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I got back to the hostel determined to put the whole thing out of my mind. Emily was still not talking to me but that was alright, I wasn’t even in the mood for small talk. I looked round the tiny part of the room that was our makeshift kitchen, the pots were empty. I rolled my eyes, today was supposed to be Emily’s day to cook. I guess I can’t just ask her now why she didn’t cook, if she wants to pout like a baby let her. I picked up my purse and strolled out; I will go to the nearest cafeteria and eat. As I stepped into the restaurant I saw a classmate of mine, IJ, sitting in a corner, I smiled and walked up to her and joined her table
“How far” she greeted me, smiling up at me, finally!!! A friendly face I thought to myself
“Fine oh, am hungry, what are you eating?” I asked her
“Rice nah what else” she replied, she made it no secret that she eats nothing but rice outside
“I think I will eat rice too” I said sitting beside her as I signaled to the waitress. We chatted a little about class work as the waitress served our food and we descended on it
“Did you hear what happened?” she asked me midway through the meal
“What happened?” I asked not really interested in whatever piece of gossip she had to tell me but since I had no choice I feigned interest
“Somebody died yesterday night, right here on campus?”
“Are you serious? What happened? Was it cultists?
“Her sister said she went out to read in the night and did not come back, this morning when they went to look for her, they saw her close to that big dogoyaro tree behind the anatomy lab, dead. I heard she was raped”
“what?? I pass that road everyday when am coming back from night class, me and my roommate passed it last night sef,”
“Are you serious? Did you see her? Did you see anything?” suddenly I froze. It couldn’t be her could it? The girl that screamed; she couldn’t be the one that ended up dead.
“No I didn’t see anything” I told IJ. The lie came automatically now
“hmmm you get mind oh, I didn’t know people took that road at night. It’s too dark and lonely, anything can happen there oh and no one will even hear you scream” I was silent. The food tasted sour in my mouth; just like that my appetite was gone. “It’s too bad, I pity her sister, to lose a sibling like that, God what she must be going through”
“Yes” I murmured
“Are you okay?” IJ asked me
I shrugged “I just feel bad, this type of bad news, it has spoiled my mood”
“eiya sorry oh, the world we live in is a wicked place”
“Yes” I murmured again
It was no use, I couldn’t eat anymore. I stood up to leave “are you going?” IJ asked me
“Yea lemme go and do my assignment”
“ok, see you”
“yea bye” I replied walking away quickly. I didn’t want to believe it was the same girl. I refused to believe it was the same girl....
*********
I looked around me, I could barely make out the bushes all around me, I could not believe I had ventured on this dark road again, alone this time, after what happened here last night. At the back of my mind I was telling myself that this was a bad idea; I was getting closer to the spot where we found her last night. My heart was racing somehow I knew someone was there. As I rounded the corner I wasn’t sure if I should be scared or relived, because true to my suspicions, there she was sitting at exactly the same spot we saw her the night before.
“you’re okay, it wasn’t you” I said to her.
“It wasn’t me what?” she replied. Her voice was very low and calm almost like a sweet melody, I looked at my arms wondering why such a cool voice would give me goose bumps
“it wasn’t you that died here last night” I said, she tilted her head to one side and raised an eyebrow, still sitting in the ground. “what are you doing here, these roads are not safe” I told her
“I was waiting for you” she said
“Why? I don’t know you” I said to her
‘I want to show you something” she said to me, then she smiled.
The first thing I felt was weakness, my legs felt like water, they could no longer hold me, I crumbled to the ground. Intense pain seared through me, I could feel the fear overwhelm me, I opened my mouth and screamed so loud. I heard footsteps, it sounded like they were running away from me. I tried to look around me but I couldn’t, I felt paralyzed. I felt warm liquid seep between my thighs, I felt no shame as I realized I had just peed on my pants the pain and fear was too much for me to feel shame. I looked around me everywhere was so dark I couldn’t make out anything.
“Blood of Jesus cover me, Blood of Jesus protect me”, I kept murmuring. Then I heard it the footsteps were coming back. I didn’t know if I should be scared or relived. It might be help I thought to myself. The three men stood looming over me, “how did you wake up and run away” one said to me. “That’s very naughty of you”
“You idiot you let her escape, you know she knows who we are, she will recognize us” another one said
“What should we do with her?”
“We have to kill her”
“Here?”
“Why not, take you do it” he said handing him a knife
“No way, you do it” the other one said. They stood staring at each other.
“We were not supposed to kill anyone am not a killer”
“We can’t let her go she knows who we are now”
“Someone is coming” the third guy said so far he hadn’t said a word, he was probably keeping an eye out “let’s hide her fast” he said again
I felt them lift me up the ground, I opened my mouth to scream but one of them pressed his hands over my mouth to keep me from screaming. I couldn’t breathe, he was suffocating me.
I started struggling with my whole might, I felt someone shaking me calling my name, with a strangled cry I tore my eyes open, Emily was standing above me shaking me
“wake up sinie, please wake up”.
I sat up and looked around me, it was a dream. I had such a vivid dream in the middle of the day
“are you okay” Emily asked me
“yes am fine it was just a dream”.
My bed was soaked not just with sweat, but also urine, I had peed my bed in real life too.

