Click-clack!
In the dimly lit surroundings, shrouded by an encompassing darkness, the two armed criminals abruptly whirled around, their movements quick and alert, upon hearing the distinct sound of high-heeled shoes reverberating through the air, seemingly penetrating the silence and catching them off guard.
"We goes there?" one of them barked.
That was when they saw her.
Their eyes strained to focus in the dimness, catching glimpses of her elusive figure—almost ephemeral in the shadows, appearing fleetingly before vanishing into obscurity at random.
A sense of dread crept in as her presence seemed omnipresent, darting from one corner to another, her steps echoing louder and louder, the high heels hammering closer with an unsettling rhythm.
The men, now gripped by fear, felt her impending approach reverberating in their ears, intensifying their unease with every step drawing nearer.
In an instant, the metallic links of Madam Koi Koi's former prison — the chain, snaked like a viper, encircling the neck of one of the men with a chilling embrace.
His fingers instinctively reached for his constricted throat, grasping desperately at the unyielding metal as it constricted, stealing his breath.
With every tug and pull, the chain seemed to respond, tightening its grip like an unrelenting predator, causing him to gasp and choke, the weight of it forcing the rifle to slip from his weakening grasp, clattering to the ground.
Bullets sprayed in a chaotic frenzy, as the man's frantic colleague in a desperate attempt to fend off the unseen tormentor opened fire.
Madam Koi Koi's apparition continued her haunting dance, materializing and vanishing with ethereal grace, confounding the shooter's aim with her elusive presence.
Despite the erratic barrage of gunfire, the relentless sound of the high-heeled shoes persisted, their rhythmic cadence growing ever nearer, amplifying the assailant's escalating fear as he found himself ensnared in an unnerving game of pursuit and evasion, with the enigmatic specter closing in.
With a searing agony, sharp claws tore into the man's flesh, slicing through stomach.
His horrified gaze met the ghastly visage of Madam Koi Koi—a macabre countenance frozen in death, mere inches from his own face, her hollow eyes piercing his with an otherworldly intensity.
Caught in a moment frozen in terror, the man found himself confronted by the haunting and grotesque manifestation, the sight of which chilled him to the core, sending shivers down his spine as he stared into the abyss of her lifeless, menacing stare.
Madam Koi Koi pulled out his heart from his body and held it up to his face just as his eyes rolled and he crumbled into a bloody heap.
The other man was still struggling with the chain constricted around his neck. As the chain relentlessly tightened around his throat, the man's struggle intensified, his wide eyes fixated on the ghastly demise of his colleague.
Helpless and petrified, he witnessed the horrifying fate that befell his colleague at the hands of Madam Koi Koi.
With a slow, deliberate pivot, the spectral figure fixed her haunting gaze upon him, her visage a grotesque canvas of terror. Her horrifying countenance bore down on him, her gaze penetrating his soul, freezing him in a moment of sheer dread as the impending doom seemed to loom ever closer.
A gut-wrenching cry escaped the man's lips, a desperate plea for salvation muffled by the constricting grip of the chain now tightening around his neck.
His fate echoed a tragic parallel to his fallen comrade's, as the relentless pressure cut off his air, silencing his terror-stricken screams.
In a chilling symphony of dread, he joined his colleague in the clutches of the unknown, succumbing to the same harrowing fate under the spectral gaze of Madam Koi Koi, their fates intertwined in the darkness, their struggles silenced in an eerie, haunting finality.
"Who is shooting?" Jide shouted. "Who is shooting? Check the perimeters, have we been breeched?"
"No boss," the sentries reassured him that the compound had not been breeched.
"Who is shooting?"
The authorities camped outside the school had also heard the gunfire and the police negotiator was frantically calling the First Lady's phone.
"I need eyes in there," the Brigadier General roared. "Whose firing? Get the bird in the air at once. Where are the drones? I want to see what's happening in there an hour ago."
The helicopter which had gone to refuel, was ordered back despite the pilot's protest.
