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Synopsis:
Stella is a witch who had lived for ages and was tired of being a witch. She is now burdened with two people as protégé. One, Gladys Bolawole, is desirous of getting power at all cost, while the other one Japheth Adeogun needs power over a sinful habit. In a bid to create a better option for themselves, they all did things that were detrimental to the others. Follow them as they are led by their dangerous desires.




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Genre:

Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal
Fiction » Christian » Fantasy

Words: 54,070





Grabbing The Hot Gate
People controlled by dangerous desires






A Paranormal Novel
Akintayo Akinjide

© Copyright, 2018 Akintayo Akinjide


Cover Design by Imasetng
Editor: Precious Adejumobi
Published through
Writertain E-Publishers
Contact: writertain@gmail.com

Other Books Akintayo Akinjide
-A Dread in The Spine
- Purified Tomorrow: The Mad Awakening



Dedication
Dedicated to Juliana Oloyede aka Toyobaby, for the numerous things she had to battle.
And
Folashade Adetunji for overcoming always.

Chapter 1
Flickers of light

Stella felt excited. The whole church was watching. That was one great thing that came with being in the prayer unit of the church. You're allowed to do deliverance, even in public. You're made a celebrity than even that most skillful choir member, and the pompous pastor, who pretended to be humble, mostly referring to himself as 'my humble self'.

That day, the church, Wild Fire of God, was wrapping up a seven-day open-air crusade. She had been granted the opportunity to wrap-up the program with a prayer session. When her coordinator informed her about the few minutes she had been given, she immediately began to prepare herself for what would look like an eternity of deliverance. With all the energy in her, she got ready to utilize the opportunity she had always craved: to come out of her hiding.

At first, she was going to let the prayer trend in its usual boring style. The church would only shout words that had no effect in the spiritual realm. But then, she saw something that excited her. One of the girls in the choir unit was possessed by the demon of deceit and attention. She craved it. The girl looked simple in her dressing and mannerism, but for some stupid reasons, she always had an unusual gait about her that made people throng around her. Stella rushed to the girl like a thunder storm and began to chant without the microphone. The opportunity was rare.

Normally, the church would assume she was speaking in tongues. And for the fact that she was the one leading the prayer meetings, she was at liberty to do anything she wanted. Although there were a lot of witches in that gathering- some as visitors, others as church members- none of them could understand the ancient curses she used. That was the edge she always had above them. How old were they? The oldest among them would be probably 120 years old and she was edging towards her millennial. They were just kids and she had never for once considered herself as their mates. None of them could ever go through what she had gone through.

Before she moved to the girl's side, she shouted at the church, 'you'll pray that God, every tree you have not planted in me, uproot it by fire'.
If her memory served her well, that was the 57th time they were saying that prayer since her ninth month in that church. Yet, the church members always took the prayer seriously every time they gathered, and had never ceased to surprise Stella with the renewed way they saw the prayer point. Regardless of the number of times they had said the prayer, the church prayed fervently as if their stomach was a field that anyone could just plant any unwanted tree- ignorance. They cried and shouted with enticing energy. She loved it.

Her chant was directed towards giving specific instructions to Heetah, her demon, the strongest demon she had ever seen in Fortune City. Immediately, it began to torture the demon in the girl. The exciting thing about torturing the demons in people was that it made the people receive the same feeling the demons within them were having. The girl screamed, failing to stand aright. She clasped her hands over her ears and began to scream. People lost their concentration and focused on the lady. Stella loved the publicity and would have instructed them to focus the camera lens of their phones on her, but, she needed this one to be done in secrecy.

'You'd better close your eyes so as not to go home with someone else's problem. The spirit of Leviathan is at work here. Keep praying'.
The church returned to their fervent prayer, which became louder as if they were trying to drown the girl's scream with their noise, as if God wouldn't hear their voices above her painful scream. Even the little children among them vigorously shook their heads as if the unwanted tree was planted in their heads. Stella noticed that some of the witches in the gathering were sending terrible curses towards her, but she couldn't be hurt. All the smaller demons within her were having a field day at suppressing the power of the witches' demons. Their faces gave away their disappointment, but from research, she knew that she had to react the same way most of those ignorant powerful pastors would react. She pretended as if nothing happened to her. She was stoic as she faced the girl who had taken to rolling on the floor. Heetah was having fun with the girl's demon. If she gave it the chance, it would love to play with her body for a long time because he wanted the lady to suffer.

If she still wanted to deceive the witches of Fortune City that she was a Christian, she had to pretend as if she didn't know anything was being done to her because their frustration had begun to turn to reckless muttering, and screaming. Many of them had turned to the use of loud incantations that looked like speaking in other tongues to a regular Christian but were actually curses.

Stella screamed into the mic. 'I am the daughter of the most high. I am not just any person. I speak as an authority. Keep quiet oh ye power of the heathen. The most powerful one is in your midst. Be quiet ye kingdom and force of darkness'.

She would have loved to call all the names she had once been referred to as- the good ones: Jadis, Glenda; the bad ones: Eva Nora, Bavmoda- but she kept the details to herself. The demons cringed within the witches around and they yelled in retaliation and obedience. One of them screamed and fell, turning sporadically.

'The power of the Lord is moving strongly in this place, don't miss this opportunity'.
Despite the perceived decorum that the church was known for, the 'humble' Pastor Praise climbed the altar to join them on the stage. Exactly what she needed. A little interference from the 'humble one' because she couldn't concentrate on the altar if she had to keep fighting the obstinate witches. Stella expected that the Pastor would direct her and the screaming girl to move to the back of the church to continue with her deliverance. That would be a good place for her to make the girl empty and available for the spirit of another Nephilim walking on the streets. The Bible even said if the girl was rid of demons, seven more would inhabit her. As much as she would have loved to help the girl from being a breeder of demons, she was under instruction to make everyone in Black Town prepared for Lucifer's total domination of Black Town.

'Sister Stella, please move', Pastor Praise, whispered into her ear. Stella gritted, moved aside, and smiled. To the church, she was excited about being helped by her pastor, but to her, she had finally made him an egomaniac. With his new ego, the church would crumble easily, starting from his family. His wife had been made addicted to chocolates and donuts, and for that reason, she had been growing obese. Very soon, Pastor Praise would have a fall-out with his wife because of her size. He had always praised her slender nature when Stella first came to the church.
Pastor Praise snatched the mic from her hand, rolled his shirts and stood, poised as if he wanted to fight the demons physically. He began to question the demon, who railed curses at him and the church instead of answering the questions asked of it. This made Pastor Praise angry. After all, he didn't become the Pastor of such a great church by being talked down by demons. He shouted the name of Jesus, and the demon screamed, pleading first then shouting curses. Then, they started from the beginning and repeated the cycle many times.

Meanwhile, Stella stood beside him and pretended to pray along with him. At the Ministers’ side, the other Pastors linked their hands and were praying fervently. Over a small demon? She shook her head and heaved over the frustrating life that some Christians live.
Pastor Praise called for a bottle of anointing oil. Stella stood beside him and repeatedly chanted for the demon to enter her. One of the protocol officers rushed to their side with a bottle of olive oil. It took Stella a great deal of effort to stop herself from shouting in surprise as Pastor Praise bathed the girl with the new bottle of oil. The girl shrieked and flustered on the ground as if her whole being was on fire.

'Come out of her', Pastor Praise shouted.
'Come out of her', Stella shouted after him. The girl shrieked and kept rolling as the demon fought its way out of her, into Stella. She felt heavier. She smiled and waved her hand, rejoicing. The other pastors, whose eyes had been blinded by ignorance, rejoiced along with her and the beaming Pastor Praise. The girl stopped rolling, and laid still for a while.

Despite not being a Christian, Stella's aim wasn't to disgrace the girl in front of the congregation. Heetah must have seen that she wouldn't do what he desired, and had stoked the 'humble' Pastor Praise's pride. By this time, many people in the congregation were staring at the innocent young lady, whose white and black choir uniform was now dirty from the excessive rolling on the floor in addition to being soaked in a bottle of olive oil. Stella couldn't imagine what the thought of the congregation would be towards the little lady. Many of them would her as being demon possessed and would react stupidly around her for a while.

'Devil, you're a liar', Stella said as she helped the girl up.
He knows, Heetah said to her mind.
'Thank you, lord. Thank you lord', she shouted.
Heetah had warned her against using the name 'Jesus' anyhow. He asked her to always say lord, which referred to Lucifer, their lord. And whenever she was to say 'in Jesus' name we have prayed', she could either aspirate 'Jesus' by pronouncing ' Jhesus'; or nasalize it, as in ‘Jinsus'. With that, she wouldn't face the wrath of he-who-seats-on-the-throne, and she was always careful about that.

