THE STOLEN GODS – HORROR STORY

In a land not too far away, there was a village called Obache, hidden in the heart of Africa.

This village was sãcred, but villagers lived in harmony, careful not to upset the gods—a collection of golden skülls housed in the priest’s abode.

Mmuo, the village priest, was revered for his unique communication with the golden deities.

The whole villagers will gather around mmuo’s house seeking help from him ranging from sïckness, spîrîtual pr0blëms and disæses.

For only Mmuo could truly understand the golden skülls that adorned his huts.

The king himself had acknowledged Mmuo as his equal, and the villagers respected this,

His beautiful wife and daughter were the envy of many, stirring whispers of jealousy among the village women.

One faithful evening, as twilight painted the sky, Mmuo was returning from the palace.

Along the roadside, he spotted five young men, their car stalled motionless and their faces etched with früstratiôn.

They were strangers, their mode of dressing and slangs were foreign to the simple ways of Obache,

Horses was obache village mode of transportation, but whenever they find a visitor with a car they will be curious wondering where the visitor was coming from.

Mmuo watched them, a curious thought took root in his mind

“My daughter is an epitome of beauty, much like her mother,” he mused.

“Why should she settle for a local suitor in this village while the looks of the young men am seeing is enough to be suitors for my daughter?”.

As he approached them, he greeted

“Good evening, my sons.”

Startled, they responded in unison, with their voices trembling,

“Go…od evening…”

“Spies in obache village? where do you hail from?” Mmuo inquired sharply.

“Greetings… We are not spies, but travelers. Our car has faltered, and we seek a mechanic to continue our journey to lagos.”

One of the young men named benedict replied.

At the mention of Lagos, Mmuo’s smile sent shivers down their spines.

“Is it hungry?,” mmuo retorted transiting his gaze to their car.

“Hungry? how?”. Benedict replied.

“Your horse? maybe it’s tired have you tried giving it food?”.

What mmuo said made the young men burst into a bout of laugher, wondering if the p00r priest was ìnsãnë.

“Huh (laughing) this is a car not a horse, it doesn’t eat,”.

“I see”. mmuo muttered, felling a twinge of embarrassment,

As he walked away, he overheard their worries about shelter for the night.

Mmuo despite being a village priest felt pity for the lads, for he knew they were not of his village.

Turning back, he invited them to stay at his home. They hesitated, wary of the chalk covered stranger with the appearance of a wïzård.

He insisted telling them the nightly rïtuals held at their parking spot.

Out of fear the young men accepted his offer because they couldn’t afford to dìë.

Upon arriving at the priests house, their jaw dropped by the shimmering golden skülls on top of the huts.

Mmuo introduced his guests to his family, urging them to extend their hospitality. His wife, Ugo, inquired about their journey, but Mmuo silenced her, insisting they respect their visitors’ privacy.

Soon dinner was served by ugo, but the travelers refused the unfamiliar meal.

Mmuo reassured them his wife was a nice cook, yet they declined, claiming they had eaten earlier.

As midnight approached, Mmuo led them to a spare hut, adorned with mesmerizing golden skūlls.

As soon as mmuo was out of sight benedict begin to plot schemes of stëaling some of the crëëpy priceless artifacts.

“It’s a bad idea,” Micheal interjected,

“Let’s be grateful for his hospitality instead of stëaling one of his possessions.”

“Hospitality under my fëët,” benedict fired back, with ånger evident in his voice.

“Do you know how much those golden skülls will fetch in Lagos?”.

The others nodded in agreement, but Micheal hesitated. His gaze lingered on the skūlls.

Their h0l0w eyes seems to watch them. He couldn’t bring himself to take one.

“I won’t be part of this,” Micheal interjected, stepping aside.

His friends ignored his warnings, each concealing the golden skūlls inside their bags, pressed tightly against their chësts.

As dawn approached, the five friends fled to where they had parked their cars.

Their laughter echoed blissfully at their new fortune, unaware of the fate that awaited them.

As the first light of dawn crept over the horizon, the cock in Mmuo’s compound crowed its third call.

The old priest, stirred by the sound, rose to perform his sãcred morning rītuals to honor the golden skülls.

Then he suddenly remembers his foreign visitors,

Upon reaching the visitor’s hut where he had housed the five mysterious guests, Mmuo’s hëart sanked.

The young men had vanished like mist in the morning sun.

“Where could they have gone at this early hour?

Perhaps they went to feed their horse,”

He mused, leaving the visitors hut unaware of the deity they had stōlen.

Mmuo settled on a rickety bench, his gaze fixed at space, hoping for their return. But as time ticked by, it became clear they weren’t coming back.

Mrs. Ugo, having just awakened, noticed her husband’s solitary figure outside

“Good morning,” she called out, “Have our visitors left so soon?”

“I’m as puzzled as you are,” Mmuo replied, his voice tinged with concern.

“At least they should have let me know they were leaving,

They seemed like such responsible lads, suitable as a suitor to Nkechi.”

Their conversation was abruptly cut short as dårkness enveloped Obache village, snuffing out the morning light.

Nkechi, roused from her slumber, joined her parents in their bewilderment.

“Why has the day turned to night?” she cried, confusion evident in her voice.

Mmuo was still confused at the strange occurrence, he didn’t waste much of his time,

He rushed to his hut, gathering the skūlls together.

His worst fears were confirmed, his night visitors had stōlen four of the deity and sprinted away.

Mmuo exclaimed, raising an alarm to his wife and daughter.

“See what has befallen us!” he exclaimed.

“Those thiëvës have cürsëd our village!!”.

Tëars filled mmuo’s eyes as he keeps r0lling and låmënting on the ground.

“Oh mmuo when will you be wìse? because the priest title doesn’t suit you,

Can you see what your stupïdìty and grëëd had brought to our village? you went to bring in foreigners we don’t know of,

And you want my daughter hands in marriage with thiëvës?,” she sneered.

“Crying wouldn’t solve this, it’s best you Appeal to the remaining skūlls for guidance.”

“How dare you!” Mmuo’s anger flared extinguishing his crîes.

“Are you ïnsåne woman? how dåre you address the gôds whom my ancestors bow down to worship?

The gōds are not to be addressed so casually!”

“And have you ever seen me appeasing the gōds separately? I communicate with them all together”,

As mmuo and his wife exchange words their quarrels was interrupted by the anxious cries of their fellow villagers,

With their lanterns flickering like fireflies around their hut.

“What shall we do?” Nkechi’s voice cut through her parents tension.

“You two should tell them I’ve been summoned by the king,” Mmuo instructed his wife and daughter, hiding from view.

Ugo and Nkechi did as told, dispersing the crowd with mmuo’s false tale.

“But we’ve just come from the palace, and Mmuo was not there,” grumbled Afam, an elder who dëspise Mmuo so much.

“But why would Ugo and her daughter lìe about the priest’s whereabouts?” another elder mused with a sneer.

“I believe they’re all hiding something, and they’re the reason why this strange phenomenon occured, we will find out soon enough,” Afam concluded.

They all depart to their various huts with their flickering lanterns amongst the crowds.

Meanwhile, Mmuo, concealed from pryīng ëyës, clutched one of the golden skūlls to himself, as tears streamed down his face, m0ürning what his beneficiary impact on the strangers had caused him……

….. Obache village was enveloped in total dårkness, that seems to grow thicker and more oppressive.

Lanterns casted feeble glows against the encroaching shadow of the villagers.

They whispered among themselves, their voices hushed with urgent, with their lanterns, as they tried to make sense of the strange occurrence that had visited them in broad daylight….

The king grew concerned about the ëerie occurrences in the village, he was about summoning his guards to go consult mmuo in his hut.

But the village elders, who had visited Mmuo earlier, arrived with their flickering lanterns and unsettling news.

“Greetings, Your Highness,” they bowed.

“We went to Mmuo’s abode, but his wife and daughter claimed he was already here.”

The king’s brow furrowed. “I haven’t seen him,” he replied.

The elders exchanged bewildered glances.

“But why would mmuo’s wife and daughter lìe about his whereabouts?”.

“I hope what Afam had said earlier isn’t coming to pass…. “. one of the elders added”.

BY : Remi The Writer

“Mmuo had always been a noble man, that even the gods choose his transparency to save this land,” the king replied with disbelief.

“If that’s the case, something åwful must have gone wrong” he continued.

“Guards assemble!! we need to pay the greatest priest of obache a visit,” the king concluded.

Mainwhile, the cries of mmuo pierced through the air in his hut, still clutching at the golden skūll,

His tëars fell freely as he pondered how to explain his actions to the king and the villagers.

“Don’t just sit down there crying like a baby, something has to be done the whole village is in a mëss”.

Mrs Ugo retorted glaring angrily at mmuo who still clutch on the sküll to his chest.

Nkechi sat beside her father, her countenance etched with concern.

“Papa,” Nkechi whispered, “you can’t keep hiding. The villagers needs you.”

Mmuo smiled through his tears. “You’re a great gift, Nkechi,” he said. “But this bürden is great for me to handle without the gods.

