in my old room sleeping. I went into the room to wake him up but grandma stopped me. She said that he had just taken his lunch after an afternoon of serious football. I then decided that I would wake him up when we were leaving. At 6pm, we decide to leave for Abuja. Daniel hadn't woken up yet. Jamu picked him up and put him in our car's back sit to continue his sleep. Everybody came out to wish us a safe journey and, we were on our way to Abuja.
     Jamu and I chatted happily as we drove serenely back to Abuja. Suddenly, the inside of the car was permeated with a horrible odour. It took us a few seconds to realize that the smell was coming from the back seat and it was the smell of faeces. Daniel had defaecated on himself in his sleep! He had stopped doing this when he was in diapers! Jamu and I were stunned! I wanted Jamu to stop the car, but he refused. He said that it would be dangerous. Instead, he opened the car's windows and increased speed. I tried to wake Daniel up but his response was very groggy. He was behaving like somebody who had taken too much alcohol. I was becoming very alarmed. What was wrong with my son?! Why was he behaving like this?! I tried harder to wake him up but he remained groggy. I called grandma immediately to find out why Daniel was behaving the way he was? She said that there was nothing wrong with him. I started arguing with her. Jamu snatched the phone from me and put it off. He drove until we got to our house in Abuja.
     Jamu calmed me down and told me not to be an alarmist. We cleaned Daniel up and put him to bed. We hoped he will sleep off the effects of whatever was wrong with him. However, there was no change in his condition the next day.
     At this stage, we knew that medical help had become mandatory. This started our journey of visiting one hospital after the other. Within a year, hospital bills accumulated because of Daniel's ailment almost bankrupted the family. We sold our house and other landed property including, our collective inheritance from Daniel's grandparents. The strange thing was that Daniel's ailment confounded and confused every medical expert we visited. It was the consensus that his problem was medical but, what type was the issue. Repeated scans did not reveal any organ damage. At the same time, numerous psychological and psychiatric tests were inconclusive. We were at our wit's end.
     It was at this stage that a family friend told us to explore the possibility that Daniel's ailment could be a manifestation of demonic manipulation. This made sense to Jamu and me. We started taking Daniel to church. When things remained the same, we decided to take him to more esoteric churches. This was when my friend suggested that we visit a very powerful spiritualist that owned a church in the outskirts of town.
     Pastor Lemu's church was a one-plot affair on a dusty street. Inside the church was gloomy and we waited in line to see him. There were other people who had been there before us and, I had the distinct impression that this was more of a spiritual consulting centre than a church. However, I didn't care. We were desperate!
      Pastor Lemu turned out to be a young man in his mid-thirties. He listened carefully to all we had to say and then examined Daniel. After this, he told us to come back three nights later. We made the appointment and subjected ourselves to an all-night prayer vigil. When day broke, we were instructed to make a substantial offering and meet the pastor in his office. This we did. The pastor told us that Daniel's ailment was caused by my mother. He instructed us to go straight to her and, order her to release him.
    Jamu and I were so furious that we drove like demented people straight from the church to my mother's house in Minna. We rushed into the compound without greeting anybody. We barged into her house and started raining all sorts of accusations on her. The whole compound was in an uproar. Accusations and refutations. Given spiritual revelations and denials. Everybody taking sides. It was bedlam. 

         Suddenly, my mother collapsed. All efforts to revive her proved futile and she was rushed to the hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. I was overwhelmed by a sea of emotions. There was grief, elation, shock, sadness, and hope all mixed together. We couldn't go back to Minna since people were already accusing us of murdering my mother. Instead, we drove straight back to the pastor in Abuja. 

       He congratulated us and said that we were victorious. He said that we shouldn't mourn my mother because she was a witch. He advised us to make a substantial donation to the church since he traveled with us spiritually to fight the battle. We did as we were told.

  I was without my underwear and slippery wet. I screamed in pain and fury!

