"What's going on here?" Kelechi asked nobody but himself, holding onto the tiny camera lens he just pulled out from the air vent. It was the third camera in a space of three weeks in the new apartment he just rented. One in the kitchen, the other in the sitting room and this last one was placed strategically to see the bed.
He quickly got down from the little ladder he climbed up with, picked up the other ceras and added it to the one in his hands. He was going to see his landlord, Mr Eke who lived next door. He needed explanations as to what was going on. There has to be one. He didn't want to lay accusations yet on anyone until he found out the truth.
He was beginning to regret taking the apartment. But on second thought, he couldn't blame himself much. The offer was nice, and the rent was cheap. To top it all up, it was located in a developed environment where the high and mighty of society lived and even closer to his new place of work. He had craved to live in such a neighbourhood filled with opulence.
He knocked on the door twice until it opened to reveal an older man in his late sixties with wrinkles and eye bags standing at the door. He nearly dismissed him as an elder brother or father to his landlord as he looked exactly like his landlord until the old man called him by his name
"Kelechi Ogini? (What is it?)" Mr Eke asked.
"Oga landlord?" Kelechi asked, surprised at the face that stood staring at him from the door. He was sure the man he had met as his landlord weeks ago when he paid for the house was in his early thirties.
"Yes, what is it? Why disturb my leave this late in the evening?" Mr replied he had this mean look on his face.
"I need to talk to you about something serious," Kelechi said, trying not to forget his mission.
"Come!" Mr Eke moved out of the way to let Kelechi step inside.
Kelechi stepped into the smell of damp wood and incest filled room. There was a big mirror on the wall just beside a bookshelf that had books of wizardry neatly arranged. He noticed his landlord had no windows open. It was the first time he had entered the old man's house.
"What brings you to my house," Mr Eke asked as he gently shut his door and turned to face Kelechi.
Pulling out the cameras from his pockets, "This. I found hidden cameras in a house I just rented last week. Do you know about it? I need some explanation," Kelechi asked, dropping the cameras on the table nearby.
Mr Eke's face fell; he didn't reply at first. He stood there staring at the cameras like he had seen a ghost, and then he struggled to sit down. Kelechi was patient enough to wait for him to feel relaxed, but when he wasn't getting any reply, he asked again.
"Sir, do you care to explain why there are cameras in my room?" He tried not to yell.
"You were not supposed to see that," Mr Eke said.
Kelechi wondered what he meant by that. "What do you mean?" He asked
Mr Eke looked up to him and smiled. But it wasn't the cheerful kind of smile, it was the type that makes your bones cringe.
"There's always that stubborn fly. All other tenants have lived there without being nosey but you just had to be that stubborn fly."
"You're speaking in parables, Mr Eke", Kelechi said, fear gripping him by the bones.
"You are the chosen one," Mr Eke continued.
"Chosen for what"
"To renew my sacrifice at the full moon tomorrow and make me look younger. I guess you were wondering why I looked like this, different from when we first met" Mr Eke asked, his eyes without a soul.
Kelechi nodded. His body was shaking by now. He now understood why the rent was cheaper than what it was supposed to be.
"That's because my fee to the moon god is due and you're the rent. The moon god keeps me young while I give him the sacrifice of a young soul. And the cameras, they allow me to watch and prepare my victim for the full moon." He stood up, his countenance scarier than before. "You just had to be nosey, Kelechi. I guess we do it the hard way now"
"This is ridiculous. I'm leaving here now!" Kelechi said, walking to the door, but as he tried to get it open, it wouldn't budge. He pushed and pulled, but all his efforts were useless.
"There's no escape from this boy. You'll stay now till the moon is full tomorrow" Mr Eke said, turning to walk into his room.
Kelechi ran after him, trying to attack him from behind, but as he got closer, Mr Eke flicked his fingers and the whole room started spinning on Kelechi’s face, suddenly he fell asleep.
He woke up the next day in Mr Eke's basement with his hands and feet tied together. He was sweating profusely. At first, he had no idea where he was until his eyes caught Mr Eke putting on a red cloth and standing in a mirror. There were red candles and a calabash with water on the floor. He looked out of the tiny window in the basement. It was almost night, and the moon was almost full.
"Woken up to join the party boy?" Mr Eke asked with a smile.
Kelechi quickly let out a cry, calling for help. His voice roared into the dead of the night. But the more he called, the more it felt like he wasn't giving it his best, and the more his voice cracked.
Mr Eke looked at him and laughed wickedly
"No one can hear you. The walls are sound proof"
Knowing that he was helpless, Kelechi cried and begged, but Mr Eke played a deaf ear to his pleas. He was more interested in his looks. He loved to be young forever. As Mr Eke walked up to Kelechi, the doorbell rang. He ignored it and continued coming closer to Kelechi murmuring some incantations. But the bell came again and again, distracting his attention and getting him worked up.
"I'm gonna deal with whoever is disturbing me at this hour", he angrily said and walked out of the basement to answer the door.
Immediately Kelechi knew it was now or never. He needed to act and act fast if he ever wanted to get himself out of that ugly situation. He quickly lubricated his hands and legs with his sweat and squeezed his hands out of the rope he was tied with. Then he proceeded to untie his feet. Free at last, he picked up a stone lying around the basement floor and smashed the tiny window in the basement.
He could hear Mr Eke's footsteps fast approaching. He quickly squeezed himself in the window, the sharp edges cutting through his skin, the pains stinging in his flesh but he didn't mind. He was focused on his mission which was to escape far away from Mr Eke.
Suddenly Kelechi felt a hand grab his legs “Where the hell do you think you're going boy! I need my looks. I need you! ” It was Mr Eke's voice, he had returned back to the basement to see him escaping.
“Let me go!” He cried and kicked. He tried so hard to get Mr Eke's grip off his feet. Summoning his last strength, he kicked hard and sent Mr Eke falling a few feet away from him.
That gave him the space he needed to push himself with all the strength left In him over the window to the other side of the house.
Finally, the cool breeze of the evening was against his face, the moon in its fullness lighting up the neighbourhood.
Then he ran for his dear life. Not to his apartment but far away from the neighbourhood. To him, the farther he ran away from Mr Eke, the better.