It was six o'clock in the evening and the party was over, most of the guests were gone, just her mother's neighbor and a few of her friends were still around, dancing, eating, and drinking. It was getting a bit cold outside and most people were in the living room and the front corridor. Niola sat alone in a muse.
"There you are!" Chiamaka yelled almost startling her, with a wide grin, she approached Niola towards the back of the house where she sat. "Damn! I've looked everywhere for you, so this is where you are hiding?" She said sitting beside her on the pavement.
"I feel like crap," Niola stiffened yawn and leaned on Chiamaka's shoulder.
"Lazy child," Chiamaka laughed, " are you going home tonight?"
"I don't think so," she replied.
"Don't tell me you are going to work tomorrow," Chiamaka shook her head with a smile
"Mm-mm, why not?" she stiffened you.
"Nothing, just asking." She pats niola's cheek and stood up. "Get up! let's fill you up with enough booze, you'll feel better. No one cares if you go to work, I don't care. As long as you are cashing out." Chiamaka added and they both laughed.
"Go on, I'm coming…I just need a little air."
"Alright baby girl."
Niola took a deep breath and looked at the sunset, it was beautiful for a minute there, and she enjoyed the soothing feeling. Suddenly her eyes captured something in the Yard, behind the flowers, She got up and peeked through the bush. Startled she stumbled back almost falling, it was the statue from her studio, but this time every detail was finished, it looked demonic. How did it get here, she picked up her phone and turned on the flashlight, as she raised the light towards it, the phone went off.
Snaaaaarl! The statue moved and the eyes popped open.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!
The yard became quiet, the silence was thick. She could smell doughnuts, her favorite, there was no sign of anyone. The living room door was wide open and there was shattered glass all over the floor from the broken windows. Why are the windows broken, she wondered.
"Mom!" she became worried, "mom!!"
Doughnuts were in the tray in the dining, it was still fresh out of the oven. Then she went to the kitchen.
"Oh no…Mom!" She rushed to the floor, her mother was bleeding lifelessly on the floor. "No, no, no…Mom! Talk to me!"
Tears rolled down her cheeks, her mother was soaked in a pool of her blood, and she has no idea where she was bleeding from.
"Enny…." Her mother struggled slowly open her eyes, she squeeze Niola's hand in hers, trying so hard to talk.
"Mom..mom…oh my God, mom…who did this?..." her hand was shaking as she stroked her mother's hair.
"Enny…. l.. l.. look," she pointed at the kitchen door that led to the side of the house. Unable to talk, she wheezed as it was getting difficult to breathe
"ok..ok…let me call for help." She wiped her nose with the back of her bloody hand, got up her feet, then rushed out through the side door.
"Oh no!" She cried out, dead bodies everywhere on the street, even the next compound and the next and the next. "Help!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. The clouds suddenly became dark like it was about to rain.
A wrinkled old man just appeared out of the shadows and yelled at her, "no! You can't do that! You don't belong here." He was dressed in a black cloak and his feet were not touching the ground, it was like he was floating over all the bodies.
"We won't let you!" More of them came out of nowhere, hundreds of people with a black cloaks, and the hem of what they wore was like black smoke vanishing, as they float above the ground.
"Do what!" she yelled and she Shook in fear as they kept coming closer... Suddenly a drop of water fell on her cheek from the sky, she wipe it off her hand and look at it. Blood!
Then more blood started raining, and as the blood dropped on the cloaked people they screamed in agony and they turned into black smoke. Woooosh! The sky cleared and the sun shined bright like a brand new day, the dead were gone also. She rushed back to the kitchen and her mother was gone too, there was no trace of blood either, the Sunlight filled the kitchen from the opened window.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!
Zap!
She was back in the yard, nothing was behind the flowers, music was playing normally, and she could hear her friend's laughter from inside the house. Quickly she rushed back inside the house, everybody was fine, her mother was dancing to the music playing.
With a sigh of great relief, she walked up to her mother and hugged her so tight. She didn't even know what to say, she wanted to tell her mom everything she'd been seeing, but she couldn't bring herself to utter a word. With teary eyes, she planted a kiss on her forehead... "I love you mom. Thank you".
"Aww...I love you too, sweetie"
"Yeah.. we love you, mommy," Chiamaka said, spreading her arms toward them. "come on, bring it in." They laughed and embraced each other.
"Niola, I'd like you to meet someone," Chiamaka said dragging Niola along with her. "Remember my cousin, Danielle?"
"Yeah, the one leaving in the UK?"
"Yes, she has been around for a week now," Chiamaka nodded with a wide grin. "And she's here, she told me she was coming through this route, so I asked her to come to pick me up. So I've decided to introduce you."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes really….she said she finally wants to meet the unique Eniola I've been raving about."
"unique?"Niola snorted and shook her head. " that's overrated!"
Danielle stood outside by her car checking her email on her phone when she saw Chiamaka approaching with Niola. It was dark but the light around the house reflected on them, she gazed at the wine-silk dress Niola wore that enhanced her slender figure and delicate curve, her dreads were in a bun and she could see the white locks by the side of her head above her temple. Immediately she thought about how perfect she'd look if she modeled for her brand.
