A.

A AKINSEKEJI

There was a strong aura of gloom in the

house as Yolanda paced around. And she
could feel it very well

She walked slowly into the room that had been

abandoned for a while . . . She discovered the room
had actually turned into something else.
No doubt, this room she found herself in was a
tomb. It was more of a catacomb or a hideous crypt
where corpses were stored.
Just then, she heard a cracking, a movement rather,
in the coffin. She was shocked and confused because
she knew the movement wasn't from her own body.
She felt the corpse below her was making
movements and was about to get up . . . Who'd have
ever thought that she'd once be closed up with a corpse
in a coffin in a frozen crypt room?
She considered again what she was facing. She
realised now that her whole family, not just herself,
was journeying endlessly into an indescribable tale of
horror, tragedy, queer murder mystery and
condemnation of shedding their own blood . . .
And there was nothing they could do to reverse it.

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 FROZEN CRYPT

A.A AKINSEKEJI

Akins Mitchell Books

3
 A.A AKINSEKEJI

Copyright © 2017 by Akinloluwa A. Akinsekeji

Frozen Crypt
Published by Akins Mitchell Books.
+234 809 7495 764

All rights reserved. Written permission must be

secured from the published to use or reproduce
any part of this book, except for brief quotations
in critical reviews.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious.

Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is
coincidental and all incidents are pure invention.

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 FROZEN CRYPT

Chapter 1
A Blood-written Note

IT WAS AN extremely quiet October afternoon and the

sky was the colour of television tuned to a dead
channel. The clocks were striking thirteen yet the
atmosphere was strangely still as cold as dawn. Tony
Aigbe was standing still in front of his family house in
their compound, considering the one thousand and one
thoughts and questions that were coming across his
mind as he was again awaiting Mr. Fred, a Police
detective. He really had to.
Donning a regular denim jacket with jean trousers
and a black cap that covered part of his face, he had
his arms folded tightly and kept on shaking his head.
He breathed a sigh of disappointment. Life indeed was
a mystery.
Tony looked at the neighbouring houses around and
also looked at the blank sky. The extreme quietness
that had of a recent seemed to always pervade his
house and the entire street was very strange. And it
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

seemed to have started since the very day his father,

Mr. Aigbe, mysteriously disappeared from their
compound—or was probably even murdered—about
two months ago. He couldn't explain it.
Mr. Aigbe had just been in his fenceless
compound's garden that fateful evening and had been
planting some new species of crops as he always loved
doing. His family had prepared dinner and was waiting
for him to join them when they discovered he delayed
in returning from the garden. Unsure of what was
happening and why he delayed, they came out to the
garden to call him, only to strangely find no sign of
him except just a trail of fresh blood on the garden's
ground. It was a tragedy—an unexplainable one. He
had mysteriously disappeared—or better put, was
mysteriously abducted and murdered—based on all
available signs they knew and could see.
They were sure he had been murdered. Had he just
been abducted, his abductors would have called and
requested for the ransom however, they received no
such call as such—since two months he died. Another
confirmation for his death was the trail of fresh blood
that they'd seen on the ground. His murderers had most
likely killed him and gone with his body. It was a
sorrowful and strange occurrence however it appeared
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 FROZEN CRYPT

there was nothing they could do. They could only

inform the police to investigate the case—which they
immediately did since then but there had been no
headway still.
Sixty-three-year old Mr. Aigbe's disappearance was
very mysterious. It was strange for villains to come to
the residence of an elderly person, kill him and then
get away with his body. However, the Aigbes had
expected something somewhat like this few days
before it eventually happened.
Exactly a week before his death, the family had
received—or rather seen in front of their duplex
house—a note that informed them what was going to
happen and why it was going to. The strange eerie note
was just found on the floor of the entrance porch in the
evening and it seemed to be a warning note. The note
probably had been given to them by spirits or demons
for it was strangely made of parchment and the
writings on it were written with blood—certainly
blood, owing to the colour and the odour that came
from it. The note had been handed over to the Aigbes
because they had trespassed.
The note had read:

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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

"You have stolen and killed what does not belong

to you therefore a sorrowful sacrifice of three precious
souls from you shall be required in a strange way."
At first when the Aigbes saw and read the note,
they became scared but felt it wasn't meant for them
because they hadn't stolen and killed anything from
anyone that didn't belong to them. The note had
probably been blown by the breeze from the roadside
or somewhere else. But later, they realised that the
note could have actually been referring to the
abandoned baby they'd seen and taken from a forest
recently.
The Aigbes had gone on a vacation trip to a natural
park in Osun the week before they received the blood-
written note. They'd enjoyed their stay there and had
savoured the features of the park. However when they
were about to return back to their house in Lagos, they
found a baby boy right there on the ground of the park
who'd been abandoned. The poor baby had been crying
since, just a few days old, probably thrown there by
his mother who didn't need him.
The Aigbes were full of compassion for the
abandoned baby and they decided to take him with
them in order to show him care and raise him up with
them. After all it wasn't a crime to rescue a life and
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 FROZEN CRYPT

have new member of the family—a baby—even

though all the family's children were already adults, all
in their twenties. At least the mother of the family,
Mrs. Aigbe would take a good care of the baby.
They however noticed that they found the baby
placed on a red clothing on the ground as though he
were placed there as a sacrifice. But it seemed
unlikely to them that that was the reason the baby was
abandoned. He was just a new-born baby though and
there could have been coincidence. They would take
the baby and take care of him. They weren't doing bad.
They also ensured that they search for anyone around
that could have been his parent or had him in their care.
There was none as such. And no responsible person
could just leave him there.
So they decided to take the baby boy home. They'd
leave their family telephone number and home address
in case the person who dropped the baby needed him
back. And so they returned with him, unfortunately
failing to realise that that was the beginning of peril
and jeopardy in their home.
They returned back to their family house at Lagos,
a purchased duplex situated at a posh but quite solitary
housing estate at Onikan. They quickly prepared a cot
and other items for the baby in the room of Lola, the
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

firstborn of the family, who rarely used the room again

as she'd relocated to Port Harcourt and was about to
get married in fact.
Just a week after they brought the baby did they
receive that eerie blood-written note in front of their
house. But they actually were sceptical about the note.
Was it actually referring to them—especially about
that abandoned baby? It seemed unlikely. The note
said, "You've stolen and killed what doesn't belong to
you . . ." But they were sure they hadn't done either of
that. They'd only rescued a baby boy—not stolen him.
And at least he wasn't dead! In any case, Mr. Aigbe
planned he'd return the baby back to the Osun park, the
forest, as soon as possible, most likely the next day
and also burn the note so as to save his family from the
impending danger of the note's threat.
That blood-written note came in the evening that
very day. Very early the next morning however, the
baby was mysteriously dead already. This was when
their fears came alive and became real! How could it
be? What killed the baby? He had been Hale and
hearty before but just gave up the ghost strangely that
morning. It appeared that the note was actually a
warning and a prophecy to them about nothing else
than the baby. According to the note then, they'd
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"stolen" and "killed" the baby. They were on the verge

of experiencing tragedy now.
Utterly confused and shocked about the death of the
baby, the Aigbes decided to remain quiet about what
had happened, informing no soul about it. They also
decided to go ahead with the plan of returning the
baby back to the park that very morning although it
appeared they were returning just the corpse back now.
It was so unfortunate. If only they hadn't picked him
up in the first place.
Soon after they discovered the baby was dead, Mr.
Aigbe left for Osun State immediately. He got back to
the park and quietly dropped the dead baby on the red
clothing on the ground that had exactly been there
before. At least his family was now free from the
jeopardy and curse of taking the baby.
Unfortunately, it just seemed the Aigbes couldn't
reverse their actions. A week later, Mr. Aigbe was
murdered and abducted in his own home in the
evening. The first precious soul sacrifice was offered!
They informed the police about it and felt Mr. Aigbe's
disappearance wasn't really as a result of the note.
When no abductor called for long however, they
realised the threat in the note was actually real in that
case—his death was very strange.
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

Police detectives had to visit their home and

neighbourhood almost daily in order to get a headway
as to who actually carried out the crime—and why.
They actually felt the case wasn't spiritual as the
Aigbes took it owing to the blood-written note they'd
received. It could have been from an envious partner
or neighbour around them. But two good months
passed without them finding any specific clue or even
suspect—except just an old lady gardener that had
visited Mr. Aigbe at his garden that very day just few
hours before his disappearance.
The gardener had been employed to work for most
homes in that neighbourhood and tend their gardens.
So had she always done for the Aigbes however, she'd
been the last person who visited Mr. Aigbe in his
garden assisting in some chores that day. And so when
Mr. Aigbe disappeared from his garden with a trail of
fresh blood, the old gardener was arrested by the cops
as a prime suspect. But there wasn't any sordid
evidence they had to join dots confirming her as the
murderer or abductor. And so she was released just
days after the arrest.
The whole family including neighbours in their
estate panicked hearing about the disappearance of Mr.
Aigbe and most of them had actually thought that he
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 FROZEN CRYPT

would be found back soon. But they were wrong. He

wasn't. Now was the time to be on guard and really
stand together.
Mrs. Aigbe knew the challenge ahead of her
immediately after the incidence. She was left with her
three children to raise them up well without their
father. Although all the children were grownups
already, yet she knew that they still urgently needed
their father's presence.
Lola, the first born, was a cute lady just twenty
seven years and was about to marry. Naturally, she
was endowed with a nice motherly, caring and
courageous character always helping others in times of
need. She was extraordinarily beautiful with a
trademark of pink lips, cute smile with dimples and a
greasy shoulder-length hair that all matched her tanned
skin. Other than at end-of-the-year holidays, she lived
and worked at Oil Company at Port Harcourt and
didn't come around her family house throughout the
year.
Tony meanwhile was an artist. That had been his
life's goal right from childhood and he pursued it till
the Master's degree level at a young age of twenty five.
Naturally brilliant and remarkably talented, he had a
brisk mind with firm resolve most times but wasn't
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

always persistent enough, lazy at times and his lanky

physique confirmed that. Other than that, he was fine
with his bushy eyebrows and side burns.
Yolanda was the last child of the family, just
twenty four, and was still studying her medical course
when their father Mr. Aigbe mysteriously disappeared.
Yolanda was very prone to fear and she seemed to
always become the victim of danger whenever there
was. But then, she was very reserved, had shy brown
eyes with a smiley face and freckles on her cheek.
Every member of the Aigbe's family lived with the
focus their lives were driven by. And they'd always
lived in serenity in their Onikan mansion in their estate
since they moved over there.
Their family house had been sold to them close to a
decade ago by a man who had just lost his wife then so
the house was quite old but still had impressive
aesthetics and architectural layout. It was a Tudor-like
5-bedroom single storey duplex having lots of its walls
made of wood-cladded concrete. The house had a large
compound that incorporated a small garden and it
remained fenceless. A stream was located behind the
house and it partially encircled the whole estate that
had the few houses in it built next to each other. There

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 FROZEN CRYPT

was also a vast fallow meadow just opposite the

houses.
The residents of their estate were few also, most of
them wealthy enough and were friendly to each other,
although close interaction between neighbours wasn't
sordid. The security level of the estate was relatively
normal also even though most of the houses were not
fenced. At least that was a sign of how much they
trusted each other.
Apart from the recent murder—or abduction—of
Mr. Aigbe, there hadn't risen any serious case of crime
in the neighbourhood too, save the first case of crime
that had happened exactly six months before Mr.
Aigbe's own. That one had involved a wealthy
politician, Commissioner Majekodunmi, with Mr.
Aigbe's death exactly same as his. Mr. Majekodunmi
however had been killed in his own car on his way
back from his office and his body had been napped too.
Police detectives were called to his crime scene too,
but they'd concluded that the assassins and abductors
had been sent by one of his rivals from the on-going
election then and so the case had blurred into fog.
Only when Mr Aigbe's case came up again did the
Police detectives realise that they had same crime case
to deal with—murder and body-abduction of the
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victim—most likely conducted by the same person, the

same villain. And so they had to go into serious work.
Other than these recent two, their estate had always
been safe, quiet and peaceful.

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 FROZEN CRYPT

Chapter 2
DETECTIVE FRED

THE MYSTERIOUS murder and disappearance of Mr.

Aigbe required a professional detective that would
look into the case critically and produce who the
culprit was and why such a one did it. The best
available detective that the Police could produce for
such case at that time was Fred—as he was fondly
called. And since the time Mr. Aigbe case came up,
Fred made it a daily routine to visit the Aigbes in their
house with his partner, Mike.
Most often, they came at afternoons or evenings
straight from the office before they retired for the day.
Coming to the Aigbes' neighbourhood meant they had
to carry out undercover surveillance and observations,
taking note of everything around—even the slightest
thing such as the kind of music played in different
homes. And most times, they took a walk round the
whole neighbourhood also touching all the streets

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there including the estate's stream and the vast

meadow.
All these routine activities were for them to get
leads about who the culprit was and how he carried out
his activities. They were sure they had a serial killer in
this case—he had done this to two victims—and he
was one who lived in or around the estate. So far
there'd been little or no lead or evidence left by the
culprit. The person or persons appeared however to be
very smart. And Fred knew it. There'd been two cases
of homicide and body-abduction in the estate by the
culprit but he had neatly escaped leaving only a trail of
fresh blood—and that to purposely confirm the murder
committed too. It was very certain he was going to
strike again.
Fred was actually confused about the whole case.
He couldn't tell why the bodies were abducted and
couldn't join dots to point on the real culprit. Why
would anyone abduct someone from his home for no
obvious personal reasons, having him most likely
murdered? And so Fred decided not to relent on the
case but always pay a visit to the families of the
victims until he eventually would be able to unravel
the mystery behind the crime.