     A month after my mother was buried,  Daniel's condition hadn't changed. He was still an imbecile. We took him back to the pastor. He said that the witchcraft society my mother belonged to was very powerful. He asked for more money to make special spiritual preparations. I was a bit mystified by this. His explanation was that he had to work with other pastors on this assignment and money was needed to take care of some logistics. We gave him the money and he went to work. After some time, the expected results did not materialize and this made us very unhappy. He assured us that this was temporary. He said that for everything to get back to normal I had to participate in the final spiritual prayer war. I assured him of my readiness and, a date was set.
       On that fateful night, Jamu dropped me at the church around 8pm. The prayer session started around 10pm with about fifteen people in attendance. Sometime during the night, I fell asleep on the bare floor. When I woke up, I was feeling very uncomfortable. I noticed that the room was very quiet. The pastor was the only person in the room and he was quickly pulling on his trousers!! 

       Alarm bells rang in my head! I quickly checked myself. I was without my underwear and slippery wet. I screamed in pain and fury! I'd just been raped!! I screamed Lemu's name at the top of my voice! Then he started begging not to make a scene but I was inconsolable.
        The noise attracted people to the scene and I was telling all and sundry what had transpired. This was how Jamu met us. The moment Jamu learned about what had happened, he beat Lemu to a pulp and then invited the police to arrest him.
        However, six weeks after this horrible incident, I discovered that I was pregnant. This was very distressing news for Jamu and me. We immediately decided to terminate the pregnancy. Lemu was still rotting in jail and Daniel was still an imbecile and here I was having to go through the trauma of an abortion. However, things were about to go from bad to worse. 

       Jamu was robbed by some teenagers one night when he was coming home from work. It was a vicious and cowardly attack. He was hit on the head from behind with a big stick. The boys took his mobile phone, wallet, and shoes. These were just hungry products of an uncaring society. But their action brought untold hardship to an innocent life. The blow to the back of Jamu's head was so severe that he lost all motor functions. He was paralyzed from the neck down and, expert medical diagnosis predicted recovery to be in the realm of miracles.
          In fairness to Jamu's employers, they supported us financially in every way. When it became obvious that nothing could be done for him in Nigeria, he was flown abroad for expert medical treatment. During this period, I removed Lemu's horrible, stinking seed from my system. While Jamu was being treated abroad, I continued my search for a cure for Daniel. My search took me to many places without an iota of hope for his improvement. But I couldn't give up on him. It got to a stage I was exhausted physically and mentally. My emotions were in turmoil and I had reached my lowest ebb. I went back to my original church. The church Jamu and I got married in and, poured my heart out to the pastor. He listened with rapt attention to all my tribulations and said, "put your trust in God".
            I went home and started a serious regimen of fasting and prayer. After a few days, I had a very strange dream. In the dream, I was an observer looking at what took place years ago. I was given the insight in the dream that what I was seeing was when Jamu was being born. I watched the delivery and a woman that was revealed to me as his mother's older sister was given the baby's placenta for disposal. I watched as this woman placed the placenta in a pot and buried it on a farm.
              I woke up in a cold sweat. I couldn't make head or tail of the whole experience. Something urged me to go to church. I dressed up and went to church where I met my pastor. I narrated the dream to him and he became very excited. He insisted that both of us do praise worship immediately and, then travel to Jamu's family compound in Minna without delay.  
               As we entered Jamu's family compound the first person we saw was the woman in my dream. She was much, much older than in the dream, but it was her. She fell on her face immediately and started begging for mercy and forgiveness. A huge and embarrassed gathering of family members stood by and listened as she confessed to one atrocity after the other. She had destroyed many lives in that extended family. 

          In Jamu's case after murdering his mother, she decided to take further revenge on an innocent child by destroying him in his prime. The painful part was that Daniel and I were just collateral damage. We suffered so that Jamu could feel more pain.
              We instructed the old woman to take us to where she buried the pot containing the placenta, dig it up and hand it over to the pastor and me. She obeyed us without hesitation. We collected the grisly package and returned it to Abuja.  I destroyed the charmed placenta burning it and scattering the ashes to the wind.
             The reversal was immediate and joyful. After about six months, things have changed for the better, Daniel is back to himself and Jamu has started walking again.  My only regret now was the pain and anguish I caused my mother. I am sure she has forgiven me. I thank God for His deliverance.








































     
                   

THE DOUBLE BLIND (FICTION)

 

It was a hellishly hot day. The weather was dry and lacked humidity. The little breeze that blew was uncomfortable and irritating.

      Ronald looked into the unforgiving sky as he wiped the sweat off his brow. He dropped the shovel he had just used in burying the last corpse. It seemed like everybody was dying in Lagos today.

