PORTAL BATTLE

Chapter 1

".....and it is yet another breaking news of a teenager who mysteriously died early this morning at this residence where we bring you the news" the female journalist reports the news from the crime scene where the 17th death since the last three days recently occurred in the early hours of the morning.

Mosan had never been like this. It had always been the envy of neighboring communities because of its peaceful existence but all that came to an abrupt end three months ago.

Strange things have been happening;people have been going missing, children have abducted mysteriously only to be released as totally different people. The cops would normally try interviewing those kids but they would say nothing. Some believe it's as a result of shock perhaps,others think the children have had their mind messed up with bad juju. Either way,their release didn't serve as a lead for the cops. These kind of things were only believed to happen in movies but right now in Mosan, fiction has become the truth, it has become life, it has become reality.

News had reached the divisional police headquarters Mosan who are trying all their possible best reducing if not totally stopping the ever increasing rate of irritating deaths of teenagers,abduction of younger children and disappearance of certain individuals.

The once blissful town whose day-day activities have become death, abduction and disappearance have become a one stop shop for neighboring newspapers.

Its now a trending topic for the press. The streets of this town have gone empty with lively happy people leaving empty bodies behind crime tapes and reporters in front of their camera men struggling to get past the police for comprehensive video clips and images of dead bodies. The cemetery has gone crowded with dead bodies of the persons whose deaths are a mystery and those whose deaths are a cause of grief. Mortuaries have gone closed refusing to accept more dead bodies. Leaving the now wrecked town would normally have been considered but the deaths of a few who tried to have scared others to their unsafe abode.

Many detectives have one excuse or the other to not be in work but under the warmth of their duvets. " we don't even feel safe at home so why risk our lives for the dead" have become the common speech from the mouths of the once brave officers of the law. Some resigned out of frustration; they have grown tired of involving themselves in different cases at the same time with no single lead. Even the bests of the bests have given up.

Believers hope these ugly events would eventually become history just as it mysteriously started making history.

Neighboring townsfolk who have always dreamt of living in Mosan now pray fervently to never get caught up in Mosan. Only a few kindhearted towns have recruited criminologists, journalists and officers to help in solving this big case. One of which was James Walker from Democracy Newspapers.

DEMOCRACY NEWSPAPERS

March 6,2021, Monday,09:45 am

"James and what exactly do you call this," Mrs Femi asked James.

Well yeah she was a 37 years old married lady with three kids one of which was a teenager. She still flirted with men way younger than she was.

" My report" James said nonchalantly clicking his computer like no one was standing before him.

" Like I don't know" Mrs Femi yelled shaking violently " Who's gonna believe this crap ? Huh?! The mayor; big suspect for current state of insecurity !" She yelled again her loud voice booming through the windows to the other offices, her full bosoms bouncing happily, her large bulgy eyes red with anger and her forehead wrinkled into a frown.

All these didn't intimidate Walker junior one bit well, he had seen worse days and had experienced much frightening situations and this, this was no match, for him absolutely not. She kept on ranting about the consequences of James' action who on the other hand saw nothing bad in it as he was just trying to bring justice to light.

" James this is Nigeria such things doesn't work here I mean he is the fucking mayor he is the law for pit's sake just get a report on something else" She said softening her tone with the latter looking at her with an unreadable expression.

Really one wouldn't tell whose attitude was worse, Mrs Femi's loud anger or James' deadly silence.

Truth be told Mrs. Femi was rumored to being entangled in the mayor's criminal offence and was also a friend with benefits to the mayor and couldn't afford dragging his name into the mud as it could ruin things for her worst of all put her behind bars.

Silence was gaining the upper hand in James desk until the slap which was as a result of the contact a thin envelope made with James desk swept across the room with everyone watching the staring contest between their boss and colleague.

" It's a resignation letter from your most unwanted employee thanks for the opportunity" he half yelled before walking out his corner, the room , the office, ignoring the pair of eyes dancing around him.