The pilot's voiced concerns were eclipsed by the urgency of the situation, demanding the immediate presence of the helicopter for aerial support.
Drones were swiftly deployed, hovering above the school's perimeter, peering over the fence to provide crucial visual insight into the unfolding events within the compound.
"What's going on?" Jide queried his second-in-commander Uba. "Where are the shots coming from."
"Over there," Uba pointed.
"What are you still doing here?" Jude shouted. "Find out what's happening."
Uba commanded four men to accompany him as they swiftly moved in the direction from which the gunfire had echoed.
Their breath caught in their throats as they beheld a scene of absolute horror. The sight that met their eyes sent shockwaves through the men, leaving them utterly astounded and rattled to their core.
The two men, their hearts ripped ferociously out of their bodies lay on the ground in pools of their own blood. Their rifles lay discarded beside them.
"Jesus," one of the men exclaimed in horror.
"What is it?" Jude's voice came through the two-way radio.
"I don't know how to explain this boss," Uba replied.
"What do you mean you can't explain what?" Jide was getting angry.
"Boss come and see for yourself."
Jide, accompanied by an additional four men, swiftly arrived at the scene, his anticipation of the situation quickly overshadowed by the chilling reality that confronted him.
As he stepped into view, his gaze fell upon the dismembered bodies of his men and he took in the severity of the action.
"Wetin be this?" he looked from one man to the other.
"Boss," Uba replied. "Na so we see am ooo."
"What kind of animal could have done this?" Jide asked almost to himself. "Did you see any dogs when you searched the school?"
"No boss," Uba replied. "But what kind of dog can do such a thing?"
"Do you have a better explanation?"
Uba did not offer a reply. Jide stepped over the bodies of his men and studied them. He wasn't convinced either it was an animal that attacked his men.
Jide pivoted swiftly, rallying his men to follow as they marched purposefully towards the room where the First Lady and the two other dignitaries were being held.
Huddled together in the confines of the room, the hostages trembled in fear, their bodies quivering with trepidation at the echoes of gunfire that had pierced the air moments earlier.
The sudden eruption of violence had sent shockwaves of terror through their beings, leaving them paralyzed with the haunting uncertainty of their situation.
Their collective fear manifested in shaky breaths and trembling hands, each moment stretching into an eternity as they grappled with the unknown, their minds consumed by a torrent of apprehension about what could happen next.
The atmosphere within the room was heavy with palpable dread, a silent plea for safety and deliverance from the harrowing ordeal they found themselves trapped in.
"Get me the Principal," Jide ordered when he entered the room.
A few moments later, two of his men returned to the room dragging Sister Agatha between them.
"Do you have a dog in this school?" Jide asked Sister Agatha.
"No we don't have a dog here," she replied.
"Do you keep any wild beasts here?"
"Of course not."
"Have there been any animal attacks?" Jide pressed.
"No," Sister Agatha replied looking very confused. "Why are you asking me these questions about an animal?"
"I don't know the games you are playing here Sister," Jide roared. "But if I find out you had anything to do with what is happening here, I don't care if you're a nun, I'll kill you in ways you can't imagine."
He glared at her for a moment but her face told him nothing.
"She stays here," he told his men. He grabbed the First Lady's hand roughly. "Whatever happens, you're staying with me."
"Please no," the Commissioner tried to intervene but one of Jide's men punched him in the stomach.
The pot-bellied politician doubled over, collapsing to the floor, clutching his stomach in agonizing pain from the forceful punch. Groans of discomfort and distress escaped his lips as he writhed in agony, the impact of the blow leaving him incapacitated, his breaths shallow and labored amidst the throbbing ache that consumed him.
"The next time will be a bullet," Jide warned.
He dragged the First Lady out of the room while his men slammed the door shut.
He dragged her to the principal's office where he was using as his command post and pushed her into a chair.
"I don't care if your husband is the governor," Jide barked at her. "If you disturb us here, I'll personally put a bullet into your skull."
Suddenly, more gunfire erupted at another part of the school. Jide dashed out from the office.
