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THE DEVIL WE KNOW

I'd just stepped back into the house and shut the door after me when Chidera hurried her steps to me. "Kasie, where have you been?" She queried in a low but soft voice. I made any form of small reaction but reply to her. A part of me still felt a little upset about earlier. I knew she'd noticed because her eyes softened and her expression fell. Chidera looked back once before fixating her gaze on me.

"I'm sorry. That was a selfish thing of me to have said earlier. I need you to know that although I want all I'd mentioned but I never truly meant any of the words, I said to you. Your life is just as important as mine and... and..."

"Chidera, it's okay. Really, you don't need to explain any further. I understand, but I can't stop myself from feeling hurt. Don't worry... no one is going to die. I'll make sure of it." Where that speech really came from, I did not know, but I'd assured her my deepest thoughts and walked past her.

"Wait." She called, and the second I stopped; she'd ran to my front once more. "I need to tell you something." Chidera stated, her voice still low and soft, almost as if she didn't want to be heard. She spared a look back once more, and I wondered if she was hiding something.

"Kamalu is here." She said, and any expression I'd worn on my face fell as I drifted my eyes away from her. "I'm telling you because, maybe you'd want to hide... for now."

I shifted my gaze back to her. "Why would I want to hide?"

At first, Chidera barely opened her mouth, but no words would flow. "I thought maybe you aren't ready to face him yet."

"Is he here to force me into becoming his wife? Today?"

"I don't know, but I doubt because, he came alone and... he seems serious. It's weird looking at him after knowing what we know now."

Maybe this is it. Maybe this is the opportunity I need. Finally, I can have a talk with him, now that I know the reason he has been so adamant about having his way. I walked past Chidera without uttering a word more and made my way towards the living room.

"Please, we need a little more time. It's hard for Kasie to understand." Mum's voice and the mention of my name forced me to a halt.

"I believe I've been generous enough. You of all people should know what comes after." I walked into the living room just as he'd finished his sentence and they redirected their gaze and attention to me. For a second, I looked at mum, and uncle Chimdi before shifting my gaze to Kamalu. His expression was stern. Immediately, I recalled the story mum had shared and felt a sudden shiver run down my spine. Regardless, I knew I had to take this step.

"Can we talk in private?" I asked him.

"Again? I thought we're done with that. Now, it's time for action."

"Please... I won't take much of your time." I was quick to talk back, taking everything in me not to show the fear I was so desperately hiding inside. He stared back at me and his silence lasted before he suddenly stood to his feet and took the lead towards the exit.

I couldn't stop myself from looking at mum, a light frown was in between her brows. "What are you doing?" She asked in a fierce but low voice.

"I have to try something." I told her before hurrying away after Kamalu.

He was first to stop, deciding his present spot was perfect for the private conversation I asked of. Now, in front of him, it was hard to steady my gaze with his.

"I've been told you now know the reason our marriage must take place." He was first to speak up and the mention of the word marriage was enough for me to speak up.

"Yes, I know, but frankly, I don't understand why you desperately want to marry me. It's just marriage. I don't see how that might appease your god."

He stared at me, slightly narrowing his eyes. "I see you still understand nothing. Yes, we will get married, but you are not mine. You belong to Ayanwu-oganihu, the god responsible for where your family is today."

I wore a frown regarding his last statement. "Are you... are you saying I'll marry a spirit?"

"A god. Yes, that's your fate and sacrifice."

I stared at him while still wearing a frown before blinking a few times than I wanted. I looked away from him. "This is not possible... I must be dreaming. This entire holiday is just one nightmare I can't wait to wake up from."

"There's a saying." He started, and I shifted my gaze back to him. "Why should one hunt a tortoise diligently—is it going to fly away?" He paused, probably sparing me a second to understand his proverb, but the look on my face didn't change. His words confused me. "Like I said to your mother, your time has run out and my patience, the deity's patience, has run thin. Our marriage will take place before the new year." Kamalu said before walking past me. I hurried to his front so he stopped once more.

"That can't be right. Before new year? That's too fast."

"We've been gracious to you and your family with time even before you were born." He commented, and I opened my mouth, but no words came through. I knew I had to say something, but I wasn't sure anymore about the right words. It was all too much. A closer look and I had to conclude he was in his early thirties and yet he seemed... much older.