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Fred and his partner Mike got to the Aigbes' house

again that fateful cool afternoon and Tony was just in
front awaiting their arrival. He'd been laden with fear
since, whenever he was at home, and always looked
forward to the arrival of Fred. At least then, he felt
there was safety.
"You're early today—than I expected," Tony said
showing a rueful smile to detective Fred as he entered
the compound with Mike. "Welcome."
"Afternoon, Tony. Thanks," Fred replied. "At times
you need to adjust routine, you know. It could help
find something new to deal with."
"Oh. I agree," Tony nodded quickly showing a sign
of being enlightened. "Leave you to your best office."
Detective Fred smiled warmly and looked at Mike
sending hearsay to him with his eyes.
"Good day," Mike greeted crisply.
"Good day sir," Tony replied.
"Let's be optimistic again guys," Fred said
beckoning with his hands. "We could get a good lead
today! Don't mind the grey atmosphere."
"But . . . does it ever appear we'd find the culprit
behind my dad's disappearance now?" Tony
questioned sincerely, feeling rather dejected and

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frustrated at the whole issue. "This is two months now

since it all happened."
Fred gave a sigh rubbing his neck seriously
considering what reply to give him that would really
explain to and pacify him. "Tony, truth is I can't tell
you how or when. But I'm quite certain that we will.
We'd discover who really did this. And justice would
be gotten at last."
Tony shook his head and directed his sight to the
floor of the porch of their house he was standing on
trying to hold back a tear. It had been the same spot
that they'd received the blood-written note a week
before his dad's tragedy occurred. "Dad was a very
good man and I'll always love him. He doesn't deserve
that tragedy." His heart ached.
"No, he doesn't," Fred's answer came in quickly.
"And that's the reason why we're going to keep
investigating . . . until all about his tragedy is
unravelled."
Tony looked at him in the eye and could see the
sincerity and zeal in him to help in investigating his
dad's disappearance—as though he could miraculously
restore and present his dad back to his family. Fred
was reliable, very reliable and professional, Tony
knew. By age thirty-five, Fred had spent twelve good
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 FROZEN CRYPT

years working in the investigation department. He had

the first-class experience, skill, wisdom and
knowledge as a detective cop.
Fred lived alone, was still single, and was
considered by most people to be a psychic because of
his outstanding ways of solving cases, precognition of
things at times and somewhat strange lifestyle. Other
than that, Fred was a friendly care-free person that
maintained a good social life with those around him.
His ever-flushing smile on his tanned face made it
easy for people to relate with him. His appearance was
really nice, he was totalling six feet four and had a
bold masculine physique, most often donned in a black
blazer.
Fred's professionalism in his work was a clear-cut
sign of unrivalled dexterity defined by the way he
marked out and secluded crime scenes, the kind of
questions he asked to parties involved, ingenious way
of noticing details around and dealing with leads and
evidences and a never-relenting patience during the
whole process of investigation. The Aigbes had that
glow of optimism in them that Fred was good and
could eventually help out unravel the mystery.
The very day Mr. Aigbe had disappeared, Fred had
quickly accompanied the State Police team that was
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called to the crime scene—the garden in the compound

of Aigbes. Fred carefully marked out the scene,
studied everything that appeared to be in the garden—
including the new crops that Mr. Aigbe had just
planted, the garden equipment and even footprints on
the ground—and he also took lots of pictures of the
whole compound to analyse the arrangement and
layout, how the criminal must have found his way into
their compound and escape neatly without alerting
anyone around. And he certainly must have brought a
vehicle, good enough, to carry the body of his victim
quickly before he would be noticed.
Fred with the whole Police team that was involved
in the investigation had strangely not yet found any
suspect—except the old lady gardener that worked in
the residential estate of the Aigbes. Like it was known,
the gardener had been the very last person to visit Mr.
Aigbe in his garden not more than two hours before he
disappeared. And so the old lady who spent the rest
part of her life mending people's gardens was
apprehended and brought in for questioning. However
the detectives had no evidence of her committing the
crime.
The old lady gardener had of course lived and
worked humbly for the posh families in the estate for
22
 FROZEN CRYPT

many years and nothing of such crime had been

committed during those times so it seemed very
unlikely for her to have been guilty. But then, you
couldn't trust anyone in this life as far as investigation
is concerned. The police however kept a close watch at
her. Other than her, there was no else to point to.
It couldn't have been coincidence in any case. Fred
knew that. Mr. Aigbe's tragedy executed very similar
to Mr. Majekodunmi's within in a year in the same
estate wasn't so primitive to be termed coincidental.
The culprit knew very well what he was doing,
targeting not just random personalities. It could
probably be a revenge. But based on the facts he'd
gathered from the families of both victims, there
seemed not to be any form of disagreement or friction
between them and anyone else that they were aware of
that would have led to revenge of any sorts.
Fred was still keen to find out who the culprit was
in any case. At least by then, they'd be able to tell why
the crime was committed. As best as he could, he'd
questioned a lot of people who lived around in order to
still get leads about the mysterious disappearance of
Mr Aigbe.
"I'm going to be sincere to you, Mr. Fred, I do not
feel this house is safe for me and my remaining family
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members," Tony admitted. "I mean what if the culprit

returned here to carry out same attack again?"
"I understand what you mean, Tony," Fred replied.
"But at times, you just need to dance to the tune of
your enemy or go the direction he wants you to go. So
it's best you remain here."
"And why's that?"
"He would always be willing to strike when ready,"
Fred smiled.
Tony was shocked immediately he heard that—
with wide-open mouth, nose and eyes. "What about
our safety?!"
"Nothing bad would happen to you. And that's
when you'd be able to get him—I should add," Fred's
smile widened.
"Really! How sure are you this is going to work?"
"It always will, believe me. Sometimes you need to
reason like the way your enemy would, something
about borrowing his mind, if you're serious about
winning him. Remember the old saying about thinking
like a monkey?"
Tony looked as though he was bamboozled. "I see!
Smart isn't?"
"You bet."

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 FROZEN CRYPT

"Could there be any possibility that we've been

stalked by the culprit before the attack was eventually
carried out—because I'm seriously still having that
feeling? My mum and sister Yolanda also do not feel
safe here."
Fred hummed. "There could be no other better way
to carry out a crime so professional such as that. You
must have been."
"I should have known better."
"It's alright, Tony. For now we should resume to
our daily routine. Shouldn't be tired about it because
justice would surely come one day."
"Where do we start from today?" Mike asked.
"Err . . . we take a stroll to neighbouring houses
again," Fred replied.
"And you think you'd get something from just
that?" Tony asked.
"Time would tell," Fred affirmed crisply.
Almost at the next breath, Fred and Mike took a
walk to some of the neighbouring houses around.
Their special way of investigating seemed to be
strange and quite different from the norm.
While still walking, they were greeted by Mr.
Hussein and Banjo, neighbours of the Aigbes that both
lived close to them. Mr. Hussein and Banjo also were
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just walking together on the street. They were the first

people to be called to for help from their different
houses the very moment Mr. Aigbe was discovered
missing and they'd immediately searched wide and far
to see whether he could be found but he wasn't. They'd
also assisted the Aigbes in giving vital information to
the police to help find the culprit. So they knew
detectives Fred and Mike.
"Good afternoon, detectives," Mr. Hussein and
Banjo chorused.
"Afternoon, sirs," Fred replied with a smiling face.
"How's the day going, eh?"
"Fine," Mr. Banjo replied.
"How far have you gone, detective—any suspect
yet?" Mr. Hussein asked.
"Err . . . we are making rapid progress about the
case, sir," Mike replied quickly in a bid not to let out
any confidential issues.
"Actually, gentlemen," Fred cut in immediately.
"We already know who the culprit is. It is a man, he
lives around here, been stalking the Aigbes for long so
knew their in and out, professionally came with most
likely a car, good enough to hide Mr. Aigbe inside,
and is a serial killer who'd love to strike again," Fred
recited so fast jangling the nerves of all of them
26
 FROZEN CRYPT

around him and permeating them with shock. It was so

unusual and foolish for any police detective to let out
all his leads the way he just did.
For some moment, there was a deep silence
between the four of them there, regarding what Fred
had just said. Even Mike was confused too because he
never expected Fred to give such reply. His mouth
remained wide open. "Why, Fred?!"
"Really?" Mr. Banjo exclaimed.
"Yes that's it," Fred replied.
"Er . . . Mr. Fred," Mr. Hussein said nearly
swallowing his Adam's apple, very shocked too for
what he'd just heard Fred say. "You really certain it
isn't the old lady gardener anymore? We all thought
she was."
"Nah . . . very unlikely," Fred smiled. "Mind if we
continue our work here?"
"It's okay sir," Mr. Hussein and Banjo chorused
immediately.
"Thank you sirs," Fred said about to take his leave
with Mike.
"And Mr. Fred," Mr. Hussein called him back
quickly. "What are you going to do with the gardener?
Let her go like that?"

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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

"She is off the case, Mr. Hussein. Thanks," Fred

replied as he left the both of them with amazement
written on their faces. They couldn't believe any
detective would just talk that way.
"What's the matter with you, Fred? Are you okay?"
Mike scolded him immediately he returned to where
he was.
"What's wrong?" Fred was just smiling.
"How could you let out all those leads that way?
They are meant to be confidential!"
"Oh, really."
"We're not even sure about any of those things you
said yet."
"Well, sometimes, you just have to do things and
say things out of the norm that people never expected.
That way, they wouldn't be able to always read your
personality or tell how you'll ever react."
"It still doesn't make sense, Fred! And how are you
sure the culprit is a man—we don't know yet?!"
"Well, I do know. I considered the fact that a lady
actually couldn't have carried out that crime. She
couldn't have carried a sixty-three year old man and
escape with him so quick. And besides, we were
talking to men."

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 FROZEN CRYPT

"The culprits could have been more than one. And

that doesn't still justify the fact for you to let out those
leads."
Fred paused stroking his lower lips. "Well, I don't
know that, Mike. It's happened. Someday you'd
understand. Don't be crossed, come on."
Both of them walked off and resumed their routine
surveillance taking notice of everything everywhere.
Mike felt Fred had made them look so stupid in front
of Mr Banjo and Hussein, as though they were foolish
detectives who wasted time on false evidences, didn't
know what they were doing and were completely
unprofessional.
The whole residential estate remained in a creepy
quietness and solitude. Fred realised the porosity made
available. Like he advised Tony and the whole Aigbes,
they were to however remain there. It would be a good
choice in helping to find out the culprit for he was
likely to strike again. Nevertheless, they lived in fear
of that.
What if another member of the family was actually
murdered and abducted again?

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Chapter 3
THE SECOND SOUL’S SACRIFICE

"I MISS MY home so much like madddd!" Lola

exclaimed to Roselyn, her roommate and best friend,
seeming to stretch the words as she spoke delightedly.
This was Port Harcourt and they were in their
hostel, belonging to the oil company they worked at.
Their work was more of oil drilling for the petroleum
products and the Port Harcourt's base was an oil rig
where workers who were stationed there were allowed
to visit their families back at home not more than
thrice in a year. However they were paid very
commensurably. Most of the workers were given end-
of-the-year holidays just from November to January or
February at times. So beginning of November was a
time they all looked forward to.
"Hear, hear," Roselyn grimaced. "I do too." She'd
just taken her bath and was changing to her night wear
as both of them were about to sleep that night. She
reached her wardrobe nearby and brought out a
30
 FROZEN CRYPT

towelling night robe, thick enough to resist the cold of

the night coupled with the blasting air conditioner in
the room. Their room was large enough to
accommodate Lola and herself, contained two beds, a
large wardrobe and table for study too. There was a
kitchenette secluded in a corner of the room and there
was also a bathroom. The room was luxurious enough
to suite them.
"You know you don't have to always get too
excited about going home," Roselyn continued.
"Seriously?" Lola felt confused. "Why say so?"
"Ouch! Everyone's got their own homes," Roselyn
said giving Lola a spare-me look as she twitched her
lips. "You're just a home freak."
"Agreed," Lola said. "And that's why I'm still going
to leave for Lagos first thing tomorrow morning." She
walked over to where the window was and opened the
curtains swiftly. She looked out at the bustling
cityscape just below their 5-storey hostel and she
smiled. It was intriguing enough but she felt she
desperately needed a change of environment. The loud
blares of horns and revving of speeding vehicles
echoed all around the city's buildings.
"Goodbye PH. By this time tomorrow, I'll be
rocking at Lagos in my house. I miss my family so
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

much," Lola continued. But she paused for a moment

immediately remembering that her dad had
mysteriously disappeared from same house two
months ago. She'd been informed about it by her
mother the very next day after the incidence occurred.
She sighed heavily and shook her head.
Roselyn immediately knew what was going on in
Lola's mind. She also was aware of the tragedy. They'd
been at work that day when Mrs. Aigbe called to
sorrowfully announce the disappearance of Mr Aigbe.
And she could remember how Lola had possessed a
sanguine mind that he would be found back despite the
grief that they were filled with hearing the news. But
now, the time had gone so far—two months!—and
they'd heard nothing at all again about finding him.
"It's okay, Lola," Roselyn said and moved over to
the window where she was. "Let's still be positive."
"I know," Lola said with a rapidly saddened face.
"But it's just that . . . time's going."
"Don't worry, dear. At least when you get home,
you'd be informed about all updates thus far."
"I don't want to ever believe my dad would go just
that way. He's still meant to walk me down the aisle.
He said it himself."

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 FROZEN CRYPT

"That's true. And he will, trust me.” Roselyn

crisped.
"Come on, Rose. Time's really going," Lola said
with an aching heart. And true to it, the time wasn't on
their side anymore. Lola's wedding was meant to come
up in two months’ time, that's January, luckily at
Texas, USA, with Eric, the rich son of their oil
company's manager. But now, it appeared Lola's father
wouldn't be the one to present her to him on their
wedding day. There were just two months in between
however. Lola really needed her dad.
"Things would surely turn out to be good, trust
me," Roselyn encouraged further. "I can see every one
of us in the church at Texas and Mr. Aigbe's holding
slay-queen Lola and walking her down the aisle to
present her to Eric."
"I would say to amen to that, Rose."
"Just be optimistic." At least Roselyn was. She felt
holding a wedding ceremony in Texas to get married
to a rich social figure was in itself comforting. And
they all really looked forward to it.
Lola walked briskly to her bed and sat down on it
wiping a tear from her eye again. This was eleven and
she ought to have had dinner but she just didn't have
any appetite to eat anything. Every night was a time of
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

depression for her since her father's tragedy. She

couldn't really sleep or have a calm mind because she
spent time reminiscing all what had happened.
She was aware of the blood-written note that her
family had received and how it 'took' the life of her
father a week after that. She remembered it now and
the depression and fear she felt heightened. She
couldn't even inform Roselyn about it because it was
something secluded to only her family members.
Shortly after her family received the blood-written
note, she'd advised them not to panic, that all would be
well and that the threat in the note would turn out to be
false. But of course, it didn't turn out that way. They
got the opposite.
Lola sighed heavily out of confusion. How was it
possible that a note of parchment paper with blood
writing would be dropped in their house demanding
for souls because of that booby-trap abandoned baby
they'd rescued? It seemed so unreal and unbelievable.
But it was true. Who would have written the note then?
Probably a spirit or blood-thirsty demon. No doubt,
that baby was bait for the demon to get what he
wanted.

34
 FROZEN CRYPT

"Don't give yourself high blood pressure, Lola,"

Roselyn spoke loudly interrupting Lola's thoughts as
she saw her become so quiet with sad face and shaking
her head, lost in the thoughts. "Thinking wouldn't
bring your dad back."
Lola buried her face in between her palms
becoming conscious of what she was doing, wiped her
eyes and lifted up her face back. "Thanks, Rose."
"Your dad's been a good man and I'm very certain
you all would see him again," Roselyn affirmed.
"I believe so too," Lola told her. "Oh my God. I
ought to be asleep by now for my trip tomorrow
morning." She shifted her gaze back to the clock on
the wall.
Hearing her say that, Roselyn quickly went over to
her bed and sat down slowly beside her. "Er . . . Lola
are you sure you still can't postpone your trip
tomorrow?" She asked quietly unhappy that Lola was
in a hurry to leave for Lagos.
"I've told you, Rose, first thing very early tomorrow,
I'm on my way to the bus park. I need to get home as
fast as possible."
Roselyn sighed not feeling quite comfortable about
the whole issue. "And what about the dream I told you
I had?"
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

"Oh that?" Lola chuckled. "Come on, Rose, it's just

a dream. You wouldn't expect me to cancel my trip all
because you had a dream."
"And you're sure you can't go later in the day
tomorrow, or sometime later?"
"Don't worry, Roselyn. Dreams are dreams. I know
you're scared about having accidents, but you know, I
know I can't ever have an accident. No one in my
home has ever had!"
"Well, I'm just bothered, Lola. May be I'm actually
scared."
"Fear is a bad parasite, baby. You have to learn to
overcome it."
"It's alright then. But you know I'll really miss
you." Roselyn smiled but with a sad face.
Lola laughed. "I can hear you on that case—that it's
because you miss me and don't want me to leave so
soon."
"So what are you feeling like now?" Roselyn raised
her eyebrows and gave a smirk. "Would always love
and miss you though."
Awwwwnn, Lola's face blushed a bit. "Love you
too baby. Not to worry, we'll see by January again. At
least just begin anticipating for our Texas wedding."
Laughter was obvious in her voice.
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 FROZEN CRYPT

"You know you really ought to pay me for being

your bridesmaid."
"I know. And I will. But at least a free trip to Texas
for you is good enough a payment."
"True anyways."
"It's eleven-thirty, gosh!" Lola was concerned.
"Really ought to be asleep by now."
"There you go again. Sweet dreams in any case."
"You too."
Lola adjusted herself as she laid on her bed and
yawned lazily ready to sleep. She took her phone, went
to her music gallery and played Grace again, the
umpteenth time. Left to her, the single by Michael
Smith was her best and she loved it so much. She felt
that was what her life was based on in every aspect.
Even at work she'd been singled out for an honorary
award in February the next year and because of
nothing really special she felt she was doing. Getting
the job where she was paid very well in first place was
in itself a sign of grace.
Before she slept off, she took a little mirror on her
bedside cupboard and looked into it admiring her face
again. She knew she was really endowed with beauty
and her heart was leaping for joy. She could see it. No
doubt, that's what Eric must have seen in her that made
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

him attracted to her. She stroked her pink lips gently.

