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Thanks. Will post the next chapter tomorrow

Thank you

37 views and no comments? I'm not sure if I should keep posting the story or stop. Come on...I really need to hear public opinion

here is the thing about alarms: They do their jobs - perfectly. There isn't supposed to be anything that does its job perfectly (except of course when you are talking about me, in which case you would be 'perfectly' correct). My alarm rang and despite me pointing my index finger at it and whispering the magic word, (which in this case was peace, be still) it still blared on until I had to finally admit I wasn't going to get any more sleep this morning. Why I even set the alarm in the first place...

So, I got up (which is what you do when your 'bed' is really just a matrass on the floor. I stretched and then I yawned. (and in that order too because, you know, I'm awesome like that). The events of this morning rushed back. Now the fear came. I looked around in panic hoping not to see my jacket lying on the chair by my bed where I left it. The jacket was there. It still had the dirt and grass stains from my frolic in the garden of death dealing women. I gingerly picked it up and took the ring out. I knew at once that this wasn't the ring to rule them all. For one thing, it was made of the purest silver I had ever seen. For another it didn't have any engravings of elven writing on the inside or the outside. What it did have however was a tiny scratch that caught my attention. It didn't look like a scratch that was made by something external. It seemed more like something inside the ring was trying to claw its way out.

I know, I know, how could I possibly know that just by looking? well if you must know, I have powers (yes, those kind of powers. I can move things with my mind and see into the future...ish and other cool stuff. That you don't know is just a measure of how well I've managed to blend in and no, clark kent, I didn't have anyone walk me through while I grew into my powers so the next time anyone calls you superman remember your betters). Anyway, the point is that was how it seemed and it was creepy. I wanted to put it on but just as I finished forming thought, there was a knock on the door. I had heard that knock enough times in the past to know that when she knocked like that, I was in trouble. putting the ring on the table and placing the jacket over it to hide it, I turned around as she walked in.

"hey you" I smiled cheerfully
"hey" she walked in and started looking around in a slow jaunting way (see? I know how to use big words too. Don't worry, I can wait while you thumb through oxford's). I wondered what she was looking for.

"what happened last night?" she asked as soon as she reached me. her tone dripped with suspicion.
"uh, technically it would be what happened this morning"
"Dami, don't get smart with me"
"ok, ok...I didn't see anything. You were right there was no light". She had the duh look on her face now. "wait there is more"
"with you there is always more." she shrugged "go on. tell the tale"

And so I told her. I told her everything except the ring. I'm not sure why I kept that information from her. I never hid anything from Bimpe before. When I was done, she smiled and looked at me like I was the dumbest person in the whole world.

"Dami, you snuck into the girls hostel again didn't you? I mean look at your jacket. Normal people would scale the fence not crawl under the water tanks." she started moving towards the jacket.
"you're right. You caught me." I said, quickly jumping in and putting myself between her and the jacket. "look I'm sorry. I know I promised never to do that again. Why don't you head on to class and I'll catch up in a few?"

She looked at me and frowned. I wondered if she suspected I was only trying to keep her from the jacket. She looked around again. when she looked back at me she had her duh face back on. I hated that face.

"once again let me remind you that you don't have to go through all that trouble to see naked girls dami." She waved her phone in my face. "its on the internet too"

"hahah. Sure thing boss. Will keep that in mind" I herded her towards the door. "now unless you want to see a naked guy in all his awesomeness, I suggest you best be on your way".

She left but not before she made me promise to come straight to class and leave my awesomeness in my room. I sighed in relief and went back to the reading table. I lifted the jacket and looked at the ring once more. I picked it up and turned it around in my hands, watching the way it caught the light in some places and bounced it off in others. The scratch seemed to be growing but then that could have been my imagination too. I placed it in a drawer. I needed to get ready for school.

