WHISPERS IN THE DARK
CHAPTER 7
Have you ever heard about the phrase “spiritual eyes”? Most people claim to have these eyes. Some people call it the third eye. Some of us have become so modern that we no longer believe in things like these. But it might interest you to know that these things do exist. Some people consider them evil, but they are not. These are special unique gifts that people are born naturally with.
When you have a spiritual eye, you see things that ordinary humans can’t see. Your spiritual eyes enable you to see beyond the natural. They make you see things in the supernatural. I have heard many people say they have, or once had this rare gift. One of them was a friend of mine. She said that while she was young, she was able to see witches and wizards who came to hunt them at night. Every night, she would wake up from sleep crying. She kept telling her parents what she was seeing but they never believed her and instead called her an evil child.
Another case was one of my mother’s friends. Unlike some people who lose this gift before they become adults, she carried her own right up to adulthood. She told of stories of her always running into problems with local witches and wizards because she always made it her business to disrupt their activities. As a result, they constantly attacked her and she was always sick.
There was one particular woman who was her main adversary. Each time that woman wanted to practice her evil craft at night, she was always sure to interrupt her. So, the woman kept attacking her. Personally, at that time, I didn’t believe most of these things until one day, something happened that changed my mindset. My mother’s friend who was also our neighbour, came home and she was told that a hawk had carried her hen away. It is normal for hawks and kites to snatch the chicks of domestic birds, but not the mother hen itself.
When she came home, and was told by children about the incident, she told them not to worry. She said she knew who took the hen and she would be back soon with the hen. She left the house immediately and returned with the hen a few hours later. It was one of her spiritual adversaries who had taken the hen. She had transformed into a large hawk and stolen her hen just to teach the woman a lesson.
Having the gift of spiritual eyes can have terrible consequences if you don’t keep your mouth shut. Many people believe that there is a parallel world that exists within our own world. So, in the eyes of the spiritual, your living room, for example, could be a road to someone’s house in the world within. People with spiritual eyes are able to see this parallel word and everything that happens in that world. However, in order not to run into constant trouble, you must keep your mouth shut about whatever you see. Secret things have to be kept secret.
That explains why most people who have these gifts and who are unable to manage it are always sick. This is because it is not easy to see things like that and not tell anyone. Those who tell get attacked and they fall sick. Finally, their parents have no choice but to take them to a native doctor who will “shut” the eyes and the person will no longer be able to see beyond the natural. But what actually happens is that the native doctor doesn’t shut the eyes per se. He simply transfers this precious gift to himself and adds it to his own powers. Native doctors are always happy when a case of spiritual eyes is brought to them. This is because it is a good and rare opportunity to enhance their powers.
While most people are born with this gift, others acquire theirs at some point in their life. In African Traditional Religion, it is believed that these gifts are bestowed by the ancestors. In my country, when a person who is mostly a woman has been selected by the ancestors for the gift to be bestowed on her, she disappears into the forest where she stays for many days alone. When she finally reemerges from the forest, she would already have the gift. In that case, the gift comes with rules. For example, you are forbidden to ever shave your hair or to use any form of hair product. You have to allow your hair grow wild. Another rule is that you are not allowed to have any sexual relationship with any man. In my village, they are called “Manyi”.
Vera, my friend in the university was that kind of person. She was a Manyi. You can now understand why she understood many things about the spiritual and Mama Etchu’s lifestyle. That also explained why she loved me so much but has never made any advances. She was forbidden to sleep with men.
Tomorrow had come. It was now the day that Vera had told me she would take me to someone who would liberate my beloved Addie from the spell she was under. After school, Vera and I went to her home. I was hoping that from there, she would take me to whoever she had to take me to, to get the spell broken. But when we got to her home, I realized that she wasn’t taking me anywhere. She was going to break the spell herself.
“What I am going to do might scare you. However, you have to be strong and courageous.” She began. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am.” I answered.
“Good, now, shut the doors and bring me that mirror from the bathroom.”
I went into her bathroom and brought a large size mirror. The mirror didn’t look like your ordinary mirror in your house. It was dark and it didn’t reflect anything. That is, when you looked into the mirror, you wouldn’t see your own reflection. Its surface was dark and it looked like a portal, like a door into another dimension, another world.
“Now, be ready for the shock of your life. Please don’t scream. What you are about to witness is a once in a lifetime experience. Do you promise that you won’t scream?” She asked.
