Hello Nairalanders,
I am working on a horror short story collection. I want to screen some of my short stories to see the ones to include. Please let me know your comments.






THE COLLECTOR

For some reason, Santana Market attracted odd people. Maybe it was due to the market's past. It was rumored that centuries ago, before the creation of Nigeria , Santana market was the meeting place of a demonic secret society. But the rumors were never substantiated so the lower class of Benin City , Nigeria came to do their daily shopping there.

Judith Ikpeseni had a store at Santana where she sold second hand clothes. But this week, she was yet to sell anything. The only people that came to her store were misfits. Two men had asked for snakes, one woman asked for poison and another man--a very tall, very bald man--asked for bush fish.

Judith needed money. For her son's upkeep. For her mother's health. The rent was also due and the rent collector was a perpetually drunk man who respected no one least of all a debtor.

Judith prayed. Customers had to come.

At 12:30 pm, a young man dressed in a shiny white suit came to Judith's store. Perhaps he had lost his way. With his expensive suit, well polished shoe and handsome, wrinkle free face, Santana Market was not for him.

The man was tall. Despite his young face, he was bald. But Judith didn't notice. She was praying the man bought something.

"I want to buy-"

Judith launched into her sales talk. The merits of second hand clothes and their cheap prices.

"I want to buy you."

Judith stopped. And blinked. "Excuse me?"

"It's you I want, " the man said. He wasn't smiling. His face was drawn as if this was a serious, profitable transaction. "How much should I pay?"

Judith dropped the garment she was holding. "I don't get you."

The man sat in the customer chair and rubbed his palms together.

"My name is Jaja," he said. "I'm an antique collector. You're quite an antique. About five centuries old. I would like to add you to my collection. I'll pay well. Name your price."

Jesus Christ! Judith thought. What the hell kind of week was this! Antique collector? She would play this nut's game for some time, then ask the market youths to throw him out.

"How much would you pay?"

Jaja smiled. "Like I said, I'm an experienced collector." he stood up and ran his eyes over Judith's body. " I've collected for five hundred years so I would be correct to value you at fifty ounces of gold."

Judith let out a mock laugh. What was this creep up to?

"I would take a hundred ounce," Judith said.

Jaja made a face. "Fifty. No more, no less."

"Then, forget it," Judith said, enjoying herself. "That's not the best you can do. Besides, I sold for seventy five the last time I went on sale."

"Nah," Jaja said, raising a hand. "It was an auction. I was there, you know. Highest bid they could get was ten ounces of gold. You were sold to Lulu. Now, Lulu, that's a very bad man."

Judith shifted back, her breath draining away, her heart slamming against her ribs. This man was an enemy. An enemy sent by Lulu. She had to call for help.

"I'll pay seventy-"

"Get out of here!" Judith screamed. The market came alive as traders and customers and pickpockets turned round. "Mad man! Get out of here!"

Jaja shook his head. "You're trying to increase your value. Don't worry, I'll collect you."

The market youths-all of them with tree trunk sized chests-strolled towards Judith's store.

Judith threw stones at Lulu as the market youths hauled him away. He kept saying "I'll collect you". Even after the youths dragged him out of the market, Judith was still sweating and panting.

"You are sort of unlucky this week," Emeka, a cosmetics trader and Judith's neighbor said and smiled.

Lulu? Judith was thinking. So Lulu wanted to force his way back into her life after all. He had sent a fellow psycho to threaten her. She would call the police tomorrow. Antiques collector!

Lulu, Judith's former boyfriend, was the father of Samson, her two year old son. The problem had started and exploded one day. Lulu had come to Judith and fixed a date at 11pm. They had not gone out for six months, so Judith agreed.

The venue was what caused their split.

Lulu had taken her to a cemetery.
###

By the next two hours, Judith had forgotten about the collector and his psychotic ramblings. Not because she wanted to. But because she had to. The two hours were profitable. As if someone blew a magic horn, customers flocked in and lined up at Judith's store. They bought and bought.

The rent suddenly became a foregone issue. Judith smiled. There was a God up there after all. She had just a few items left. Maybe she should close now.

"I'm jealous," Emeka said.

"It's the Lord's doing."

Another customer came. A man. He was tall, bald and dressed in striking white Caftan. The man was also very fair. He made his orders and brought out a wallet filled with one thousand naira notes which he proudly displayed.

