As I walked into Becky's house that evening, I could hear her hummering in the kitchen. I knocked at the door and she came at once to open the door for me.
"Hey! It's you Malia. Please come in," she said smiling broadly.
Rebecca Harris, known as Becky, has been my best friend since childhood. She was tall and slender. Her black hair hanged at her shoulders and her light complexion completed her beauty.
I came in smiling. "Thank you," I said sitting down on a plastic chair in the kitchen.
"Is Boni coming tonight?" I asked her after I've made myself comfortable.
"Not only is he coming but also all our friends are coming too," she answered winking at me.
We laughed happily. I helped her prepare super and immediately after that we heard a knock at the door then it was pushed open. In came Boni and other friends of ours. Rebecca ran and hugged him tightly.
"How are you my darling?" Boni asked kissing her gently on the lips. Becky smiled at him. "I'm great dear."
Boniface Alriot was of Becky's height, dark in complexion and had long dark hair. He was a little bit muscular though his skinniness was the most visible thing in most people's eyes.
We welcomed our friends in and they made themselves comfortable.
My eyes searched for Jasman in the whole house but couldn't see him anywhere. I went up to Debrah who was sitting next to her boyfriend, Licky. Debrah Kyla was tall, slender and dark complexioned. Her thick crop of black hair curly hair was just perfect for her.
Licky Morris on the other hand was tall, light in complexion, had a well built body and spiky hair.
"Hey, guys, may I sit here with you?" I asked a little embarrassed.
Debrah gave me a beautiful smile of agreement and I sat quietly next to them. I watched Jedidah Wilman joined Boni and Becky in chess. Jedidah was short, slender and had dark skin. Her brown sholuder-length hair made her gorgeous.
Before long, we heard a bang at the door and Becky rushed to open it. Jasman, Alex and Naomi came in huffing and puffing. Jasman Harman was tall, dark in complexion and had a well built body which made him even handsome. Alex Godwil was a medium sized man with light complexion and a long face which made him look cuter than e really was. Naomi Guylaw, Alex's girlfriend, was slender, shorter than Alex and light in complexion. I rushed to Jasman and hugged him tight. I could feel his body shaking vigorously against my body.
"Babe, are you alright?" I asked him but there was no reply.
I turned to Alex and Naomi who looked too scared and asked them what the matter was but none of them uttered a word. We became scared too. After a awhile, Jasman broke the silence.
"What we saw outside, we have never seen it before."
We couldn't believe him since he was best at playing pranks on us all. We all laughed at the expression he gave us as he narrated what they had encountered outside.
"Babe, please believe me. I'm not putting a prank on you this time. It's a serious matter," Jasman said in a shaky voice.
I hugged him and led him to a seat. And asked him to explain it to me bit by bit what they really saw outside.
"As we were walking towards this house," he started. "we heard some weird noises coming behind us. We stood still to listen but everything went dead silent. We proceeded on our journey. Guess what happened next?"
The others stopped what they were doing and came to listen to Jasman.
He proceeded, "There it was, standing in front of us."
We all gasped and asked in unison,"What was it?"
"We don't really know what it was. The creature stood still, its flickering eyes halted at us. It started to move slowly towards us and spread its wings out."
We looked at each other in silence, too scared to talk.
"Its wings resembled bat's wings," he continued. "Its legs were long and had claws. We hugged each other tightly too scared to move and waited for the worst to happen. As the creature got nearer, we couldn't move as we felt glued to the spot. The nasty smell of the creature made us feel suffocated but none of us moved even a step. The creature leaped high ready to pounce on us but luckily, another creature, its look-alike came and pushed it away. We thought we were saved but it turned to us too. We all ran helte-skelter in different directions. We only met at the door way. That's why we were too scared to speak."
We all looked at each other with scared faces not uttering a word.
"Is this one of your pranks, Jasman?" Licky asked eying him a bit scared.
"I'm not lying. You can ask Alex and Naomi if you don't believe me. I think those creatures are still waiting for us outside," Jasman added.
Becky ran and locked all the doors as fear swept down our bodies and spread like wild fire.
"Jasman, please stop saying like that. You are scaring us," Becky begged in a shaky voice as she joined us.
"Don't you know that this house is located next to a forest?" Licky asked.
Before anyone could answer him, there was a loud knock at the door. We hearts skipped mighty beats as frigid sweats trickled down our faces. Jasman stood up to open the door but I pulled him back. I held on him tightly too scared to let him go.
Before he could even reach the door, there was a deafening scream and we all ran to one corner of the sitting room. We all shook as we clang on to each other. Jasman walked to the door ready to open it.
"Babe, don't go..." I cried but he was already at the door.
He opened it and in came a dark figure. We screamed but Jasman let out a loud laughter as Alex and Naomi joined him. We looked carefully at the figure and noticed it was Elizabeth. Elizabeth Jane was a tall, slender and dark complexioned lady. Her long brown hair hanged loosely on her back. They all laughed at us and felt so foolish.
"I got you to believe in my prank again," Jasman said laughing.
We got so annoyed at the four of them. Elizabeth walked to us laughing but none of us uttered a word.
"So Babe, you have been playing a prank on us all this time?" I managed to ask tears streaming down my face.
"We just wanted to see your reactions," he said with a smile on his face.
I looked at him angrily and walked away. He ran after me and hugged me from behind.
"Malia Clay, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Please forgive me," he apologized.
"Jasman, there is always time for everything. Please let me go," I said pulling his hands off me and walked away.
He stood there looking at me sadly. We didn't enjoy our supper as we used to that night. We retired to bed earlier than usual. That night, the prank got a better part of me. I dreamt about the creatures in Jasman's prank. They entered Becky's house and devoured all my friends. As it reached my turn, I gave out a loud scream and woke up with a start. Jasman woke up too and asked me what the matter was. I just hugged him as tears rolled down my chabby cheeks. After narrating to him what I dreamt about, he hugged me tight and assured me that nothing like would happen to us.
I agreed with him and we went back to sleep but the dream kept on repeating itself as soon as I fell back asleep. I woke up again and sat up on bed. I turned to look at Jasman but he was fast asleep. I stayed awake the whole night. The night seemed long and uncomfortable. I was glad to see the sun rays the following morning.
"What's wrong, Babe?" Jasman asked rubbing his eyes.
"I couldn't sleep last night after I dreamt that horrible dream," I said hugging him. "I am scared, Jasman. Now do you see how your prank is affecting me?"
"I'm sorry, Babe. I didn't think that the prank could have effects on you like this. Please forgive me," he said almost in tears. I hugged him and felt much better.
We got out of bed and went outside. We found the others seated at the dinning table.
"Good morning guys," we greeted.
"Good morning to you too," they chorused.
We sat down and ate our breakfast silently.
"By the way Jasman, we suggested that we should go camping on a cliff for about one week. What do you think?" Alex said. "In fact, we should make these girls of ours forget about last night's prank."
"Why the cliff? We can go camping in the forest. It's a fair weather anyway. What do you think about that?" Jasman suggested feeling satisfied with himself. The others nodded in an agreement but I was too confused to decide whether to agree with them or not.
"I can't go with you guys," I said and made my way to the sitting room.
"But why, Babe? Please come with us. Do you want me to feel lonely there in the camp?" Jasman asked sadly following me close behind.
"Please Malia, come with us. We need you there," the others joined him in chorus.
After a lot of persuasion, I agreed to go with them and everyone was so happy.
"The journey begins tomorrow morning," Jasman said smiling.
"I'll go with you but no more pranks please," I said and left for the flower garden.