₦airaland Forum

THE BLURB

An escaped prisoner from space in 2889 recruits the only being on earth who could survive the rigours of time travel to save the collapse of reality, while simultaneously evading the hollows of the space time continuum and the messengers of the Alfather. Meanwhile, the alfather intends to change history by making the igbo's win the biafran war.

CHAPTER 1


All he could hear as he sprinted out towards the exit was his footfall reverberating through the hollow hall way. His face was sleek with perspiration and his lungs soon gave out as his breath came out in short choking gasps. He propelled his legs forward, only weak lazy steps came through. He paused for air, simultaneously plucking out the electrodes stuck to his temples. The hallway was lit with micro bulbs packed in flowery designed chandeliers, hanging of the night grey metallic roof like stalactites In a cave. He resumed his sprint with a racing heart. He reached the exit and shouldered the door. He was welcomed by a vast sea of pale coldness. The shipyard was bare save for his ship --maria. Hibernating west of the facility he just broke out from. This was the only thing that was dominant In his memory, like a rabid wolf subjected to the rule of its instincts, he bolted towards his ship. His palms felt through the unfamiliar metal alloy, the ship responded in a low hum as its engines shook of its slumber, parting away dust particles. The ship internal Mechanisations rolled and pricked his palm, drawing out blood and carrying out a programmed DNA recognition sequence. The air was acrid and the bitter cold sliced through his light clothing. The sky a gunmetal grey,  the clouds carrying the weight of the distortion of the timeline. He had to make it right, escaping this timeline he had created was the first step to his redemption. The ships door flung open with a hiss and release billows of unoxygenated fumes. His right hand flew to cup his nose while he used his left to wad off smoke as he entered the ship. The ship smelt stale from long term disuse, but the memories it held where still smoldered to its walls.

"Airam, it's me" he called out to his subconscious that was magically merged with his ship. He was blessed with the quietness of empty space.
"Airam, are you there?" this time his voice held a subtle urgency to its lilt.

The cockpit lit up with a strings of unanimated buzz. The miniature control screen adjacent to the control stick showed muted static. " The Audio speakers must be busted again" he muttered to himself, this shouldn't be happening now, what have they done to my ship yet again. Indignation bared it's weight on his shoulders, giving up he flopped unto the control seat. He reclined and stared overhead at the metal railings that held repair equipments.

"HELLO TIME MASTER NOLEM". he jerked up with a hand on his palpitating heart.

"don't do that, Airam, I've told you not to do that".

"WELCOME BACK TIME MASTER"  out came the computerized mechanical voice.  "IT'S BEEN FORTY SEVEN YEARS, THREE MONTHS, TWO DAYS, NINETEEN HOURS, SIX MINUTES AND FIFTY EIGHT SECONDS SINCE YOUR LAST USAGE OF THE TIME SHIP"

He groaned and ran a hand through his crinkly hair. "let it be shown in the virtual logbook that I had been in captivity by the wraiths, in the timeless dimension for forty seven years"

"VIRTUAL LOGBOOK UPDATED".
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NIGERIA, LAGOS
7:14pm

At this time of the year after the sunset had dipped below the ocean's horizon. A wave of unrelenting cold skittered across the ocean and pushed into the city, a segue transition from the dastard heat of the day to the aching cold of the night. The sky was inky, dotted by distant stars. But the cold wasn't as severe in the city as it was on the shoreline. December brought about flocks of people from around the country to join in the festivities. Down at  bar beach In Victoria island ,the night reeked of alcohol and sweat, tinted with the buzz of happy cheers and the tang of suya. The beach was packed with students from the state's university who stayed behind, away from the prying eyes of judgemental parents and the cagey feeling of being at home. The Rager was planned to run all through the night and into the morning of Christmas where all students would disperse and head to their various home across the country. The music from the speakers placed atop a makeshift wooden podium assaulted the night, the disk jockey switched to another song, earning her an earful of blissful screams, she grinned to the crowd, her hand leaping up to the air in a pointer and pinkie devil sign and nodding to the beat of the music. Bare foot dug into the Sandy beach, hips swayed and hands sailed atop in boisterous rhythm of the music. Couples sprawled on the ground, in a cautious distance, away from the Bon fire that lit up a portion of the beach in a golden orange hue simultaneously accentuating the Beach's sand, from a milky white to a false ginger color . From a distance, Kaife, with his earphones plugged into his ears, watched the Rager rage. Kaife sat on the sand, a considerable distance away from the noise, he diverted his attention to the occasional breakers lashing itself against shore. He drew his knees to his chest and hugged himself. The whipping of the waves against the shore, brought forth icy chills to his body. But he promised Solomon he wouldn't leave, not until 8pm. He mused on how the bikini clad girls where not affected by the cold. He caught a glint of light reflected from a bottle. He shook his head. He watched Solomon huddled with other students, who weren't from their University. He was probably dishing out one of his jokes again, trust Solomon to always be the center of attention. Solomon paused, took a swig from his beer bottle and said something he couldn't make out and gale of laughter that followed suit, perforated the night's air, sailing effortless towards him and. rested on his shoulders. Solomon had finished his tales, with several pats on his back, he tottered towards kaife's direction in an array of misplaced steps. He gulped the remaining contents of the bottle and tossed it.
"kaife!" boomed Solomon. "why are you sitting there ,come on, join the party bro" he motioned for kaife to come forward.

