HATRED CONQUERS ALL

Thato raised her head for the first time and looked at the window, only to see the rays of the sun heating the wall straight from the closed window. She looked at the door and realised that it was still the way she had left it last night. She couldn't help but worry about him. Kuhle hadn't been good to Thato since the day she arrived, but to her surprise, she only hated him when he was not around. Her heart bet loudly against her ribs every time the butler made those clinging sounds, she knew that could only mean that her boyfriend was back home.

Kuhle and Thato had met six months ago when he was touring with his friend in Leribe. Thato was visiting her grandmother who they had left there with her mother when she got married in Maseru a couple of years back. The first time they met, she hated him, found him to be a disgusting maniac. He talked too much, bragged a lot and most of all, worshipped money like it was a goddess.

When a silver Audio stood beside them, and the guy on the passenger seat lowered the window next to him, though the first thing she saw on the driver was all the features she hated about him, she couldn't help but follow her aunt, her mother's younger sister who was only a couple of years older than Thato, into the car when she insisted that they should get in.

Well, surely luck was following her around. That guy she hated so much paid no attention at all to her, though it broke her heart at first, she soon accepted it and made peace with it. He was too old for her to begin with, though it took her sometime to tell herself that that was the reason why he paid no attention to her. At first, she thought that he found her less attractive. She smiled and looked out the window.

She only turned her head with a straight face as the guy on the passenger seat began interrogating her. The poor guy was only trying to be nice to her after realising that his friend has nothing to say to her but to her sister, but to Thato, it felt like she was feeling out a survey. She was so damn bored; she couldn't wait to get out of the car. She watched her sister exchange numbers with her driver. She jumped out of the car as quick as lightning as soon as the car stopped in front her mother's gate. To get some things straight, Thato preferred to call her aunt her sister, so for this story we will be addressing her as Thato's sister.

She hurriedly walked towards the gate, but she was startled by a voice calling her name. She turned back with a hope that it was at least the passenger seat detective, but unfortunately it was the driver.

"Come closer," he said with an arrogant voice.

She looked at her sister and pulled a face, then slowly started walking towards the driver's window. Though she wasn't looking at the two men in the car, she knew for sure that they were staring at her. She walked confidently towards the car, with the hot body that men always go crazy over, she knew that the owners of the silver audio wouldn't be able to hold back. She smiled softly as she approached the window, which she was doing to annoy her sister. She deserved it for having a lose tongue.

She stood by the window and waited for the driver to speak, looking him straight in the eye. That she had learned from her best friend back in high school, she couldn't let any guy manipulate her with those little eyes, not even the crazy audio driver.

Kuhle looked into Thato's eyes a minute without saying a word. Her sister pulled a sad face, while the passenger journalist looked at both of them one after the other with his mouth slowly falling open by the instant. A fly possibly coming in and out as it pleases. His eyes mistakenly jumped over Thato's head and caught the sight of Lerato who was right behind Thato. Realising the sad expression on her face, he decided to take charge.

"So, don't you want to leave your number miss….?" Realising he didn't get her name.

"You can call me Thato," replied Thato blushing softly.

"No, I'll take yours too, in case your sister's is not available. I'll also pass it to my friend here," said Kuhle still staring at Thato.

"63799963,"

"So, what should I save it?"

"Thato. That's my name, right?" she said turning away from the car.

On the way into the house, all Lerato could do was tell Thato about how she should delete Kuhle's number from her phone, and that she should always reject his calls. At dinner too, after dinner while they were washing the dishes, the story was always the same, Kuhle. She went on about Kuhle Machaba again and again, the totally uninterested Kuhle Machaba. The play boy prince. This went on until Thato couldn't take it anymore.

"What the hell Lerato! Do you like him? Then you can have him. I never wanted him anyway," explodes Thato.

"What? Jesus, I'm only trying to open your eyes Flower,"

"It's a little bit too late for that girlfriend. I've seen the way you look at him. Yeah, accepting a lift from a stranger without a question. I'm not stupid Lerato," in a protest.

"Thato," raising her voice at her, "You will respect me."

Thato angrily pulls a phone from her trousers' pocket and drops it on the table.

"Here, have him."

She walked out of the room and then went to take a walk in the garden. Though she denied Kuhle in front Lerato, she sure was having mixed feelings about him. At one point she imagined herself and Kuhle having a very fancy dinner in a five-star hotel in Johannesburg. But suddenly her thoughts turned into a disastrous scene where Kuhle was shouting out at a couple on the next table bragging about how he has a lot of money and about how he is the smartest man in the whole of Johannesburg.

