92Please respect copyright.PENANAykJukDLRIa
Amina collapsed onto her bed, the springs groaning beneath her. The night air hung thick with unspoken tension, pressing against her skin like the humidity before a storm.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAJUJQcgLs9Z
Emeka crawled out from under the bed, brushing dust from his threadbare shirt. His fingers lingered near the iPhone box peeking from beneath her pillow.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAhwmhBt79NX
"*Folder*," he muttered, rolling the unfamiliar word in his mouth. "What's—"
92Please respect copyright.PENANALJuiWUmaZE
"A school thing," Amina cut in too quickly, her fingers digging into the mattress. The lie tasted bitter.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAYUnLGBHfcB
Ifeanyi's gift burned beneath the pillow, its presence as unsettling as the man himself. She hated how her pulse quickened remembering those photos—the arrogant tilt of his chin, the way sunlight had danced across his collarbone. He was everything she despised: privileged, manipulative, too aware of his own charm. Yet her traitorous mind kept replaying his smirk at her window, the daring glint in his eyes when he'd mentioned the river.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAk9QM1dB7Eq
Emeka's knee bumped hers, dragging her back to reality. "You're doing that thing again."
92Please respect copyright.PENANAcSYpnp31gh
"What thing?"
92Please respect copyright.PENANATU47DtP5cL
"Your nose scrunches when you're thinking about something... or someone." His grin turned sly. "Let me guess—Ifeanyi and his *folder*?"
92Please respect copyright.PENANADEDbXH2QBA
Amina's cheeks flamed. Emeka had always seen too much. Where Ifeanyi's gaze felt like being dissected, Emeka's was a mirror—honest to a fault.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAYzpmPZ3r8s
She studied him now: his perpetually untucked shirt, the two ridiculous chest hairs she'd once threatened to pluck, the scar above his eyebrow from when he'd fallen out of a mango tree at twelve. He was familiar as the village paths they'd raced down as children, yet suddenly foreign in this moonlit room.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAuUmVMwtk80
"Why do you keep coming here?" The question slipped out before she could stop it.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAArpm6hJW4l
Emeka stilled. For a heartbeat, the usual mischief drained from his face. "You know why."
92Please respect copyright.PENANALjDI21u9yp
The air between them crackled. Amina's breath caught. This was the boy who'd once given her his last piece of candy, who'd taken the blame when she'd broken her mother's vase, who still flinched at loud noises because his father's temper echoed in them.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAjysirrVS6I
She opened her mouth—
92Please respect copyright.PENANADCXJJDvfpu
"Do you believe in ghosts?" The question tumbled out, abrupt and clumsy.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAFZIgMGSMtQ
Emeka recoiled as if struck. His hands, usually so animated, fell limp at his sides. The color drained from his face.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAvFeDtdUlT3
"Emeka?"
92Please respect copyright.PENANAAzmCOAOGfR
He stood abruptly, knocking over the stool. "I have to go."
92Please respect copyright.PENANAdArgyrIP6c
"Wait—"
92Please respect copyright.PENANAGuL6Xp53U7
But he was already at the window, moving with unnatural stiffness. No teasing grin, no dramatic exit line. Just a hollow-eyed stare that didn't seem to see her at all before he vanished into the night.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAO5L92W0ydh
Amina clutched the windowsill, watching until his shadow dissolved into the darkness. The talisman on her nightstand pulsed faintly, its golden eye glinting in accusation.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAJh2Rl8d5iE
She had her answer.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAQ3FPllkWw9
Some ghosts walked in daylight.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAiX8FiKy6Ai
***
92Please respect copyright.PENANANN6vI6OfFV
Grandma crouched by her window, her gnarled fingers gripping the sill as she watched Emeka slink away into the shadows. Her lips curled into a smirk.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAMi4VGohMAJ
“*Mami Wata*,” she hissed into the dark, her voice like dry leaves. “*Bịa ebe a. Come to me. We made a pact.*”
92Please respect copyright.PENANAM3QFhTwFRz
The air thickened, water pooling on the dirt floor as Mami Wata materialized, her serpentine form coiled in the corner. “*What do you want, old woman?*” The spirit’s voice dripped with venom. “*I have a soul waiting at the river. Do not waste my time.*”
92Please respect copyright.PENANA6aT6tMYjao
Grandma leaned closer, her milky eyes gleaming. “*Amina’s breath catches when she speaks Ifeanyi’s name. There’s desire there. Use it.*”
92Please respect copyright.PENANAF9MWlf7Jfp
Mami Wata’s laughter echoed, cold and melodic. “*Ah, love. The sweetest poison.*” She dissolved into mist, her final words lingering: “*Let the river decide.*”
92Please respect copyright.PENANAmdCRJB5ge2
***
Amina stared at the ceiling, her mind replaying Emeka’s hollow stare. The talisman hummed faintly on her nightstand.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAD7UMpGsRQw
*Tap-tap-tap.*
92Please respect copyright.PENANAu73PapK5c6
“*Not again,*” she muttered, yanking the curtain open. Ifeanyi stood there, his smile too wide, his eyes too bright.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAvxNVXL9oNy
“*Open the window, my sweet,*” he purred.