"Danni…I'd like you to meet the celebrant of the day, my able friend...Niola Michaels…it's Eniola, but this fish head prefers Niola….."
"Thank you…" Niola chuckled and held Chiamaka's lips together. "your address is way more than the letter." She said and they laughed. "Danielle, it's nice to meet you, Chiamaka has told me a lot about you…her one and only favorite cousin. It's hard to miss."
Of course, Chiamaka was always telling her about her favorite cousin that's pretty famous on Instagram. The makeup and filters in her pictures sure her look flawless, it was just a little different seeing her in person without the makeovers. She was nothing compared to Chiamaka, Chiamaka had this huge brown eyes, a round face, and darker skin and was way shorter and fatter, Danielle was almost as slim as she was, with almond-shaped eyes, a diamond face, and light-toned skin. And the British accent. Quite a beauty.
"So I'm told." Danielle chuckled, "it's nice to meet you too….I've heard a lot about you too."
"I hope it's good stuff, 'cause I don't trust this fish," she smiled and poked Chiamaka.
"It's good stuff, trust me." She grinned, then leaned forward to hug her, "happy birthday."
Immediately they hugged, Niola suddenly saw a ghastly accident along the lekki- epe express, involving a truck and a car, she concentrated on it closely, it wasn't just any car, it was the car right there with them, Danielle's car. The vehicle was bashed up and both Danielle and Chiamaka were lifeless...
zaaaaap!
"I'll send your gift through this chinch right here," Danielle said after they hugged "if not because she told me to pick her up on my way, I won't even know y'all were having a blast here."
" I told you about the party," Chiamaka said quickly.
" yeah you did--except I couldn't make it down here earlier,"
Niola swallowed hard as she was quiet from what she had just seen, she just saw her friend and her cousin die in a car crash, wearing the same clothes. If this is exactly what she was thinking, then she had to do something.
"We should get going," Danielle told Chiamaka bringing out the car key from her purse.
"Alright babes…see you tomorrow.."chiamaka hugged her and she saw that accident again. "…I'll come by your studio, Danielle you should come by her studio sometimes, you'd be stunned by her work. Niola is the upcoming Leonardo da Vinci of our time."
"Sure I'd love to see your work..upcoming da Vinci." Danielle laughed about unlocking the car.
"Wait!" Niola said nervously, then paused for a few seconds thinking of what to do. " you guys should wait, I'll be back."
"oh, ok!" Chiamaka said. " hurry! Or you're missing me already."
Niola rushed inside the house confused, "what I'm I going to do?" she walked through the living room to the hallway and began pacing back and forth. "Why is all this happening," she said feeling frustrated, biting her nails she tried thinking of something useful, but the accident kept replaying over again. Shit! She slapped her head
"Honey!" her mother came over to where she paced with a questioning look. " what's going on."
" Mom…." She was about to explain, but it was hard. She swallowed the lump in her throat, but she couldn't take it any longer, the heat began to increase in her eyes, then she Burst into tears.
"Enny, oh my God," Her mother got confused and held her tight as she cried on her shoulder, she has never seen her daughter like this, she had noticed something off from last night and the flush on her face in the morning was very weird. "Now you have to tell me what's going on, I knew you had something on your mind immediately after you came home last night."
"Mom, I want to tell you…it's hard, it's complicated, I feel like I'm going crazy." Niola sobbed.
"Alright…you are going to tell me everything, no matter how complicated it sounds," Her mother said firmly. "Let's go to the room."
"Alright…. But I asked Chiamaka and her cousin to wait, they are in a haste to leave but I can't let them leave yet mom, I need you to delay them, I promise I'll tell you everything. "Niola explained.
"Ok…I'll take care of that, go to the room"
Niola sat on the bed waiting for her Mom, she felt relief in her chest that she was going to tell her mom about everything she'd been going through, but at the same time, it scared the shit out of her, all these things happening feels impossible, she finds it difficult to even believe herself, she wondered how her mom will believe.
A few minutes later her mother was back, she sat on the bed and held her hand, "now…I'm listening."
"ok…." she wipe her nose with the back of her hand and took a deep breath.
"Everything from the top and doesn't hold back," she said
Niola began everything from the top just like her Mother had said to tell her everything.
She explained for almost an hour, telling her every detail, her mother uttered not a single word as she kept talking, all she noticed was the tears filling her mother's eyes.
"That's all of it mom," Niola said with relief there was total silence, but the expression on her mother's face didn't look surprised, but terrified.
Now Niola was scared that her mother was quiet, it felt strange now. Her mother picked up her hands in hers and looked deep into her eyes with this scary concerning look, she hoped she didn't just think she made all that up.
" I know you don't think I'm bat-shit crazy, right Mom?... please say something," Niola said softly as she watched her mother lost in her thought. "Please mom, just tell me anything…anything at all, don't make me feel like I'm crazy, because I know I'm not."
"Mm…Eniola" her mother sighed and cupped her daughter's cheek, it was quiet again for a minute. Then she said, "it's back."