She loved him too and she was eagerly anticipating for
their wedding. Oh that time would fly swiftly and
January would appear immediately! Thank God he
was very rich. She felt she'd have nothing to worry
about in their marriage. All in all, it was grace.
Roselyn went over to her own bed and sat down
again slowly. If she were to be sincere with herself,
she was very scared to sleep again. In fact, she was
always scared. Scared of the slightest thing that
pretended to cause fear. Although her fright of
sleeping was in a way justifiable.
All through the week, she'd always awaken in the
middle of the night because of the terrible nightmares
she'd had. Nightmares about falling from heights,
drowning in a river, running for help from a graveyard
or sleeping with a corpse. And it was becoming
incessant. The last she had was that about Lola. In the
dream, she saw Lola moving restlessly on a wheelchair
in tears because she had had a road accident.
Roselyn was afraid again when she awoke from the
dream and told Lola about it but Lola didn't feel
bothered about it. There wasn't anything Roselyn
could do however to change Lola's mind. She was
poised to travel to Lagos as soon as she could and
38
 FROZEN CRYPT

wasn't afraid of any nightmare. How Roselyn wished

so much that she could have a courageous mind like
that that wouldn't be pestered by fear from nonsensical
nightmares. In any case, she would learn how to
overcome her fears like Lola had advised and sleep
and live as she wanted. To hell with nightmares and
the devil for causing them!
Roselyn took a deep sigh already feeling sleepy and
tired of thinking about the nightmares. She adjusted
herself and laid on her bed also, knotting the belt of
her night robe. The day had been hectic enough but
she would sleep and give her body the rest it deserved
and not let anything scare her. She would have a good
night without nightmares again, she really hoped. It's
Roselyn, God. Thank you for the day.
She turned off the lights and her sight dimmed
slowly.

******

Lola was carrying her luggage and she walked

slowly to the colossal double-decker cross-country bus
in the park that was headed for Lagos. It was an early
morning, was still dark and rain was already drizzling.

39
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Everywhere was still quite solitary too but the bus was
amazingly almost filled up with passengers already
and so Lola boarded it.
The bus took off straightaway heading for Lagos
cruising at a relatively faster-than-normal travelling
speed. The rain washed continuously on everything as
it increased: the vehicles on the road, the tarmac, the
kerbs. And so the passengers lingered in the warmth
the bus provided although the atmosphere was cold.
Lola was seated just in the front row behind the
driver directly beside a window too. She'd placed her
luggage in the overhead locker. She leaned her head
on the glass beside her and smiled to herself happy
that she could at last get the first bus heading to Lagos
despite the rain of that morning. Straightaway, she
pulled out her small pair of headphones and connected
it to her phone. She started listening to Grace again.
The journey from PH to Lagos would not be any
less than good seven hours no matter how fast their
bus sped—due to the terrible pothole roads they were
about to encounter. So Lola was ready to relax to the
peak, even sleep, during their journey. The weather
was cold so she adjusted the sleeves of her white gown
a bit covering her hands. She had prepared hot tea in
her flask. This was the best time to drink it too.
40
 FROZEN CRYPT

A lot of thoughts crossed across Lola's mind as the

journey continued. Not the least of which was about
her upcoming wedding with Eric and her dad's issue
too. She hadn't even heard from Eric in almost a whole
day but he was aware she'd travel to Lagos early that
morning. She opened her phone's chat quickly and said
hi to him, also informing him her journey had begun.
He probably was still even sleeping by that time.
She and Eric had met at work and just few weeks
after she resumed work there, they were engaged. That
was about two years ago.
Eric had a special way for treating her or taking
care of her. That was part of the reason why he chose
to fix their wedding at Texas, USA, as that was his
second home. So most of the few guests with family
members from Nigeria would have their flight tickets
paid by his own family. They were that rich. And the
Aigbes actually knew they had entered into an era of
wealth and prosperity.
But then, her dad. What about him? What if he
really wasn't found again at last? Could it actually
imply that someone else would just take over his place?
How was her mom even coping? Could she be called a
widow now? Lola really hoped her dad wasn't dead.
He couldn't have been just like that. But what about
41
 A.A AKINSEKEJI

that trail of fresh blood they'd informed her about too?

Anyway, it was possible his abductor had just injured
him before going away with him probably because he
tried resisting. It wasn't wise to jump into negative
conclusions.
But what about what the blood-written note said?
Could his tragedy actually be linked to that note?
Coincidence! There must have been no other perfect
word to describe the situation at hand. Everything was
just mere coincidence. Her mind was sanguine and
really made up not to fear any bull-shit whether it was
a blood-written note or a crayon-written note.
Lot of time passed and Lola continued in deep
thoughts with herself, things she couldn't share with
any soul. She also continued her online chats
especially with Roselyn, who was questioning every
now and then where her bus had reached, and also
with Tony, her younger brother. Tony had complained
a lot about missing her and she'd bought special
surprise gifts for all her family members. She was sure
they really would be glad when she reached home and
presented the gifts to them.
Her bus made several stops during the journey for
people to ease themselves, stretch legs or take a bite,
but it resumed the journey again and the clocks kept
42
 FROZEN CRYPT

ticking. Tired of the boring quiet journey under the

restless rain again, Lola fell asleep soon while the bus'
driver increased pressure on the gas pedal. They were
literally flying to Lagos now as they closed up.
Time passed more and Lola was awakened from
her sleep suddenly. She couldn't tell why because a lot
of people were still even asleep. This was late
afternoon now. She yawned and stretched and her
mind immediately resumed the thoughts. She picked
her phone again and replied Roselyn who was as usual
asking for where she had reached. She looked out the
window of the bus and realised where they'd reached
was more familiar now, certainly close to Lagos. It
must have been Sagamu. So she informed Roselyn.
Lola dozed off for a few minutes but was
immediately awakened again by the shouts and cries
of passengers in the bus now. What was happening?
Lola looked outside ahead of them, and right there on
the road was a truck going against the traffic and
speeding—directly in front of them and headed for
them. Fear pervaded her heart too immediately and she
could even hear it shouting.
Their bus driver tried hitting the brake but it
seemed it had mysteriously failed as the bus couldn't
stop. The driver couldn't also swerve to his left
43
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because there were other vehicles there and there was

bush to his right. Passengers in the bus kept shouting
and crying for help as they closed up to the speeding
truck. Lola could immediately feel blood pounding so
hard in head as the horror surged and permeated their
hearts. She wished their bus could miraculously
disappear from the road and be rescued from the
speeding truck headed for them. But it was too late
already. Everything happened within seconds.
The truck approached rapidly and was right there
directly in front of them and they couldn't see anything
ahead now save the face of truck. All that remained in
between them was just the fatal severe clash. Lola
screamed loudly with shock as she jerked her body on
her seat backwards. There was a very loud shatter
immediately. Then . . . everything went blank and
silent.
Dead silent!

******

Lola found herself awakening and getting up on her

feet. It was as though it was just daybreak of a new
morning and she looked all around confused. What

44
 FROZEN CRYPT

had just happened and where was she now? She was
surrounded with corpses. She discovered she was still
in the bus she'd been travelling in and realised they
had just had a severe accident. She felt her heart
beating so fast for fear. How could it be?
Quickly she got to door of the bus but it was
blocked by broken parts of the ramshackle truck that
had collided deep into their bus. Their bus appeared to
have also been squashed and some part of it in front
was on fire. Lola was terribly scared as she looked
around and kept seeing corpses and spilled blood of
those who had just died in the accident, most of them
terribly ravaged already. She got to one of the bus's
window and jumped out through it quickly.
From outside, she could see a part of the bus was
burning so also was the ramshackle truck and both had
stopped, clashed into each other, just by the roadside.
Lola sighed remembering what had just taken place.
She could remember she'd seen the truck as it headed
directly towards their bus while it was speeding and
they all inside their bus were screaming and shouting
for help. But she couldn't even remember the scene of
the truck crashing into their bus. She had expected the
worst but everything just suddenly became blank and

45
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here was she now unhurt by the accident in a most-

unbelievable way. How happy was she.
A lot of people were gathered immediately round
the accident scene to rescue those who could still be
alive and there was a severe traffic on the express road
at the next breath. Those who were still alive could
still be taken to the hospital. Everything appeared so
strange to Lola and she couldn't believe what had just
taken place. The accident was so severe, so
unfortunate.
Lola looked to the people all around who had
gathered and she ran over to some of them to ask for
help because the shock she just experienced was so
much. Lola called to them for help but they gave no
answer or attention to her at all. After several attempts,
she left them and ran to a different set of people
gathered crying for help still. They didn't respond to
her either or even act as if they noticed her.
Frustrated again, she went to others again and
called for help but they didn't respond too. Come on,
people. Please help me too! Lola screamed at the top
of her voice sadly but no one heard her still. Why,
what was going on? Why didn't those people respond
to her?

46
 FROZEN CRYPT

Lola looked towards the bus and saw that corpses

were already being brought out from it with those who
were still alive. Those bringing out the corpses were
all lamenting and crying about the tragic accident. Just
then, Lola's gaze met one of the corpses and she
discovered it was an exact replica of herself standing.
How could it be?
She looked at it one more time and fear devoured
her heart. That was her carcass, she could tell. But how
come? What was going on? She began weeping
immediately as she panicked. She considered all what
had just taken place. Was this really happening to her?
Was this her life? She never expected this could really
happen to her. She was terribly terrified. She looked
back to her whole life now.
Her whole lifetime on earth hadn't been the best
that it could have been and she regretted it. There'd
actually been days when she’d walked away and done
terrible things, too much to carry, nothing left to say,
been weak and lost, desperately needing forgiveness.
But even then a beauty had always grown in the
driving rain, with an oil of gladness in the times of
pain. It'd been Grace. Grace. She knew it. That had
been the theme of her life, the song of her heart. And
she could still hear it resounding in her ears.
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

Lola looked at her carcass one more time and shook

her head, literally whipped with fear. She was quite
sure that was also her. She earnestly desired to go back
to it. But it just seemed so disgusting and nauseating
for her, just like slipping into a pile of faeces and
debris on a dunghill. And besides it appeared to have
been ravaged by the accident too oozing blood. It
seemed so impossible as much as she longed to. It was
just unfortunate.
Lola's terror and unexplainable shock increased
now. That explained why no one seemed to see her or
hear her when she was running up and down for help.
But how come? Was this a dream, a terrible nightmare
still? It should have been for it seemed so unbelievable.
If it was, she was sure she would awake from it later.
She was consumed with fear and serious unrest,
could feel all her hairs weirdly standing. She knew she
had actually left her body. It seemed so unbelievable.
How would her family feel now hearing about the
accident? What about all her life's goals? She was still
needed, she knew. And what really was ahead of her?
What could she do now? She considered one more
time, all her lifetime flashing before her. Now, it had
been unfortunately cut short and it appeared there were
a lot of things she couldn't fulfil. She was utterly
48
 FROZEN CRYPT

confused and fear-stricken. She was horrified. She was

immensely jeopardized. She sighed heavily with
sorrow.
"Am I actually dead?"
The journey to eternity had just begun.

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Chapter 4
“PEACE; PERFECT PEACE”

"Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?

The blood of Jesus whispers peace within."

The little orthodox grief-laden congregation

chorused quietly together as Lola's casket was slowly
being carried to the front of the chapel through the
aisle by pall-bearers preceded by the Priest. It was a
sorrowful solemn morning funeral service being held
for her and tears accompanied every moment.
"We brought nothing into this world, and it is
certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and
the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the
Lord," the Priest declared, the sentence of Lola's
remains, opening the funeral service immediately.
"Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and
ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers."
The congregation replied chorusing together again
with the soft harmony of the organ. The atmosphere
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 FROZEN CRYPT

that morning was quite cold and drench as rain

drizzled endlessly with an overcast sky of grey clouds.
It was exactly a week after Lola had been killed in the
road accident.
Sorrow practically pervaded the whole day and
filled everyone's heart as they were witnessing the last
service held in honour of late Lola in the dimly-lit
chapel. Tony, Yolanda and Mrs. Aigbe, the only
remaining family members, had always prayed this
kind of day would never surface, but here was it now.
Their grief was unexplainable. They'd known this
kind of tragic occurrence could happen again,
remembering the warning that had been on the blood-
written note they'd received few months ago just
before the death of Mr. Aigbe also. But it seemed hard
for them to believe another family member would
mysteriously die in a short time just like that.
Here was the fulfilment again though. Real or not,
directly or indirectly, Lola was the second precious
soul sacrificed according to the note. Oh no, if only
they hadn't picked up and rescued that abandoned baby
they found in the forest. It all seemed like a dream.
The Priest proceeded with the service despite the
heavy grief borne on most hearts. They could
practically feel the cold presence of death in
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attendance in the chapel in fact. The orthodox chapel

was lit dimly, not so big, its walls cladded with wood
with narrow Gothic windows and it was full of pews
facing the altar with central nave for procession and
circulation. There was a large Steinway & Sons grand
piano close to the organ located beside the choir. The
altar was also lit by candelabrums.
Despite the urgings and pleas of Canon Bennett, the
congregation still kept on sullen faces and hearts. But
they knew they had no choice than to just compose
themselves and pay young Lola the last respect she
deserved, all of them donning black. Few friends from
her working place at Port Harcourt, including Roselyn,
were in attendance. So also was Lola's fiancé, Eric, the
should-have-been husband.
Roselyn seemed to have been the person who wept
the most, as expected. She'd been the closest person
ever to Lola in her last months on earth. All through
the service, the dream she'd had about Lola being
involved in an accident on her journey back to Lagos,
filled her memory. Roselyn could very well recollect
the magnitude of fear she'd been struck with the
moment she awoke from the dream and she could
remember how she'd pleaded with Lola over and over
again not to make her trip that very day again. But
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 FROZEN CRYPT

