After stewing in the mixture for two weeks Ikenna is forcefully ejected from the bubble onto the floor.
Disorientated, he vomits a foul black material and staggers to his feet, gasping for air.
The creature crawls behind him and licks the slime off his ear whispering "My finest work… is now complete".
Ikenna trebles and asks "What do you want?".
The creature replies "I want my home back, I want it to be green again, to be free. They took it from me, those who pierce the ground, so through you, I will pierce their hearts".
Ikenna cowers, trying to avoid staring into the creature's eyes, but she tells him "Don't look away child, I am closer than you think". He looks down at his hand and screams out in horror as he sees his fingers morph into black snakes.
He kneels down and begs "Please release me from this curse, I don't care about the job, I just want to see my family again".
The creature angrily shouts back "And what of my family? My children are starving, suffocating! Until we are free, you must obey, now walk!".
Ikenna's body forcefully picks itself up and crawls out of the hole onto the marshland above. He hobbles around naked through the bush, his path illuminated by the bright full moon.
He continues walking until he comes across a small village then collapses into the grass.
"Doctor he's awake" the nurse says as his life support system begins to beep erratically.
The doctor walks up to Ikenna, and tells him "Hello Mr Uzoma, please blink if you are able to hear me".
Ikenna blinks and responds "Water… water".
He tries to sit up and notices he's handcuffed to the bed. Upset he asks "Where am I? What did you do to me?".
The doctor rushes to calm him down so he doesn't knock over any equipment and hurt himself, "Please sir calm down, you are at Tender Hearts Hospital, my name is Doctor Chika Wakwe".
Ikenna settles down as she continues, "Right now the police would like to speak with you but we need to make sure you are in good condition before we proceed okay?".
A few days later the police arrive with doctor Wakwe, she orders everyone out of the room as the investigator begins to interrogate Ikenna "Can you tell us what you remember from before you were brought here?".
Ikenna narrates, "We were going to fix a leaking pipeline, then we were attacked by sna…."
He begins to feel a horrible pain in his stomach and groans out in agony.
Doctor Wakwe suggests they end the interrogation but Ikenna continues, "No no, I'm fine.. Agh… We were about to leave the site when several militants ambushed us. They took us into the bush held us there. They said they didn't want a ransome from the company but they they would kill us one and use us for rituals by one if their demands from the government were not met".
The investigator presses him further "How is it that you were the only one to escape?".
Ikenna responds, "After they had killed a few of us, including the team leader, Mr Smith, I was next. But as they were moving me I jumped into the creek and escaped".
Satisfied with the lies, the investigator notes down everything he said and leaves Ikenna to rest.
After two weeks he is discharged from the hospital and placed on paid leave.
He briefly returns home to visit his mother, who is overjoyed to see her son alive. But after several days she notices he is acting strangely and asks "Ikenna my son, please tell me, what did they do to you?".
Ikenna tells her "Mama, when the time comes I hope you will understand".
She sighs and tells him "Okay, but this is very unlike you, I will continue praying for you".
The next day he leaves home abruptly and returns to work. He is given a hero's welcome, despite the sober atmosphere.
Work continues as usual for him and he even begins to wonder if the events in the creek happened at all.
But one day, as it always does, fate caught up to him.