The car stopped right in front of my house. I came down, walked to my house door, grabbed my house key from the side of my bag, and opened the door. Mum should be at work now.
I walked in and dropped my backpack on the dining table. Just on the kitchen counter were baked muffins and a bottled orange juice, at the side lay mum's usual note with her familiar writing. I picked it up and it read.
'I believe you'd have had lunch, I made this as a snack for you, love.' Right after was an unevenly drawn heart at the bottom right of the sheet.
Dropping the note, picking up the medium-sized muffin and munching on a large bite, I grabbed the bottle of orange juice and walked to the living room; turning on the tv with the remote control, balancing, and continuing my snack as I sipped from the orange juice while watching a Korean series.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Woah!" Ifeanyi screamed as the commercial tricycle rider swerved his vehicle to the right, just as it was looking as though it was going to hit the bus she boarded.
"Humans, always on the verge of madness." She muttered. "... or is this a sign?" She thought to herself as she recalled yesterday when Lisa returned home from school, and she found the stain on her back.
It was not an ordinary stain. It showed that Lisa had an encounter with a Vulnar. That was something to be worrisome about. How did a Vulnar come in contact with Lisa?
Ifeanyi did not panic for she knew that Vulnars stay in the mortal world and sometimes might decide to live an ordinary life. This means that coincidentally meeting a Vulnar is expected in one's lifetime. This was why she didn't think too deep about the stains found on the back of Lisa, but she was concerned because Vulnars hunger for power. This automatically makes Lisa a walking meal, if by chance they realize who she was.
Ifeanyi reached home, just like Lisa, she had her spare key. Searching and finding it amid her belongings in her handbag, she grabbed it and opened the front door.
As she walked in, she saw Lisa's backpack carelessly left on the dining table. "Lisa, what am I going to do with you?", she sighed.
Looking to the left, her body already sensed the presence of the one who for 2 years and 2 months has been her daughter, Lisa. She walked to where she lay in the sitting room. There on the sofa, her master and now daughter, the dethroned and now exiled Goddess Chionke, one who she assigned herself to hide in the mortal world, lay soundly asleep.
Seeing her lay there, Ifeanyi had the urge to bow to her like old times. On both knees she knelt, her forehead bending so low to the floor as both her hands fixated her position to the ground, in front of the innocently sleeping Lisa.
"Oh, Great and wise one,
though you've fallen thus,
I, Ifeanyi, your loyal subject
will serve only you for eternity."
Suddenly, a sharp sound disrupted her solemn state. Shocked, Ifeanyi looked up and saw Lisa sitting up straight on the sofa she once laid.
The sound came from the impact of dropping the remote on the center table, after Lisa turned off the inaudible tv. She was currently looking confused at her mum.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"...will serve only you for eternity."
Though there were some other words said, but these were the only words I could hear properly as I was disrupted from my sleep. I woke up and saw a person in a somewhat crouched position on the floor.
Surprised and at the same time scared, I swiftly grabbed the remote and turned the tv off, wanting to be sure of what I was seeing, also slamming the remote on the center table to alert my consciousness.
Quickly from the crouched position, retracting the hands from the floor and raising the head from its original position, the individual revealed its face. It was my mum.
"Mum?" I called out, still not sure if I could believe my eyes.
She currently looked like a child who was caught in an act of wrongdoing as she knelt on the floor with both hands placed on her laps, she had an awkward smile on.
"Huh?", she replied, still wearing that awkward smile. Why's she smiling?
"What are you doing on the floor?" I asked.
"Huh?" She repeated, as if she didn't hear me correctly, but more importantly, she was still smiling awkwardly.
"Umm, don't you think I should be an actress? I mean, I do have skills yunno." Mum answered almost immediately.
"What?" I looked at her with a blank expression. "You're on the floor because you believe you have acting skills and should act?" I asked, clearly dumbfounded.
"Uh...Absolutely!" She replied.
"Okay." I indifferently answered. Lately, mum has been acting weird, maybe they're signs of menopause. I heard a symptom of menopause is hormonal imbalance. Her want to try new things, majourly having an expansion of interests, a desire to feel youthful should be early signs of menopause; and I should support her. "Then you should go to an acting school...um, to harness your skills, that is."
"I should." She replied as she began tapping her fingers on her laps where she placed them, as her eyes looked everywhere except at me. Giving off an impression that she was confused as to what next she should do.
"So...are you going to continue sitting there?"
Immediately, she helped herself up, rubbing her head, she said "I'll go prepare dinner."
"Hmm" I replied as she exited for the kitchen. What a weird woman.
I walked to the dining table, grabbed my backpack, and went upstairs, straight to my room. I should help mum in the kitchen, but I honestly feel unusually weak. I opened my door to my familiar room, lay on my bed hoping to continue the sleep I was earlier disturbed from. In at least 5 minutes, I went into a deep slumber.
He stood tall and fierce, as he held his bronze amour and sword beside me. His skin was caramel, his hair was a gold soft floating afro, yes, they never fell, like they had wings. He had a slim body, but also muscular as I numbered eight packs on his belly, and thick muscles on his arms and legs. His eyes were gold with a green circumference, his nose was well defined, even his jawline was chiseled. He wore a green African traditional skirt around his waist, for he was a warrior.