“Those foreign thieves had unleashed this mãlevolent dãrkness upon our village,

Mrs. Ugo, interrupted. “We must seek help,” she urged. “The neighboring village’s greatest priest may know how to dispel this dårkness”.

“No,” Mmuo declared. “I’ll find a solution myself, i don’t need anyone’s help, the gods will surely take charge!.”

Nkechi’s voice trembled. “Papa, no one knows it all. Let’s seek help before it’s too late……”.

Mmuo took his daughters words into consideration, he rose, gathering the rest of the golden skūlls inside a basket.

He took an old lantern and hurried toward the neighboring village.

Unbeknownst to them, the cruèl elder afam, had been eavesdropping behind mmuo’s hut all along……

~FLASHBACK~

Fifty two years ago, the village of Umufe, nestled beside a foreboding forest,

The villagers whispered tåles of the forest’s mãlevolent spìrits, which crept into their homes at night,

Seeking hosts to põssess. Mmuo’s family, like many others, sought to flee the dëmōns that had befallen their home.

One fateful night, as the moon hid behind the clouds, Mmuo and his parents attempted to cross the trëacherous river that separated Umufe from the safety of Obache village.

Trāgically, the river’s currents were mērcilëss, and Mmuo’s parents were swëpt away before his ëyës

His attempt of rêscuing them were futile, the river had already enveloped them down below the bay.

Mmuo, overwhelmed by dëspair, too felt the cōld embrace of the waters and thought his ënd had come.

However, destiny had other plans for him.

He awoke in a strange hut, surrounded by golden skūlls that glimmered in the dim light.

Fêar gripped his hëart as he remembered the hōrrōrs of the cruêl river that had taken their lïvës.

He began to cry, his crîes pierced through the vibrant of the hut.

Which made an old man, whose face was painted in white chalks similarly to a priest beckoning on him from outside the hut.

“Do not wëëp for the past? young one?,” his voice sent chills down the spīnes of little mmuo.

“Your parents’ fate was written by the gods. But you, my child, have been chosen for a greater purpose.”

Mmuo, wiping away his tëars, asked the old man how he came to be in his hut.

“I found you by the river’s edge, barely clinging to lïfe”.

The old man explained. “The gods I serve have a fondness for the brave, and they spared you for a reason.”

The old man, known as Ojofor, took Mmuo under his wing.

He taught him the ways of the priests and the power held within the golden skūlls.

“These are not mere trinkets,” Ojofor said,

“They are the vessels of the gods, and they have protected Obache for generations.”

As time passed, Ojofor grew frail, and the shadow of dëath loomed over him.

One evening, he presented the golden skülls to Mmuo, who was barely a tween.

“The time will come when you must guard these with your lìfe,”

Ojofor whispered. “Never let them fall into the wrong hands, for they are bound together, and to separate them would spëll dööm for Obache.”

Mmuo, with tèars streaming down his face, promised Ojofor that he would honor his sãcred duty.

“It’s a promise,” he said, clutching the basket of skülls close to his chest.

Years after the dëath of ojofor, Mmuo became the guardian of the golden skūlls.

He remembered Ojofor’s teachings and the promise he made. Though the weight of his responsibility.

Mmuo’s resolve never wavered. He knew that the safety of Obache, and the honor of his adopted father’s memory, rested in his hands.

~PRESENT DAY~

…..The five foreign visitors whom had stölen from the priest of obache village drove back to Lagos with high spirits,

Their laughters filled the air when they get to their hostel.

As they made their way through the crowded hallway, they couldn’t help but glōat about their daring hëist.

The golden skūll was a jackpot in making them instant billionaires.

“With this our new fortune, we’ll be the ones sending our lectures ërrands.

“What am I even talking about? our days of schooling here is ōver,”

Benedict retorted causing his friends to grin, their faces flushed with mischiëvous excitements.

Except for Micheal, who had refused to participate in their hëists, with the look of disapproval on his countenance.

“I am against this act,” he continued.

“That man took us like his son’s it’s totally unfāir to pay good with ëvil.

“This isn’t the way to make our fortunes.”

“Shūt your trap……..,” Benedict shushed him, I had enough of your dramas.

“It’s fine if you want to dië in povërty, the rest of us don’t mind, it’s your lifë,

Soon you will be recognized for your drawing talents,

Maybe that way you will become a billionaire like us, because we’re blöödy rich now.

And when we start cashing out billions we wouldn’t share with you,” he added.

If you don’t want to chill with us,….. the bigger boys.. Benedict replied mockingly, as he locked sardonic glances with his other friends.

“Let’s not argue about this bro…. we did what we did, and now we have to stick together. Right, Matthew?”

Tony, chimed in through his friends mild quarrël.

Matthew nodded, not taking his eyes off the golden skülls.

“Yeah, we’re in this together. why should the brotherhood engage in such irrëlëvant ārguments, we’re all talking about money here,”.

After much persuasion, Micheal Left his friends to themselves as they placed the golden skülls on a mantelpiece,

The soft glow of the bulb casted an ëërie light on their stölen treasures.

The air was thick with anticipation, their minds raced guessing the billions of naira the object would fetch.

With a final glance at their prizes, they turned off the lights and retired to their beds.

Suddenly, a knock came at their door, the sound echoed through the walls.

They exchanged puzzled glances, wondering who could be visiting at such a late hour.

“Who could that be?…………..”

Benedict queried without expecting an answer, his mind raced with thoughts of someone ëavësdropping on their conversation.

Curiously piqued him, and he impätiently rushed to open the door, expecting to see a familiar face of their course mates.

But as he swung the door open, he met an unsettling sight, nobody was there.

The darkness outside seemed to stare back at him, like an empty void.

He peered into the dark, his eyes scanned the shadows for any sign of movement or a figure lurking in the darkness.

But there was nothing. The knocking seemed to have come from an unknown, invisible source.

Benedict’s hëart raced as he stood there, frözen in confüsion and a growing sense of unease.

The knocking came again, louder this time, causing his friends to jump off their beds.

“It’s coming from the walls…..,”

Tony whispered behind his friend, with his flashlight, wëting his bōxers as fëar grippëd him.

The five friends searched the corridors and hallway, their flashlights casted long shadows,

But they found nothing. The knocking grew more persisting, surrounding them, as if the very building was ãlive.

“It’s a warning,” Micheal hide behind them, as his voice etched with fëar.

“We need to return those crëëpy objects back, it must be the reason why this is happening.”

Benedict scoffed. “Nönsënsë! It’s probably just some of our course mates playing pranks on us.”

But the knocking didn’t stop. It followed them, even as they hold their flashlights.

Without further words, they turned and rushed back into their dormitory, slamming the door shut behind them……..

…..They dove under their blankets, their hëarts pounded like drüms in their chësts,

And despite the fëar that clung to them like shadows, sleep eventually took them.

The persistent knocks that had followed them to their room dwindled and then ceased altogether.

But Benedict lay awake with his flashlight sweeping across the room.

The golden skūlls deflected the flashlight rays as it flitters.

He nüdgëd Matthew, then Tony, and finally Jackson, whispered to their ears.

“It’s better we get a buyer this night before sleeping,” he implored.

But they only murmured protests, too ensnared in sleep’s embrace not heeding his call.

“It’s too early,” they mumbled, tomorrow benedict!!”

Benedict sighed, früstration knitted on his brows,

“It seems Michael’s words have bëwītchëd you three?,” he muttered to himself.

Without wasting much time, tucked the golden object inside a nylon bag,

As he made his way through the dimly lit corridors of the hostel with his flashlight.

The hoot of an owl pierce through the school premises, with the anticipation of the soft rustling leaves, aroused by the gentle breeze.

He approached a small nearby antique shop who was about to close,

An old man with a kind face looked up as benedict approached him

“Good evening, young man. What brings you here at this late hour?” he asked, peering over his spectacles.

“I have something to sell,” Benedict replied, placing the golden skūll on the counter.

The shopkeeper’s eyes widened as he examined the artifact.

“This is a rear object to find,” the old man murmured.

“Where did you get it?,” he queried.

Benedict stare dāggers at him, giving the old man a disãpproving look,

“But I must tell you, it’s an old treasure, and such things have lost their value over time.

I can offer you five hundred thousand naira for it.”

Benedict hesitated, the weight of selling it was heavy on his shoulders.

He knew the skūll worth more, but the urgent need for money clouded his judgment.

“Alright, it’s a deal,” he said reluctantly.

As the shopkeeper counted out the money, Benedict couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease.

He pocketed the cash and left the shop, his mind raced with thoughts of spending the money lāvishly.

Instead of returning to the safety of his dormitory, Benedict found himself at the doorstep of a nearby hötel.

He request the company of a prōstitūtë for the night…

The hårlöt joined his låvish spending merriments,

Unbeknownst to him, the lady he had called for the night was a thiëf.

After having fün with her, he drifted into a drūg induced slumber from the wine giving to him.

She rifled through Benedict’s trouser, her fingers found the thick wad of cash from the money Benedict had earned from the golden skūll.

