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Ice4jez: My. Main man royver .u re very talented. pls write dat book cos pple like me will surely buy it

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“It’s not what you think,” she said. “I’m not here to hurt you or anything like that. It’s just…what you have, it drives me crazy. It’s like I’m a bee being drawn to honey.”

I continued to watch her silently as she adjusted a little on my bed. She had since come over her shocking transformation in my room and was now drinking a glass of water I had offered her. Everything was so clear to me now, I could see her aura, her passion, I could almost even hear her thoughts. I was more alert than I had been since my last encounter with Mr A**** and I was not in a very good mood.

“You tried to seduce me, you more or less put me under a spell the moment you saw me, you wanted to make me yours by sleeping with me and taking my powers…which part of any of these did not involve hurting me?!”

“The seduction part?” she said with a wry smile. I frowned and she had that look of alarm in her face again before calming down.

“What’s that about, anyway?”I said angrily.

“What?” she asked.

“Anytime I get upset with you, you have this frightened look on your face…”

“Well,” she said, “you need to see your own aura when you are upset. It lights up in violent flames, as if you want to turn everything around you
to ashes.”

She was right. i did feel like I could set everything on fire if I wanted to. I was actually angry at myself for being so blind as to be almost used by this pretty damsel. I was so angry in fact, that I had my sight fully open, I could feel spiritual energy coursing through my veins and for a moment I felt I was going to have a fit. I closed my eyes and tried to get a hold of myself and then I opened them and saw jenny looking at me with apprehension. It was a bit difficult remaining angry with Jenny for long; she seemed so delicate. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

“So, which part of this business trip is my effort and which part is yours?” I asked.

She looked a little surprised. “I have already told you, my influence stopped at making sure I saw the man who had such an alluring and powerful voice. The rest of it was all you.”

“I’d hate to think I got here through any way other than my own effort…” I said.

“Even if you did, it wouldn’t be your fault because you didn’t solicit for help. Come on, I’m telling you the truth. I promised I would.”

“Okay then”, I replied. “What were you planning to do to me the moment you had me under your power?”

“Had you under my power?” she laughed. “It seems you do not know your own strength, Chukwudi. There is no way I would have been able to
control you, I just wanted to get you in a position where I could…er…manipulate you into doing favors for me.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Well, someone like you would have a lot of pull…or influence in the spirit realm, having you by my side would have made me more formidable to…er…competitors.”

“There’s more of you?” I asked incredulously.

“Why so surprised?” she said smiling, “human beings are all over the place, what makes you think we mer-people won’t be the same?”

I sighed. But I was much calmer inwardly now. I knew that she was more frightened of me than I was of her though I still wasn’t sure why. I guess it had to do with what she thought I could do, things I obviously wasn’t aware of.

“So how did you get your powers chuks?” she asked. “I see no dark light in you so you can’t be a ritualist or anything like that.”

“I’m a Christian.” I said.

“I know,” she replied. “I can see the seal that identifies true followers of the Son of GOD on you. And the worn hilt of your two-edged sword
indicates that you have been close to your guardian angel for a long time, although I cannot see him anywhere”.


“I have a sword?” I exclaimed. Chukwudi had mentioned something about this a long time ago. “How do I use it? Can I use it here?”


“How should I know?” she asked. “It’s your sword. Haven’t you drawn it from its hilt before?”


I hadn’t experienced anybody describing the manifested me before and it was a bit unnerving. I decided to change the subject.


“Tell me about the ring” I said.

She looked down at the silver ring that was once again encircling her index finger. It shone brightly and on closer inspection I could see small embers of fire, blue and hazy, emanating from it.


“It became necessary after I talked to you for the first time. Your voice alone caused me to manifest in my office. I passed out after talking to you.” She saw the alarmed look on my face and smiled. “Don’t worry, nobody read anything into it. But my curiosity was aroused. I wanted to meet you, see what kind of man you were, but I knew if I came in close contact with you I would probably manifest again, so I got the ring.

“What does it do?”I asked.

“It sort of scrambles powers, sometimes drains them. It keeps the person it affects deeply embedded in this earth realm and so he doesn’t see things that go on in the spirit realm. Even with it on, it was still difficult to suppress your Sight, but it enabled me to work my seductive charms on you. I don’t understand though, it should have worked in that area at least. You must really love your fiancé.

“Yeah, she’s an absolute angel.” I said.

She looked at me with those piercing eyes, “I wish I could experience the kind of love you have for her. Most of the men I have come across are more interested in my looks than in my personality. It gets quite irritating after a while. I don’t even need to use any charm on them, I just smile and they fall at my feet. I eventually get what I want from them without having to use any magic whatsoever.”

“You get what you want? How do you mean?”

She sighed. “I’m not evil Chuks…”

“That point is very debatable.” I countered.

“Well I’m telling you that I’m not! I can be labeled bad, naughty, a cheat maybe, but I’m not evil. We mermaids are individuals like any other race, we have the good, the bad and the ugly among us as well and I’m telling you, when you see an evil mermaid, you’ll know.” She replied indignantly.

“So what did you mean by you get what you want?” I asked.

