CHAPTER 21

Ezinne waited until Ejike finished his meal before they set out. One of the villagers who was a commercial motorcyclist volunteered to take them to their destination.

They bid the villagers goodbye once more and off they went.

They clung to the motorcyclist as he maneuvered his vehicle through the bad roads.

“Take a turn,” Ezinne told the man.

The man complied and drove into an unpaved path lined with very tall grass.

When they got to where they'd left the car, they were shocked senseless.

“You said you parked your car here? I don't see anything.” The motorcyclist said.

The place where the shed had been was as empty as a desert, with no trace of human existence.

“Are you sure we're in the right place?” The motorcyclist asked.

Ezinne nodded, “I committed the route to memory.”

Ezinne alighted from the bike and went to check the nearby bushes. The whole experience was so surreal.

“I told you not to trust that idiot.” Ejike said heatedly.

Ezinne rolled her eyes. She searched and searched but found nothing. There wasn't even an oil stain on the ground.

“That stupid thief!” Ejike shouted angrily.

Ezinne ignored him and began to pace, thinking of how they would leave.

“I knew there was something fishy about that bastard but you wouldn't listen.” Ejike continued.

Ezinne quit pacing and regarded him irritably, “Yes, yes. You were right and I was wrong. This is no time for I told you so. We have to think of a way to leave this place.”

“Can you take us back to Owerri, we'll pay you.” Ejike said to the motorcyclist, who shook his head and replied, “No.”

Ezinne had never felt so foolish in her life. She should have known Kelechi was a fraud, she thought. And to think she'd always considered herself an excellent judge of character.

She blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over from her eyes. She'd had that car for six years and had grown so attached to it. She didn't even let Ogadi anywhere near it for fear she would crash it.

And to think she'd been stupid enough to leave her handbag in there. At her age, she was supposed to know better.

This was no time to berate herself, Ezinne thought. There would be time for that later. As for now, it was imperative they get the sacred amulet of Ikala and she knew how to go about that.

Steeling her shoulders, she faced the two men, “I know how to get the amulet.”

* * *

Ogadi ducked as a knife flew past her. She turned and looked at the person who'd thrown it at her. It was a naked man with an erection.

“Get out of the way!” The man yelled as he charged towards her.

Ogadi tried her best to console the woman hiding behind her.

When the man was in kicking distance, Ogadi swung her right leg and gave him a kick to the bare groin.

The man froze for a moment before he let out a surprisingly shrill cry and grabbed the aggrieved part of his body.

He forgot about attacking Ogadi and ran around, crying due to the pain he was in.

Ogadi winced at what she had done.

“I'm sorry, I had no other option.” She said to the man who didn't seem to hear her as he ran around shouting.

She began chanting incantations and a second later, the man's screaming intensified. This time, his groin was forgotten. He grabbed his head as he continued running around.

“Is he going to be alright?” The woman behind Ogadi asked as she gripped her tightly.

Ogadi winced as the woman's nails painfully dug into her skin. Forcefully prying them off, she replied, “Yes, he'll be alright just as soon as the demon leaves.”

“So he was really possessed by a demon?” The woman asked, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gazed upon her husband.

“Yes. A sex demon to be precise.” Ogadi replied dutifully.

The woman gasped loudly, “No wonder. Recently, he's been wanting to have sex everywhere and every time. At first, I thought it was great. I mean, Keso has always been stiff about sex, if you know what I mean.”

Ogadi shook her head but the woman continued anyway.

“Then, it got out of hand. It became so tiring. He'd want to go at it irrespective of our location. There was a time he wanted to have sex during a family meeting, imagine that.” The woman said, shuddering.

Ogadi was embarrassed but before she could halt the woman, she continued, “That's when I told myself to get an exorcist. I was convinced it was spiritual. Thank God I called you. You can't begin to imagine what Keso used to do during our love-making sessions. He'd g—”

The woman was interrupted by a peal of music. Ogadi's phone was ringing.

Saved by the bell, she thought as she brought out the phone from her pocket. The Caller ID showed it was an unknown number.

“I have to take this.” She said to the woman before swiping her phone screen and answering the call.

“Hello? Who is this?” She asked cautiously.

“It's me, your grandmother.” The voice on the other side replied.

Ogadi let out a squeal of joy, “Oh, Grandmother! How are you?”

“Not great. The Accord got stolen.”

“No way! What happened?!”

“My poor sense of judgement but let's not dwell on that for now. Where are you?”

Ogadi swallowed audibly. As per her agreement with Ezinne she was supposed to stay at home and in return she'd get to attend the concert. Finally, she answered, “I'm at home.”

“So you're saying if I Astral project myself into our house, I'll find you?” Disbelief was plain in Ezinne's voice.

“Uh...yes, of course. I can even show you a picture I took.” Ogadi replied, injecting confidence into her voice. She'd send her grandmother an old picture of her in the house.

“Okay then, I want you to go into the kitchen, put a spoon on your head, take a picture and send it to me.” Ezinne ordered.

Ogadi gave a sigh laden with resignation. Why did her grandmother always outsmart her? She decided to come clean, “I'm not at home, Grandmother.”