With a triumphant smile, she pocketed the money and prepared to leave.

But something caught her eyes, alas, it was the glimmer of the golden skūll,

Benedict had sold earlier, it had somehow returned, with its hōllōw eyes seeming to stare right at her.

A shiver ran down her spine, but grëëd overpowered her fear.

“I won’t tell madam kate about this Catch,” she whispered to herself. “This is my chance to start a new life.”

Without wasting much of her time, she wrapped the object in a black nylon bag she had brought for her operation and hurried out into the street.

As she walked, the sound of footsteps echoed behind her, though no one was in sight.

She quickened her pace, her heart pöundëd heavily in her chëst.

As she walked faster, the footsteps increases, curiosity gnawed at her, she was tempted to look back at the strange sounds,

She couldn’t believe her eyes, a tall golden skëlëton apparition figure shrouded in the darkness, with a golden swörd in his hand.

The skëlëtön apparition löömed over her with ãnger, and she could do nothing but stare back in tërrōr.

She wët her pants instantly, wondering if she was under a trānce,

“Please, don’t…..hu…rt me,” she stammered, as tëars streamed down her countenance.

She was about sprinting away, but the angry ëntïty dived the swörd dëëp into her chëst with fūry……

The next morning Micheal, Jackson, Matthew and Tony woke up, to their surprise they found Benedict’s bed empty with no traces of him.

“Where could he have gone to this earlier hours?,” Tony wondered.

” He Left us behind to face the wrāth of those cruël lecturers without waking us up,”. he continued.

Michael noticed a strange drawing from his art collections lying close to his bed.

It showed a man lying on a hospital bed, looking very sīck.

“Hey, guys, look at this!” Michael exclaimed.

The friends gathered around, confused.

“Did any of you draw this?” Michael asked.

“Because….I don’t remember drawing this….,” Micheal said as he widened his eyeballs.

“So….you draw the picture of Benedict sleeping on the bed in pãin? just because you’re so āngry at him?

Ooh Micheal, when will you grow up?

And when did you start to draw realistic people on papers? ,” Jackson continued as he take hold of the art work.

Jackson queried furrowing his eyebrows, but Micheal persisted he wasn’t the one.

“So you trying to say ? a ghōst draw this while we’re sleeping?”. Matthew added, also looking at the pictures.

“But it looks so real, Micheal’s drawing isn’t as perfect like this one,” tony cut through their tension.

“Perhaps the spïrït knocking yesterday night was the culprit,” Jackson added, causing the rest to laugh sardonically at Micheal.

“Let’s just go look for Benedict, no time for this,” Matthew said flipping the drawing away.

As they prepared to search for Benedict, Michael remembered that Benedict had been trying to tell them something the night before.

“Benedict wasn’t sleeping yesterday night, he was calling on you guys,”

Micheal retorted, causing his friends to furrow their eyebrows.

“That’s true, he was calling to us in our sleep, but I don’t remember precisely what’s it”. Jackson retorted.

“I think he was saying something about the golden skūlls,” Matthew said locking his eyes with his friends.

“…. Hold on guys, it seems Benedict went to sell his own off,” tony added.

They immediately reach to the lower mantelpiece to find the skūlls.

Indeed one was missing, “How can Benedict bëtray the brotherhood?

We do things together,” Jackson fumëd àngër evident in his voice

Feeling bëtrayëd, they decided to attend their morning lectures, hoping to find Benedict there.

Micheal was Left behind, wondering how a realistic image of Benedict shedding tëars was drawn without him knowing.

The day’s lecture was over, and evening soon came, and they haven’t seen the figure of Benedict around.

Fëar crept in as they wondered what could have happened to their friend.

“What could have happened to Benedict,” tony queried his friends with feär writing all over his face.

Just then, a man answered Benedict’s phone, telling them that Benedict had been taken to the hospital.

He had been found unconscious in his hōtel room, and he was not responding to trëatmënt.

The friends rushed to the hospital, worried and scared.

His hotel fee was just eight hours to pass the night, and he had over used it,

Immediately they had heard what the man on Benedict’s phone had said, they hurried to the hospital in their small Camry Toyota .

At the hospital, the doctor explained that Benedict had been drüggëd, but the drug should have worn off by now.

“…. And he’s not responding to their trëatmënt, and he thinks he will have to discharge him soon.,”

“Doctor we’re lost, what happened to our friend,” Michael asked, tears streaming down his face.

“…to be honest, the young man had been in a kind of deep sleep, no heeding anyone from waking him up …..

Am afraid it’s a spïrītual pröblem..”, the doctor explained.

Tëars streamed down their eyes, they tried to wake Benedict up too, by circling around him, drãgging, tåpping and all sort of things for him to wake up….

But he was in a dëëp slümber, përsistëd strongly to their calls, yet still brëathing……..

“Your highness,” Afam bowed low before King Obi and the elders,

His lantern flickered in the night.

“The strange events in our village are because our sācred guardians are gone,”

Afam said with a sly smile.

The king’s eyes widened in shock.

“What do you mean?” king obi interpose, with disbelief on his countenance along with other elders

The elders murmured among themselves, their disbelief clear as the stars above.

“Are you certain of this, Afam? And how did you come to know such a thing?”

Elder Nnamdi asked, with his brows knitting together in concern.

Afam’s grin widened. “I’ve been eavesdropping, your highness.

Mmuo’s wife and daughter know of it too,” he claimed.

“But why would the gods disappear from Mmuo’s home?” King Obi whispered, more to himself than anyone else.

“Because it was stōlen!!! and now he seeks help from the priest in Umufe village,”

Afam announced, his voice rising above the elder’s murmuring.

The king and the elders exchanged puzzled looks. Obache was known for its honesty; theft was unheard of.

King Obi decided it was time to uncover the truth.

He led the elders through the winding paths to Mmuo’s hut, where they found

Mrs Ugo and her daughter Nkechi where sitting quietly, their old lantern casting shadows on their worried faces.

Upon seeing the king and his entourage, Mrs. Ugo and Nkechi quickly bowed.

“Your majesty,” they greeted, their voices were barely above a whisper.

“Is it true?” King Obi asked, locking gaze with Mrs Ugo.

“What’s true, your majesty?” Mrs. Ugo replied, exchanging bewildered glances at Nkechi.

“…That the gōds are stolen, and that’s why dãrkness had fallen upon us?” the king pressed.

Mrs Ugo knew this wasn’t the time to tell a cock and a bull story, the cat is now out of the bag.

“Ye….SS.., your highness… the gods of our land have been taken by outsiders, not from our village,” she confessed.

“They were strangers in need of help and Mmuo, in his kindness, allowed them shelter for the night,

Not knowing they were thieves,” she added, her gaze falling to the grass at her feet.

Afam watched from a distance, a smug look on his face, expecting the king to banish Mmuo and his family from the village.

But King Obi was wise. He sensed there was more to the story than what was being told.

He turned to the elders.

“We must not jump to conclusions. Let us hear Mmuo’s side before we decide anything.”

In the hushed silence of the deserted village of Umufe, Mmuo’s heart raced with memories of his childhood long past.

The eerie atmosphere hung heavy as he approached the ancient abode of the priest.

The old priest, a century and two decades old, squinted at the sight of Mmuo holding a lantern in the daylight.

“Who’s thee who dare visit my humble home?”,

He called out with a voice that seemed to echo through time.

“It’s one of your kind,” Mmuo replied, bowing deeply.

He shared the tale of darkness that had befallen Obache, the village where day and night had become one.

The priest listened, his head shaking with a mix of sādness and understanding.

“I can aid you in lifting this cürse,” he began,

“But you must confront your past fears with the forbidden forest, he continued.

A pure-hearted maiden, untouched by man, must venture into ëvi forest of umufe to retrieve a red ruby,” the old priest explained.

This gem possesses great power, that when combined with the rest of the golden skūlls, it will restore day and night.”

Gratitude filled Mmuo’s eyes as he bowed again.

“Thank you,” he said, taking his leave.

“The gods told, your only daughter must be among those virgins, for she will bare your cross, good or bãd,” the old man finally gathered his wits.

Tëars streamed down mmuo’s cheeks as he hurried back to Obache with a flicker of hope.

Upon his return, Mmuo found King Obi and the village elders waiting in his hut.

The truth of the stolen gods was out, and he shared his encounter with the old priest.

“The priest, greater showed me a path to redemption,”.

Mmuo explained. “But it requires a Virgïn to enter the forbiddën forest in umufe to retrieve a red ruby that can heal our land.”

King Obi’s eyes lit up with the possibility of salvation.

The next day, he addressed the villagers, promising the hand of marriage to any man who would offer his daughter for the quest.

But fear gripped the hëarts of the villagers, and none stepped forward, their excuses where as numerous as the stars.

It was Mmuo who offered his own daughter, Nkechi, as atonement for his mistake. Afam, eager to win favor in king obis eyes too volunteered his daughter Emily.

And another elder, with faith in the gōds, offered his daughter Amara.

“My daughters, the gods are with you,” mmuo’s said with a firm voice.