"look man, once it's 8pm I'm out of here, remember I have a bus to catch by 6am tomorrow morning, I have to be in Abuja in time. My mom is sick remember? ".

Solomon snickered. "your mom?  I thought she was dead? ".

Kaife got to his feet, beating of sand caked to his shorts.

" you are drunk" he said,his face sullen with a scowl. "I'll let that slide".

An aloof Solomon snickered some more. "come on,  what happened to us, we used to be drunk together "
he poked kaife's chest with his pointer finger

"kaife and Solomon, drunk against the world, you didn't use to care, now you're just uptight and always angry".

"I am not always angry, that's my face! I d:--"

"always angryyyyyyy" Solomon teased in a sing song voice, his face breaking into a knowing grin.

   " You think I'm always angry?  The last time I got drunk with you, I got run over by a car and broke my leg"

An overwhelming sense of guilt erupted in Solomons gut, his face pallid under the cold glare of the moon. The memory still clutched tightly by the tendril of their emotions. Kaife couldn't tell if Solomon sobered up, or he was just hurt by bringing up that night. Solomons shoulder tightened, his eyes glinted a mixture of anger, shame and guilt.

"I am not drunk," said Solomon "is it so bad to want you to have fun and forget that night?, what's done is done, you're just living miserably and it will get you no where, Just through a dark path" his voice flat and laden with just about a prickle of anger that threatened to burst forth.  Solomon retreated back in to the party. Kaife sighed in solemn realization.

The night their lives began its descent to dejection was a tad bit similar to this night. Except, of course, more than a leg was broken. Kaife tightened his eyes, willing himself to shove that memory into the deepest trenches of his mind, he plugged back his earphone into his ear to drown out the blaring music. He sought to find one more person to say goodbye to before leaving the party, it had already gone awry anyways. He started off towards the bon fire, passing a couple making out passionately on the ground and groping each other awkwardly. The heat from the Bon fire sent a temporary bout of warmth, easing the tension coiling in his muscles. Kaife made it to the crowd of dancers and slinkingly maneuvered his way through the cluster of alcohol buzzed dancers, his body occasionally colliding with sweaty, hot bodies and cold flesh. Escaping the mob of dancers, he arrived at the east side of the party where students littered like waste, patina colored cups in hand and conferring amongst themselves. He peeked a glance at his phone and it was minutes past eight. There is no way I'm going to find tiwalola here. He scrolled through his phone and clicked on her number, it rang and no answer. Someone or something poked his behind, and yanked a strand of his brass dread, subtle enough not to cause pain. His lips drew to one side in a smile as he turned slowly. A girl with on an oversize sweat shirt that read 'Girl power' jumped on him with a hug. The suddenness of it coupled with her weight made him loose his balance for a moment, staggering backwards. Her damp hair smelt of ocean water and lemon. Only one person pulled his dread like that. It was tiwalola, the last time he saw her was the night no one ever wanted to remember, But all through his stay in the hospital, she sent gifts, flowers and notes every day till he could walk again. They where all ridden with guilt and no one could bring themselves to visit except Solomon who travelled sixteen hours to another state to see kaife,  twice.
" God, it's been long" she muffled into his shirt and extricated her self.
Tiwalola was flanked by two girls, one who was slightly over weight and the other kaife usually saw In his fresh man year but never actually spoke to. After a year and the night, she looked significantly different. she devoted her time to outgrow her natural hair which was almost shoulder length. Her coffee eyes still reflected back to him that same thrill and adrenaline seeking person he knew. He noticed a scar that ran inches away from her throat to the back of her neck. She had gotten significantly lighter from a cold creamy bronze, to a soily sun kissed almond. Her eyes still gleamed inquisitiveness, too large to be contained inside her eye sockets, and With a line of a mouth that seemed to be in a permanent smile.
    "yeah, it's been a long time. I got your notes and your flowers and those packs of chocolate you sent"

She flushed

"that's the best I could do, you know, after that night, besides we Nigerians don't value flowers anyways" she said "plus I often called, they wouldn't let me speak to you"

"My mom could be a bit over protective sometimes, about the flowers, I made a garden with all of them and named the garden after you". He winced for saying that out loud.
Tiwalola's eyes widened, the girls with her giggled.  She whispered something to her friends who in turn gave kaife the once-over and disappeared into the heart of the rager.

"we should probably find a more quiet place with less people to talk" she suggested. He nodded and they strolled to towards a grill stand.

"should I buy suya for you? " she asked, he nodded again, not wanting to say anything to betray himself. Things hadn't really changed with him, he still felt just a pinch of shyness around her. 

They drifted to the quietest part of the beach and sank into the sand, facing the ocean . Kaife noticed the scar arched towards the nape of tiwa's neck. Tiwa unfurled the paper used to wrap the spicy meat and splayed it on the ground. The aroma of meat marinated in spice mixed with the peculiar scent of ocean water. Couples sprawled out on the sand and spoke in giggles and hushed tones.
Tiwa sighed "how long have you been in Lagos? " she asked.
  