Judith contemplated a quick profit and inflated the price. The man didn't haggle. While Judith bagged the items, the man's eyes were fixed towards the outside of the market.

"Here are your things."

The man smiled. "Very well, then." he moved to collect the bags, then stopped. He dropped a doll-Judith wondered where the doll was earlier-on the ground.

"Do you sell kettles?"

Judith shook her head. "That'd be outside the market."

"Let me hurry and grab the kettle."

"Okay," Judith said, thanking God for a profitable day.

Three hours later, the man was yet to show up.
###

It was 6p.m.Emeka and most of the other traders had gone home. The rumors about Santana Market made many traders leave before 7 p.m.

The man was yet to come. Judith decided to wait ten more minutes. Then she thought, what's the use? Why not lock up and come tomorrow? At least by then, the man would have found his way back.

She carried the bags and put them inside the store. Then she saw the doll and grabbed it.

She fell down at once. The evening became night. Pitch black night. Judith could not see. She screamed.

Then she began to see. But only the doll. She could see the doll-it was blinking. The mouth was moving. But she heard nothing. Judith screamed again.

She fainted.

When, she came to consciousness, nothing had changed. It was the doll. She screamed again, pinched herself and prayed this was a dream. The doll was moving towards her. Then it began to grow. And glow. Each increase in height brought sweat out of her skin. As the doll approached her, she screamed.

Judith could see the vague outline of a weapon in the doll's hand. An axe or dagger. She couldn't see well. The doll was increasing in height. As the doll grew, Judith heard noises. Dogs barking and owls hooting. Just before the doll became the size of a grown man, Judith heard a soft, chilling cry. The wailing of an infant in agony. A voice she knew.

She screamed again and tried to stand up but something held her to the ground. The doll advanced. She could still hear the infant crying. She was thinking as her body heated. Thinking about her son, Samson. That was his voice. What was happening to him?

Tears came to her eyes as she made yet another attempt to escape. She couldn't. She was seeing only two things, the human sized doll and darkness.

The doll was bald. And tall. Fair. It wore white clothes.

Judith remembered and screamed. God save me, she tried to say, but words didn’t' form. She fainted.

She soon regained consciousness.

"My name is Jaja," the doll said. "I'm the collector. Remember me?"

Jaja's eyes were suddenly looking like fireballs. Judith flung herself away, attempting to escape. Jaja held her.

"Why don't you just shut up?" Jaja asked, as if this was a game. "Now, name your price."

Judith wriggled and tried to punch. "God will-"

"Shut up!" Jaja commanded. He made a sign in the air and something appeared in his hand. A human leg. "I'm sure you know what this is."

Judith screamed and rolled away. Sweat and heat clouded her body. Her chest gyrated as she screamed again.

Jaja was coming. His face was dark and he held the leg like a weapon.

"Let's do business," Jaja said. He held out the leg and snapped it in half. Bones broke and blood sipped.

Judith screamed as pain shot from her toe to her knee and thigh. She felt the pain in the back of her head. Screaming was useless, no one would hear her. So she only cried.

Jaja smiled. "As you can see, I just broke your leg." He shrugged. "You should be ready to do business with me now."

Judith coughed. Blood dropped. Her eyes were dim, almost as if the darkness was entering her eyes.

"What do you want?"

"You!" Jaja answered. "Haven't I made that clear?"

"God would save me."

"That's a stupid thing to say," Jaja said, matter of factly. "I have been collecting for many, many years. God didn't see it fit to save those more deserving souls."

"But, why me?" Judith asked. She was sobbing. "Why me? Is it a mistake to love? Why is Lulu doing this to me?" Judith's mouth ached and her nose bled as she sobbed and asked the question.

Jaja wrinkled his forehead. "This is not about Lulu," he said. "This is business. I earn my living this way."

"By terrorizing peo-"

"Don't play games with me, woman," Jaja said, his eyes bloodshot. "You should know the advantages of being collected. The peace of mind and the wealth and the wisdom. You commune with spirits on a daily basis. Besides, you are an antique."

You commune with spirits on a daily basis. That meant death to Judith. She tried to get up. Her leg was useless, her waist, rigid with pain.

"But I did nothing to-"

"Your tears don't do anything to me," Jaja said. "This is my business. I collect for wealthy men who pay me commissions. I have been asked to get you at any cost."

He walked towards Judith.

"Leave me alone!"

"Don't frustrate me, woman," Jaja said. He made a sign in the air and a small piece of flesh and muscle appeared in his hand. He smiled.