      Ronald was an undertaker. His job was to bury the dead and, it was a job he loved. Today he had buried over eighty corpses, and it had been very difficult and tedious. He was glad when his shift was over and he could relax. He knew where to go for such.

      He left the cemetery and took a quick bus ride to his favorite bar. It was a local joint that served very cold beer and very hot pepper soup.

      He was on his second bottle when a handsome-looking young man joined the table. They got into a conversation about the merits and demerits of the national football coach, and very soon, they were talking like old friends.  Football was a subject that Ronald believed he was an expert on and, because of this, he spoke in a very opinionated voice.                They spoke at length about the state of the national football team and how the foreign coach was managing it. The argument was heated but good-natured. As the evening wore on, the young man who had identified himself as Mark decided to supply the table with more chilled bottles of beer.

      After a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable evening, Mark paid for all the drinks and invited Ronald to his house for a party. Ronald was reluctant and explained that he had to be at work early the next day. Mark prevailed on him explaining that, that day was his birthday and his friends had called him when he had gone to the restroom. They were throwing an impromptu party for him at his house. They had arranged a lot of food and drinks.

      Ronald thought of the situation, but the idea of more free food and drinks persuaded him against his better judgment, so, he went home with Mark.

      Mark's house was somewhere in the suburbs, and it took some time to get there.

As they entered the tastefully furnished apartments, they were met by half-naked dancing girls and a lot of young men drinking and toasting the celebrant.

      It was obvious that the party had been going on for some time. Before Ronald knew what was happening a drink had been thrust into his hands and, a very delicious-looking lady had started dancing with him. She was young, sweet, and very interested in everything Ronald had to say. He was flattered, although he considered himself good-looking, this was the first time that a woman would be hitting on him so openly. 

      She told him that her name was Fiona and that she was a student at the local University. As they drank and danced the night away they became more intimate. The next thing Ronald knew was that they were on a bed in one of the bedrooms. Their clothes came off as if it was on fire and they coupled vigorously. The dance of love continued for hours. Positions were changed, variations were experimented with, forbidden practices we are indulged in.

       Fueled by hormones and alcohol they continued the dance of ecstasy for almost three hours.

      Suddenly, Ronald noticed that Fiona was no longer moving. He thought that maybe she had passed out from too much enjoyment. However, the way she lay still was a bit disconcerting. Then he took a closer look at her. He noticed the blank staring eyes and the slack mouth.

      Ronald's body went cold with dread and he lost his erection immediately. He got off the bed and shook the girl vigorously. There was no response.

      Ronald had seen enough dead bodies to know that Fiona was dead. His blood ran cold! What had happened. He was confused and he did not understand exactly what was going on. His mind ran in confused circles. Panic set in! 

      He thought of putting on his clothes and sneaking out of the party. Then he looked at the girl again and wondered if she could be helped. He knelt beside the bed and took a good look at her. After a close examination, it was obvious that she was beyond any help. She had less life in her than a piece of stone.

      He decided that the best thing he could do was sneak out of the party. After all, he had just met Mark for the first time and, it was doubtful that he would be able to trace him. All he had to do was avoid going to the bar where they had met and he would be safe. As this thought passed through his mind, he felt a tinge of guilt. He knew that he would be putting Mark in a very, very bad situation and, he knew that Mark would suffer needlessly for something he knew absolutely nothing about.

       He quickly banished this feeling from his mind. This was a time for self-preservation, not weak-minded emotionalism.

      He quickly put on his clothes and as he was about to turn around and leave the room, the door opened. Mark, two other boys with three other girls staggered into the room.

      They immediately noticed the girl on the bed and saw that something was wrong.

They tried to revive the girl but to no avail, it was obvious that she was dead.  

      One of the boys in the room claimed to be friends with Fiona and immediately attacked Ronald, accusing him of murdering her. A scuffle ensued and the others broke it up.  

      Charles, Fiona’s friend, accused Ronald of having sex with Fiona and then murdering her in cold blood. Ronald protested vehemently. He swore that all they had had was sex. Suddenly, he had noticed that she was no longer moving and when he examined her she was dead.

      Charles refused to believe his story claiming that what had happened to Fiona was a case of somebody who was twisted in the mind, having sex with a young, beautiful woman and then murdering her. The others supported Charles and insisted that the police had to be called. Ronald was to be handed over to the police.

