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MR. KOLA ~
As I returned to the car, she had a look of relief on her face. She must have been terrified, alone in the thick dark bushes.
“Erm. Sorry. I hope I didn’t take too much time,” I said.
“No, sir. It’s fine,” she replied.
She was expecting me to get in the car and continue the drive, but I didn't. I stepped outside the passenger seat, where she rested comfortably with her head reclining against the arm rest. She looked at me without moving her head off the arm rest, puzzled as to why I wasn't getting into the car. My hands were in my pockets as I stood there. And if she could see through my eyes, she would see the horror that lurked within it. She would see that my mind was clouded by evil, and there was nothing she could do to stop me from doing what I was about to do. Before she could say jack, I drew a white handkerchief from my pocket and choked her.
She fell asleep immediately, and I carried her weight all the way to the container on my old back.I tied up on the floor while I finished preparation for the final rites. There was no time for errors at 11:39 p.m. The repercussions would be severe if the ritual was not completed by midnight.
I ignited all twenty-seven candles around the six calabashes already on the container floor. The room glowed brighter, and I could see the stacks of bodies in the corner more clearly. The corn seller's eyes were fixed on me. It felt as if she was still alive (though I knew she wasn't) and her eyes begged me to take her home. The sight of the stilled eyes stabbed my soul, and for a brief minute, a pang of guilt might have just hit me. But the groan of the young lady I had tied up disturbed me.
She slowly opened her eyes. Blurry, I was confident it seemed to her. But when her vision cleared, she gasped.
“Wh-what is this place? Mr. Kola, what are you doing?” She spoke.
I crouched beside where I tied her and said, “You actually shouldn’t be awake yet. But don’t worry, this wouldn’t take too much time. No need to be scared, you are a savior.”
“What is going on here? Why am I tied?” She cried.
I returned to my work and arranged the seventh calabash amid the others. I fetched the sack containing various shapes and sizes of knives from the far corner of the container. Everything was bloodstained. I took three different sizes and placed them near the young lady.
She yelled "blood of Jesus!" I couldn't tell if it was because of the bloodied blades or because she had only recently discovered the pile of bodies. I didn't mind and I returned to work.
I crouched beside her again. “This wouldn’t hurt, trust me,” I said and she cried out.
I stretched her hand out and slashed her wrist with one of the knives without letting go of the ropes. She yelled and fought, attempting to lose herself, but in vain. Her shouts dwindled into murmurs as she faded out, she stopped fighting, and she collapsed on the floor.
I took her clothing off and spread her naked body on the floor of the container. Her skin was as smooth as milk, and her boobs were large and round. I nibbled on her nipples in my hands before slicing the left boob off her chest. It let a little blood and fat out. As I drove the knife farther into that spot, more blood oozed out. I was used to it; I'd done it six times and more before, so I knew precisely where to dig the knife to carve out the desired heart. With my knife, I sliced open that chest area to find the almost apple-like organ, bleeding and attached to threads of veins.
As I held the heart out, blood spilled from my fingertips. I enjoyed holding it for a while before placing it in the calabash since it was warm and slurry. 11:51 PM. I stood in front of the calabash and the candles, arms outstretched, rushing through the Incantation and chanting. As I got deeper into the chanting, a gust of wind blew in and extinguished all the candles. Suddenly, fire erupted from the seven calabashes, brightening the room even more. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest. It had never happened like this before, there wasn't supposed to be this much fire.
The fire was out before I could blink, and I was trapped within the container. The earlier breeze had already jammed the door. I battled in the flames, but there was no way out.
The fire enveloped me, and I immediately woke up. I awoke on the container's floor and looked about; there were no signs of fire whatsoever. The seventh calabash remained empty, and the young girl was not tied up there. I realized it was all a dream. I had slipped on a banana peel on the floor of the container and smacked my head.
My eyes darted to my watch: 11:47 PM. “Oluwa o!” I yelled.
I dashed out of the container to fetch the young lady from the car and complete the rituals before midnight. When I got to the car and there was no one there, the entire bones in my head reverberated, I was weak to my knees. The young lady wasn't there.
I kept my cool and tried not to panic. Maybe she just went into the bush to ease herself, I thought.
“Joy! Johanna! Juliana!” I called out and searched through the bushes for the young lady but to no avail.
I was losing time. 11:51 PM now. I jumped into my car and headed out of the thick bushes, hoping to spot the young lady or another victim
