The Present.

Dembe stopped in his tracks when he saw the empty table. It wasn't just Anaya who wasn't there but everything else too. It was as if someone was trying to tell him he had been hallucinating the entire night — the conversation, the food. Everything. He knew he wasn't.

"Ato, hey," he called out the waiter he saw walking to a table to take an order. Ato turned when he heard his name. His white uniform was neatly ironed and tucked in, with a black bow tie around his neck.

"Hey, Dembe. Off duty today?" he asked when he got closer to Dembe. Dembe stood taller than him. He had his head a little bit raised as Dembe talked to him.

"Yes. Took an off day. Hey, did you see where the lady who sat behind that table went?" He asked, pointing at the table they were having their dinner on.

"Nope, man." He pulled the list of booked tables from his top pocket and scanned through. "This is strange."

"Why? What is it?"

"Dembe, man, that table hasn't been booked the whole of tonight," Ato explained, his eyes still perusing the list.

"What? No...I was..." Dembe paused knowing there was no way Ato could be telling him lies. Besides, he seemed to have caught on to something. "You know what? It is alright, Man. Thank you for your help."

"Always." Ato smiled and left to the table he was walking to before Dembe called him.

They have been here again! He thought as he made his way to the table. He placed his palm on the centre of the table, closed his eyes. Everything was made clear to him. They were clear like the surface of still water. He saw what happened at the table — who was there, what was said and where they transported to after the woman cast the spell.

"These guardians!" He hissed. Anger burned deep into his system like hot lava. It stirred within, hungry for destruction. He didn't know whom but someone had to pay for what had happened. He was that close of taking care of the Second chosen, he only knew how and now all chances were thin. He pulled his phone from his pocket. With one hand clenched into a fist, the other hitting aggressively on the phone's keypads and eyes bloodshot, he made a call to Kande.

"Hey, Kande..." he placed the phone on his ear as he walked out of the restaurant.

"She got away again."

"..."

"I know. I know. Another guardian showed up. We really underestimated them this time."

"..."

"Yes, I saw where they went. I will find them. They better be ready for what is coming." He ended the call, the beep from the keypad echoing on the empty street in the silence of the night. He walked a few blocks away from the restaurant. The street-lamps were very dim at that part. There was not enough brightness to illuminate the entire street. No one could be seen around. He walked into the blackness. There was a blip, a streak of light, which disappeared the second it appeared, then he was gone.

***

Back at the farm, Anaya stared at Kukua's face, waiting for the answers to her earlier question. The air around was so frail that it could shatter if Anaya didn't receive the answers she needed.

"Oh, yes. True. Kukua died. Unfortunately. I am not the Kukua you read about. I am Kukua Mensah, her twin sister. I have been sent to her by the Counsel to get you through the rest of the journey."

"Journey?" Anaya queried.

"Yes, Anaya. This doesn't end here. You have awoken now. You know everything about your kind and also know what we are all up against. The world is not safe anymore for anyone. Not us, not the humans nor any other creature in it. This is why you are here. This is why you were chosen and everything you've been through, seen or heard has been leading to these final moments. Are you ready? The DarkBloods are getting crafty each day. We do not know exactly when they get to finally begin but we know it is close."

"These are all just too much for me. It feels like it was just yesterday I was just a normal girl at the graveyard with very little care in the world. These are just too much. I don't even know if I am ready or if I want to take part in any of these." Anaya cried out.

Kukua Mensah didn't seem surprised that she was in denial. It was as if it was part of her training as a guardian to know that they would always be in denial. There was a look on her face that screamed "Don't worry Anaya. I am very much prepared for you. I knew this would happen". She walked over to Anaya and held her shoulder.

"Ready or not, Anaya, the end of time is here upon us. We all might be dead tomorrow. Who knows? But one thing is for sure... you have been chosen and entrusted with the fate of over a billion lives, both humans and other creatures alike. You will take up the gauntlet, fight like the chosen that you are, win this war or die trying. Will you just cower away, accept defeat and let innocent souls perish?"

