Must Read: Shadows

7 years ago

Must Read: Shadows

11:37pm

Wake up! Everybody wake up!

Habeeb ran as fast as his legs could carry him, falling down in the process but which seemed to have little or no effects on him. He kept running, screaming on top of his voice.

Wake up ! It killed them! They are both dead!

In no time, the students got out of bed, wondering what was happening. Some la!d still on their mattresses, thinking someone is just out to play pranks on them. Stuffs like that are very in common in camps…

Lanre was one of the boys who first ran out of the tent, followed by the class rep and some other boys.

Class rep: Habeeb! What is going on, why are you screaming?

Habeeb; (breathing heavily ) It’s….. It’s… they are dead…. they are dead.

Lanre: Who are dead?

Habeeb: John….john and shade are dead!

There was a gasp in the air as he said it.

Someone shouted “ Jesus” and some girls had started crying already.

Class rep: Is this a joke Habeeb? This isn’t funny!

Lanre: Let him speak! Habeeb, please tell us what you saw?

Habeeb: I saw them go into the bush, John and Shade! I already knew what they were planning to do so i decided to follow them, just to watch…. when they bent down, it came out of nowhere and attacked John, cutting his head off! (Gasping ) there was blood everywhere!

Lanre: What attacked them????!

Habeeb: It was a shadow! Black with the darkness it moved fast, it killed them both!

Everyone began fidgeting, girls were crying, the guys were pacing around, trying to hide their fears, there was chaos as everyone wants to speak at the same time.

Class rep: What do we do now?

Uche: I say we go into that bush, find that bastard and kill him ourselves
Temmy: You dummy! Didn’t you hear it was just a shadow? You want to fight a shadow with your fist??

Everyone started talking again, noise erupting and growing louder!

Lanre: Shut up! Shut up everyone!

Everyone kept quiet immediately!

Lanre! Let us stop arguing! Two amongst us are dead already! I had a bad feeling about this place and you all knew that. So now i say, we all go into the tents, pack our bags and get the hell out of this Godforsaking place now!

He said that and kept quiet but they were all too confused and afraid to move. They all stood still in their positions, waiting for someone to lead.

Lanre: (Shouted angrily) I said MOVE NOW!!!!!

Everyone scampered around into their tents, packing their luggages as fast as they could. No one said word to another. Everyone single one of them lost in their individual thoughts.

Lanre sighed, looked up and saw Kamoru.

Lanre: Mr. Kamoru! Ni bo le gbe bus si??? (Mr. Kamoru! Where did you park the bus?)

Kamoru: OWa labe igi ni beun (It’s parked under a tree there)

Lanre: Se e le logbe wa sibi ( Can you move it a little closer to this place)

Kamoru: Ehn (Yes)

Lanre: Ejo, egbe wa (Please, move it here) Abi kin tele yin ni? ( Or should i come with you?)

Kamoru: Rara o! Emi okunrin meta! Kosi ewu ! (No o! I’m a real man! No problem)
Mo nbo ni sin ( I’ll be right back)
Kamoru hurried away towards the place bus was parked earlier when they arrived. Lanre didn’t need to do any packing, he had left his luggage in the tent just the way he packed it in the morning, he went to the tent and get it, most of the boys were done packing.

Emma: I told you all that we are going to die on this trip!

This time, no one argued with Emma nor tell him to shut up! They simply thought about the possibility of what he just said and fidgeted the more.

Everyone set out in front of the tent, looking at Lanre to tell them their next step.

Lanre: please everyone! Try and relax, okay?

Kamoru has gone to bring the bus closer to this place, i’m sure he’ll be back any moment from now.

Mary moved towards him and placed her head on his shoulders, she was silently weeping and greatly overwhelmed by fear. Lanre tried calming her down, kissing her on the forehead, Kamoru has been gone for five minutes now, he should be back already, he thought to himself.

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

11:44pm

Kamoru slapped himself at the back of his neck to kill the mosquito that just bit him. He still didn’t understand while those students were leaving in such a haste, he knew they were arguing, some were even crying but they all spoke English, a language he didn’t Understand.

Just 6 weeks ago, his uncle had come to the village and brought him to Ibadan, he had never gone to school nor attain any formal education. All he knew was farming and fishing.

For 2 weeks, his uncle had taught him how to drive the big bus and he was able to perfectly drive it in 5 days. Since the trip to the camp site wasn’t so far, his uncle had suggested he drove the students, though this wasn’t his first time of taking people on a trip.

He had enjoyed watching the students, they all had something in their palms that they constantly pressed with their thumbs and spoke into. Some of them even had something that they cover their ears with and would be shaking their head and dancing. They all spoke and shout every time, they shout “Awwwww” when they are happy, they shout “Ahhhhhh” when they are angry.

But when they started shouting this night and spoke their language, he knew something was wrong but he didn’t know what it was. He had been instructed to get the bus closer and that’s what he’ll do.

He got to the bus, brought the key from his pocket and as he tried inserting it into the lock, it fell off his hand, unto to the ground .

He cursed under his breath, he had no lights, though the moon shone above the sky. He bent down and began searching for the keys. In a flash, someone dashed quickly behind him, he stood up immediately but saw no one, he waited a few seconds to confirm no one was there so he bent down again.

Luckily, he found the keys this time, unlock the bus and got inside. The wind was cold and chilly, he shook his head, let out a deep breath and started the engine, it cranked and clicked, coughed out smokes and went off again.

Kamoru looked around, he hasn’t been driving for long but he knew the battery couldn’t have gone down that fast. He tried again but this time, it started, he revved on the accelerator excitedly but when he tried to move, the car tires seemed stucked on something. Someone knocked on the bus, he had no idea which direction it came from nor who it was

Kamoru: Ta ni yen ke? (Who is it??)

Silence…. he stretched himself up, looked around but saw nothing.

As he turned around the steering wheel, he heard it again, this time, it wasn’t a knock but a bang, one which sent him jumping out of his seat in fear, he was sweating now, his hands fidgeting. He decided it was time to leave so with a doubled effort and speed, he sat down, changed the gear, this time wanting to reverse the bus.

The front tire rolled, but only on a spot. Only one thing left to do; he has to go down and check which direction he needs to steer the bus, so he won’t keep digging a bigger hole around the tires.

He took a deep breath, slowly opened the door, peeped around and got down, practically tip-toeing, he moved to the front of the bus, bent down and examined the tires.

He had left the door open so fear ran cold on him when he had the door shut itself. He tried to turn around but slipped and fell on the cold grass.

In a flash, he saw the bus revearsed itself to a distance. It stopped and the headlamps came on, almost burning his retina. Impulse sets in and he screamed as loud as he possibly could.

Kamoru: Egbami oooooo! (Help me!!)

In that instance, the bus jerked forward with full speed. Kamoru tried standing up and running but a twig held him down, the grasses wrapping around his legs so tight, resisting his movements.

All he could do was whimp in fear and prepare for impact. He felt the excruciating pain of the bus on his feet, then the knee ,to the hip… the last thing he remembered was his ribs crushing in, as all went dark.

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

11:50pm

Back at the camp, they all waited, running out of patience. Halimat opened her mouth to protest and that’s when they saw the lights of the bus, it honked and packed, signaling they should come closer.

Lanre: I told you all to relax, Kamoru is here with the bus now. Let’s move!

Everyone hurried towards the bus, some shoveling their way to get in the front, just to enter the bus as fast as they could…. Only if they knew who…or what was on the driver’s seat.