“Haven’t you used your sight to gain a favor or two before? Haven’t you used it to help you choose friends, stay close to those that would benefit you? Do you call that being evil? I have used my beauty to make my transition to success smooth but that hardly classifies me as being evil. Other ordinary girls do the same.”

I heard a beeping sound and I looked at my watch. It was already 5pm. How time flies when you are having fun. Or interrogating a mermaid.

“You’ll have to go. I want to have some rest and talk to my Nina. Then there are some files I have to work on before tomorrow, right?” I said.

“Or you could let me stay the night, knowing who and what I am, knowing I’m as much under your power now as you were almost under mine,
and I’ll persuade the boss to move the deadline tomorrow.” She said.

“Wow,” I whistled, “You don’t give up easily do you?”

“No I do not sir.” She said and smiled again. No matter how many times she smiled I couldn’t get tired of it. It was uncanny. “Is there any other
thing you want to ask me?”

“Yeah,” I said, “how come you could see the leopard in the field?”

“I’m a mermaid, chuks. My vision though the veil is not torn out when I come into this realm. Anyone with half a gift for seeing things others
cannot see would have seen the leopard.”

“So was it a kind of test? For me, to get me off guard or to prove my powers?” I asked curiously.

She stopped smiling then and her face looked scared again. “Actually, I see a lot of things on this job, things I would rather not talk about,
maybe because I have nobody to talk about it to…but, that leopard has been there since the day we arrived in Asaba a week ago. Sometimes the leopard appears well fed and quiet, and at other times it seems agitated, hungry and even angry. The first time I saw it I mistook it for Mr Bells pet but then the next day I saw two leopards and one of them had two tails. One of them was Sidney of course and the other was the manifestation. Sidney saw it as well and paid obeisance to it. Nobody knew why Mr bells’ leopard was behaving the way it was but I knew…”


“Wait, back up! Sidney can see the manifested leopard?” I said quite surprised.


“Why of course,” she replied. “Sidney can see everything, he does belong to the cat family, and their eyes are even sharper than ours. Sidney
knows what I am and always becomes wary when I’m near him. I don’t like cats much either whether big or small so I try to avoid him.”

“So, then, If you were not the one that conjured up the leopard then who did?”


Jenny met my eyes. “I think one of our staff is a man-animal.”

mZ sleeq: Nice write up, royver

thans ma

peterpeteru: Very well said bro. Keep up d gud work, God bless u more. In fact, 4 dis gr8 job u r doing... Am givin u my grandma! She s 75 and sexy. 4gt dowry.

The thing about this story is that I'm writing it day by day. If you were reading the entire novel I guess it would make more sense. This is what happened the night jenny was in chukwudi's room, this is another victim. We'll still get back to the discussion don't worry although not everything discussed will be mentioned. If it was, it would spoil the upcoming surprises

barackodam: Am i d only 1 that seem to tink ds myt b d rong update?

Its not.

She steadied herself as she tried walking down the street with her customers. The drug they had placed in her drink was beginning to take effect. She didn’t panic then though, she had been drugged before. It was one of the hazards of the trade. Some of the customers got off by sedating the girls before being intimate with them, they said it made them feel powerful, ”in charge”. Her first experience of drug rape had been quite nasty and she had since found a local antidote that she used whenever she felt the effects of being drugged. She had used it on many an occasion and it helped her to keep a clear head although she pretended to still be drugged so her clients could enjoy themselves. It brought in more money for heart the end of the day. This one however was kicking in faster than usual. But they were already at the car and they were behaving like such perfect gentlemen, opening the door for her and all. So she got in.


A few moments passed and she was out again. She opened her purse and took out a small bottle of Robb which had been filled with a white powdery substance and she inhaled some of it. The chemical coursed through her system and her vision cleared but only temporarily. She walked faster, trying to see if she could get back to the junction where there were people, where there was nightlife. She never should have followed these strange men to this lonely corner. There was nobody in sight. It was not as if she hadn’t followed customers to precarious positions before but these guys had given started giving off a particularly bad vibe, especially the one that was in the driver’s seat. He just let off an aura that was…there was no other word to describe it…evil. A little voice had told her to steer clear but she had been attracted by the beautiful blue Camry, the handsome smile of the man at the back seat, and the huge bundle of notes they had displayed in front of her. She had followed them in the car to this alleyway, they had shared some more drinks and she had known almost immediately that she had been drugged again but she still didn’t mind, she still would have played along, she had secretly slipped in her antidote in the drink and was pretending to be falling asleep when she heard the driver say

“See, she’s not going to run this time”.

The other man had said, “Good, I’m really really hungry and I intend to suck her dry”

She smiled inwardly to herself. What sort of perverted fetishes were these folks into?

The next thing she heard was:

"Better not get any blood on my car, I just washed the upholstery."

Her heartbeat began to race. Maybe they thought she might be a virgin? Or they wanted to rough her up a bit? She had experiences with customers like that too.

Don’t worry. I’ll break her neck and drink all the blood from there. She won’t struggle.



And the world stood still as her heart jumped into her mouth. What the hell did they mean by that? She had decided to play smart, she was still
in the car and if she raised an alarm they might kill her. She had pretended to open her eyes slowly and smiled stupidly at them. They grinned back, looking as handsome and innocent as ever.