A little recap about Thato's life after Thabo's death. Our poor princess had spent weeks locking herself up in her room crying herself to sleep every single day. Her grandmother sent for her and she spent some time at home with the family. When they'll thought she was ready to go back to school, she told them she didn't feel like going back to that place that would remind her off Thabo. So, she applied to go and do theatre at the national university of Lesotho. After Thabo, she decided to swap courses and try out something completely different. It is at this that she met Kuhle while she was visiting her grandmother at home.

Before Kuhle, Thato never thought she would ever be able to love any other man after what happened with Thabo. She had always known that her life was a mess and bad things always happened to anyone who got close to her, but after what happened with Thabo, she thought she was ready to accept her fate and stay away from everybody else. Then Kuhle happened, a thing with him was something she herself was not expecting. Now, let's go back to the garden.

"Hmm. I wonder what he does in life."

She smiled and then walked back into the house. Then went straight to bed. She spent the whole day tomorrow checking her phone regularly, pacing up and down in the garden, checking her phone every five minutes. At last, she received a phone call. She jumped onto it and reached it before Lerato could see who was calling. She picked up the phone wearing a very big smile on her face. Lerato and her mother both looked at her wearing frowns on their faces until she was off the phone.

"Who is it?" asked Lerato as soon as Thato got off the phone.

"You look happy." Added 'Malerato.

"Yeah. A potential husband granny. Just some guy I met yesterday," answered Thato, regularly glancing at her older sister.

"Lucky for you sweetie."

"I just hope it's not that guy from yesterday. That guy is corny," joined in Lerato.

Thato stands on her feet and starts walking for the door.

"Who are you talking about?" asked 'Malerato.

"My big sister can answer that one better than anyone else in this room," she says walking out the door.

The day after that, it was time to go back to the university. At least she doesn't share a room with her sister, she would never be able to see Kuhle with her sister hanging on her back the whole time. She waited impatiently the whole time for Kuhle to come back to Lesotho as he had promised that he'll come by the end of the month.

Thato was on her second year of theatre at the national university of Lesotho when she met Kuhle. The Friday of Kuhle's arrival, Thato's roommate, Limpho only knew Thato as the person going for the all-night prayer. Limpho never liked Thato going to this night prayers all by herself, but she insisted to a point where she had no choice but to let her go. It wasn't her duty to look after someone who was as old as she was anyway. She knew what she was doing. Limpho allowed herself to believe that even though she knew it wasn't true. Thato had been so off the game lately that Limpho worried that she was about to hurt herself one of the good days.

By the time Kuhle arrived in town, Thato sneaked out of church and went to meet him. Only, Kuhle came with a different car this time. It took her about five minutes waiting in the cold for a silver audio, only she didn't know that a black proton next to her had her treasure. Thato only started to realise that it was Kuhle in the car when he lowered the window, well aside from the car, Thato wasn't even sure if she still remembers his face, she had seen him for a very short time that day.

She got into the car very stiffly and waited for him to talk first.

"You look beautiful," he started.

"I know," very cold.

"Do you know why I asked you here?"

"I wouldn't be here if I did."

Kuhle told Thato about his plan to marry while she looked at him with her mouth slowly falling open second by second, while the only thought that was running through her mind was, 'oh God please shut him up so I can get out of here.'

It hit the hour seven, eight, nine, and ten. Kuhle still talking one way. At last, he stopped talking and asked Thato a question, which actually gave her a chance to speak at last.

"It's 10 o'clock already,"

"I know, answer me so you can go back in."

"First of all, you are too old. My mama would never let me marry somebody that old. Secondly, I am a Christian, I am not allowed to marry a non-believer. And lastly, I can't date you because you are too far away, I can't handle the distance."

"Excuses. That's easy baby, all those excuses have solutions."

Now he went on about his so-called solutions. Possibly, Kuhle would have never let Thato go if her friends from church didn't start calling her like crazy. Thato thought that was the end of it, she just had to open the door and walk out, but no, looks like Kuhle's car has a password too. A kiss and then a hug. Now that's the problem, sitting in the car for five hours with him just made her realise just how much she hated this guy. There was no way she was going to stand that low and kiss the man who she hates twice as much as she hates poop.

Literally, they had to spend another 30 minutes fighting over the kiss. At last, Kuhle gave up and decided to let her go. Soon as she stepped out of the car, she told herself she'll never see Kuhle again, for the rest of her life. Well, is that not too hard to believe? Even she didn't believe that.