"I-I-I don't even know if I can do this. I just-"

"Yes, you can! You are powerful beyond compare. You do not have to let your fears become you. Let go of that voice that is constantly questioning your abilities, let yourself free, search within yourself and unleash the true you. Also, you are not in this alone. You have your chosen sisters with you. You are one with Nia Afriyie. We would definitely find the third chosen soon. Then there's almost every LightBlood and Guardians ready to fight with you and your sisters. These little things can make a big difference. You-"

Just when Kukua Mensah had gotten to her motivational best, Anaya's stomach turned. She felt nausea clutched at her throat. She tried her best to push the bitterness down but it was too late. Clumps of partly digested pounded yam she ate, sprawled out of her mouth as she coughed, her mouth trembling. Her stomach kept forcing everything up and out.

"What is wrong with you? Are you okay?"

"I don't know. I am not sure. Might be the food I had earlier."

"Are you sure?"

From how Kukua Mensah looked at her from the face down to the neck, her eyes stopping for a while at the neckline before trailing further to her breasts and to her legs, it was obvious she didn't believe it was just the food that made Anaya sick.

"Why do you ask? You don't seem convinced. Anything you are not telling me?" Anaya asked, worries overtaking her figure.

"No-Nothing. It is just that -" A loud crackling sound resonated from behind them before she could complete her utterance. Dembe appeared from the swirling brown blur of dust that had formed.

"Dembe!" A smile appeared on Anaya's face when she saw him.

"You wouldn't want to get close to him." Kukua Mensah's words stopped Anaya in her tracks, the smile that slashed across her face vanished a second after.

"Is he..."

"Yes, he is one of them."

"Surprise!" Dembe chuckled, his brittle voice filling the farm.

Just like that, Anaya's world came crumbling down. She let out a sluggish breath as she tried to toughen the gestures of her body. She wanted to hide her pain but it was getting hard to keep up with the act. He lied to me. He used me. Were all her mind kept on saying repeatedly.

"But-" Anaya couldn't get the words out of her mouth. Every effort to speak at that instant failed. Tears shimmered in her eyes. Her breathing became unsteady. She was weakened by the revelation. She suddenly couldn't see or hear anything around her. It was like she had zoned into her own world.

"Anaya, watch out!" Kukua Mensah's voice reverberated through her subconscious. But it was late. Before she could regain her consciousness and react to the warning Kukua Mensah was giving her, Dembe struck both of them down with a streak of his DarkLight. Anaya fell to her feet. A sharp pain bolted through her body. It felt as if she was stung by a venomous creature. The hit left her broken and disoriented. It managed to cause a violent disturbance in her mind and played with her emotions. It caused phenomenal devastation. She was filled with intense terror. Above all, she was paralyzed. She couldn't move her legs or hands. All she did was lay there jerking forward and back, trying to get at least her hand to move.

She stopped trying, let out a loud sigh as if by doing so, she was signalling her defeat or was accepting that there was no way out through that. Never had she felt so helpless in her life. She wished she could do something to save Kukua Mensah at least.

Dembe walked over to her. She gazed into his eyes as he stood over her. Her heart sung with sorrow as she felt lost in his lies. The only thing that was there in his eyes after searching for so long was betrayal. It slowly seeped in how much of a fool she had been, living in her own dream world thinking she had a future with Dembe.

"D-D-Dembe." She finally managed to get her tongue to move.

He smiled. "Mhmm? Worried about how you are going to die? Don't worry. I will make it slower and agonizing."

"I-I-I...am-"

A DarkLight struck her silent — maybe dead — before she could churn out what she wanted to say. The heavy blow was on the head. Blood seeped through her cut.

"Anaya!" Kukua Mensah cried out from where she lay, paralyzed from the neck down.

"Kande!" Dembe muffled through his clenched teeth when he realized the hit was from someone other than himself. He turned to the direction the hit came from. He was right.

"What? You were taking too long. We don't have time for your lovers' reunion. Now, get up and let's get going. We have one more Chosen to get rid of."