Lola had laughed it off and assured her that it was only
dream that couldn't come to pass as no member of her
family had ever been involved in an accident before.
Lola's best song had been Grace. And she had
listened to it over and over again before finally leaving
for the bus park, Roselyn could remember. Now she
could hear the song in her memory playing over and
over again making her feel Lola's loss more. How
could someone so beautiful die just like that?
Roselyn was also reminiscing with tears the online
chats that they'd had during Lola's trip. They'd joked
about so many things and Lola frequently had been
telling her where her bus had reached. The last place
she heard from her was Sagamu. Only few minutes
after their communication was when the accident took
place. Lola, my bestie of life, why end up like this? Oh
no, If only you had agreed to postpone your trip, you
could still have been alive. But now you're gone so
soon. And forever I'll miss you. Just promise me you'll
rest in peace.
Roselyn's heart wept constantly all through the
service. She sighed every now and then, also inhaling
the cold air of the rainy atmosphere. She was
frightened, couldn't really tell why, but knew she was.
Hearing and witnessing the death of her best friend
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wasn't small a matter—especially reminiscing the fact

that Lola's body had actually been completely ravaged
in the accident as she'd been told. How would it be to
have been involved in the accident? She hated
anything that had to do with deaths or funeral because
she knew they always seemed to have a clutch on her
afterwards. The dim, overcast, drench and cold
atmosphere of that morning seemed to even make her
fear multiply.
Mrs. Aigbe, Lola's mother was very horror-struck
yet sorrowful. Is this the way she'd lose almost every
member of her family? The heavy grief she had is
what made her decide they hold the funeral in just a
week and at this chapel beside their house conducted
by Canon Bennett, the Priest. Friends from every nook
and canny were present in the funeral.
Mrs. Aigbe and the whole family had thought that
the second soul to be sacrificed according to the blood-
written note would have been killed and abducted too
like her husband and so they'd guarded against all such
odds, increasing their personal home security and even
buying a couple of dogs for their compound. But here
were they now, witnessing the painful death and
sacrifice of the second soul in the family—in a much
different way from the first. Only if it hadn't been for
54
 FROZEN CRYPT

that ill-fated truck with its driver that unfortunately

had an head-on collision with Lola's bus.
Mrs. Aigbe knew now that the threat in the blood-
written note was real and directed to them. Two
precious souls had gone. Who would be the next in
their family of just five? Three of them were just left
now. The note demanded for one more soul. Would it
be her only and precious son Tony? What if he were
the one? That would mean there would be no child to
carry their family name. Haa! God forbid! No one else
in the family would die. She won't yield to the fear of
the threat of the evil note. Everything was just
coincidence. There was no need to believe lies.
But what if the note was actually real as it appeared
to be now, with her daughter's corpse lying in a casket
right there in front of her? Mrs. Aigbe couldn't hear
anything else as the minister exhorted save the echoing
thoughts of her mind about the tragedy her family was
experiencing.
People were already asking her questions.
Suspicious questions. What is wrong with your family,
Mrs. Aigbe? Why all these tragedies and deaths in just
a short while? She knew the tradition was that as the
wife of the family, she would be the first to be blamed.
There would have been gossips, back-biting, already
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about her, especially by the in-laws in fact. How

unfortunate was it for people to be guided by that
retarded African mentality.
But there was just no way she would explain to
people that they would believe her about the cause—
that they'd received a blood-written note demanding
for three souls because they'd "stolen and killed" an
abandoned baby from a forest. How unfortunate. She
had always longed and planned for a happy family till
her death, but here was she robbed off of that wish
now.
Strange unexplainable things had of recent occurred
even in her personal life and in her family too. And
they seemed to be increasing. She considered again
what she was facing. She realised that her whole
family, not just herself alone, was journeying endlessly
into an indescribable tale of horror, tragedy, queer
murder mystery and condemnation of shedding their
own blood.
And there was nothing they could do to reverse it.
Tony including Yolanda could feel their horrors
and fears coming alive too. Elder sister Lola with dad
had gone. Who was next? Their secret of the blood-
written note remained only amongst their family. How
could they explain all of it? Lola's wedding was just to
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take place in two months' time at Texas, USA, and

they'd all planned and longed for it come. It'd been
washed away by the waves of the world now. Tony
felt mostly for Eric. How would it feel for the love of
your life to die in a tragic way like that, few weeks
before tying the nuptial knot?
Tony could very well remember how Lola's
personality had always been. She'd always been bright
with a brisk and optimistic mind never letting anything
scare her and never settling for anything less than best
at any point in time. Lola had encouraged the whole
family when Mr. Aigbe was missing that they should
remain optimistic about the whole situation: Mr. Aigbe
would be found, his abductors would be arrested, none
else would be lost and they'd see that the threat in the
blood-written note would turn out to be a lie.
After all they hadn't done evil by deciding to rescue
an abandoned life in the park. They hadn't stolen him
and of course hadn't killed him either. The spiritual
mystery behind the baby's death couldn't be tied to
them. The Aigbes were clean and clear as far as she
was concerned. And at least, they'd returned the corpse
of the baby back to same park.
Tony knew Lola had been a good example enough.
But where would she be now? And what would she
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 A.A AKINSEKEJI

have been thinking about them? Life was a mystery

indeed. Forever, he'd remember all what had taken
place in his home that year.
Quite some time passed and the funeral service at
the chapel finished with the internment left. During the
recession, when the pallbearers marched slowly with
the casket out of the chapel through the nave with all
the congregation on their feet, Tony looked towards
the back of chapel, the entrance, throughout for he'd
seen something that terribly disturbed him and he was
filled with shock. His heart pounded harder and whole
body was immediately partially paralyzed, filled with
goose pimples.
In between the rows of pews with the congregation
there at the back, he saw someone for a fleeting second
who was just walking slowly. All the congregation
witnessed no movement and were on their feet at that
very moment but it seemed shocking to see someone
moving freely. What bothered Tony mostly was that
he had a glimpse of the face of the person who was
walking slowly. He could swear that was Lola. The
person had been walking in between the congregation
so at the next moment, his view at the person was
obstructed by someone else.

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Tony tried adjusting his position so he could catch

another glimpse of the person again but there was none
there. He was really shocked and confused. He was
quite sure of what he'd seen, now it was gone like that.
It had taken place so swift, just in a microsecond.
But what if it was actually someone else he'd seen
other than Lola? His imagination or eyes probably just
played tricks on him because of the trauma and sorrow.
He felt his heart pounding harder still. It really might
have been an apparition of Lola to her own funeral. Or
most likely a trance he was having about her as she'd
pervaded his thoughts for long. He wasn't sure about
any of those probabilities so he kept it to himself. But
deep down inside him, he felt subtly the presence of
his sister he'd known for years. He gave a heavy sigh.
Soon after the funeral and the congregation filed
outside the chapel, vehicles moved in convoy after the
hearse heading to the nearby cemetery, not far from
their Onikan estate. Pallbearers placed the casket
above the grave so everyone present—including her
beloved family—could bid farewell for the last time.
And they did, with tearful heart and eyes under that
overcast rainy atmosphere.
Those pallbearers could also actually feel the
intensity of the loss and realised something strange
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happened concerning her death. All through the times

they'd carried the casket, they could heavily perceive
rotten meat oozing. And that wasn't about just the
corpse—It was actually a smell of death. They'd also
felt the casket vibrating a couple of times too. What
was happening?
As the minister uttered the last words, Lola's casket
was lowered into her wet grave, her carcass committed
to the dust. It was a tragic loss everyone felt but now,
they waved goodbye finally.
Tony and Yolanda looked at the casket one last
time, so also did Mrs. Aigbe, all of them filled with
trepidation and an unusual cold as rain beat hesitantly
on them. They'd stand strong to bear their grief and
sorrow however. They knew they owed Lola last good
wishes and they were sure she could hear them and
would heed whatever they told. So they announced it
with a glimmer of grit in their sad faces:
"Rest in perfect peace, Lola!
"Goodnight! Goodnight! Goodnight!"

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Chapter 5
DEAD BATS!

DECEMBER 1ST.
Yolanda walked to their home slowly feeling so
depressed, just returning from the backyard stream
behind their house. This was evening and she'd
decided to just take a stroll to the stream to calm her
nerves and mind because of the terrible tragedies that
had taken place recently in her family.
It was still an unbelievable mystery to her that Lola
had died too. How could she believe it? It was as
though Lola was still at PH enjoying her work over
there. At the beginning of the year, they had all had
optimistic minds about how things would turn out to
be, but it appeared now that her family would
experience the most tragic Christmas ever with only
just three of them left now: herself, Tony and their
mom.
And that seemed not to even be all. She recollected
the blood-written note demanded for three precious
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souls. Dad and Lola gone, who would be the next? No

she couldn't accept that. The lives of all of them left
were still too precious for any of them to be offered as
sacrifice again. But it was hard for her to believe that
all what was going on was just coincidence. It really
was a spiritual attack because of the baby they'd
picked.
Lola gone just like that? Why? And not to even
mention the Texas wedding they were all anticipating
for. Lola was her best sibling not only, but also friend.
She didn't expect her to leave them just like that. She
would already be enjoying in heaven in any case, she
was certain. They were still the ones who felt grief and
sorrow. Lola wasn't feeling any of that. She was sure
they'd see again one day in heaven.
Yolanda kept on brooding as she walked slowly to
her house that evening. It was already dark. Very dark.
And the streets were just lit by the electrical bulbs
everywhere. The whole neighbourhood was as usual
very quiet and creepy again and she seemed to be the
only person walking on the street.
As Yolanda got close to her house, and was
entering the compound, she noticed there strangely
were three large birds darting here and there and flying
round her house from nowhere. They were bats. Big
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black bats with large wings! Yolanda was immediately

frightened. She paused her walking and continued
looking at the bats. All her life in that house, she had
never seen any bat flying around. So what was
happening now?
The fear in Yolanda's heart increased quickly as she
recollected that she was alone on the street in that dark
creepy night in front of her house. Straightaway, she
kept on walking and increased her speed as she
approached her house, taking her eyes and mind off
the creepy bats. She could hear clearly the loud eerie
flaps of their wings.
As she approached the house, just few metres in
front of it now, she noticed that beside the house, in
front of the garden in their compound, there was a
strange figure standing there. Yolanda could only see
the silhouette and she gasped for shock. She felt
partially paralysed—she couldn't move—as she looked
closely at it. It seemed to look like a man's figure
donned in a cloth with hood, just standing there with
folded arms and as though staring strangely at her.
Yolanda's fear heightened. She screamed and
quickly dashed to her house, flinging open the door in
a flash as she entered and ran straight to her room
shutting the door behind her immediately.
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She began panting, trying to catch her breath as her

heart was pounding very fast. Who could that person
in the hood have been? He was just there standing in
the darkness and surrounded by those flying bats.
Could it have been a ghost? Or was it an armed robber
or cultist? What was he doing in front of their garden?
Yolanda was very confused and she jumped on her
bed in her room now and covered her face with her
pillow, seriously terrified. She was sure she wasn't
returning back there or even coming out of their house
that night. She would remain quietly in her room shut
tight till the next morning. At least that was where she
felt safe the most. Tony and her mom were in their
rooms and were probably even asleep.
Yolanda looked at the wall clock in her room. The
time was around ten O'clock and she realised that was
why she seemed to be the only person on the street
when she was returning from the stream. Quickly, she
got to her feet and flicked off the switch of the room's
light. At the next breath, she jumped back on her bed
and covered her face again in despair.
After several minutes of fear and panicking, she fell
asleep.

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******

Early, very early, the next morning, Yolanda was

awakened by Tony and their mother. Something quite
strange had happened in front of their house and they
were asking questions. Yolanda was brought to the
frontage of the house and right there on the ground
were three dead bats.
"I just found them here when I came out this
morning," Tony told them.
"But how come?" Mrs. Aigbe asked. "This isn't an
ordinary occurrence," she said remembering how
they'd also strangely seen that blood-written note in
their porch.
"Three dead bats!" Tony breathed with amazement.
Yolanda remembered now what had taken place
just the previous night before she slept off. She'd seen
those three bats flying round their compound when she
was returning from the stream. And she could recollect
there also seemed to be a figure in front of their garden
just standing there while the bats kept flying.
"I saw these bats yesterday night when returning
the stream," she told them.
"Really? And they were dead?" Tony asked.

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"No, they were still alive, just flying round the

compound," Yolanda replied.
"This is another strange happening and I'm not
ready to lose any family member," Mrs Aigbe
announced. "Whatever it means," she added.
It really was mysterious to find three dead bats
from nowhere just in front of your house early in the
morning of a new day. Now they were ready to panic.
Hope it wasn't insinuating now that they would die
like the bats? Whatever it was, it wasn't a good omen
and it really was a paranormal occurrence.
Straightaway, they moved the dead bats and burnt
them somewhere.
Just then, they began to hear some uproar and noise
coming from one of their neighbouring houses
probably the second or third from theirs. Something
had happened, they knew. But it wasn't a good thing—
they could tell from the manner of shouts that were
being made there. Quickly, the three of them left their
compound and went towards the house where the
noise came from.
By the time they got there, they met several
neighbours gathered in front of the house of the
Chiezes and every one of them seemed to be in sorrow.
Detective Fred, his partner and other police personnel
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were also around. Another tragedy had just happened.

The mother of the family, Mrs. Chieze was
astonishingly missing.
Mrs. Chieze mysteriously disappeared from her
house very late at night the previous day and her
family members had searched for her frantically but it
was late already. They only found a trail of fresh blood
on the ground in their compound—exactly as it had
happened for Mr. Aigbe. By the next morning, they
realised that she had apparently been abducted—and
even murdered—when she still wasn't found. This
would become the third case for Fred to handle in their
estate. No doubt, this was the activity of a serial killer,
Fred was sure.
The culprit had a trademark of abducting the
victim's body, leaving a trail of fresh blood on the
ground. No doubt, he really wanted to use the bodies
of the victims. The neighbours around could only
comfort the Chiezes realising the fear that had been
created by the culprit now. He had perfectly made a
Villain name for himself, causing the residents of the
estate to live in panic and horror. Anyone could be
next.
Fred and his partner, Mike, began considering the
whole issue now. Although they had no clear suspect,
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they'd certainly discovered some vital clues and leads

regarding the activities of the culprit. He always
abducted his victims after spilling their blood—a sign
of murdering them most likely—without placing a call
for ransom at all. So it was obvious he used the bodies
for something. What would anyone use dead bodies
for in the black race? Ritual, most likely!
So who in the estate appeared to be a ritualist—that
could be a suspect? None yet.
Yolanda remembered the figure of a person in hood
she'd seen in their compound the previous night. That
could most likely be the culprit. He was probably
surveying compounds of people in the estate so he
could get his next victim. Yolanda informed detective
Fred right there about it so as to give any help she
could.
Neighbours around began increasing in the house of
the Chiezes hearing about the unfortunate incidence.
They had to abandon their works to rally round the
family. Mr Banjo with his wife was around there
including the family of the Rolands and a lot more. Mr
Hussein hadn't been there at first and was going about
his daily business of buying and supplying ice blocks
when he was also informed about the incidence. As

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much as they could, they would assist detective Fred

in finding the culprit.
One of the neighbours around recollected that she'd
seen the old lady gardener in the estate moving about
with her garden fork late in the night the previous day.
She probably was roaming about, looking for her next
victim. So the neighbour informed detective Fred
about it also. You couldn't really trust anyone. So Fred
and Mike summoned the old gardener again right there.
"Where were you last night?" Fred asked.
The old gardener looked confused hearing that
question from Fred. She'd been interrogated in the
same way when Mr Aigbe was missing. "Well, I was
in house in the evening but later went to different
places in the neighbourhood."
"And why did you?" Fred asked.
"My dog was missing strangely so I began
searching for it in different places."
"Did you find it?"
"No, and it still amazes me how it disappeared."
"Searching for your dog at night. Isn't that quite
strange?" Fred pressed further.
The old gardener directed her sight to the ground
and became slightly inconvenient. "I know. But I just

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couldn't accept my dog was missing that way. So I had

to immediately."
Fred hummed long. "And you went just like that.
What were you doing with a garden fork then as you
searched for it in different places? That's an
implicating tool!"
"For defence," the gardener cried. "Everyone's
aware of the mysterious thing going on in the estate."
Fred was silent for long, looking into the eyes of
the gardener. He wasn't certain of how true her story
was. It could have been and might not have. But he
was certain the culprit was an insider like the gardener
who knew the layout of the estate well and who knew
the in and out of the residents, certain of the best time
to strike. True to it, the gardener worked for many
families in the estate. She still remained a prime
suspect.
Fred considered that the bodies of those abducted
were mostly used ritual and so often could have been
burnt in a disguised way by the culprit immediately
after use. Getting that probable lead meant he had to
press further and ask some questions to the residents.
He'd have to certainly find out who burned things a lot
in the neighbourhood. That person could be the culprit.