Few days after Kuhle left, she couldn't stop checking her phone, forgetting that she was the one who had rejected his calls, for him to have left without saying goodbye. This time, she was so sure that she had completely ruined her chances with him. She only got surprised when she found his text later when she logged in. As the chat on media got more exciting, she lost herself so much in it, just like before she couldn't wait to finally get to see him again.

The day for Kuhle to come back to Lesotho came as it eventually had to. Kuhle wasn't only touring in Lesotho the day he met up with Thato in Leribe, he was also visiting his family who are apparently leaving in Lesotho. Thato dolled herself up and got ready to go and meet her man. Lucky for her, Limpho was not in the house when she left, she really didn't feel like explaining herself to anybody. She met him at the bus stop and together they rode around town. They bought some snacks and went to chill in between the fields outside town.

When she got back home, she was so upset she didn't even want to hear the smell of food. She took a shower about five times before she was really convinced that she was clean. She ate all the snacks and all the food in the house and cried herself to sleep with a bloated stomach. This time she was so upset she didn't even have the energy to say how much she hated Kuhle Machaba. He had gone too far, there was no way she was going to forgive him this time. She was actually right to hate him all this time, he is nothing but a savage dog who deserves nothing but to die screaming.

Kuhle had initiated sex with Thato back in the fields where they had gone to after they bought the snacks in town. Thato told him that she was not ready and that she would like to wait for the right time, but Kuhle lost it when Thato said that and forced himself on her. Thato wasn't really upset because she had slept with him, she was only upset because of the way it happened and because of the person she did it with, the person who obviously did not deserve the honour of knowing her that much. She hated him even more every second she thought about him. After Thabo, she had had some completely different plans for her next time, and then Kuhle had to come and ruin them.

The following day she was still very much upset, she hated herself for having broken the promise she had made to God. She found herself to be the worst person on earth, she deserved nothing but death. The most brutal death there has ever been. She stayed in bed the whole day, she couldn't even get up to go to school, it felt like such a waste of time. She would never be able to learn anything in that state. Limpho arrived later and found her stuffed up in the bedroom that surely hadn't been opened up the whole day. She couldn't bring herself to ask what happened, all that had one name and she knew it very well, Kuhle Machaba. She embraced her for a really long time.

"Believe me friend, if this is how that so called prince charming is going to leave you like every time, I'd rather you break up before I lose control. What an asshole!" said Limpho angrily.

Three weeks passed without Limpho hearing anything about Kuhle, she could almost swear that the breakup was real this time. She was too excited and hopeful that her friend would finally be happy at last, she started looking around for a potential boyfriend for her best friend.

Last day of the week, which also happened to be their last day at school for that semester, Limpho came back jumping up and down with joy ready to share with her friend the news about her boyfriend hunting that seemed to be going out better that she had expected. So, it seems, there was this boy from their school who had been following her around asking about Thato for the rest of the week.

"I think Thabo still likes you. Maybe you should give him a chance, it didn't work with Kuhle after all. Wasn't he the reason why you rejected him in the first place? You know, I still don't understand why you'd leave that amazing guy for a dumbass like Kuhle."

Thato keeps working busily on her nails as if she did not hear what her friend just said. Limpho sits down on the bed next to her and looks at her straight in the eye. She stares at her until she can't resist anymore and turns her head to look at her. Limpho knew Thato way more than anyone else could imagine. They had been leaving together for only a couple of months but she knew and cared about her so much that she herself was surprised at herself. Therefore, she knew for sure that this kind of behaviour meant that there was something her friend was not telling her.

"Thato, just look at what Thabo is willing to do for you. He says he is going home this festive."

"What a waste, I'm not going to Ha Thetsane. Besides, the fact that his name is Thabo isn't helping the situation very much. Been there, done that. Didn't go over so well."

"I thought you didn't like going to Leribe."

"Who said anything about Leribe?"

Limpho widens her eyes frighteningly at Thato who returns her attention back to her nails, as if nothing happened. As if the conversation never even started in the first place. Limpho jumps off the bed and walks a few inches away and turns back to look at Thato miserably.

"Don't even think about it."

"I already did."

"You are crazy," In tears, "Flower, you are not thinking straight. The guy literally raped you last time you were with him."

"It's going to be different this time."

"That's what you said last time. And what about the promise you made to wait until marriage?"

