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Chapter 16
EXCEPRTS (THE FREE READING PERIOD HAS ELAPSED, PLEASE PURCHASE THE FULL NOVEL. THANK YOU)
The Sunday service was so awesome, the Church could sense that Sister Blessing was in a good mood. Sister Rucks was the backup instead of Sister Hannah. Sister Hannah, no one has seen her that Sunday. There wouldn’t have been a problem about that if not the fact that Deacon Abigail was in Church, and Hannah wasn’t. The Pastor has already informed the Deacon about the test she was supposed to carry out on Hannah who, as at three weeks ago, has agreed to go on with the test. But now, she was absent, her phone was switched off after failing to pick her calls.
Sister Blessing’s spirit was so high that the people of God were blessed after being drenched in an unusual dew of praise and worship. The Pastor was glad that the Coordinator was absent; he now has this inexplicable dislike for him; one he didn’t want to admit. Nevertheless, he may accommodate him if he still wants to be a member.
After the service, the Pastor called Blessing into his office. She wasn’t sure what he wanted, but she was sure he wouldn’t blame her for Hannah decision to run and not come for the test as agreed because the Pastor was not smiling as usual, and his hands were just in his pocket. He spoke and didn’t even wait for an answer before turning to leave for his office. Blessing sighed the moment he disappeared.
“Hey, hey,” a voice whispered. She turned aside and it was Sister Sarah.
“What? Were you in the service today?” Blessing asked with a smile. She wanted to know if Sarah also felt her ministration. The church was in loud ovation after she finished the praise and worship session. “I thought you wanted to leave forever.” She said after Sarah appeared not interested in her question.
“Listen, I am not supposed to be here, but there may be a problem”’ she said, her face radiating fear.
“Relax, what’s up?” Blessing said in a hush.
“Is Bukky in Church?” Sarah asked.
“What? You didn’t hook her up with Johnson?” Sister Blessing asked with a frown. “I already talked to Johnson and he accepted to fuck…” She looked around to see if no one has heard her say that, “he agreed to have sex with her till she can’t remember her name. All you got to do was just convince her to forget about Jackson and…”
“See, that’s the problem,” Sarah blurted. “You always think you are the smartest and all others are dumb.”
Blessing rolled her eyes and sighed. “I.did.not.say.that. Okay?” She pronounced the words one after the other. “I am only saying you need to…put in an effort and…”
“She refused!” Sarah cuts in sharply. “She didn’t even want to hear it. She said it’s either Jackson or no one else. Not even the...” she looked around and whispered, “…the Pastor.”
Blessing sighed. She removed her hat and scratched her head. Everything was silent, not even her dear Sister Mary had a suggestion. “You know what?” She said at last.
“No, you tell me,” Sarah said, turning her mouth.
“You leave Bukky to me; I will see what I can do.”
“You better do. I don’t want to go to jail….”
“Sister Sarah?” The Pastor interjected. The two ladies were startled.
“Good morning…em…afternoon Sir.” Sarah said, correcting herself, for the time was 1:30 pm.
“How are you?” The Pastor said, his face still wrinkled; not happy, not good.
“I’m fine, Sir.”
“Why are you not with the Choir today? I didn’t even know you were in Church.”
“Sir, I... am… em … I was a little bit ill. I just want to rest for today and…”
“That is no problem,” the Pastor cut in. “The management discussed the issue that happened three weeks ago, you may need to be present at the meeting now, with em… em… what is the name of that Sister who helped found your lost phone?”
“Sister Bukky, Sir.” She said, scared by a bit.
“Yes, Sister Bukky. Is she around too?”
“No, Sir,” Blessing and Sarah answered in a unison. They shook their heads with dead eyes.
“Wow,” that’s…that’s something because I will like both of you to be around so that your statements could be taken for the purpose of records. I want to make some drastic,” he gestured with his hands by cupping and twisting it, “changes and I will need all purposes and records to back me up. So…”
“Sir,” Sarah found an opportunity, “you know, she lives just a stone throw away, I can go call her now before the meeting ends so that we can…”
“That will be great, Sister Sarah. Can you… do that now?”
“Of course, Sir,” she replied and started walking away.
“Thank you,” he said and turned to Blessing. “You ready?”
“Yeah…yeah, but I need to pack my bag and…”
“Five minutes, please. We are waiting.” He said and started walking away to his office.
Immediately Sarah saw that the Pastor was out of sight, she rushed back and whispered. “I am out of here. You are not going to see me again. I told you this was all a bad idea.”
