Episode 10
NAOMI
Before I could throw the door open, Clara rushed at me from behind, holding me tight on the waist and trying to pin me to the wall.
“Bestie, please, don’t do this to me. Madam Beatrice is going to get mad at me if you leave here”. She pleaded.
But I wasn’t going to listen to her. I was determined to go out and meet with my partners. So we struggled for a while until she started crying.
“Naomi, stop this thing you’re doing. You are hurting me”. She cried.
For some seconds, I was moved by her tears, and was even contemplating giving up on the struggle, when the voice called out again.
“Where are you, Naomi?. Come over here and eat with us!”. It seems more people have joined the chanting.
I gave Clara an unexpected push that sent her skirting about for few seconds, and before she could regain her balance, I had already taken to my heels.
“Naomi, please, stop”. I could still hear her voice, calling from far behind me as I grope my way through the dark passage.
Because of the speed I was running, I didn’t see the figure approaching until I ran into the opened arm of someone….a giant of a woman.
For a moment, I was still. My heart was beating rapidly.
“Where are you going to, Naomi?”. That was madam Beatrice’s voice.
I tried to pull away from her, but she held me tight to her bossom. Then Clara came clashing into both of us, and together, they started pulling me back into the room.
“Leave me alone, leave me let me go and answer them. Let me be with the spirits”. I was screaming as they drag me all the way through the passageway.
After some minutes of struggling with them, they finally succeeded in pushing me back into the room. Madam Beatrice locked the door immediately and threw the keys into the pocket of her nightgown.
Yet, I wasn’t going to give up. I began hit at the door continuously, crying to be freed.
“Let me go, let me go and answer them”. I was crying.
“Why did you open this door?”. Madam Beatrice yelled at Clara.
“I’m sorry. I only came to check on her.”. She replied.
“For what?. She sighed.
… I don’t know what is wrong with you students. You don’t have an atom of fear in you. How dare you??”. She raged..
“Open this door, let me go, and answer my call!”. I continued yelling at the both of them while she reprimands Clara.
“You’re not going to answer that call tonight”. Madam Beatrice answered. And with that, she started praying silently until the voice subsided. On my own, I went back to the mat, and laid down.
The next I opened my eyes, madam Beatrice was sitting on a low bench beside the mat, watching me. I looked around, and discovered that Clara was no longer in there. I felt really uncomfortable staying in one room with her, so l closed my eyes again.
“Welcome back” I heard her say.
With my eyes still closed, I ignored her.
“So are you ready to talk to me now?”. She asked.
I didn’t speak.
“Naomi, I know you can hear me. You’re not sleeping. I want us to talk”. She said.
Yet, I didn’t reply.
“Naomi, talk to me now”. She said.
She must had pleaded with me with for more than five minutes before I finally opened my eyes.
“What do you want to know?”. I’m asked.
“Tell me everything. Tell me how you got yourself involved with this”. She said.
I started the narration from the genesis of it all. How my mother left, my father married a second wife, how she maltreat me. When I got to the stage of my witchcr@ft activities, I paused.
“Go on, there is no one else here, just the two of us. Tell me everything”. She pressed me on.
She shook her head, and sighed loudly after I was done narrating everything to her. How I began to turn into a mouse, drinking of bl00d and then how I killed Joan๐ช
“How many times have these spirits visited you?”. She finally asked.
“I’ve lost count”. I replied. And that was the fact. The spirits have visited me countless times,in my former school, my home, malls, supermarkets, churches and my current school…no venue was spared.
“Do you wish to be delivered?”. She asked.
Before I could open mouth to answer, I heard the voice calling again.
“Naomi Naomi, come over here and eat with us”..
“They are here”. I said, trying to get on my feet.
“Sit down, Naomi”. She commanded.
I sat down back fretfully.
“I ask again, do you want to be delivered?”. She repeated the question two more times, but each time I was about to give a reply, the voice would interrupt.
“Naomi, Naomi come over here and eat with us’.
I stood up to leave, but the door was still locked.
“You can’t go anywhere now, Naomi. Just answer this simple question, and be free from the shackles of the devil”. , She said.
“I want deliverance”. It was hard to say, for it seemed my lips were glued together.
Hardly had the word left my mouth than a strong force overpowered me, lifting me up on my feet and hitting me hard against the wall. I collapsed on the ground, writing in pains.
This was followed immediately by a mighty wind which simultaneously flung the door and the windows wide open.
Madam Beatrice stood up, did sign of the cross, and began to pray silently.
I looked out through one of the open windows, and saw the woman and her son standing still in the open field. Their eyes were burning brighter than ever.
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# Story from Joy Ifunanya
