A tall teenage girl, tan in colour, joined her fellow students where they stood, making sure the junior students ran down to the assembly. They were all school prefects, three boys and two girls, excluding the girl.
"Tricia!", the two girls called her name excitedly. She returned a smile and hugged both of them at once, three of them making some hullabaloo in excitement.
"Girls!", one boy expressed a pretentious irritation.
"Thomas derives joy always in speaking trash", Tricia uttered to her girls and shook her head.
"Assistant School Prefect coming to school when assembly is almost over", the second boy teased her and giggled.
"I can do whatever I want as the School Prefect", Tricia tossed her head.
"The word, Assistant was omitted", the third boy gestured dramatically.
"Oh shut up Bright", she replied at him sharply.
"But wait! Speaking of the School Prefect, where is he?", the second boy asked her, showing concern.
"Wait! Just like yesterday he isn't in school today also?", she became worried.
"Maybe he fell sick or something", one of the girls replied. Tricia thought about what she said.
"Who knows where he lives?", the second girl asked everyone.
"That I know", Tricia replied with a wink.
"I think I do also. I walked past his home one day and he saw me. We spoke for a while before I left", the second boy added.
"Then Ben, let's go pay our School Prefect a visit when school closes today", Tricia suggested, smiling to try entice him.
"Well...okay. Let's just go find out what really is going on with him", he replied.
The first girl turned back and saw the assembly was over, all the pupils and staff ambulating to their various classes and offices. She interrupted the conversation;"Assembly's over. Let's join the other prefects abd attend to the late comers."
Thomas groaned with disappointment. "And now that boring History teacher will be in class...if not...", he said. They began traipsing to the spot the other prefects were.
"I understand you bro. Art subjects are always boring and lame", Tricia ribbed him.
"You're not serious", Thomas chuckled. He looked at the rest and it then dawned on him that he was the only Art student. "Wait! I'm the only Art student here", he said. The rest realized it was true and laughed over it.
* * *
"Oh My God", Tricia covered her mouth that was agape, gasping out in a muzzy voice.
"We saw him lifeless yesterday in the street. His neck squeezed until it was very thin", the Senior Prefect's Dad narrated, the scene of seeing his son lifeless on the road still giving him the creeps.
Been and Tricia looked at each other. "John is dead", said Ben, horrified.
"Which was angry with John that led to the killing him like that?", Mum tried holding back her tears.
Ben thought for a short while and remembered something.
Ben thought for a short while and remembered something. "Why do I feel after what you told me, Johnathan related to us, the deaths of the sun of the owner of the Bravery company and his gateman?", he piped out.
"Yes! I think what you said makes sense", Tricia concurred.
"How's my John to that boy? Who just be doing this?", Mum looked petrified.
"It's a more assumption, Just that their death withing two days. I don't know what to say though...", she said, crossing her hand over her shoulder and bragging", Tricia spoke to Ben. Be nodded his head in agreement I watcbed the bereaved parents out of pity.
* * *
In the Assembly Hall at school the next day, when the male Assistant School Prefect was done with the announcements, he left the podium for the principal to take over. The principal walked briskly to the podium.
"This is the third day at a stretch the Assistant School Prefect is giving out the announcements. What's going on with the School Prefect?", Samuel asked Jonathan, secretly having some biscuits to avoid being caught by a prefect.
"Maybe he travelled or something", Jonathan replied with a worried look.
The principal tapped on the mic and cleared his throat, heaving a sigh. He looked at everyone who was patiently waiting to hear what he had to say.
"Anytime the principal takes his time before announcing something to us, it's always bad news", a girl whispered to a male friend beside her.
"Today's a day of grief", the principal began. There was murmur amongst the students the students in the hall, who wondering the bad news they were going to receive.
"Oh God! I hate bad news", Jonathan said to Samuel, who was still eating some biscuits.
"We lost the School Prefect two days ago; he was murdered", announced the principal. Everyone kept silent in shock at once. "The SS3 students will pay the family a visit tomorrow and pay homage to him", he added. He then walked away, out of the hall, not wanting to hear the sad murmurs from the students especially.
"Another person dead, also a student of this school", Samuel felt confounded.
"This can't be true!", Jonathan became really sad.
