HauntedHotel Entry 18 - On The Road to Calabar

'ah ah oga take am easy na' I hear the woman beside me blurt out, we've been on the road for two hours now and this aunty has used that line about fifty times, the time is thirty minutes past ten and despite my attempts at a good night's sleep I've not been able to get an hour of uninterrupted sleep.

Turning my head away from the muttering woman I try to adjust into a more sleep friendly posture and it works because I find myself slowly drifting. I feel commotion going on around me and wake from my slumber in good time too, because I was in a dream so scary and real I could still feel my heart pounding from the fear,when I notice that the bus had broken down in the middle of nowhere.

Shoving my nightmare aside and forgetting to cancel it like my mum makes me do, I step off the bus. I'm met with confused passengers all talking at the same time.

'I will never use xyz bus again' says the man in the black kaftan whom I'd dubbed Aliyu, because of his gait and the features of his face. There were shouts of 'never in my life again' and 'lai lai', all of which were words of agreement towards what Aliyu had said.

From their quips and declarations I gathered that the bus driver had been speeding all through the journey and had somehow knocked the engine of the bus while at it, he had also vanished in the middle of the whole affair and we were left to deal with the mess ourselves.
The night was cold, we were surrounded by thick bushes side by side with no car or bus in sight on this road in the middle of nowhere, on our way to calabar. Suddenly i feel paranoia take over my whole being as thoughts of armed robbers and ritualists flood my mind, scenes from nollywood movies play out and I feel my bladder fill up with urine I didn't know was there.

'what if armed robbers come meet us for here??Jesus!!' I hear the aunty who had been cautioning the driver ask and shout, compounding my fears. I remember my mother's words and quickly run to get my bag from the bus, she had given me her cure for every situation, illness and wahala, the holy water her pastor had given to her. I wasn't much of a believer but I needed to believe this holy water would calm me down and avert whatever evil was out in those bushes or at least spare me when it decided to rear its head.
Like clockwork, after drinking the water I see a car approaching, and like clockwork we all run for it, trust Nigerians to add more chaos to an already dangerous situation, we didn't know who or what was driving the car at a few mins to midnight on a deserted road but we ran towards it. Aliyu literally scooped up his kaftan and joined the race, he got into the car first and luckily I was second. There was commotion and some passengers tried to squeeze themselves in but only four people could fit in, I didn't bother to pay any attention as I felt my troubles were over and I was safe.
I checked my time, seeing that it was a little past twelve midnight, thoughts about witches jumping out to cause a deadly accident and suck our blood flood my mind, we had all heard such stories while growing up and still as grown ups, of witches trolling the roads to kill travelers. I begin muttering a prayer, casting and binding, I was really getting into it when I notice from the corner of my eyes, Aliyu staring at me. I finish with a quick plea for protection before turning my head forward, my eyes meet with that of the driver in the mirror just above his head, and I felt it.

A familiar fear grips my heart, the back of my neck feels very naked all of a sudden and I couldn't stop looking at the driver, he had burns allover his face and his mouth looked like he had been smiling when the fire scorched it, leaving it in a permanent smile. It wasn't the burns or the joker smile that made my skin crawl but his eyes, they were dark and knowing, he looked at me like he knew my fears, like he could read my mind.
The plan was to get us to a hotel and he would go back for the remaining passengers but it all seemed like he had something else planned, from where I was sitting. He kept staring at me and it looked like he was smiling, mocking me, I felt uneasy and it must have shown because Aliyu gently touched my hands and told me we would be fine. I hadn't noticed he was handsome until then and it calmed me. We soon reached an old building tucked in the bushes with a rusty fuel station beside it. I sprint out the car and walk alongside aliyu, we all thank scarface for the ride and I feel relief when he drives off.