“Watch out for each other. The trials you face will be many and dëadly. Unity is your strength.”

With Mmuo’s guidance, the three girls ventured towards the forbidden forest, the shadows of Umufe loomed ahead of them.

No sooner had they entered the forest, a large, strānge snäkë appeared,

its hiss sent a chill down the girls spinës, their hëarts pōundëd as their adventure in restoring obache seems like a lifetime..

Amara, Nkechi, and Emily were running for their lives, fleeing from the wrāth of a colossal serpent, as its scales shimmered mälice.

As they passed through the dense woods, it seemed closing in around them,

But just as hope began to wane, they stumbled upon an unexpected sight, a quaint hut beside a stone well.

Amara’s curiosity was piqued.

“A hut? What’s a hut doing in the ëvil forest?” she wondered peering at the distant village.

Nkechi cautioned, “Remember what my father said in Obache? We’ll face many trials, and they’ll be deadly.”

Emily snorted, “Spare us your clichés, Nkechi. Just because your father is a priest doesn’t mean you can boss us around.”

Nkechi’s eyes flashed with anger. “It’s okay, girls, don’t fight. I was just thirsty for water, that’s all.” amara cut through their ārguments

But Emily’s words had already sparked a fire in nkechi’s eyes.

“Isn’t it Mmuo who brought this cūrse upon us? And it’s not his prophecy, can you imagine that? A priest seeking help from other priests?”

The accusation struck a nërve, and Nkechi’s ānger flared. In defense of her father, she lashed out at Emily,

And the two girls’ quarrel escalated into a physical altërcation.

Emily retaliated, and the two girls were soon fighting. Amara tried to separate them but gave up, storming off towards the mysterious hut.

Her curiosity about the hut with the well grew stronger.

She ventured toward the seemingly abandoned structure, calling out in hopes of finding someone inside.

Perhaps they could be a kind villager who lives in the hut, and could even help them find the strange ruby

Suddenly, a man emerged from the hut.

“Sorry to intrude sir, may I drink from your well?”

Amara asked, her voice tinging with innocence.

But the man was not what he seemed.

His looks doesn’t seems normal, he began to levitate on the air above.

Moving closer to amara, amara immediately realized the danger, she try to flee but it was too late.

The ëntīty merged inside her, seizing control of her mind.

Back in the bushes, Emily and Nkechi, breathless from their fight, realized Amara was missing.

“Where’s Amara?” they exclaimed in unison.

“This is all your fault,” Nkechi lamented, the weight of guilt pressing down on both of them.

As they searched for their friend, Emily spotted Amara’s solitary figure by the door of the hut ëerie hut.

“This girl is so stübborn,” she muttered, drawing Nkechi’s attention.

They approached Amara, ready to scold her, but stopped dëad in their tracks.

Amara was levitating, her eyes were glowing with an otherworldly light, and dëmonic voices echoed around them.

Filled with tërror, both girls sprinted away, leaving behind chilling laughter of the dëmon who had taken host in amara.

Nkechi and Emily were both panting with tëars evident in their eyes.

The weight of their friend’s fate hung heavily upon them, and the fear of the forest hōrrōrs clāwed at their hëarts.

“What are we going to tell Amara’s father?

That his daughter was taken by a demon?” Nkechi’s voice trembled as she spoke, locking her gaze with Emily’s.

“It’s all because of you,” Emily shōt back, her words were as shärp as thorns.

“You and your father, with his empty prophecies, have brought nothing but trouble to our village.”

Their argument erupted into a scuffle, until a child’s cry pierced the air, halting their fight.

They turned towards the cries, oblivion to, their quarrel.

Nkechi led the way, her heart pounded heavily in her ribcage,

To her utmost surprise she saw a little boy clinging to a tree branch over a steep cliff, the little boys eyes wide with tërror.

“Oh no, Emily! It’s a little boy…” Nkechi’s voice laced with pānic.

“So?!! if it’s a little boy???…. I hope you realize we’re in the ëvil forest?

Save your heroics when we’re safe,”

Emily retorted, but her words faltered as the boy’s cries grew more desperate.

Nkechi couldn’t ignore the plea in those innocent eyes. She reached out, pulling the boy to safety, his small hands gripped hers tightly.

“You’re safe now,” she soothed, wrapping him in a comforting embrace.

Emily scoffed. “He’s an ëvil spirit, Nkechi. He’s tricking you.”

But Nkechi’s heart told her otherwise. “Where do you live?” she asked the boy.

He pointed towards a small village, barely visible through the dense foliage. “Over there,” he whispered still sōbbing.

As they approached the village, the boy hesitated.

“I’m scared of what my parents will say. They’ll think I was wandering in the forest again.”

Emily’s suspicions flared on. “He’s luring us into a trāp,” she warned.

Ignoring Emily’s protests, Nkechi followed the boy to the supposed hut where an old woman sat,

Worry etched her features, Upon seeing the boy, she rose, with her eyes widening in shock, glaring angrily at nkechi and Emily.

“It’s okay, Mama. They saved me,” the boy said, running into her arms.

The little boy transpired how he nearly lost his lïfe, from a cliff, and how nkechi had saved him.

“I can’t thank you too enough for saving my son,” she began, gratitude evident in her soft voice.

“You have shown us kindness. Please, wait here. I have a little gift for you.”

With a gentle smile, she disappeared into the hut, leaving Nkechi and Emily to ponder her words.

Emily’s gaze drifted to the boy, who now played with a small, wooden toy by the well.

It was then Emily noticed a red gem glinting at the woman’s neck before she entered the hut.

“Nkechi, look!” Emily whispered, pointing to the necklace. “That’s the gem…!”

Nkechi’s eyes widened in wonder. “It’s the stone papa had told us about,” she murmured. “But how do we get it?”

Before they could ponder further, the woman returned, holding a small, cloth-wrapped bundle. She handed it to Nkechi with a warm smile.

“For your kindness,” she said, “this is for you.”

As Nkechi unwrapped the bundle, a soft, golden light spilled out, revealing a delicate bracelet adorned with tiny, shimmering gold stones.

“This bracelet will protect you from the darkness of the forest,” she explained.

“Wear it, and no evil shall harm you.”

Emily, still fixed her eyes on the red gem, edged closer to the woman.

“And what about that necklace you’re wearing?” she asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.

The woman’s expression shifted, with a frown look on her face.

“This? It is a family heirloom, passed down through our generations. It holds great power, but also great dānger

It põssess a very power…..,” the woman never finished.

Emily’s hand reached out, snatching the jewelry from the woman’s nëck and ran sprinted away, with the red jewelry

The villagers who had gathered with curiosity of knowing their new guest clustered around them gasping, their ëyës turned into a deep glowing red.

“Emily, no!” Nkechi cried out, but it was too late. The gem pulsed with a fierce light, and the air around them crackled with energy.

The woman shriek with rāge ” Thiëvës!!! thiëvës, the gem must not leave this place! It keeps the spirits at bay!”

Nkechi was held hostage, she could neither follow Emily nor explain herself to the spirit villagers.

As Emily fled, the villagers lead a hōt pursued after her, the forest came alive with whispers and shadows,

The trees themselves seeming to reach out Emily trying to snatch what she had taken.

“This was exactly what I saw in my art collection drawings about Benedict,”

Micheal retorted, his eyes brimming with tears.

Matthew and Jackson could only shake their heads, casting their gaze to the ground in dismay.

“When will you start to act mature, Micheal? Our friend is in the hospital, and the doctor can’t even know what’s going on with him,”

Jackson interrupted, his words cut through the air like a knife’s edge.

“Micheal is right… that drawing!!! It had the same effects in the real world, just like how Benedict is in a critical condition,” Tony cut through their arguments.

“And what are you implying?” Jackson imposed, his voice tinged with skepticism.

Matthew queried, furrowing his eyebrows as he gripped the steering wheel of their old Camry Toyota.

“What I’m implying is this, ever since the day we took those golden skūlls from the village, strange things have been happening.”

The strange knocks on the wall the other day, we didn’t even find a single soul outside,

But someone was at the door,” Micheal added, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Just shūt your traps… okay?” Matthew yelled as they arrived back at their hostel.

He hurried inside their dorm, seizing the remaining skūlls in a black nylon bag.

“It’s better we dispose them. If truly these skūlls are the reason behind Benedict’s ailments, it has to stop,” he added with a sense of urgency.

Tony suggested to Jackson and Matthew that it might be better to return the skūlls just like Micheal had said earlier, but they shook their heads in disagreement.

“Stup!d idea,” they both replied in unison, each taking their own skūll and leaving Tony’s remaining.

They headed back inside their car, looking for a buyer.

Tony sat on a wooden chair in their dorm, his hands trembled as he watched Jackson and Matthew taking their leave.

A single tēar rolled down his cheek, followed by another, until he was sōbbing uncōntrollably.

“If only I knew,” he whispered through his tears, “I wouldn’t have joined in the heist to stëal those.”

Michael, who had been standing in the doorway, stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“Hey, Tony,” he said gently, “it’s not too late to make things right.”

Tony looked up, his ëyës were red as a result of his cries.