She storms out of the room angrily. She came back two hours later and found Thato waiting for her. Though Limpho was not at all convinced about the difference Thato was trying to explain, she agreed to go to Johannesburg with her. If there is one thing, she had learned about Thato over the months, it's that if she sets her mind on something, nobody could ever take it off. She was just that stubborn.

They crossed the border at 2pm because the line was too long since it was the festive. After they crossed, Thato called Kuhle and told him that they had already crossed. He told her that she would have to spend the night with Limpho because he had to go to work. He said the time they leaved the border was already too late, there was no way they could ever make it on time, and that he would have already gone to work by the time they got there. From there he locked his phone and never picked her calls again.

They arrived in Johannesburg at 8pm and took a taxi to where Limpho lived. She spent the night there with Limpho's family. Early tomorrow morning, they found Kuhle's missed calls, they tried calling him back multiple times that day but all they got was his voice mail. Limpho looked at Thato mercifully realising how lonely and vulnerable she was so far away from home. She hugged her and made some awesome jokes that she knew for sure would cheer her up.

Kuhle called at passed seven that day, claiming that he would not be able to pick her up that day too because he was already at work. He had tried to call in the morning but went to sleep when they did not pick up. He had hoped to wake up and try calling again but he over slept.

Limpho looked at Thato and shook her head. Only she couldn't say 'I told you so'. They went to bed. They woke up at the wee hours the following morning. They showered and dressed up, got ready to go and meet the beast; Kuhle Machaba. This time around, Thato was convinced in her heart that she was going to make Kuhle pay for all he has done to her.

They waited at the gate for about 5 minutes before Kuhle arrived. She saw it coming, the silver audio 4, TJY 506 GP, the same one that she can never forget for anything else in this world. The very the same car she was in when she first slept with Kuhle. She stood there stalk still, then she turned to look away from the sexy eyes of Kuhle that were definitely going to drive her crazy and make her forget everything the minute she laid her eyes on them.

She smiled softly seeing how worried he was about her behaviour, she then hugged Limpho and got into the car. It took about five minutes to get to the place he pointed at as his house. Pointed, yeah pointed because that's what he did. He pointed at one of the RDP houses and said that was his house, also adding that there were only two RDP houses in that area. Also explaining that Thato would have never gotten lost going there because he had remodelled his house, so it would be very easy to find it. Just like Kuhle.

Then they drove to DORNKOP mine where he explained to Thato that that's where he worked. He also went on about how risky his work was, about how he works under ground and had to work kneeling all the time.

"So, he works in the mines," thought Thato who absolutely had no idea what Kuhle did all this time.

She looked at Kuhle and smiled. It was just hard for her to believe that the mighty Kuhle Machaba worked in the mines, hearing him speak, one might think that he works in some fancy office somewhere. The fool took Thato's hand and kissed it, then he went on about how happy he was that Thato had gone to be with him. That he was going to get fat with just her presence. Thato turned to look at him, disgusted, but Kuhle didn't seem to care that Thato was unhappy. All he cared about was his own happiness. That is so like him, selfish as always.

Kuhle stopped the car at one gate in the small village just outside dornkop mine, approximately 7 minutes' walk from the mine. He told Thato, that was where he lived. That was about 30 minutes' drive from the place he had pointed as his house. They went into a small room in the yard, soon as they got in, Kuhle started taking out some dirty sheets, pillow cases and some of his dirty clothes, claiming that he was creating work for Thato. Mind you, it was on a Christmas day. The day which Kuhle had originally promised Thato that they would spend at church.

A very different and boring Christmas compared to the one Thato had imagined to have with her born again boyfriend. He tried to initiate sex with her soon after he had taken out all the dirty laundry, but Thato rejected him saying that she was on her period, as if that has ever been an obstacle to Kuhle. He got sad and disappointed, he would have done something if he did not remember that, that was the first day for Thato there, he did not want to scare her away after all. He left immediately, without saying a word to Thato, only that she should do the laundry, clean and cook. On a Christmas day.

He came back very late in the evening and ordered Thato to make him something to eat, just like an African man I tell you. From there they fought over the fact that they cannot have sex while Thato was on her period. Kuhle even wanted to see the blood to make sure that she was indeed on her period. What a pervert!

The following days were just as everyone would predict. They would go shopping in Kuhle's car, when they got back, Kuhle would order her around like a maid and make her cook for him. The only thing that was left was for him to tell her to bathe him. Thato would do all this while he sat on the bed like the king of England and sent her back and forth, even to go out and wash a spoon because a fly had sat on it.

