I woke up slowly, as if rising through heavy water. The ceiling above him was unfamiliar—cream-colored, with faint cracks running toward the corners. For a few seconds I did not move. My mind was still trapped somewhere between memory and exhaustion, then it returned, fragments of memories piecing together. Subtly, I began to remember
The scenes of Blood.
My mother's voice.
My sister's scream.
The sound of something tearing that was not flesh alone, my eyes shut again, tighter this time, but the images did not leave.
I inhaled deeply and pushed myself upright. Looking around I saw the room was neat, the bed sheets were folded properly at the edges. A small standing fan rotated slowly near the wall. A wardrobe stood beside a narrow mirror, and a faint smell of detergent hung in the air.
'Wher...where am I?' I thought placing my hands on my head.
This was not my house, I could not remember how I got here, like I blanked out while moving here. I swung my legs down and sat still for a moment, trying to listen to hear of I can discern where I was by sound alone.
Soft sounds drifted upward.
Plates.
Low voices.
Children laughing.
There were also usual sounds of vehicles and people passing outside but I assumed that was normal and I felt kind of relieved
"It seems I was not kidnapped" however the change in scenery was different, everything felt normal, perhaps too normal.
Standing up I noticed my body felt lighter than expected, though a dull ache lingered behind my eyes. I still walked toward the door, opened it, and stepped into a narrow upstairs corridor.
Sunlight filtered through a small window at the end of the hallway.
I followed it,
The staircase curved gently downward, revealing more of the house with each step. Halfway down, the living room came into view.
Two children—perhaps six and eight years old—were playing on the floor with small plastic cars. A cartoon played quietly on the television. Their laughter sounded ordinary, unforced.
From the right, the smell of frying onions drifted from the kitchen.
A woman stood near the stove, stirring something in a pot. She moved with the casual rhythm of someone used to morning routines.
Nothing about the house suggested danger, but I was still on guard as these was an unfamiliar environment. Stopping at the last step, my eyes moved slowly across the room—and then I saw him. The person who saved me, for some reason I don't know why I thought he was older when he saved me maybe because I was looking at him from the back, nevertheless the person before me was young not looking to be more than 24 years...
He Seated calmly at the dining table. A glass of water rested near his right hand. He wasn't eating nor was he speaking. He simply sat there, composed, as if he had always belonged in the house.
One of the children ran toward him.
"Uncle, see my car!"
He looked down at the toy with mild interest. A faint smile appeared—small and controlled.
"That's a fast one," he said gently. "But I think your sister is winning."
The boy turned immediately, rushing back toward the girl. He didn't touch the boy and he didn't dismiss him harshly, he Just redirected the boys attention from him back to his sister...
Seeing these I remembered when at times I did similar things with my sister, she sometimes comes to me for some assistance of sort but mostly redirected her to mum, remembering these now I felt emotions swelling up in me.
'I should have been more of a brother to her' I thought to myself, but now was not the time for regret because along with those memories, I remembered the bastard that took them from me and resolved to find him and make him pay..
Looking again at the person who saved me, I walked up to him, mindly approaching him,
"Please who are you and where am I?" I said to him.
He looked at me for some while,
"The name's James Chukwudi, but call me JC for short. And as for where we are, hmmm"
stroking his chin " where in Sokoto state, Tambuwal to be precise"
Hearing his reply I was surprised did we actually move that far in just one night, still pondering i looked at JC Nothing in his posture suggested he was the lying type. After all he did save me.
But for some reason I could still feel something was off about him, like something was misplaced. I then looked straight at him, noticing it JC's eyes lifted slightly.
Our eyes met.
There was no surprise in either of us.
"How are you feeling now?" JC asked,
I didn't answer immediately because my gaze shifted past the dining table toward the wall there I saw a large framed family portrait hung there.
The same children.
The same woman in the kitchen.
And a man standing behind them all.
And then my eyes narrowed, though I could not describe it at that time I just knew something about it felt… off and disturbing.
Soon enough I heard footsteps sounding from the hallway behind the living room. The man from the portrait walked in, he wore a neatly ironed shirt but looked tired, adjusting his wristwatch while scanning the room.
"Morning dear" he said casually to the woman in the kitchen.
"Morning darling, aren't you staying for breakfast?" she asked.
The man glanced briefly at me,there was no suspicion in his eyes, no confusion, just polite acknowledgement.
"Hope you slept well young man" the man said smiling at me before hastily picking up a car key from the table.
I blinked.
"Slept well?" I thought
I don't even know this man.
But the man had already turned, heading toward the kitchen to grab a travel mug.
Everything flowed too smoothly and natural
My attention then returned to the portrait.
The image felt stable—but the longer I looked, the more something inside me resisted it.
I then began to walk toward it, to see if I can find out exactly what was wrong with the portrait.
All these time JC watched me calmly but said nothing.
I stopped directly beneath the frame.
"Something is wrong with this picture."
The words came out quietly.
The kitchen sounds continued
The children laughed again.
The father walked past me, now holding his mug.
"See you later dear" the man told his wife.
I stepped toward the door, still nothing seemed amiss I then turned slowly.
JC was already watching me.
smiling this time, amused by the dilemma I'm in.
I spoke again.
"This isn't your house, am I right JC?."
JC tilted his head slightly.
"No, but it took you long enough"
Silence lingered for a few seconds.
Then JC gestured toward the chair opposite him.
"Sit."