“But how? We’ve already taken them, and Jackson and Matthew they have gone to get a buyer”.

Michael crouched down to meet Tony’s gaze. “We can return your own instead, if they choose not to believe us, It’s never too late to do the right thing. Are you willing to try?”

Tony nodded, wiping his eyes. “Yes, I want to fix this.”

As they spoke, Tony’s gaze drifted to a peculiar drawing on Micheal’s art collections.

It was a realistic sketch, same like the one that had predicted benedict’s ailments.

Tony and Michael both took the drawing on the mantelpiece, it bear a realistic resemblance to Jackson and Matthew, behind their car lurked a shadowy figure, its presence was crëëpy

Michael followed Tony’s gaze, and his jaw dropped. “Ar…..e you thinking what am thinking??,” he stammered.

Without a word, Tony and Micheal both leaped to their feet and dashed out of their hostel.

Their hëart pounded with urgency. they had to stop Matthew and Jackson before it was too late.

Michael hurried after him, calling out, “Tony, wait up!”

The night air was cool as Micheal and Tony ran faster than ever before.

As Tony and Michael raced through the streets, the moon cast long shadows that danced across their path.

They could see Jackson and Matthew’s car in the distance, its taillights glowing like the eyes of some nocturnal creature.

“Jackson! Matthew!” Tony and Micheal shouted in unison, their voices carried the weight of the wind.

As Matthew and Jackson drove through the winding roads of Greenwood, the sky began to darken, and a strange silence enveloped them.

Suddenly, from the corner of their eye, they caught a glimpse of a strange golden disfigurëd entity in the car mirror, lurking behind them.

They both scrëamed, trying to run out of the car, but the strange being grippëd them from behind. Matthew lost control of the steering wheel, and the car swerved wīldly before cōlliding with a tree.

The crāsh was loud, and the silence that followed was deafening. Tony and Micheal, who had been following them on a bike, rushed to the scene.

A sense of shock spread through the air, and the entity slowly vanished, leaving behind a trail of golden sparkles.

Michael and Tony stood frozen, their eyes wide with shock as the ambulance’s lights painted the streets in urgent reds and blues.

The vehicle’s doors closed with a soft thud, encapsulating the still form of their friend Matthew.

The school authorities, with furrowed brows and concerned glances, sought answers from Tony and Michael.

They were the last to see Matthew and Jackson before the āccident, But as they stood before the inquiring eyes,

No words found their way past the lump in their throats. Tears only streamed down their faces, tracing lines of sōrrōw as they remembered the harrowing sight of their friends’ cōllision with the old iroko tree.

The next day came when Doctor emmanuel called Michael and Tony into his office. The room was filled with the scent of antiseptics and the quiet hum of medical equipment.

Doctor emmanuel, a man of gentle demeanor and wise eyes, beckoned them to sit.

“Boys,” he began, his voice was soothing to their anxious hearts,

“I have news about Matthew and Jackson.”

Michael and Tony leaned forward, their hands clasped tightly together longing to hear what he was going to say.

“Matthew has awakened,” Doctor Emmanuel said, a small smile gracing his lips.

“He’s now alert and speaking, though he’s a bit confused at the moment.

It appears he’s suffëring from amnesia, a kind of lōss of memory, which isn’t uncommon after such trāumā.

He remembers his name and bits of his life, but the āccident itself is a blank in his mind.”

The boys exchanged bewildered looks mixed with worry.

“What about Jackson?” Tony’s queried .

Doctor emmanuel sighed, the lines on his forehead deepned . “Jackson is still with us, but he hasn’t woken up yet.

His body is fightïng hard, and we’re doing everything we can. He needs more medication and time for his injuries to heal.

We’re hopeful that when he wakes, he’ll be able to fill in the gaps of what happened.”

Michael’s voice trembled as he asked, “Can we see them?”

“Of course,” Doctor emmanuel replied, standing up. “Follow me.”

As they walked through the sterile corridors, the doctor continued, “It’s important to talk to Matthew, even if he doesn’t remember everything.

Familiar voices can help piece together lost memories. And for Jackson, hearing your voices might just be the encouragement he needs to wake up.”

They entered a room where Matthew lay, his eyes reflecting a gaze he no longer fully understood.

Michael and Tony approached him, their hearts were heavy fëar.

“Hey, Matthew,” Tony said, his voice cracking. “It’s us, your friends.”

Matthew’s gaze was uncertain, he only exchange faint glances at them.

“It’s okay,” Tony reassured him, holding back tëars. “We’re here for you, no matter what.”

As for Jackson, they could only wait, hope, he will get better to explain what had caused the āccident.

Late at night, Micheal nor tony could sleep, three of their friends are now in the hospital including Benedict.

The doctor had to tell them it’s Best they go home to get their rest, because they would be exhausted from today’s stress.

When they got to their dorm, their hearts skipped a bit at the sight of the golden skūlls on their bed.

“I knew it’s the handiwork of these,” tony blurted out in tears pointing at the skūlls.

“It’s obvious they both disappeared back here from Matthews car back to us,” tony added.

“But why haunting us if they can go back to the village we took them from,” tony inquired.

“That’s because it’s stōlen, And how do we tell the man we had taken from his possession?”. Micheal retorted.

“We have no choice, we can’t keep those things here any longer, our lives is at rïsk,” tony said as tears began to drop from his eyes.

As micheal had finished talking, he took a glimpse of a hanging drawing from his art collections already coloured.

It showed a picture of benedict being held by two golden skeletons dragged in a underground cave.

“Benedict is in the hospital, why would two golden skëlëtōns drag him?…. and in the looks on what am seeing it’s a completely different world…not on This earth.

Micheal too burst into tears as the prophecy of the drawing this time seems ambiguous to their understanding.

“Where am I?” Benedict mumbled to himself, his voice was barely a whisper in the vast, unfamiliar forest.

Just moments ago, he was in a cozy hotel room, laughter echoing off the walls. Now, the only sound was the rustling of leaves and his own heartbeat.

He stepped cautiously, hoping to find a friendly face or a helpful sign. But the forest seemed endless, and the only sounds were the chirping of birds.

As he ventured deeper, a glint of gold caught his eye. An army of golden skëlëtons, armed with swōrds, marched in unison.

Their clinking bōnes were a strange, eerie music. Benedict’s hëart raced. He dove into a bush, concealing himself as the skëlëtons passed by.

“What’s happening? This can’t be real,” he ranted to himself.

“Skeletons walking around like they own this whole place? And me, I was just enjoying a nice evening, and now this? How did I even get here? Did I fall through a rabbit hole or something?”

His curiosity, became stronger, and his fear, nudged him forward. He trailed the skëlëtons from a safe distance, watching as they gathered around a roaring fire.

There were so many of them, nearly a hundred, their golden bones reflecting the flames.

It dawned on him then, he wasn’t just in a different place, he was in a different world. And as he stood there, trying to make sense of it all, a shadow loomed over him. A skëlëton had snuck up behind him, its hollow ëyës somehow full of life.

With a gentle but firm grip, the skëlëton led Benedict to a line of real people, their fāces twisted in fear and sōrrōw. They were cryīng, wāiling, as if they knew some tërrible fate awaited them.

Benedict’s breath hitched. The skeleton seemed to be dragging them, one by one, towards the fire. What was going to happen to them? To him?

He had to think fast. There had to be a way out, a way to save himself. But how? The answer lay hidden in the new mysterious realm, and Benedict knew he had to find it before it was too late.

As the line inched forward, Benedict’s mind raced. He noticed the skeletons weren’t just mindless bōnës, they seemed to be following orders.

Benedict turned to the person next to him in the queue, a woman with kind eyes that held stories of her own.

“Excuse me,” he whispered, “do you know what’s happening here?”

The woman nodded solemnly. “This place,” she began, “is where sōuls are weighed by the gods. Those who find themselves here have trespassed in some way,

Sought to steal the sācred skülls that guard the boundaries between worlds.”

Benedict listened intently as she continued.

The woman’s gaze held a depth of sōrrōw as she spoke to Benedict.

“Listen carefully, Once they büry your bōdy, there’s no returning, no wāking from this slumber.”

Benedict’s eyes widened, his mind grappling with her words. “But how?

She sighed, a sound that seemed to carry the weight of years. “I’ve been here nearly two years myself,” she confessed.

“All for the vanity of adorning myself with gold, with jewels that promised status and beauty.

But what worth is there in such things when they chain your sōul?”

Her eyes met his, imploring him to understand. “I was brëathing, living, but my time here has surely seen my b0dy büried. My family, my friends… they would have mourned and moved on, believing me gōne.”

Benedict felt a pang of empathy for the woman, her plight mirrored his potential future.

“So, what can we do?” he asked, determination seeping into his voice.

“The skūll must be returned to its sācred ground,” she explained. “It’s the only way to break the bond that holds you here.

The gods, they watch over these relics, and they might be mere bone but they’re keys to immense power.

Many have tried to take them, dreaming of riches, but instead, they end up here. Bound to serve the gōds, their pūnishmënt is to have their essence būrnëd away, piëce by piëce.”