Mr Wada's classes were very special but not for reasons any lecturer would be proud of. He currently held the schools record for most boring lecture. He could put you to sleep within minutes and his voice had a very soothing drone that ensured that for the duration of his class you remained in that state. The only person I knew who was immune to mr Wada's charms was Bimpe (and to me that was because she had a higher level of crazy than was humanly acceptable). She always sat in front and seemed to hang on his every word. It wasn't a surprise that he always looked at her at regular intervals as she was what he used to measure the class's level of attentiveness. That also meant that I had to sit in front as well as it was anathema for me to sit anywhere else. (Yup. Another big word. I'm getting really good at this, I retorted....heh)

I was dozing in the next three minutes. Soon I was fast asleep. Like every superhero before me who got stuck in a boring lecture, I dreamed dreams. I saved the world from the biggest hurricane it had ever seen just before it sucked the planet into oblivion. Killed the buffalo king that was terrorizing the amazons. Stopped a nuclear launch by a former soviet spy with twenty seconds to launch. I was just about to kiss the super model who was about to show me all her gratitudes (considering how many things I had saved her from) when I heard bimpe's voice.

"Wake up your highness"
Ugh...not yet you slowpoke.
Next came the kick. I instantly bolted upright as I instinctively grabbed my now sore leg.
"You didn't have to do that you know" I was whispering because I thought the lecturer was still around but when I looked around it was just the two of us.
"How long?"
"Long enough for me to go to the hostel, change into these slacks and come back to stop you from kissing your backpack." I hurriedly pushed said backpack away.
She brandished something small and shiny like a prize she won at the geek awards.
"What's this?" Only then did I relize that what she had in her hands was the silver ring from last night. The stupid girl had been my room. I hurriedly tried to make up a story in my head but as always she beat me to it.
"You were not going to give me this were you? Because you should know that no girl wants just a silver band. It has to have something special...like a really expensive stone"
I stood as still as a stone as I watched her put it on. Seconds passed as I waited for something strange to happen. Maybe she would disappear or suddenly posses the wisdom of the ancients. Nothing happened. Guess it was just some worthless ring after all. She pulled it of and handed it to me like I had failed the metal crafts class.

"You put it on. Let's see if it is your size. It's a little lose on my fingers."
I looked at the ring she had placed on my palm and felt very foolish. How had i thought this was anything but what it had appeared to be?
"Well? Are you gonna put it on or do we have to wait until you grow Into your courage as well?"
I always had comebacks but fate always had to interrupt me. Just as I was about to deliver a very biting comeback the ring glinted. I was sure my hand hadn't moved and there was no source of light in the class that moved either. Could the glint have come from within? Was it just my imagination? Now looking at the ring like it was a poisinous viper, I wasn't sure I wanted to put it on. What if it never came off? I would have to cut off that finger. What kind of super hero had nine fingers? That wasn't included in the list of what the hot damsels considered battle scars.

She was waiting. I didn't want to hear another biting remark so I slipped the ring on. And waited. Nothing happened. I didn't feel different. I tried to turn the ring around and it moved freely. No, it wasn't stuck to my finger either.

"There? How does it look?" I asked, thrusting my ring finger in her face.
" like a grown man wearing a silver band. It's either that or a slowpoke-"
"I get it." I wasn't in the mood. It was hard getting over the disappointment that the ring was nothing but a ring. I had really thought the events of last night had meant something that related to the light and the ring. Once again I had my let my imaginations run too wild.

We went to the cafeteria. I had my favorite: shawarma. With extra cheese and even extra pepper. ( you should try it. No....really, go now and try it. I can wait. No? Later? Ok. No problem). The rest of the day went by in a blur. My mind kept going back to the events that led to the ring and those that followed. I still couldn't shake the thought that something was happening. Lecture after lecture. I played with the ring on my finger, hoping that somehow maybe rubbing on it would reveal a hidden message. I never saw the glint either. The scratch wasn't growing as I first thought. Bimpe soon got tired of my mood and when we got to her room she stopped at the door and turned to face me.