After a little more charade, Pastor Praise returned to his huge golden seat with a pretentious humility and avid desire for praise while Stella stepped down from the podium, and stared into the weak church. They were all weak and blind spiritually. No matter how much they shouted, no matter how boisterous their plea was, they didn't have the reality of Christ, none of them. And she wouldn't be the one to enlighten them, not in this life.

Just as the service was going to a close, Heetah and all the demons in her wriggled.
'What's that Heetah?' Stella whispered. The woman sitting next to her, glanced at her, and nodded understandingly. Everyone assumed she was in the spirit, that she was silently speaking in tongues. So, she made the façade remained so.
'Someone entered the church. He has light'.
'Okay. Project it, let me see', she whispered.

Heetah projected the Church. Everywhere was dark in the spirit except a flicker of light from the end of the row.
'Was he in Church all this while?' She mumbled.
'Are you deaf? He just entered'.
'Show me his face'.
'I can't'.
'Why?'
'Light! His light is still on'.
She shrugged. 'I will put it off'.

That was her job in Fortunecity: to put off the light in Fortunecity before Lucifer's invasion – rather, visit. She was under strict order not to join any coven. Her job was to deceive all – the witches and the Christians alike. That was her job. Since she had killed the light in the Church that seemed to have the most balanced way of Christianity, it would be easier to kill the others.

Her initial plan was to ensure she sought him out after the service, but when the person in charge of announcement called for first-timers, and he was led to the front of the church, she made sure she remembered things about him. He was surely getting his flickers of light from a source outside of Black Town, she could see the singed parts of his spiritual wool and knew that he had just recently received the fire from somewhere else.

After the service ended, she moved to the person in charge of following-up new members, who was watching the members of his unit do their job effectively. She always loved his energy, and hoped he would also realize that he was in danger, but who was she to feel sad for the people of Black Town. They had allowed ignorance to take over their mind, and she wouldn't do anything about it.

'Matthew, good evening', she said as she extended her hand for a handshake. He rose quickly and staggered then steadied himself. His right foot was shorter than the left. She would have loved to help with some incantations that would cause the immediate growth of the leg, but doing that was preserved for the glory of her husband, her master, Lucifer. It would still take a bit of time to do such a thing in Black Town.

'Good evening ma'.
'God bless you, sir'.
Then they exchanged pleasantries in a way that was boring and awkward like the formal, religious people do, one she always hated. But she had to follow their trend if she ever wanted to penetrate them and their lifestyle.
'I guess you must have noticed me and Gladys', she said.

She bit her lower lips as she remembered whom she had always loathed. Gladys had recently been getting closer to her, and she hated it. Stella suspected that she got closer to have power because Gladys had been chewing the phrase in her mouth like beef. Yet, Heetah didn't seem to be against her coming close. There was a prophecy that a great one was coming to take over Black Town after Lucifer's visit. She should have known that Lucifer had a plan that was beyond her reach with Gladys. Heetah had just spoken through her to Matthew, and she had to keep the pretense.

'Yes. I notice…'
'Oh! Please let's have our seats', Stella said as she dragged a seat out of the row to sit in. Matthew sat as if he was pulling a rope, and she couldn't imagine the pain that would surge through her body if she ever had that deformity or any deformity.
'You were saying?' She said.
'Yes, I said I noticed you two are getting closer day by day'.
'Good. I'm her mentor or a sort of um…guide for now. And one of the components of her training is to be actively involved in the unit she is'.
'That's lovely. I also noticed that she has been actively showing her ability in God'.
'So, I want to advise that you sort of make her cattle have something to do. Let it mow the field for God. Let her follow-up one of the new members'.

'Well there was only one today', Matthew replied dejectedly, and she gritted as she knew she would soon be soaked in the same message Matthew preached every time he climbed the altar. But she couldn't resist it. Staying behind to listen would propel him to do her bidding without her having to cast any spell on him.
'It's so painful to see the people of God gallivanting around, and not do the sole purpose of their salvation. The main aim of the gospel. How will it be today if everybody brought somebody to church? Oh! The church is dying, and we need prayer. Prayer should resound in rooms, and doorways, and on the balconies of people for the Church of God'.
She nodded approvingly. He was right, but not about the prayers for evangelism; rather, for the gospel to be rejuvenated.
'Do you know that last week, just last week two brothers left the Church for another Church?'
That caught her attention and she had to make Heetah stop his search for someone to disturb their meeting. Earlier, when his rambling was becoming overbearing, she had made Heetah scout for someone to break their meeting.

'Where did they go?'
'Who cares? They said that the Word of God is not here. They are going to one fellowship in Brown Valley. Can you imagine? Fellowship. When there is a Church of God, established and known for the wondrous ways God works'.
'So they left the Church for a fellowship?'
'Yes, my sister. And we need to bring back…'

By this time, Stella was tired of his rant, so she made Heetah nudge a woman to come to meet her. The woman, who seemed to have been waiting for her, edged towards them and bent her knees.
'Oh, Mrs. Kolawole…' she said and pleaded with Matthew that she wanted to attend to her.
'Matthew, the prayer unit would bring back the fire'.
He nodded and heaved.

Stella also heaved as she led the woman to a corner of the Church. Although she had left his side, she wanted to knock his head for referring to her as his sister. Her mother knew how many children she gave birth to, and she was aware that Matthew wasn't one of them. If he saw in her old form, he would refer to her as his ancestor.


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She allowed the woman’s talk bore her, as she continually listened to her claim about how the devil was disturbing her family. Stella glared at the woman for a while and felt it was time to finally ruin her family. So, she informed the woman that her husband and her sister always provided comfort for each other in bed. The only pretentious advice she had for the woman was that she needed to be patient enough to pray to God for direction. At least, she did it in the Christian way. She didn't have to wait to know if the woman prayed or not because immediately, the woman stormed outside and landed a loud slap on her sister's alluring petite face. People gathered around her, and enquired about why she was hitting her sister.

'She's sleeping with my husband', the woman yelled.
The church members around the little rancor saw the need to teach the naughty girl a lesson, so they dragged the girl to the Pastor's office, where the woman's husband, the assistant Pastor, was having a meeting. As their noises faded off, Stella couldn't help praise her prowess. She had to see the end of it. She rose but was stopped on the way by the Bible Study Secretary, Christiana.
'Sister Stella, can I see you?'

Stella stared at her in surprise. She had always noticed the other witches in the Church, but had always assumed that the disguise around Christiana was some burden placed by one of the witches of the church.
'You either have to leave this church or die', Christiana, whispered, smiling broadly. Christiana was known for snide responses to people's questions, and the big smile that always accompanied these responses.

If Stella was a normal ignorant Christian, she might have assumed the Bible study teacher was pulling her legs, but her aura said more than enough for Stella not to believe her.

Stella sat straight and leaned on the back of the chair and said, 'he who dwells in me is greater than he who is in the world'
Christiana chuckled. Her black hat was beautifully balanced on her head as if it had finally gotten to its permanent site. A fluffy yellow feather waved from the side of the hat. She was a fashionista who always mixed beautiful colors with simplicity. Her grass-green gown went along with the gold pendants she wore as a neckpiece and the simple stone earrings she wore. Yet, one could still notice the fire in her brown eyes. Disfiguring her beautiful look was a scar that looked as if it was penciled by an evil artist to look like a whisker.

'Your blood will be on our altar next. I saw what you've been doing to most of my people', Christiana said as she stared at her fingernails as if she was seeing them for the first time. Her fingers were trimmed in such a way that was extremely normal, yet conspicuous with its peach color. She then proceeded to pull them as if she was straightening them, and folded them as if she was trying to claw at Stella's face.

'Leave this church and give us our freedom to act. By the time I'm through with you, even your Jesus won't be able to save you from the gruesome death you would die. We would feed your body to the crows and vultures. If you're lucky we can give some parts of your body to the great eagles that assailed the mountains of the ages and ancient ones'.

Stella stared at her and was only angry at Lucifer for making her pretend about who she was to Christiana. At least, she would have made this scarecrow know that she, Stella, wasn't one of the birds she could scare away, that she was the fire sent to prepare the field, to propagate the land.

'You've been warned', Christiana said as she rose and then bent towards Stella. 'We, the witches of Black Town want you gone before we sacrifice you to our Lord, and we want you gone before next week Sunday'.

Stella touched her yellow turban and wiped down the long skirt she wore. She hated turban, but the one she wore was meant to hide the injury she got from setting herself on fire after practicing a fire spell. The spell was supposed to stop her from catching fire, but she made the mistake of putting her hand on a part of her head. Now, the part was singed and should be healed before nightfall. If not, she would have loved a cool air to blow through her head while she made sure the scarecrow in front of her suffered for her foolishness.

'Because you've threatened the chosen one of the most-high', Stella said as if she was in a trance. 'You will suffer for it. You will be punished with the thing you love the most'.