“Why aren't you? I thought we had a deal.” Ezinne said in a disapproving voice.

“Well, there are still demons that need to be exorcised. I'm not doing anything connected to Dike Aru.” Ogadi assured Ezinne.

“Hmm.” Ezinne remarked and changed the subject, “Listen. We were wrong. Ekere wasn't the one who performed the sacrifice.”

Ogadi was shocked by her grandmother's words, “Really?”

“Yes.”

“How did you find out?”

“We had a confrontation with Ekere. It was enough to convince me we had the wrong person.” Ezinne replied quickly.

Ogadi who was still coming to terms with the news couldn't help herself from asking another question, “If it wasn't Ekere, who was it?”

“Sadly, we have no idea.” Ezinne replied with a sigh.

“So what do we do?” Ogadi asked concernedly.

“That's why I called. Ekere was kind enough to tell us a way to stop Dike Aru's resurrection.” Ezinne informed.

“Really?” Ogadi asked hopefully.

“Yes. But don't get your hopes up. It's not easy.” Ezinne warned.

“What do we have to do?” Ogadi asked.

“We have to kill whoever offered that sacrifice.” Ezinne said gravely.

Ogadi stayed silent for few seconds before she spoke, “Grandmother, really? Are we murderers now?”

“No. But unless we kill the person, Dike Aru will return to earth and believe me when I say it won't be nice.” Ezinne replied.

“Still, grandmother—”

Ezinne interrupted, “You know what? I don't think you should be bothering yourself with that part of the plan. What I need you to do is to find the sacred amulet of Ikala.”

“The sacred amulet of what?” Ogadi asked, confused.

“The sacred amulet of Ikala.” Ezinne reiterated patiently.

“What's that and how is it going to help us stop Dike Aru?” Ogadi asked.

“It's an amulet that alerts us if someone who has made pacts with beings from the underworld is nearby. We could use it to find whoever offered the sacrifice.” Ezinne said.

“Uh...I don't want to sound like I'm asking too many questions but...how exactly do you expect me to find this bracelet?” Ogadi asked, feeling overwhelmed by the task her grandmother had just given her.

“First of all, it's an amulet not a bracelet. Two, you have a resourceful young man who can help you.” Ezinne replied suggestively.

Ogadi's mind drew a blank before she belatedly understood who her grandmother was referring to.

“No way! You want me to take Phillip?” Ogadi asked, outraged.

“Like I said, he's resourceful. He was the one who solved the puzzle of where the waters met the clouds.” Ezinne pointed out.

Before Ogadi could further protest, Ezinne carried on, “I don't know what issues you have with Phillip but I want you to bury them, at least for now. We can't let our personal issues stand in the way of preventing Dike Aru's return. I wouldn't have asked you to do this but at the moment I'm stranded at a remote village and you're the only one I trust to do this.”

The fact that Ezinne was trusting her with such an important task gladdened Ogadi's heart.

“I understand Grandmother. I will not let you down.”

* * *

Ogadi returned home and removed her outfit. She put on a loose shirt and tiny cutoffs that didn't quite make it past her rear. Ezinne disapproved of the shorts, calling them indecent but she wasn't around, so Ogadi figured she could wear them without earning herself a lecture.

Instead of watching a TV program like she normally did when she returned from performing exorcisms, Ogadi found herself pacing restlessly, wondering how she was supposed to contact Phillip.

After that encounter at the river where he'd saved her life, she'd told him off and threatened to report him to the police if she ever found him following her.

He'd taken her warning to heart and had disappeared from her life.

Pulling out the tangles in her afro with her hands, Ogadi began to muse, “Well, I guess he has some social media handle, I could use that to find him. Wait. What if he is using a moniker? How do I find him? I guess I should search first.”

She took her phone and logged into her Facebook account.

She then typed Phillip's full name into the search bar and started the search.

When she saw the results, she groaned. It seemed Phillip Anyanwu was a very popular name. She began to sift through the results.

After checking out one fake account, two porn accounts and thirteen other accounts belonging to random people, she found him.

His profile picture was one of him standing on the crest of a hill with arms spread wide and an infectious grin on his face.

Ogadi admitted to herself he looked really handsome and as she scrolled through the comments on the picture, she found out she wasn't the only one who thought so.

A lot of females had made flirty comments. Some were quite mild while others where quite brazen.

Ogadi felt herself getting annoyed and took a calming breath.

“He's not mine. Why should I be angry?” She reasoned.

She sent him a message via Messenger asking for his help.

She didn't get a reply so she kept herself busy by scrolling through his time line. The pictures he posted were mainly of Igbo traditional relics or sacred sites. He also shared pictures of books that dealt on the Igbo tradition.

“He's really an enthusiast.” Ogadi admitted to herself.

She was still going through his time line when there was a knock on the door. She looked at the door dubiously. She wasn't expecting anyone.

Another knock sounded, this time more persistent and Ogadi leveled herself out of the couch and went to open the door.

When she did, she saw Phillip in a black hoodie and jeans, grinning impishly at her.