HauntedHotel Entry 17 - Evil Within

The twitching and shaking was uncontrollable, her feet bones were swirled in a curl, her hand static and her body as though earth tremors were moving back and forth through.

‘Ade!!!...’ Jacinta shouted agitatedly ‘We are losing her, what are we going to do? We can’t lose her’

Ade who was totally distressed yet trying to maintain the steering wheel and look up front in the darkness of the night along the lonely road that they found themselves on, the dim headlights showed the sides of the road adorned with tall grasses.

‘Just hold on J, find a spoon or something and place in her mouth, I cannot pull over on this road, it is far too risky’.

Jacinta was frantic searching and digging her bag for anything, something to stop the febrile convulsion and then there was a loud screech of tires, the headlights suddenly fuller now, a very large goat with well accentuated and curled horns bleats and stops before the car staring straight into the eyes of Ade and his wife, Ade holds the steering tight as though trying to halt the car by that single gesture, the car is linearly uncontrollable and hits the goat, there was a last loud bleat, an abrupt halt of the vehicle and one of the head lights evidently gone blind, the other revealing a sharp bend on the road and instantaneously Ibikun’s breathing steadied, her nine year old frail body stopped jerking, she sits up, her eyes dilated, she gives a deep breath and lays down on the car seat, Jacinta is both surprised and shocked at the synchronised incidents, she holds her and hugs her, her temperature normal now. Ade steps down to see the level of damage, the large heavy horned goat was lifeless, the horns had smashed the blind headlight. He goes back and tries to reverse so they can bypass the dead animal but the car refuses movement.

‘Let us walk, hopefully we could see a hotel to pass the night, we could come back by morning’ Jacinta exclaims. Ade shuts the car doors and they begin to tread using their phones as torch lights, they hear a sharp sound from behind as though something ran across, the remaining head light of the car begins to blink momentarily, they all pass each other a sharp glance and steady their footsteps to the hotel sign ahead.

No receptionist was in sight, the hotel nondescript, the inside was ruined as much as the outside, three doors lay on one side of the supposed receptionist corner, three keys on the table, three pictures hanging on the wall, one picture of Jesus with sheep around him, the glass of the frame was smashed, the other an eerie picture of an old bald man with dirty-white dreadlocks and curly extraordinarily long beards with two strange looking white men in white robes showing off brown teeth, there was a tethered goat and a temple in sight at the background. On the wall behind the receptionist counter, Baphometh was boldly written and a mounted deer head just above it. Ade and Jacinta scrutinise the word and the deer head decisively, Jacinta smiles in fascination.

‘Don’t you think we should go back?’ Ade asks quizzically.

‘To where...? please Ade we have had a long day, I am tired let us rest here please’ She picks the key labelled 1 and heads over to the door, holding a sleepy Ibukun closely, she opens up the door and beckons on Ade gesturing to him in what superb condition the room was. The sheets clean, the room was in perfect shape, without further hesitation, husband, wife and child rested on the comfy bed looking around admiring the ancient architecture, the use of the wood, the painting and a sealed door leading to the bathroom. The same pictures outside lined up inside the room, this time the old man is dressed like a shepherd herding goats, a distant thatched pen by the side in the picture, the background showing off beautiful Enugu hills and grazing land. In no time, they were deep asleep.

3.02 am the wooden clock in the room stops ticking, Ibukun awakens and looks at both her parents asleep, she walks toward the clock, the time unchanged, the hotel door closes tighter by itself, a light wind blows from outside, the curtains fly in reverence, the stool by the bed moves by itself to the door and stays fixed, the clock opens, a very sharp well carved antler falls from the clock, she picks it up, the rustling sound of leaves from outside increases and a man’s voice speaking a native language fills the air, Joy walks slowly toward her parents, both of them begin to jerk, shaking as though having a paroxysm, their hands on their necks as if they were trying to stifle their throats from air, their pupils absent, they stop the struggle consecutively, the stool by the door shifts, the door opens slowly and Ibukun drops the sharp carved horn and walks out, she walks through the reception to the entrance, an old man with a stick and four raging bucks by him stand facing her, he smiles, she looks back looking intently at the word written at the reception, the mounted deer head now with curved mature goat horns, eyes alive: blood red. Turning again she sees the head of the large goat they had ran over in a clay pot by her feet, she raises it. A thunderbolt strikes with looming rain.

‘Come with me messenger’ the old man beckons.

Evil within written by Noah Agu