* * *
"They told us John's neck was strangled until it became very thin", said Tricia. She was with Ben, both of them informing Mr Joseph and the principal what exactly happened to John.
"That's what they told me Sir", the principal said to Joseph.
"How on Earth would two students of mine be killed brutally in two days!", Joseph squeaked.
"I even feel the two cases are related in a way", Ben piped up.
Joseph thought about what he said, speaking in a muzzy voice;"How would they be related?" He then remembered his friend, the Father Christmas he had murdered but quickly tried erasing it out of his mind. "I hope they are not related", he uttered in a strangulated voice.
"I don't think I've ever been this scared my entire life", said Tricia. Joseph looked at her with slightly frightened look.
* * *
A boy just finished washing his face in the bathroom and was drying his face with a small towel. He came out of his bathroom and hung his towel on the door, then went to close his bedroom door. He met his Mum, who was about to walk past his room.
"Goodnight Mum", he bade her with a magnetic smile.
"Goodnight", she played with his chin, "Where's your sister? Sleeping?", she inquired of him.
"Probably! Because I remember seeing her going into her room about half an hour ago", he answered.
"I'll go check up on her before I go to bed", Mum turned to go but she remembered something, "You know your School Prefect is dead?", she asked.
"Yes Mum! The principal told the school during assembly today", he replied.
"The principal sent the news to PTA platform; that's where I knew about it", she said, showing him her phone. "That's really saddening! A very young boy", she soughed.
"I don't even want to talk or think about it because it will make me scared", he pleaded with his Mum.
"Okay! I'm sorry. Let me check up on your sister", Mum blew him a kiss and went away. He closed the door and went to bed.
His Mum opened the door to his sister's room and saw her reading a book on the bed as she laid down. She gazed at her Mum with an inquisitive look.
"Goodnight Sweetheart", Mum greeted.
"Goodnight Mum", she responded, relieved her Mum just barged in to greet her. Mum close the door and went to her own room while she continued with her reading.
* * *
When everyone had fallen asleep, the boy woke up from a nightmare. "It was just a dream", he panted, holding his chest. He was drenched with sweat. Feeling a little bit cold, he almost closed his window, just leaving a little space for air to come in. He went back to sleep but was alerted by a strange whisper.
"Hello", was the whisper. The boy sat up and looked round his room but saw no one. He looked at his window but still saw no one. Assuming he had heard a non-existent whisper, the boy overlooked it and laid back in bed.
"Don't you want to reply to me?", a grumbling voice was heard. The boy got bristled with the unknown voice and sat up.
"Where's this voice coming from?", he groaned and checked under his bed. He saw the legs of someone at the other side of the bed climbing up his bed. He gasped with terror and looked up at his bed, only to see the scary Father Christmas gawping at him. Out of extreme fear, he sprang backwards and sat by his window, heart racing as he gasped continuously. He yelled very loudly.
"I've brought you the perfect Christmas gift", Father Christmas smiled at him mischievously.
In his sister's room, she just woke up from sleep and went to the bathroom to pee. She flushed the loo and washed her hands, only for her to turn the door handle but the door did not open.
"How's this locked?", she got confused. She shook the door more violently gradually. "What's going on?", she squawked. The lights were automatically switched on and she heard a growl behind her. She turned behind slowly and saw the Father Christmas staring at her angrily, blood gushing out of his chest. She shivered with fear and shouted;"Oh My God!"
The door then opened on its own and she quickly bolted out of the bathroom and her room. She ran to her Mum's room and banged on the door severally. "Mum open up!", she screamed. She turned the door handle but it did not open. She turned to her side and saw Father Christmas creeping towards her which made her to run away. Mum was fast asleep all along.
She ran into her brother's room, calling on his name. She saw him on the floor dead with blood around the corpse. His neck was also strangled until it was very thin, blood slowly flowing out of it.
She cried miserably as she ran back to the door. She opened it and looked at both directions. Seeing that the coast was clear, she ran out, headed for the stairs.
Father Christmas watched her as she was briskly descending the stairs, wearing and evil smirk. She tripped and rolled down the stairs till she got to the floor. She died with her limbs broken. Father Christmas then drifted away.