The witch’s daughter episode 1 – 2

THE WITCH’S DAUGHTER

CHAPTER 1

I was only five years old and we had just moved into that neighbourhood. My father worked at the hospital, which required us to move a lot. The hospital, which was run by a church, had a habit of transferring its hospital staff to a new station every after about six years. That’s how we happened to find ourself in that town and in that neighbourhood. Under normal circumstances, we were supposed to live in the hospital compound. The hospital actually had a compound for its staff. However, we were told it was full. We had no choice but to seek accommodation in town.

My family was composed of my dad, mum, younger sister and I. My younger sister was three and had just started school before we were forced to move. My mum was a teacher in the private sector and my dad as you already know, was medical personnel.

It was difficult for us to have accommodation. However, my dad was advised to seek the help of a housing agent. While our belongings were packed at the hospital store room, we had to wait another two weeks before we could get a call from the agent. He asked my dad to see him in his office the following day. He said he had been able to secure for us a good apartment for a family our size. My dad was very pleased and promised to see him the next day without fail. The next day, my dad took me along in his car to see the agent. We got to his office some thirty minutes later and this conversation followed.

“Good Day, Sir and welcome.” The agent said.
“Good Day, young man. How are you?”
“I am fine, Sir.”
“So, any luck yet? Have you been able to get an apartment for me like you promised you would?” My dad asked.
“Yes, Sir. I have. A nice apartment. I hope you will love it.”
“I hope so too. But why did you say that?” My dad asked, bewildered.
“The neighbourhood, Sir. I am not a very big fan of that neighbourhood. In fact, I am not crazy about that neighbourhood at all.” The agent said, sweating.
“Why? What is wrong with the neighbourhood?’ My dad asked.
“It is said that witches and wizards inhabit the neighbourhood. Terrible things have been happening in that neighbourhood. In fact, a lot of terrible stories have been coming from that part of town.”

My dad was a devout Christian. As much as he believed evil spirits exist, he also believed strongly in the holy spirit. Stories of ghosts and evil spirits didn’t scare him. He believed nothing under the sky can harm him as long as his faith and trust in God was unshaken.

“Tell me some of the stories of that neighbourhood you have heard about.” My dad said.
“Are you sure you really want to hear?” The agent asked.
“I do. Please tell me. I am, a busy man and I don’t have time to waste. Go on with your stories about painted devils.” My dad was getting impatient.
“Sir, the stories are real. These stories are not about painted devils. They are real. For example, the mother of the lady who owns the apartment I am getting for you was said to be a witch. She has died, anyway. However, rumour has it that, the landlady was her favourite child. She therefore passed on all her witchcraft to her before dying. It is rumoured that she killed her husband, that is the father of the landlady.” The agent narrated.

My dad didn’t seem to be scared by the stories. In addition to his strong and unwavering believe in God, my dad was also a very stubborn man. He was also very adventurous, a trait I had unfortunately acquired.

“The father of the landlady; was he rich?” My dad asked the agent.
“Very rich, Sir. Very, very rich.” The agent said.
“That explains it.” My dad said, laughing. “Whenever a rich man dies, people always accuse his poor and innocent wife. That is Africa. I don’t believe any of your stories. Let’s talk about the rents, terms and conditions and when I am moving in.”
“Ok, Sir. If you say so. I just said I should tell you what I need to tell you, so that you don’t say I hid anything from you in the future.” The agent said.
“Alright, thank you. Now let’s get to the real business of the day.” My dad had really become impatient now.
“The apartment costs 50,000 a month. You have to pay one-year rents upfront.”
“Ok, what else?”
“There are just two apartments in that particular building. Yours is at the right-hand corner. The landlady also lives in the compound. Her own apartment is directly opposite yours. However, there is a huge space separating the two buildings. You can move in as soon as you are able to pay the money.” The agent explained.
“That will be tomorrow. I will pay tomorrow, clean the house and moving in the day after. Now take this.” My dad said, handing him the agency fees.
“Thank you, Sir. Thank you very much. I appreciate.”
“That’s alright, young man. Now any other ghost stories?” My dad asked with a smile on his face.
“None whatsoever, Sir.” The agent said. I suspected in his mind, he said, “You will find out for yourself.”

My dad asked me to get into the car and we drove off. As we drove home, he warned me not to tell my mum anything about the agent’s stories. He made me to expressly promise him I wouldn’t. I did promise I wouldn’t and I had no intentions of not keeping my promise. My dad was not the kind of person whose promise you would break in any circumstance. He was a great disciplinarian but very caring and loving.

My dad hadn’t believed anything he was told by the agent. To him it was an old wives’ tale. To him it was stories men told each other when they were drinking at their ogogoro joints. However, as young as I was, I believed the agent and I was very angry at my dad for making me promise not to say anything to my mum.

I believed the agent because I had experienced some strange things in our former station. I couldn’t tell if they were real or not but they were very vivid and explicit. One day, while I was at the back of the house, I had seen witches, carrying little babies on their backs, dancing. They disappeared as soon as they realized I had seen them. At night I was always seeing a black head always looking and blinking at me. I also once had a hallucination where some wizards were trying to kill me and my dad was begging them not. Suddenly my dad was dragged away and as they attempted to strike me; my three years old younger sister appeared in the form of an angel. With a halo around her head and saved me.

