chapter 1 (auxilliary)

it is the early hours of Monday, Mrs kachi kalu's mother was in the kitchen trying to prepare the breakfast so that by the time kalu her only child who was seventeen at that time wakes up from sleep he will have something to eat before the both of them proceeds to their cassava farm to do some weeding.

Mrs kachi had been a widow for over ten years and had been saddled with the responsibility of raising her only child all by herself. she had fought tooth and nail to make sure that the boy atleast accomplished his secondary education, now that the boy was through with the secondary school and passed out with a very good grade, there was nothing else left for him except to join the poor mother who had been practising farming in subsistence level since the death of her husband just to make ends meet, in taking care of the farm.

before the death of kachi who was the father of kalu, being a traditionalist, he once took his only son kalu to the home of one spiritualist with the aim of discovering what the future held for the little boy who was seven as at the time. the spiritualist had prophesied that the little boy had been tied spiritually with a particular girl and the both of them would never find rest until dey came together and got married, and that they would leave happily together and had birth to many beautiful kids. after the prophesy, kachi had vowed to help his son find that special girl since he loved his son so much and really wanted him to be happy all through his life. but unfortunately he died at the early stage of the boy's life and would no longer be there to assist the boy in finding that right girl when the time comes. after their visit to the spiritualist, the memory of the whole event deleted gradually from kalu's mind, for he was just a little boy at that time until it finally couldn't find it's place anymore.

At the time Mrs kachi was busy preparing the breakfast in the kitchen of the two bedroom bungalow that the husband was able to erect while he was alive, kalu was still in his room sleeping for he had over stressed himself the previous day, making sure that half of the weeding was done on the farm. as kalu's mother was in the kitchen, a knock came on the door, after pausing for a while imagining who could be that visitor that found no other time appropriate for his visit rather than early morning, she decided to answer the door, but to her greatest surprise, she beheld her immediate younger brother, Abuchi, whom she had not set her eyes on for quite some time standing at the door. Mrs kachi screamed in excitement as she wrapped up her arms around her brother in a warm hug. the loud noise of her scream pierced through the door of kalu's room whispered harshly in his ears that something is happening in the sitting room. kalu joined his mother in the joyous welcome of the uncle as he rushed to the sitting room to know what going on. kalu just like his mother had been a while since he saw Abuchi his uncle. Abuchi was a business man that resides in Lagos, after coming home at the first year that he was settled by the man he served, he never came home again until that time. now he has been so successful in his business and needed a servant too just like every other boss.

After the joyous welcome and pleasantries exchange and handing over the bag that contains what he had brought for them from Lagos, Abuchi without wasting time divulged the reason he came to their house that early morning, without even touching home first. for he was just arriving from Lagos that early morning, he had boarded a night bus the previous night. he had come to take kalu with him back to Lagos, since kalu was through with his secondary education and was doing nothing meaningful in the village, so that he would settle him after he had served him for sometime and set him up for his own business. he came first to inform them so that they would start with whatever preparation they had to make since they would be living in three days time, there wasn't enough time to waste, before going to his own house. Mrs kachi didn't find it easy in buying the idea since kalu was her only child she couldn't find the thought of living without him comforting. but on the second thought, it is for the good of her son, for nothing would make her happier than to see her only son successful, which had been her dream and that of her late husband, moreover, Abuchi is her brother she was so sure that he would take good care of kalu. kalu on the other hand was so happy about the idea because he had been longing to see how the city of Lagos looked like, he had heard so much about the city.

In a far away village lived the family of Mr george, he had a wife, four sons and two daughters, the names of the daughters are Clara and rose. the two girls were the last of Mr George's children. Clara was older than Rose but rose is more beautiful than Clara. Rose was in her teenage age but she had such a beauty that everyone that saw her admired her and she was also beautiful in terms of character. Rose and Clara were so close together that they were always seen together, apart from being sisters, they were the best of friends, they shared everything in common and kept no secret from each other and the parents loved the way the two sister were getting along happily. in their neighbourhood also lived a man who was a herbalist and a magician, the man was well known for his cruel nature and he is being avoided by most people in the neighbours especially the children. the herbalist has a son, and that son was the only child given to him by his late wife. his wife died while trying to give birth to her second child but unfortunately to her she couldn't make it alive together with the baby. just like every other father, the herbalist wanted the best for his only son, so he wanted his son to be the one to marry Rose when the time comes, he had seen how beautiful the girl was both in appearance and in character and he knew that the girl would be the desire of every man when the time comes so he wanted to secure the girl for his son early by seeking the concept of the parents in order to betroth her to his son. but rose outrightly rejected the boy in the presence of both parents, she told them that she didn't like the boy. the parents danced to her tone by letting the herbalist know that they would not force their daughter to accept what she didn't like, in other words his plan had proven abortive.