“You need to relax. They just wanted a word.” Blessing tried to calm her down. “But it will still be a good idea not to come back,” she said, saving herself.
“Of course, I won’t. You better take care of Bukky before she blows everything up in your face because I won’t be there to share the shame that will follow.”
“I will handle this.” She said firmly.
“Of course you should.”
“We will find a way out,” Sister Mary came in.
“I know we would,” Blessing answered back, audibly.
“What?” Sarah asked with a surprise. “There is no more ‘we’ here! You will have to…”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Blessing said.
“We? You just said ‘we’,” Sarah insisted.
“And I said I wasn’t talking to you!” Blessing answered firmly with a grunt.
“Last three weeks, you said ‘us’, and you weren’t talking to me. Now, you said ‘we’, you still weren’t talking to me. You definitely need to get yourself checked. You might really be going mad.”
“If you will excuse me, I have a meeting.” Blessing said and left her in her awe.
Sarah watched her with opened mouth. She was sure that madness was slowly creeping into her mind. She shook her head and hurried out of the premises, she promised herself she will never be coming back here, and she will never be found.
Chapter 17 (PART ONE): A WEEK EARLIER
Hannah hurried into the darkness and didn’t even mind leaving her flip-flop at the Coordinator’s classroom. She was glad that the Coordinator’s fiancé, Chinwe had come in at the right moment. That moment was her saving grace. She would have been raped by that maniac who called himself the Choir Coordinator. She was almost at the gate of the school when everything went dark, the generator was dead. She didn’t wait to find out what happened; she took to her heels.
As she walked quickly in the dark, she tried Jame’s number; he seemed to be the only one she could trust. She was sure she could sleep over at his place and go home tomorrow morning without a scratch. It was already past nine in the night and the gates to her neighbourhood would have been closed by 8:30 pm. She can always tell her mom she slept at Dupe’s place. She used to do that often, and Dupe also used to sleep over at her place. But Jame’s line was switched off, her heart skipped a beat; it appeared she was doomed for that night.
Dupe’s neighbourhood was just like hers; gate closes after 8:00 pm, but she didn’t stop walking to Jame’s place. She knew James wouldn’t flinch if she told her story, and he would allow her to sleep over, even with a snore.
Nevertheless, James is a party-goer; she hoped he hasn’t gone to the club tonight. That would be a disaster. Her mind raced back to what was just averted, and her body shivered in fear. She tried Jame’s number again, it was still switched off. Fear ran down her spines. She wrapped herself with her arms and walked quickly. “James, please be at home,” she prayed as she increased her pace.
*********************
Something woke James up from his sleep; it wasn’t his phone because he had switched it off to stop the incessant threatening phone calls from Emeka who kept counting down the time. Since Hannah has decided not to show up at his place, he resolved to fate to accept any consequence. He has even stopped worrying about calling Hannah to come over so that he can try to take her virginity. Something he didn’t understand why Emeka wanted him to do it at every cost.
With his hand, he felt for his phone on the bed, in the darkness- a small Nokia phone with a torch. As usual, there was no light, and he always needs it to see while trying to use the toilet. He found it right at the edge of the bed where it had almost fallen off the bed. He knew where the keypad that switches it on was, so he palpated the keypads and did just that and the room lit up dimly with the small torch from the phone.
He walked sleepily to the toilet and relieved his bladder. He didn’t stop thinking of what Emeka will do in few days’ time of he failed.
He walked back to his bedroom and landed on his bed to continue his sleep, but sleep itself eluded him. His mind wandered in the dark, and his thoughts were disturbed. He buried himself under his duvet and wished that death, if sleep wouldn’t, should carry him away- only for the night, though. The thoughts of what his other cult members might do because of his failure didn’t stop to be of a great disturbance to him.
He has been inside since 7:00 pm, and has been sleeping since then. In his mind, he thought it will be around 1:30 am, but when he picked his phone to check the time, it was only 10:03 pm! He hissed and was about to switch off his phone when it rang. He checked the caller, and couldn’t believe himself when he saw the name of Hannah blinking on the screen. He was almost jumping out of his bed when he reminded himself that the caller was Hannah. Maybe he has forgotten that Hannah wouldn’t even bulge. He decided not to pick it; it will be the same old story. And at this hour, she probably just wanted to say ‘hi’. So he ignored it.