Suddenly from outside the church, a little child screamed and someone yelled. Christiana looked outside with trepidation written all over her face, while Stella retained her angry trance-like face. Normally she would have leered to show her dominance, but it wasn't one of the characteristics of Christians to revel in such victory.
'Mummy Divine', some shouted for Christiania from the doorpost of the church.
If she was still trying to figure out what had happened, she didn't need to be told that it was her daughter that screamed outside. Christiana removed her shoes, dashed out of the Church, and cried as she met a crowd around her daughter.
'Now, go outside to take the glory', Stella told herself. She pleaded with the woman, who wanted to see her, as she began to rise from her seat, to be patient with her.

However, when she got there, she met humble Pastor Praise bending and praying over the girl. He had gone out to take something in his car, probably to reprimand his assistant, the adulterer, but was met with the trouble of the girl. The little tiny innocent girl was fuming terribly, and an old woman had plugged her fingers in between the girl's clamping teeth- she was convulsing.
Christiana stared dagger at her and wailed. The other witches there took Christiana's cue, and tried to make Stella know they suspected her.

'Oh God, save my daughter'.
The young man, whose light she was to quench, ran out speedily with Matthew trailing after him. 'Get everyone away from her', he shouted to no one in particular as he rolled the arm of his shirt. 'Come on people, get back', he shouted.
'Window closed', Heetah complained.
'Yeah, right.' She said and edged into the little crowd that had begun to gather.
Christiana shook from side to side like someone infested with ants, and looked as if she would explode. The young man was bent over the little innocent Divine, employing every means to save her.
'Heetah, save her', she muttered from where she stood. Although he hated her leniency, and promised to get back at her later, he stopped tormenting the little girl.

'In Jinsus name', she said as she moved closer to Christiana. Christiana gave her cold glare, and hissed as she wrapped her hand around the girl, who was now lying still. 'Never promise to hurt the chosen one of the most-high. You can't, because I'm under his shadow, terribly and dangerously protected'.



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Gladys Bolawole sat still after the service, and waited at a corner for Stella. Normally, she should have queued up along with others to see her, but she had all the time in the world, she could sacrifice all the time in the world, and she would utilize it by waiting patiently, especially as Stella ordered her to wait till she finished with the people she was talking to.

Although Stella wasn't the prayer coordinator, she was more fire-branded than the other members of the prayer unit. She was an emblem of power and genuine ‘holy ghost fire’. She glanced at Stella again, and saw her talking to the bible study teacher, Christiana, whom she had also started warming up to. However, for reasons beyond her comprehension, Christiana had suddenly become cold to her. She had almost summoned the courage to ask if she did something wrong, but felt Christiana was busy and didn't know how to handle it.

'Sister Gladys', Matthew, the follow-up unit's coordinator said with a broad smile that she understood to mean that he had gotten someone else to be a member of the Church and he wanted her to approve. She wasn't even the coordinator or an assistant, but Matthew just had a knack for making sure everything was working fine, and that she was part of the process. If he had the mind of making her his assistant or recommending her for any post, he had better keep his recommendation in the deepest corner of his pocket because she wouldn't oblige the call to a post until she had laid her hand on what she desired.

Gladys gritted as she tried to avoid staring at the person Matthew came with. He wasn't the typical tall, dark and handsome type of guy. His body could easily be described as a beans stalk. It was only his neck and few inches of his shoulder that made his head different from his body, but he had a goatee that made him look handsome still. His soft clean-shaved cheeks were the perfect example of what she wanted on any man she would want to call her own.

Despite the nagging painful desire in her heart to see Stella, she presented the man a big smile as she rose from her seat, hand outstretched.
'Sister Gladys, he is our first timer. He's bro...'
'Japheth Adeogun'.
'Yes. Bro. Japheth', Matthew said joyfully. 'We will be visiting him soon. Both of us'.
'With all pleasure. It's a good thing to meet you, Bro... Which of the two is your name?'
'Japheth...'

'Good. Nice meeting you Bro. Japheth', she said as her mind began to creep back to her desire. If she got what she wanted, the thought about him could follow. She glanced at Stella's seat and saw she had one more person to attend to.
'Nice meeting you too' Japheth said. Then, Matthew led him away after lamenting about the poor evangelism of the Church, and how he might start a prayer meeting soon to ensure that the Church came back to sense.

She reverted to her thought, and didn't care about the way Christiana, sprinted out of the church. She wanted to be alone, in her coldness and desire. When she saw Stella strutting out of the building, she wanted to follow her, but she saw that the other woman was also waiting. She saw the shadows of the chairs on the floor, and wondered at the mysteries of the world. How was it that the sun could give a clear reflection of people's body? Some people have even learnt how to manipulate to form different objects and animals. What could she do? Nothing. She was so useless that nobody was thronging to her like they did Stella. If she got the power she so much craved, the whole mysteries of this world and of God would be laid before her like a field of herbs. She would know the deep things of God, and have the power that he had endued his own with.

However, she was soon accosted by the assistant Bible Study Secretary, who came to ask her to join their unit. Upon seeing this, the Prayer coordinator rushed down to her side and playfully asked her not to accept the assistant Bible Study Secretary's offer, that the prayer unit had a better offer for her. The two of them rambled on, and tried to engage her in other drab worthless discussions until the Pastor's wife, Mrs. Praise, came around that she needed to see her.

'Do you mean you two are here fighting as if you’re dogs and she’s bone? Didn't you hear the commotion outside the church?'
'No, ma', the prayer coordinator said and glanced at the door that led out of the church.
'See you. Divine had convulsion outside now. It wasn't funny. Only God saved her. God really saved her. Even Mama, that old woman that plays a blue fishlike tambourine…'

They nodded.
'…Her fingers were injured because she dipped her hand into Divine's mouth. God! That woman. I feel for her'.
'Our same Divine?' The assistant Bible Study Secretary bemoaned, and hurried off to meet Christiana, who was leading her daughter into the church. She had a mark that always made her smile look like a frown when she wasn't showing her beautiful white teeth.
'Yes o. Thank God for Pastor, and one brother like that. I think he is the newcomer. The man is good. He quickly attended to her, and he helped stabilize her'.

The Prayer Coordinator also joined Christiana and her assistant as they kept trying to make sure Divine was alright.
'Please have your seat', Mrs. Praise said as she squeezed her fat self into a plastic chair. Gladys glanced at the leg of the chair and felt for the chair. It was bent to a side. If she were the chair, she would probably give in to the heavy weight.
'Well done ma', Gladys said.

Mrs. Praise started out by asking for the unnecessary things like how was her work, and a lot of rubbish that Gladys was sure would eat into her time and prevent her from meeting Stella before someone else came to get counselling from her. Her three-year-old son ran to her with a packet of chocolate to report someone and she waved him away, but not before she tore the wrap, and munched part of the bar of chocolate. Her son ran away mumbling how he would report her to his father. Gladys was sure she would never use her as a mentor. She didn’t want chairs under her to scream in disgust as well.

'Mummy, I have an appointment with Sister Stella, after that last woman'.
'So you're saying I should say I want to say and leave', Mrs. Praise joked. Gladys smiled.
'That's not what I mean'.
'I know. The thing is that…' Mrs. Praise said with a serious face as she tried to sit well in the chair. The chair winced and quaked. Mrs. Praise adjusted herself.
'Sorry ma'.

Mrs. Praise waved her hand. 'Don't bother about that. I know it's not in my place, but I think I should hint you. Pastor ought to have called you about this, but I guess he is so busy and the person that sent him to you really wants the reply soonest'.
Gladys felt the urge to glance at Sister Stella but she held herself in place like the taproot of an herb would firmly do.
'How often do you pray?'

Gladys blinked severally, she never expected such question from Mrs. Praise. 'Regularly, daily'.
'I mean about him'.
'Who?'
'Him. The him', Mrs. Praise said and winked. Her closed eyes made her look like the bark of an old tree. The new suits she wore was in no way able to cover her fatness up. Unfortunately, she wore a small blue camisole that made it hard for her cleavages to get any covering, and because of that she kept covering the cloth with her sweaty hand.

Gladys blinked severally and gurgled. 'There's no him'
'Seriously? At this your age, with this kind of beauty?'
Gladys blinked again. 'Erm... It's not on the top of my list at the moment. It's still in the store and would be later placed on fire, but for now. I'm not in a rush'.

Mrs. Praise sighed. 'Mr. Akanni, you know him right'.
She nodded. He was extremely rich and was a good singer, handsome and played with kids a lot. Who wouldn't know him? Most of the ladies in the church referred to him as husband material, 50-yards.
'He believes the Lord wants you to be his wife'.
At first she stared at Mrs. Praise, then she scoffed and burst into laughter. 'Mummy, that man…He must be engaged now. Maybe he just said it in passing. I mean…'
'No. He meant it. Don't think about it. Just pray...'
'Mumm…'
'Just pray'.