Then he'd force himself on her and leave her half dead on the bed with depression, swimming in a pool of blood. He didn't even care to spare a second of his time and find out how all that made her feel. She was depressed, eating herself to sleep every day after he left for work, swallowing her meals with the tears that never seized to pour out of her eyes. Thato spend the nights tossing and turning, crying bitterly when she remembered how disappointed her mother would be if she saw her.

Through all this, Thato feared one thing the most, her love for Kuhle seemed to be growing by the second. She feared for her life the most in this situation. It was evident that Kuhle did not care for her, all he ever wanted was a maid and whore on his bed when he got back from work. She did not care about being raped anymore, that she could live with, she was just afraid that Kuhle might do something worse. He could lock her up and never let her go back home, he had sworn that he'd do that multiple times already. Or he could simply give her away to his gang looking friends to rape and even worse, kill her.

She did everything in her power not to defy him anymore, she even tried to initiate sex with him, but no matter what she did, it always ended up badly for her. It seemed as if though Kuhle liked it rough after all. With time she realised that no matter how much she tried, love was not working for her. So, the saying 'love conquers all' was not working for her then. She decided to invent a new strategy.

She really had to come up with a new plan or else she would never make it home. She sat on the bed and stared at the computer screen before her. Her tears did not sooth her.

"So, love does not conquer all after all. Hatred conquers all."

She wiped off the tears with the back of her hand and landed on the bed slowly to lay down on her back. She stared at the door silently, she was thinking about. Kuhle walked in through the door and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Her heart sank, she could feel the pain cover the rest of it slowly, and it was as if she could feel it crack into pieces. She loved Kuhle with all her heart, but now love was not working for her anymore. They say there is a thin line between love and hate, so it wouldn't be that hard for her to hate him after all. Besides, Kuhle hasn't behaved very gentlemanly towards her lately. There were no memories to hold on to.

"Are you okay?" asked Kuhle worriedly.

"As if you care," responded Thato in thought.

She just shook her head to disagree and then said nothing thereafter. She only tried to avoid Kuhle's eyes as much as possible. She didn't want him to see what she was thinking.

"Baby, what's wrong? Are you sick?" he continued.

Thato felt tears feel in her eyes, it was almost impossible to stop them from coming out, but there was just no way she was going to let herself cry in front Kuhle. Though she was that broken, she couldn't bring herself to be at Kuhle's mercy. She was just that arrogant. At one point she thought that maybe telling him that she was not okay would make him hold himself, but no, not Kuhle Machaba. He knew what he wanted and would get it one way or another. He tried to kiss her but she pushed him away. She walked a few inches away from her and stared at her with disgust. Well, he wasn't about to give up that easily, he went back to her and tried again.

Too bad for him, Thato was up for the fight today. As Thato kept pushing and pushing, Kuhle exerted more power. He squeezed himself so hard on top of her that Thato thought she was going to suffocate, but she didn't give up. She kept fighting.

"You are going to get tired sooner or later," he teased her.

About 15 minutes later, Kuhle stood still and looked at Thato straight in the eyes, his eyes glowed like those of a lion that just missed a kill after going on for days without anything at all to eat. She made her way out of his face and put her clothes back on because Kuhle had taken them off while they were fighting. She pulled a chair and sat down beside the bed and played a game in her phone while she fought the tears back in.

"Pack your things and wake me up when you are done," he said angrily.

Those were the last words Kuhle said to Thato that day. She stood by the bed and watched him sleep, she was thinking about. She took the pillow and stared at it for a minute before she went closer to him. She was just about to cover his face with it when he turned to face the other way. She threw it on the bed and went to the wardrobe to pack her clothes. As she packed, her eyes came across a knife lying on the table, she looked at it for a minute then turned to watch him sleeping on the bed.

She thought about killing him, but she also thought about how she was going to get out of there after she did. She had no money on her, she did not know anybody there, she did not know her way over to Limpho's place and it was a very long way to town, she would never make it. No matter how hard it was to accept it, Kuhle was her only ticked out of there, alive not dead. She then woke him up soon as she finished packing.

They both got inside the car, still without saying a word to each other. They drove from Soweto to Johannesburg, still no words coming out of neither of their mouths. They got to town and together walked to the taxi rank, still without saying anything to each other. Kuhle handed Thato her bag and left as soon as she got inside the taxi, he didn't even wait to say goodbye like all the families were doing. Thato watched as other people hugged and waved through the window as the taxi turned to go, she looked outside the window and wiped off the tears from her face with the top of her hand.