END OF PART ONE OF CHAPTER 17
******************
YOU CAN NOW PURCHASE BLOOD ON THE ALTAR BY CLICKING HERE
THANK YOU
Chapter 16
EXCEPRTS (THE FREE READING PERIOD HAS ELAPSED, PLEASE PURCHASE THE FULL NOVEL. THANK YOU)
The Sunday service was so awesome, the Church could sense that Sister Blessing was in a good mood. Sister Rucks was the backup instead of Sister Hannah. Sister Hannah, no one has seen her that Sunday. There wouldn’t have been a problem about that if not the fact that Deacon Abigail was in Church, and Hannah wasn’t. The Pastor has already informed the Deacon about the test she was supposed to carry out on Hannah who, as at three weeks ago, has agreed to go on with the test. But now, she was absent, her phone was switched off after failing to pick her calls.
Sister Blessing’s spirit was so high that the people of God were blessed after being drenched in an unusual dew of praise and worship. The Pastor was glad that the Coordinator was absent; he now has this inexplicable dislike for him; one he didn’t want to admit. Nevertheless, he may accommodate him if he still wants to be a member.
After the service, the Pastor called Blessing into his office. She wasn’t sure what he wanted, but she was sure he wouldn’t blame her for Hannah decision to run and not come for the test as agreed because the Pastor was not smiling as usual, and his hands were just in his pocket. He spoke and didn’t even wait for an answer before turning to leave for his office. Blessing sighed the moment he disappeared.
“Hey, hey,” a voice whispered. She turned aside and it was Sister Sarah.
“What? Were you in the service today?” Blessing asked with a smile. She wanted to know if Sarah also felt her ministration. The church was in loud ovation after she finished the praise and worship session. “I thought you wanted to leave forever.” She said after Sarah appeared not interested in her question.
“Listen, I am not supposed to be here, but there may be a problem”’ she said, her face radiating fear.
“Relax, what’s up?” Blessing said in a hush.
“Is Bukky in Church?” Sarah asked.
“What? You didn’t hook her up with Johnson?” Sister Blessing asked with a frown. “I already talked to Johnson and he accepted to fuck…” She looked around to see if no one has heard her say that, “he agreed to have sex with her till she can’t remember her name. All you got to do was just convince her to forget about Jackson and…”
“See, that’s the problem,” Sarah blurted. “You always think you are the smartest and all others are dumb.”
Blessing rolled her eyes and sighed. “I.did.not.say.that. Okay?” She pronounced the words one after the other. “I am only saying you need to…put in an effort and…”
“She refused!” Sarah cuts in sharply. “She didn’t even want to hear it. She said it’s either Jackson or no one else. Not even the...” she looked around and whispered, “…the Pastor.”
Blessing sighed. She removed her hat and scratched her head. Everything was silent, not even her dear Sister Mary had a suggestion. “You know what?” She said at last.
“No, you tell me,” Sarah said, turning her mouth.
“You leave Bukky to me; I will see what I can do.”
“You better do. I don’t want to go to jail….”
“Sister Sarah?” The Pastor interjected. The two ladies were startled.
“Good morning…em…afternoon Sir.” Sarah said, correcting herself, for the time was 1:30 pm.
“How are you?” The Pastor said, his face still wrinkled; not happy, not good.
“I’m fine, Sir.”
“Why are you not with the Choir today? I didn’t even know you were in Church.”
“Sir, I... am… em … I was a little bit ill. I just want to rest for today and…”
“That is no problem,” the Pastor cut in. “The management discussed the issue that happened three weeks ago, you may need to be present at the meeting now, with em… em… what is the name of that Sister who helped found your lost phone?”
“Sister Bukky, Sir.” She said, scared by a bit.
“Yes, Sister Bukky. Is she around too?”
“No, Sir,” Blessing and Sarah answered in a unison. They shook their heads with dead eyes.
“Wow,” that’s…that’s something because I will like both of you to be around so that your statements could be taken for the purpose of records. I want to make some drastic,” he gestured with his hands by cupping and twisting it, “changes and I will need all purposes and records to back me up. So…”
“Sir,” Sarah found an opportunity, “you know, she lives just a stone throw away, I can go call her now before the meeting ends so that we can…”
“That will be great, Sister Sarah. Can you… do that now?”
“Of course, Sir,” she replied and started walking away.
“Thank you,” he said and turned to Blessing. “You ready?”
“Yeah…yeah, but I need to pack my bag and…”
“Five minutes, please. We are waiting.” He said and started walking away to his office.