'I won't lie. I'm not ready to pray. If he can wait, I'll pray.'
'He will wait…'
'For like two years'.
'Are you joking?'
'No ma. My desire is different at the moment. And I'm not ready to pray on such frivolity?'
'Marriage? Frivolity? Are…'

Stella came forward and Gladys felt like jumping on her as if she was her mother, who had arrived to save her from a wicked older neighbor. 'Mummy. Gladys. Good evening. Sorry for disturbing. Gladys, when you're ready.'
'We're done already’. ‘Just pray about it'.
'I've heard you, ma. Tell him my stand, ma'.

Gladys rose. Even if she would pray, it would be for a bolder man, not for one that hid under a fat Pastor's wife. She looked at her blue midi skirt and dusted off wrinkles from it. She had ordered her outfit from Fundel Collections, along with the bell sleeved striped top she wore on it, and a Hermes bag. The collection was transported to her from Ibadan, and she wouldn't want Mrs. Praise to stain it with her ungodly news. How would it be that her clothe that didn't have any blemish on it when it was transported to Black Town, would now have stains from the rubbish Mrs. Praise was spitting. No wonder the man always wanted to give her a lift despite knowing she had her own car.
Gladys scurried after Stella, who walked away majestically. When they closed the door of the Church's prayer room, Stella asked, 'What do you want?'
'Power. I want power'.
Stella gave her a bland gaze that made her anxious. She sighed as if she had no other option. 'Okay. Let's start'.



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Chapter 2


Seeking a Greener Pasture



Stella shook her head despondently. Despite the power she wielded, there was nothing she wished more than to stop being a witch, to stop being in hiding, to stop looking over her shadow, and to have control over her thought. In reaction to her thought, Heetah sent pain to her chest. She winced. Lucifer had placed Heetah in charge of her, to monitor her progress and imaginations. When she started with it, she assumed she was in control, but as she came to grow in her knowledge of its work, she knew she couldn't control it one bit. Instead, it was the one in charge of her. The pain died down almost as if it never happened.

‘Gladys, I understand you’, Stella said as she flashed a painful smile at Gladys. She was fair in complexion and had a body structure that always taunted Stella’s frail body. Despite the fact that she ate a lot, her body refused to grow bigger. Even her father, the recent one, had a saying that she was a septic tank. Gladys was blessed with a kind of power that could destroy the whole world; that could bring men down to her feet. She was a typical definition of a goddess. She had red lips, dilated pupils, fit body, good skin, long legs, hourglass structure. What more did she want power for? To destroy the lands? Stella guessed Lucifer was about to get another replacement for her. He had tried many times, and all those times the girls had been stupid enough to fail woefully. She would do her best to train Gladys as much as she could, but would also prepare to have another year added to her years because like the others, Gladys had the potential to fail.

‘I don’t think you understand me. I think God isn’t ready to use me. Maybe I'm worthless. Why can’t I get the power to heal the sick or is it truly fiction?’
‘Gladys’, Stella faked a frown and moved about in her long, queenly, black adorning-pink-stone-filled gown. After living in Fortune City for years unnoticed to the witches living there, Stella felt she should be happy to have a protégé. If eventually Gladys became the new wife of Lucifer, Stella would have the chance to go to the mansion Lucifer had promised her. Despite visiting the place many times, she had a nagging feeling of doubt. Demons were masters of illusion. Their master, Lucifer, was an illusion himself.

Stella had moved from one territory of Fortune City to another. Now, being in Black Town had opened her to something she never had the chance to do - having a protégé.

‘Yes. I’ve read about it on different websites, where many atheists proved that God doesn’t exist. I'm tired'.

Stella studied Gladys's spiritual hedge. Her spiritual doorways were ajar, and that was good for the entrance of demons into her body. A new demon could enter her without much trouble. Gladys was foolish, even Lucifer was aware of God's existence and couldn't dispute the fact.
'Gladys, calm down! Let me pray with you. Rather, let me pray for you. Calm down'.

They were in the prayer room, and it gave Stella an ample opportunity to do whatever she wanted. Heetah displayed to her spiritual mind the demon tormenting Gladys, and she couldn't believe her eyes. Gladys kept shouting in the physical. However, the demon shouting at Gladys' spiritual being was as small as a rabbit. Her spirit was crouched on the ground in a corner, whimpering and crying in fear when she was supposed to scare the demon away. Her soul saw her position and transmitted it to her reasoning as torments.
Stella asked her to kneel down. Gladys hurriedly did so.
'Say spirit of the power of the lord', Stella said after she had told Gladys to raise her hands. Gladys repeated the chant.
'Say, I desire you today, lord. Take over', Stella said and Gladys repeated it.
That's one thing she loved about Christians: they were so naive to believe the Lord would allow another spirit into them aside from the Holy Spirit.

Stella did the sign of the inverted cross to mock Jesus' death on the cross, and to make the demon coming know that she had given it access to Gladys's spirit.
Gladys began to shiver. Stella smirked. She hadn't even done anything. Another thing she hated Christians for. They allowed emotions to be in charge of their soul and invariably their spirit. That was how she watched a video that detailed the life of a fake evangelist. The wicked man made the video among his drunk friends. He played a video of how he would touch people and they would fall as if something had touched. Whereas, he merely played with their emotions.
'Receive power'.
'Amen'.
'Let it begin to move from the top of your head to your belly'.
'Amen'.
Stella watched Heetah conjure a demon of power and directed it into Gladys body. Without wasting time, the demon connected her soul to her
spirit, and it took control of her soul. Normally, a supreme being ought to be in charge of the spirit. So, if one allowed one's soul to be in control of the spirit, one was subject to whomever one had sold one's soul to.
'Shout Glory'.
'Glory'.
'Gladys, you will begin to see things. Tell me, can you see anything?'

This time, Gladys' eyes were still closed and she was vibrating. 'I can see a light going off. We need to pray. Everywhere is dark'.
Stella smiled. She had no need to destroy the newcomer any longer. Her new protégé would.
Gladys looked excited and the joy that radiated in her heart poured out through her face. She couldn't stop saying 'Glory, Hallelujah' as they headed for their cars. They greeted the security men who answered them excitedly. Leaving the church was a relief for the lazy gatemen. Stella headed to her car, and saw Mr. Akanni, the rich businessman, their church member, walking towards a tired, power-drunk Gladys.

Stella smiled warily as cold breeze brushed her, and a storm began to disturb the peace of the night. If she hadn't known better, she would have agreed that it was a normal rain breeze. Despite the darkness that cloaked the whole area, she could still see the backyard of a house because of the bulb the occupants placed there. The back of the house had many trees, which shook vigorously in tune with the storm. Even the plantain stalks among them danced terribly. She sighed and started the car. The process of taking over had begun, and it would soon eat down into Black Town. If given the chance, she would have loved to be the one in charge of overseeing Lucifer's next plan for Black Town. Suddenly, one of the plantain stalks crashed.

She sighed again. There was a popular knowledge that a fallen plantain does so to give room for a sprouting one. She had just received her confirmation. Gladys' training must start in earnest.


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When Gladys got to her doorstep, she met her thirteen-year-old friend, Elizabeth, sitting there, waiting for her, gazing into the grey sky. The light from the white bulb under which she sat was not helping matters. A lot of insects danced around it.
'Baby, what? Why are you here?'
'Miss. G, I told my mum, I would sleep over at your place. We have a visitor'.
'Oh!' Gladys said and shook her head. Elizabeth’s mother was a typical harlot, and she had just proved herself to be one. How would she allow her daughter sleep at her neighbour's place because a man had come to her place?

She led Elizabeth into her room. She lived in a room and parlor self-contain. If not for her sisters' school at Greencity, she was sure her mother would have lived with her. Even at that, the woman still had ways of disturbing her peace. For that reason, Gladys visited and slept at her place every Friday, to return to Black Town the next day. She looked at Elizabeth, and knew the only thing the little girl needed was power to be free from her mother's clutch.

As usual, before she slept, she called her mother, who ranted that she should have called earlier. They discussed and talked about little things. Gladys reminded her to watch out for the merchandise coming from Fundel Collections. Those clothes were special to her. Her mother whined about how she wasn't her servant; yet, Gladys knew she would collect it on her behalf.
Gladys disconnected the call and slept off in peace. One day, she would be free from her mother's insistence on them talking to each other each day. But today, she had to be the mother of a girl, whose mother was in bed with another man. That night the storm howled terribly and it rained heavily.

***

Japheth moved about impatiently with Matthew, and wished he hadn't raised his hands when the announcer was calling for first-timers. He had only felt the need to overcome his urge to always have sexual intercourse. It had taken him off course, and made him lack the will to talk to Mirabel, a nurse at the hospital he worked.

After he attended to the little girl that was convulsing, he tried to explain what the mother should do to avoid the repetition of such, but the mother wasn't in the mood to listen to him. She grabbed her daughter and stormed into the church as if he was wrong to have saved the little girl. Matthew flashed him a smile as if he was used to the woman's temper, and he led the way outside, limping.
'So, Mr. Japheth, we would be in touch with you. Nice having you around. We would be expecting you on Wednesday. You would come now?'
'I'll try'.