      Ronald begged vehemently and swore that he was innocent. As all this was going on, Mark kept quiet and continued to watch the exchange. At this time, all the other guests at the party were now in the bedroom where Fiona was lay dead on the bed and, Ronald was trying to convince everybody that he was not the one that killed her. Some people believed him but, most did not. All in all, there were about nine people in that bedroom.

        Somebody said they could not just stand there and do nothing. They had to call the police. They could all be punished for a crime that had been committed by Ronald. 

      Roland begged and argued but, the voices of those who were insisting that the police should be called overrode the one or two people that were supporting him and asking for a solution to be found to the problem.

       Mark stood there as if he was a zombie, completely out of his wits. He did not know what to do. He was confused and, he was scared. Here he was with a dead girl in his room not knowing how this disaster had occurred. He knew that the justice system in the country was not only slow, but it was also cruel. He knew that once the police entered into the picture his life might as well be over. It was such a sad situation. Then someone made a suggestion. 

       First, it had become obvious that only Charles knew Fiona intimately. She had come to the party in his company.  Charles claimed to have met her casually, just as Ronald had met Mark casually at the bar. According to him, he had liked her looks and had decided to bring her to the party.

      With this revelation, people started thinking hard.  Somebody suggested that they should wrap the body of the dead girl in some sheets and wait till it's dark. Then they could dump it somewhere, and everybody would go their own way. Some argued against this, claiming that that was inhuman. It was, according to them, the most disrespectful thing to do to the dead.  People will be looking for her, and she probably has parents and loved ones who would be in agony for a long time. Others argued that they will be caught in the act. That these things always go down like that. That dumping a dead body anywhere in Lagos is one of the most dangerous and stupid things to do.

       The argument swung back to the idea that they should call the police, and let them take care of the matter. But others pointed out that once the police came in, all of them would not only be suspects, at the very least they will be accessories to murder. This line of thought chilled everybody to the marrow. 

      Suddenly, everybody was on the same page. The problem now is, how to dispose of the body. They argued at length. At the end of the day, somebody suggested that the best thing for them to do was to bury the body. The problem now was, where will they bury the body.    

      Suddenly, Ronald felt very, very calm. He told them that he knew a place where they could bury a body and there would be no questions asked. They all looked at him as if he had gone mad, and reminded him that he was the one that caused the problem. Charles called him an insensitive psychopath.

       It was at this stage that Ronald told everybody where he worked. He now proposed a plan of action. He said that all they needed was enough money to bribe the cemetery gatekeeper and the rest he would handle by himself. However, they had to wait till around midnight before they could make their move. 

        After a little argument, they all agreed to carry out the plan. However, they had to wait a little while for the night to come.

      At midnight, they wrapped the girl in a sheet and put her in the boot of a car. The others got into two other cars, while Ronald and Mark got in the car with the dead girl.       

      They drove straight to the cemetery without any incident. Ronald got out of the car, spoke to the gatekeeper and money exchanged hands. The gate was opened and the convoy of cars drove to the end of the cemetery. An area that was not yet developed.

      Ronald left them there, went to a shed, and came back with a pickaxe and shovel. He used the car's headlights for illumination and started digging an unauthorized grave. 

      The weather was still, and a weak moon shone down in a mournful glow. He dug the grave very quickly. He wasn’t bothered that the others refused to offer a helping hand, it was obvious that they believed that it was his mess and that he should do the tedious work alone. No problem, this was what he did for a living. The best thing was to do everything quickly and get over this unpleasant episode in his life. It was when he had finished digging that he realized that he had dug deeper than was necessary. Well, that’s better, since this was a nasty business anyway.

      The dead girl, still wrapped in sheets was brought out of the car and placed beside the grave. They all stood there looking at her in silence. Then, one of the girls suggested that they say a prayer for her before burying her. There was a little argument about this, then they all agreed.

      Charles agreed to officiate the impromptu rites and proceeded with the unhappy ceremony. Ronald on his part was beside himself with impatience. He just wanted to get on with this sad affair and see it end.

      With the prayers concluded, the bunch at the graveside instructed Ronald to put Fiona into it. Ronald simply rolled the corpse into the grave with his foot.