Immediately Sarah saw that the Pastor was out of sight, she rushed back and whispered. “I am out of here. You are not going to see me again. I told you this was all a bad idea.”
“You need to relax. They just wanted a word.” Blessing tried to calm her down. “But it will still be a good idea not to come back,” she said, saving herself.
“Of course, I won’t. You better take care of Bukky before she blows everything up in your face because I won’t be there to share the shame that will follow.”
“I will handle this.” She said firmly.
“Of course you should.”
“We will find a way out,” Sister Mary came in.
“I know we would,” Blessing answered back, audibly.
“What?” Sarah asked with a surprise. “There is no more ‘we’ here! You will have to…”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Blessing said.
“We? You just said ‘we’,” Sarah insisted.
“And I said I wasn’t talking to you!” Blessing answered firmly with a grunt.
“Last three weeks, you said ‘us’, and you weren’t talking to me. Now, you said ‘we’, you still weren’t talking to me. You definitely need to get yourself checked. You might really be going mad.”
“If you will excuse me, I have a meeting.” Blessing said and left her in her awe.
Sarah watched her with opened mouth. She was sure that madness was slowly creeping into her mind. She shook her head and hurried out of the premises, she promised herself she will never be coming back here, and she will never be found.
Chapter 17 (PART ONE): A WEEK EARLIER
Hannah hurried into the darkness and didn’t even mind leaving her flip-flop at the Coordinator’s classroom. She was glad that the Coordinator’s fiancé, Chinwe had come in at the right moment. That moment was her saving grace. She would have been raped by that maniac who called himself the Choir Coordinator. She was almost at the gate of the school when everything went dark, the generator was dead. She didn’t wait to find out what happened; she took to her heels.
As she walked quickly in the dark, she tried Jame’s number; he seemed to be the only one she could trust. She was sure she could sleep over at his place and go home tomorrow morning without a scratch. It was already past nine in the night and the gates to her neighbourhood would have been closed by 8:30 pm. She can always tell her mom she slept at Dupe’s place. She used to do that often, and Dupe also used to sleep over at her place. But Jame’s line was switched off, her heart skipped a beat; it appeared she was doomed for that night.
Dupe’s neighbourhood was just like hers; gate closes after 8:00 pm, but she didn’t stop walking to Jame’s place. She knew James wouldn’t flinch if she told her story, and he would allow her to sleep over, even with a snore.
Nevertheless, James is a party-goer; she hoped he hasn’t gone to the club tonight. That would be a disaster. Her mind raced back to what was just averted, and her body shivered in fear. She tried Jame’s number again, it was still switched off. Fear ran down her spines. She wrapped herself with her arms and walked quickly. “James, please be at home,” she prayed as she increased her pace.
*********************
Something woke James up from his sleep; it wasn’t his phone because he had switched it off to stop the incessant threatening phone calls from Emeka who kept counting down the time. Since Hannah has decided not to show up at his place, he resolved to fate to accept any consequence. He has even stopped worrying about calling Hannah to come over so that he can try to take her virginity. Something he didn’t understand why Emeka wanted him to do it at every cost.
With his hand, he felt for his phone on the bed, in the darkness- a small Nokia phone with a torch. As usual, there was no light, and he always needs it to see while trying to use the toilet. He found it right at the edge of the bed where it had almost fallen off the bed. He knew where the keypad that switches it on was, so he palpated the keypads and did just that and the room lit up dimly with the small torch from the phone.
He walked sleepily to the toilet and relieved his bladder. He didn’t stop thinking of what Emeka will do in few days’ time of he failed.
He walked back to his bedroom and landed on his bed to continue his sleep, but sleep itself eluded him. His mind wandered in the dark, and his thoughts were disturbed. He buried himself under his duvet and wished that death, if sleep wouldn’t, should carry him away- only for the night, though. The thoughts of what his other cult members might do because of his failure didn’t stop to be of a great disturbance to him.
He has been inside since 7:00 pm, and has been sleeping since then. In his mind, he thought it will be around 1:30 am, but when he picked his phone to check the time, it was only 10:03 pm! He hissed and was about to switch off his phone when it rang. He checked the caller, and couldn’t believe himself when he saw the name of Hannah blinking on the screen. He was almost jumping out of his bed when he reminded himself that the caller was Hannah. Maybe he has forgotten that Hannah wouldn’t even bulge. He decided not to pick it; it will be the same old story. And at this hour, she probably just wanted to say ‘hi’. So he ignored it.
END OF PART ONE OF CHAPTER 17
******************
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