"That's my heart!"

"Glad you catch on quick," Jaja said. "You've been resisting me, trying to raise your price. But enough of that. My final offer is a hundred ounce."

Judith glared at him, her face covered in sweat.

Jaja clenched his right fist and brought it closer to the heart in his left palm. He grinned.

"Okay," Judith, breathed in. "Okay."

Jaja smiled. "A hundred ounce, huh?"

"Yes."

"Your mother would have it," Jaja said. "You are collected."
###

The next moment, Judith found herself at home. Her house. Samson was sleeping peacefully in the arms of his granny. Yes, this was a dream, Judith told herself.

Then she discovered she was looking at the room from the wall. Encased in a picture frame. She screamed but couldn't hear herself.

The collector was staring at her.

"Don't do this to me."

Jaja smirked. "Do what?"

"Please, "

"You accepted payment, woman."

"I refuse!"

Instantly, Judith was out of the frame and on the ground. She couldn't stand up and Jaja gave her a parent-to-errant-child stare.

Jaja had a bloody heart with him. "As you can see, your heart is with me."

Judith shook her head. "You would kill me all the same. Why should I be scared? By the way, I can still feel my heartbeat so that isn't my heart."

The heart vanished out of Jaja's hand. He shifted back and punched the air. Blood spurted out of Judith's nose like water from a leaking hose.

"I must collect you!"

Judith crept forward. Each move drew a gasp. And pain. She mustn't be scared of this monster, she told herself. He controlled her through f- She stopped. Jaja held her baby-Samson-in his arms.

"Your baby would die."

Tears dropped from Judith's eyes. Then she shook her head.

"My baby is sleeping peacefully."

There was a flash of lightening and a thunderclap. The baby vanished.

Jaja clapped. "Smart woman, huh?" He paced around. "Okay, one twenty ounce."

"Get out of here!"

Jaja held his head. "Hey, hey," he said. "Are you getting tough? Then know that I am prepared to go to extreme measures here."

"Get out of here!" Judith shouted again. "You're a monster. You and Lulu would rot-"

Jaja kicked the air, cutting her short. As he kicked the air, blood pumped out of Judith's forehead. When he finished, he laughed.

"I think your blood might be tasty," Jaja said. "But I have lost appetite. Now, are you ready to be collected? It's supposed to be honor, woman."

"Let me stand up," Judith said. "And deal would be done."

Jaja waved. A gush of wind blew towards Judith and her limbs gained strength. She stood up at once.

"One hundred and twenty ounces of gold. Deal?"

Judith was eyeing a screwdriver on the carpet. With this she could--the screwdriver vanished. It was in Jaja's hand.

"I'm tired," he said. "Deal or no deal. I am ready to kill you. Blood will sprout out of your neck like red walking sticks. You would not enjoy your communes with the spirits."

Tears flowed down Judith's face. What had she done to deserve this? She had always avoided things of the occult so why was this happening to her? Why had God allowed her to fall in love with Lulu?

"You have five seconds."

Judith staggered back, took one look at her sleeping baby and shook her head. So she would die? Just like this?

"Five. Four. Three."

"What if I buy you?"

"Pardon?"

Judith walked straight at him. She was searching for an escape route. But her baby? Her mother? Wouldn't she be endangering them?

"What did-"

"I was thinking of starting a collection," Judith said. "I'd like you to be my first acquisition. Five thousand ounce fine?"

Jaja dropped the screwdriver and knelt down. "Five thousand ounces?"

Judith nodded, unsure of what would happen. "Yes. I'd pay that just to collect you."

"By all means do."

Judith cleaned her eyes. "Y-o-u are collected."

Jaja vanished into a frame on the wall.

Judith fainted.
###

The next day, Judith was found bleeding in front of her store. The moment the ambulance came, she became okay. She stood up and entered her store.

She found all the garments she thought she had sold yesterday. And she found something else. A note. She picked it up.

"FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF COLLECTORS:
Dear Ms Ikpeseni,
Someday you would have to settle your five thousand ounce debt. When will that be? Time will tell.

Judith fainted again.
###

Two days later, Judith was discharged from hospital. She kept getting the little notes from the Association of collectors. The notes came everyday.

THE END.

©Einstein Esegbue 2008

I would also like to know if there are nairalanders who woud want to be informed once the book goes into publication.

__

@Raymond 88

I don't understand your comment.