Iheoma episode 7 – 9

IHEOMA 💐

EP 7🌿

As I stepped into the backyard, a strong male hand dragged me into a dark corner, and covered my mouth.
“Don’t s¢ræm, I won’t hurt you.”
I tried turning around to see the face of the person, but he immediately stopped me.
“You can’t see my face. If you do, my life might also be in danger if you get caught.”
I turned around again, wondering what he meant by what he said.
“Who are you,” I managed to ask.
“That’s not important right now. The important thing is that you have to leave this village tonight,” he whispered.
“What? Why?,” I asked, surprised that someone would ask me to abandon the village when my “Nne” would be buried the next day.
“Iheoma, the villagers plan to kill you tomorrow morning, right before the burial ceremony starts. Some of the men in the village had a meeting and decided that you were really cursed to have led to the death of anyone important in your life, so they have decided to kill you and
bury your body in the evil forest to make it look like you ran away after murdering Nne,” the man explained.
I shuddered, surprised at what I had just been told. Various questions ran through my mind, but one of them stood out.

“Where will I run to?”
I heard the man sigh, and reach into his pocket.
“Here take this,” he said as he handed me a polythene bag.
“There’s a little money in it that’ll take you out of our town, into the city. It’ll also feed you for a day or two, but after that you’re on your own,” the man said in a whisper.
“Why are you helping me?,” I asked in surprise. I had never gotten help from the villagers before.
“Because I’m supposed to Nne. Because you’ll do great things for me in the future…”
I heard a Whooshing sound behind me, and turning around, but found that there was no one behind me anymore. I realized then, that it was our Chi that had come in human form to save me.
“Olisa dalu,” I whispered with tears in my eyes.
“What are you doing here,” I heard Emeka’s voice ask….

IHEOMA 💐

EP 8🌿

I wondered how Emeka had managed to sneak up behind me. I quickly hid the package the strange man had given me in,side my Bra.
“What are you doing here?,” he asked again.
“I…I..I’m,” I began to stammer.
“I heard you talking to someone, who was that?,” he asked as he drew closer to me.
My thoughts ran haywire, as I thought of how I could possibly explain what had happened just now to Emeka
when I could barely trust him. I decided to lie.
“I… I was praying to my Chi. I hoped tomorrow will go by smoothly, as Nne
is being commited to rest. I was praying to our Chi,” I lied. I hoped I had sounded convincing enough, as Emeka stared at me for a while.
“When you’re done praying, don’t forget to think about my offer. Come with me to the city, or you might die here.”
I nodded, hoping he would just go away. i breathed out heavily, as I heard his footsteps, as he walked back to the house. After some minutes, I ran back into my room and began packing everything I had into a small polythene bag. I had made up my mind to leave the village before morning like the strange man had adviced me. As the bag filled up quickly, I wondered how I would find a vehicle out of the village this late at night, but a small still voice in,side my head told me not to worry.

I picked my little bag up, and tiptoed back to Nne’s room to tell her my final goodbye. I knelt down beside the bed where she was lying down, and with tears flowing down my face, I whispered my last goodbye to her.

Just as I was about to turn, I saw someone move behind me, and the next moment something heavy hit the back of my head. I passed out…

IHEOMA 💐

EP 9🌿

My head ached badly as I opened my eyes slowly. I couldn’t remember what had happened, and how I had come to be in this strange room. It slowly began to reoccur to me. The dark shadow behind me, and the fatal blow to the back of my head.
I tried to move my hands, but found that I had been tied to a chair. I stared around me, and found that I was in a bedroom. The room was filled with the scent of decaying flesh, and looking up to the ceiling I found the head of a young baby staring down at me.
My loud s¢ræm brought a man running into the room to slap me. The slap didn’t stop me from s¢ræming again though, as the terrifying sight of a dead baby’s head staring at me had made me almost nauseous. The man slapped me again and again, before pulling a knife out and holding it to my throat.
“If you s¢ræm again, I’ll make sure you are never able to do it,” The man whispered.
I could hærdly catch my breath as the Baby couldn’t fade from my mind. Breathing hærd, I managed to look at the face of the man with the knife, but was engulfed with surprise.
“Papa Ugo,” I whispered with shock.
The man was one of the few people that patronized me when I sold things at the market. He had always been kind, and I could hærdly believe that he would think of harming me, or the baby that hung from the roof.
“That’s right, there’s no need to be surprised. I really hated you from the start, and you should have seen it if only you weren’t so stupid. You see that Baby up there? It was an evil child just like you, and the villager’s didn’t pay me at all to kill him, I did it with pleasure,” the man said while smiling sinisterly.
A lot of questions came to my mind, but two of them pressed down on me more.
“Emeka, Nne’s grandson, is he among those that want me dead?”
He laughed, and began to walk out of the room.
“Did you kill Nne because of me?,” I s¢ræmed with tears running down my cheeks. He stopped, and stared back at me.

“Yes. I killed her too..”

TBC
#justicenike