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“*Ọ dịghị mma!* This isn’t right!” Amina hissed. “*Go to sleep, you… you *agbụrụ*!”*
92Please respect copyright.PENANAmNY1kYhfkq
Ifeanyi’s grin turned feral. “*You don’t mean that.*”
92Please respect copyright.PENANA1xruY7oQZ4
*Thud.*
92Please respect copyright.PENANAOQWfBGdxZb
Another figure stumbled into the moonlight—*Ifeanyi*, phone flashlight blazing, his face pale as he stared at his own doppelgänger.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAkquA0Qf0Fu
“*Mmụọ!*” he screamed. *Ghost!*
92Please respect copyright.PENANAnQFfi2VWBX
The fake Ifeanyi hissed, its skin rippling like water. It bolted, but Papa Chukwuma was already charging into the night, machete raised.
92Please respect copyright.PENANArb9tOCI7ig
“*Nna anyị!*” Amina cried as her father gave chase.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAkkXbRqDTE6
The creature sprinted toward the river, its form melting into something inhuman—long limbs, glistening scales, eyes like black pearls. Ifeanyi tripped over roots, yelling, “*It’s leading us to the water!*”
92Please respect copyright.PENANA5lCqY9MoEh
Amina froze at the tree line. The river’s song thrummed in her veins, louder now.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAlED6v5CsE2
“*Amina!*” her father roared. “*Go back!*”
92Please respect copyright.PENANAqaZ97YqEo3
But the creature vanished into the reeds, leaving only a trail of wet footprints and the echo of Mami Wata’s laughter.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAOeie14PTch
Amina crouched behind a palm tree, her bare feet sinking into the damp earth. The river churned ahead, moonlight fracturing on its surface like broken glass. Her father and Ifeanyi stood at the bank, breathing hard, their faces slick with sweat.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAvqlZLbe7PZ
The creature—Ifeanyi’s warped double—had vanished into the water with a hiss. Papa Chukwuma’s machete sailed after it, plunging into the black depths. For a heartbeat, silence. Then—
92Please respect copyright.PENANAm869tPPdcT
***Thunk!***
92Please respect copyright.PENANApQYAUxcYuu
The machete shot back like a spear, embedding itself in a nearby tree trunk, the blade quivering inches from Ifeanyi’s face.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAj3irE29Bmi
Amina clapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. Her father whirled toward the trees. “Who’s there?!”
92Please respect copyright.PENANAKjou48Jdei
Emeka chose that moment to stagger into the clearing, his eyes glazed, shirt half-unbuttoned. He walked like a man sleepwalking to his grave, muttering, “*Ha na-ekwu… ha na-ekwu…*” *They’re talking…*
92Please respect copyright.PENANAZD7j8uIzkO
Papa Chukwuma grabbed his arm. “*Nwa*! Wake up!”
92Please respect copyright.PENANA24YWycXldB
Emeka blinked, shuddering as if doused in ice water. His gaze locked on Amina, now frozen in the moonlight. “Yes,” he said, voice hollow. “I believe in ghosts.”
92Please respect copyright.PENANASPwVhlpJ85
Amina’s foot brushed something cold and slithering. She screamed, bolting from the trees—straight into her father’s chest.
92Please respect copyright.PENANATGE3T7CbaA
“*Nne*!” Papa Chukwuma gripped her shoulders, fury and fear warring in his eyes. “I told you to *go back*!”
92Please respect copyright.PENANA5QA9WCIKRo
Ifeanyi stepped forward, his usual swagger replaced by unease. “Amina, what are you—”
92Please respect copyright.PENANAsalZQRIngF
“Shut up!” She rounded on Emeka instead. “And *you*! What’s wrong with you?!”
92Please respect copyright.PENANActdtJkbh0K
Emeka stared at the river, trembling. “I… I heard her. The woman in the water. She was singing.”
92Please respect copyright.PENANAljywWXvEHa
Papa Chukwuma stiffened. “*Mami Wata*.”
92Please respect copyright.PENANAG9gq2qxI7G
The name hung in the air, heavier than the humidity. Ifeanyi scoffed, but his bravado rang hollow. “Ghost stories. This is just some jealous neighbor’s *juju*.”
92Please respect copyright.PENANAtaxWwmbRpf
“We’ll see,” Papa Chukwuma said grimly. “At dawn, I’m bringing the *dibia*. If this is dark magic, he’ll sniff it out.”
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Amina’s stomach dropped. The village medicine man, with his cowrie shells and bitter herbs, would sense the talisman. Would sense *her*.
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As her father dragged Emeka toward the compound, Amina lingered, her eyes drawn to the river. The water rippled, though there was no wind.
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In the shadows of her hut, Grandma watched, her lips moving in a silent chant.
92Please respect copyright.PENANAWMXoE7xP4T
*Almost time.*
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