***

The Present

"Woe to the human race." Anaya's eyes trail these words as the clock hand struck two in the morning. She yawned, pushed the book aside and made her way to the bathroom. She realized she had used close to two hours to read the one chapter of the book she planned to read before sleeping. That was longer than she expected.

Now things had become a little bit clearer to her as she got more and more into the pages of the book but she still didn't know how she came into all of that LightBlood-ish. She didn't know how anything she had read so far had to do with anything that had happened to her. Heck, She didn't even know what her mission in Abikiali was or why she had to come all that way to read a book.

However, she was certain her answers lay somewhere in the book. She just needed to finish reading it. However, as much as she wished she could find the answers sooner, she couldn't read the entire book in one sitting. It was a lot.

As she walked out of the bathroom, eyes half-closed as if drunk, she couldn't help it but think of what happened between Dembe and her some hours earlier. Her mind waded through almost every action...every word...every touch...everything that happened. And the very thought of these slashed a smile on her face — her eyes, her lips, and her spirit all at once smiled.

What is happening to me? She thought as she sat on her bed getting ready to finally retire to her bed.

"I am not falling for him, am I?" This time around she thought out loud without even knowing. Her voice was a bit hoarse. "Wouldn't that be too quick? Like, you can't fall for someone whom you just met." She concluded in the bid of brushing off the thought but it was still lingering In her mind even as she closed her eyes to sleep.

Her thoughts continued.

How long does it take to fall in love with someone? A second? A month? A year? Or years perhaps?

She didn't know the answer to that but she knew one thing; falling in love might pretty much be like falling asleep. Some people sleep as soon as their backs touch the mattress and their heads hit the pillow. Others lie awake for hours before they could sleep. So just like falling asleep, falling in love happens to everyone differently — there was no set duration it must take before happening. It just happens.

As if in agreement with her earlier thoughts, Anaya's eyes became heavier with sleep that very second. She couldn't keep her eyes open. She gave in to the lures of sleep. Her consciousness slowly ebbed away until she was no more. Now as she lay there deep into sleep, serenity was plastered across her face. She looked to be at peace in her sleep.

***

"Come in. Hurry." A voice called out from in front of her then a hand followed. She couldn't see the face the hand belonged to. She tried to but she couldn't. It was too dark to see anything. Although she had a very strong sensation that she shouldn't follow whoever it was into the house, she did exactly the opposite. She followed and entered the house.

It was empty when she entered. There was nothing in the house. No furniture, no photographs on the wall, nothing. It was just dark and empty. There was no evidence of human existence there except a cheap analogue clock that hung loosely on a nearby wall like a forgotten relic of the past. It started ticking loudly the second her eyes glanced at it.

"Yeah, right. The time starts now. Run!" Anaya turned and there stood a man. It might be the same person the earlier hand belonged to or it could be another but figuring out who he was, became the least of her concerns when her eyes trailed the entire figure of the man. His face was still empty. It was like he was faceless. He held in his hand a butcher's knife. It was covered in blood. The blood drip dropped to the empty floor, its sound mixing with the tick locking of the clock

"Tick tock. Tick tock." The man mimicked the sound from the clock, pulling Anaya's attention from the observations she made about the scene. "You are running out of time here." He added as he advanced towards Anaya, his face still full of void.

She took the clue this time and ran towards the door but there wasn't any. It was like the door she walked through seconds ago had disappeared all of a sudden. Her heart began racing, her mind moving into a spasm as she tried to think of an escape. There weren't any. Before she could make her next move of running to who knows where, the man pounced on her. He was strong — stronger than any man she had ever encountered — because he was able to constrain her to the ground without even trying hard. He lifted the knife up high and slowly towards Anaya's heart as screams...empty scream left her lips.

"No one can hear you. Now close your eyes!" The man blurted and as if Anaya's brain was connected to his voice, her eyes shut the second those words were said.

Then her eyes opened the second they closed. She found herself on a bed, the bed in the hotel to be specific. She turned her head around and saw she was now in the hotel room with no sign of the man or his bloody knife.

Was it a nightmare? She thought as she tried to get off the bed but her legs landed on something...or someone.

She looked down from the bed only to be met with the gaze of her own dead body. Terror transformed her figure. She remembered clearly burying that body some weeks ago. What was it doing all dug up, looking fresh and in her hotel room? She tried to move but she couldn't. It was as if she had been bound to the bed.

She watched her corpse bloat and then rot all within the span of some seconds. Then these birds flew into the room from nowhere and started eating the rotten flesh. When they were done, they flew out, living these clean white bones where the rotten body once lay.

"What is happening!" She cried out. Then she felt someone strike her from behind. She fell to the cold floor as blood gushed out of her head. With each blood drop came this blackness in her vision until she totally blacked out.

Her eyes opened the second they closed. Again, she found herself on her bed in the hotel, sweat dripping down her face. Her breathing was heavy and uneven. She looked confused and scared. A perfect blend of such strong emotions. She couldn't figure out what was real again. Was this still in the nightmare or had she actually awoken?

Her questions were answered when she heard a knock on the door. She was sceptical about answering at first but eventually, she did. She walked briskly to the door, opened it with such force as if she was ready to battle whatever was behind the door. It was Dembe. She could feel a heavy sigh leave her lips when she set eyes on him. This might be real then. She thought.

"Wait. What is it? You look worked out." Dembe asked the second Anaya opened the door.

"Nothing. I just had a strange nightmare..." she said as she opened the door for him to enter then she remembered. "...wait, you are real, right?"

Dembe laughed at the expression. A laugh Anaya found very magical. "Of course, I am. What is going on? You can tell me."

"It's just...in the nightmare, I kept on waking up and waking up to other nightmares." She paused, gathered her thoughts and continued, "I don't know how to explain it but when it ended and I thought I had woken up, I would wake to another horrifying event." Her head began to ache from trying to make sense of what had happened to her earlier.

"I see." was the reply Dembe gave. As odd a reply it was, Anaya tried not to ask him anything. Who knows, she probably might be going insane. "Anyway, I have an off day tomorrow and I was wondering if you would like to go out with me?" Dembe didn't waste time on bringing out the reason for his visit.

"Wait, are you asking me out?"

"Well...maybe. What do you say about that huh?"

This guy was sure a go-getter! She thought then replied, "Yes...yes. I am free tomorrow. Anytime."

Really? Free? The book ain't going to read itself. She thought again but made efforts to not give reverence to her thoughts. She sure as hell deserved some break from all the paranormal and weird things happening around her and she knew that. She wasn't going to let this opportunity slide just so she can read some book written by a confused eighteen-year-old. What if the writer, Nia Afriyie, was just seeing things?

"Ok. I have to get back to work then." Dembe's voice penetrated through her thoughts.

"Alright, sure. I will see you later then."

With that, Dembe walked out leaving Anaya alone again with her fears and thoughts. Despite the nightmare ending, which she had confirmed with Dembe's short visit, a terrible feeling of being watched by some invisible eyes brought uneasiness to her. What was the nightmare about?

She went to the bathroom, washed off the remaining sleep from her eyes and walked back to the book which lay open on her bed calling for attention. She flipped the page to the next page and began reading...

"I next found myself in Ancient Egypt in the year 6000 BC..."

***

The chapter was proofread by _poemholic

***

Your votes and comments help this story get discovered and rank higher.
Don't deny me that. 😥🙏🏿