“Do you boys mind if I take a pee first? I’m very pressed.” She said.

The driver held her arm gently but firmly, “That won’t be necessary baby. What we want to do will not take long.”

She thought quickly, “Yeah, but it’s already coming out, guess am gonna wet myself eh?” and she giggled for effect.

A look of disgust came over the driver’s face. “What, in my car? Oya go out, go out,quick!” and he opened the door and shoved her out despite protests from his friend at the back. It was when she had gotten to her feet that she realized that despite her antidote, the drug was still making her feel dizzy. She pretended to walk to the bushes at the side of the road as going to relieve herself there, then suddenly began walking towards the junction. It was a bit far but she felt they would let her go if they thought their drug would soon make her pass out. That way they could collect her body without causing a scene. Unfortunately it seemed that that was exactly what would happen as this was her third sniff of the antidote and it had only cleared her head for a few seconds.

She tried to open her mouth and call out but her vocal cords were paralysed. She was panicking now. She opened up the bottle of Robb and downed its entire contents and her vision cleared once again. She looked ahead; the junction was an island of light a few yards away, teeming with night life, filled with people. Tears came to her eyes as she thought of what her parents would say if anything happened to her. They thought she was at school studying, getting her degree, but here she was, in the middle of nowhere, her life in jeopardy. She thought of the numerous times he r roommate had warned her against these night excursions. She had laughed and called her roommate a “learner”, a prude, a self righteous born again. She remembered how her mother had knelt down and begged her to face her studies when she got to school, to join a fellowship, to keep with good friends, quiet friends. And she had nodded in agreement to keep her mum happy but deep down had decided that she would not let her youth go to waste. Well, it seemed it would go to waste tonight after all…

She heard the car door open, they were coming for her, they were going to drag her back to the car and drain her blood. She sobbed and tried
to run but her legs were heavy. All she could do was quicken her pace a little.



Then she heard a growl. A blood curdling growl .



She turned around and her eyes that had been narrowed from sedation opened wide in fear. A few feet behind her was the strangest and most fearsome beast she had ever seen. It looked like a leopard, like the ones she had seen in pictures, with yellow and black spots and a small mane at the neck. The head however was like that of a human being. It had two tails that swished excitedly from side to side. It was three times the size of the largest dog she had ever seen. It was stalking her, ambling up to her, seemingly in no hurry. She opened her mouth to scream but once again nothing came out. She turned and quickened her pace, willing her legs, her heavy legs, to run, but try as she might she could only manage to increase her pace slightly. She looked forward again and saw the island of light and noise. She was almost there. The tears were blinding her eyes as she struggled with all that was in her to get to that place, that safe haven. But somewhere deep within her she knew she wasn’t going to make it. An old memory came back to her, something she used to do as a child in the darkness of her room, when she was frightened and alone and mommy and daddy had gone to their rooms, something she had forgotten as she grew and became wise to the things of the world;


“Jesus help me, a poor sinner. Jesus help me, a poor sinner…”


She chanted it in her mind, for her mouth was still numb, she chanted like a little child as she strove towards the light. And there was a snap as the creature stepped on a piece of wood close to her. It had caught up, she could feel its breath on her legs. It was behaving very un-animalistic, an animal would have attacked, tore at her by now. This leopard creature was savouring her, smelling her, playing with her as if it had a reasoning brain and was thinking how delicious she would be…

She tripped on something and fell. Never once did her teary eyes leave that island of light. She cried now and was able to let out a whimper as
the antidote made one final effort to neutralize the substance she had been given. But it would not be enough, she was still too far. Teeth that seemed to be made of iron gripped her leg and dug easily into her flesh as pain shot up to her brain and she cried out a little louder this time. Still not enough. She began to pass out as she felt the creature dragging her limp body easily back towards the car and she remembered thinking it would have been better if she had been sedated after all…



“Hey…HEY! What are you doing? Wetin be dat?!” she looked up and in her dimmed vision saw a man standing in a nearby bush, relieving himself of pent up urine. She smelled the alcohol on him and knew he was drunk. He wouldn’t be of any help to her whatsoever. But then the man suddenly shone his torch in her direction and must have seen what was pulling her away because he gave out an ear-piercing scream. Immediately people from the junction started running in their direction and she felt the creature relinquish its grip. There was some scurrying of feet and a screech of tires as the beautiful blue Camry zoomed off.

“Jesoooos!”

“Na which kain dog be dat?”

“Nna, check whether she still dey breathe o…”

A hand came close to her face and she grabbed the hand with all her might, not letting go, and crying feebly into the night air.

Happy new year! I've pm'ed you. You can go ahead, just gimme the link as usual.
Nice story by the way.

I looked into her beautiful piercing eyes and knew there was no need to pretend.

“Yes,” I said. “Yes I do.”

“And you are not scared?” she whispered.

“Not scared, just cautious.” I replied.

That seemed to please her a lot. She grinned and put a finger to her lips as the driver entered into the car and turned on the ignition. On our way back she kept on making suggestive motions, opening and closing her jean covered legs and biting her finger seductively. I had to make a stern face when she started running her hands down my thighs. She chuckled and kept to herself until we got to the hotel. I came down from the car and she followed suit “to go over a few plans” she told the driver, who shrugged and drove off.
I turned as she walked into the lobby with me.