Matthew turned, limping terribly. 'Don't miss it for anything. You know it’s painful you missed our three days of worship. It comes up every first three days of the month. The November edition held last week. You don't want to miss December's own. Then, you almost missed our seven days' program. I'm even happy you didn't have to wait till 2017 before tasting the greatness of God in our Church'.

He nodded and Matthew explained how God was in need of him. In fact, Matthew might have kept rambling if a lady hadn't hurriedly whispered into his ears. Japheth exhaled as he entered his car and drove off.
If he hadn't seen the Church, he would have been with a lady. Not just any lady, a young girl, Alexis, whose life he ought to impact. But, he just couldn't control his urge around her, maybe because they explored different sexual fantasies together. He was driving to pick her up when he saw the Church. He stopped and reconsidered his plan as his mind dashed back to one of the numerous messages Mirabel sent to him through WhatsApp. He had never for once told her about his sexual escapades; yet, she always had a way of sending the precise message to him. How would one tell the lady he was falling in love with that he couldn't control the little man within his zip?

Immediately he saw the Church, he called Alexis and told her he had to attend to something in the hospital. She ranted about how he made her prepare, but he knew she would get over it. She always claimed she was in love with him, and he knew he loved her, maybe not as much as he loved Mirabel.
Now that he had told Alexis that he wouldn't be at home he couldn't go home early. She knew whenever he called like that, he would return home late. If he returned early, she would compel his gateman to tell her the truth about his time of arrival, and that would be a cause of trouble for him. So, he dialed Mirabel's number, and she informed him that she was about to leave the hospital.
'Don't get a bike, I'll come for you'.

She joked about how he wanted to act like Superman. He laughed at her joke and headed for the hospital. When he almost got to the hospital, he sighted her from afar. She was still putting on her white nurse uniform, and had a red bag dangling from her hand as she glanced from side to side. He honked immediately he stopped in front of her. She was intimidatingly tall, straight, fair, and had two deep dimples that drew him to her always, that always gave him the inspiration to make her smile. Her big glasses were shaped in the same way the animators designed the eyes of Jasmine of the animation 'Aladdin'. She had her fair share of bust.

'Hello, Beauty'.
'Hello Beast', she said as she slumped into the seat beside him. 'How long did it take you to get here?'
'Ten minutes'.
'That's five minutes short of the time it would take you to get to my Church from here. It takes me like fifteen minutes on a bike'.
'You and your Church'.
She brought out her phone and began to type into it, claiming she had to reply all the WhatsApp messages she had received.
'What's for dinner?'
She looked up and hissed. ‘You should have told me earlier. Now, I'll be going to a restaurant with my uniform'.
'Hey! I never said we were going for dinner'.
She bared her teeth at him, and smiled, revealing her deep dimples. If he should go down the lane of arguing about dinner with her, she would win. So he chose to take her to a fast food around the corner.
'Nah! Let's go home first. I have to change my dress'.

They drove to her house, which she shared with her mother. However, her mother had travelled to Greencity because her sister, Mirabel's aunt, had gone missing. They said she saw the vision and someone kidnapped her.
Mirabel changed into blue jean trousers, and a plain red shirt. By the time she was coming out, he was outside his car. He stared at her hungrily, and wished he could find a solution to his problem on time. She had tied her loosed hair to a bun and now looked amazing to him. Her glasses adorning her face intrigued him the more, broadening his smile.

She glanced at herself and at him in the little light from the streetlight shining over him. 'What? Is the cloth not fine? You can't expect me to wear a gown after the whole day's business? I'm not even your girlfriend'.
'Of course. You're just my sister'.
She bared her teeth at him.' I'm your mother'.
'Do you know you always look like a rat when you bare those teeth?'
'Ah!' She yelled and hit him repeatedly as he kept giggling.
They drove off into the night, and they went to have a nice dinner. They talked generally. Whenever he was with her, he was always free. When he returned her to the house, she refused to allow him to enter.

'Jaf, I'm not a virgin. Not proud of it, but I can't… You', she said and stared into the little lamp her neighbor placed near the tray of bread she displayed for sale. Japheth rubbed her shoulder as he crumpled the bunch of keys in his other hand.
'I just wanted to while away time. So, don't bother'.
She sucked in air as if it was cooling off her steaming body. 'It's not your fault. I don't know why I can't stay in the same room with my best friend when I can stay around a lot of other guys'.
He smiled and tapped her cheek. 'The feeling is mutual'.
'Then we need prayer'.
He nodded in response.
'And I know where we can go'.
'Where…? Don't say it. I know. Your Church?'
'My Church. Or we can go to that Prayer group we used to go before you suddenly stopped due to what happened.'
'Are they not the same people in your Church?'
She nodded. 'So let's go to my Church'.
'Your Church', he nodded and entered his car. She glanced at her phone and typed a reply to someone as he started the car. 'Did I tell you I have a Church now?'

Her eyes widened. That was the expression he wanted to see. He drove off before she could react. And she did react, running after his car, but he was far gone and didn't stop until he got home.
When he got to the gate, Chuks, his gateman, hailed him. The man always reeked of alcohol, but he still couldn't understand how he still always remained sober. By this time, a cold breeze had begun to gather.

'Tonight. I won't sleep', Chuks shouted as Japheth walked towards the house, playing with the bunch of keys. As against his custom, he turned to Chuks, 'You better sleep. Tomorrow is Monday. I'm leaving for work early. And stop blabbing. I've told you to stop drinking'.
'Boss. The strongman'.
He shook his head as he marveled at how God made two good things happen to him that day, if not three. He ditched Alexis and went after Mirabel. From the look of things, Mirabel was ready to accept his offer, but he still wanted to bid his time until he was sure he was ready. Alexis would have expected his call for him to explain how work was hectic and so on. Instead, he dialed Mirabel's Glo line. He just loved their network above the others for no reason.

Being a Christian had been his priority since he got saved in his final year at school. He derailed but he had to retrace his path back to Christ and had to start living like a Christian. He had to gain his life from the claws of fornication before it was too late. He had to pick himself off the ground, dust his body, and return to the feet of God.
Whatever he planned got scraped out of his mind as he inserted his key into its hole. The door wasn't locked. Does that mean he left the door open like that when he left home? Although he trusted Chuks, few people have authority over temptation, especially if they weren't Christians.
He unbuttoned and pulled off his striped shirt as he dumped the key on the center table in the sitting room, and increased the sound of his stereo player. He was fond of switching off the stereo player, and locking the door before leaving home, but he didn't do any before leaving home. That means that in his desire to get to Alexis, he had left the song playing.

The stereo was playing Sade Adu's song 'Jezebel' as he slung his shirt over his shoulder and dragged himself to the room. The next day, he would get some Christian songs to supplement his desire for God.
However, what he met in the bedroom made him shout. Sitting on the bed, naked and beautiful, was Alexis. He bit his lower lip as he stared at her. She was once his savior in her little way, but now he couldn't classify her as one. She was becoming a disease; one he must treat before she caused his demise.

'Why are you staring at me? Come to mummy. Come and take cowbell'.
'Not today... I went to church'.
'What? Awwwnn… Jaffy is becoming a husband material. Good. But now that you have scabash, come and lash me too'.
'Lash...?'
'Must I describe everything with my mouth?'
'Whatever... Just put on your clothes. I'm driving you home. What's the time?'
'It's…'
'10:43. We can still make it to your house'.
'What's this levels? Why are you acting like this? Stop telling me Jack Robinson. Come here... Why must we always act this film every day. The series is over. Let's play the game of obedience and you go first'.
'I'm not a virgin, but this is not cool at all. We should think of something better'.
'Shhh... Come to bed, now'.
He held his breath and closed his eyes as he hoped he would be able to hold himself. But she was becoming saucy and that one thing about her excited him.
'I'm not doing you any good?'

'If you're not doing me good, no one else will. Come here now, boy'.
He blinked repeatedly as he climbed the bed, unzipping his trousers, hoping God would forgive him, that he would get victory over his love for fornicating with her. Maybe he should leave home for a long time, and go to Mirabel's Church. They were best friends; she could even help get a place to sleep till he could overcome Alexis' control over him. But how would he be free if he ran? Running wouldn't help in anyway. He had to fight for his freedom before January 1st.
He came back to the pleasure of the moment when Alexis meowed like a cat, while rain started to fall outside.


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Stella's parrot, Jiggs, shrieked and flapped everywhere in the house. Bits of its feathers sprinkled the room, some of them dropping on her lips. She rolled off her bed. Spitting the bits that fell into her mouth, she hurriedly switched on the light, and stood in a safe corner of her room to see Jiggs.