      The corpse landed at the bottom of the pit with a soft thud. Roland picked up his lamp to take a look at it then, he froze. He looked closer at the person in the grave, he knelt to take a very close look. To be sure that he was seeing what he was seeing; he shone the lamp steadily into the grave for some time, then he stood up.

        As he had rolled Fiona into the grave, the sheets over her face had fallen away. In the cold lights of the lamp and headlights, the face of the corpse in the grave was not Fiona’s!!! He turned around to look at his new friends and was met with stony stares all around. They all neither looked surprised nor alarmed. What is going on here?

      Roland was about to protest when felt a cold metallic object in his back. He knew without looking that it was a gun. Mark told him in a very cold voice that if he did not complete the job he had started, he would be shot and buried along with the unknown woman.

     Ronald knew that he didn’t have a choice, he was outnumbered and unarmed. He picked up the shovel and filled the grave with dirt, burying the unknown woman completely. It was after this that he was shown a mobile phone recording of him doing all the things he shouldn’t have done. He felt like a fish that had been caught on a hook. They had him.

      They all got into the cars and left the cemetery. They drove through the quiet Lagos night until they got to his residence. Roland was shocked to know that they knew where he lived. He was instructed to get down and then told in very clinical terms that he would be summoned any time he was needed. If he tried to make waves, a video of him burying a murdered woman would be sent to the authorities.

       As they drove off, an envelope was handed over to him. It contained a hundred thousand. He immediately felt the constraining bonds of criminal slavery. 

        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

  

 

WALKING ON THE EDGE OF A SHADOW (FICTION

 

 

 

Lagos, West Africa.

June – November 2014.

Kasali was so happy. His high school final year examination results had just been released. The results were brilliant. Now, he was sure that he would gain admission into a good university.  All that was left was to start the admission process. He called his parents, gave them the good news and everything was set into motion.  Four months later, he had matriculated and was in the university as a legitimate student. 

      Coast University was an incredible place. There were so many exciting people to meet and, so many thrilling things to do. Kasali immersed himself in this vibrant, young society and explored it with the fervour of a hungry dog in a new junkyard. Considering the fact that he had just gone through a very restrictive high school boarding system, the freedom of his new environment was dizzying.

      Kasali is a shy and socially inept young man. He is what is usually called a nerd. Although, highly intelligent and academically gifted, he was bit uncomfortable in social situations especially, those involving women. Nevertheless, he was a naturally disciplined person and he had honed this trait in the boarding school. Therefore, despite the near unlimited freedom now at his disposal, he started his university career with studiousness and purpose.

      Having attended an all-male high school, Kasali had never been in the midst of so many females and, in his opinion they were all so beautiful. His shyness manifested itself in his inability to interact freely with them without feeling awkward.  This didn’t stop him from interacting with his course mates but, most of them mistook his shyness for aloofness.

      The semester was half gone when things got strange. Kasali had gone to the college cafeteria one evening when he ran into Sandra, literally. He was carrying his food tray back to where he would enjoy his meal when this gorgeous girl walked into him without looking. She was texting on her mobile phone while walking toward the food counter. Despite Kasali’s best efforts to avoid her, she still walked into him spilling all the food on herself and the floor.

      They were both very angry and harsh words were exchanged. Kasali was very upset because the spilt food meant that he would have to go and buy another meal. His disciplined nature was appalled at the waste, and the time that would be spent on the long queue to get another meal. The young lady on her part was livid that her carefully selected outfit had been ruined by the food. Nevertheless, peacemakers intervened in time, before the situation degenerated into something more serious.

      Three days later, Kasali was in the library studying for a test, when he felt somebody touch him on the shoulder from behind. He turned around to see who it was. It turned out to be a ravishingly beautiful girl. She was smiling shyly at him. He recognised her immediately as the girl that had spilt his food in the cafeteria accident.

      Before he could say a word, she started apologising profusely, saying that the whole incident was all her fault. She went as far as insisting to buy him dinner in compensation for the one he had lost. Kasali was both flustered and flattered. He never believed that such a beautiful creature could be so humble. She told him that her name was Sandra, and that apart from compensating him for the meal, she wanted to be his friend. He declined her offer but she insisted. In the long run he gave in, although, it wasn’t as if he put up much of a resistance. Thus began what one would call an unlikely romance.