“This won’t happen.” I said.

“What won’t happen?” she asked innocently.

“You know,” I said, “The flirting over the phone was really nice but like I’ve told you numerous times, I have a girlfriend!”

“Fiancee”, she corrected with a show of those beautiful pearls that were her teeth. “And like I’ve told you numerous times, it doesn’t matter, not
to me-“

“Well it matters to me!” I said and for the first time I raised my voice against her angrily. She looked genuinely alarmed and took a step back, but then she calmed herself again and I noticed that she was clutching her index finger on her right hand. She had done that before when she had manifested in my room. I watched as she slowly unclasped her hands and I saw a ring.

“Can we at least continue this discussion in your room?” she said and looked behind me. I turned around and saw the receptionist watching
us surreptitiously. I sighed and led her upstairs.

“D19?” she said a little puzzled.

“Yeah, why?” I asked.

“I didn’t notice the last time she was here,” she said, blushing a little. “You were supposed to be in D16. I’ll tell the manager to change it.”

“No, don’t. “I said, opening the door. “There’s nothing wrong with this room and I kind of like the view.”

As usual, the room had been arranged and I was grateful. Jenny walked over to the window and looked through it to the car park in front. “Some view,” she said and went to sit on the bed. I stood there for a moment then went to sit on the sofa at the other corner of the room. She chuckled.

“You are resilient!” she said and took off her shoes. I watched her warily.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to rape you,” and she stretched her feet a bit, “those high heels were killing me. When we invented it we didn’t think your girls would accept it so easily.”

“What?” I said, stunned. “What did you say?”

“Yeah,” she said, wiggling her toes sexily. Even looking at her toes aroused me, I just couldn’t understand it. “And the wigs, fake eyelashes, sexy
clothes? That’s us too. Soon we will take over your civilization and rule the earth.”

I looked long and hard at her and she remained silent and watched me, her face blank.

“Naah, you’re lying.” I said finally. “That’s the first time your smile has left your face.”

She burst into laughter then, her smile coming back full force “You should have seen the look on your face!” she said holding her heaving chest
and still laughing. “You looked like you were going to burst!”


I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “Well, I’ve never encountered a mermaid before, I don’t know what to expect.”

“What would you have done? Shoot flames at me?”

She saw the look on my face and shook her head gently.”Yes, I know what you are too; I know what you can do. I felt it over the phone the first day I talked with you. That’s why I wanted to get to know you so desperately, Chuks. The raw power I felt, the spiritual pressure…it was exhilarating!”

“Really?” I said, “Is that why you arranged for me to be brought here instead of my boss?”

She eyed me mischievously and grinned “Don’t sound like that, I only hinted that you had done a marvelous job and that it would be better for
continuation sake if you came to personally supervise what you had started. My superiors ran with the suggestion from there.” She got up from the bed and walked over, cat-like, to me. “I can make you even stronger Chuks, if you’ll just promise to be mine…”

“No thanks,” I said. “Not at all interested.”

“Are you sure?” she asked and sat slowly on my lap. I couldn’t move. Her skin was terribly soft and warm and my mind swirled uncontrollably into lustful desires for this ravishingly beautiful creature. I closed my eyes and pictured Nina’s face. My lovely wonderful, beautiful Nina.
I heard her voice, silky smooth and soft, “Thinking about her won’t help, you know…” she said, and I felt her fingers on my lips, my chin, and then running down my chest. “I dot even want to marry you or anything, it will just be a onetime fling, I just want to feel your power Chuks, that’s all.”

She was kissing my neck, nibbling on my ears, and even though I knew what she was I almost didn’t care. Almost. I held her firmly and tried
pushing her away. My arms felt like they were made of iron, exceedingly heavy and unwilling to obey the command of their master, my brain.

“No, I told you...this isn’t going to happen”

“Yes it is” she said kissed my neck again. She was deliberately avoiding my lips and I knew there was important about that but right now I couldn’t think straight, all my body was on fire, sensations I didn’t even think were possible were coursing through me; the more I resisted the more my hands became heavy. Then I opened my eyes and saw Chukwudi the stronger standing in the middle of the room. He was shaking his head and saying something but I couldn’t hear him. I closed my eyes again as she continued to caress me and when I opened them again Chukwudi was closer and gesticulating with his hands and saying something over and over. I tried to read his lips.

The ring

I traced my heavy leaden arms down to her hand and she smiled at me and intertwined my fingers with hers. She must have thought I was finally giving in. I felt for the ring and finally came upon it on her index finger. Then I mustered all my strength and pulled.
The ring came off with a pop as her knuckles crackled. And all the feeling s I had been having faded away like magic. She drew back, her mouth wide open but no sound coming out. For the first time her face was contorted into an ugly mask filled with expressions of pain and horror. She fell to the floor as if I had pushed her and her face became covered in scales. The scales spread from her face to her whole body and finally her tail, which had appeared out of nowhere. Two small fish swam around her body as if she were underwater.