The hotel looks better on the inside but still shabby with creaking fans and old furniture. I surveyed the place and got checked in. My room is just opposite Aliyu's and that quelles my fears a bit. Nodding to the old songs coming from the speakers I flip on the lights and a feeling of deja vu sweeps over me, I can't place my finger on it but this room feels very familiar, the whole thing sends shivers down my spine and my bladder fills up again. I rush to the little toilet on the other side of the room but my mother's warnings coupled with the uncleanliness of the toilet force me to hold it. Thoughts of my mum flood my mind and it makes me smile when I think of what she'd think of the constant state of paranoia I've been in all night.

'o ye of little faith' she'd say ' don't you know pleading the blood of Jesus saves?' she'd ask. Smiling all through I unpack my bag, and plead the blood of Jesus, half believing and out of obligation to my mum. I hear a knock on the door and I see Aliyu standing outside asking me if I'd like to eat something. He's talking like a man interested in a woman and it tickles me a bit, I smile and try to show the good side of my face while nodding in agreement to everything he's saying.

Some minutes pass and another knock comes, I open the door smiling sheepishly hoping to see aliyu but I see the joker scar faced good Samaritan standing there with a smile on his face, a mocking smile, a knowing smile and just as i realize he's there for something sinister, NEPA takes the power.
I try to shove the door close but I'm too late, he grabs my throat so hard I could feel his fingers at the back of my neck with my throat feeling smaller and tighter, my head feels dizzy and I pass out.

'cha cha cha, cha cha cha',

that's all I hear as I wake up, my head feels foggy, the chants come again 'cha cha cha,cha cha cha' I turn my head to find the source of the noise, to turn it off, and I'm met with the scary figure of an old man wearing nothing but a white scarf on his aging head, he was covered in oil from his face to his toes, his rumpled stomach had a white symbol painted on it.

'cha cha cha, cha cha cha' he continues chanting as he works,

I had been too dizzy to notice what he was doing but now its clear, he was holding an old knife tied with a white piece of cloth and he was slowly cutting into a big piece of meat.

Wait, its not a big piece of meat, straining my neck I notice the meat is actually a human being and the human being is Aliyu.
It felt like someone had finally turned on the lights in my head because now I could see and understand what was going on, the old man was carving symbols into aliyu and I could only move my head because I was chained to the bed. As if prompted by my panic and fear, scar face walks in and I scream so loud I felt my throat tear. He too is dressed down like the old man with nothing but the white scarf and a gallon of oil rubbed on his skin.
I begin to plead the blood of Jesus, asking him to save me, pleading for him to send his angels to my rescue like I'd been taught, but it all felt futile because scarface laughed in my face, with his permanent smile he mocked me.

'you dey call Jesus, for this place Jesus dey fear to enter' he said, ' I go kill Jesus if e show face hi a'.

The seriousness with which he said those words made me believe I was truly alone, I began to cry and I felt my bladder give way as I pissed myself on that bed. 'cha cha cha, cha cha cha' scar face chanted over my body as he tore off my clothes, 'cha cha cha, cha cha cha' he chanted as he began carving the symbols into my abdomen and my breasts. I screamed every time the blade bit into my skin, like a thousand razor blades cutting away. The dizzyness returns and involuntarily my eyes close, I passed out again.

I wake up to what feels like an empty room, blood all over my body and the chains loose. With all the strength I had left I crawl off the bed and make for the door, as I turn the knob I hear someone cry out behind me, its Aliyu, he looks half dead, weak.
I mumble a quick sorry and I try to run for my life while I could, through some miracle I make it to the road without being seen or caught and I hide a while in the fuel station. It feels like an hour before any car passes, finally I flag an old hilux down and the driver helps me despite his first attempt at running away when he notices the blood and my injuries. He looks at me with searching eyes and asks a million questions in his ikwerre accent. Being barely able to speak, I just thank him and thankGod for saving me, tears well up in my eyes and I'm relieved I got away, I cry some more and the driver comforts me. A few minutes pass and I notice we're back at the hotel, I turn to the driver in panic, thinking maybe he made a wrong turn...
'cha cha cha, cha cha cha'....I hear him chant...

• Written by Deima Brown