BOOM.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oVoiS9mz7
Amina jolts awake, her chest heaving as if she’d been drowning. The sound isn’t just outside—it’s inside her skull, rattling her teeth.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMte85oVph
BOOM. BOOM.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSCvSYQLbO
She stumbles out of bed, legs tangled in her sheets, and crashes to the floor. The room tilts. Her mouth tastes like ash.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUpCa9hLEb
"Papa!" she screams, scrambling to her feet.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFf5bKLmW9r
The drums don’t stop.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqBOF3mHWY
She bursts out of her room, heart hammering, and collides with her father’s chest. His arms lock around her, steadying her before she falls.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uqX3NJA8w
"Shh, nne," he murmurs, but his grip is too tight. "It’s the dibia. He’s here."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhtJ0y6DSk
Amina blinks up at him, disoriented. "Now? But—I didn’t prepare, I didn’t even—"
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4hqU6pIB7
"He doesn’t want preparation," Papa Chukwuma says, voice low. "He wants truth."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPEAuAajgG
Amina turns—and freezes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLL7KHd01of
Ifeanyi stands near the compound gate, dressed neatly, his jaw clenched. But Emeka...
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3okKEgjq0
Oh God.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRI9NkShCZ
Emeka’s eyes are unblinking, his face slack. Dried mud streaks his arms like cracked earth. He doesn’t react when the drums grow louder.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9Uq24XdbT
He doesn’t react at all.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GNzTHsKSG
The dibia arrives like a storm given flesh.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZsnxUMTyj
Six dancers move ahead of him, their bodies painted in white and red, antelope pelts slung over their shoulders. Their feet stamp the earth in perfect sync—THUD. THUD. THUD.—kicking up dust that hangs thick in the dawn light.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcF08c0ZOv
The drummers walk backward, their hands a blur. The rhythm isn’t music. It’s a warning.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAoswIsVBW
Amina’s mother clutches her wrapper, her lips moving in silent prayer.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpdIr5gCrP
Then—silence.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUjz1Kfhr7
The dancers stop at Grandma’s hut. For three heartbeats, nothing moves.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTbOddybz0
Then a scream tears through the air.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6ta0rK8Cj
One of the dancers—a woman with bones braided into her hair—drops to her knees, clawing at her throat. The others circle her, chanting low.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4odQGNlzu
The dibia steps forward.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiRehh5Tby
He crouches, dragging his fingers through the dirt. His nails leave deep grooves, embedding an ankh symbol —right at Grandma’s doorstep. Then he spits onto the symbol.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1libaKeu2Y
The saliva sizzles like water on hot iron.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUMHu5mQTj
Grandma’s hut stays dark.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPOamZjHfc
The dancers move again, this time toward Amina.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08JqxlOxqc
The lead dancer—a woman with a face painted half-white, half-black—locks eyes with her. There’s no emotion there. No pity.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ys7pmH6Ov
Amina’s breath hitches.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUkf1a8ciF
"Papa—"
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQkLdAZRov
Her father’s hand tightens on her shoulder. "Let them work."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMuOzellj5
The dancer grabs Amina’s wrist. Her nails bite deep.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1fjFIR7az
"Don’t hurt her!" Papa Chukwuma barks.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0Q8DJiTXK
The woman hisses, baring teeth filed to points.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsOiPBgD4R
Then she yanks Amina forward.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07mDE3QlWt
As they drag her into the circle, thunder cracks—but not from the sky.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ791KJKtOrd
From her room.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWNWfQyBhh
The walls shake. The window rattles. A gust of wind tears through the compound, howling like something alive.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbrBOU5pm3
Amina’s lips move without her permission.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2XOYB0rxo
"Ọ bụla mmiri ga-ezobe anya..."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioEhWXqsRY
The words aren’t hers. The voice isn’t hers.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0ldQjUWcN
It’s the river’s.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTO8wbCW08
The dibia steps into the circle.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETmzNHDMhX
Up close, his eyes are black as holes, endless and wet, like a drowned man’s. His hair floats around his face, drifting as if underwater.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tELQzf3xb
He doesn’t speak.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGaAeXLOwR
He doesn’t need to.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWlIXeKYcI
Amina’s skin prickles. The chant spills from her lips faster, louder—
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyjVvU8kQM
Then Emeka shrieks.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwVE7i8sbk
"OGU M GBARA! Ọ NA-ERI M!"