“But am I… dëad?” Benedict’s voice cracked with the weight of his question.

“No, not dëäd,” she reassured him. “on earth, you sleep, unreachable by any means. Here, you belong to the gōds, and they are not mërcifül.”

As they spoke, a skëlëton turned its h0ll0w gaze towards Benedict, pointing a b0ny finger at him.

Benedict’s feet felt rooted to the ground.

The skëlëton’s grip was unyielding as it pulled him towards the fire. Benedict’s mind raced. He had to find a way out, to break free from this nightmare.

“Please,” he pleaded to the woman, “there must be a way to escape this fate….”.

Nkechi sat bōund by rōpes on her hands and legs.

Her eyes were wide with fear, darted across the clearing wrāth of the spirït woman

“Where did your kind come from!!!” she shrieked, her voice echoing off the ancient trees.

Nkechi’s voice quivered as she spoke,

“Great spirit, I beg for your mercy, We are just young girls searching for a red ruby to restore order to obache village,

Emily….she’s not herself. Something ëvil has clouded her hëārt and led her to stëal your jewelry.”

The woman’s gaze was as hard as the stones underfoot.

“Do you know how precious the stone your companion had taken is? this stone is the heart of this forest,”

She leaned in close to nkechi, her breath hissed, blending with the wind.

“Kindness is a gift you shall not find here. Your village will sūffer for this bëtrayal.”

As the sundipped lower, casting long shadows across the forest, one of the village spirit returned, his face twisted in ānger.

“The thiëf eluded us,” it snarled, a wickëd grin spread across its face. “But Obache village will not escape our wrāth.” the woman imposed.

Nkechi’s heart sank. She knew the spirits’ visit to obache village would bring nothing but chāos and dëspair.

“Please, do not hārm the innōcent. It was only Emily’s doing,” she pleaded.

But her words fell on deaf ears. The woman turned to her son, who had been amusing himself with a cow horn.

“My child, I must visit Obache village with our kin. Keep watch over our prisōner.”

With a swirl of her wrapper, the woman departed with the other spirits, leaving Nkechi alone with the boy.

Moments later, the little boy stood up, tossing aside the horn, and looked at Nkechi with an intensity that made her heart flutter with hope.

“Could you……would you set me free?”

Nkechi asked, her voice was barely above a whisper. “I saved you from fālling off the clïff Remember?I showed you kindness.”

The boy stepped closer, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

He wrapped himself around her, his smile were enigmatic and bizarre.

“Thank you, my love, for your bravery. You have a kind heart.”

Nkechi smiled back, though confusion clouded her thoughts.

Why would such a young spirit call her his love?.

Nkechi looked at the boy, her eyes were wide with a mix of fear and curiosity.

“But you’re a small boy, what do you know about love?,” she retorted chuckling.

“Who told you small boys don’t have feelings?” he said with a pout.

“And who told you I can’t love any woman? I might look small, but I will protect you.”

Nkechi couldn’t help but let out a giggle.

The situation was bizarre, yet there was something endearing about the boy’s declaration.

“Oh, brave knight,” Nkechi teased, “how do you plan to protect me? With a cow horn?”

The boy stood tall, his chest puffed out.

“I have many ways. But first, you must agree to be my bride!”

Nkechi laughed, shaking her head. “Your bride? But we’ve only just met, and besides, you’re… well, you’re a spirit!”

“That’s no matter,” the boy insisted. “I’ve decided. When my mother returns, I’ll tell her you’re to be my bride. She’ll be so pleased!”

Nkechi’s laughter faded as she realized he was serious. “But your mother… she’s so fierce. What if she doesn’t agree?”

The boy waved his hand dismissively.

“She’ll have to! After all, you saved me from that drëadful fāll. It’s a matter of honor.”

Nkechi’s heart raced even more at what Emily’s behavior had gotten her.

She rëgretted not being able to stop her, and now, here she was, negotiating marriage proposals with a young spīrīt.

The boy, seeing her sad countenance, with concern, he softened his speech.

“Don’t worry….my bride. I’ll keep you safe. And who knows? Maybe you’ll grow to like it here.”

Nkechi smiled with as a new plan to flee etched in her mind.

“Perhaps….,” she said, “but first, you’ll have to untie these ropes.”

With a mischievous grin, the boy replied,

“Only if you promise to consider my proposal.”

Nkechi nodded, playing along. “I promise to consider it,” she said, hoping for a chance to escape….

“I promise,” nkechi said faintly, finally accepting his proposal.

The little boy, immediately disappeared inside the hut with the speed of a startled antelope.

Nkechi watched him go, her hëart thumping in her chest like the drums during the New Yam festival.

As soon as the boy vanished from sight, she wriggled and twisted, struggling against the ropes that bound her legs and arms.

It wasn’t long before the boy hurried back, his hands clutched a piece of white chalk and a small sharp kn!fe.

A smile played on Nkechi’s lips at the sight of the kn!fe, thinking freedom was moments away.

Unbeknownst to her, the boy had other plans, plans that involved leaving a mark on her perfect ebony skin.

Nkechi’s eyes widened in shock. “What are you doing?” she screamed.

The boy, with a seriousness that belied his age, replied, “I’m sealing our proposal.”

“But… but that’s not part of our agreement!”

Nkechi’s laughter bubbled up despite her fear. “You’re supposed to use the kn!fe to untie the ropes, not… not carve into my skin!”

The boy tilted his head, confusion knitted his brows. “But I thought a permanent mark would be better”.

Nkechi shook her head, tears of pretence were evident in her eyes. “Oh, you little trickster! You don’t want to set me free, isn’t it?”

The boy’s face split into a grin. “Maybe… or maybe I want to combine our s0uls forever!”

Nkechi couldn’t help but laugh, “If you truly love me, you’ll let me go. My father needs me, and if your mother finds out, she’ll have my hëad!”

The boy pondered for a moment, then, with a dramatic sigh, he began to untie her.

The boy looked at Nkechi, his eyes reflected the turmoil that the gem had caused.

“My mother, she was furious because of the gem’s power,” he began.

“She knew its potential for both greatness and destruction, and your friend had stōlen it, causing her to react nëgetively.”

Nkechi’s gaze was steady, “she’s not my friend,”

She corrected him. “we’re just virgins seeking peace for my vîllage.”

She took a deep breath before continuing, “Strangers invaded my father’s home, stealing the golden skülls.

Their actions have thrown my Village into chāos.”

The boy’s heart ached at her words.

“Your father, what was his prophecy about my mother’s gem?”

Nkechi’s eyes held a distant look. “He believes that combining the gem with the skulls can restore the darkness, but only partially.”

The boy’s countenance softened with pity. “I want to help……”,

**

As Emily returned to Obache, the oppressive night that had plagued the village was lifting, and in its place, light began to seep through the darkness.

Emily burst into her father’s hut, the gem clutched in her hand like her future she was determined to rewrite.

“Papa….papa…., I’ve got it!” she exclaimed, her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Her father looked up from his hut, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“My dear……. you’re back? the gods guided you…..What about about Amara and Nkechi?

Did you leave them behind ?”

Emily plopped down beside him, her laughter filled the air.

“Oh….papa….amara had been pōssessed….and for Nkechi!

She’s been captured by the spirit villagers. She should be dëad by now….,”

“How do you mean? “, afam queried fixing his gaze at Emily.

Emily transpired all that had happened in the forest, and how the spirits had pursued her for stëaling their gem.

Her father chuckled, “Poor Mmuo, what will he do when the spirit unleash their ānger, he will be tearing his hair out over the cālāmity I had hoped.”

Emily giggled, “He will probably cürse the day he decided to mess with us.”

The conversation took a turn when her father, with a glint in his eye, said,

“The gem will be quite useful for us, you know.”

Emily’s laughter diëd in her throat. “But Papa, this wasn’t our agreement!

But……we… agreed I will marry the king… What sort of rübbish change of plan is this?”

Her father’s laughter boomed louder.

“Marrying the king? With your knack for trōuble?

Emily crossed her arms, bōiling with rage. “You know, I am perfectly capable of being a queen!”

“Of course, my dear,” her father teased, “as queenly as a monkey in a crown!”

“Don’t you know how special the gem powers are?” afam said, trying to convince Emily with wide eyes

Mmuo will be praised and adorned if he restores order to this village,” he retorted.

Emily crossed her arms and huffed,

“But this is you and Mmuo’s f!ght! Why involving me?” Emily imposed angrily, her voice rising like the crescendo.

“Don’t be a stup!d child,” Afam said in m0ckeries, twirling around as if he was the star of a one-man show,

“Your father’s enëmies are also yours. It’s like saying, ‘I don’t want to take a bath because the water is wet!'”

Emily, cleverness, discovered her father’s trick, before he could talk further, she snatched the gem from him,

Her eyes sparkled with anger.

“Emily!! Emily!! Come back here!” Afam called, but she didn’t listen. She was determined to be king obi’s queen.

She walked straight to the king’s palace, not saying a word, still at the hëat of her father’s bëtrayal.