"Dami, what's wrong? You've been really moody all day." She genuinely looked worried. There was a part of me that was touched by her concern but that was only a small part.
I put one hand on her shoulder and tried to smile.
"I'm fine. I just need to rest that's all. Didn't get much sleep last night."
"Ok. You go to bed right now. I want my boy back tomorrow morning." She said in her soldier voice.
"Yes ma'am" I answerd with a mock salute.

As I left her hostel, I checked the time on my watch. It was just a few minutes past seven. The moon was out but it was covered by some very dark clouds. Against my better judgement and Bimpe's instruction, I headed straight for the class block. It was a ten minute walk and soon I was there. I went around to the back and for some reason wasn't surprised when I saw the light again. What surprised me however was the ring on my finger. It was glowing.

There was no hurry this time. I knew what I would find. It felt both good and bad that I was seeing the light again. Good because that proved that it wasn't my imagination. Bad because this would mean I had finally gone loony. I got to the tree that blocked my view yesterday and was about to go around it when I heard them. Agna and her friend were already here. Came to finish what you started I bet. They sounded very far off though. Not like they were just behind the tree. I leaned in to take a peek. What I saw was far from what I expected to see.

I was right....it was oval. Only it wasn't just a flash disk as I had imagined. It was a sphere. It seemed to be made of some kind of greyish crystal. The light was coming from it and I was pulsing with the same rhythm of the ring. As I looked on from my '007 spy' position, I noticed that there were shapes moving inside. I was walking towards the sphere before I knew it. I felt like something inside called out to me. As I got closer I realized that the shapes I was seeing were people. People moving about some kind of hall. From the angle I got it seemed I was looking in through a window or a mirror mounted on the far wall. They wore strange clothing. Not unlike what we wore on my side but a bit shinier. Maybe it was because I was looking in. I was getting closer now. The sphere started to pulse harder and brighter. It also seemed to stretch on itself until it matched my height. The ring also began giving a whining sound like a passing missile. I looked around but there was nobody to be seen. How am I the only one seeing all this? Surely this is bright enough to be seen in the hostel.

I pushed a finger into the sphere and watched as it went through and vanished. This wasn't just some see through ball of light, this was a portal. I tried to push the rest of my hand through and cried out in pain as soon as the ring touched the sphere. It felt like my whole body had been set on fire. Sinking to my knees and clutching my hand, I held it away from the sphere like it was cancerous.

"Hurts doesn't it?" A voice behind me.
"Doesn't seem to be very bad, it was after all just a finger" another voice.

Still reeling with pain, I turned around to look at the people who were talking. As soon as I saw them I knew who they were. I wasn't sure which one was Agna but I was sure these were the same women who had tried to kill me last night. I wasn't sure what to do. My vision was only clearing from the pain that had hit me and I was still down on my knees. Not a very sure position to be of any threat to them and they knew it. I instantly wondered if she had that thing she had thrown at me. Damoka or something, I wasn't sure. I quickly searched them with my eyes but saw no obvious weapons. That didn't mean much as they could have them concealed or even appear out of thin air.

"Do you think it talks?" The taller one asked the other.
"How would I know, It should be dead by now. I could have killed it but you wouldn't let me. Now see what it's found" the other replied.

I turned to the one who had last spoken and growled the words out. "Agna"

She looked at me sharply. "How do you know that name?"

"I usually find it important to get to know the person who is trying to kill me." I sounded so calm even I was impressed. Maybe it was the pain. I kept on talking before my courage left me. "I find that if you truly understand the the hunter, he, or she as is the case now becomes the prey"

A full minute of silence and then they burst out laughing.

"Puny boy, I don't have the time to listen to your drivel. How do you know my name?" She sounded angry now.

I also noticed that they seemed to hold themselves back a bit. Like they couldn't stand to be close to me. That meant something but I wasn't yet sure what that was. I also noticed they hadn't made any move to finish what they started yesterday.