“MY RING! GIVE IT TO ME!” she screamed.


I looked around me and I could see everything. The two couples that had used this room previously, one couple being the manager and his woman; a dampening red flame coming out of the ring and burning bright in my hand, being engulfed by the flames coming out of my own hand, my own flames. It was like seeing clearly after having blurred vision for a long time.

“You were blinding me with this, weren’t you? I asked, “How did you know I had the sight? Did you get that from listening to my voice too?”

I was watching her and she seemed to be having trouble breathing, she was gasping for air and her skin had turned a sickly green colour. I didn’t know if it was part of the manifestation or if it was happening live.

“I didn’t know what you could do,” she faltered, “I didn’t know about your sight or whatever powers you possessed. The ring, it does my… please just give it back!”

“Promise to not use the power against me again.” I said.

“Yes, I promise!”

“Promise to not try any funny tricks on me?”

“I promise!” she whispered harshly.

“Promise to be truthful to me at all times?” I know, she wasn’t a genie, but I had the feeling that the moment I gave the ring back I would have
lost a big chance for favors…”

She looked at me and despite her obvious pain she managed a smile “I promise Chuks. Now please give me my ring.”

I gave her the ring and she put it back on. Her scales vanished and her tail split in two. Soon there was a very beautiful lady sitting on my bed once again.

“You could have asked for riches, you know.” She said dryly.

“Before you say anything else, I have to ask: you don’t turn into a mermaid anytime someone snatches off your ring, do you?

“No,” she said quietly, not looking at me. “You caused that.”

I sat back and took a deep breath. “It looks like we are going to have a discussion after all.”

Megaflex: Pls can som1 refer me 2 Roys previous wrk * I c things odas dont *?? I need 2 read it 2 kip myself busy b4 d continuatn of this piece 2moro

https://www.nairaland.com/1503988/see-things-others-not-see#19294106

This is my previous work. Thanks for the interest.

https://www.nairaland.com/1569523/claw-tail-cross Pls follow the above link for my next story. Thanks.

bishop kay: Bros I beg u tight.. please has this been made into a book? u know I hate waiting.... I want 2 buy dis book immediately if possible.

The book should be available for sale January ending GOd willing. Thanks!

Thanks so very much to everyone, I appreciate your comments and encouragements

I have a lot of stuff doing today and tomorrow so I'm sorry I probably won't be able to update until the 2nd of Jan. Pls bear with me.

Its DEC 31st, last day of 2013! We thank GOD for making us see the end of this year. For some of us it has been tough, for others it has been a drive-thru but all in all we are grateful for all that was learnt and accomplished. The past is history and tomorrow is in our hands! Lets make 2014 a year of monumental achievements!

Wishing everybody a Happy New Year 2014.

Wealthyone: 2 updates within a short period of tym despite ur fone was/is misbehaving. U make tinz happen roy. 1000000 likes for u

Dear Chucks, why do u get so carried away u can't differentiate a manifestation from real happenings After claiming chucks d stronger made u realise how powerful u are. Don't disappoint chucks d stronger (yourself).

Thanks.
Don't mind him, his brain is getting some interference. he'll soon sort himself out.

We followed our usual route to the firm where we stopped briefly to pick up a few documents. Then we headed out towards the field. It was on the outskirts of town, a place not yet developed and covered with a lot of thick bushes and tall grasses. The piece of land to be used had been cleared out and a bulldozer was currently working on leveling the place. Jenny took me along to the workers and introduced me to the foreman, who was also Lebanese. There was an assistant foreman, an indigene of the eastern part of the country who spoke to us in a deeply accented voice. I addressed him in his native tongue and we exchanged pleasantries after which he went on to complain of some of the working conditions and if I could do anything about it. I replied that I would try and he walked off looking satisfied. I turned back to Jenny and the Lebanese man who were looking at me curiously.
"He says they would like better working equipment and someone to provide lunch while they work instead of making the workers wander off."

The Lebanese man nodded and went to make a call. Jenny looked at me admiringly.
"You have barely set foot here and already you are changing things" she said.

I shrugged. "I just happen to speak the language, that's all. How about you? Arent you from around here?"

She nodded. "Originally, yes, bit I grew up in Warri and among foreigners and never really picked up the language. I'm learning every day sha." She looked at me, "maybe you can teach me?"

I smiled and walked towards the edge of the clearing and she followed me. I tried to change the subject.
"I'm happy your firm has been able to create some jobs here. There must be around a hundred workers on this site!" I said.

She walked beside me replying, "two hundred. And we hope to employ more when we set up proper." She picked out her phone from her pocket suddenly, as if it had been vibrating, "hello. Yes? They are?" And she turned to me. "Some of our board members are around".

"Let's go and join them." I said, and we turned around.

We came back to the clearing just as two cars pulled up. The doors opened and a man and the woman I had seen with the short hair came out. She was a pretty lady and wore minimal makeup, and was a little on the slim side. Her boss was a mountain of a man, huge, with his shirt buttons almost popping out of their positions as they tried to imprison a pot belly. From the other car came out two young men that looked left they would be in their late thirties. Jenny introduced me to them and we sat down in a makeshift platform We were still talking when I saw something move in the long grass.