I approached cautiously flashing my light to the spot we left her, I was not so surprised to see she was gone, i wasn't really expecting her to still be there but just wanted to know for sure; for the sake of my sanity. I sighed and turned back, trudging back exhaustion suddenly weighing me down. It was kind of silly of me to go back anyway cos I wasn't exactly sure what I would have done if I had met her still lying on the ground.
The next day I had a morning lecture so i woke early. Emlily completely ignored me as if somehow it was my fault that she was subjected to that last night, i wondered if she knew i had gone out again last night. I decided to give her some space hoping she will get over it. I got dressed and went to class, Tunde was waiting for me outside the class , he was my, classmate my boyfriend and my best friend.
"hi babe". He greeted me squeezing my hand. My heart warmed at the sight of him, he always had that effect on me. When we just met my friends had told me it was not wise to date a classmate, but his persistence and sweet smile won me over and i haven't regretted it.
"are you okay? You look exhausted, what time did you sleep last night?"
I opened my mouth to tell him what had happened but something held me back. Suddenly in the light of day everything that had happened seemed ridiculous, so i just shrugged and said "am okay, i just need to rest"
"come on let us go and sit down" he said still holding my hand as he guided me into the class room. I allowed myself to be led vowing to foget the whole thing. We sat and he put his arms around me i rested my head in his shoulders, the course we had that morning was by a professor who was always late but was always unforgiving if anyone entered the class after him. I closed my eyes hoping to catch a few minutes if sleep before the lecturer came.
"i spoke with my sister last night"
"bola?
"yea, she said i should say hi to you"
"hmmm " i replied. Bola was his elder sister, they were really close, at first she did not really warm up to me, there was always something distant about her. The last time we saw her she was telling us how she forgot her diary in a cab she had entered, i was surprised that people still kept diaries, she had been more concerned about a stranger reading what she had written about in the diary than the money she had forgotten in it.
"what did you write in it? i had asked
"personal stuff" she had said in a dismissing manner clearly not wanting to talk about it.
"she found the diary" Tunde was saying now
"she did? How?"
"some guy picked it up and kept it, he saw her phone number in it and decided to call her, she's so lucky, some people won't even bother to do that"
"did he read the diary?"
"she said he didn't"
"wow she's really lucky"
"that's what i told her, and the money is still intact, to tell you the truth am a bit surprised we still have people like that in this town, everybody these days is desperate. The last thing they will do is go out of their way to offer help to a stranger. Did i tell you about the day i was going home one woman's wallet fell from her bike?"
"nope"
"am telling you oh" Tunde continued " she was elderly oh at least like that kind sixty years old, her wallet fell from her bike and the contents scattered, i think she had just coming from ATM cos mint money plenty just fell and scattered, her card fell off too, see people diving for the money, picking it and running off, before her bike turned and came back they've picked everything including her ATM card"
"are you serious?"
"am telling you, the woman was just lamenting, even money to pay the bike man she did not have any left, i had to give her the small money i had on me oh,"
"jezzzz " i said embarrassed by what i had just heard
"Nigerians eh, we just have zero compassion for strangers, no
respect for human life at all, you can see someone dying on the street and you just walk past and continue you life as if nothing happened, business as usual, it's appalling."
I felt a sudden rise in my heart rate, "why do you say that?" i asked him
"it's true nah", he said
"what has people dying on the street got to do with picking wallets"
Tunde had a confused look on his face now, "am just talking generally about helping people"
"you talking too much this morning, i have a headache" i snapped at him.
"am sorry babe, oya rest small before the guy comes" he said squeezing my shoulders, i lay my had back on him but i wasn't resting, i was worried, it really was just terrible of us to have left the girl there, what if something terrible had happened to her and we could have helped but we didn't, we just ran off and left her there. I felt so guilty, i wanted to tell Tunde but ibwas scared he will be shame of me, he expected better from me. I shook my head and decided not to tell him.

Thanks u guys it's good to be back

It was 2 am; my friend Emily and I were walking back to the hostel after hours of night reading, it was really dark and we had no torch light but we were quite used to the route so we just strolled home, I was so exhausted and I could not wait to get home, suddenly we saw her she was sprawled on the ground. We almost stepped on her because it was too dark to see.
“Oh my god, what is this” I asked Emily “Is it”? I reached down to touch her
“She’s dead, oh my god sinie she’s dead” Emily said; she was freaking out on me.
I shook the girl again, “hello are you okay”?
“She’s dead. Jesus sinie she’s dead” Emily said again she was crying now.
“Stop it”!! I snapped at her. To my surprise i was calm, my mind was blank but Emily’s reaction was not helping me. “We have to help her” I told her
“How”?
“We have to take her to the clinic”.
We lifted her, she was very heavy. I held her arms under her armpit and Emily held her legs, we stumbled towards the clinic; suddenly she wriggled in our hands
“Wait”!!! I told Emily, “she coming awake”. The girls opened her eyes and stared at us, and then she opened her mouth and gave the loudest scream I have ever heard. Emily and I looked at each other and then we turned and ran. I really can’t remember what I was thinking then. I supposed we should have stayed and made sure she was okay, but imagine someone you thought was dead suddenly waking up and giving off probably the loudest scream you have ever heard. It was too much for me, I ran so fast I didn’t even know how I got to the room. We were trembling when we got to our hostel, out of breath. I collapsed on my bunk; Emily climbed on her own bed, on top of me. We were bunkies. We tried to catch our breath. Then I said to her
“Should we have stayed back to help her?
“I don’t know” she said, “please sinie I don’t want to even think about it, can we just drop it”.
I lay very still on my bed as the questions tormented me? Why was she lying on the ground by 2 am in the night? And most importantly why did she scream. I felt so guilty that we just ran off and left her lying there; she was a human being for God’s sake. What kind of persons are we to just leave her there, I climbed down from my bed and looked at Emily; she was already sleeping off. I quietly tiptoed out of the room and headed back to the girl.

hello people, its me back again with a new story for my sinie's series. yes i haven't forgotten all about it, just really busy trying to finish my second novel. Anyway here's the first draft of the second story in this series i have titled HAUNTED. enjoy