I'M A WITCH 🧙‍♀️

*I'm a witch*👺

Chapter one

The bell rings again leaving me with a deep thought of the next class. I peer to my wrist watch, carefully studying the clock rotation. It's the last subject of the day, my most hated subject Chemistry.

"Good afternoon class," Mr Zack says and we all respond weakly.

As usual, he hisses and face the board. Everyone knows how boring the subject he teaches, but it's mandatory.

"Unsaturated Hydrocarbon," he says as he points to the maker board. "Who can tell me two difference between saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbon?"

The whole class feels empty as everyone expect someone form nowhere to give an answer. As much as I'm keen to speak, it's better to remain mute.

"Sir!"

Without turning I know who's it. Peter.

Peter stands up and grab his crouch, leaning on it, he manage to stand.

"Come on, you don't need to stand," Mr Zack advise.

"Why can't he?" a female voice says, "It's not like he's going to last long after all."

The look on Peter's face says it all, but this are better than it used to be. Being the most brilliant boy in class, everyone automatically hates him, including me, sometimes. Peter is the reason most of us feel incomplete, he passes all seven subject, his scores are top notch, sometimes it feels like he's the only one in class.

Low-battery, that's what he's fondly called. At the age of five, Peter already owns an inhaler, at the age of seven, he begins to use crouches, his eye lens weaken at eleven and now he's always on glasses.

"Peter, you don't need to stand. We can hear you."

Peter smiles. "Ok sir," he sits and gives a long explanation as usual, making all of us seem like a dummy.

"A round of applause for him," Mr.Zack says and the whole class echoes of clap, but Peter keeps looking at Nnkechi sadly. The word "Low-battery" is beginning to have little effect on him, unlike those time he'll burst into tears. Everyone knows he's not going to live any longer, his lifespan is apparent.

Mr.Zack ignores Peter as he hope for an answer from someone else, surprisingly, Nnkechi saved the day. Before Peter, Nnkechi used to be the teachers favorite, not until Peter joined us this term. I heard he had solved the whole session mathematics questions, won seven debate, presented five science project, won three spelling bee and musical contest.

"May I?"

I look up to see Peter standing in front of me carrying a stack of books. Deep inside I don't want him, but I really don't want to seem like a bad person. I shift slightly and Peter drops to the bench, placing his crutches aside.

"What are you reading?" he asks.

I showed him the book cover and he cracks a smile which eventually turns into deep laughter.

"Nearly all men in Lagos are mad," he says while trying to catch his breath, "Is this a title the author decide to come up with?"

I scoff. "Were you expecting how to survive with cancer?"

Peter pauses and looks away from me, I felt bad for saying such, but words are like eggs, can't be reversed when broken. Slowly, Peter grabs his walking stick and stands up, I watch him walk into the classroom as usual, he should have get used to staying alone.

I only read two lines when Aisha interrupts me, the last thing I want is to dawdle my time with a gossipper.

"Haven't you heard?" she says with a slight tap on my shoulder. I knew it, she always has something to say.

"I think you should leave commercial and go for mass communication."

Aisha giggles, "I just wanted to let you know that Nnkechi and Bright have broken up."

Her words sink into my head and I feel weird, Nnkechi and Bright are known as the school couples, for what reason do they have to break up? My mind drift back to the rumor I heard last week about Bright liking someone else.

"This is your chance," Aisha says.

I scoff. "What has this got to do with me?"

"Don't you like Bright? This is your chance to give it a go."

I rolled my eyes. "Me keh, leave me oo. My main concern is my studies for now is how to make it to SS3."

Aisha looks at me and gets up, "Na you sabi, if you like, keep admiring him from afar."

As soon as Aisha leaves, he pass with some group of boys. I notice his gaze on my body, trying not to over stare, I pretend to be reading.

"Hi" he says and my heart skips.

"Hi" I reply with a big smile and he walks away to the canteen.

Deep down I feel excited with my heart racing faster. Aisha is kind of right, what if he's into me?

The bell rings again and I close my novel, it's the end of break time. I join the others who match into the chemistry lab.

*******************

"I can still see her face," I say to my sister who's busy with her Jamb CBT practice test. This is her third attempt, though she's been doing well in previous exams, but her score is not enough for her dream course.

"Amaka, you have to get it out of your head. That's what you get when you make contact with a witch."

"She was already dead when I got to her."

"And so? Don't you know about Buru, the man whose corps haunt people who were present at the day he was killed."

I sigh. "Is this the life we'll be living? Killing people because of the power they possess."