It moved in the tall grass and surrounding bushes and was extremely quiet. I watched it from the corner of my eye and soon it came into the clearing and into full view.

Sidney...

"Well, I suppose Mr Bells is somewhere around?" I asked. They all stopped talking for a moment and Mr John, the huge man said "No he isn't . He is attending a meeting on the other side of town..."

"Well, who brought his pet leopard?" I asked and pointed at the leopard that was now standing calmly behind them.

All three men jumped violently and jenny and the other lady gave shrill lady-like screams. They all whipped around and then - started Laughing.

"Very funny Chuks, you got us! The Lebanese called Engman said.

"Got you?" I asked, puzzled. "How?"

"Well there's nothing there sir." The short haired girl grinned. "My name is Chioma, by the way."

"Yeah, Chuks jokes like that sometimes..." Jenny said smiling disarmingly and the men nodded.

But I could see it. It stood like a statue behind them, poised as if tracking down a prey.

I looked at this leopard closely. It was almost like the other one I had seen the day before but on further observation it was definitely bigger and more majestic. It's coat shimmered brightly in the sunlight and it raised its head as if surveying its territory. And it had two tails.

A manifestation.

I was mixing things up too much on this trip. Something wasnt right.

And then I realised that they were all looking at me, Jenny especially was giving me a "say-something-fast" look

I laughed along to cover up and everyone relaxed. I was further introduced to Mr kelvin and Mr Obi who shook hands with me heartily. We discussed some more and then Jenny said it was time for us to go. I went back to the car with her and we sat in the back seat waiting for the driver. Jenny was oddly quiet.

"What is it?" I asked.

She remained quiet for a while then spoke:

"That's why you are avoiding me and being nervous around me."

"What? I don't understand." I said.

She turned to face me.

"If you could see that leopard just now, then you have the sight. That means you can see me. The real me."

I held my breath. She smiled and traced her fingers along my chin.

"You know I am a mermaid don't you?"

My phone is showing "storage space running out". Had to be typing it piece by piece.

The next morning I had taken my bath, dressed casually and gone downstairs to the hotel restaurant to have my breakfast of bread and tea and eggs. It cost a crazy N1500 but I wasn't paying and so I decided to enjoy myself a little. I was still eating when I received an "official" text from the firm, telling me someone would come to pick me up in an hour. I sighed. Jenny was supposed to take me on some sort of field trip but after yesterday's encounter I wasn't sure she was still going to show up. Yes, she had said she wouldn't give up on me, but in retrospect I suspected she had said it out of an embarrassed bravado. I wouldn't be surprised if I got a new escort from Leemen's today. I remembered vaguely a lady who was trying to get my attention yesterday at the meeting, a young woman with short hair...but jenny had taken all of my attention before and after the meeting so much so that I hadn't had the chance to interact with anyone else.

I hadn't really encountered a mermaid before but then again I hadn't had this much power before the awakening of chukwudi the stronger. He had thought me(or rather, I had taught myself-the whole concept still got me confused sometimes) how to completely use my 'Sight' and the more I learned, the more I realised that I had been looking into the other realm with my eyes half opened. I might have encountered dozens of them without even knowing it. What I was used to seeing were manifestations of people's problems; The greed demon on my boss' head, Lane the gateman back in Lagos with his ever present single file of beer bottles marching behind him, a loud mouthed pastor with an empty soul. It was only after the awakening of chukwudi the stronger that my 'sight' improved tremendously. I even had to learn how to close it up a little to avoid being overwhelmed by the problems of others. I had kept it dim for a few months now and so it was when I came to Asaba. But after yesterday's matter I was a little jumpy and so had done a bit of eye opening before o came out this morning. So far, apart from glancing at the hotel manager who passed by me in the hallway and realising he was having an affair with one of the maids, nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

I was thinking about all of this when the restaurant doors opened and who should be there lighting up the doorway but Jenny! She looked as sexy as ever even though she dressed simply in a red short sleeved top with an insignia "biTe me!" on the front and a tight fitting blue jeans . the top stopped at her midriff and her beautiful flat belly was exposed proudly for all to see. Despite warning bells about what happened yesterday going off in my head my jaw dropped.
She took one look at me, smiled coyly , and I shit my mouth. Being good around her was going to require a lot of will power.

"Good morning my Prince, did you sleep well? I hope not."

"You hope not?" I asked . "Why?"

"After the issue we had yesterday I want to believe your night was haunted with dreams of me. If not then that means I still have a lot of work to do." And she grinned mischeviously.

Nina, Nina, Nina, Nina...

What are you doing? She asked.

Using my girlfriend's name like a mantra to ward you off, I thought. Bit instead I said, "Nothing." Then I paused for a bit before adding "I have a girlfriend-"

"You sound like a broken record," she said and made a swat at the air as if warding off an annoying fly "Can't we just be friends? We are both adults and I would very much like to enjoy your...company."

"Yeah," I said. "So long as its nothing...er...naughty."

She laughed. "You actually sound a little scared! Don't worry my Prince...I don't bite. And besides I seem to be making some headway."

"How so?" I asked, getting up from my finished breakfast and walking up to her.