I had never told anyone any of these devilries. As young as I was, I kept them in my mind. I decided that as we moved into the new house, if my father didn’t want to take any precautions, I would. For the sake of my mum and younger sister.

THE WITCH’S DAUGHTER

CHAPTER 2

Two days later, after we had cleaned the house, we moved in. The first thing my father did was to bring a powerful, local man of God who prayed for the house and poured anointing oil. Feeling secured after the pastor’s prayer, we settled in to begin enjoying our new home.

It had been a week now and we hadn’t had any incident. I was already beginning to believe what my father had said about the agent’s stories. As scary as the stories sounded, I still wanted something adventurous to happen and had been disappointed that nothing had happened so far. I loved ghost stories and ghost encounters as long as they don’t kill me.

The next day, after my dad had gone to work and my mum and younger sister were having an afternoon nap, I wandered to the back of the house and noticed something I had not noticed since we got there. It was an old house surrounded by a thick bush. The house looked mysterious to me and this increased my curiosity. I wondered why someone will leave the surroundings of his house so untidy in this modern times. I decided to go check who lived in the house. When I got there, I met a beautiful little girl, just about my age.

“Hi there!” I called.

“Hey”

“How are you?” I asked.

“Good and you? Where do you come from?”

“We moved in a few weeks ago. We live in that house there.” I said, pointing to our house.

“Ok, my mum told me about it.”

“Your mum? Where is she? Who else do you live with?”

“Yeah. I live with my mum. Just the two of us.” She said.

“I want to meet her. Where is she?”

“She went into the forest since morning and hasn’t returned yet. By the way, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to meet my mum. In fact, it will be a prudent thing for you to start going.”

“Leave me alone.” I said. “What is wrong with you? Where is your father?”

She didn’t respond.

“Please, tell me why you don’t want me to meet your mum.” I urged.

“She is a witch. Yes, my mum is a witch. Please go before she comes. I don’t want something bad to happen to you, please.” She begged.

I refused to go. I told her I wasn’t going to move an inch until she told me all about her mum. She did. She said her mum had been driven from her village for practicing necr0mancy. A woman’s husband had died. This woman loved her husband very much and wanted to be with him again in spite of the fact that he was dead. Someone directed her to the witch who used her powers to invoke the woman’s husband. The woman’s dead husband appeared in her temple for real. Not his spirit but his flesh and blood. The widow was called at the dead of night to meet her husband. She was very happy to meet her dead husband again. However, they were warned never to make love or she will die. She didn’t heed to the witch’s warning, made love to her husband and died. Her husband disappeared and was never seen again.

The villages got angry and chased her away from the village. The villages had tolerated her enough. That was not the first time she had openly practiced wizardry in the village. There was another time the children of the village were complaining that each time their parents go to the farm, a strange little child came and played with them. He even ate their food. Their parents had many times set a trap to catch this strange little child. However, they had never succeeded.

The witch was invited and she succeeded to catch the strange little child. It was discovered that the little boy was a ghost. He left his grave everyday when he was sure that the villagers had all gone to the farm and only the children were left at home. He came and played with them and ate their food. When he was sure their parents were going to start returning from their farms, he vanished and went back to his grave. That was his normal routine until he was caught and destroyed.

My eyes almost popped out of their sockets as I listened to the stories about her mum. Any other little child my age might have been very afraid and would have left immediately. I was the opposite of every little child. I was very interested in the stories instead and wanted her to tell me more.

“Please, go now. I can hear an owl hooting and our black cat which had been absent since morning had suddenly appeared. That was an indication that my mum would be here any minute. Please, go.” She begged desperately.

“I will only go if you tell me one more scary story about your mum.” I said, excitedly.

I was playing with fire and deep down I knew it. However, I had an unholy appetite for all things supernatural.

“Okay, please, promise you will go after this, please.” She almost went down on her knees.

“Alright, I promise.” I said. I was enjoying the whole show.

She told me that the first time that her mum had come close to being exiled from the village was when a neighbour had given birth to a beautiful baby. That neighbour had quarreled with her mum only recently and had called the latter an old and ugly hag. Her mum had decided to revenge in a way and time of her chosen. When the neighbour brought her new born baby from the hospital to the house, her mother magically came at the dead of night and burst the child’s ear lobes and put earrings in them. The neighbour was outraged when shoe got up at night because of the baby’s incessant cries and realized that her earlobes had holes and there were earrings hanging from the holes.

The next day, they visited a with doctor who told them who was responsible for the act. The woman assembled the village youths who would have lynched the witch. However, she was spared when she confessed and was made to pay a huge fine.

I had heard enough for one day. I said my goodbye and quickly left to our house. The little girl felt so relieved when she saw me leaving. I went home and my mum and kid sister where still sleeping. I decided that the next day, I will go and see her again. I had a feeling she wasn’t happy. I decided I would be her friend and someday, who knows? I might her free her from her mum, the witch. A decision I will seriously come to regret in future.

TO BE CONTINUED