The Evangelist 3
…………………………………………..
In my rage, I went to Komi. I had many things to say to him. But before I could open my mouth, he said something which threw me off balance. He told me that my son’s death and resurrection were the elders’ way of warning me of my refusal to make sacrifices. He said I won’t be that lucky next time. He said the next time, my son would be gone for good.
The rage in me disappeared instantly. I became weak and helpless. I didn’t know when I started begging. I begged him to tell the elders to take back whatever they gave me. I told him I didn’t want to be rich anymore. I told him I want to go back to how I was so they’d leave my loved ones alone. But he said I couldn’t return the gift of the elders.
“The power of the elders now live in you and you can’t go back now. You have become the servant of the elders forever”, Komi said plainly. There was nothing I could do. I only continued begging. After begging for a while, Komi started speaking in the strange language. His eyes became blood red and he was shaking mildly.
It was in the open and people were passing. I felt embarrassed by Komi’s manifestation and looked around to check whether people noticed him. To my surprise, I was the only one seeing him. Every other person passed without even taking a glance. It was then I realized that Komi had been visible only to me. He continued for a while and stopped.
Then he told me the elders have another alternative for me. I eagerly asked what it was and he said that in place of my sexual potency and loved ones, they have accepted to receive the blood of other people who were not my family. He said the book would guide me on how to do that. He left immediately after saying that.
I rushed home to the book. After I had made the room dark, the book glowed and flipped it’s pages, and the bright lights came on as usual. I started reading the words written on the pages and the voice came again. But this time, it was not audible. It was as if the words it said were printed in my heart directly. I didn’t hear what it said with my ears. I rather heard its instructions in my heart.
It told me that in place of any of my family members, I must sacrifice three people who must not be more than twenty seven years old. It said I had only twenty four hours to do that. In the heart communication channel, I asked how I’d do that and it told me to use the money. Just then, the book shut itself and the lights went off. On the ground beside me, I saw wraps of five hundred Naira notes amounting to one hundred and fifty thousand Naira.
I packed the money and left the house. That night I went to Asaba. There, I secured the services of three prostitutes and paid them with the money. I paid them fifty thousand Naira each and they were happy they got a generous customer. Nothing happened to them until I left and that made me wonder if I used the money as I was supposed to.
Back in Onitsha, I went to the hospital to check on my son. His recovery rate was astonishing. The doctors and nurses were already calling him a miraculous child. They were baffled by the speed of his recovery. He was discharged two days later.
After I returned from Asaba, the book called me again. This time, the voice commended me. It said that I had done well and would be rewarded. Indeed, I was rewarded for sacrificing the lives of three innocent girls. My business boomed more. I got a warehouse outside the market and became an associate importer.
Some of the people in our line who were convinced that I did something diabolical to boost my business came and begged me to show them the way. But I dismissed them. I told them my success was by the grace of God. I didn’t want another person to get in the same mess I got myself in. I attributed my quick wealth to ‘Grace’.
After my son’s recovery, I started rushing my wife to have another baby. I wanted to have more children so I would sacrifice my sexual potency when the elders ask for another sacrifice. I paid for the best medical services there was. I provided all the reproductive supplements that would help my wife conceive. I also took reproductive supplements myself.
Luckily, two months on, my wife became pregnant. I was very happy. My plans worked. But the elders had another plan for me. Five months into the pregnancy, the book called me. The elders wanted another sacrifice. But they didn’t want my sexual potency or the blood of an outsider. They wanted my wife or my unborn child.
I refused. I personally offered my sexual potency. I also offered to give five outsiders. But the elders insisted they must take either my wife or my unborn child. It must be my family this time. The morning following the night I refused to do the elders’ wish, Komi visited. He said the elders warned that I must choose one of the options or they would choose for me. He also said that if they take anyone by themselves, it would not be counted as a sacrifice I made and I would have to make another.
I still refused. I told him to tell the elders that I don’t want their wealth anymore. I told him that if they wanted a sacrifice badly, they should take me. Komi left without saying anything. That night, while we were sleeping, the book came to our room. I woke up with a start and saw it glowing in my wife’s tummy. Not quite long after, it disappeared.
Almost immediately, my wife started writhing in pains and screaming. I hurriedly got her up and we made our way to the hospital. She had a miscarriage before we got to the hospital.
To be continued……
ANOZIE TOCHUKWU
Hmm