#HauntedHotel Entry 12 - A Deadly Proposal

Banke packed her load in preparation for her road trip with Tunde, her boyfriend. She felt bad that she had to lie to her parents that the journey was organized by some of her co-workers at the hospital. They would never have let her go if she told them it was just a weekend trip to Calabar alone with Tunde.

"Hope you didn't forget to take your Bible o!" Her Mother said.

Banke nodded as she hurriedly got into the cab. The plan was to get to Tunde's place at 7a.m so their trip would begin, but as usual, she always had a problem keeping to time.

She checked her wristwatch, it was already 8:30 and the driver was moving like his tyres were replaced with snails.

"Baba, move faster na." She told him.

While wiping the beads of sweat that were forming quickly on his forehead, he said:"My daughter, please don't be angry, you know I am an elderly man. This isn't how I drive normally, I just developed an acute episode of diarrhoea this morning and it is really affecting my functional capacity."

She wasn't interested in his narration of the war between him and his intestines, this was the 11th time Tunde was calling. She didn't pick up because she wasn't emotionally prepared for his famous long speech whenever she showed up late.

Finally, they arrived at his house, she took out her load and paid the Cab driver who quickly put the money in his pocket and ran off to the eatery down the road.

"That toilet will be destroyed today" She thought to herself.

Tunde sat on his car, ignoring Banke as she walked in through the gate.

"Good morning Love, I am so sorry I am late. My mum made sure that morning devotion was 30 minutes longer than usual, then the Cab driver was so slow, can u ima"

Tunde interrupted her:"Story woman, that's enough abeg. We are already running late, we need to move."

She hated it whenever he called her 'story woman.' She retaliated by saying, "Grumpy Grandpa, you should have booked a flight instead, but you prefer a 10hours road trip. Hope you got enough rest before you doze off on the wheel."

"Travelling-Tracy, look at all the load you brought for a short trip". Tunde laughed as he started the car.

Although they developed a flat tyre once, their journey went on fine, but they didn't get into Calabar until 9p.m. Banke tried to locate the hotel they booked using the map direction, but the service provider was terrible.

Suddenly, the car started overheating. Tunde switched off the engine, they both jumped out, looking dejected and lost in a foreign state.

Luckily, they saw a sign post in front of them which was written in the local language of whatever village they were in. It ended with 'hotel', so they both concluded that they would spend the night there and leave once it was bright enough in the morning.

They got into the reception, the receptionist quickly jumped up from her seat.

"Goorevening ogai-madam, please how may we help you? Two of our rooms are available for sleep over this night"

Banke tried not to laugh, but Tunde was obviously not finding it funny, because he knew he wasn't going to hear the last of how his road trip plan was a failure once they settled in.

"Our car broke down at the entrance of your hotel, we will manage any of the rooms until tomorrow ."

"No problem ogai, the yunction of our hotel is very safe, your car is safe. Its 3k per sleepover and 5k per sleepover and breakfast combination, let me show you the room." The receptionist replied.

Banke quickly pointed out how the room had a funny smell, but agreed to manage it after Tunde pleaded with her.

"Babe stop nagging jo, we will be out of here before you know it tomorrow. Let me get our luggage in the car ."

As he moved towards the door, a black box fell out of his pocket. He quickly picked it up and tried to hide it, but Banke had already seen it.

"Tunde, what are you hiding?" She asked.

"It's nothing, babe." He responded while fidgeting.

He knew Banke was very inquisitive and would not let him rest until she pestered the answer out of him, so he decided that it was the right time to do it.

He moved to where she stood, went down on one knee and said, "Adebankemi, this Grumpy-Grandpa is very much in love you, and would love to spend the rest of his life calling you his 'story-woman' . I am so sorry I made you lie to your parents, but I already told them the truth about this trip and my proposal plan, they gave me their blessings. I was going to pop the question at Obudu Mountain resort, i am so sorry it had to happen in a hotel that smells like dead bodies. I would have booked a flight, but I thought driving would help me get rid of my nervousness. Will you spend the rest of your life with me?."

Banke was speechless, she let the tears roll down her eyes. She always wondered why most ladies cried during their proposal, now she understood.

"Yes, Yes! I will marry you , Olatunde Johnson. I love you" she answered excitedly.

She admired the ring for over ten minutes then decided to take enough pictures of it to display on Instagram.

"This is nice, but the rock isn't very obvious here, let me try another angle." Banke thought to herself as she looked at the first picture she took.

"I am glad you love the ring, it was hard deciding which one would suit your finger." Tunde replied.

When she got the perfect picture, she posted it with the hashtags #BankeandTunde #HeAsked #IsaidYes #BanTu2016 #WeAreTyingTheKnot #RoadTrip.

In less than five seconds, the comments started pouring in. That was when she realised her battery would not make it through the night and she needed to reply all the 'Awwws'.

"Let me ask the receptionist for a charger, I'll be right back dear" Tunde told her as he left the room.

Suddenly, it occurred to her that she knew what the hotel smelt like. She remembered when they had to dissect some cadavers in 200L and the smell made her nauseous.

While trying to put two and two together, she heard a loud scream. She grabbed her phone and opened the door. Two men dressed in black were standing at the door, one of them covered her nose with a handkerchief till she became unconscious.

• Written by PRI