“Wake up, wake up, wake up!! It’s time for morning devotion!!” came the voice of a random student as he went from door to door in the hostel banging rather loudly on each door.
He was met with curses from some rooms as the boys voiced their displeasure at being disturbed at a rather early morning.
Daniel rose from his bed and glanced at his phone screen. 4:30 AM glowed brightly
“Seriously?” He grunted in annoyance.
On the bed below him, Jake slept surprisingly soundly over the noise.
Unable to go back to sleep, Daniel hopped down from the bed and went outside to relieve himself. Knowing the state of the hostel toilets, he opted to usethe gutter near the hostel borehole. How grown up boys managed to make use of the toilet without flushing was still a thing of mystery to him. Yet this same boys outside will be acting like princes in order to get the eyes of their feminine counterpart.
He had just finished and was about to leave the area when he heard the snapping of a twig. Glancing around, he saw nothing. He shrugged and was about to move on when he heard it again. With cold sweat breaking on his face, he looked around again and still saw nothing. His hostel was surrounded by strong fences which meant it should be well fortified. And so far, he was the only one there.
“ Hello?” he called out in the darkness. “Who’s there?”
There was no response.
He called out again and again. Still nothing.
He was about to leave when a screeching sound came from above him. He glanced up and his heart missed a beat. Staring back at him from a nearby tree a few metres from the hostel was a bat. It’s red eyes glowed menacingly . He stood rooted to the spot and kept on staring at it. There was something odd about it and he suddenly felt his legs making movements of their own.Overwhelmed by some force he couldn’t explain, he began to walk towards the direction of the direction of the tree. The bat bared it’s teeth and spread it’s wings as Daniel edged closer. The only thing separating them was the fence but that wouldn’t be any problem for a creature with wings. The bat was just about to lung from the tree at his victim when a nearby stone hit the branch it was standing on, startling it and scaring it away.
Daniel blinked and shook his head as he came back to reality.
“Okay” he said, surprised at his sudden change in location. “ What the hell just happened?”
A few feet away from the tree previously occupied by the bat, a figure stood by. The figure wore a dark hood and dark jeans and watched as the bat flew away.
“ No one gets the boy. Not while I am alive” the figure muttered darkly before leaving the area.
……………………………………………………………………………
“And that is all on supernatural mythologies” The voice of the history lecturer, Mr akingbade concluded. “If there are no further questions, I’ll take my leave.”
Daniel had been absent minded throughout the lecture still shaken up by his ordeal that early morning. Truth be told, he had been absent minded throughout the previous lectures and was lucky not to get caught by any of the lecturers.
He received a nudge to his side and blinked rapidly before staring sideways into the eyes of his hyperactive course mate, Sharon. She was a few inches shorter than him with fair complexion and a lean build. She mostly had her hair in braids.
Her bubbly personality endeared many to her and she was a joy to be with.
Unfortunately, she could be quite naïve and some took advantage of it.
“ Hello?” She pouted at him.“ Didn’t you hear me?”
“No. Sorry, what did you say?” he replied.
“ I said I need your help with a that psychology course thingy. It’s more complicated than I thought. Can we meet at the faculty library later this night? I will be busy throughout today” she replied hopefully.
“Well. I am not really…” he hesitated.
“ Please?” She pouted, showing him her puppy dog eyes.
“ Sharon.” He warned. “ You know that doesn’t work on me.”
“ I can hope.” She pressed on .
“Alright” He sighed. “I’ll try.”
She squealed pumping her left armup in a victory pose. Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle at her immaturity. It was kind of cute.
A voice snorted in disgust behind them.
“ Keep up that lovey dovey stuff and I'm going to be sick.”
They turned around and saw a dark skinned girl with a mischievous look in her eyes grinning at them.
“It will be a relief for the whole world.”
Sharon stuck out her tongue at her and was rewarded by a sharp tug at her braids.
“OW!! Tomiwa, why did you do that?!!” She yelled.
Tomiwa grinned and stuck out her tongue at Sharon in response. Daniel shook his head with a smile and relaxed a bit. The class was noisy as Mr akingbade had departed. Jake and some other boys were arguing on football. Sharon and Tomiwa had jumped into a big activity of gossips and they giggled incessantly.