"They are evil," My sister says before drifting into silence.

************

After having my bath before going to bed, I notice something glowing in the dark. At first I assume it's my phone, not until I turn on the light to see a rosary on my study table.

I shift my books aside and a golden rosary caught my eyes. Carefully, I pick it and look closely.

My body runs cold as soon as I touch the rosary. In a split second millions of images flash in my head.

"Blood of Jesus," I say before tossing it out of the window. My heart race with fear, despite the cool AC and the fact that I just bath, rivulet of sweat pours out of every sweat pores on my skin.

Quickly, I open my Bible and read several verses until the tension inside of me reduce. Slowly I close my mini bible and slump on my soft foamy bed.

"Honey, are you ok?" My mom voice echoes from behind the door.

"I'm fine." I reply.

Thankfully, the images in my head are gone. For a moment, I felt possessed by the strange object. I've heard rumors of people running mad and doing strange things after picking or seeing strange objects.

My phone beeps and I turn on the screen to see a new message request from Facebook. I suppose it's one of those random strangers looking for new friends until I tap on the notification icon.

My heart raise as I sight the photo of Bright on my screen. For a moment, I switch off the screen and give myself some time to think. If I accept his request, won't it seem like I'm cheap? What if he's into me? What if he's breaking up with Nnkechi because of me?

I scroll down to chat with Aisha but she's offline. She must be asleep by now. It's almost eleven, I should also be asleep by now.

My phone shuts down and I place it on the table beside me, hoping for the alarm to wake me this time.

************

"No, not again."

It's past seven and my phone alarm fails me again. Without heisting, I get up from bed and put on my uniform and grab my bag, but something captivate my attention.

My eyes widens and my bag falls. There it is, on the table again, the strange rosary lays on the same spot where it was last night.

How did it get here?

.

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TO BE CONTINUED.

*I'm a witch*

Chapter 2

( *Rock and a hard place)*

It took almost an hour of staring before I bounce back to reality. In a blink, the rosary disappears, causing my heart to jump to my mouth.

Hurriedly, I rush out of my room, ignoring my mom calls. My eyes are wide open with and heart race like someone who's being chased by a mad bull. With millions of thoughts roaming my head, I bolt past the busy road, narrowly escape being hit by a mad driver.

"Oni ku reh" the driver curse, but I have a lot in my mind to clear off.

Suddenly, a strong fist warp around my arm, causing me to almost fall.

"Where are you running to?" A familiar voice says.

My heart drops in relief as I sight the person I want to see.

"Amara, where are you heading to?" Bright asks again.

"School," I blurt with my heavy breath.

"That's the wrong way and why are you running so fast" Bright looks around like he's trying to spot something. "...are you being chased?"

"No, why?" I ask, trying to keep calm but my breath rate betrays me.

Bright scoffs showing off his charming dimples. Slowly, he pulls out a white handkerchief fom his pocket. The feeling of his body close to mine seems soothing. In no time, we start talking. Our walk to school seem shorter than usual as he makes a lot of funny jokes.

All eyes are on me as we step into the school premises. To be honest, I felt shy walking with him, especially when every guy in school shakes hands with him, unlike other student, he doesn't gets punished for arriving late to school. Narrowly, that's how I escape being punished for late coming.

Nnkechi's eyes pin to me as Bright holds my hand when we step into the classroom. Luckily, there's no teacher in class. Bright let go of me after he escort me to my seat. Gracefully, I sit and watch him from behind.

A sudden tap on my shoulder jolts me from my exciting feeling.

"You did it," Aisha says with a big smile on her face.

"Come on we're just acquaintances."

"Na lie, I saw it, your yellow skin face turned red."

"Whatever," I scoff.

*******

Shortly after the first lesson, I sight Peter but he looks away as soon as he sees me. Pity is not my thing, I suggest he already got used to being joked at.

Luckily, math teacher is absent, but that's so unusual. I grab a note from my bag to jot down some point from the last topic, immediately Aisha stands up, Bright sits beside me.

"Why haven't you accepted my request yet?" he asks.

I try to shy away from his sight, in as much as I love where this is going to, I can't look him in the eye without feeling weird.

"Well ..." I pause as he grabs my pen and write something on my left palm.

I close my hand as he drops the pen. My eyes follows him till he sits.

"I'LL LOVE TO SPEND ALL EVENING CHATTING WITH YOU."

I read out slowly and smile like it's something new. Bright isn't the first guy to show interest in me but after my last failed childish relationship, I've decided to focus more on my priority first.

After a while, the next teacher comes in, then we all settled down.

.