That was Thato's way of escaping Kuhle's harsh treatment and rape. Kuhle made Thato hate sex, she hated men so much that she got annoyed to see a few men that she was with in the car. Those that she hated the most were the ones that tried to talk to her. All she wanted was to sleep and wake up in in her country.

She stepped down at the border, she went through and crossed to the other side. After crossing, she stood for a while and waited for the rain to ease as it started raining soon as she started stamping her passport. Soon as the rain passed, she smiled and raised her freedom fingers.

"I'm home. She is back. The queen is back home to the heels," she said laughing out loud.

Thato was pretty much convinced that that was the end, only she didn't know that there was more to come. About a week later, approximately around the time they had planned to come back to Lesotho together, Kuhle knocked on Thato's door. He was in tears, claiming that he fought with his mother and had leaved the house. He wasn't possibly thinking about moving in with Thato, right? No, he wasn't. All he wanted was to pity his way back into Thato's pants. And he did; except, it was different this time. It was the best Thato has ever had with Kuhle since they met.

Hoping that the amazing time they had would not be the last, he called a couple of days later asking to come over, but this time, Thato was brave enough to tell him know. She had learned her lesson the hard way, and wasn't about to make the same mistake again. With Kuhle, there is no getting better, it can only get worse. However, Kuhle had never listened to Thato before, he wasn't about to start now. He told her, either way, he was coming over.

Thato switched off the lights and laid still on her bed. She did not open the door no matter how hard he knocked. She placed her phone on silent and rejected his calls, then waited patiently for him to give up and leave. He made a ruckus, yelling at the door, telling Thato that he knew she is in, threatening to hurt her in the end. She cried herself to sleep soon after Kuhle left.

She was woken in the middle of the night by those dreams she hadn't heard since she was a kid. The very same dreams that separated her with her biological parents, of cause that's the part of the story she did not know. In her dream, she was visited by her deceased mother who told her to go back home, to some kingdom named Taung, that she would learn the truth about herself at that place. She woke screaming, sweating all over, her body trembling tremendously. She had never let herself think of her mother since she died.

She sat up straight on her bed and tried to make sense of the dream she just had. Ever since she was a kid, it was the first hearing that she had another home besides Leribe, her mother never revealed that part of her as per the instructions given to her by Thato's father when he brought her to them.

At that instant, she remembered the one thing that was sworn to protect her since she was young. She had put it away when she started going to church because she was told that it was demonic. She immediately stood up and started searching for it, at last she found it. As soon as she put on the bracelet, it tightened itself on her skin, totally restricting the blood flow. She tried to take it off, but it appeared as if it was glued to her skin. She fell to the floor, growling and mourning in pain as the bracelet dug deeper and deeper into her skin.

She went back to sleep with the hope that the pain would have subsided when she woke up, except, she woke up to a strange place which she had no memories of how she got there. The place was jam-packed with numerous people she did not know. The only people she could recognise were, her mother, Pricilla and Thabo. By the looks of it, she was surrounded by ghosts. As she looked at all of them from one to the next, wondering whether she was dead or still dreaming, she could hear a voice in the background. For a moment there, she was not sure if the voice was just in her head or if it was real.

"Look around Thato Morapeli, look around and tell me what you see." Uttered the voice.

She looked around a couple of times before she ran to her mother who to her surprise, had no idea who she was. When her mother did not recognise her, she tried Thabo, then Pricilla, who only frowned, then scowled and turned away from her. For some reason, everyone in this mysterious place was super upset with her. They all looked at her like she was the enemy, even those that she had considered her loved ones when they were still alive.

"All the people you see in this place, are the people you murdered." The voice continued.

"No. That's not true, I never killed anyone." In confusion, she defended herself.

"All this people would still be alive if it wasn't because of you. You killed them. You did this Thato Morapeli. You are a murder."

With tears rolling down her cheeks, she clapped her hands over her ears and tried to block the sound, only the voice got louder and more vibrant than it ever was.

"You can make this right, Thato. Go back home, make right what was done wrong in the past. Convince your father to perform the ritual for you to become a sangoma, and all this will be over. Taung needs a queen, and only one of us can sit on that throne. Without you being one of us, you will never see the inside of that throne room, neither will anyone. Taung is doomed to perish, only you can safe it."

As she stopped fighting and listened, all the people started disappearing from one to the next. By the time the voice stopped talking, only Thabo was left. He looked at her mercifully for a moment before he turned to walk away. Thato got on her feet and followed him. She was about to grab hold of him when the bracelet exerted more pressure on her Wrist. She growled in pain, and fell into the dam.