      "About, A month or so."

"and you didn't bother to come check up on me? "

"it's already hard as it is coming back here. This place--- " digging both hand into his dread lock"this place just brings back that night".

They didn't speak to each other for a while, they both listened to the ocean ripple across water to the shore and relished in the intimacy of quietness. Tiwa picked a piece of the suya and munched on it, kaife started blankly into the ocean. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, neither could she.

"do you ever think of that night? " she continued

   "I try not to, but it all keeps coming back" the memory of that night invaded his mind in torrents.

" I know, me too, " she said wriggling her feet into the sand "I told my parents what I saw that night and they almost had me committed "
   
      " I thought we promised we weren't going to tell anyone? " this time he turned to face her.

   "look, it was hard, you know, I was still in shock. You literally shattered the bones in your leg, I thought you wouldn't walk again," her voice began to crack " and that thing took her "

  " don't! "
She gasped in astonishment .
"please Tiwa, let's not talk about it "

    "Are you serious right now?  You won't talk about that night, but you keep blaming Solomon for everything that happened "

  "yes, because it was his fault, had it been he didn't cajole us into drinking, may be---" he shot up to his feet, "maybe, Just maybe someone would have believed and not blamed it on the alcohol "

"Hey!  Can you idiots be quiet or carry your quarrel somewhere else" A voice amongst the numerous couples canoodling yelled out.
         
       "can you sit down?" she demanded. He grudgingly got down by her side, still not touching the meat.
      " so, how did you plant the garden?" she asked, amused by his revelation moments ago. Kaife's fair face blossomed into a rosy red. He was saved by the gloom of the night that obscured his facial expression.
      
      "I asked my mom to plant them in her garden, as a reminder of you"

"she agreed? "
   
          "parents tend to do anything for a sick child"
    
     " and you named them after me? "

   "yeah I know, I'm full of surprises like that "

She chuckled lightheartedly " don't flatter yourself "
She reclined, balancing her self with her elbow and stomach muscle.
 
"Be sincere, do you still think of her? " tiwa brought the conversation back up. She always had this uncanny ability to lighten the mood and steer the discussion to its original route. Kaife, knew that he was--- in a disconcerting way, obligated to talk about it.
 
"I do, not a single day goes by that I don't think of her---"
           "is that why you aren't coming back to school again? " her voice carried a distinctive sadness for someone who was consistently perky.

Kaife squinted at her. "H-how did you know that?"

   "Solomon told me, "
What he had in mind to say was clogged in his throat.
" you weren't going to tell me where you?  I thought we where friends? ".

"Tiwa of course we are," he reached out for her hand. "I just couldn't stay here with you guys anymore, everyone is going to be in their third year, while I'll go back to being a fresher"

"we should go back to the party, Solomon might be looking for me " she said dryly
  
   "wait, why would Solomon be looking for you? "
She gave him a look and got on her feet. He followed suit behind her as they walked gingerly towards the rager. As they approached it, kaife made out a girl grinding against Solomon titillatilingly. He stood in front of tiwa.

" should I call him or--"
   
   "don't bother, " she said arms folded. Was that a ripple of hurt that skimmed her face or was he seeing things. She met his gaze.
"have a great journey back to Abuja" she walked away.

The night hadn't gone as he had planned, Kaife's goal tonight was to achieve peace with the two people that where most important to him, but he ended up riling them up. The night was still awake with pedestrians and traffic whizzed by. The cold hung in the air as opposed to the beach where it was displaced. The air carried the smell of garbage disposed at the alley way and burnt tire. He rounded up at a curb and paused. He turned back and made a beeline through the alleyway, that was interconnected to the next street. He didn't notice the hooded figure camouflaged by the dark alleyway.   Kaife was so focused inside his head: the look on her Tiwa's face when he saw Solomon dancing with another girl, did she like him, where they going out?.  The hooded figure stalked him soundlessly, an orb of electricity cackled ominously in its gloved hand. The sound of metal clanging against something In a dull thud pushed him out of his head. But it was too late as he was bathed in bolts of electrical current that sucked the consciousness out of him, sending him to the depths of murky darkness. The hooded figure caught him with ease and carried him like a fireman.

Two weeks ago, I woke up around 3am, to the sound of mocking laughter. When everybody gathered for breakfast the next morning, I mentioned it. My sister said she was awake when she heard it; she said it sounded like it was in her room, but I argued that it sounded like it was right next to me in bed. My brother said he didn't hear it, but he woke up around that time because, "he felt a dark presence" and couldn't sleep. I didn't sleep in my room for a week. The night my resolve solidified, I went in. I was crawling into bed when the ceiling fan stopped right when my head hit the pillow. I bolted out of my room so fast as a grotesque shadow burst out of my mirror, screaming, "help me, I've let them out, they're coming" .
It's voice was a rasp choking sound and the whole house went into darkness.
I woke up three months later, the police said they couldn't find my family. They only saw me shivering outside on the lawn, muttering "it ate them".