.

(Break time)

Peter face is buried in books by the time I get to meet him at the library. He seem not to notice my presence until I speak.

"I'm sorry," I say.

He flips the page once more, filling some words on the book in front of him.

"It's ok, I'm good. As you can see, I'm busy, go get busy with your boyfriend."

I pretend to smile, as much as I like being Bright's friend, I hate being assumed to be his girlfriend.

"Bright is just a friend .. honestly."

Peter exhales. "It's none of my business."

"Then why do everyone thinks we are dating already?" I ask.

Peter pause and shook his head. "they were together for two years."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"If he breaks up with her in a snap. You should also get ready," he sighs and flips his page again. "If you may excuse me, I have important things to do." he says.

***************

I walk out of the library with Peters words banging in my head. What if he's right? What if I'm heading the wrong way?

"Bright girlfriend," some junior girls giggles as they pass by me.

I noticed everyone whispering with all eyes are on me. Quickly, I rush into the school bathroom, shut the door and gasp for fresh air.

Footstep echoes behind me and I turn to see the last person I want to see.

"So? you are the lucky girl, Hun?"

Nnkechi grab my hand as I try to get out of the bathroom. She pulls me and I feel the pain wave on my chest as my back hits the wall.

"I don't want any trouble," I say to her, fearfully.

I've heard stories of girls who gets battered by jealous ex lovers, and Nnkechi is an exact example

"Bright doesn't love you," she says as she moves closer to me, I can smell her perfume and anger written on her face.

"He's just a friend," I say with my eyes widening.

Nnkechi is way bigger than me, and being the most richest girl in school, she has loads of mean friends. My heart race as she taunts me, but things comes to an halt when someone shows up.

"Let her go." Aisha warns as she steps in.

My heart drops in relief knowing that I have backup.

The look on Aisha face seem familiar. That's the look she gives before; snapping someone arms, punching someone in the face, pulling off peoples hair with her fist and breaking a knee.

"We are just playing," Nnkechi says as she lets go of me slowly.

I hurriedly stand behind my friend who's way shorter but deadlier. 'Small but mighty' that's what most people call Aisha, instead of being bullied for her height, Aisha bullies everyone, including boys.

Last week she breaks Yemi hand in a fight, the first day we became friends was the first time she defended me. Aisha grab the class bully in the collar and yank him to the ground, I felt pity for the boy after she pounce on him and rained blows to his face.

Towards the end of last term, Aisha beat four senior girls because they called her short. Of course she's short but she hate being reminded.

Nnkechi steps back when Aisha moves closer to her, pointing her little finger at the tall girl in front of her.

"If I ever see you six feet near my friend, I'll break your nose and you'll breathe nothing but blood"

Nnkechi nods and rush out of the bathroom. Aisha turns to me and sigh "Are you ok?" she asks.

I feel safe knowing that I have Aisha.

************

After school, I run into Bright on my way home. As much as I try to ignore him, it's not his fault either.

"Ok, I want to make this clear," I say as we walk home.

"What?" he asks.

"Why did you break up with her."

Bright scoffs. "ok, I didn't see that coming," he pause as we get closer to his house which is just few miles away from mine.

"Amara, you shouldn't be hard on yourself. I just need a friend, that's all."

"Ok," I sigh. "This shouldn't go beyond that."

Bright looks at me and nods. "Ok," he stretch forth his hand "Friends?"

I shake hands with him. "Friends."

*********

"How did it go with your boyfriend?" my mom asks as I step into the kitchen.

My sister burst into laughter, not hiding it at all. They must have saw the both of us outside.

"He's just a friend," I say.

"Everyone started off as friends," Chiamaka says.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," she burst into laughter, then she clears her throat. "Food is almost ready, sorry, I mean breakfast."

"it's three PM." I sigh.

Mom taps my sister on her shoulder. "Have you added salt to the rice?"

Chiamaka nods and my mom return to stirring the soup. I grab a yogurt in the fridge and a pack of biscuits before heading out of the kitchen.

"I'll be in the parlor."

*********

I sit on the couch, shoving the biscuits into my mouth and sipping the yogurt. My phone beeps and an unknown number texted me.

"HAVEN'T ADDED ME YET?"

It's Bright.

I save his number to my phone, then I add it to my WhatsApp contacts. Though, he's offline but I'm able to view some of his statues which seem very cool. I save several of his photos, most especially his shirtless ones.

Bright chest tattoo seem clean and nicely done, I never knew he had one, it's a bleeding heart which has different meanings but I guess he just had it drawn.