I was feeling better now. The sphere was still pulsing. Seemed faster when I was closer. I looked at it now. "Tell me what it is" I looked back at Agna. The other woman seemed content to let her do all the talking so far so I directed my question at her. She seemed to start to reach for something inside the flowing pitch black gown she wore but thought better about it and answered instead.

"You have found an ancient one. You should take that ring off before you kill yourself."

I started to take the ring off and noticed how they seemed to inch forward and the ring began the upward slide off my finger. It clicked then. They couldn't come close to me while the ring was on my finger. I knew it. It had some power.

I decided to put my new discovery to the test. I stood up and moved just a bit closer to them. As I expected, they seemed to glide back just enough to maintain the distance between us. I turned around now playing with ring on my finger. Turning it back and forth.
"What does the ring do?" I asked without turning.

It wasn't Agna who answered this time. It was the taller one. She had a very sweet voice. Betrayed only by her grim face and the way she pulled her hair back in a tight bun. Reminded me of a matron I knew back in boarding school.

"The ring is just a tool. It allows you to control the Oni." I turned to look at her. What the hell was an Oni? Agna looked like she just swallowed something bitter.
" you didn't have to tell him that" she slowly bit out each word.
"He would have found out eventually." She shrugged and smiled at me. Oh shit, she had vampire teeth.

So the ring let me control something. Or was it someone? I had to know. They had answered all my questions so far so it wouldn't hurt to ask a few more. Before I could form the question however, Agna spoke up.

"Since Della has decided to tell all, you might as well here the rest of it. We are the Oni." She seemed to grow bigger. "We were human once but that was such a long time ago. The ring you wear now is an ancient spell created by those who created us. It was used to control us when they realized that creatures with so much power shouldn't have free will."

I swallowed. There was no controller, this wasn't a game. And I'm awake! I nodded once and she went on talking.

"When an Oni is created, it loses its soul. The soul is then bound to the ring and the Oni is banished to the netherplane. Which is what you saw inside the sphere. The Oni is then summoned by the wearer of the ring and made to do everything the wearer requires it to do."

"I didn't know that. Why did you try to kill me?"

"The last Reacher," it was Della who spoke now. " that's what the wearers of the ring are called by the way, made a mistake and...well Agna killed her. We needed to dump the body. We didn't know she no longer had the ring on her so after making the body disappear, we came back to look for it. Agna saw you pick it up and decided to kill you before you became a reacher yourself."

Agna shrugged. "How do you humans say it? Prevention is better that finding a cure?"

"Close enough" I nodded.

Agna smiled at me. "Good. Class is over. Now we have to kill you too."

I didn't have time to even think of anything to say before she threw her special knife. I didn't even see her reach for it. It all happened so fast. THere was a ringing in my ear so loud I thought I would go mad.

Suddenly it all stopped. I opened my eyes and looked around, surprised to still be alive. The fancy knife hung just an inch away from my chest. It had some sort of engraving in a language I had never seen before. Agna was looking at the knife too with a look akin to shock. She clearly hadn't expected this.

I was standing closer now but I didn't remember when I moved. There was a whisper in my mind. It told me things and showed me thoughts and memories. It lulled me and pulled me inwards towards its voice. I could teach you to do that. My mind drew closer. There was a feeling of immense hatred coming from the source of the voice. I hesitated but the whispering grew urgent. There was a point of light ahead and I drew closer to it. As I did, it grew bigger and brighter and soon it was all around me except when I looked behind. It seemed to try to swallow me in. In here. Here you will understand. I drew closer and turned as I watched the light close around me. As soon as the light closed up completely the voice disappeared.

I tried to pull myself back but slammed hard on the wall of light. I looked around. Light everywhere. There was a part of the light however that seemed to be torn. Like layers of it had been removed and it seemed somehow transparent. I looked through it and saw myself. Like I was looking at myself from a camera held as high as my waist. Held to my left side. I saw my mouth move. I heard my voice.