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYISCorh6qn
His voice is raw, guttural. His body convulses, arms flailing like a man possessed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kX3O7dYzv
Ifeanyi and Papa Chukwuma grab him, pinning him down before he hurts himself.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2x4LvgYGF
The dibia doesn’t even glance their way.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDk9WNr8TYB
He lifts Amina’s chin, forcing her to meet his hollow gaze.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd28gCRzheN
And finally, he speaks.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJi2lQEwNL
*"You have been claimed."*
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvnzxqr08X
Two dancer women grip Amina’s arms, their fingers digging into her skin like roots seeking water. Against her will, her body moves—jerking, twisting—in perfect sync with the dancers. Her feet drag lines in the dirt, forming symbols she doesn’t recognize.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLyBocwxyR
She sings in unison with them in the unknown language , but her voice isn’t her own. It’s layered, doubled, like two rivers merging.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EX53NvvPV
Then—chaos.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7g5md2uKTO
Emeka snarls, his muscles coiling like a sprung trap. With a force no human should possess, he hurls Ifeanyi and Papa Chukwuma aside like rag dolls. Before anyone can react, he lunges at Amina, his fingers clamping around her throat.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WUmTniP5R
"Child! You are mi—"
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKW6cZZSBD
The dibia’s staff taps his forehead.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvkCiXNd1p
Emeka’s body locks. His eyes roll back, and he collapses like a marionette with cut strings.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIU9huxEBY
"He has been claimed too," the dibia says, voice hollow as a burial drum. He slings his staff across Emeka’s back, and the boy convulses, gasping as if the wood weighs a thousand pounds. Two dancers pin him down, their painted faces unreadable.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3DD0gkX4N
"Where are his parents?" the dibia asks, black eyes fixed on Papa Chukwuma.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWdiXoIxYs
"His mother is at work. He has no siblings or father," Papa replies, voice tight.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22IiZRL2dK
The dibia nods. "Then you will accompany us."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTx3Sagj315
He turns to Amina, leaning close enough that his waterlogged breath ghosts her ear.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxj9OEmFzP
"Alọwí ánọ́bị̀ dúnàte."(Rest, oh one guarded by thunder. The enemies are close.)
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwZTRSvkvs
The words slither into her skull, untranslatable to anyone else.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5U1UUipid
Then, louder, for the others: "A water demon holds them all in trance. She will not leave until she takes what she came for."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQiTpkuGVC
He lifts his staff, pointing to the market road. "Buy a scapegoat. I will trap the demon inside it and sacrifice the beast. Only then will this end."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3aQ5yZ9UD
Before he can finish, Emeka’s body arcs off the ground, his mouth stretching wide in a silent scream—then he drops again, limp.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuTYrCeY7w
Grandma observes from her hut, her knuckles white on the windowsill. Behind her, the shadows ripple.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpmbWZw5Ul
Mami Wata materializes, her form half-transparent, flickering like a dying torch. *"This dibia has nerve,"* she sneers. "Thinking I’ll crawl into a goat like some biblical fool."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0slz13eA9n
Grandma’s lips curl. "They’re onto us. It won’t be long now."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIQnGnv9cX
Mami Wata drifts closer, her voice a venomous whisper. "Then we kill Emeka. And the dibia. Tear down this weak barrier they’ve draped over your hut—it’s nothing."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKJiU6j5Az
Her fingers brush the wall, and the air shudders, the invisible wards straining.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkivWdR5pZ6
"That talisman is the real threat," Mami Wata hisses. "The thunder coiled inside it… it’s not just protection. It’s a weapon. Forged by the gods themselves."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7AL9EBu9Ui
Grandma’s smile fades. "Then we take it from her."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPax3NZxmmC
Outside, the dibia’s drummers begin anew.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IkHt1JDli
