The body has been stolen" I turned to israel who opened his mouth wide in shock. " you mean you buried her and her body was dug out?" Morgana who was just joining us asked " I suspected this was gonna happen, they had taken her body, they need her skull" I said , " That should be precisely, the case, sir Jude boys are behind this" Morgana supported and israel nodded. " We need to do something fast, we are running late" Morgana bent staring at the grave. " Oyinbo " My dad called from afar, he was walking towards us dressed like a chief, he was obviously heading to the village square to hear what the people have to say about the chief priest death . I walked towards him, " Linda's body had been dug out" I whispered to him while he stared at me in disbelief, almost immediately,he dashed towards the grave. " I told you, the gods have taken their property" He turned back to me. " Good morning sir" Morgana and Israel greeted in union. " My children, welcome, dont mind me, your friend wants to make me mad, I told him the body belonged to the gods, but he went ahead to bury her and now the gods has come to take what us theirs" My dad hit his walking stick on the ground to emphasize what he was saying, " Papa, if the gods had taken her, then there shouldn't be foot prints here" Morgana who was still bending pointed at the foot prints made by some kind of booths. My dad stared in disbelief at the floor, " Abomination " he hit his walking stick on the ground again," This has never happened before" he stared from Morgana to israel . " Dont worry papa, something will be done" Israel assured with a smile. " Oyinbo, make your friends comfortable " My dad said as he walked out sorrowfully. " Okay, I have seen daddy, what about mummy , John and Charity?" Israel asked, " They will soon be out" I assured, " And Adanna" he added, " you will surely see her" I assured again while Morgana stared at us, " Who is Adanna?" She asked with a smile, " His girlfriend" Israel blurted out and Morgana smiled at me," You already know what is love ?" She asked with a punch , " Do you think am a small boy?" I asked back, " I still senior you anyways" She bent at the grave side again, " This act wasn't done just by one person, it was done by a group of people" she stared at the scattered shoe prints. Just then I heard foot steps approaching behind us, I turned and it was my mom. " Good morning ma" Israel and Morgana greeted before me, " Oyinbo, your friends are looking good o, Good morning my children" she hugged them, just then her eyes caught the grave, " what happened here?" She asked in shock as she let go of them. " The body has been stolen" I said standing arm Akimbo, " Ani has taken her" my mom turned to us, " Ani doesn't have shoe prints" I pointed to the floor and she also stared in disbelief, " Who has done this evil? " she asked as tears fell down her eyes, " Mama, its okay" Morgana hugged her and wiped off her tears, israel drew me away to a side " Gabriel, this is getting out of hand " He started staring at me while I nodded, " We have to do something" He added, " What do we do?" I asked spreading my hands out, " I dont kn…" Charity's voice interrupted him " Brother good morning" She greeted running into my widely spread arms. " Hmm, charity, how are you? Israel this is the charity " I handed her to Israel who carried her. " Beautiful girl, I am your brother's friend from the city" Israel said smiling while charity nodded and touched his small beards. " Will you carry me to the city?" Charity asked while Israel nodded, " Yeah, one day you will come to the city" He assured while she smiled happily and hug him. " Hey baby girl" came Morgana's voice as she walked towards israel and took charity from him, " hey , you are really beautiful" Morgana started while charity stared at her with a confuse expression written all over her face. " oh, I am your brother's friend from the city " Morgana introduced herself, " Are you his wife? " charity asked while Morgana smiled and stared at me, " No, I am not his wife" She turned back to Charity. " Will you also carry me to the city?" Charity asked again, " But I promised to carry you to the city" israel put in, " I dont trust you, my brother has been promising that he would take me to the city but he never did " Charity explained while we bursted into laughter, " Okay, I will take you" Morgana assured her while Charity hugged her and ran off to look for my mom who should now be in the kitchen. " okay, two more people to go, John and Adanna" Israel said counting his fingers, " Okay, let's go see Adanna" I said as I went to fetch a cutlass .