             Kasali fell in love with Sandra, and he fell hard. He was absolutely smitten. It didn’t matter that he was two years her junior in both age and the university. It didn’t matter that she was always uncomfortable  being seen around him, when she was with her friends. All he knew was that he was in love with the most beautiful girl in the world. He was delirious with happiness.

       Sandra introduced Kasali to sex. Although, she was his first, he was definitely not hers. She was way, way more experienced in the affairs of the flesh than he would have imagined, but he didn’t care. He was in love.

      However, despite all the excitement, his innate character couldn't be changed. Kasali remained a studious and disciplined student. This part of him irritated Sandra to no end, since it made absolute control of his being almost impossible. Nevertheless, being an extremely possessive person, Sandra did everything in her power to keep him in a social bubble. Any show of friendship towards another girl sent her into a rage. It seemed she was even jealous of his male friends. Although, Kasali’s friends warned him that there was something wrong with this type of behaviour, he explained it away as her love for him.

       On a weekend two months into their affair, Sandra asked Kasali to escort her to a party. He regretfully declined, explaining that he had to prepare for a test taking place the next week. She flew into a rage, accusing him of insensitivity. When she saw that he was adamant, insisting that he had to study, she promised to ask another boy along; and never to see him again. This ultimatum broke his resolve and he agreed to go with her. He would rather die than lose her.

      The party was loud, noisy and wild. It was filled with young people of all ages, shapes and sizes. The women were in all in different states of nakedness. They all wore clothes that were very revealing and designed to titillate. Kasali had never witnessed such a brazen display of flesh, not even on campus. Sandra introduced him to the host, a guy who introduced himself as Chukason. A drink was pushed into his hand and he was ordered to enjoy himself.

      Kasali had eaten and drank. He had declined the offer of different strange smelling cigarettes. He had also declined all alcohol. Nonetheless, he found out that he was enjoying himself. Next thing he knew; Sandra was dragging him out of the house into the garage. At the back was a room that in the dimness looked like a tool shed. In the shadows, he saw Sandra turn away from him, pull down her panties and grab her ankles, the glistening wetness of her nether regions winking at him from the darkness. As he moved purposefully towards her, he felt the bite of a mosquito on his neck.

      Kasali felt his head throbbing with pain. It was as if somebody was repeatedly hitting his skull with a sharp cutlass. Then he noticed that he was lying prone on a hard cement floor. He felt very cold.

      He tried to sit up with difficulty despite the pain in his skull. Having done this, he checked his surroundings.

      He was in a bare room. It was not empty. The other people in the room were young people. They all looked scared and desperate. He stared at them and they stared back, their eyes reflecting the fright in each other. As he looked at them, his common sense and mental discipline kicked in. He knew immediately that he was in some kind of prison. The looks of his fellow inmates, and their various apparels suggested that this was a kidnapper’s den. Kidnap?!?! How had this happened?

      He did a mental review of everything he could remember, quickly. The party! Sandra!!

      The party was still very fresh in his mind. He vividly remembered Sandra dragging him to the back of the garage for some naughty activity. He remembered the mosquito bite. He touched his neck, and it slightly swollen. He realised that this was the method with which he had been drugged. But, where was Sandra? What had happened to her?

      Fear for Sandra’s safety rose in Kasali like a tsunami. Where was his love? What had these monsters done to her?

      He looked around the room desperately trying to see if he could recognise her among the captives. It was obvious that she was not in the room. Fearfully, wild thoughts chased one another chaotically around in his mind. The care for his loved one making him completely forget about the desperately dangerous situation that he was in.

      Suddenly! The door to the room flew open, and four large men armed with machetes entered.

      Kasali saw a boy in the room jump up and rush towards the door. Before he could take three steps, the armed man closest to him casually beheaded him with one swift stroke of his machete. The victim's head sailed across the room to land with a loud thud beside Kasali. The bodiless head winked sorrowfully at Kasali, while the its mouth open and closed in soundless horror.

      The horror and casual brutality of the scene froze the remaining captives into place. Many of them defecated on themselves as they watched the headless body twitching, geysers of blood spraying from its severed neck.

     The captives were ordered into a line and handcuffed behind their backs. They were all marched to what looked like a huge warehouse. Their cuffs were removed and they were ordered to undress quickly. A girl among them protested and she was promptly beheaded. Her head and body were taken away by some men. The other captives scrambled out of their clothes as if it was on fire.