"Quick," he shouted. "Get men down there. Let's get this thing."
Uba quickly led a team of five men towards the location where the gunfire had erupted, their hurried strides echoing through the corridors.
As they reached the scene, the once thunderous gunfire had ceased, leaving behind a haunting silence that hung heavily in the air interrupted only by the sound of their running feet.
The sight that greeted them mirrored what they had seen earlier, but this time, the scene was even more grisly and unsettling.
One of the men had lost his head as well as his heart while the other was impaled to the wall with a massive stake.
"This is not an animal attack oooo," one of the men now shivering with fear said. "There's something else going on in this school we don't know."
Click-clack, click-clack!
The four men standing guard in front of the room the dignitaries were being held swung around at every direction trying to locate the source of the sound which seemed like the sound of high heeled shoes on concrete floor.
In an instant, as if conjured from the shadows themselves, Madam Koi Koi, with unsettling celerity, materialized directly in front of one of the men.
Her spectral form loomed ominously, her deathly countenance hauntingly close to the petrified man's face.
The sudden appearance of her ghastly figure sent shockwaves through the man, freezing him in a paralyzing grip of terror.
Every terrifying detail of her visage seemed magnified in proximity—hollow eyes devoid of life, a spectral pallor shrouding her face, and a twisted, grotesque expression frozen in an eternal grimace.
The man, finding himself locked in a chilling confrontation, with her horrific face, merely inches away from his face screamed in terror.
The sudden shock of seeing Madam Koi Koi's spectral form triggered a frantic response from the startled guards.
In a panicked reaction to her eerie manifestation, they unleashed a hail of bullets in her direction, their desperate attempt to fend off the ghostly apparition.
However, to their horror and bewilderment, the bullets seemed to pass through Madam Koi Koi without any discernible effect.
Their colleague was not however lucky as the bullets tore into his body killing him instantly.
With deliberate and haunting grace, Madam Koi Koi, wielding a menacingly large stick in one hand and the chain coiled in the other, turned slowly to face the trembling men.
Her spectral form exuded an eerie calmness, a stark contrast to the chaos and fear that enveloped the guards.
The echoes of piercing screams and sporadic gunshots reverberated through the walls, reaching the ears of the huddled individuals inside the room.
Fear gripped them tightly as they remained huddled together, their hearts pounding in sync with the sounds of chaos just beyond the confines of the door.
Confusion and uncertainty clouded their minds, intensifying their dread as they struggled to comprehend the sounds of distress and violence seeping through the door.
A deafening explosion shattered the door, sending shards of debris flying in all directions.
Through the billowing smoke and remnants of the demolished entrance, the distinct sound of high-heeled shoes echoed ominously, signaling the arrival of the ghostly presence of Madam Koi Koi.
Her spectral figure emerged from the haze, a chilling and haunting silhouette amidst the chaos.
The ethereal click-clack of her high-heeled shoes resonated through the room, each step punctuating the air with an eerie rhythm as she glided forward, her spectral form casting an otherworldly presence that froze the occupants in a petrifying grip of terror.
"Miss Evelyn," Sister Agatha managed to whisper.
"Who?" the Bishop asked.
Madam Koi Koi's head suddenly snapped around as she sensed the hurried approach of the men converging towards the room.
Reacting with an eerie and sudden agility, she pivoted swiftly and glided out of the room, her haunting figure disappearing into the swirling haze and chaos outside.
The bewildered occupants of the room watched in stunned silence as the ghostly apparition swiftly departed, her departure shrouded in an air of mysterious intent, leaving behind a lingering sense of foreboding and uncertainty in the wake of her enigmatic presence.
"What did you say?" the Bishop asked Sister Agatha.
"That was Miss Evelyn," Sister Agatha replied.
"Who was she?"
"The ghost I told you about," Sister Agatha told the Bishop. "The one the Chief Priest kept confined at the graveyard. Somebody let her out."
"Are we in danger?"
"Let us pray Your Lordship."