Well it was expected James would someday walk out of DEMOCRACY NEWSPAPERS a free and jobless man.

James' apartment, Banana island, Lagos

March 7, 2021, Tuesday 09:45

Exactly one day after the ordeal between ex-boss Mrs Femi and jobless James.

Walker junior sipping from his cup of espresso coffee due to the terrible hangover he was experiencing.

The night before, he had decided to cool off at home consuming a mini fridge of vodka which of course he was paying dearly for right now.

His place of course was well furnished being a secret business man he had so many businesses registered with fake names. You wouldn't blame the chap he was a crime fighter so had to lay low.

With his perfect furniture, state of the art technology room (where of course he conducted most of his researches, experiments which only few knew he conducted before going on his crime fighting crusade; his job ), latest technology equipment, well stocked bar in fact you could call James' apartment a personal hotel.

A smile played on his lips remembering his mother's rants about bringing him in to live with her at age twenty seven. They knew she was only kidding herself as James would rather live in the streets than go live with mummy.

Right off the bat he took off his long bath robe while taking low strides to the bathtub. He allowed himself into the already filled bathtub.

Just letting the water take control.

Still at James' place, same day 11:59 pm

James was still sleeping in his bathtub when he was interrupted by his phone's ring tone that blared noisily into his ears causing a small frown to appear on his ever handsome face.

"the hell" he muttered under his breath.

He tried rolling to the other end of the platform he thought he was on but then he realized he was still in his bathtub.

James had found himself in such situation before. He was ten years old when he had slept off in the bathtub and instead of having a dreamless sleep, a nightmare of a lovely dream, he just found himself floating in an empty space filled with nothing but dark cold liquid and somehow he was breathing and just when something circular; portal looking was coming to life emitting very odd light. He could see the smoke on the other side. Something somehow pulled him out of wherever he was only for him to wake up in reality in his bathtub. He woke up with one question; " what the hell was that?"

But tonight, the question was who the hell was disturbing his dreamless but peaceful?

Just who?

He walked to his spacious room naked absentmindedly glancing at the wall clock and damn it was almost midnight . He became more conscious.

Picking up his phone "hello?" he asked with a hint of shock in his voice who the hell knew his secret line not even Claire did and to say it was a strange number.

The latter replied James with a voice sounding so familiar but strange; like, it was masked without gender making James more curious which was rather intriguing anyone other person would have felt chills run up his spine in this creepy situation but definitely not James.

By now James was already sweating even under the air conditioner. But he needed this he needed to solve this case and stop the unnecessary killings of youths.

He wondered why anyone would amputate an already dead leg leaving strange marks on the necks of the victims these deaths seemed spiritual but surely James wasn't one to believe such, he called it crap.

Well tomorrow would be a new day, he was gonna wake up a new person, ready to solve a new case. He heaved a sigh turning to the window.

In the car on the way to their agreed meet point James decided to use his wide knowledge ability.

"hi" James greeted the cab driver, well he had decided to take a cab as a result of his last encounter with the devil.

"me?" the cab driver asked not sure of who James was talking to.

"Yes I'm Alex" James responded to the female driver.

Nodding, "Ife" she replied with an extremely confident voice.

"could you tell me a little about the happenings here?" James asked politely.

"sure, well it was only three months ago when someone moved into the estate. It wasn't long after his arrival that strange things had started happening. This new.... Person was known for his creepy lifestyle. He never introduced himself to anyone nor got affiliated to anyone and he always had a mask on. No one has ever seen his face nor been to his house. At one time, the cops grew suspicious of him and visited his house but found nothing to be worried about. It was so long after the disaster that an angry mob visited his house only to find no one at home. They retreated for the day and we all woke up the next day to find none of the participants of the previous activity at their houses. They had all mysteriously disappeared only to reappear one month ago as new persons not in looks particularly but just in .. just in personality. They were kept under close watch by the cops in a psychological institution but were released two weeks ago. The disastrous events as we all know centres on abduction, disappearance and unlawful killings. In order to make things easy for the police and not add to their unsettled desk cases, mayor has enforced certain protective measures which is on every sign board in town, the news and everywhere it ought to be. " She chuckled slightly before continuing her speech.