I shook my head. "There has to be another way." I said, and my mind wandered back to all possibilities in relation to past events. "I heard others before me didn't have to marry a god.... Can't you give me that option? There has to be something else I can do... anything." I asked, slightly ashamed of the fact that I'm actually asking this type of question.

He watched me in silence, longer than I expected. "Can you kill?"

I widened my eyes at him. "What?"

"In order for me to convince the deity, I'll need the head of five female virgins."

"What!?" I exclaimed; my voice higher than normal. He stared at me without as much as a different reaction. It was as if what he said was something normal to him. I gulped down before looking around to see if anyone was around because of the voice I'd raised. Now, my heart was racing a little faster than normal and I was slowly soaking in fear.

"I... I can't do that. Never." I told him and gulped down once more before standing upright, straightening my shoulders. "Okay, enough... This is ridiculous and insane. I'm going to say this once. I will neither become your wife nor your god's and nothing will make me do otherwise." Even though the words came through my lips, something quite shook me inside about my ability to keep to those words. I knew I have to, but I wasn't sure how I would do that.

Honestly, I've never seen myself as a headstrong person. I haven't exactly been one, and I've always done what they have asked of me. Why was this different? No matter what anyone says this time... the only word that came through my lips was no. Why won't I say yes? After all, it's for the good of my family. For me, my ability to stand firm on my word should be a good thing, but I wasn't sure anymore if it was.

Suddenly, he took two steps closer, his gaze burrowing into mine, and his silence was nerve-wracking. My heart beat sped up while I try not to imagine many awful ways he could hurt me right now.

"Pot carriers are not reliable traders. If they stub their toes on horns, they pick up empty baskets... meaning, things should follow their normal course or else... the repercussion will be too grave. Don't say I did not warn you."

My hands by my sides were shaking, and I folded them into fists to control my fear. I have to be strong. It was obvious he was trying to intimidate me, and I didn't want to give him that satisfaction. I watched as he walked away, not back to the living room but towards the door out of the house. Only after he walked out and shut the door behind him did I hear footsteps and shifted my gaze in the sound's direction. Mum and Uncle Chimdi were walking towards me.

"Where's he?" Uncle Chimdi asked.

"He... He left."

"He left? Why?" He asked right away.

Again, I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came through. I was fairly speechless.

"What did you say to him?" Mum asked, her eyes somehow pleading for me to tell her everything was okay.

"Did you know I wasn't actually going to be his wife but the deity's?" I asked, but there was no reply from both of them. They simply looked away.

"Both of you knew?" Again, they displayed the same reaction and didn't reply. "I told him that won't happen. It would be like selling my soul to the devil."

"You did what!?" Uncle Chimdi exclaimed, his voice a little higher than usual. I stared at him, slightly surprise by how loud his voice had gotten. "When did you become this stubborn? Why won't you listen to your elders anymore?" He asked, at the same time not quite needing a reply from me, but I could see the frustration on their faces.

He turned to mum. "This is exactly the reason I told your husband then not to let her study too much because she'll only act smart when the day finally arrives that she has to face the truth but he wouldn't listen and neither did you... Now, she thinks we're ridiculous and superstitious. We're a joke and Kasie is the only intelligent person... Well now, we can all wait for death to knock on our doors." He complained, or rather directed to her, a scold that was indirectly for me. He spared me a glare. The anger in his eyes was ones I'd never seen in the past before he walked away, fuming with anger.

I shifted my eyes back to mum who stood still without sparing me a look. "Mum." I reached out my hand to her and suddenly she turned. "Wait right here, I'll be back." She said before walking away and I watched her walk up the stairs till she was out of sight. Gently, I placed a hand on my chest as I looked away. Uncle Chimdi's words came back to mind, and his mention of death knocking on our doors made my heart palpitate even faster. Could he be right? Did I just send us all to an early grave?

My entire being tells me it's wrong to say yes to that proposal, but my family says it's right to say yes. Which of them exactly is the right path, or am I simply doomed regardless of the path I choose? I didn't want to believe this was it. There is always a solution to every problem, no matter how difficult it may be. I simply have to be quick in finding mine that doesn't involve any evil embodiment.

"Come with me." Mum's voice forced me out of my thoughts and I shifted my gaze back to her. She was almost close to the door out of the house. In her hands, she held what seemed like a bunch of keys and a torchlight. She led the way out of the house and I hurried after her, shutting the door behind me.