'Jiggs… Jiggs… Shut your trap. Can't a girl sleep without your disturbance?'
Jiggs kept raving about something and she yelled for him to stop.
'I can't get you. What's the time? It's…' She glanced at her wall clock.
'They are coming. The witches are on their way here', Jiggs shrieked.
'It is 1.46a.m. What? Who? Who is coming? The Witches… Oh!'

Her first reaction was to sit back and watch them crash into the mighty protection she had placed on the compound. Then, it occurred to her that no matter how deceptive her protection was, the witches would know the source. A typical Christian home is always surrounded by a type of fire that no witch can duplicate, and fierce angels, who would take it upon themselves to sometimes preach to the witches. She ran out to the sitting room, and with a wave of the hand, opened the door. She ran outside. In her haste, she didn't wear a slipper. The consequences of which was that she would climb the cold ground. Despite the cold rain, these witches still had longing to have a party at her house. Nigerian witches are big time fools. She waved into the sky and sent energy into the sky, destroying the protection.

'Lucifer, I hate you', she screamed. The protection on her house took her three whole week to build. It was a special type that required a lot of sacrifices. She had done it to make every activity in her house obscure to the world. Now, the protection had to be removed because Lucifer wanted her to keep the act. Like the Christian Bible said, it is always hard to build but easy to destroy.
She rushed into her room, and glanced at Jiggs that flew right at her. With a snap of the finger, she turned it into a bible and didn't give it time to oppose.

'Now, be useful for the first time', she mumbled. If she hadn’t made it inanimate, it would have reacted. She hurriedly got down on her knees and began to pray. All alarms in her body blared as the witches landed in her compound, using the body of their familiars. They weren't knowledgeable about how to use those familiars, they only turned to their familiars in the night. They hurriedly transformed into their body, about five of them, Christiana leading the way.

She focused on the traditional prayers that had been known to be cloaked like the Christian's prayer. Immediately they barged into her sitting room, she changed her prayer from the traditional method to ancient curses. She would have gone deeper, but she preferred the one used by the mothers of the unforgiving shed. The witches screamed immediately they heard it, and began to yell. Their noises could be heard outside the house, but she was lucky that her house was somehow secluded to the corner of the street.

'I beckon on all the mothers of Nigeria, and Fortune City to destroy this woman. She is disturbing us with the name Jesus', Christiana shouted as she seemed to get control of herself.
Stella had to pretend as if she didn't see them. That was frustrating. She could have sent one straight plain English curse to them. But hurriedly, she sent a counter-curse to them, and Heetah surrounded her with blazing fire. Christiana, who was advancing towards her with a rusty knife that was once buried in the cave of the ghosted, yelled and crashed into the chairs. The other witches, seeing this, rallied round and burgled her outside.

'The great one is coming. She would destroy you. She would destroy your power and the name you look up to', Christiana yelled as the others pulled her out.

They transformed into their familiars and disappeared. Stella yelled in anger and frustration that she didn't get the chance to enjoy that moment. If she had been allowed to use her hands on them, they wouldn’t have breath left in them anymore. She slumped into the chair that wasn't tampered with. Now, she had to rearrange the house and start her protection spell again.
With a snap of her fingers, she turned the bible into a parrot. Jiggs complained and ranted about how cruel she was, as if she didn't know. The work the demons have left for her wasn't that much but it would have been better if she got someone to help her. She was tired because of using a lot of energy.

'Heetah, you're so useless. Simple house chore you can't do'.
He made a sound, like a leer. She hissed, crawled back to bed and checked the time. It was 1.51a.m. They didn't even spend a lot of time. The longest fight she had ever had, that had almost made her lose her life was with Nancy, and that was 50 years ago.




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wow, first time am reading a story written by divipen, and I must confess its thrilling
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cbella
hantonia
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favch:
wow, first time am reading a story written by divipen, and I must confess its thrilling
whr is evajael
pinkfeet
cbella
hantonia
pearl05 oya show

i will show very soon

favch:
wow, first time am reading a story written by divipen, and I must confess its thrilling
whr is evajael
pinkfeet
cbella
hantonia
pearl05 oya show

Thanks

Dz... dz is so beautiful.... Wow..

Promise to hit this street tomorrow.

jagugu88li:
Promise to hit this street tomorrow.

Still waiting ...

pres01:
Dz... dz is so beautiful.... Wow..

Thanks

3

Battle on This Side of the Gate



Gladys stared at her Bible for hours. Something was wrong but she didn't know what. Ever since she got that power, she had stopped having a desire to study her bible. When she received the ability to see visions, she felt good, excited. That was her third week of getting into the realm of this power; yet, it still felt fresh, rich and heavenly. She now imagined things, and saw it happen like a coincidence.

However, for no reason, she had been extremely busy and hadnt had time for her quiet time. Who could have time for a quiet time when one had recently been promoted to the post of the managing director, to lead the best marketing team since the inception of the company?


But being a Saturday, a work-free day, she picked up her Bible to read, but the words were becoming blurry to her. More so, the usual joy and hunger that accompanied reading the Bible were missing.
At first, she attributed the new development to pain and stress from her weekly activities, so she took some seed of Opium Poppy, the herbal seeds she got from a store on Jumia, a Nigerian store, to help relieve such things as pain. Now, that she was awake, agile and fit for any work, she still couldn't get herself to study the Bible. She slapped herself and repeatedly said, 'Gladys Bolawole, the devil cannot control you'.

Maybe she would have garnered a lot of knowledge from the church, but her insatiable desire for more of God and the power that followed him had so much encompassed her being that even if Stella hadn't compelled her to pray, she would have gone to the prayer room herself.

The ordeal that was the most intriguing, yet the scariest of them all, was the moment they started praying one Tuesday. Stella asked her to speak in tongues and blank her mind. It wasn't hard to do. At that moment she wished she had used the lovely rosemary herb or Brahmi herbs, they would have helped her focus.

'Just feel like water, feel everything becoming empty', Stella said and reduced her voice gradually like the dying down of a storm amidst a roaring forest.

That instant, things began to happen. It was as if she saw herself like a leaf flying in the sky. Everything was happening so fast. She saw herself moving into the church. She became two. A cord was attached to her praying self, and the other body was moving towards the church. The experience was so cool. She was excited. She could feel herself from both sides. It was a silver cord. Immediately she got home, she searched the Bible for it, since she had read something around that. Her problem didn't start with her inability to read the Bible. It started like a sprout. The moment she sat to read the bible, something would surely happen at first, it was only phone ringing, neighbors chatting away, dogs barking, birds chirping. But today, she was tired, which was absurd because she had enough sleep. Being tired, when it came to reading the Bible, wasn't one of her features. That was unusual.

Something was wrong. She had to talk to someone, and there was no other person than Stella.
'Gladys, hope all is well? Stella said as soon as Gladys' call got through to her.

'Please, can I come to see you?' Gladys said as she stared at the City Flower laying in a corner of her room with the hope she would get excited about her new ways, but she couldn't feel the joy in reading it.
'This night?

'Yes. I really need to hear your comments on something'.
'My comments? Of course, you can. Just state it'.
'So, can I come to your place?
'Not right now, I'm only receiving your call as a courtesy. I want to lock myself in a room to pray. If it was someone else, I wouldnt answer'.

'I am having a bit of trouble here. Remember that day we were praying at the back of the Church?'
'There are many times weve done that'.
'Yes, this last Tuesday meeting'.
'Oh yes. I felt God's glory radiating through you. The energy you exuded was so great that I was refreshed'.

'Yes, I think I have a problem. I saw myself and I could feel myself in two places at once. I have been seeing for a while now, but it became more pronounced that day'.
'Hmm... That's a spiritual transportation'.
'I know. It doesn't feel right.
'Why do you think so?'

'Ezekiel, in his book, said, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and then he would proceed to describe things of the spirit'.
'Yes. That's right'
'But I feel mine'.
'You are meant to feel it'.

Gladys rose from her fluffy bed, which she had covered with a blue flowery bedspread, and she paced about in the room as she adjusted her hearing aid. 'You don't understand me. I'm not supposed to feel it'.
'Who told you so?'
'It's not consistent with the word of God'.
'Hmm Gladys, what are you now? A guru of God's consistency'.
'No'.
'Did you notice anything strange?
'Yes'.

She stared at her giant mirror and stared at her perfect body. She mindlessly used her finger to trace the curve of her body.
'I saw a silver cord'.
'Like a thin line...Silver?'
'Yes. It was like hands. They were two, actually. Each one was attached to the two bodies. I could feel it in both ways. It was amazing, wonderful and great but scary'.

'Wow. That's a feat many Christians in this generation would not be able to achieve. Even at the peak of their walk with God. That's a big gift'.
Gladys smiled. The mirror was right: she was beautiful.
'The first record of such was in Ecclesiastes by Solomon. Is your Bible close?' Stella continued.
'Yes'.