"New here?" she asked.

"yeah" James replied.

And with that, the car went dead, silence crept in. Only James mind was loud with different thoughts of what was coming his way.

The driver parked the car after which James highlighted.

"next time mister" Ife yelled.

James only answer was in his mind;

WOULD THERE BE A NEXT TIME? As he knew what he was getting himself involved with.

Passing through the gates of the park James saw kids playing with their friends and loved ones bringing back those lovely childhood memories.

Oh how he missed his dad. Truth be told James had three guardians his dear mom, his dad and his father. A dad is a person you share a bond with, an everlasting lover, someone you cherish and who cherishes you while a father is someone you are connected to biologically. James grew up believing this. His mom was back together with his father never meant he was going to accept him as a simple biological mistake never made him his father's son" it only made them relatives" was James belief. Very complicated but James was rather aggressive about it.

Snapping out his world James saw the creepy figure in front of him, that familiar scent.

Was it?... No wait... What?! the female cab driver.

" Told you next time sexy" she said smirking.

James mouth hung open in the air staring at the human In front of him.

Formalities were already exchanged James Walker had gotten to meet Detective Helen Adeshina a frustrated officer of the law searching tirelessly for the ghost killer, abductor , how and why exactly people disappeared and reappeared.

"who do you think is behind this?" James asked Helen carefully sipping his drink.

" well I don't know if we should be discussing about this in public not for the fact that I am a very discrete person but for the fact that these killings have a weird pattern which actually no one has paid much attention to and it is really taking me everything not to believe the killer is watching everyone of us from a place so hidden yet so open." Helen gave James a smart answer which was well expected.

" How would you know?" James asked.

" I don't jobless" She replied with a grin and immediately James face creased into a frown forcing her to laugh. Helen further stated; "we have to be careful about who we talk with and where we talk we do not know who the killer is.. yet I mean."

This caused James to raise his brows.

" the killer?" he questioned with furrowed brows.

" well I believe there is only one person responsible for every mishap; the killer" she stated boldly.

" I believe it's the mayor ; I mean come to think of it everyone knows how corrupt the mayor is and wouldn't he normally try to acknowledge the pressing state of insecurities in his town? But did he?" James' point of view gave Helen a reason to reconsider her hypothesis.

" well whoever is responsible is acting fast, we have to act faster and the right way to do it is to get to work immediately" James said looking to his right which made him look so hot as the wind messed up his hair and the light in the park gave view to his perfect jaw.

Helen started walking away leaving James perplexed.

" well don't just stand there" she stopped to say and James walked to catch up with making him reconsider his crime fighting partner.

Reedwan's hotel

08:45 pm March 8 Wednesday

They had gotten to the hotel trying to book a room while the receptionist typed slowly.

" so cash or.." the receptionist was caught short by Helen's loud voice.

" Seriously, we already paid our dues would it be so hard for you to give us two stupid rooms?".

This attracted a small audience causing the receptionist to type faster in fear of loosing her job if her boss were to be among the small crowd gathered.

Before she could hand the keys over to the folks in front of her, Helen had grabbed both she and James' keys and together, they left the small crowd Helen had attracted.

But slowly, they dispersed leaving none to notice the little light that came from the parted wind through which something found its way into the hotel.

James and Helen had booked separate rooms to rest for the night so they could carry on their investigations and continue their long chat about the recent happenings and hopefully, they would find solutions to the pressing problems.

In the reception area, a man could be seen walking toward the receptionist's desk.

Trying her best to be as nice and welcoming as possible, Sandra tried to enquire of him what he needed facing her desktop. Instead of getting a certified answer, she only heard a grunt come from him and that got her attention.