"Agna, Della, it is good to see you again. Hope you had your fun with my body. Now it's my turn.

I swear I thought I could fly. You see to me, (especially after watching all those superhero movies) I truly believed that anybody could be something special. Including me, especially me. So standing on the roof of the eleven storied Sheraton hotel, I was ready to prove to her that I was who I said I was.

I looked back just once to make sure she was watching. She was. She brushed her jet black hair out of her face while the wind (which I should point out obeys my every whim) blew it right back. It was a fun cycle. Anyway, I turned back and looked at the streets below. People moved around like tiny pieces of Lego while I watched from up above like a god. They didn't even know what they didn't know ( I love this quote....I don't know what it means but I love it anyway). She was beginning to get impatient so without any ceremony I jumped.

Look, I mean it. I really believed deep down that I could fly. So it was with a huge amount of surprise mixed with an equal amount of unbridled fear that I smashed into the concrete pavement. You know, I smashed so hard that my body actually bounced once and then all was still. I had died.

"You know this is a stupid game ba" I tolded Bimpe as I dropped the game controller. She burst out laughing as she dropped her own controller as well and followed me to the kitchen.

" You know you suck at almost everything ba?" She said as I watched as she reached into the cupboard and brought out a pack of cornflakes.

"I don't. I just don't like to rub my awesomeness in the face of mere mortals" I retorted

retorted? what kind of word is that sef? Who uses it in a sentence? Can you really show me the facial expression that goes with that word without referencing the face of a former Yoruba president of Nigeria? Look at you...why did your mind go there? I pity you...is that only person that I could have been referring to? This book is purely fiction, your thoughts are not...if you like... my point is I'm too lazy to write this story in anyway save the way i'm going to write it so read it like that. Yes, I said it. Mtcewwww

We were in the kitchen, which I must confess was really a corner separated by just a curtain (that used to be a bed sheet until Bimpe discovered it had multiple uses) nailed to the wall in two places. I should mention now that the stove in said kitchen was right beside that curtain. How this house hadn't burnt down was still a mystery to both me and science. (I put me first because, you know, I come before science).


twenty minutes and a whole pack of cornflakes later, we were sitting on the couch again and staring at each other. Yes that's all we were doing...staring at each other.

I'm not even sure why this is a story worth telling. All I can say is since you have started reading what I have started writing, we both can't quit because you know what we ain't? Quitters.

QUITTERS:
The campus was empty. Which wasn't surprising considering the fact that it was just five minutes past midnight. Bimpe had insisted on us reading in the class, in the night, just the two of us (which wasn't a problem seeing as I could handle what ever bad guy showed up with just one hand and both eyes closed).

It should count as part of my awesomeness that I am unable to sit still for more than five minutes which was how long I needed to read before I said, "Bimpe this sucks".
She looked up just in time to see me close my notebook and rolled her eyes "Dami we have a test in two days"
"Great! You now work for the department of duh" I raised both arms as if I wanted to part the sea of seats around us like I did back when I played Moses in the bible. "It's in two days which means we can totally do this tomorrow. Why can't we be like normal couples and do bad things when it's just the two of us?"

Bimpe laughed. Which really sounded like dragging a metal cabinet on a concrete floor. "Dami, first, we aren't couples and second even if we were I'm not doing anything with you. You don't pay attention to anything long enough for it to be fun.

I had a comeback for that one but I never got to deliver it because the next thing that happened changed my life forever. When I first saw the light I thought it was coming from a building hidden behind the trees until I remembered we were in the last building on this block. That made me curious and since I wasn't a cat I decided to satisfy it.

I climed out of the window and landed softly on the grass behind the class. Since I was wearing shorts the knee high grass touching me was quite annoying and I imagined a 'one kind of sinister something' lurking just ahead waiting for the right moment to strike. Now would have been a good time to have really thick commando boots but even in my dreams I made a lousy soldier. I hadn't even realized Bimpe was trailing me until I heard her curse as she hurt an innocent stone that was innocently being cool with her foot.