     Naked, they were all matched into a huge bathroom were they were scrubbed and hosed down like animals. Still shivering, they were then locked up in a bare metallic room. Leaving each one of them in a private and collective hell.

      Kasali was no longer sure whether it was night or day. The circumstances in which he found himself had made disorientation total. His heart tripped and hammered in his chest like a caged bird. He relived his short and uneventful life over and over in his mind wishing that he had done this or that. He thought of his parents knowing that he may never see them again. He thought of his siblings and his small circle of friends. Then he thought of Sandra and gut wrenching sobs were ripped from his lips as the fear of what might have become of her tore him to pieces inside. After some time, hunger and fatigue took their toll and he fell into a nightmarish sleep.

      Kasali was woken up from the nightmare he was having by a painful noise. He didn’t how long he had slept. He and the others were forced into a rude line and marched into a clinic in which they were all given a thorough medical check-up. This prompted him to start believing that maybe the kidnappers were not interested in ransome. He remembered that two people have already been killed. If they we’re interested in ransome would they have killed their payday? Ugly thoughts that he was scared of being confirmed started chasing each other across his mind.

       After an unknown period of time, numbered stickers were placed on their foreheads and they were taken to a large empty mirrored room. They were left there standing naked under very bright lights. Nothing was left to the imagination. Then a side door opened, and a middle-aged man in flowing white robes came in, escorted by six large men armed with razor sharp machetes and shot guns. He was obviously the boss. He stood in front of each captive, inspecting him or her as thoroughly as one might inspect an animal one wanted to buy. After this, he left the room. However, three of his thugs remained behind.

      One after the other, each of the prisoners were taken before a large wall mirror while the thug received instructions from an unseen person through a mobile phone he had on him. After what looked like an inspection, the prisoner was now led through one of several doors on the side of the room.

       After Kasali’s inspection, he was led through a maze of corridors into an empty room and left there. Kasali knew that the end was near and he prayed fervently for a miracle. He had been fairly religious before gaining admission into the university but Sandra had made him back-slide. Nevertheless, he was a man of faith and he continued to pray in the spirit.

      After what seemed like hours, one of the thugs came into the room carrying a bundle of clothes. He was told to put these on quickly while the thug watched. After dressing up, he was told to close his eyes while black cloth pads were put on them. These were held into place with black wrap-around-sunshades. He could not see a thing and, anybody observing him would have thought that he was blind.

      He was lead through a series of corridors out into the open air. A car’s engine started and he was pushed into the back sit. The door was slammed shut and it started moving while he was hemmed in-between two large men. His heart was beating at an incredible rate. As the car rocked on its chassis, taking in the curves at high speed, he knew that he getting closer and closer to his death. Tears of despair soaked his improvised blindfold and he started crying aloud. He was ignored.

      After what seemed like a long time, the car slowed down and entered what seemed to Kasali’s senses like a residential area. Later, it seemed to enter a compound and stop. Kasali wet himself. He started shivering, violently. This was it.

      The car’s front passenger door opened and somebody got into the car. He must have been a large man because the car’s shock absorbers groaned. The scent of an expensive cologne permeated the car’s interior temporarily overcoming the stench of Kasali’s fear.

      The car’s interior was silent save for Kasali’s soft moans of despair. Then the big man spoke.

      He had a deep, soft, soothing voice. He called Kasali by his given name and told him that under no circumstance should he remove his blindfold or try to find out who was talking to him. This he said would give him no choice but to kill him. This he said he didn’t want to do.

      Kasali was shocked and grateful for this turn of events. The deep voice told him that he could ask any question he liked except for knowing who he was.

      Kasali took a deep breath and then asked him why he was helping him? He heard the soft, rumbling laughter of the man as he replied the question.

       According to him, he knew Kasali’s father whom he referred to as a very good man. He said many people including himself had been raised up by the man and that they owed their success in life to his generosity and philanthropy. He said that he couldn’t see such a man’s child in trouble and not help, when he could.

      Kasali sighed deeply, and then asked about Sandra with a shaking voice, hoping upon hope that somehow the love of his life could also be saved.

