Everything was dark
Nothing, No one was here.
I was alone,
I was scared,
I saw blood dripping and the blood mocked me.

"You couldn't protect your mommy right? Now she's dead. And so will you very soon" the voice said and I heard a very eerie screech coming from the dark.

I walked towards the dark shadow and immediately, something grabbed my neck. It choked and squeezed my air flow me till I couldn't...

"Efe, Wake up!"
I jumped up opening my eyes. I saw Amanda and her parents looking at me. I was sweating and literally soaked the bed. I felt so ashamed. I was having a nightmare.

"It's okay, it was just a dream." Ami told me. I nodded and greeted her parents. They nodded in response.

"Abifoluwa, go and bring me a bowl of cold water and a clean towel and be fast with it."

Abifoluwa is Amanda's Yoruba name.  Her parents call her by her Yoruba name rather than her English name. It means Born for the Lord.

Minutes later Amanda rushed with the items and her mother dipped the towel in the water and pressed it on my forehead. It was soothing to be honest and my breathing actually relaxed.

"How are you feeling?" She asked me."I'm fine ma, thank you." I didn't want to bother her with how I truly felt. I knew that I was NOT fine.

By then Mr. Adepero (Amanda's dad) had already left the room. His wife then smiled and gave me a hug. I returned the gesture because I really needed it. She left the room and later Ami came in.

Amanda's mom was a fair beauty, but she didn't get accolades in the height department. She was about 4'7 and she always wore killer heels that complimented her height.

Dressed in a black church gown and a yellow turban on her head. She had light make up on and had a black purse in her hand, she had on black flats and her ears didn't possess any earrings.

Her husband however, was the complete opposite. He was very tall, almost six feet. Dark in complexion and a very quiet person, whereas his wife was a loud mouth.  He was in a formal black suit and tie. I wondered why the couple were on black that day.

"Was it a nightmare?" Ami requested.

"Yeah" I yawned out.

"Don't worry. God is with you and I and my family are here too." A smile went up my face after hearing that.

"Mom says you're gonna stay here till we can find your dad." She stated.

He is not my dad.

Tears danced on my face as the image of mother's body etched on my mind again. The more tried to forget, the more I remembered.

I started shaking and fretting. My throat became dry, my head started hurting, my heart started racing, my palms became sweaty, the room became hot and my chest started to hurt. My toes and fingers twisted and turned in the most discomforting manner and my mind began morphing into the image of the body again and again and again. And I came face to face with...

Fear.

Ami ran and brought me a cup of cold water and tried forcing it into my mouth. I tried to stop her but she didn't relent. The cold liquid finally came in place with my mouth and my muscles finally relaxed and the images ceased for a moment. I let the water flow through me, working it's way down my throat to the rest of my body.

I opened my blurry eyes to see Ami having the most worried look in her life. After my panic attack, she gave me a very warm and tight hug. The hug was one of the things I needed.

Ami left the room and I sat back on the head of the bed. I looked all over the room. The walls were painted white which was Ami's favourite colour, her 'Ghana-must-go' bag filled with old books was at the edge of the room. Her wardrobe filled with clothes I occasionally stole when I was too lazy to do laundry. Adjacent to the wardrobe was the bathroom and closet. Posters of BTS and Black pink filled were in the walls and some of her hand drawn photos were up as well. The room was like her personal kingdom.

Ami told me she prepared a hot bath for me which I greatly appreciated.
As I took off my cloths and walked into the bathroom, I let the water flow all over my body. From the crown of my head to the soles of my feet.