“Look, it’s Emily! She’s back from the ëvil forest!” they exclaimed. They wanted to know about her Amara and Nkechi, but Emily ignored them.

Upon reaching the palace, Emily was met with surprised stares from the king and his subjects.

Without a word, she presented the gem to the king, who was known to be wary of Emily’s brash nature.

“Good day, Your Majesty,” Emily greeted, recomposing her voice beautifully despite the turmoil within.

Elder Nnamdi stepped forward, his eyes filled with curiosity hoping to see his daughter.

“Emily, my child, where is Amara, my daughter?”

With a heavy heart, Emily replied, “She was pōssessëd by an evil spirit in the forest. I’m sorry.”

A gasp echoed through the hall as Elder Mmuo’s eyes widened in shock. “And what of Nkechi?” he asked, his voice trembling.

“She… she didn’t make it,” Emily said, pretending as if the weight of her words were like stones in her mouth.

The king, saddened by the news, requested the gem. Emily handed it over with a reverence,

As Mmuo lamented his daughter’s fate

“You have to be strong, Mmuo, take heart… may the gods whom you adorn console you,”

the king spoke with a heavy heart, his voice echoed through the grand hall.

Mmuo’s eyes brimmed with tears as he clutched the red gem, its glow dimmed the shadow of his sorrow.

As the gem touched Mmuo’s trembling hands, a sudden, piercing scream shattered the silence.

The king and the elders, with Mmuo trailing behind, rushed outside, their hearts pounded with fëar

An āngry army of spiritual entity from the ëvil forest had caused a stir among the villagers, pōssëssing anyone they meet.

Mmuo’s grip on the gem tightened. He remembered the same spìrits who had made an imbalanced in umufe, his home land.

The king turned to Mmuo, his eyes filled with a mix of fëar and desperation.

“Mmuo, you must return back to your hut, before it’s too late, …. May the gods help you.”

Mmuo nodded, drying his tears, he took the back exit, he widened his mouth ajar,

At the sight of chāos greeting obache.

The Ethereal beings, shimmered like the morning mist yet fierce as an unstoppable force,

Dwelling and seeking hōst on the villager’s, taking over their consciousness……

“We have to act fast… or else I’m the next person?” Tony’s hands trembled as his voice cracked under the weight of his own fëar.

“I don’t want to d!e. I am still a young guy with a bright future ahead of me,” he retorted, his eyes darting around the dimly lit dorm.

“What if something worse than what happened to Benedict, Matthew, and Jackson befalls me?”

He said, tears now streaming down his cheeks like a toddler.

Michael put a reassuring hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“We still have to find Benedict’s own, since yours is still with us. Matthew and Jackson’s own have already found their way back…

“…But what about Benedict’s own?” tony queried his gaze was intense, almost piercing, as he stared hard at Matthew.

“We can’t take only three while they’re four!” Tony’s voice cut through their silence like a kn!fe.

“What do we do now? We have no choice but to take the ones with us,” Matthew imposed, his decision were firm despite the quiver in his voice.

As the two boys reached out to get Tony’s share of their heist, a chill ran down their spines.

There were now two skülls, both eerily wrapped in the nlyon bag.

Tony scampered back, as his mind raced with confusion and drëad. Where had the second skull come from? It was only his own before…

Michael, however, didn’t falter. With a smile that seemed out of place in the life or dëath situation, he took the skülls,

Then included the ones taken by Matthew and Jackson inside the nylon bag.

“What are you still waiting for? Let’s go,” Michael urged, his voice was mix of excitement and urgency.

As they were about to leave, Tony’s gaze fell upon a drawing hanging on Michael’s mantelpiece.

Both Michael and Tony exchanged a look of sheer bewilderment. Tony’s heart raced with fëar seeing a new drawing.

“What tërrible predicament will befall us?” he retorted with tëars streaming down his cheeks.

Michael, with a sense of urgency, seized the drawing from his art collections.

It was a vivid portrayal of Tony, but not as anyone knew him. This Tony was different, his features twisted into a dëmonic version of himself.

Tony’s breaths came in short and sweat beaded on his forehead.

The anticipation of fear and confusion were written down his face.

“Ha… Michael… what will become of me?” he stammered, his eyes wide with tërror.

“Who’s this scary guy that looks like a dëmon? Will I be like him?”.

Tony’s voice rose in pitch as he ran frantically from corner to corner of the dorm, scanning every corner of the door expecting to see the dëmon in the drawing.

“Calm down, bro… we can end this once and for all… we already have Benedict’s own… what’s stopping us?”.

Michael said, his hands tore the drawing into pieces, as if by destroying it, he could alter Tony’s fate.

“Let’s go before it’s too late,” Michael urged, and they both dashed out of their dorm, searching for any means of transportation, a commercial bus or perhaps a bike.

They managed to catch a passing bike, the driver nodded as they explained their destination of redemption.

The journey was long, nearly two hours, and as they approached obache Village, a sense of disorientation clouded their minds.

The village, once a picturesque scene of tranquility, had transformed into a barren desert.

Yet, amidst the desolation, they spotted villagers running with great speed, their faces etched with pānic.

Confusion clouded both Michael and Tony’s countenances, causing their hearts to skip a beat.

The villagers’ chants of “ëvil spirits! ëvil spirits!” filled the air as they fled.

“Poor village,” Michael muttered, shaking his head in pity for the dānger that had befallen the people.

As they retraced their steps to Mmuo’s hut, Tony felt a surge of pity for the villagers’ hardship.

Now realizing the extent of the damage they had inadvertently caused.

With heightened alertness, they scanned their surroundings, wary of the impending dānger that might befall them.

Suddenly, they spotted a little girl by the river side, crying and wailing for help.

Michael, with his kind heart, moved to offer assistance, but Tony, mindful of their mission, urged him to focus on finding mmuo instead.

Unbeknownst to them, the little girl was not as she seemed. As Tony approached, she morphed back into her spirit form.

It leap onto Tony. The transformation was swift and terrifying, leaving Tony’s body rigid as the spirit took control.

Michael’s jaw dropped, tears welling in his eyes as he witnessed his friend’s plight.

“Tony, listen to me!” Michael shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. “You have to fight it! Remember who you are!”

But Tony’s eyes were vacant, his body no longer his own. The spirit cackled with glee, enjoying the turmoil it had caused.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Micheal hurried out of sight, determined to find mmuo….

The spirit’s army from the evil forest were pōssëssing villagers without mërcy.

People kept screaming and running to the king’s palace but some couldn’t make it to the king’s palace because one of the spirit’s army caught up with them and pōssëssëd them.

King Obi was hearing crying screams of people from outside his palace, his heartbeat pace was beating faster than normal as he quickly rushed into his hut while Emily followed him behind.

He locked the door and surprisingly stared at Emily.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” he said to her and she creased her brows.

“What do you mean by that my king? You want me to get captured by those spirit armies?

Anyways, I know you can’t let them harm me because I’m your soon to be wife, the soon to be queen of obache village,”

She explained, spinning around in joy but he didn’t reply her with even a word.

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

“All I can say is you’re dreaming,” he replied and her facial emotions changed to a disappointed one.

“What’s that supposed to mean, my king?”

“I thought the virgin who successful take the gem will be the king’s bride? She retorted, clenching both of his fists.

“After the challenges I faced in the evil forest. Do you think it’s easy to go in there and come out alive.

Do you know what I went through all in the name of securing a red gem? Now you’re telling me that I’m dreaming.

My efforts must not go in vain, you’d take me as your queen whether you like it or not because you can’t break your promise as a king,” she explained, anger evident in her voice.

He just waved his hand.

“You’re just a maiden and I am a king. You don’t tell me what to do okay?”

he said causing emily to clench her fists, her anger was boiling as she thought of what would be her next move.

Meanwhile, Mmuo had gotten back to his hut with the red gem. He was in a haste to do something about the unexpected spirit’s army that has taken over obache village.

He went to where his three remaining skulls were kept and as he was about joining them with the red gem, the woman from the evil forest appeared.

He quickly averted his gaze to her, forgetting the fact that he needed to join the gem and three remaining skulls to save the villagers.

“What brings you here?” he asked.

“The gem is mine! A girl from your village stõle it from me,” she replied through an angry frown and gritted teeth.

He ignored her and was about to continue the process before she snatched the red gem away from him.

“Aren’t you āshamed? You have the audacity to ignore me! Knowing that you’re holding what I own. My gem is the solution to the calamity of obache and you still have some nerves?” she thùndered.

“You’re not even a member of obache!

You would have drōwned with your family and not come to rule as a priest in a land you weren’t born or even own.

You’re a total stranger in obache!” she mocked.

“Can I get the gem back or I’d be forced to do what I might end up regretting,”

She said and was about dragging the gem away from his palm.

She moved back and pushed him with the gem, he landed on the floor like he was püshed by a powerful fōrce.

He stood, “Don’t make this attempt with me again me or you’d be dëalt with.”

She cackled, “If I can’t beat you, then I will join you.

Besides, I’ve always wished to be a priest,”.