      His rescuer was silent for some moments, then answered him. He told him that Sandra was the one who had effected his capture. According to him, Sandra and Chukason were members of the gang that had captured him. Their job was to lure unsuspecting and naïve young people into the gang’s net.

      The enormity of Sandra’s betrayal stunned Kasali. It had all been a lie. Everything had been a lie. The protestations of love. The jealousy, everything had been one huge lie. Yet, in hindsight, he had not been surprised. Even then, somehow at the back of his mind, he knew something was not right. Right from the moment he had met her, everything had been too dramatic.

      With a very subdued voice, he asked the big man how much she had collected for him. He said, fifty thousand naira, that was about a hundred American dollars.

     Kasali felt very, very sad. So, that was all he meant to her – Fifty thousand naira! Ordinary fifty thousand naira!! Na wa o !!!  

        The big man’s voice now told him to thank whatever God he worshipped and consider himself very lucky. He now proceeded to explain, why this is so.

     According to the big man, they were in the flesh business. They captured and traded in people and their parts for money. He went ahead to explain that each person that was captured was worth a lot. First, there was a massive international black market for replaceable organs. He said that he was talking about kidneys, livers, hearts and bone marrows. This was the reason they liked kidnapping young, unspoilt people like himself.

     Second, there is a huge market for babies. A young woman that has been lobotomized can produced up to eighteen children before her organs are harvested. Apart from that, some members of the elite preferred human breast milk for their beverages. They claim that the nutritional value is unsurpassed. They don’t mind paying fifty times over the cost of the animal variety.

      Body parts were also needed by ritualists seeking power, enormous wealth and in some cases unnaturally long lives. The body parts were used as payment or bribery to demon-gods they had agreements with. These bribes or payments had to be done regularly and sometimes at the spore of the moment since these entities were fickle, mischievous and cruel. They loved to introduce undisclosed items into the agreements.

      Then there was the issue of cannibalism. Unknown to the world is the fact that the human flesh eaters walk among us in droves. They are rich and they can afford their meat. According to these monsters, once you’ve tasted human flesh, you’ll not want to eat any other thing and; you’ll be ready to buy it at any price. He said that an interesting side effect of this delicacy was that it made you no longer fear any man. Everybody suddenly resembles a meal.

      Kasali sat there in stunned silence. His mind numb with the enormity of what he was hearing. After some time, he asked what was to become of him? He had the feeling that after hearing all these atrocities, he may not be set free. However, the big man told him that if he had wanted to harm him, he wouldn’t be sitting there talking to him. He said that the reason he was telling him all this was for Kasali to realise how lucky he was and, for him to be more conscious of his personal security. All he had to do was obey instructions and everything would be okay.

      Although Kasali was a bit doubtful, he kept on repeating a silent prayer to himself. There was hope.

     He asked about what would happen when he saw Sandra and Chukason in school?

      He heard a big rolling laughter rumble out of the big man’s chest. The big man told him that he would never see those two people in his life again.

     Kasali went rigid again and asked the big man what he meant by that statement.

      The big man now told him that Sandra was on her way to a baby factory while Chukason was on his way to a slave camp somewhere in the Middle East. Apparently both minions had overestimated their importance within the organisation and were asking for more money. Apart from that, they had made the mistake of threatening their handler with exposure – they had to go.

      While Kasali was still digesting this turn of events, the big man told to go with one of his henchmen for a change of clothes since he had defecated on himself many times over. He was led to a shower where he cleaned up again, and put on a fresh set of clothing. His blind fold was put on again and he was led back to the car. Before he entered the car, what felt like two small books were shoved into each pocket of his trousers.

     He was driven blindfolded out of the compound without knowing the destination. After about thirty minutes, the car stopped. He was brought out of the car and led to a stone bench were he sat.  He was told that he was free, but instructed to sit where he was for a count of a hundred then leave.

      Kasali sat where he was and counted up to a hundred in his mind. He then removed his blindfold and checked his pockets – it was money. He then started the walk to liberty and a normal life.

      Less than a week after his ordeal, Kasali was walking past the newspaper stand on campus when a headline caught his attention. It was about a top government official who had been stabbed to death by his maid. The man had been identified as Alhaji Burj. Taking a closer look at the picture of the victim, he recognised him as the man who had paraded them in front of the wall mirror when he was in captivity.

      Justice! Karmic justice!!