On his afro was a gold crown, on his arms were gold ornaments that shone so bright, just like his anklets on both feet. He wore dark green stud and dangling earrings, as enticing as the green paint on his face and his muscular chest. "A King?" she thought to herself.
We were in a thick forest and it looked like it was night, for it was too dark. But for some strange reason, this being beside me shone so bright, giving light to our dark environment. Why we were in this forest, I knew not, but it did seem like this one beside me was expecting something; something not good.
Tired from stretching my neck and looking at the being beside me, I stood from my sitting position trying to grab his attention, but when I stood, I figured that I was no taller than his hip. Being a girl taller for my age, It seemed ridiculous to stare up at him. Intimidated by his height, which looked more than twice of mine, my legs felt weak and I fell back to the position I stood from.
Hitting my legs and cussing at the cowardice of my muscles, I looked up at him and I saw his eyes on me.
"Only I will protect you, my Queen." He said, with a fearsome deep, and weirdly at the same time, angelic voice. Immediately he spoke, I involuntarily turned my neck to the back as I scanned the forest, looking for the one he was talking to, as I forced myself to be upstanding, but I found no one. Looking back at him, I pointed my right index finger to my chest as I asked, "me?", but he just looked at me with distant eyes.
GRRRAAAGHHH
A scary sound came from a distance in front of us. The being beside me turned his attention from me as he stood in a warring stance, ready for what was to come. Aware of the situation, I stood up scared at the event about to happen.
I tried looking into the forest, hoping to get a glimpse of what was coming at us, but it was too dark. Instantly, a ridiculously big wolf, just a centimeter shorter than this tall being came into sight, for the light that shone from the being gave glow around us in this pitch dark forest.
Soon, there were two, then three, again four, as they surrounded us. In no time, the fours grew into multiples, as they reached in their thousands, standing orderly, one in front of the other, around us, ready to attack. There, multitudes of humongous wolves, thirsty for a fight, raged around us.
The wolves kept howling, growling, and gnashing at us. I fell again on the floor as my strength and bravery were scared away.
I looked up at the tall being, and I found him looking down at me again, as "Only I will protect you my Queen" came out again from his lips. Understanding his words this time, I nodded.
GRRRAAAAGGHH sounded in front of us, then a pitch-black wolf from the far back jumped so high above us, exposing its belly over us. It landed right behind us. Immediately, the tall being turned in a flash, I turned too, as we watched the movements of the red-eyed wolf.
Spit drooled from its mouth as it moved its jaws that held firm strong and sharp teeth. The others just stood there growling and watching, doing practically nothing. Right off, the wolf in front of us leaped and lunged for me.
"Aghhhh" I screamed as I fell to the ground yet again, but this time, covering my head with my hand as a shield against the wolf; but nothing touched me. Dropping my arms, I exposed my face as I looked. There, right in front of me on the ground lay the wolf, but it was sliced symmetrically into two as purple blood was spilled on the ground.
In front of the sliced beast was the warrior or king. His sword had black purple bloodstains on it, he did that?
Instantaneously, the other wolves jumped in twos and fours coming at me, but as they came, the warrior swiftly and skillfully sliced them in half and they fell dead to the ground as their blood kept spilling to the ground.
"Why are they coming for me?! I'm not the one who killed the one from your pack, you know! The killer's standing right there, standing and holding a sword!!" I almost screamed.
"Lisa" Someone called my name, but it wasn't the warrior because I already knew his voice, this voice was a woman's. This voice sounded familiar, I looked around, there was no one but the scary wolves.
"Lisa! Lisa!!" I opened my eyes, it was mum, she looked worried. Why did she look worried? She helped me sit on my bed.
"Sit here, I'll go get a glass of water." With that, she exited the room. Why's she going to get water? I stood up from my bed as I tried going to the toilet, but I was feeling too weak.
With all the energy I had, I dropped my feet on the soft rug, made my way to my toilet door. Just before I held the doorknob to the toilet, I got a glimpse of myself in my full-length mirror. I looked different. I looked too haggard, as sweat marks were on my shirt, even sweat was all over my face.
"Wow" escaped from my lips.
So this was the reason mum looked so worried, and had to go get me a glass of water, no wonder. It was a nightmare and I was scared.
Mum returned with a glass of water. "I told you to sit Lisa, you never know when to listen to instructions."
"I want to go pee" I explained.
I got a last glimpse at the stranger I saw in the mirror as I turned my toilet doorknob open and went in to pee.
I dragged my feet on the floor as I made my way out of the toilet and to the bed. As I sat in, mum dropped the glass in my hand and watched me as I downed the glass of water. Collecting the glass as I swallowed the last drop, she dropped it on my reading table just beside my bed.
"You wanna talk about your nightmare?" She asked with pure concern in her eyes.
After pausing for a while and gathering my thoughts, I began; "It's honestly complicated mum..." I replied.
"...Wolves"