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Most of the residents couldn't tell who burned

things a lot in the estate as most of them didn't do such.
So who could it be?
Burning bodies by the culprit meant it had to be
done in disguise, burning other items with the bodies,
and also burning the bodies in dismembered parts so
that they wouldn't have been recognised and also
having to burn them at nights so none would see what
was going on as such.
Fred felt he was getting a very vital lead and he
informed Mike about it. Mike considered it too and
agreed. If the bodies were burnt bodies it was done in
disguise. What could a disguise be?
Dirt! It came swiftly.
"Do you residents dispose all your dirt?" Mike
asked one of them.
"Er . . . I don't think so. Most houses here have
plantation and so leaves are always burned," the
person replied. "Except that, I know none else."
"So are the leaves burned separately?" Fred asked.
"Sometimes," the person replied. "But most often,
the estate's gardener goes into the different compounds
to tidy it up. Then she packs the leaves and dirt and
burn them up herself somewhere else."

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Bingo! Fred almost shouted it from his mind. That

was a good lead. The lady gardener burned the leaves
from different compounds all by herself. It could have
been no one else. Burning bodies with those heaps of
leaves could be a smart disguise, he thought. No doubt,
the gardener was clearly a suspect.
"Thanks," Fred told the person.
Certainly, the old gardener couldn't go just like that.
She was to follow them to the station for further
interrogation. She was the prime suspect. Two things
were against her now: her loitering about the estate
with a garden fork the previous night was the first as
she’d been seen. Also the fact that she burned leaves a
lot, irrespective of the fact that she was the gardener,
counted against her.
Not long afterwards, Fred and Mike departed for
their station and neighbours for their respective houses.
The quest for the culprit was on ground. And they'd do
all it could take to get the person.

* *****

Mrs. Aigbe starred deep into blank space as she sat

in the parlour in her house in the evening. Thoughts

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about all the tragedies that had befallen her family of

recent were creeping into her mind. It still seemed as
though she were dreaming. How could she lost two
family members in just two months?
Had she been told just three months earlier about
what was going to happen, she wouldn’t have ever
believed it. Her family had always lived in joy and
peace right from time and had never experienced any
form of tragedy. But now, everything had turned
upside down—the opposite of what they’d
experienced was here now.
Bitter tears rolled down her cheeks. She could tell.
How she wished so much that her husband and
daughter, Lola, would just return from the grave. Now
she could not even sleep with peace in her own home.
Fear about their deaths and fear about losing one more
family member always loitered around in her mind.
“Stop crying again, mom,” Tony whispered, trying
to persuade her as he entered the parlour. Of course he
knew what was in her heart. And he could see how the
tears were coursed down painfully from her eyes.
“Oh, Tony,” Mrs. Aigbe said back seriously trying
to hold the tears. “I know. But what can I do? All my
world is gone.” She buried her hands into her face.

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“No, don’t say that mom,” Tony told her. “At least
you still have Yolanda and myself.”
Mrs. Aigbe hummed. She remembered the note.
Three precious souls. One more to go.
Yolanda came into the parlour too and sat beside
her mom immediately also putting an arm round her
shoulders to comfort her. Tony felt the excruciating
pain too. He went to them, bent a bit and threw his
arms round them. They were really all that was left.
Despite the bitter tears that coursed from their eyes,
they were ready to bear and face this unspeakable grief
together.
They will.
Early, very early, the next morning, Yolanda was
awakened by Tony and her mom. She was brought to
the frontage of their house. Right there in the porch
were dead bats on the floor again.

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Chapter 6
STAINED CASSOCK

THERE WAS A strong aura of gloom in the house as

Yolanda paced around. And she could feel it very well.
There was no joy to feel, no work to carry out and no
cause to smile. Solitude. Boredom. Sorrow. Those
were the words that literally saturated their home
resulting from the recent paranormal occurrences.
Feeling depressed and desperately needing
companionship, she went over to Tony’s room.
“Hey, what are you doing over here?” she asked as
she opened the room’s door, entering inside.
“Nothing much,” Tony smiled as he looked towards
her, adjusting his specs. “Just hobbying.”
“Painting as usual.”
“Yeah.” He nodded dipping his brush into a colour
to pick from it.
“What you’re painting looks creepy—or is it just
my eyes?” She frowned with tightly-folded arms.
“Well er. . . kind of.”
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“What’s that?”
“A crypt,” he replied. “A frozen crypt. Inspired by
historical—medieval—references which I read.” He
briefed her feeling a bit cocky. He had lots books to
himself stuffed up in his room touching various
aspects of life. And he always drew inspiration from
them for his paintings as often as he did as a proficient
artist. The particular image he was painting had been
inspired by texts on lifestyle in medieval times,
especially on how some commons had preserved the
remains of their loved ones, using ice to freeze them in
coffins, storing them in crypts of churches or in
catacombs.
“You’re weird, Tony!” Yolanda exclaimed. “All I
can see on this painting is a dark room filled with
frozen coffins.”
Tony scowled. “You’re always a scaredy cat,
Yolanda.”
“Yes, I may be but I don’t like the sight of what
you are painting!” she affirmed.
“This is just history, baby. Learn to open up your
mind to various things,” Tony told her. “It is history. It
is art. It is beauty.”

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“There are a lot more beautiful things to paint in

this world than frozen crypts please.” She really didn’t
buy into his idea, feeling he was sometimes a weirdo.
“Okay, okay,” he dropped his paint brush and
spatula on a table in front of him. “So what’s up with
you?”
“I’m very bored,” the words came out of her mouth
immediately as she sat on his bed.
Tony laughed. “So you can see why I’m painting a
frozen crypt now, er?”
Yolanda shifted her gaze away from him twitching
her lips a bit. “That isn’t an excuse. At least not after
all the recent deaths. You make me scared.” She bent
her head.
“That’s true.”
“It’s still a mystery to me,” Yolanda said.
“You know I’m really suspecting, or feeling, that
those things happened because of that blood-written
note.”
“Certainly,” she chipped in.
“And even more so, because we refused to inform
other people about it. I mean, we just kept it as a secret
in our family alone.” He continued.
Yolanda breathed hard digesting what he was
saying.
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“I’m not comfortable about our remaining silent

about it. And I’m not ready to lose any family member
again.”
“So what would you do about it?” she asked him.
“I feel I should meet someone wise about it.
Someone spiritual in fact.”
“Spiritual?”
“Yeah.” Tony nodded. “Someone able to cipher and
deal with the spiritual that can advice us well.”
“Who do you have in mind to talk to?”
“My mind’s going to Canon Bennett,” he answered
her. “He’s a priest close by and he knows us.”
“I understand. It could be a great idea, you know,”
she said.
“It is a great idea.” He assured her.
Almost at the next breath, Tony went out of their
Tudor-like mansion that afternoon, heading straight for
the Chapel beside where Canon Bennett stayed at. He
wasn’t really certain of the kind of reply or advice
Canon Bennett would have given, but he felt a solution
would arise.
By the time Tony reached the Chapel, he went
inside and headed straight to Canon Bennett’s
parsonage. He walked through reminiscing Lola’s
funeral immediately. The wetness, greyness and oddity
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of that day in the chapel were still fresh and stirring in

his memory. It had been the same place where friends
had gathered to bid Lola farewell and this same Canon
Bennett had also conducted her funeral. How he
wished he had never seen that day. He cursed the
emotion the chapel seemed to give him.
“How are you, son?” Canon Bennett greeted Tony
as he entered into his parsonage. He was donning his
cassock and sipping a tea. There was a table in his
front, the Holy Bible on it, with another seat at the
other side of the table. He appeared to be in his fifties
although some of his hair was grey already.
“Fine, sir.” Tony replied.
“Have a seat please,” Canon Bennett beckoned with
his hand dropping the mug of tea on the table.
“I’m here to see you on some issue. It has to do
with my family.”
“What’s the problem son?” Canon Bennett asked.
“About the recent deaths?”
“Yes. I was thinking they were caused by . . . err,
let me just open up sir.”
“Go on.”
“A week before my dad got missing, we found a
blood-written note at our porch.”

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“Really? What was on it” Canon Bennett’s

attention was captured.
“Yeah. It said we stole and killed something that
didn’t belong to us and so three precious souls from us
was required.”
“Unbelievable!”
“Yeah. That was what we thought but mysteriously
my dad and sister have paid with their lives now.
Remains one more soul from us.”
“I’m confused. Did your family steal and kill
anything from anyone?”
“Not really. We only picked up an abandoned baby
from a forest to care for him a week before the note
came. The very next morning after we received the
note, the baby had died. So it seems the note was
referring to the baby.”
Canon Bennett placed his face on his palm thinking
about everything he was hearing.
“We don’t know what to do now, sir,” Tony
continued. “We’re not ready to lose another soul,
that’s the reason why I had to just inform you. I’m
really having a premonition that we might be attacked
again.”

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“Take heart, my child,” Canon Bennett comforted

him. “Your sins are forgiven and no more soul from
you would be lost inasmuch as you have told me this.”
“Thanks, sir.”
“You shouldn’t bother about it anymore.”
“Sincerely?”
“Oh yes, just take your minds off it. Let it go. And
let your beloveds sleep on. Death has lost. Expect a
peaceful home henceforth."
Tony felt grateful and delighted although really
surprised as he heard those words from the lips of
Canon Bennett. He quite believed him and trusted his
words regarding his person. For a moment, he felt the
power of the note over them was no more. His
remaining family would rebuild their home and live in
peace and happiness once again, he hoped.
With a quite peaceful mind, he returned back to his
house.

******

In the evening, Yolanda and Tony sat at their

parlour in their house watching one of their favourite
series in the television they’d switched. They could tell

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a silent peace had crept into their hearts since Canon

Bennett assured them of a safe home from that time on
in the afternoon.
As they continued watching, they could notice the
television channel seemed to trip off regularly
transiting into a grey frame.
"What's the matter?" Yolanda asked surprised.
"Can't tell," Tony replied also confused. "Never
seen this happen before."
The television continued tripping off into a grey
dead frame until finally, Tony got fed up of it and
stood up from the sofa determined to rectify whatever
fault there was. As he stood, he suddenly began to hear
footsteps resounding from their staircase just off the
parlour where they were. He felt very shocked hearing
the footsteps for only himself and Yolanda were at
home. Their mother had gone out to visit a friend. So
how could footsteps be resounding?
“Do you hear that?” Yolanda asked quickly feeling
somewhat scared.
“Yes, I do.” Tony realized the footsteps were
audible enough.
“It’s so strange and I’m having a weird sensation on
my neck,” Yolanda cried.

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The footsteps continued at a steady pace and they

kept on listening to it but felt quite scared of leaving
the parlour to check it out. They knew indeed that the
footsteps sounding was strange for it sounded to be a
familiar one, one they’d often heard for a while ago.
Tony knew it deep down in his heart. The footsteps
sounded to be Lola’s own exactly. It had exactly the
same rhythm and pace they knew Lola’s own had had.
She had lived with them for years before being killed
so they knew how her footsteps sounded very well.
They were so sure.
“In fact,” Tony spoke with enlarged eyeballs. “I
could swear that that’s Lola’s footsteps!” he whispered
it to Yolanda.
“Me too,” Yolanda admitted feeling really scared
now.
The footsteps continued still and sounded as though
it were approaching the parlour where they were from
the staircase. Finally, out of frustration and fear of
whatever it was, Tony went out of the parlour to check
whoever was approaching them, probably it was Lola.
By the time he got out of the parlour, front of the stairs,
he saw no one there. By now, he was terribly scared as
he could feel the loud pounding of his heart. As he

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stood in front of the staircase, he could hear the sound

of the mysterious footsteps fade away slowly.
“Who’s there?” Yolanda asked as he returned to the
parlour.
“No one, mysteriously. And I could hear the
footsteps as it faded.”
“Why all these paranormal occurrences in this
house?” Yolanda asked looking at the television that
had already strangely turned off itself.
Both of them froze in shock.

******

December 13th.
It was a very cool and dry evening around seven
O’clock, the harmattan had come and was already
practically ravaging the environs. Dry leaves fluttered
around, the atmosphere was filled with dust and the
estate was as solitary and quiet as usual.
One of the residing families in the estate, the
Rolands, came out of their house and began to raise an
alarm, calling for help. Quickly, other residents in the
estate came out of their houses in a bid to give help to
whomever calling for help. It was the Rolands,

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unexpectedly, and they were calling for help for

something strange that had just happened.
The father of the family, Pa Roland, an old man,
had mysteriously disappeared from their compound
that evening and despite all their search for him, there
was no trace of him except a trail of fresh blood on the
ground. Now the residents were really in despair and
anguish. This was the fourth mysterious disappearance
that would be taking place in just a year. Quickly,
detective Fred and his partner were quickly summoned
again. They’d been around for their routine
surveillance that afternoon and had not even suspected
anything strange like that would happen again.
Now Fred realized the enormity of the dilemma
before them. It was clear they had a serial killer in this
case with same pattern of striking: killing the victims,
spilling their blood and abducting their bodies—his
trademark. But no doubt, the culprit targeted just the
elderly people in the estate—wealthy elderly people—
as Fred realized. All the victims thus far had been
elderly people above age of fifty and were very rich.
Fred was however sure now that the old lady
gardener wasn’t the culprit or couldn’t be. She was
still in the Police custody and this attack happened
again. As he stood at the murder scene in the
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compound of the Rolands staring at the trail of fresh

blood on the ground being licked by the harmattan
breeze, he remembered how he’d looked into the eyes
of the lady gardener that fateful day and had seen a
mark of innocence. Now he felt very bad for arresting
her in first place. He was very poised to dig into the
issue well now and exhume the culprit.
The next day Fred returned to the estate alone
earlier than normal to continue his investigations. He
was feeling very disturbed and confused about the
whole issue. He was even feeling very ashamed of
himself for not being able to produce a likely and sure
suspect all the while. For a long period of time that
day, he paced round the whole neighbourhood with
rolled up sleeves carefully noting and noticing
everything around especially those that seemed to be
off the norm. He had suspicions about the quietest and
most solitude places in the estate such as the stream
and the meadow. He felt the culprit could be using
such as a good hideout after abducting the bodies. So
he visited them quickly.
When Fred got to the meadow, he found nothing
there save the overgrown grasses and trees and reptiles
so he hurriedly moved on to the stream and began to
pace further desperately looking for anything odd. As
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he paced round, he noticed a cloth on the ground just

off the stream. There appeared to be a big patch of
blood on the cloth except that it had dried up. Fred
took up the cloth with his hands wearing polymer
gloves and examined it very well. It was a cassock, the
special attire worn by priests and bishops, a stained
white one, and it really scented blood. That was blood,
Fred was sure.
A blood-stained cassock? What did it represent?
Could it be connected with those people who had been
abducted recently with a trail of blood left on the
ground? Could it mean the culprit always wore—or
used to wear—cassocks? Now who else could use a
cassock publicly without being queried for using such?
No doubt, a priest! Fred got the answer quickly. Of
course anyone who was a priest would be seen last as a
suspect for whatever crime because of his perceived
righteousness. And was there any priest living around
in the neighbourhood? Of course. Fred remembered
there was an orthodox chapel close to the house of the
Aigbes and he’d often seen a priest there that was in
charge of it.
Fred sighed. Could the priest he’d seen have
anything, or know anything, that had to do with the
recent deaths? What if he did and claimed to be
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innocent as per being a priest? In any case, Fred was

sure he couldn’t just let this lead die down just like
that. He would keep the stream that just lied at the
backyard of most houses under serious surveillance.
No doubt it was a good spot for the culprit to survey
the houses of those he proposed to abduct and kill.
Straightaway, Fred moved over to the Aigbes’
house to ask Tony some questions about the priest who
resided beside their house. That was Canon Bennett.
Tony was a guy he could really trust and confide in in
any case.
“Good to see you, detective,” Tony greeted as he
entered their house. “Any progress thus far?” he asked
hastily.
“Of course,” Fred replied. “There always is but you
can’t be really certain of some leads. That is why I
need your help.”
“Okay, sir. All ears.”
“I’ve being having premonitions about the stream
behind you guys’ house. It could be a good spot for
surveillance or hide-out so I visited it today. I just
found a cassock on the ground there. A blood-stained
cassock!”
“Really?” Tony breathed amazement.