"Dami what the hell? Are you crazy? Where are you going?"
"I dunno, nope, towards the light"
"No Dami, stay away from the light, it's not yet your time. You poor thing, you finally snapped"

I stopped and turned to face her. "Not that light you dolt, the light behind the trees. You see it don't you?"

"Dami, there is no light. Please let's go back, this isnt a good place for one of those your games"

Ok, maybe she was right but let's face it, even you want me to go on and find out. Know that I did it for you. Think about that before you ever call me selfish.
"Wait here." I said. "I'll be right back"

I went on and carefully picked my way towards the light. It got brighter as I got closer. It seemed to pulse. Like a heart beat. Spaceship? All that stood between me and the source of the light now was a very huge tree trunk that was at least an arms length in girth. I took a Deep breath. Prepare to meet your maker. I stepped out into the clearing.


I was as disappointed as you're going to be when you realize that as I stepped out into the clearing expecting to see something life changing, all that greeted me was silence and nothing else. I looked around. Surely the light didn't just disappear. The area around me looked like something as wide as I could spread my legs and oval in shape had been on the grass. They looked bent around the shape like it had been pressing on them. Not heavy enough to break but low enough to bend them out of shape. UFO? I shook my head. Now I'm actually seeing the light like Bimpe said. I was about to turn around and head back when a glint caught my eye. There was something in the grass at what seemed to be the center of the oval. I picked my way through violated grass and reached gingerly into where I thought the glint came from. Now would have been a good time to have a flashlight. After digging around in the grass for a few seconds, my hand found something. I should say something found my hand because one moment there was just grass and soil and the next, I had in my palm a ring. The one to rule them all?

I quickly put in my jacket pocket before I was tempted to put it on and then hear the voices that would turn me into a hideous monster. No chance with Bimpe then. Like I had that much of a chance with her now. I was like every super hero before me. Always saving the girl but never able to reveal my true identity. Well, I actually revealed mine to her everyday. All sixty three of them. Somehow she never believed me. I was less than ordinary to her. Well, now I had the ring. The fate of the whole world rested on me now.

You would think even the forces of nature would bow to their new lord as I walked majestically back towards the class but no they didn't. They remined silent and watched as I passed but even they couldn't help but spoil the moment. One hater of a tree chose that very moment to place it's root in my path so that I got my foot stuck in, tripped and landed flat on my face.
Twank!

That sounded like something metal hitting a tree. I was sure because that was the sound I made with my mouth whenever I imagined my knife missing the target and getting embedded in a tree. Were those footsteps? I wanted to call out, thinking it was Bimpe but when I heard the voices. They weren't coming from the ring.

"You missed." A female voice
"I didn't. One minute it was there and the next it wasn't. If it was still there it would be dead by now" another female voice.
"Agna, you missed. It is still alive. Come, we need to leave. You can get it tomorrow."
A heavy sigh. "Fine, but I will retrieve my daramaka first." I felt her glide past me. No footsteps. I couldn't tell if they were going.

I'm not sure how long I lay there frozen. Maybe too long because when I tried to move my legs were stiff. Agna, whoever she was, just tried to kill me. I guess I was supposed to be scared out of my mind but I wasn't. I was calm. The forces of nature were on my side after all. It took all of the next five minutes to work the blood back in my legs and then I hurried back to the class. Bimpe wasn't there. It was then I looked at my watch. I had been gone for two hours!

I packed my books into my backpack and left the class heading back to the hostel. I didn't look back so I couldn't have seen the thing that was following me. I patted my jacket once. The ring was still there. Was Agna after the ring or was it just a case of bad place at a bad time? Maybe they though I had witnessed a crime they had just committed. I had that thought in my head even as I crashed into my bed at three in the morning and slept immediately. The ring was still in my jacket. I was going to deal with that tomorrow. The world could wait while its saviours took his power nap.