He glanced to his left and saw her again. The same girl who had been staring at him at the previous meeting. And there she was.
Staring at him again!
“What is wrong with this girl?” he thought. “Doesn't she know it’s rude to stare for crying out loud?”.
An hour had gone by and it was evident that the final lecture was not going to hold again.
“Are you guys still waiting?” he stood up,glancing at the two girls who were still conversing.
“ No.” Tomiwa replied standing up along with Sharon. “ Let’s go.”
They moved over to Jake who had given up in his own argument with the boys and was currently snoozing with his head on the desk.
“ Jake.” Daniel tapped him lightly and he awoke “ We are leaving.”
“ Yeah, alright” Jake replied, stretching before standing up and soon, the quartet left the class.
“ Anyone ready for the test coming up tomorrow?” Jake said as they walked along the pedestrian lane towards their respective hostels.
“ Kind of.” Daniel replied absentmindedly.
“ Same here.” Tomiwa replied.
“Not really” Sharon squeaked bashfully. “which means you are going to tutor me longer, Dan."
Daniel groaned in response.
“Hey, don’t complain” she replied. “ I am a fast learner.” she added proudly.
The other three coughed awkwardly at that proclamation and she scowled at them.
“Whatever.” she mumbled.
They soon slowed down as a crowd caught their attention. The crowd seemed to be gathering over something….or rather someone. Angling to satisfy their curiosity,the four ran towards the crowd .
“What happened?” Daniel asked a guy who had just come in from the crowd.
“ Someone was attacked” The guy replied with a panicked look on his face. “ It doesn't look like he was attacked with weapons though. That is the baffling part.”
With that,the guy continued on his way.
Daniel combed through the crowd,apologizing at the complains coming his way. When he reached the front and saw what was causing the commotion, His heart skipped for the second time that day.
Lying on the floor was a young man, not older than him. He was still alive evidencedby his labored breathing and there was a lot of blood pooling around him. What shocked Daniel was the cause of the injury. Peering closer at the injured fellow, his eyes opened wide as he saw a wound inflicted on the boy’s neck.
It was a bite wound.
A hooded figure walked along the bushy pathway in the dark hours of the morning.His aim only known to him alone. Stopping by a large rock underneath a cashew tree,the figure sat down,leant his head against the tree and relaxed. Pulling out a cigarette from his pocket, he lit it and sighed in pleasure as he inhaled the smoke, a smile of relief on his face. Drumming his fingers on his thigh, he began to ruminate on the latest events that had transpired so far:The boy was finally here and moments away from being in his grasp. The one he had tracked for years was finally within reach and all he had to do was get him to be alone and that’s all.The problem? An irritating obstacle in form of a certain person kept on getting in theway and it was beginning to piss him off.Speaking of obstacles….“I know you are here.” He growled as he sensed the presence of another being nearby.“You can come out now. It’s pathetic.”A few feet from his left, anot
“Something you want?” Daniel gulped nervously as he slowly backed away from the leering figure. “Sorry I don’t have any cash on me but I have an ATM. We can work something out”“Oh, my boy.” The man replied as he finally had Daniel cornered. “ I don’t have any interest in your money.”“Then what do you want?” Daniel was literally sweating now.Smiling, the man rubbed his chin and stared at the sky as if in thought.“ Why don’t you lean back and relax. I am about to delve into a little bit of history here. You might as well know the truth about yourself.”Daniel said nothing.Noticing Daniel's attention, the man began.“Once upon a time in a boring little city, there lived a good doctor who was know to be indispensable and efficient. Dr Joseph Johnson.”“ My father?” Daniel interrupted. His mother had shown him pictures of his father since he was little and the only other information he had received was his name.“
“Make yourself comfortable.” Mystery girl said as she entered her apartment, Daniel following close by and shutting the door after him.She had invited him over and being driven by paranoia, he accepted. He didn’t want any further run-ins with Luke on his way back to his hostel.He paused to look around her apartment.It was well furnished and quite spacious.There were two armchairs, a couch, and a flat screen TV with a bookshelf beside it. A large glass table stood in the center of the room with lots of books piled on it. By the far end of the living room was a door which probably led to her bedroom. Few meters away from the couch was a large dining table.“Wow?” He thought. “All these for one person?"Glancing at her, he took in her appearance. If he deduced correctly, she was not older than 17. Then again it was more difficult to tell a girl’s age than a guy’s.“Nice place.” he said as he sat on the couch.“ Thanks” she