📱Bright: Finally, you accepted.

Me: Nice pix though.

📱Bright: Really? 😏.

Me: I was just joking, those pictures looks dull, get an iphone.

📱Bright: 😏😏 and you viewed all the dull pictures I took with my Redmi.

Me: Mistakenly.

📱Bright: I hope you aren't mistakenly tapping your text buttons right now.

Me: 😄😄😄😄.

"Food is ready," my mom calls.

I get up with my eyes glued to my phone screen, I carry my food away from the dinning table and head straight to my room. I shut the door behind me and place my phone in a corner while I switch to video call.

Bright is shirtless, causing me to stare at the screen. Apparently he was sketching a picture of me, but he's not done yet. We stayed on video call till dark. Bright and I talked until I run out of data.

My heart drops as the message pops in, unfortunately, I can't recharge from my bank and it's already late in the night.

Slowly, I plug my phone and view his photos once again before drifting off to sleep.

************

I open my eyes and I wake up inside a semi-dark church room. The bells ring as I stand up, wondering how I got here.

"Where am I?" My voice echoes like the room is empty.

I walk to the altar and I notice the statue and drawings on the wall. Immediately, I recognize the church. The light suddenly brighten and a man in red hood appears in front of me. Before I take a step, two other people in red gown grab my hands.

"Bring her to me," the man says, holding a knife which is also tainted with blood.

I try to scream but another man gagged me. Forcefully, they chain me to the altar and the whole room suddenly gets filled with people watching. Like an horror movie, the man raises his knife.

"In the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit!"

I wake up as soon as the knife sinks into my chest. Luckily it's a dream but things gets worse when I feel a burning sensation on my chest. I lower my nightie and a black rosary tattoo appears on chest. At once I realize what's going on, millions of thoughts roam my head but all I can do is to shout.

"Mummyyyyyy!" I scream

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TO BE CONTINUED

*I'm a witch* 👹

Chapter three. (Dark Trinity)

My heart raised as my mom pulls over. Earlier that day we've visited the hospital, unfortunately, the doctors were unable to find out what's really going on, Redguard is our next line of action.

My mom holds my hand as soon as she pulls over.

"Don't worry, all will be well," she assures.

"Yes," I say.

As soon as I sight the redarmies, my eyes widens. My mom holds my hand, then we walk towards the building. With the corner of my eyes, I sight some group of people chained together, I try to look away in order to stop the million thoughts roaming my head.

"Welcome ma, how may I help you," a lady at the front desk asks.

My eyes darts to the pictures on the wall. Pictures of the most wanted magicians, old and young looking deadly. My eyes meets a Redguard rifle and I quickly look away.

"This way please," the lady says.

We march into a white room with cameras, I feel uneasy but my mom presence calms me. "The testing will begin soon." the lady says before marching away.

I nod and sit. As simple as it sounds, I know it won't come easy. What type of method is the possession test? What if I'm truly possessed? What will they do to me?

Finally, an elderly man in white steps in. His eyes narrows as he sights my mom, he adjust his glasses and walk to her.

"Are you Chike Daniel's wife?" he asks.

That didn't come as a surprise, everyone knows my dad, he used to be a police officer who uncovered lots of evil magicians activities, he's known to be one of the prominent Redguard.

The man's expression changes as he turns to me.

"My name is Tunji Dave, nice to meet you."

He sits beside me and tap on the table. The glassy table split open and a pot of flame comes out. Rather than the normal type, the flame is red and cool, but far from ordinary.

"What is this?" My mom asks.

"Possession test," he replies. "Just a drop of blood, if it remains red, you're normal."

"What if I'm possessed?" I ask.

"It'll turn blue," he replies, slowly, he grips my hand then he pierce my skin with a small needle.

I hold my breath and exhale slowly. "What if I'm possessed?" I ask, at the eleventh hour.

The man says nothing as he watch my blood drops on the mysterious flame. Luckily, the flame remains the same.

"Thank you Jesus." My mom says in relief.

Sweat drips from my chin as I withdraw my hand. The man turns to me with his witty smile. "You are Ok."

After several questioning, I come to realize that no one saw the tattoo on my chest. It disappeared again, and I guess it's gone.

************

Loads of messages appears on my phone that night but I have no time to reply. I scroll down to view Aisha and Bright's message. Having reply the both of them, I decide to take a bath and look at my tattoo again.

I stand naked in front of the mirror, as expected, the tattoo is no more. With a big smile on my face I slump on my bed and drift to sleep.

************

The next morning, the tattoo appears again. But, I take it lightly. If I'm not possessed, nothing is wrong with me.

