Iheoma episode 37 – 40

IHEOMA 💐

EP 37🌿

As we got closer to the village, the sullen silence of the entire place got to me. The entire village seemed deserted, not even an occasional cock crow could be heard.
“Where’s Everybody?,” Anna asked as she trailed behind me.

Each compound had its doors locked, and lacking of any person in it. The empty compounds seemed to stare back in defiance as we walked by.
“Where could everybody be?,” Anna asked again, her voice now tinged with a hint of fear. My Uncle cleared his voice to say something when the ugly smell of dead animals wafted into my nose.

I immediately covered my nose, struggling to breathe at the same time.
The next turn we took left me staring at the most horrible sight I had ever seen.
Animals and people lay dead on the road, eyes wide open, as though they were staring at whatever had killed them.
The utter horror of it all was the way each of them had their necks twisted as though choked to death.
The next thing I knew, My uncle and Anna were throwing up around me. The sight and horrible smell had been too much for them to stomach.
The three of us stood there, wondering where to go next. Anna’s face was a mixture of both confusion and fear. She was obviously beginning to realize the level of problem she had gotten into.
My uncle on the other hand, had a look of despair on his face. It was as though he had something to say, but couldn’t say it.
“He has started killing them. If we are not at the square by nightfall, this entire village might be dead.”
Hearing that, an alarm went off in my mind as I realized I didn’t have much time. I ran off into the bush, navigating the shortcuts I knew would lead me to the Village square in a few minutes. The sun was close to the horizon, and knowing that nightfall was my deadline, I could feel my heart beat faster.
The life of my entire village rested in my hands…

IHEOMA 💐

EP 38🌿

As I ran through the bush, I heard my Uncle and Anna s¢ræming my name and asking me to slow down for them. They were too slow in making their way through the thick bush.
Ignoring their pleas, I doubled my speed hoping against all hopes to be able to get there in time.The bush seemed to thin away after some minutes, and I emerged at the village square.
The square was completely empty, save for the scattered belongings of people that must have fled the scene in a hurry. On closer observation, I found that the abandoned belongings seemed to leave a trail that pushed deeper into the village.

Anna and my Uncle caught up with me then, each of them panting heavily.
“I think everyone ran deeper into the village,” I explained to them.
My Uncle sat on the floor, tired from all the running.
“You and Anna can continue. I’ll just sit here and rest.”

I nodded, and made to leave him where he sat when I felt my heart beat begin to slow down, leaving me struggling for air.
As I slumped, I could hear Anna and my uncle s¢ræming my name, shaking me vigorously. I closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes in a completely dark place, with only my guardian angel sitting silently on a cane chair.
“Why am I here?,” I asked angrily, remembering that I barely had time to save the village.
The angel shook his head, his face looking worried.
“You don’t know what you’re doing. You don’t even know how to win the demon do you?”
I Shook my head, quietly acknowledging that he was right.
” I really need your help. I don’t know what to do when I find the people of my village. I know what this demon can do, but above that I know nothing else.”

The angel stood up from the chair, took my hand and gently told me.
“Just get to the villagers. You’ll know what to do after that. Meanwhile, You need to run from Emeka now…”

I felt my spirit return to my body. Opening my eyes, I heard the sound of men running through the bush,

“Emeka found us…”

IHEOMA 💐

EP 39🌿

I quickly got up from the ground, and took to my heels. My Uncle seemed to hesitate a bit, but was soon running behind me along with Anna. From the corner of my eyes, I caught sight of Anna struggling to Keep up, my Uncle himself seemed to be lagging behind the more.

I wasn’t watching where I was going, when I bumped into a man. I lost my footing, and stumbled backward and fell.
On checking who I had stumbled into, I found some of the village hunters that I had been friendly with standing with Guns slung over their shoulder. The Hunter’s seemed pleasantly surprised to see me. The head Hunter’s mouth hung open for sometime before he whispered,
“Iheoma?.”

Anna caught up with me then, panting hærd and trying to pull me off the floor.
“They are almost here. We have to run!”

I got up, and turned to find my uncle struggling for breath and barely leaping to get to us. It was obvious he was exhausted from the running. He had barely gotten to us when one of Emeka’s men appeared from the bush and loaded his gun to shoot. Before he could pull the trigger, a resounding shot echoed around us, as he dropped dead.
I turned to find the smoking barrel of the head hunter’s gun. He quickly began to draw us into a nearby bush along with the other hunters.
“Where are you taking us to?,” I managed to ask.
“To save the entire village. To save all of us, ” He stared me in the eye then, “Iheoma, you’re our only hope now…”

IHEOMA💐

EP 40🌿

As the chief hunter and the other hunters dragged us through the bush, he told us what had happened.
“You must have seen the bodies that lay close to the village entrance, and how quiet the entire village is.”
I nodded slightly.
“That’s the work of Onwuike. He’s a demon the Igwe and his elders have been worsh¡pping all this while and sacrificing a person to at the end of every month. Some of us in the village were aware of it, but couldn’t say anything. Speaking out was spelling death for you and your entire family. Seeing that, most people kept silent and turned a blind eye to the evil practice. That was until this morning. Word came from the city saying that the Igwe and his elders had been killed this morning.
This morning, half the village half the village gathered at the village square, claiming to have had a terrifying dream where a demon threatened to do away with them if they weren’t at the square. I along with other men who already heard news about the Igwe’s death, and knew about the demon calmed the entire village telling them to leave the village for their own safety. A few obeyed and left, but some stayed behind being too afraid to leave. Those that left the square and tried leaving the village are the set of dead bodies and livestock you saw on the road,” The head hunter explained as his voice became laden with emotions.

I shivered as the Image of the lifeless bodies all over the road came to my mind.
“How do you know I can save all of you? How do you know I’m your only hope?”

“Because something came to me last night in a dream. Something so beautiful and powerful, and told me that the only way I could save everybody was if I waited for you in the bush where we met and brought you to the villagers. Everyone is counting on you…”
We came out of the bush then, and into the Igwe’s compound where a crowd sat looking terrified.

“I have to save all this people…”

TBC

#justicenike