“I won’t.”
“Good.”
In front of me, Vera undressed herself until she became like the day she was born. After she had done that, she brought a bottle that contained a dark liquid and applied the liquid on her body. She told me it was for fortification. When she had finished applying the liquid, she uttered some incantations and suddenly, a bright light emanated from the mirror. The light was so bright that it hurt my eyes. Then Vera spoke to me in a strange voice.
“Please, go to the nightstand there and bring that bible.”
“Why do we need a bible?” I asked.
“It is not I who needs a bible. It is you. I am about to go to the spiritual world to fight for your love, Addie. When I return, one or two demons might want to accompany me. Because you are a normal mortal with no real spiritual protection, they might attack. So, you need to hold the bible with both hands and point it towards the mirror until I return. That will be your only form of protection. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do.” I replied, going for the holy bible.
When I got back, the strangest thing I had ever seen, happened. Vera’s spirit left her and her spirit walked into the mirror and went into the spiritual world. When her spirit left her, her body collapsed on the floor and there was a shiny bright light to protect anyone from going close to it. As soon as that happened, I grabbed the bible and with both hands, held it towards the mirror and waited.
It must have been an hour now and my hands were already getting numb and tired. I felt a terrible ache around my shoulder and my hands were painfully stiff. However, I couldn’t dare put down the bible because it could be disastrous for me. Another thirty minutes, and I saw the mirror started vibrating. I believed it was signaling the return of Vera. As the vibrations increased, the same bright light that had ushered Vera’s spirit into the mirror shone again, this time brighter than before. I was about to shut my eyes when Vera’s spirit emerged from the mirror looking exhausted. She was not alone. She brought Addie’s spirit with her.
I was shocked beyond words. I had never seen a thing like that all my life. Truly, there were older and more mysterious things in the deep places of the world that most humans would never know. Standing in front of me, was the spirit of my Addie, my beautiful beloved Addie. She was also stark n***d. Vera walked back to her body and entered. Her body and her spirit became one again.
“There goes your love.” She said, smiling. “I have brought her back from where she was held hostage. I have brought her back to you. But you are the only one who can liberate her finally. So, repeat after me.”
“Addie.”
“Addie.”
“I have missed you terribly.”
“I have missed you terribly.”
“Whatever turned you against me and made you hate me should release you now.”
“Whatever turned you against me and made you hate me should release you now.”
“Be free, my love.”
“Be free, my love.”
As soon as I said this, Addie’s spirit smiled, and she turned around and disappeared into the mirror. I almost ran after her to grab her and stop her from going. But I was sharply rebuked by Vera. She told me not to dare touch her or her spirit will remain trapped and she would die. After Addie’s spirit had gone back, Vera turned to me and spoke.
“Your love is back. You saw it with your own eyes. Now, you can go home. Take your stuff and go home and avoid the Etchu’s with everything in you.”
“Are you sure, Vera? Are you sure Addie will accept me back? She was very violent and she knows I have been sleeping with Ayuk.” I was still skeptical.
“Don’t worry, she was blinded. She was caged. She was bound. Now, she has been released. As we speak now, she is already missing you. She is already wondering where you are now.”
Before I could respond to what she said, I heard my phone ringing. I checked and with wild excitement, saw that it was indeed Addie that was calling.
“Hello, Addie.”
“Big head, where are you? Where have you been? Don’t you see that it’s getting late? Please come home, I am missing you.”
“Addie, is that really you, talking?” I was still confused.
“Of course, it’s me. What are you talking about? Come home quickly, I prepared your favourite. You don’t want it to get cold, do you?”
“But you threw me out of your house.”
“I don’t know what happened to me, Eyong. It feels like I had been in a long dream and even now my brain is still fuzzy. I just realized that you weren’t home, and all your stuffs were gone. I don’t really know what happened. I am sorry, Eyong. I thought you left me instead. Please, come home let’s talk about it.”
Now, I was convinced that my Addie was back to my senses. I grabbed my bag and went towards the door of Vera’s home, intending to leave. As I approached the door, I turned around and looked at her. She was smiling at me.
“Thank you, Vera. Thank you for everything. I am forever in your debt. You have brought back my love and by default, restored my hopes.”
“It’s alright, Eyong. Anything for you. However, one more question before you go. How about Mama Etchu? Do you want me to kill her?”
TO BE CONTINUED…