the herbalist was infuriated by Rose's rejection of his son and from that moment he hated the poor girl with passion. the next day the herbalist met rose on the way as she was going to school all alone, he called her and the girl stopped to hear him out thinking that he had something important to tell her, for when the herbalist got close to her, he whispered to her that since she had rejected his son, that he would make sure that she remains invisible to every living eyes "no one will ever see or notice you again as far as you remain on this Earth" he muttered. in the evening of the next day, the herbalist was in his shrine conjuring, Rose and Clara were seated in their compound playing cards, Clara suddenly developed hiccups and she went inside to take some water. Rose was seated all alone waiting for her sister to return she felt goose spot at the moment but she never understood what was happening. when the sister returned it was as if she was only blind to her sister, she could see every other thing but she couldn't see Rose. she started calling the name of Rose in search of her, at first Rose thought that she was joking as she stands looking at the same position where Rose is seated and calling her name as if she was not seeing her. her thought about the situation begins to change, "it could be that my sister is not normal anymore, what could be wrong with her, she sees her path clearly, she doesn't look like someone that is blind" she thought, as Clara begins to look around. Clara went back inside the house still in search of Rose, by then, with the

seriousness in Clara's look, it was clear to Rose that something was wrong and she sat wondering what could be wrong. as Clara came outside again still in search of her, at this time she decided to respond to her to know what was wrong. she called Clara but their was no response from her it was as if she couldn't hear her at all. then she decided to get up from where she was seated and moved close to her. Rose was standing face to face with Clara calling her name but still no response from her, at this time, she decided to touch her, but Clara was not feeling her touch. Rose was feeling the touch as she was touching her but Clara wasn't feeling any touch. it was at this time that it dawned on Rose that the problem was from her not Clara and her mind leapt in fear. she tried all she could to make her sister feel at least her presence but all was to no avail, she rushed into the house where her two brothers were reading, thinking that the problem lied with only her sister. but when she got at the door, she discovered that she could easily pass through the jammed door without opening it. as she tried to push the door open, her hand went straight into the house without touching the door, she then tried to pass with her whole body and to her greatest surprise, she was able to pass freely without any interference. as she got into the house, she was calling her two brothers but non of them could hear her call or feel her presence, their heads were buried in their books. Rose couldn't yet understand what was going on with her, it was clear to her that she was not dead, she can still feel her body but how come no one seemed to feel her presence or hear her still remains a mystery to her. from that day on, the family of rose began to search for her and she would be there trying to let them know that she is there with them but none of them was able to get her message. after searching for her for sometime, the family assumed that she was dead and they mourned for her as the tradition demands. in Rose's situation, she was able to communicate to any one through dreams, she does that by coming to anyone that she wishes to communicate with while the person was asleep, and while she was there the person would be dreaming about her, in that case she would have whatever discussion she wanted to have with the person.

but the herbalist after stealing her body, also put her family under spell so that she would not be able to expose him by communicating to them by any means, the only person that was free from the spell was the sister, the spell couldn't hold her like the other members of the family. so she was able to communicate with Clara in her dreams always. Clara was the only person that knew that Rose was alive and the state and condition she was in. but when she tried to explain to the other members of the family, they would not believe her because they were in the ugly grip of the spell. at a time the father threatened to take her to a psychiatric home if she kept insisting that Rose was still alive they even took her to the home of a spiritualist thinking that her too much attachment with Rose while she was alive was what was making it possible for her to often see her spirit. the spiritualist did all the whole cleansing she knew on Clara to separate her from the spirit of her late sister as was assumed but still they couldn't stop Rose from visiting her. Clara on her own side loved the company of her sister and that made her often want to sleep. when Clara confronted the herbalist about Rose's condition, the herbalist realised then that there was still someone in the family that wasn't caught by the spell but by then he couldn't do anything about it .

due to the fact that none of Clara's family members believed her, they couldn't back her up, to hold the herbalist responsible as had been her plan. but the every day disturbance the herbalist got from Clara,got really deep on his nerves and triggered nothing else but discomfort, which made him to relocate.

he left with his son to where no one could ever find them.

Rose kept wandering about with no one able to feel her presence and as time went on she gradually learn to accept her fate as an invisible human and paid her sister a regular visit since she could find solace only but in her.