CHAPTER 7

Some conversations in this chapter were written in pidgin (an unofficial but common language in Nigeria, West Africa).

The couple struggled to stand up as they hit the floor real hard and were covered with all the glass from the windows of the room.

Raphael struggled to get to his wife location. "Mary get up! Are you okay?" He asked as he reached her, raising her.

"We are too late," She complained. "I need you to do something."

She picked up the old book and handed it over to her husband. Dragged him to the wardrobe and brought out all the clothes in it. There was a strange mirror sitting in the wardrobe compartment, she brought out a map, took a shard of the broken glasses on the floor and cut her palm with it. She chanted in strange tongues as her blood dripped on the map and gathered in a spot.

"That is the location of one of the three siblings. seventeen years ago a woman sent mystical energy to the earth exchanging her life to protect that of her child. I tracked it and found out the child has the fate of the world in its palm. I've been tracking down the child ever since." She narrated.

"In that book, you're holding, you'll find a lot of guides including the whole prophecy, predicting the end of our world and how we might be able to save it."

As she explained, she was busy going round the room picking one thing or another into a bag, she placed the map on the mirror in the wardrobe, chanted some words and the mirror immediately turned into a pathway.

"Here." She said as she pushed the now stuffed bag into her husband's arm and dragged him into the pathway created by magic, from the mirror and the map.

"Go straight through this path, no matter what you hear, no matter what happens, do not look back." She instructed. "You will find yourself in the location of the house where that child lives." She said, pushing him into the pathway.

"No... No! This is crazy. I can't do this. I-I- ca.." Raphael stuttered.

"You must do it. Look at me! Look at me, Raphael. You have to. For the sake of the world. For all those who have made one sacrifice or the other to ensure our world doesn't perish. You must!" She confronted, begging him to do it.

"Mary! Come out here, both of you. There's nowhere to run." Gloria's voice called out from downstairs as her footsteps were heard climbing up the stairs.

"Wait! Is that Gloria?!" Raphael asked, surprised.

"Shhhhhh! You need to go now, Raphael! You need to run!" Mary commanded at her husband.

"No, I can't do this without you. I don't even know what to do." He begged.

"You are smart, you know what to do." She complimented.

"Come with me." Raphael requested of his wife.

"Get going I'm right behind you," Mary said as she pulled off her necklace and hands it over to him.

The bedroom door blew up, as though a bomb was placed on it. Mary pushed her husband deep into the pathway and it immediately turned back into the mirror. The map fell and was caught on fire. She hit the mirror hard as it broke into shreds.

Gloria, appeared at the front of the bedroom, "There you are." She said smiling.

Immediately, Mary was flung across the room and was pressed to the wall via levitation.

"Where is your husband, the genius scientist?" Gloria asked.

"You'll never know," Mary muttered, struggling under her breath.

"You know, I've met a lot of Marys in this world. I must say, you all have a lot in common. You're all strong women that believe you can change the world. I must admit you are all blessed with some favours that could, one way or the other, indeed change the world. Take the Virgin Mary, for example, You know, I met her during her time. First in Jerusalem when she delivered the Messiah, and again on her way to Galilee when the Messiah was being prosecuted. The looks on a woman's face when being blessed with a bundle of joy and then watch it taken away from her very own eyes is priceless." Gloria expressed, gave an evil laugh at the end.

"I knew it. Lilith!" Mary exclaimed.

"Finally! someone sees the real me. Now, where is your husband?" Gloria confessed, as her voice doubled demonically.

"I will never tell you. Go back to hell you monster." Mary, now choking, coughed out. She twisted her wrist as the flame from the burning map on the floor surged and caught the whole room.

"I am hell!" Gloria exclaimed angrily, as her voice became monstrous. Shadowy figures emerged from within Lilith and hit Mary, tearing her piece by piece. At the same time, the gas in the kitchen exploded, blowing up the house to climax. Mary's screams of severe pain went out with the blast.

Raphael was in a dark, shadowy ally, running towards a light. He reached the light and jumped into it. As he jumped out, into the light, he heard his wife's voice crying out in excruciating pain. He tried to turn back and almost got hit by a moving truck.

The truck driver honked angrily at him. "Comot for road, Oyinbo drunker! You no dey see?" Shouting at Raphael, at the top of his voice, in pidgin, as he drove past him.

Raphael staggered and tried to balance himself, as he found himself in the middle of a road, in an entirely strange environment. He quickly got off the road.

The pendant on his hand lit up and the light directs straight towards a path.

"Okay? I guess I'm supposed to follow the light?!" He asked rhetorically as he moved, following the direction of the light.

He walked for a while wearing the bag, packed by his wife, on his back. He held the pendant in his hand like a compass, as he followed the light emanating from it.