'Ecclesiastes 12:6. It says remember your creator now while you're young before the cord of life snaps'
'Yes.'
'Do you now see its consistency with the word of God?'
'Not yet'.
'It means we ought to have it. It has to be a part of us'.

Gladys always knew when things were right. Even when she was an unbeliever, she always had a nagging thought that always led her into doing the right thing. Something wasn't right. She was soon becoming wrapped in a trap of weeds, and if she didn't do something about it, she would end in the bottom of the mountain.
'The silver cord is your link to the spirituals', Stella continued. 'You have to learn to use it. It's an exciting thing, really'.
'Thank you. Just that I don't...'

'Gladys, don't bother, I'll be here all the way'.
'Thank you'.
Then, Matthew called to confirm if she would be available to visit Japheth. Although they promised to visit him for more than two weeks, she had been terribly busy and Matthew insisted that she must be the one to follow him up because he wanted Japheth to see someone he was acquainted with.
She stared into the mirror and traced the bulging head of her hearing aid, and wished it wasn't in her life. It was true that every human had a sort of imperfection, but of all the imperfections that ever existed, why was she cursed with ear problem.

She had been drawn to Japheth for no explainable reason. After she got the power she had always craved, and had gotten ready to know more of God, she just found herself always staring at him during Church services. Although the church was big to an extent, she still could see his figure at the front. He loved sitting at the front. Sitting at the front was a characteristic of every first-class student in her school. She was sure he was a goal-getter, and from the look of things he wanted to grow spiritually.

Knowing that they would soon go to his place, she rubbed the cream she made from cinnamon and hot pepper on her body to have a glowing, wrinkleless skin. Even if God would want Japheth to be the one for her, she had to go prepared.

She paused. Why was she suddenly obsessed with her looks? Something was wrong. She had to quickly talk to Sister Stella again. Not today, but definitely on Sunday after the Church service.

Just then, she received a message from Mr. Akanni. He said he wanted to greet her, and said so much rubbish that should be weeded out of his head. The most painful part of his message was that all the words were in capitals. The men of the present age ought to be flogged, and tutored on how to send messages to women. She couldn't fathom why someone would be obsessed with lies, telling her that God wanted him to marry her. Despite the numerous times she said 'no' to him, he kept returning with the assurance that God had sent him to marry her. Even the Sunday after their revival program, he waited till she finished praying with Stella. Gladys hissed as she checked herself in the mirror again.

Suddenly, Elizabeth banged the door and called from outside. She rushed out of the room, and wasn't concerned if she was putting on only her bra and pant. Elizabeth had seen her like that many times. And she had no fear of being seen, no one knew her house, not even the church members. They saw her as someone big in church, someone that was already grounded in the Lord.

'Baby, what hap... Oh my God!' Gladys shouted as she ran back into the room to get her key. Elizabeth's face was blackened, and her fair face had the mark of her mother's hand on it. Her hair was scattered as if they were pulled in different directions. She was weeping without shame.

'Enter. Enter', Gladys said as she opened the door for Elizabeth. Immediately she opened the door, Elizabeth hugged her. She continually patted Elizabeth's head as she locked the door and led her into the house. She set her down on her bed, rushed to her fridge, and returned with a glass cup and a carton of juice.

'Drink', she muttered as she poured the drink for her. Elizabeth was heaving repeatedly as she tried unfailing to stop crying. She would hold the tears for a while and burst into tears again.
'Miss. G, I'll kill my father', she said after gulping down the drink.

'Don't say that. What happened again today?'
'She was drunk. Then she met me watching TV. She thought I hadnt done my assignment, so she started yelling at me'.
'Have you done it?'

'Yes. I did it yesterday, immediately I returned from school. She then came near me and slapped me and started hitting me. She said my dad left her for another woman. That she would show me pepper for what he has done. God will pupunish my daddy'.
'Shhh', Gladys said and buried Elizabeth's head in her chest. 'You don't need to say it'.
'Why can't God just kill him?'

'Hey! That's okay. I'll talk to your mummy'.
'No. Don't talk to her. She likes you. Anyone who tells her the truth is always her enemy'.
'But she can't let this bad behaviour destroy your love for her'.

Elizabeth glanced into her eyes, blinked and shook her head. 'She is only angry. She will change'.
'God pays everyone their due. Now stop crying'.


The book is out.
Ready for your consumption.
You can get PDF, Epub or any other version on Smashwords and Okadabooks by clicking
http://writertain.com/grabbing-the-hot-gate-a-novel-2/

***
Birds in their large numbers flew over her house, and made Stella angry. Her house was like a no-flight zone for birds. They were one of those that always sensed when something had happened. They knew she had removed the protection spell, and decided to have a field day. One of them dropped by the window and continually poked the window. Stella jumped down from the seat she placed on the balcony, and looked about. Different animals scampered from different directions and were passing different pieces of information to her. Someone with a powerful strange evil energy was moving towards her house.
How was that even possible? No one was supposed to know where she was. Lucifer said he had hidden her well from the whole lot of them outside and within Fortune City. He had either lacked power, which wasn't possible or had shown this person where she was. She could wager her life on the latter.
'Jiggs, we would be having a visitor', she said to her parrot. It rattled in its cage and flew out. Immediately Jiggs flew off into the air, Stella connected to it. She always connected with all her familiars far and wide.
She rushed to her underground room to get her cauldron. Someone was coming to her place using an elder tree as a medium of transportation. She had felt the vibration in her spirit. All the demons located in her familiars around Africa had connected to themselves and were trying to get information about this person. She checked her latest spell and played with it. The truth was that even if the person was the most powerful witch in the world, she had the home advantage.
Jiggs croaked and flew towards the house like a mighty wind and crashed into the wall, shrieking. Stella had to hold its beak to keep it from shrieking. She wished the witch had come the next day. At least, she would have met Stella's protection spell. She was supposed to pick the concoction from the coffin she buried it in.
'What is it Jiggs?'
It projected the image of Nancy, the mother of Gregory the third, the high priest of an American coven. She killed him in a battle in 1997. Now, his mother was coming after her in 2016. She dropped Jiggs and jumped about, wondering how she would deal with Nancy. The last time she had an encounter with Nancy, they had both ended seriously injured. Stella spent more than six weeks drinking lavender herb. She looked around to be sure she was ready to take Nancy on. She wasn't really prepared for a battle with Nancy.
She looked around the underground and hoped she would ever live to see it again. However, she wouldn't want her neighbours to see what would happen there. So she tried using a cloaking spell. At least, that would help for a while.
Just as she poised herself in front of her house, the elder tree appeared and Nancy strutted out. Immediately she strolled out, the energy of wickedness exuded from her. Cloud began to gather in the background. Her body was looking fresh, a sign that she recently drank a fresh blood. Her cold eyes scanned the whole compound and rested on Stella. Her red long full hair began to dance in the wind that was howling behind her. Crumbs from the elder tree flew towards her.
'Nancy', she squealed, smiled brightly, and waved at her. 'Hi'.
Nancy glared at her as she moved forward with her rugged staff, which she carved from cedar. The pendant Nancy wore on their first fight now hung from the staff she held. 'Stella, the greatest witch ever lived, who has always been in hiding. How does it feel to always be in hiding?'
'It's boring and awfully peaceful. Sometimes, it always makes me lazy. Just last three weeks, I burnt my head while trying out a new spell', she said and parted her hair, trying to show Nancy. 'You might not see it. It's becoming too small like your life'.
'I can see craziness is still hiding in that tiny head of yours'.
Stella giggled. 'Meanwhile, you forgot to say whose life has been dedicated to doing the most horrible works for Lucifer'.
Nancy growled. 'Oh, I forgot that horrible and foolish part. The part where you don't have a life, where you don't have a family'.
Stella nodded. 'Family sucks. They reduce the level of efficiency. At least, my hiding does not always bring about their death'.
'Yes. That's why I'm here to know why you killed Greggy'.
'Oh! I almost forgot, I had a hand in the death of one of your dead children'.
The dark cloud above had begun to grow darker. Nancys hooded eyes were turning red as the purple dress she wore suddenly began to change to red. 'He was my pride'.
Stella stared at her for a while. 'You're still proud. So how did I kill your pride?'
Nancys grip tightened on the staff as if she was squeezing a piece of paper. 'You killed my son'.
'But I heard he was a bastard like his mother'.
'You bastard... I'll make sure even the earth refuses your dust'.
Stella bared her teeth as she withdrew to give herself the chance to enjoy the view of her house. Jiggs was poised to aim for Nancy's raven. It would have been a great fun to watch the two familiars have a great tug of war, but she just had to deal with Nancy. Her regular self wouldn't have had a desire to destroy Nancy, but Heetah wanted her to and she was desirous of doing just that.
She should have guessed Nancy was reciting a spell in her mind as she stared at her without making any move, but she was still rummaging through her head for what to start with when Nancy pointed her ugly staff at her and shouted, 'deliver my revenge'.
Purple energy transcended from the staff, and hit Stella hard in the chest. She screamed and bent in pain. Her bones began to cackle as if they were boiling. Blisters and cuts began to appear on her body. Nancy had just used the spell of many cuts on her, and that enraged her.
Stella screamed, 'Sylphs of Air I conjure thee, enter Nancy and make her air leave her, now!'
Nancy gasped and choked and grasped her staff as if it would remove the demonic force from her. Stella hurriedly cast a spell that restored her strength. She shook her head.
When she was fine, she knew she didn't have much time before Nancy regained her strength. So she prepared to cast another spell. Probably one that would make Nancy end in a terrible way.
However, as she wrapped her hands in preparation to send a curse at her, Nancy pointed her staff at her and shrieked, 'Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. For dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust'.
The energy was so much that it took a great effort on Heetah's part for her not to be obliterated immediately. Yet, her hands began to crumble into dust. She shrieked and as she began to cast the counter-spell. The hand gradually began to reform. She cried in pain as the bones began to form again. From above, the familiars were having a great fight, and their feathers fell once in a while. She would have loved to see who was winning, but it would be at the expense of her life, which she still loved over fun.
'I told you. I'll send you back to the dust'.
Nancy repeated the curse, and held her there for a while. Her hands gradually changed into dust and poured on the ground. Stella yelled. That was the crux of it. She focused her energy on the mental picture of Nancy and yelled, 'It's the plague, and its going to kill Nancy now because there is no cure. It's the BLACK DEATH!'.
Nancy shrieked and fell, her staff rattling beside her. Stella wasn't going to allow her rise again. It was high time she used the Medusa curse she just learnt. 'I call upon medusas bones, turn her flesh into stone'.
Immediately, Nancy became stone. At the same time, a bird dropped by her side. She turned to watch Jiggs land on the dead raven. It placed its foot on the dead raven and raised its head into the sky. Stella would have laughed, but her hands were growing slowly and painfully, and were sending tears to her eyes. She yelled and rushed to repeatedly kick Nancy. She had always been the one that knew how to send much pain to her. Now that she was dead forever, they would meet in hades.
Although the hand was fully formed, the injury remained as fresh as a knife cut. She crawled into the house to sip in some Lavender. Ruminating on her life, she couldn't help but cry. There was no joy anywhere. Her grandmother had made her a witch almost a thousand years ago so as to avoid the pain and trouble of the world. But every corner of the earth was rigged with pain and trouble. She rested her head on the wall of her room, glanced about and laughed heartily.
'I made it again', she said with tears streaming down her small, tiny head to her tired, slim body. When she was refreshed, she made the elder tree disappear and then dragged Nancy's dead body, rather, body-turned-stone into the house. That was when she had Heetah's and Lucifer's time.
'Why did you allow Nancy find me? I thought I was well hidden'.
'She sacrificed ten little children for Lord Lucifer to reveal where you are', Heetah said.
'That's bribery'.
'That's how we roll'.
'That means I need human sacrifices to stay hidden again'.
'On the full moon'.
She knew that she should enjoy every bit of it, but maybe going to Church in Fortune City was having a toll on her. She needed an escape from her way of life, from Lucifer.
However, she didn't have time to really think of it before Heetah sent pain into all parts of her body. She squirmed and crumbled to the ground. In those few seconds, her spirit went from being the agile woman she was to the sick old woman her spirit really was. When Heetah released her, she saw her phone's light blink. She answered Gladys' call, and later helped Jiggs carry its bounty into its cage. Afterwards, she went to get more Lavender. She hurried into the room to fix her hand, but Heetah wouldn't help her heal it fast.