“For real, man?” Jake said as he walked alongside Daniel. The two were currently on their way to class. Daniel had left Ann’s place early and reached his hostel just in time to shower and leave with Jake as they had an early lecture, so which meant no time for breakfast. Daniel had given him the gist of how he left lecture and stayed in a friend’s place, omitting information of the ambush from Luke as well as not revealing the name of the 'friend' that he stayed with. He already had Ann laughing at him. He didn’t want another comedy audience.“Yeah.” Daniel replied. “it just happened all of a sudden. One minute, we are watching a movie and before we know it, time has passed away. The movie was awesome.”“Which one?” Jake asked.“The ghost and the darkness..” Daniel began.“Seriously? That movie is old school.” Jake interrupted “ You haven’t watched it before?”“ No.” Daniel lied. Truth be told, he had watched it a long time ago but he needed
~ THE PAST~“Honey, what do you think you are doing?” A man asked as he entered the kitchen to meet his wife cooking. He was in his early thirties and he was quite fit with no sign of protruding belly and he stood at an average height. He had well groomed raven black hair and a bit of stubble on his chin and he was currently wearing a red robe.The question was directed to his heavily pregnant wife who was by the gas cooker, making their breakfast.“I’m making breakfast.” She replied, giving him a look as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.She was met with a disapproving scowl on his face.“Come on, Joe” she whined. “It’s just cooking. Besides, it’s only a light breakfast I’m making.”He shook his head and moved towards her, collecting the spoon from her hand and ignoring her protests.“Light or heavy breakfast.” He said as he gently nudged her away from the gas cooker. “
Joe drove like a deranged lunatic on the way to the hospital, lucky and thankful that he didn’t run into anyone or even worse, encounter the police. Soon his wife was admitted into one of the labor rooms and being a doctor himself, decided to handle the operations. It was his hospital after all.Delivery process was hell. Trying as much as she could,there was no progress in the situation. After much efforts, she began to grow weaker and her breathing was slowly depleting. Joe and the midwifes around knew what this meant.“Doctor?” One of the midwives looked at him in fear.‘This is not happening.’ Joe thought in fear as he held his wife’s slowly growing cold hand.‘Esther, please stay with me. Please’ tears began to well around his eyes.Then it hit him!! The serum!! It was his last shot at saving the life of the woman he loved. He stormed out of the room, running into Luke along the way.“What’s going on?” Luke asked.
..A bat hung upside down at the branch of an oak tree. It’s wings covering it’s body as it snoozed peacefully. A sudden movement below startled it and it quickly snapped awake, eyes glaring .Below, a white rabbit hopped around, it’s nose twitching as it sniffed around for food. The bat adjusted itself and stood upright on the branch, excited at the sight of a new meal. It bared it’s fangs in excitement as the rabbit continued moving about, unaware of the imminent danger about to occur.With a sharp snarl, it swooped down and the rabbit suddenly, seeing the approaching predator, took off. It was a short chase as the bat was gearing closer, it’s feet close to grabbing the rabbit by the neck. Then it happened.Before it could lay it’s claws on the poor animal, a growl was heard nearby and a grey wolf jumped out of the swiped the bat away with it’s claw. The bat landed roughly against a tree bark and quickly regained it’s balance, flying to perch on the branch a
“Well,well,well. Look who's late." Tomiwa teased the boys as they finally made their way into the class. As predicted, they arrived twenty minutes late and after some insults from the lecturer, they were told to wait outside as punishment before being pardoned and allowed to come in.“It wasn’t our fault.” Jake grumbled.“Oh really?” she smiled. “ Who’s fault was it?”“ Long story.” Jake muttered.“ Yeah,right.” She laughed.Daniel sat down beside Sharon with a frown. He prayed that today would not get any worse because if someone managed to anger him, he would not go as easy on that person as he went on Falcon. Sharon for once decided not to bother him as she saw his mood.“I smell fury.” a feminine voice sang in his ear and he turned around to look into the teasing chocolates of Annabelle’s eyes.“Then your nose works well.” he managed a small smile.“Terrible morning?” She asked.“Yeah.” He replied as he faced his