Episode 1 – The Woman Who Refused Food
In the quiet village of Igweoma, where red earth met the green forest, lived a powerful chief named Oba Okeke. His voice was heavy like thunder, and his presence commanded respect wherever he went.
Chief Okeke had two wives already: Mama Ada and Mama Ngozi. Both women were respected in the village, and everyone thought two wives were enough for a man his age. But one market day, Chief Okeke shocked the village.
He returned with a third wife.
Her name was Amaka. She was unlike any woman Igweoma had seen. Her skin glowed in the sunlight, her hair was long and black like the night, and her smile was soft but unsettling. People whispered that she came from a distant land near the deep forest — a place where spirits often roamed.
From the first day, people noticed something strange.
Amaka never ate.
On her first evening in the chief's compound, Mama Ada and Mama Ngozi prepared pounded yam and bitterleaf soup. The food was steaming hot, and the aroma filled the air. The bowls were placed before the chief and his new wife.
Chief Okeke ate with satisfaction, dipping his hand into the soup. But Amaka only smiled politely, sipping water from a calabash.
"You must eat, my wife," Chief Okeke said firmly. "No one in Igweoma refuses food."
Amaka bowed her head, but her lips never touched the meal. "I am not hungry," she whispered.
That night, when the moon shone brightly over the huts, a strange sound echoed through Igweoma.
It was faint at first — like soft chewing. Then it grew louder, heavier, as if someone was biting bones. The sound came from the forest. Dogs barked, goats bleated, and children hid under their mothers' wrappers.
By morning, the whole village was buzzing with fear.
"Did you hear it?" old Mama Nnena asked in the market.
"Yes, it sounded like something eating," replied another woman.
Some said it was a wild animal. Others said it was spirits. But whispers began to rise: "Is it not strange that the new wife refuses to eat, yet chewing is heard at night?"
On the second night, Amaka again refused food. And when midnight came, the chewing began once more — louder, hungrier.
That was when Chukwudi, a young hunter, decided to find the truth.
Armed with his bow, he crept into the forest. The moonlight guided his steps, but his heart pounded like a drum. The chewing grew louder as he walked deeper into the trees.
Then, in a clearing, he saw her.
Amaka sat on the ground. Her hair covered her face. Before her lay bones — white, gleaming in the moonlight. In her hands was raw flesh, red and dripping. She bit into it slowly, her teeth tearing it apart.
Chukwudi gasped.
Amaka's head snapped up. Her eyes glowed like fireflies. Blood dripped from her lips.
"Why are you watching me?" she asked, her voice deeper than before.
Chukwudi tried to run, but his body froze. His bow fell from his hand.
Amaka stood tall, her figure stretching unnaturally in the shadows. The trees around her seemed to lean toward her.
"You will not speak of this," she said, smiling with blood-stained teeth.
And in the blink of an eye, she vanished.
By morning, Chukwudi returned to the village trembling. But when he opened his mouth to tell the people, no words came out. His voice was gone.
Fear spread quickly.
People whispered in secret corners: "The new wife is not a woman. She is something else."
But Chief Okeke refused to listen. "Amaka is my wife," he declared. "No one will speak against her."
Still, every night, the chewing grew louder. And now, goats and chickens began to disappear. Hunters who entered the forest did not return.
And the people of Igweoma knew that something dark had entered their land.
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🔥 End of Episode 1.