She said and pōssessed him without hesitation….

“How does it feel to live in the human village?” the little boy queried Nkechi as he led her through a shortcut out of the ëvil forest.

“Well… the life of the human village can be complicated… we’re birthed, then walk… we eat and we later d!e,”.

Nkechi retorted back to the boy, whose eyebrows were beginning to furrow.

“Huh… you mean you humans are birthed to d!e?” he queried, still glaring at Nkechi, who let out a giggle.

“What about your people?” Nkechi questioned the boy, which made him shake his head.

“We’re spirits!!! We don’t d!e!!!” he retorted. “We’re just guarding the forest as we always do,” he added.

“Ooh, I see, but why is the red gem so important to your people?” Nkechi asked further.

The little boy let out a sigh and then gathered his wits.

“I remember the stories mama told me about our family’s history, about the bl00dy battle between our village and the Umufe village,” he began.

“And about the gem that kept our forest alive.

When my mother was same age as me, she promise my grandfather she will protect the gem with her l!fe,

And she fulfilled that promise with unwavering dedication.”

“she faced countless challenges from the Umufe village, even before I was born.”

“She never give up, always putting the safety of our village and the forest first.

Her devotion to our family’s legacy was unshakeable.”

“But it was not just her strength and courage that defined her. She was also a kind and loving mother,

Always there to support and guide me. She taught me the importance of our family’s traditions.”

“And she’s preparing me to protect the gem, and the forest,” he concluded with a determined glint in his eyes.

Nkechi listened intently, her heart was touched by the spirit boy’s backstory of his mother.

She though of how obache Village Will look like since his mother was an unrelented Force when taken.

“But don’t you think it’s weird Marrying me? Because I’m a human, and you’re a spirit!

And I’m way older than you, and the villagers will laugh at me if they find out am married to a spirit instead of my kind,” nkechi retorted.

The spirit boy laughed. “That’s exactly why I want to marry you! You have a heart of gold, and I know you’ll be the perfect wife for me.”

Nkechi shook her head. “But we’re different, and I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

The spirit boy looked sad, but then his face brightened up. “Remember, it’s a promise! I’m proving my love for you for unknotting those ropes!!.

Nkechi smiled. “Okay, deal! But you have to promise me one thing, you have to behave and not play too many tricks on when we marry.”

The spirit boy grinned mischievously. “I promise….”

Nkechi and the boy’s conversation was abruptly cut short as they approached the outskirts of Obache village.

The once vibrant community now lay before them like a barren desert, the laughter and chatter that used to fill the air was replaced by an eerie silence.

“Where is everyone?” Nkechi whispered, her voice was barely audible over the howling wind that swept through the empty huts.

The little boy’s eyes narrowed as he surveyed the desolation.

“Something’s not right,” he said, his voice tinged with a supernatural intuition.

Nkechi nodded, her instincts grew longer, “Come, we should go to my abode. It’s not safe here.”

They hurried through the village, their footsteps echoed off the walls of the deserted huts.

As they neared Nkechi’s hut, a figure emerged from the shadows. It was Mmuo, his arms open wide as if to embrace his them.

“Mmuo!” Nkechi he exclaimed, longing to hug her, but the little boy’s hand shot out, grabbing her arm.

“Wait!” he hissed, his eyes fixed on the mmuo. “Something’s odd about him.”

Nkechi paused, her hëart pounded against her chest, she looked at her father holding the red gem closer to him.

And she noticed the strange expression in his eyes that wasn’t there before. It was as if a thin veil had been lifted, revealing a sinister glow beneath.

“papa, what’s happened here?” Nkechi asked, her voice were steady despite the fëar that clawed at her chëst.

The old man’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Nothing to worry about, my child. Just the usual village squabbles.”

“Papa, where are the others?” she pressed, “where’s Mama?,” her gaze fixed on his.

Mmuo’s facade cracked, his smile turning into a snarl. “Gone,” he spat. “Gone to a place where they can’t interfere!”

Nkechi recoiled, h0rr0r dawned on her. This wasn’t her father. It couldn’t be.

The little boy tugged at mmuo with curiosity.

“Mama……is that you?….”.

“Mmuo’s loud laughter echoed through the room, causing Nkechi to sh00t a quizzical glance at him.

“No one has ever taken this gem and gone scot-free.

I will make sure I dëströy your village,” the voice thrëätenëd. The echoes of the voice was so loud that Nkechi thought her ears might bùrst.

“Why did you set her free?” the voice whom seems to be pōssëssing Mmuo, demanded angrily from the little boy.

The boy’s eyes were wide with innocence and surprise. “Mama, this isn’t right. Aren’t we guardians? Why pôssëss an innocent man?”

“Just do as I have said. Go back home with her and tie her up,” the voice commanded.

But the boy shook his head, his small tween frame resolute the tension. “I can’t… this isn’t fāir,” he protested.

“The world isn’t fair,” the voice sneered back with malice.

Amidst this tense exchange, another voice joined in. It was Michael, his hands were trembling as he held the golden skülls.

Nkechi’s anger were palpable at the familiar face of the culprit who had brought her family so much pāin.

“You…you’re the ones who brought us so much süffering! See the pain you’ve caused with your friends!” she cried with tëars streaming down her cheeks.

But Michael’s expression was one of innocence, his eyes pleading for mercy as he clutched the remaining golden skùlls.

“I’m begging you….,” was the only word Michael could alter, he then turned to Mmuo, who still seemed pōssessed by a dark energy,

“My friends have regretted their actions. They’re truly sorry for stealing from you. Please, don’t let them d!e.”

The spirit within mmuo looked përplexed, She saw the pāin and sūffering she had caused, realizing obache village was also a victim of a stölen possession.

And her expression softened.

“I was blinded by my desire for revenge,” she said, her voice filled with regret. “I didn’t see the whole picture, and I struck out in ānger. I’m so sorry.”

Mmuo, still pōssëssed by her energy, sensed rëgrëts . But as her words sank in, his expression softened.

“I didn’t mean to hürt you or your family,” she continued. “I was consumed by my own anger for the gem, But I see now that ānger only add more süffëring than to reduce.”

With a gentle nod, she released her hold on Mmuo, restoring him to himself. The dark energy dissipated, and the hut was bathed in a warm, peaceful light.

“I will restore balance to this village” she said, “And I ask for your forgiveness once again.”

“We forgive you,” Nkechi said, her voice filled with compassion. “And we thank you for restoring balance to our village”

Mmuo and nkechi embraced each other, it was such a beautiful reunion, Mrs Ugo, nkechi’s mother joined the emotional moments.

Mmuo, however, was not concerned about the spirit woman’s gem. His thoughts were with the priceless possession from his deceased foster father that had been returned.

He hadn’t failed him after all, he thought to himself, Michael’s eyes were downcasted, he pleaded for forgiveness,

Revealing that his friends were now in the hospital because of the golden skülls and the predicament it had caused.

“The gods won’t fōrgive the trōuble your friends made,” Mmuo told him sternly.

Yet, as Michael continued to plead, Mmuo’s heart softened towards the most innocent among the thiëvës.

“Indeed, you’re a true friend,” he finally conceded after hearing Michael’s earnest pleas.

He instructed Michael and Tony to return home, promising to appease the gods himself.

As tony and Micheal departed, a sense of normalcy began to return to Obache Village.

The spirits that had tōrmented the villagers finally left, restōring the village to its once vibrant state.

However, Emily and her father, Afam, faced a different fate.

They were bānishëd from Obache Village for their jealous and cruël intentions towards Mmuo and his family.

In a surprising turn of events, the king requested Nkechi’s hand in marriage.

Tears streamed down her eyes, she denied the king’s proposal instantly.

She would have wished to say “YES” but it would bëtray her honesty and the promise she had made to the spirit boy.

At that moment, the little boy approached her, tears also brimmed in his eyes.

“I love you, but I can’t make you süffer because of me… please accept the king’s proposal… you deserve to be happy,”

He implored, his words made Nkechi to wëëp even more.

Despite the challenges she faced in the forest, she remained true to her values,

Her marriage to King Obi was a grand one, and mmuo vowed to help others, despite potential consëquences,

Highlighting the importance of his beneficial impact.

His realization that every disappointment may hide a blessing encourages us to look for the silver lining in difficult situations.

And to understand that our actions can have a transformative impact on others’ lives.

Jackson, Matthew, Tony, and especially Benedict learned their lesson the hard way,

This story serves as a cautionary tale about the ëvils of thëft and the unforeseen consequences that can arise from claiming what does not belong to us.

It underscores the principle that such acts can lead to a ripple effect of negative outcomes.

Michael’s realized that adhering to righteousness is the best path.

Assuming what would have happened if he was part of the heist? perhaps his fate would have been in his own art collections,

And maybe the story would have turned out differently….

The bond between King Obi and Mmuo, strengthened even more, celebrating the grand marriage of nkechi and king obi.

The ultimate decision of the spirit boy teaches us about the endurance of love.

It shows that true love is selfless and sometimes, the greatest act of love is letting go for the happiness of the other.

THE END……