" Mama, I am going to the stream" I shouted to my mom who was in the kitchen, " Oyinbo, aren't you going to the village square, didn't you get the town.." I interrupted her, " Am not interested in that, I might come later" I said and walked away to israel and Morgana who were standing waiting for me. " So are you going to her house with a cutlass?" Israel asked me as we walked out, " No, am going to the stream, she will be going to fetch water this morning" I explained. " Then why the cutlass?" He asked me, " hmm, just in case I might need to cut off your head if you try anything stupid with Adanna" I explained as I dropped the cutlass, I had initially wanted to use it to check my father wine, but I remembered I was still mourning my sister. We walked to the stream, there was no one there. We decided to sit under the huge mango tree which I always climbed on whenever I came to the stream. Soon, people started coming to the stream, they were all girls. Israel would always access them with his eyes and will then ask me " Hope this is not Adanna?" , I would simply smile and shake my head. Morgana soon left us as she would go to help some of the girls put their water pot on their head, some lazy girls to be precise. " And that is Adanna" I pointed in the direction of Adanna who was just approaching the stream. " Oh my God!" Israel exclaimed and got up , he made to walk towards her but I push him back . " Where are you going to?" I asked him, " To greet her now" he replied and got up again. " Mumu, she will get here" I pushed him back to the ground. Adanna soon came nearer, as expected, she came towards me. " Good morning…" Israel interrupted her, " Behold the most beautiful maiden of Atata, the only maiden whose smile is enough to cool the temper of a hungry lion, her voice alone will make all the young men of Atata bow at her feet, her face shines like the morning sun, pardon my stupidity , more than the morning sun. Adanna of Atata, the only one who has been able to cage the heart of my friend, who has been able to make his mouth sing her praise everywhere he goes, Israel greet you" Israel concluded as he bowed with one of his knees on the ground, all at the stream were surprised and soon started clapping. Adanna twisted her mouth like she always does when she is shy, but it actually makes her more pretty. She stared at me like expecting me to explain what just happened, even I myself was surprised. " He is my friend from the city" I said as I walked up to her, israel also got up. " Yeah, he has said so much of you, its a pleasure meeting you" he stretched fort his hand , Adanna took it happily. " Thanks for the…" Israel interrupted her, " You deserve more than that" He said and turned to me, " When will you lead her to the alter?" He asked, " Very soon" I replied while Adanna eyed me . " So this is that girl Gabriel won't stop talking about?" Morgana asked as she came towards us, " She is my other friend from the city " I told Adanna who nodded and greeted Morgana, Morgana preferred hugging her. " she is really beautiful" Morgana turned to me while I nodded, " Hmm, you are really the most beautiful maiden of Atata" She added and Adanna smiled. " So israel, what was the meaning of the movie you just acted?" Morgana asked him, " Should I act for you?" Israel asked back while Morgana punched him. " let me quickly fetch my water" Adanna turned to go towards the stream but Morgana held her back, " I will help you with that, because you are my friend's future wife" She said and collected the water pot from Adanna.
• " Now, from the recent happenings, this is what I have found out. Firstly, the serial killer has something to do with Sir Jude Ike, this can be trace to what I had seen in his laptop the day we attacked him. My second findings is that, those who were killed by this serial killer, weren't taken to the evil forest of Ani has said, they are being taken to the ship lap, their skulls are being sold to labs and scientist for experimental purpose. Now, the last findings, I am not so sure of this but its possible the serial killer is from Newriton, my first reason is the weapon with which the people are being killed with, it is a zig zag sword which was use to train a particular set, this type of sword can only be found at Newriton." I said pointing at the sword in my laptop, it was In the evening of the same day, everyone had gone out, Charity and John had gone to play with their friends , mama has gone to the market while papa should be with the elders although he isn't one, remember he isn't an indigene if Atata . I was with Morgana and israel and we were in my small room, sitting on my bed and staring at the laptop. " What if the serial killer isn't from Newriton, what if he mistakenly got hold of the sword?" Israel asked , " From what I heard, he dresses the way we dress" I told israel. " Who did you hear that from?" Morgana asked me, " He attacked Adanna once, she was saved by someone, she called him Jason" I told her, " Jason, the guy that was suspended from Newriton some years back?" Morgana asked, " I dont know the particular Jason" I replied. " Then I think I will have to talk to Adanna, she might know something" She got up from the bed and stood staring at the window.
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" Eneda, the daughter of Iche Silas is dead" my mother told me, she was just coming back from the market that evening, she was looking so moody, of course she was meant to look moody, my sister's death must have taken all over her. I. was even surprised she was able to go to the market to buy food stuff for the family, she is indeed a strong woman. " Ani also killed her, the mark was on her waist side. They have taken her to the forest of Ani" she explained further. " When did she die?" I asked her as she made to walk inside, " Her body was seen this morning, just like we saw Linda's own yesterday, but unlike Linda's, she wasn't killed in the house" She explained and walked inside shaking her head in pity. I rushed Inside my room to meet Morgana and israel who were playing games on their laptop, " I am going to the forest of Ani this night" I told them while they looked up at me, " Why?" Israel asked and continued his game. " Some one has been killed again, her body has been taken to the forest, I wanna see what will happen to it this night" I explained . " Then we should follow you" Morgana dropped the game and stared at me. " No, you guys should stay here and cover up so as to avoid suspicion" I told them, " But…" Israel Interrupted Morgana. " He is right, let him go while we stay and keep watch, if anything happens, we would fall in" Israel explained while Morgana nodded. I arranged my white top and black trouser, I also brought out my knives from my briefcase. " It will be sure sweet" I turned to them but they were so engrossed in their game.
• The forest Of Ani is the most dreaded forest in the whole of Atata, it is believed to be habited by spirits of those who didn't die a good death, it is forbidden for any human to go into it, it was rumour that those that went into it died mysterious death. I dont believe all this, but we are about to find out what goes In there today. The sound of crickets and frogs could be heard continuously, the leaves and trees of the forest moved left and right to produce fresh air to cool the man in black walking In the dreaded forest of Atata, me. I hadn't gone far when I stumbled on a body, a dead body. Yes, it was the body of Eneda, there wasn't any other body there, it was just her dead body. " I thought as much" I said to myself as I sat on a fallen tree and listened to the songs of the birds of the night, but the frogs spoilt it with theirs. Soon, I could hear footsteps approaching, I stood up from the log of wood and took cover among the bushes, they people came Into view, they were about three young men, they looked around as they must have also heard my footsteps due to the dead dried leaves on the floor. Without saying anything, they carried the body and went out of my sight. " Yeah, now you know what we do, but now you can't go out alive, like they say, curiosity kills the cat " I heard from behind, I turned back and I was standing face to face with the man in black.