***
'Who is that?' Mirabel said and peeped nonchalantly into Japheth's phone. He pulled it away and smiled. They were seated in his car, getting ready to go home. But one of the nurses pleaded with him to give her a lift to her place and was delaying them. Since they weren't in a hurry, they waited and were busy typing into her phone until Alexis called Japheth and he answered grumpily.
'It's nobody'.
'Seriously?' She said and looked up from her phone. She was sitting cross-legged in her white gown, and he wished it was her waiting for him at home, and not Alexis.
'Seriously'.
'Then, let me see it'.
'It's Aunty Gbemy. You remember her'.
'Yes. That your very beautiful Aunt'.
'I won't really call her very beautiful'.
'That's your babyish opinion. Let me see her number'.
He gritted. 'It's true'.
She opened her palm.' Picture or I don't believe'.
She dumped her phone on her laps and turned to him.
'OMG. You have a girlfriend'.
He swallowed hard and wished she wouldn't find out about Alexis this way. 'She is not my girlfriend'.
'What's her name? Let me see The Phone', she said as she yanked the phone from his hand, rattling hers, and making it land on the floor of the car. She picked hers while she firmly held his phone as she scrolled through his call record. 'Alexis. Fine name', she said as he tried to collect it.
'She is just a friend'.
She winked at him. 'How many times have you called me?'
'We meet'
'Come on. You should be happy, fish'.
'She is not my girlfriend'.
He nodded and was saved by the other nurse, whom Japheth wanted to give a lift. He couldn't take his mind off what must be running in Mirabel's mind. She had just acted as if she didn't discover something big. After they dropped the lady, Mirabel talked generally, but refused to talk about Alexis. When they got to her house, she cuddled his shoulders.
'If she is the lucky lady, congrats. And remember to bring her to our Church'.
He nodded and watched her walk off. She didn't turn back to say goodbye.
'She is not my girlfriend', he shouted after her. But she didn't turn still.
Whatever he had in mind about Alexis vanished when he met her in his bedroom, dressed like a pin-up model.

Thanks for sharing!

Alejoas:
Thanks for sharing!

You're really welcome

This is so good. Thanks for sharing

sosonwa:
This is so good. Thanks for sharing

Awawwnn... Thanks a lot.. I needed the comment...

I see snippets of Frank Perreti, Elaine Brown...it's good though I'm not through with the excerpts.

BTW, a kingdom divided against itself will not stand. Spells of misdirection may work briefly, but powers always recognise one of their own. There is no way Christina could not realise she wasnt dealing with a christian

SilvanusII:
I see snippets of Frank Perreti, Elaine Brown...it's good though I'm not through with the excerpts.

BTW, a kingdom divided against itself will not stand. Spells of misdirection may work briefly, but powers always recognise one of their own. There is no way Christina could not realise she wasnt dealing with a christian

Let's hope and see too... Thanks very much for this comment... you just made a man happy...

Aceed:
When you log in into Nairaland these days, you feel the rottenness that has become of it.

How I wish this kind of stories still abound in the literature section but I doubt if this wish can be granted me.

I can still remember the days when this section was Nairaland flagship, every other section paled in comparison!

Now you just come to Nairaland and all what you see are topics promoting vanity, how to make money effortlessly, how to become a sought after se.x figure, lemme rephrase, how to become se.xy, religious and tribal bashings/e-skirmishes, nothing of considerable quality at all.

People foolishly want more likes and shares at a very costly expense - morals, quality, etc.

Abeg before epistle go land and lazy people begin complain...

Divepen, God bless you richly, hope say you no dey among people wey wan free sheeples. People wey never liberate themselves

First story I've read all the updates in years and I've never read a story posted in part to entice readers to buy when I know before hand.

Wonderful work, Divepen.

Wowww... This is indeed an epistle. I would have loved to post all stories I will ever write for free. Bu man must chop....

Aceed:


I know that.

I was just making complaints about the forum, who knows, if there were up and coming writers like you and others from the era of Roy.over and co, we would be seeing goodnews of bestsellers, etc that will benefit society and mankind instead of news like one street boy signing another street boy no hating

From the government and public entities to the private sector, everyone is promoting vanity and we're expecting a good country, a good society?

Do people really believe such kind of magic is in existence?

Even satan doesn't go for vain things, he asks for souls, blood, things without pricetag in exchange for giving you vain things...

But when Jesus says I gave my life for you, can you give yours for me?

You see rants like he doesn't exist!, how can he sit around watching evil happen to people?, they begin to blame Him for the evil they brought upon themselves, consciously or not.

Alright, Jesus says again hopeful they can understand, give me your life so that I can bear your burdens?

They stop, rewind and repeat the rants being ignorant of the death creeping slowly into them!



But, once in a while you fit release experimental quality short scripts for us na anytime wey you get 'writers block' like the way senbonzakura dey do before

Lol... I have plans for that baba... I hope I don't need writer's block. Meanwhile, this book is free till March 1st

Intresting piece. Couldnt drop my phone until i finished it

this is an interesting read, I see a great mind behind these letters, a mind deep, wide and rich at the same time. Thank you for this.
It is refreshing and different from "naira land usuals".

Sikiratu:
this is an interesting read, I see a great mind behind these letters, a mind deep, wide and rich at the same time. Thank you for this.
It is refreshing and different from "naira land usuals".

Wow....Wow... For only me.. Thanks. Wow...