Episode Two
“People think safety comes with numbers. But I learned the hard way evil doesn’t fear a crowd. It hides among them.”
Clara’s compound was always noisy during the day. Mrs. Grace, the landlady, would scold children for playing too close to her veranda. Ruth, my age-mate, skipped rope and laughed so loudly it echoed. Peter always showed up with roasted corn or groundnuts, teasing Clara until she threw slippers at him.
But when the sun went down, everything changed.
Doors locked earlier than they should. Conversations dropped to whispers. Even Mrs. Grace, who could argue from morning till night, shut herself inside before dusk, bolting her doors as if the air outside was poison.
One evening, Clara sent me to fetch water from the compound tap. The moment the bucket filled, I heard footsteps behind me. “Clara?” I whispered. No reply. Just breathing.
I turned. Ruth was standing there, smiling in the half-dark. Her face looked softer than usual, her eyes darker. “Why do you fetch water at this time?” she asked.
I stammered. “Because… Clara asked me to.”
She leaned closer, still smiling. “Be careful. At night, the dead fetch too.”
I dropped the bucket, water spilling everywhere. By the time Clara rushed out to find me, Ruth was gone.
Later that night, I couldn’t sleep. The compound was too quiet. Then I heard it shuffling feet outside our window. A goat bleating. A sound cut short. Silence.
The next morning, Mrs. Grace screamed. Her goat had vanished. She swore thieves were in the compound. But I knew what I’d heard. And when I glanced at Elder Daniel’s house, his door was still shut, though faint black ashes lay scattered on his doorstep.
Clara tried to calm me. “Mary, don’t think too much. Evil can’t harm you. You are covered.” But I noticed even she prayed longer that night, her voice shaking.
And just before I closed my eyes, I heard it again. That same bent shadow in the corner. Only this time, it wasn’t whispering.
It was laughing.
TBC ✍️…