"Well yesterday you had a fiancee. Today she is just your girlfriend." And she winked and walked off, her hips swaying gently from side to side.

*********
I had watched, or is it read, somewhere that animals can smell fear. I also remembered something else about predators not killing to eat unless they were hungry. Right now I was hoping this leopard had been well fed because from the way I was feeling I imagined I would be giving off a pretty strong smell of fear right now. I couldn’t really think of any way out of my predicament; if I tried to run, the leopard would definitely catch me. If I shouted for help it might aggravate the animal. What would you have done in such a situation? So I just continued to stroke the leopard and pray someone would come and save me from this situation. It seemed to enjoy the petting and lay down on its belly, my hand never leaving it’s head.

“Wow. That’s impressive. Most Nigerians freak out when they see Sidney.” I heard a heavily accented voice say.

I looked up and saw it was one of the foreign partners from the meeting. Mr Bells, a Lebanese man, came closer, with his hands in his suit pockets. He was stockily built and had a stubble of a beard that begged to be trimmed. His smile was slightly ferocious but maybe that was because he had extra large canines. He stopped approaching and watched us and I was beginning to think he would leave me with the beast.

“Help me out here…” I whispered.

He laughed and gave a shrill whistle. The leopard immediately cocked its ears, stood up and lumbered up to him and he knelt down and kissed it on the head, proceeding to pulling its ears while the leopard made a funny purring sound and opening its jaws filled with huge sharp looking teeth and canines that were much, much larger than Mr Bell’s. I resisted a second urge to bolt out of there.

“You must be a very special person, Mr Chukwudi, “ Mr Bells said. “Sidney does not let most people touch him unless I’m there.”

In my mind I was like, “Guy, no be my intention to pet live beast o!” but I said, “He’s an interesting animal. A leopard, yes?”

“Yes indeed!, Mr Bells said, “I got him as a little cub during one of my visits to South Africa. A hunter had killed its mother and didn’t know what to do with the cub so I decided to buy it from him.” His voice took on a sad note. “I named him Sidney, after my son that died that year. It just seemed…right.”

I raised my eyebrows but said nothing.

The others had come around to meet us. Apparently I had been missed. Some of them, mostly the Nigerians, stayed back probably from fear of the animal. A few however came close. Jenny stunned me by walking right past the beast as if it wasn’t there and grabbed me by the hand.

“Come on, let’s get you back to your hotel.” She said. She cast a hateful glance back at the leopard and to my shock, it returned the stare. It narrowed its eyes, bared its teeth and let out a low growl. I had never seen an animal make a hateful face like that before. Nobody else noticed it and I began to wonder if I had imagined it all. I however followed Jenny back to the car. The driver apparently had been waiting a while and he started the car as soon as he saw us approaching.

“So I take it you don’t like the leopard much.” I said, stumbling after her as she hurried towards the car. “I think the feeling might be mutual…”

“Hateful creature!” she interjected, then turned to me, “You hate it too?”

“Me? No, I…I found it to be quite cute actually as soon as I got over my fear.”

“You didn’t see the least bit afraid though,” she said smiling, “I think you were very brave.”

I grinned and opened the door for her.

“I suppose you’ll want to get some rest after your trip,” jenny said as we entered into the car.

“Yes I would”, I replied. “Will there be any meetings tomorrow?”

“We’ll go into the field to see some other staff, but apart fro that, we’ll be free.” She replied, smiling at me sexily. Her perfume wafted towards me and I inhaled its freshness and recognized it. Ocean breeze. Very nice. Her lovely brown eyes gazed into my very soul and I found myself blurting

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

She laughed, a gentle but high pitched laugh that heaved her moderately sized bossoms delectably.

“Why are you asking?” she said.

“I swear I don’t know,” I stammered, “It just came out…”

“No I don’t,” she said. “And even if I did, it wouldn’t matter.” And she smiled that her sexy smile again.

“Well, I have a girlfriend, a fiancée actually, her nae is Ni – “

“That doesn't matter either,” she whispered, drawing close to me. “All that matters is that you are here and you are spending two weeks. Alone.”


I gulped and said nothing. Apparently Jenny wasn’t the subtle type.

We got to the hotel and I came down and headed towards the hotel lobby. Jenny poked her head out of the car window.

“Do you plan on going anywhere this evening?” she asked.

“Not really,” I said, trying to control the words coming out of my mouth. “I think it would be best if I spent the rest of the day indoors.”

She smiled yet again and I thought, these smiles are coming too frequently,not that I mind but…

“Very well then. See you later.” And she winked and the car drove off.

I watched the car disappear into the distance and I turned around and saw the gate-man also gazing after it. Then he saw me watching him and chuckled.

“Bros, if you no understand that red light wey dem give you now, that wan mean say you need deliverance oh!”

I burst out laughing and strolled into the hotel. I entered my room to find that it had been cleaned out and fresh toiletries placed in the bathroom. A note had been placed by the bedside with a menu for dinner. I looked at the time, it was heading towards 6pm and I decided to do some reading first. I picked up a novel I had seen in one of the drawers, the forest of a thousand daemons, it was an old classic from my school days and I settled down for a good read before dinner. I didn’t know when I dozed off.