At first I hesitated.
But then I walked forward and sat.
The children briefly glanced toward us before returning to their game.
The woman continued cooking.
Everything still went back to normalcy, as I could not take it any longer I leaned slightly forward and asked
"Who are these people?"
JC as if he was expecting these question folded his hands and said.
"They are exactly who they appear to be."
I retorted
"That's not an answer."
"No," JC agreed calmly. "It isn't."
My jaw tightened.
But this time, I controlled it. Mainly because I just felt steady pressure behind his words.
"You brought me here.?" I asked
"Yes." JC replied
"You changed something." I said again
Then JC said quietly:
"Yes."
The admission landed heavier than expected.
I leaned back slightly.
The kitchen noise softened in my perception.
Even the cartoon sounds faded.
I focused now only on JC.
"What did you change?"
JC glanced briefly toward the portrait on the wall.
"Memory."
I was surprised but I didn't react immediately.
The word settled slowly.
'Memory.' I thought to myself
The father stepped out of the house.
The door closed.
The children continued playing.
I then exhaled slowly and asked
"Why?"
JC picked up the glass of water but didn't drink from it.
"Because safety sometimes requires simplicity."
My eyes sharpened as my curiosity was reaching the peak.
"Safety from what?"
For the first time, JC's gaze hardened slightly.
"From the thing that killed your family."
The air seemed to shift, and I felt it.
And soon the memory of me losing my famil, the grief, pain and sorrow I felt, all the emotions I've been bottling up all these time began rise again—sharper this time—but somehow I managed to force it down.
JC studied me for a few minutes,Carefully as if measuring something.
...
Far away.
Far beyond the calm structure of the house in Tambuwal.
Darkness.
Not natural darkness, it was a kind of darkness that was dense, layered as if it was alive with distortion.
The Leecher stood at the center of a vast chamber carved from black stone. Thin streams of violet light moved along the walls like veins.
His breathing was uneven.
from both exhaustion and rage, the floor beneath him was cracked in several places. Energy had already burst from him more than once. Two figures stood near the edge of the chamber.
One male.
One female.
The male servant trembled for he was a mortal, a mere human, sweat covered his forehead. For he did not dare to look up.
The female stood still.
Composed—but not calm. She was an Enlightened and afraid she was of her master the leecher.
The Leecher turned slowly.
His eyes were no longer fully human.
"Explain," he said.
The word echoed.
The mortal servant swallowed.
"My lord… I—I followed the energy traces exactly as instructed—"
The Leecher moved, fast and inevitable more faster than the eye could see. He stopped just directly in front of the mortal.
And soon the air tightened.
The mortal's voice broke.
"I did not detect the interference—"
The Leecher raised his hand.
The mortal began to scream not because of impact but because something invisible had entered him, his body lifted slightly off the ground, his skin tightened unnaturally.
Then—
The extraction began.
Not ILIMI. But rather fragments of awareness.
Memory.
Identity.
The mortal's scream collapsed into choking gasps.
The female servant lowered her gaze.
She did not move.
Did not speak.
Did not interfere.
The Leecher released him after using soul search on him. With a loud thump the mortal fell to the ground, still alive but barely conscious.
The Leecher turned.
His voice became colder.
"Someone intervened."
The female servant nodded once.
"Yes, my lord."
"Find him.!" The leecher said with a face full of malevolence and wrath
"Find the boy.!"
Her eyes lifted slightly.
"Do you have a direction?"
The Leecher's lips curled with an eerie smile.
"Yes."
--------------
Back in the house.
JC leaned back in his chair.
I have not spoken for nearly thirty seconds. The silence there made me out situation kind of awkward but JC didn't seem to mind it and then
JC finally spoke.
"The one who attacked your family is not human."
My eyes lifted.
"I figured that, that alone was clear enough beyond doubt"
JC continued.
"He came for something."
Silence.
Then—
"For me?"
JC shook his head slightly.
"No."
He tapped the table once.
"For what is inside you."
The words landed harder than anything said so far.
I did not respond immediately.
JC continued calmly.
"There is a flow in existence. Information that moves across layers of reality. Most people never sense it."
I then leaned forward slightly.
JC's voice remained measured.
"That flow is called ILIMI."
The word settled into the air, Just understanding beginning to form.
"And he wanted… that?" I asked quietly
"Yes."
JC paused and then added:
"And he will try again."
'ILIMI' I thought that word to myself, the word sounded familiar because it was in a language I recognized. But the word alone felt as if it entailed something deeper than what is known...
The children's laughter echoed briefly from the living room. The contrast felt almost unreal.
And then JC stood up.
"This house is temporary."
I looked up at him and retorted
"I don't understand any of this."
JC nodded once.
"That is why we are leaving."
There was a brief pause everywhere.
Then:
"I am taking you somewhere you can begin to understand what ILIMI truly is."
Realizing I had no other choice I stood up slowly.
Though the grief and anger remained, I felt something else had begun to form beneath them.
Direction.
JC began walking toward the door, and I followed behind him.
--------------
Nighttime.
Far away In Birnin Kebbi, the remains of Chiroma's home stood silent. Burnt damage scarred the outer walls. Broken glass reflected dim streetlight.
Police tape moved slightly in the wind.
Across the road—
A woman stood still, watching. It was the female Enlightened. Her gaze remained fixed on the structure. Tracking and Searchin the trail of ILIMI that had not fully disappeared.
And she intended to find it.