He reached a street having blocks of beautiful mansion-like houses in form of state residence. The light pointed in the direction of the buildings, directing him to go through the gates.

"No! No-No-No! I'm not going in there. There are like military personnel with guns at the gates." He complained.

"Mary, I don't know what this is, but I'm done. And where exactly am I? Salihu-Ahmed Estate?!" He said as he read the signpost at the gate. "What the..."

He stared at the pendant and his wife's voice came to his mind. "You have to do it. For all those who have made one sacrifice or the other to ensure our world doesn't perish. You must do it!"

"I have to do this." He said and then put on the necklace, sighed deeply and walked towards the estate gate.

He passed through the gates and the soldiers guarding the gates didn't notice him as he walked past them.

"I'm not surprised you all can't see me. I've seen worse today!" He expressed, as he walked past them.

The light from the pendant pointed at a house, he moved close to the house, the pendant stopped glowing.

"Here?!" He asked, frustratingly.

"You must be joking. This is like the most guarded house in this place. On second thought, they can't even see me, so..." He thought and walked in, through the gate of the house.

"Hey! Stop there. Who are you?!" Commanded a soldier, standing atop the roof of the building close to the gate, serving as the gatekeeper's house.

The soldier pointed his torch and gun towards Raphael who just walked in through the gate of General Abubak'r's house.

"Wooh!" Raphael exclaimed, raising his hand to the air in fear, "I come in peace. I'm here to see the owner of this house."

Two other soldiers on the ground walked close to Raphael.

"Oyinbo. Who you be? Wetin you find come here?" Asked one of the soldiers that walked close to Raphael, in pidgin.

"What business do you have with our Oga at this hour?" Asked the second soldier standing before Raphael.

"Believe me, I don't want to be here either. And you won't understand, even if I explain to you how I got here." Raphael expressed.

"Yahaya! Wetin dey happen for there?!" Asked Lieutenant Ali, in a commanding tone, as he came out of the Abubak'r's mansion to confirm the commotion.

"Nah one Oyinbo say him wan see Oga!" Replied Yahaya, one of the soldiers standing by Raphael.

"Carry am come." Lieutenant Ali requested.

The soldier, Yahaya, walked Raphael to the front of the Mansion, where Lieutenant Ali was standing.

"How can we help you, Sir!" Asked lieutenant Ali to Raphael.

"I need to see your boss," Raphael replied.

"Is he expecting you?" Ali inquired.

"I don't think so. But it's a matter of life and death. And it's regarding his son."

"What?!" Ali exclaimed in confusion. "What happened to Muejiz?" He asked as he moved close to Raphael with fear written all over his face.

"Nothing really, but I need to see your boss now please!"

Ali nodded, gestured to Yahaya who started to search through Raphael's body with his hand. This made Raphael uncomfortable as he tried to break free.

"Oyinbo calm down!" Yahaya commanded at Raphael.

"It's normal protocol, Sir!" Lieutenant Ali revealed.

"Okay, no problem," Raphael said, now relaxed as Yahaya continued with his search.

"Oga, nothing dangerous dey him body," Yahaya said after completing his search.

"Follow me, Sir." Lieutenant Ali commanded as he walked into the Mansion.

Raphael, following behind him, asked, "If you don't mind me asking, where is this place?"

Lieutenant Ali stopped, turned and looked at Raphael in surprise and continued moving. "Abubak'r's mansion, Salihu Ahmed estate." He replied Raphael.

"I know that already. But where is this place? What state and What country?"

Lieutenant Ali, Now in the ballroom of the house, froze in shock, "What?! Excuse me, sir, are you okay?!" He asked, not getting the reason for Raphael's questions seeing as he walked into their compound himself.

"You're in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria." Replied Zainab, Muejiz's elder sister, coming down the stairs. "Welcome, sir! We've been expecting you. You are about," She stopped and looked at the gold watch on her wrist, "30 minutes late. Take a seat, my father will join us shortly!" She completed.

Raphael moved to take his seat as he looked around the exotic, well-furnished environment in awe. He looked at Zainab and stuttered, "wh-wha-what, who are you? and what's going on?" He asked confused at the way Zainab chipped into the room, as though knowing he was coming all along.

"I am Princess Zainab Abubak'r Ameer Idris-Khan," Zainab introduced fully. "And you're about to tell us what is going on and what brought you here." She completed.

"Ali! It's okay we were expecting him." Abubak'r chipped in as he walked into the room.

Lieutenant Ali saluted his boss and motioned for all others in the room to leave.

"Ali you can stay," Abubak'r said to Ali. "Sir, You can tell us everything now." He said, addressing Raphael.