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Fred nodded. “I figured anyone wearing a cassock

in a neighbourhood would be last seen as a culprit or
the Villain behind attacks because of the reverence the
cloth brings. So who else in this neighbourhood wears
a cassock? A priest. Is there a priest around here? I
discovered there is.”
“Good heavens!” Tony exclaimed. “Could it really
be?”
“Why did you say so?” Fred asked.
“Of course none would suspect a priest. And we
have one here,” Tony answered.
“What’s his name?”
“We call him Canon Bennett.”
Fred hummed. “I may need to bring him to our
custody for questioning.”
“But . . . could Canon Bennett really be guilty?
He’s like a father to every one of us here.” Tony shook
his head trying to consider the whole issue. At least the
elderly priest had been nice to his family enough even
conducting his sister’s funeral service.
“May be not,” Fred replied. “And maybe. That’s
why we need to question him. At least we need to be
clarified on what a blood-stained cassock was doing
by the side of the stream behind the chapel. A cassock
isn’t just something anyone has access to. Only priests,
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of course. So Canon Bennett might know quietly

something about the recent tragedies here.”
“I see.” Tony really agreed. You can’t really trust
anyone.
“People as such who are guilty might always try to
divert the spotlight of attention from themselves so
they wouldn’t be caught but you just always need to
follow after and watch them closely.” Fred explained
further to Tony who was a novice in the world of
investigation.
Immediately Tony remembered the other day he
had gone to Canon Bennett at his parsonage for advice
and solution when he was having premonition of
losing another family member. He remembered that
Canon Bennett had advised him not to bother anymore
about the deaths or fear losing another soul in their
family. Could it actually mean he was trying to divert
attention by making Tony not to feel concerned again
about any tragedy? Tony remembered he had felt so
surprised when Canon Bennett told him that. It could
have been a gimmick.
In any case, Tony felt Canon Bennett couldn’t be
trusted too and so informed Fred about everything he
needed to know about the priest that could help in the
investigation. No doubt Canon Bennett was the only
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one that really had access to cassocks in their estate.

And he could have been using those bodies for a secret
ritual, Tony thought. So he could be a suspect. Why
would a blood-stained cassock be found by the stream
just behind his very chapel?
Quickly, Fred phoned Mike, his partner, and
discussed the whole issue with him who later met him
in the estate that afternoon. They then headed to the
chapel where Canon Bennett was in and discussed
with him. He was taken to the police custody that same
day for further questioning and they took along with
them the lead of a blood-stained cassock.
The mystery behind the recent murders was on the
verge of being unravelled, Fred psyched.

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Chapter 7
MISTY WINDOW PANES

EARLY THE NEXT morning, Yolanda was awakened

in her room by the crowing rooster just outside.
Adjusting her sleepy eyes, she turned her pillow-lain
head to the clock on the wall. It was few minutes past
seven.
She wriggled into a sitting position, stretched
herself and yawned, and finally got up. The morning
was cold as usual, and foggy, due to the pervading
harmattan. Her nostrils were filled with cold dust also
so she went over to the room’s window to shut it tight
rather than having it slightly ajar and let in the cold
breeze.
As she got to the window, she noticed that the glass
panes were no longer transparent. Something had
covered them strangely. She examined the panes well
and discovered that they were covered with an unusual
mist. A green mist.

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Yolanda was really baffled seeing the strange green

mist on the window panes. She’d never seen before or
heard of green mist on window panes. Why was it
there and where did it come from? Was it a result of
the harmattan, or was it just another weird occurrence
happening in their home again?
Quite confused about it, she took a towel nearby
and wiped the panes thoroughly and although the
strange green mist went, the green stain on the panes
seemed really irremovable despite the soapy water she
used. She gave up on it.
Soon, she came out of her room just to check on
Tony in his room.
“G’morn,” she told him as she entered into his
room. But he didn’t reply her or even notice if anyone
entered his room. He was struggling with wiping
something from the panes of his room’s window too.
The green mist.
“Strange isn’t?” she said louder this time around
also realizing that she’d just dealt with same issue in
her room.
“Oh, you’re here,” he said just noticing her
presence.
“I can’t tell why these windows are stained with
green mist. It’s so strange.”
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“Really surprising.” She moved closer to where he

was by the window, adjusting her night robe because
of the cold breeze was practically surging everywhere.
“I bet,” Tony told her. “And I'm just seeing this for
the first time ever.”
“I met the green mist on my room’s windows too
and I just finished battling with it,” she told him.
‘Really?” tony asked her as he kept on wiping the
panes with all his energy.
“Oh yes.” She nodded, her heart nursing an atom of
fear about the strange mist.”
“It isn’t removing in any case.”
“Exactly. And that’s quite strange I also tried my
best in wiping my window,” Yolanda said.
“So what can we do about it?”
“It doesn’t seem like we can do anything about it. It
came by itself; I believe it will go by itself.”
“Unbelievable!” Tony was amazed. And that
seemed pretty much like the truth. The green mist
came literally from nowhere to stain their window
panes and there wasn’t anything they could do. It
wasn’t long before they discovered that every single
window pane in their house had been stained by the
mysterious green mist—including the window panes
in the parlour and their mother’s room.
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Most surprisingly, other houses in the

neighbourhood didn’t appear to have the window
panes stained. It was only their house that did. It was
quite mysterious and disheartening. They could only
wonder what was wrong with their home, why all
those sorts of things occurred. At first, it was dead bats
from nowhere they found in front of their house every
morning, now it was misty window panes. They
couldn’t explain it.
Time passed, morning went and afternoon came,
but yet the stain of the mist on the window panes
didn't leave. And it seemed all of them, the family
members, were really getting fed up of their house,
especially Yolanda. That very afternoon, she could
feel strongly again the usual solitude and depression
that existed in their home. And it wouldn't have been
like that at all had it not been for the end-of-year
holiday she had that really turned out to be futile and
painful at last.
An intense déjà vu about her sister, Lola, was
flooding her mind again and she couldn't shake it off.
Missing her presence, she went over to Lola's room.
She walked slowly into the room that had been
abandoned for a while, that had belonged to Lola
before, and she swiftly reclined on the bed that was
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inside. Entering inside the room again that overlooked

the nearby meadow quite brought the déjà vu to life.
She could perceive the scent she'd known Lola to
have, she could see some of her left-over clothes and
also her beautiful pictures on the room's wall. Her
heart wept. She could feel the loss deeply, but at least
remaining in that room seemed to mend her grief and
sort of bring her closer to Lola again. So she remained
there sampling everything in the room that was just on
the upper floor of the house.
Yolanda indeed felt this was a good way to cure
herself of the solitude and depression she felt and for
some amount of time she spent in the room, it quite
turned out to be so . . . until she fell asleep.

******

There was a continuous creaking crack on the wall

sounded so eerie and it awakened Yolanda from her
sleep swiftly. As she awoke, she could feel a jolt of
electricity travelling through her skin. She lifted her
head up, adjusted herself into a sitting position, looked
around and found out she was still in Lola's room. She

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looked outside through the window. It was night

already.
The clock on the wall was just at 11:30pm, a light
was lit dimly, and she sighed. She'd been in the room
since the afternoon and had unbelievably slept there
for many hours on Lola's bed. She felt cold, an
unpleasant dry cold the harmattan brought that night,
and it seemed to also create weird goose bumps on her
skin. She could feel her heart slightly beat faster and
louder and there a churn of hunger in her stomach.
The creaking crack on the wall continued just
behind Yolanda and it captured her attention again.
She looked to the wall at her back and tried examining
it in the dim room but there seemed to be nothing
causing the eerie cracks she was hearing. The cracks
continued and seemed to even become louder in her
ears. Now she was felt scared.
What really was causing a creaking crack on the
wall that her gaze was firmly fixed on? Could it be
because of the terribly dry harmattan that engulfed
everything that night or was it actually a crack going
on just in the blocks of that wall? Yolanda was really
inconvenient.
She sighed again and decided to take her mind off
from it. She stretched her body on the bed and also
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folded her arms under the blanket that was covering

her body. The air she was inhaling was in any case
quite cold.
Dizziness filled her and she could feel her eyes
dimming again. She rested her head on the wall behind
her and snoozed off relishing the bizarre sleep.
Suddenly, Yolanda heard a loud shout from behind
her that jangled her nerves and made her jump to her
feet quickly. She looked back to the wall behind the
bed and even flicked on the switch of the light. She
was terrified looking at the wall and was panting
seriously. She heard a loud shout from behind her, she
knew.
It was so frightening and mysterious because she
was the only one in room. And it really sounded like it
came from the wall behind. She'd heard creaking crack
before, now it was a loud shout. How could it be?
The loud shout came again and Yolanda heard it
clearly. Her heart pounded so hard and fast
immediately as though it were about to burst. She
could actually feel all her bones rattling also and she
quivered with fear. The shout echoed in her ears and
was making her feel really dizzy. She felt partially
paralyzed because she couldn't even move an inch as
she remained at that spot whipped with fear.
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Soon there was a snarl that also seemed to sound

from the wall. Yolanda was really frightened because
she couldn't explain whether the things she was
hearing were actually real (how could they be?) or
whether she was hallucinating. The snarl kept on
increasing until the whole room was echoing with the
creepy snarl she was hearing. She couldn't take it
anymore. She had to flee from the room even despite
the dizziness, exhaustion and hunger she was
experiencing. She discovered the room had actually
turned into something else.
She ran out of it and hopped down the stairs
heading swiftly to Tony's room. He alone could make
her feel better that night and she didn't even care
whether he was asleep.
“What's going on, Yolanda?” Tony asked
immediately as he saw her bump into the room.
“I'm terrified, Tony,” she cried.
“Why?”
“Lola's room, Tony!” she told him gasping for
breath. “It's really haunted.”
“What happened in it?”
“Strange things I can't explain.” A couple of tears
dropped from her eyes. “There was an eerie creaking
sounding from the wall then I heard a loud shout too a
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couple of times. Right now there is a sound of snarl

going on and I can’t even explain everything.”
“That's surprising!” Tony marvelled. “Are you
really sure?”
“I'm sure, Tony. I am. I know what I was hearing
and they really got me scared.”
“It's alright, Yolanda. There's no need to panic,”
he told her. “The truth is a lot of strange things have
been going on in this house since the recent death of
Lola.”
Yolanda moved closer to him and fell into his
arms as she lay her head on his chest. “I'm really tired
of this life and there's nothing we can do,” she sobbed.
“It would all be soon over, Yolanda. That I know,”
he said feeling her pain. “Lola's room is haunted, I
know too.”
“You do? How did you know?” she asked.
“It would surprise you to know that I've
discovered things usually get mysteriously missing
from it;” he explained.
“Since when?” she asked.
“Just of recent,” Tony replied. And of course he
was really certain of what he was saying. He'd
discovered that certain items he'd kept in the room got
missing mysteriously but he didn't even bother telling
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anyone about it because of he couldn't explain the

abnormal occurrence either. All these were a sign of
their whole house being haunted. No doubt, a strange
unexplainable aura had latched itself on their family.
Death, tragedy and paranormal attacks were what
accompanied them. And there seemed to be no way
out of the tunnel in fact. It was very mysterious.
From that night on, the strange paranormal
occurrences that came up in their house subjected
them to sleeping only in their parlour at nights
including their mother, Mrs. Aigbe, because the
erupted fear appeared to be unexplainable and
incurable. The strange sound of footsteps continued
daily with the dead bats they used to find in front of
their house. The most astonishing mystery was the
room of Lola of which shouts, snarls and strange
voices seemed to come out from. They had to lock the
room permanently.
As the days rolled by, the Aigbes realised that the
spell on them was bound to increase and fully
materialise unless if they acted quickly and do
something about it.

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Chapter 8
BLOOD ON THE PORCH’S
FLOOR

THE BLOOD-STAINED cassock which detective

Fred found on the ground by the stream still remained
a mystery about the culprit. Canon Bennett was the
only priest who used cassocks in that area, no doubt,
but yet Fred couldn't still connect the dots to pinpoint
him as the culprit. After days of questionings and
hearings after Canon Bennett was first taken to the
Police custody, there wasn't still any concrete
evidence of who the culprit was but Canon Bennett
wasn't cleared either.

The culprit could really have been a priest, Fred

thought. And there was a high probability of him
using those bodies he abducted for some secret
orthodox rites in any case. So Fred wasn't ready to
put Canon Bennett off the case. He however knew—
out of strong perception—that the blood-stained
cassock had something, no matter how small, to do
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with the recent murders and abduction. There was

still a missing link.
Whatever the case was, Fred was ready to still pay
a visit to the neighbourhood, the scene of murders,
constantly—especially the stream there and other
hideous crannies.

******

It was the evening of December 24th, Christmas

Eve, and the yuletide joy could literally be felt
everywhere.
There was little or no joy for the Aigbes however.
And that was because of the tragedies they'd faced. In
a bid to pacify themselves and also experience the
yuletide joy too that year, Tony and Yolanda decided
to buy special presents especially for their mother. It
would be a really special surprise package for her that
would gladden her and sort of wipe her tears. Special
Christmas presents were sold in a mall not far from
their house in their estate too so they decided to go
over there alone secretly and get the items.
The evening was cold as usual and foggy but
they'd put on sweaters and thick sweat pants with

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head-warmers like they were athletes. They jumped at

any cause that always made them leave their house.
When they got to the mall, they purchased provisions
and other household items they liked.
“I've never really liked celebrating Christmas in
this estate, you know,” Yolanda admitted as they
were returning from the mall walking together. That
would be their eleventh in that estate.
"Same for me." Tony's sonorous voice resounded.
"It's always too solitary and sort of dry to celebrate
Christmas here."
"In any case, I'd really love to take a vacation from
this place and spend Christmas somewhere else by
this time next year," Yolanda said holding firmly in
her hands the provisions they'd bought as surprise
presents for their mother who was still at home.
"Where would you?" Tony asked crisply.
"What about Paris?" Yolanda smiled, a flush
tanned her face.
"The best option indeed." Tony nodded
sarcastically and grimaced at her reply.
"Okay let's get serious. It could be anywhere else
in this world save this estate. It's given me enough
terrible memories already," she said.