As soon as I step out of my room, I run into my dad. "Good morning," he says.

"Good morning dad," I reply with a smile.

Most people find it hard to believe the man in front of me is my dad, that's what you get when you marry early. My dad married at 21, had me at 25, dark skinned, hefty and tall.

"I heard about yesterday, how are you doing now?"

"Fine," I reply.

My dad accompany me downstairs to the dinning room. Carefully, I place my bag on the table and he sits opposite, facing me. As he watch me eat, I finally decide to ask him what's been bothering me.

"Dad, what if I was possessed. What's going to happen to me?"

My dad scoffs. "Well, you'll be take into confinement till they sort it out."

"What do you mean by sort?"

He sighs and place his hands on the table. "People do dangerous things when possessed. A girl once killed her parents and siblings after she was possessed."

He toss his phone to me and I look at the photo on the screen, "Who's that?" I ask.

"That is Jamiu. He killed himself days after being possessed."

I look away and my dad stands up, he place his hands on my shoulders. "No harm is going to befall you...I promise."

I stand up give him a light kiss on the cheek before storming out and head straight to school.

****************

Immediately the maths teacher walks out, Aisha taps me. "How did it go?"

"How did what go."

Aisha rolls her eyes. "Come on, I saw your mom driving towards the Redguard state branch quarters, you were also in the car. Remember my dad's gym is close to the base and I sleep there most times" she smiles. "I got you,"

I sigh, knowing that Aisha caught me, I have no choice but to tell the truth.

"Nice to see you again," Bright says, interrupting my confession.

"Thanks."

"I heard you weren't feeling well. Never knew you'll resume early."

"Yes, it's just a mild sickness."

"Are you ok now?"he asks.

"Yes," I nod.

The next teacher steps in and Bright whispers to my ear. "See you during closing hours."

I smile and Aisha taps me. "I see love in the air," she whispers.

I give her a friendly punch as she giggles, then we get back to work.

***********

After school, I head straight to the next place on my mind. There must be something behind the Rosary tattoo and there's only one place I can find out. . As soon as I alight from the bus, my eyes widens. The same church I saw in my dream is standing right in front of me.

Bright and I agree to me after school but I have to sort this first. Something tells me to go back but I resist. I feel there's an answer behind that door.

I hold the giant door knob and push it. Slowly, I step in and the door shut behind me. "Oh my God,"

All the Nuns in the building turns to me, but my eyes are pinned on the statues and designs. Exactly what I saw in my dream. I don't think I can stomach what is coming next.

Quickly, I turn to leave but a voice calls me, "Sister you are at the right place."

I pause and turn to the elderly woman in blue walking towards me. She moves closer to me with the innocent look on her face.

"What do you seek?" she asks.

Slowly, I pull out the paper in my pocket containing the rosary's rough sketch. She looks at it closely as I hand it over. Without saying a word, she keeps mumbling.

"Where did you get this from?" she asks.

"I saw it in my dream." I reply.

The stares at me with suspicion . "What's your name?"

"Amara,"

"Ok, Amara, follow me."

***************

We arrive at the largest library I've ever seen. Quickly, she rush towards a corner and pull out a dusty book. I sneeze immediately she place it on the table. After wiping the dust off my shirt, I walk to her.

The nun place my rough sketch close to the drawing on the book cover.

"Why is the rosary cross upside down?" I ask.

"Dark trinity," she replies.

"What's dark trinity?"

The Nun sighs and pulls another chair closer, I sit and look straight at her.

"In 1972, JohnCross, a pope, wanted more power. He wants to perform miracle like a god, so he consult the devil. The devil gave him powers, in return, he'll sacrifice a virgin every ten years.

"Months later his church grew and his followers worship him like a god until 2012, he was caught in the act. Thanks to the redarmy, JohnCross was captured but days later, he escaped. In my findings, I discovered the dark trinity virgin is chosen weeks before the ritual, she is marked with a rosary tattoo.

On the day of the ritual, the virgin is killed and JohnCross becomes powerful again. No one has heard from him since ten years ago and I'm sure he'll be more than careful this time "

I try as much to remain calm but my sweat and breath betrays me. With my heart in my mouth, I ask my most fearful question.

"When is the Dark trinity ritual?"

The nun sighs, she points to a word written on the rosary.

"What's that?"

"That's a Hebrew word, its denote time and date for the ritual," she sighs and place her glasses on the table. "That's today's date, Dark Trinity ritual is tonight."

At that moment, my heart stops.

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TO BE CONTINUED