She quickly looked up from her computer and gave his description a good glance before getting eyes locked with the man.

He seemed like a normal man except for a few differences. He was hunched with green eyes too weird for a normal human. He had series of eye bags beneath his eyes making him look monstrously sick, lips though big, were still incapable of hiding his extra long canines.

Immediately their eyes locked, her eyes became like his for a number of seconds before returning to their usual brown ones and just as the creepy creature had infiltrated the hotel, he was gone so quickly just like the wind.

Sandra immediately left her desk and walked around the reception area before going to room 501.

07:30 am March 09 Thursday

Sandra returned to her abode after a long stare at the door to room 501.

She really couldn't understand how she got up there and what she was actually doing at the door to James' room. She could only imagine how long she had stared.

Her eyes were burning at the moment. She only remembered waking up to only be already awake and that too staring tirelessly at room 501; door shut behind James and Helen. She felt really embarrassed.

She had felt like she was going to loose her job but Lara; her boss' sister had promised to fill in her space.

She must have looked so horrible after having her eyes open while asleep that she needed enough rest to fit into her job again.

She really owed Lara for this one in fact, she owed Lara for almost everything. She had helped her so much. She was the only one at Reedwans hotel that she could talk to. She was responsible for her working at Reedwans in the first place and a few other positive events on her little life. She just couldn't show enough gratitude to Lara for the things she had done for her.

Early this morning, when James had stepped out of his room, she just couldn't explain that urge she felt; to stab him, take out his eyes or blow out his brains. Whatever it is she felt, it was aimed at James' death.

She really needed to rest maybe she had been overstressing herself at work.

James and Helen came out of the hotel for a stroll and also in hopes to find a lead, of any sort.

"so Helen," James called so sarcastically, he earned himself a glare from Helen.

" you never stated why you left all of the officers at the station to solve a crime with someone who is not even a member of your town. I mean I'm pretty sure there are a lot of smart asses back at the station but you ditched them all just to work with me. Why?" James asked.

" point of correction, I decided on this not because I wanted to work with you, I did it because I wanted to solve this big case and I ditched no one okay, I'm working with you because you are the best man for the job. I've experienced what it felt like to loose your loved one. You'd wish you were dead instead of such person, you'd wish you both died together, you'd hate yourself for not being competent enough to save that one loved one. You'd try to forget about them but in the end, they'd always be a part of your memory, a part of your life, you'd try to move on but you'd find out it's easier said than done. That feeling is constantly spreading, no on knows who would be the next to experience such trauma. I want to stop this before more people get hurt. "

James had never heard Helen speak with so much emotions before and for a brief moment he saw those dark eyes melt with emotions and brimmed with tears.

" we would stop it before more people get hurt" James replied squeezing her hand.

" it's a shitty case" Helen said giving a nervous chuckle.

" Yeah case of the century" James paused to continue.

" ..and team of the millennium" he stated to earn a chuckle from Helen; a sweet chuckle.

They were still walking and receiving the cold wind of the morning when James decided to check the latest updates of the case on his phone.

"what?!" James yelled and the few People parading the street paused to look at him probably for the usual since the last three months.

"What's the problem?" Helen asked simultaneously passing James a concerned stare and the onlookers a look of mind your business nothing to see here.

"My source says the mayor and his household is being attacked at the moment." James whispered.

" okay why are you still standing there lets hurry." Helen cajoled.

" wait," James called her back.

" what is it James I know you don't like the mayor but we have to put that aside..." Helen said but was cut off by James.

" that's not the case would you be fine, I mean you could get into trouble at work for not being present and nor earlier stating and then...." Helen also cut James off.

" Now's not the time Mr Walker, we have serious work to do" Helen said walking away from James who had to walk faster to keep up.

" oh great, back to boss mode" James said throwing his hands in the air and they got into Helen's official car and drove to the latest crime scene; the mayor's residence.