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"That's true. But I'm optimistic that next year

would be better than this year indeed. There wouldn't
be any tragedy again," he told her as he kept his hand
round her shoulders and held her closely while they
walked together.
"Lord knows I can't wait for this holiday to be
over," Yolanda said. "And we need to relocate in
fact."
"We will. There's no other option. It’s just a matter
of time," Tony replied and a wave of silence crept in
between them that continued for a couple of minutes.
"I'm so cold," Yolanda complained partially
folding her hands that were already filled with goose
bumps.
"Don't even worry. We've gotten home already,"
he said as they turned to the walkway that led to their
compound. The evening was dark but clearly foggy
with cold air that they inhaled every now and then.
Apart from the few exterior lights of most houses, no
other source of light seemed to exist in the estate and
it was very solitary.
They walked further and got to their house. As
they climbed few steps that led to the porch in front
of the house, they discovered that the door was open,
left slightly ajar. And that was strange because they'd
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shut the door tight some minutes before when they

were leaving for the mall. So how could it be opened?
They stood still as they stared in amazement at the
porch's door.
"Er . . . did mum come of out of the house too?"
Tony whispered.
"Probably." Yolanda whispered too in reply.
"But even if she did, she wouldn't leave the porch's
door opened."
"Sincerely I'm afraid of this. Someone probably
just entered this house."
"Whatever it is, let's get into the house first of all,"
Tony suggested.
Just then, Yolanda screamed as they paced further
about to enter into the house. "Look, Tony, right there
on the floor!"
What's that!
Right there on the porch's floor was a trickle of
blood that flowed just from the inside of house down
to the porch. Immediately they saw it, they were
completely frightened and nearly petrified for fear.
They were confused. Why would their door be left
open strangely and why would a trickle of blood be
flowing out of their house on the porch? They

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wouldn't have noticed it in fact had it not been for the

exterior light that beamed dimly on it.
"Now what's this?" Tony's heart pounded. "Could
this be blood?"
"It is blood, Tony," Yolanda said as she stood
frozen too. "Look at the way it flows."
Tony sighed giving an oh-so-fed-up sign. "All
these strange events," he shook his head. "Where
could this blood come from now?"
There were some seconds of silence. Just then,
Yolanda screamed. "Oh no, mom!"
My God! Tony's felt a very loud bang in his heart
as he heard that and he was feeling as though his head
was expanding with the blood that was surging it. Did
you just say mom? It had really just occurred to him.
Straightaway, he ran into their house screaming,
"mom, where are you?"
His terror was practically increasing as the image
of the trickling blood on the porch's floor stood in
front of his memory. Could it really be? Could that
blood be their mother's?
Hearing no reply as he screamed, he ran out
quickly back to the porch where Yolanda was who
was panting seriously and sobbing already.

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"Do not come inside yet, Yolanda. You remain

here," he said to her swiftly feeling it wasn't really
safe for her to come inside their house too.
"I shouldn't?" She asked confused and very
perplexed as she stared still at the trail of blood on the
floor.
"Yes," he said. "Whoever spilled this blood could
still be inside this house. This happened just now so
I'm going in back alone."
"Okay, but I'm really scared, Tony" she cried
feeling really terrified.
"You're safer if you remain here, Yolanda. I'll go
search for mom inside and be back now." He kissed
her forehead and dashed into the house back.
"Mom!" Tony screamed as he ran into various
rooms in the house searching for her. "Where are
you?!" The louder he screamed, the louder the reply
of the echo of his voice he heard. He could hear the
pounding of his heart reverberating in his ears so
much and his forehead dropped thick sweat despite
the cold of that night.
He ran to her room and other rooms in the house
but there wasn't a sign of his mother at all. Tony
really felt a panic indescribable as a million thoughts
ran through his mind.
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Could it be that their mom had been abducted and

murdered just like that too? Where else could she
have been? And how was it possible for the culprit to
swiftly get in and out of their house because they'd
only left for the mall just a stone's throw away few
minutes earlier.
The trail of blood on the porch's floor really
confirmed the attack had just happened because it
was still fresh and flowing. Tony's horror surged.
Only if they hadn't planned any surprise Christmas
present and left for the mall leaving their mother
alone behind. No doubt the killer or abductor was still
around their house.
Tony ran into all the rooms again searching for her,
not wanting to accept the fact that she could have
been murdered and abducted just like the previous
victims in their estate too had been. He couldn't help
control the tears that were surging from his eyes.
Their mother had been the best ever and she deserved
every good thing in life and not to be murdered and
abducted in her own house.
Meanwhile, Yolanda remained outside at the
porch laden with fear, shivering terribly for the terror
and cold. The sight and scent of the blood flowing on
the porch's floor heightened her fear in fact and her
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gaze was firmly fixed on it. The only prayer of her

heart was that the blood would not belong to the
mother.
After a while, she noticed immediately that the
trail of blood on the floor continued even beyond the
porch—there was blood on the ground of their
compound at different spots that even continued
outside it. That really implied to Yolanda that that
was the path the abductor had taken when he left with
their mother. So he could still be traced because the
trail of blood on the ground hadn't been licked by the
breeze.
The culprit made a terrible mistake this time
around, she thought.
Quickly, she came out of the porch and began
following the trail of blood on the ground that led her
outside their compound and even along the street. No
doubt, they'd missed it when they were entering the
compound earlier. But she was poised now to follow
it to the last drop on the ground until she caught
whoever the culprit was.
A couple of minutes passed and Yolanda was still
following the trail of blood that was already waning
under the insufficiently-lit full moon night. She found
herself going along then across the street too as she
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followed it until soon, she was just at the meadow

that was directly opposite their house. She marvelled.
Her mother had been brought there. She knew quite
right.
She looked down at the dry grasses on the ground
of the meadow she stood on. The trail of blood was
being licked by the dry harmattan breeze swiftly.

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Chapter 9
A BASEMENT IN THE MEADOW

AS YOLANDA stood at the meadow, she noticed

she seemed to be the only person living in the entire
estate because it was very quiet and dead-silent—
even the falling dry leaves could be heard clearly.
Above the thin fog, the sky held only scattered clouds,
and the full moon's silver-yellow radiance beamed on
the houses and tall trees around that casted sharp dark
shadows.
Now she felt uneasy because it all seemed very
creepy. Weird chirps of crickets and hisses of snakes
were pervading too. So she felt it was best to return to
her house just adjacent. But then, she looked back on
the ground at the trail of blood that had just dried up.
She considered the whole issue and knew she was
close to getting the culprit and finding her mother. So
she decided to still remain and find anything strange
in the meadow. She stood still, arms folded and eyes

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widely opened. She checked her watch. This was

almost ten.
Just then, she heard a very faint sound behind
her—not one she was even sure of—as though
something were running. She turned and looked back
swiftly but she saw only a deserted expanse of
moonlit dry grasses with few trees then the silhouette
of houses opposite the street sprinkled with exterior
lights. There was nothing strange neither was there
any sound of movement again. She could only hear
her own raspy breathing and thudding heartbeat. But
she was still inconvenient. It seemed as though her
instinct said she wasn't alone.
Squinting her eyes and elongating her eyeballs to
search again for anything strange, she found nothing,
so she turned back and looked on the grasses on the
ground again trying to figure out where the trail of
blood could have continued.
She had barely looked down when she noticed
movement from the corner of her eyes, about forty
feet plus to her left, a swift shape cloaked by night
and mist, darting from behind an oak tree there to
another that was masked in a darker part of the
meadow.

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Yolanda was shocked, really wondering about

what she had glimpsed. It had seemed larger than an
animal—perhaps as big as a man. But having seen it
only peripherally, she had absorbed no details.
‘Who is that, please?” she asked, very audible
enough.
She expected no reply and she got none.
She really felt uneasy. Was it actually a friend or
foe? It was probably even the killer that terrorised the
estate. But most likely, she reasoned, it was just an
animal going its way so she needn't have bothered. At
last, when there was no other movement again, she
began turning round, straining her sight in the dimly-
lit night trying to search for whatever was there.
Some moment passed again and suddenly,
Yolanda's sight was drawn to her right so she turned
swiftly and looked there. Creepily, someone was just
there, looking firmly at her. Yolanda stared in despair
as a cloak of mist shifted and moonlight silhouetted
him.
Her heart pounded louder and faster.
Though she was facing him now and looking
straight at him, she could not see his face at all. He
seemed tall, above six feet, had a brazen masculine
physique and had his arms folded. Backlit by the
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moon, standing tall and motionless and surrounded by

the tall grasses of the meadow, he looked like a
fearsome statue. Yolanda wanted to run, but she felt
unexplainably paralysed! She could also feel all the
hairs on her body rising.
Just then, the man moved.
He took off swiftly and approached Yolanda with
a bizarre growl he was making. She knew he would
catch her quickly in seconds. With a wide-open feat-
stricken eyes and mouth and a body filled with terror
and adrenaline, she overcame the paralysis, turned
back and began running immediately too. She headed
deeper into the meadow, with all the little energy she
had, as that seemed to be the only escape path
available for her.
Despite the terrible terror that permeated her, only
one thought seemed to fill her mind: how to escape
from whoever it was that was pursuing her. The man
behind her ran with all his strength and Yolanda
could hear the loud stamping of his footsteps as he
ran with the raspy puffing he made. Soon, she noticed
that she was hearing more than one running footsteps
behind her. She was sure. She looked to her left and
saw peripherally again the silhouette of another

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running after her. He seemed to be closer than the

first, just about twenty feet from her.
Two unknown men from nowhere were pursuing
her unbelievably now and she could immediately feel
hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Desperately
needing help, seeing how they closed up swiftly to
her like gazelles or like Rottweilers after their prey,
she screamed very loudly. She was immediately
replied with the echo of the scream.
She was panting, very excessively, as she ran and
the tears increased. She tried increasing her pace also
but it seemed impossible because her energy was
already getting exhausted and there was a sharp
excruciating pain in one corner of her stomach. Her
knees were rattling and she could see her body
apparently shivering despite the sweater she wore—
not just because of the cold night, but for the terror.
Yolanda turned her head almost backwards and
discovered that they had closed up to her rapidly now,
almost being able to touch her as they ran.
She couldn't believe her eyes. How could they be
so fleet like that? Who could they be in any case?
They were most likely beasts or ghosts because she
felt no human could run as fast as that. The fears in
her heart multiplied instantly and she could feel her
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heart pounding so hard as if it wanted to burst. She

screamed again for help but was replied again with
the echo of her voice.
Tony! Help me! She screamed with a soaring
shrilling voice the third time with all her energy left,
trying to call him from their house where he was. But
there wasn't reply from him either. She cried bitterly
as she saw the man close up to her further growling
and muttering, “Would catch you, bitch!”
Just then, Yolanda felt a great weight landing on
her frail body, pulling her back. Within a second, she
found herself on the ground mysteriously and the
great weight was pinning her down. He muffled her
screams quickly with his big palms and struck her
face repeatedly. The other man too got to where they
were swiftly and began hitting her with his fists on
every part of her body immediately. “Gotcha!” he
cried.
Yolanda's terror was very great now and she
couldn't help control the tears. Her voice also seized
due to the cold dry breeze she was inhaling and the
several screams she had made. She could only
whimper now.
The men kept on beating her severely and one of
them pressed her face so hard into sand and weeds of
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the ground. She was very confused and shocked. Why

were they beating her for no reason? She tried
pleading with them but the palm muffling her voice
prevented her. How she longed so much that she
could have been miraculously rescued from them.
How she wished Tony, her sole saviour, would
appear right there indeed.
The torture continued and before Yolanda knew it,
they'd already ripped off her sweater from her body.
Soon, they were roughly pulling down her sweat
pants off her, trying to strip her.
Why were they doing that? Did they want to rape
her? She couldn't tell. She was really praying they
weren’t set to use her to fulfil their carnal desires. So
she tried screaming for help again but the man
covering her mouth immediately began to pack sand
from the ground with his hand and pour into her
mouth and whole face until she had to shut her eyes
and mouth tight.
He lifted up himself briefly from her as she
squirmed upwards on the ground, trying to get away,
but he pounced back on her quickly and hit her hardly
in the belly. She kicked, shook herself, squirmed
further and flailed with her hands, desperately trying
to release herself or strike them back but she couldn't.
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By now, she was partly naked under the cold

atmosphere and could intensely feel the cold air
devour her body causing prickly goose bumps as they
continued beating her mercilessly.
As she kept on crying and panting profusely while
they tortured her bare body, she could faintly see one
of the men bring out what looked like a dagger,
though smaller, from his trousers pocket. She really
hoped it wasn't. Before she could take a blink, she felt
it thrusting sharply into her left arm and she could
feel the excruciating pain. The man pulled it out
roughly again and part of her flesh was gorged out—
she could feel as it was exhumed with blood.
She cried more and more. But the man didn't seem
to be moved by her tears. He seemed not to have any
atom of compassion. At the next breath, he was
piercing almost every part of her body too with the
dagger until she could practically feel she was lying
in blood—her own blood—that was flowing from her
body under the moonlit cold night. She couldn't
understand why anyone would just be torturing or
stabbing a young lady like her who was so gentle and
frail. This was even worse than her previous fear.
Suddenly, the thought came to her mind as she
struggled with the few breaths that were left in her
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soul. Those people torturing her were the killers, no

doubt, that had been attacking people in their estate
for a while—that had also killed and abducted her
father. There was no reason else to explain why they
stabbed her other than for them to also leave the trail
of her blood on the ground, after she was dead, as that
was their trademark.
The fact that they also tore off her clothes and
stripped her naked meant that they were also ready to
take her body alone, after she was dead, to wherever
they kept their victims.
Completely covered in sand and blood, Yolanda
could only cry to pacify herself. And those seconds
were so filled with an indescribable terror. There was
little or no strength in her again as they kept on
beating, stabbing, torturing her. She shut her eyes one
last time and dropped her face ready to let go.
Meanwhile, Tony who was still in their house had
heard when she'd been screaming from the meadow
so he'd dashed out quickly and headed for the
meadow too. Realising she was in serious trouble, he
also dialled detective Fred and the Police to inform
them about the strange situation: their mother had
mysteriously disappeared and Yolanda who'd most

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likely been at the meadow was in serious trouble—

due to her screams he'd heard.
Before the Police arrived however, he headed to
the meadow himself with a sharp machete and torch
in his hands in order to rescue Yolanda quickly and
attack whatever or whoever was attacking her.
Fear pervaded his heart as he got to the meadow
and he felt like returning back, but he knew he just
had to rescue Yolanda before it would be too late. By
the time he got there, he searched round but didn't
find anyone there. He was alarmed and very confused
but was quite certain that Yolanda had been there at
the meadow. He couldn't let the culprit take her too in
any case.
He switched on the torch with him and began
searching frantically on the meadow looking for
anything that could give him a clue at all about their
whereabouts. Just then, as he searched, he saw blood
on the dry grass on the ground in one part of the
meadow. He knew immediately that it could have
been Yolanda's because it was still fresh. The culprit
or attacker must have been there in the meadow and
was still right there with her body. There was no way
he would have escaped so quickly, Tony was sure.

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So Tony began to trail the blood on the grasses,

following the path it went. He could tell that the
culprit had unfortunately stabbed Yolanda so much
and dragged her on the ground to wherever the
hideout was. He felt so much for her and was very
poised to rescue her if she was still alive as he
considered. He was ready to drop his fears. He wasn't
ready to beat himself about leaving her alone at the
porch when he was searching for their mother inside
the house. He knew that was the cause in any case.
So he continued searching.

******

Some minutes later, blaring Police vehicles with

bright headlamps and sirens were revving into the
meadow and encircling it.
The special Police squad had arrived with
detective Fred just as Tony had called for help and
they were ready to fish out the culprit that night. They
felt they were so close to. All of them, fifteen or more,
were fully armed—with helmets and bullet-proofs
and lethal weapons. Mike, Fred's partner was there
too.