I woke up to a knock on the door by 9pm. I had passed out on the bed with the book lying on the rugged floor. The air conditioner was on full blast and I would have gone back to sleep if the person hadn’t knocked again.

“One moment!” I yelled groggily and got up from the bed. Outside was dark and I went to pull the blinds shut. Another knock on the door and I went to open it.

There, standing in the doorway, was Jenny.

If you have been following my description of jenny, you might have gotten the hint that she was a sexy, beautiful lady. That was nothing compared to the vision that stood before me right now. She was putting on a tight body hugging red dress that accentuated all those curves I mentioned earlier. A plunging neckline led down to a mesmerizing view of her heaving bossom. The dress itself ended abruptly just above her knees. In that red outfit she had managed to weave sexy and classy into a single entity. I found myself gazing in wonder and took a step back.

“Whoa, welcome, em...what…”

“Can I come in?” she asked in a quiet voice.

I stepped back and allowed her to enter.

She strolled in and it is like lust sidled in alongside her. Immediately my room was filled with the red-orange flame I had come to understand to be lust. Only that this time I had to search for the source of the flames only to realize that it was coming from me. From her too, but mostly from me. I went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of cold water. Even as I did so my hands were shaking. There was something not right about this, someone I ought to be thinking about at a time like this, but try as I might, I couldn’t remember who that person was. I turned around and saw her watching me as if I was something that enthralled her.

“You were asking me something?” she said in that quiet seductive voice.

I drank the water and offered her some without saying anything. She took it from me and our fingers touched. The electricity was very intense. She looked at me with her piercing eyes and I found myself drawing closer to her.
Something still didn't feel normal about all of this, but i couldn't quite figure it out. I decided to avert my gaze from hers and closed my eyes for a moment and tried to think.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Well,” she said and went back to the door that I had left open and shut it, locking the door with the key. “I went to drop off some files at an office nearby and decided to come and check on you, to see if they were treating you alright.”

“You went for an errand in that dress?” I asked incredulously.

“it’s a warm night,” she replied. “I wanted something loose that would make me feel cofortable.

That dress looked anything but loose. I thought to myself.

She walked back up to me and was so close I could feel her warm sweet breath on my mouth.Her chest pressed against mine and I could feel the racing of her heart. My skin started tingling and i was once again drawn towards her.”

“So,” she whispered, “Are they treating you alright?”

We kissed. It was inevitable. I am a person of admirable self control, learnt it from my father and also from the experiences or should I say, manifestations that I had had. I had one other girlfriend before I met Nina and I was faithful to her until we broke up. And I hadn’t even thought of cheating on Nina in the eight months of our relationship. So I was at a total loss as to why I was falling for jenny so easily. The kiss was so sweet and intense that for a moment I lost sense of where I was and didn’t care about anything anymore.

Then I opened my eyes and was taken completely by surprise.

I was kissing a fish. Well, not really. I was still kissing Jenny but two fishes were nibbling busily around my lips. Picture that. I jumped back so fast I fell over the bed. I heard jenny scream in alarm and I hurried to my feet.

Jenny was still as beautiful as ever, that red dress was still sparklingly sexy but jenny’s legs were no longer there. In its place was a huge tail, like that of a large fish, complete with scales and ending in huge fins. She stood there, seemingly suspended in mid air, her tail swaying gently from side to side just above the floor. My jaw dropped open and remained like that for a while. She looked at me puzzled.

“What?” she asked, looking alarmed. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

I must have really worn a shocked look on my face because she became more frightened as I didn’t answer. Tears streamed down her lovely face and her tail swished about aggressively. I closed my eyes and opened them and the manifestation was gone.

“I’m sorry jenny,” I said. “I’m really feeling very tired.”

She looked at me stunned. And then she relaxed.

“You must really love your fiancée then,”

“Well, yes I do.” I said . “I’m sorry if I led you on. You are very beautiful…” I trailed off. I didn’t know what else to say.

Jenny smiled. “It’s alright, I understand. I’ll let you rest.” And she walked to the door and opened it. She paused for a moment then said

“I am attracted to power, Chuks, and you are powerful. I can feel it. I want you, Chuks and I usually get what I want. I still have some more days with you. I’m not giving up.


And then she left.

mZ sleeq: Royver ooooo. Conan see you're on FP oooo .
I saw it first

indeed I am!
Thanks fellas. Will update this night.

[quote author=Stånd]Hi Royver..
More strenght to your fingers...
*drags love-seat to a corner*[/quote]*rubs fingers together*
Thanks stand

[quote author=C'est moi]Following......sure it's gonna be the bomb.Fire on[/quote]Tenk.

Sowhizy: Walks into thread


Sup y'll! Roy hpe u'll update fast I dnt want this 2 be boring abeg

Hopefully it won't be. I work on a busy ship but intend to update at least twice a week at my worst and daily at my best.

poshpimkiey: #JOKE
Royver, pls can I be ur grlfriend. I know I have a boyfrend already, bt I wll love you just as much as I love le beau....pls pls pls
p.s-I'm not desperate

Request granted sweetie. Em...le beau won't happen to be the muscular guy standing behind you would he?