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Tony had told Fred on the phone that his sister had
been in the meadow and was in trouble. But there
appeared not to be a soul there again apart from the
Police team. Fred was confused but was quite sure
Yolanda and Tony had really been there at meadow.
He sent some of them over to their house just
adjacent to check but they didn’t find a single soul
inside the house either.
Now Fred was certain that the two of them plus
the culprit had really ended up in the meadow. He
looked on the ground, at the dry grasses, for clues but
didn't really find any. The trail of Yolanda's blood
that had been there before had been licked by the
breeze.
Just then, Fred stepped on something very hard as
he paced—something that felt harder than the grasses
on ground and sounded metallic. It was a metallic
cover. One wouldn't have noticed it except if he was
very observant because the grasses covered it up
entirely except for little parts that showed.
Fred moved closer to it, squatted and examined it.
To his surprised, he discovered that the metallic cover
was no cover but actually a trapdoor! Whenever you
had a trapdoor on the ground, as a detective, you

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knew you had headway. Fred was glad. He

immediately knew who the culprit.
The Police squad immediately cleared up the
grasses on top the metallic trapdoor and straightaway
opened it. Right there inside, underneath, was a little
staircase that led into a room.
A basement!

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Chapter 10
FROZEN COFFIN IN THE CRYPT

THE AGILE POLICE squad burrowed through the

trapdoor into the basement swiftly while a few were
left outside to keep the meadow on guard.
Entering inside, detective Fred realised how easy it
had always been for the culprit to escape whenever he
carried his serial attacks. He'd always silently
returned to the meadow with the bodies of the victims
he'd attacked, and then slid into the basement at the
next breath.
That explained why the family members of the
victims never found the bodies of their loved ones,
even despite searching for it frantically immediately.
It had always seemed as if the bodies disappeared
into thin air. But it was a matter of subtleness and
perfection by the culprit.
The basement had different compartments as Fred
could see, with a less-than-moderate headroom. It
was dark, very dark, and dusty, but the torch lights
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the Police had carried helped dissolve the darkness.

As they peered deeply, trying to find their way to
where the culprit was, they began to perceive the
scent of rotten meat and carcass right there. The
stench was so terrible that they had to cover their
noses with their palms. The culprit had kept the dead
bodies of his victims there, no doubt.
Meanwhile, right there in the basement but deeper
inside, Tony was engaged in a combat with the men
who'd pursued Yolanda in the meadow and had been
torturing her. He had also discovered the basement's
trapdoor while he followed the trail of Yolanda's
blood on the ground when he was searching for her in
the meadow. He had opened the trapdoor and entered
inside swiftly when he noticed a voice whimpering in
one compartment of the basement. He had rushed to it
in darkness and seen the figure of two men beating
the person whimpering on the floor. That was
Yolanda, he was sure.
Quickly, without wasting a second, he'd lifted up
the machete with him and had struck the back of one
of the men. He was immediately attacked by the other
man and so they entered into a fight, one really
dangerous for Tony. But he used the machete with
him for defence and attack.
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While the fight went on, Yolanda realised that her

opportunity to escape was at hand. With the last atom
of life and energy she had in her, she crawled away
silently. Her whole body was still bare and cloaked in
dust and blood and one of her eyes was injured, yet,
she possessed a resolute mind and kept on crawling
and crawling to escape, not minding her bleeding,
until she got to another compartment that was very
solitary. It seemed a good spot to hide in.
As she entered, she immediately perceived
strongly the stench of rotten meat that had been
oozing and she felt an unusual cold surrounding her.
The meadow had been cold but the basement had
been warm since the two men dragged her inside it.
Now she couldn't explain the unusual cold she was
feeling and inhaling. What sort of room was it?
A dim torch was lit inside and she could later
faintly see that she was surrounded with ice blocks—
thick, enormous, chilly blocks of ice—placed on
shelves, on the ground, on a table and in coolers, all
inside the room.
Yolanda was confused seeing blocks of ice in a
room in a basement. What were they for? Just then,
she stumbled upon something as she crawled further.
It was something wooden and thick but felt chilly too.
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She lifted herself up gently and looked at what she

had stumbled on. Astonishingly, she discovered that
she had stumbled on what looked like a coffin as she
could faintly see in the dimly-lit room. It was a coffin
but it felt very chilly. She could tell that some of the
ice blocks were kept in the coffin too. She was scared,
she gasped and shifted backwards.
She lifted up her face and looked beyond the
coffin that was in front of her. To her horrifying
shock, she discovered that there were many more
coffins there, some stacked on top others. She was
horrified now because she could also see what looked
like corpses, towards the other side of the room, piled
on top each other. And the stench she'd been
perceiving multiplied quickly. There were flies
buzzing round the room savouring the stinking
carcasses.
Yolanda felt a horror, indescribable one she'd
never felt before. Her head seemed to swell up with
pounding blood and her heart was beating again as if
it was about to burst. She could feel the hairs on her
skin stand so upright. She was filled with an unusual
trepidation as she beheld the coffins and corpses in
front of her. She was feeling very weak and her knees
were already getting petrified, due to the cold dry
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ground she'd been crawling on, yet she immediately

decided to come out of the room and look for
somewhere else safer to hide. She couldn't remain
there.
Now she realised that the room was one the
culprits had always used in storing the bodies of the
victims they'd attacked. There were corpses
everywhere—even inside the chilly coffins. She
could also see body parts on the floor—hands, bones,
skulls! No doubt, this room she found herself in was a
tomb. It was more of a catacomb or a hideous crypt
where corpses were stored.
She turned back to crawl out of the room again but
immediately, she heard footsteps approaching the
room. The footsteps belonged to one of the men that
had been torturing her, she was certain. Before she
could blink, she saw the outline of his physique very
close to the entrance of crypt room and he was about
to enter, she could hear him snarling and muttering,
“Where’s that bitch?” No doubt, he was looking for
her. Frightened, she quickly crawled back into the
room towards the coffin she'd stumbled on. She
opened it and slid into it, filled with much terror, and
closed the cover swiftly.

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The man immediately entered the room with a

very bright torch and began searching for her in all
the various nooks in the room. He even went to where
the pile of corpses were and examined them closely
to see whether she was among. “I thought that bitch
entered this place,” he growled so boorishly. “Better
pray I do not find you.” He searched frantically for
her for a while, but he didn't find her there.
“I know she was here.” He was sure. He could see
the trail of blood from her bleeding body on the floor.
By now, Yolanda was completely consumed with a
greater magnitude of horror and frisson of shock was
jolting through her nerves.
Her whole body was lying on ice that had been
placed on the corpse inside the coffin and she could
feel the ice absorbing into her bare body. She couldn't
believe what was happening. She was in a coffin,
frozen with ice, with a corpse directly under her. How
perilous! She felt a terrible numbness on her body,
goose bumps were insufficient to describe it. It was a
as though a thousand needles were prickling her
whole body in the coffin. The stench that oozed from
the corpse under her was indescribable too.
How she longed so much that the man searching
for her would just leave the room so that she could
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come out of the coffin quickly. But he lingered still.

And she had to remain in the frozen coffin with the
prickling-needles ice that was paralysing her bones
and the terrible stench had already filled her lungs.
She was panting so much—she had to cover her
mouth so that she wouldn't be heard by the man. And
the tears were gushing so much from her eyes.
Just then, she heard a cracking, a movement rather,
in the coffin. She was shocked and confused because
she knew the movement wasn't from her own body. It
seemed to come from under her. She heard the
cracking and felt the ice she was lying on shaking
vehemently. She was scared. She knew what was
happening but was scared to accept it. She felt the
corpse below her was making movements and was
about to get up. But how was it possible? It was only
a corpse under her—it wasn't a living person.
She could even hear it growling as the shaking
continued. It was just so hard for her to believe what
she thought was happening. It was most likely just a
hallucination due to the terrible horrors she
experienced. Her worst nightmare couldn't even
compare with this. But she just had to remain very
quiet, not move an inch, irrespective of her fears
otherwise her presence in the coffin would have been
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announced. Who'd have ever thought that she'd once

be closed up with a corpse in a coffin in a frozen
crypt room?
The man remained in the room for a couple of
minutes still searching for her and reasoning where
she could have vanished to. Soon, there was a loud
bang from outside the room. It sounded like a gunshot
and the man immediately dashed out of the room in
fear. Yolanda could actually hear his running
footsteps fading away. She breathed a sigh of relief
thanking God for the gunshot that had diverted his
attention from her.
Within the next breath, she got out of the coffin
and collapsed onto the floor, feeling completely
drenched of every energy in her because of the cold
she'd been subjected to.
The gunshots continued. The Police squad that had
entered the basement were engaged in combat with
the culprit. About three more men, apart from the
previous two, surfaced and they all fought
vehemently, trying to protect their basement from the
intruding Police. Fred realised now that the culprits
were more of a gang rather than just one as they'd all
thought. After some moments, they overpowered the
culprits and shot three of them while the other two
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were arrested and handcuffed—including the man

that had been searching for Yolanda in the crypt.
Only now when the way was clear were the Police
men able to go into every room in the basement and
examine them. Tony who'd been engaged in fight too
accompanied Fred and they searched for Yolanda
also. Later, they got to the cold crypt and found her
inside lying on the floor to a coffin. She was gasping
raspingly as if she was about to give up—because of
the severe cold her body had absorbed and the trauma
she had faced also. Tony wept immediately he beheld
her on the floor. She was covered with blood also and
his heart cursed the culprits that had tortured her to
that extent.
"Yolanda," he whispered her name as he knelt
beside her, not even minding the stench of the crypt
and the pile of the coffins and corpses. "We're here
for you now. Please don't go." The bitter tears
coursed from his eyes.
"Tony," she mumbled very weakly as she opened
an eye. "Thought I was dead."
"No you're not yet," he told her. "And you won't."
She nodded reminiscing all the horrors she had
faced. She felt it was even better she had died than

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experience them. Those heartless men only wanted to

make her another victim like they'd done to others.
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone at the porch."
Tony said again.
"It's okay, brother. We still living."
Soon, the Police team brought a medics team that
came with an ambulance. They immediately cleaned
up Yolanda's body that had almost frozen, and then
dressed her with thick clothing. She was carried out
of the basement with Tony and taken to the
ambulance parked at the meadow with the Police
vehicles.
The Police team exhumed all the bodies from the
crypt and the frozen coffins inclusive. They carried
them out of the basement, laid them on the ground
and covered them with polymer, to be given befitting
burial later. Among the corpses were those that had
mysteriously disappeared from their homes in the
estate too.
Mr. Aigbe was also there and Tony stood looking
down at his corpse. At last, he'd seen his father that
had disappeared for more than three months. But it
was his pale frozen corpse he was looking at now.
There was a corpse there too that was still fresh
with mark of blood on it. It was Mrs. Aigbe, and she
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was the last victim to be attacked by the culprits.

Tony wept bitterly as he looked at hers. He blamed
himself for her death. They'd left the house and left
her alone behind that evening. That was why the
culprit had the chance to attack her. Fred was there in
any case to comfort him as he wept.
"It's not your fault, Tony," Fred said. "You weren't
the one who killed her."
"Oh yes. But I gave the killer the chance to."
"Don't beat yourself about it anymore. It's over . .
and I know who the killer actually is."
Tony looked confused. "Isn't he among the five
culprits that were caught?"
"No, he is not. He is the mastermind behind
everything. The other five guys just work for him."
"Really?" Tony was amazed. "How do you
know?"
"I know, out of my deductions not only, but also
out of the leads and pieces I have put together. And
I'm certain."
"So who is the mastermind?" Tony asked as Mike
joined their conservation right there on the meadow
in front of the basement's trapdoor. And the Police
squad was still everywhere trying to wrap up their
investigation.
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"Follow me guys," Fred told them.

"I swear I'd kill whoever he is," Tony said. He'd
made that vow since his dad had disappeared
mysteriously.
Soon, Fred climbed down into the basement back
and the duo followed him. He led them to a very
small nook, in the corner of one room, which was
hardly ever noticed. There was a curtain that covered
the nook and so he opened it up. Right there in the
nook, to the shock of Mike and Tiny, Mr. Hussein,
their neighbour, stood, concealing himself.
"Here you go, guys," Fred grinned. "This is the
mastermind culprit."
"What?" Tony shouted as his knees crumbled to
the ground and he started weeping again. "Mr.
Hussein! I never expected you could have been the
one behind all these." They'd been close family
friends since he relocated to their estate."
"That's life for you, Tony. It'd just unfortunate,"
Mike said as he shook his head.
"You didn't expect I'd know where you were
hiding right?" Fred asked Mr. Hussein.
At the next breath, he handcuffed Mr. Hussein and
handed him to other two Police men that were armed
and he was taken straight to one of the vehicles.
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"How did you know he was the one?" Mike asked

Fred, very surprised and confused as they got out of
the basement again now.
Fred smiled. "The meadow gave me the hint," he
said. "Firstly I've seen Mr. Hussein here several times,
doing nothing, but just walking or standing alone
strangely. Secondly, I figured he was involved in
production of ice blocks—something anyone hardly
patronised him about. So what else was he using them
for other than to preserve the corpses of the victims
he'd killed?"
Tony and Mike nodded, being enlightened about
what Fred had known too.
"Lastly," Fred said. "You remember the day he
asked us about our progress in investigation?" He
asked Mike, turning to him.
"Yes I do," Mike replied.
"Well, I got a hint he was the culprit that day. I
wanted to be sure that was why I purposely let out all
our leads to him—and mention the fact that the
culprit was a man—so he could express his shock. He
only wanted to direct the attention to the old lady
gardener as the culprit, but I'd already gotten what I
wanted."
"I see!" Mike breathed.
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"Why didn't you arrest him then?" Tony asked

feeling very disturbed.
"Oh no, I couldn't. I didn't have any evidence. The
only quite clear suspects were the gardener and
Canon Bennett later," Fred replied.
A wave of silence flowed in between them for
some seconds as they stood considering the
mysterious thing that had happened. Tony's heart was
cursing Mr. Hussein bitterly. He had killed his both
parents and other all for no reason as the devilish
serial killer he was. Mr. Hussein had actually
possessed a stony and uncompassionate heart to kill
people right from time. He had been brought up by
his poor parents, but they'd been neglected and
despised by the wealthy elder people who were living
around them then and so Hussein had developed a
several hatred for any wealthy elderly person that
existed.
He later became a secret cultist that sold human
body parts for ritualist and so his prime targets were
the wealthy elder people that lived around him. And
sometimes, he had to go a long way to get them.
Their bodies were what he actually needed, in
order to sell them. That was why he always abducted
their bodies after killing them and preserved them in
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the underground crypt in the meadow with ice—a

very primitive way of preservation. Just like Mike
said, none ever suspected Mr. Hussein because he had
appeared so friendly to all his neighbours indeed,
however, he was secretly monitoring all of them to
know the right time to pounce on them.
Fred pacified Tony further as the Police team were
now leaving in their vehicles.
They'd accomplished their goal and had fished out
the culprit successfully. Much thanks to Fred, the
bizarre detective. Tony would forever see the
meadow as a place that had once been a grave for a
lot of victims including his parents.
He went over to Yolanda that was still in the
ambulance receiving treatment. He sat beside her and
placed his arms round her shoulders while she rested
her had on his own shoulder.
It's gon be well with us. They'd faced a horror and
grief so indescribable at that their young ages that
year alone. Tony's mind went to the blood-written
note they'd received a week before his dad
disappeared mysteriously. He realised that the threat,
prophecy rather, in the note had been accomplished
now.

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The three precious souls in their family had been

painfully offered as sacrifices. Mr. Hussein helped
fulfil the first and last sacrifices, Tony considered.
“But at least their death has been avenged, even if
we're just all that's left now." The midnight remained
chilly, foggy and dead-silent as the cold dry breeze
washed on them.
He drew Yolanda closer to himself slowly, wiped
her tears and then kissed her forehead.

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A.A AKINSEKEJI
Akin loves writing—writing words to create a
lively sense of fun in people. He says he derives
interest from his specialisation of Architecture,
Graphics Designing and Creative Directing. He
lives at Ikotun, Central Lagos.
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