Strange encounter 2

PART TWO

(AFTERNOON)

Now I was sure it was afternoon because I could tell the time from the bus dashboard 1:00 pm and I wasn't Half way to Ibadan. A journey that wouldn't have taken 3 hours at most.
Since my wallet had been stolen and phone too, I thought of how I could get in contact with James.. Thank God I knew his number off-hand at least I'll beg someone to give me a phone to call him so he can come pick me.

Before I could say what, the driver Sharply swerved off the road into a street close to the express and when we asked why, he said there is traffic in front so he is trying to avoid it.
We couldn't confront him too much because he is helping us since we didn't pay him a dime.
This street was so long that he drove for 20mins then stopped infront of a big building with tall fence.
Before we could complain, the three passengers who were pretending to be passengers immediately showed their true self..
They shouted on us to get down and March into the house..
You think we are God abi, we should help you.. Is that how they use to help somebody? One of them said as they brought out charms from their bag..
This time I was shaking in fear, from Fry pan to fire...
From robbery to kidnap on the same day...
Would I die like this, tears dropped from my eyes as we marched into the gigantic house and we were put in a room with our hands and legs tied with ropes...

For another two hours, we didn't see anyone or hear any sound from our captors...
Still panicking, I tried to pray and ask for forgiveness from God for all the sins I committed since I was born..
I listed them one after the other because I didn't want to go to hell and I was sure I would soon be killed..

As I did my prayers with my eyes open, I noticed something from one of us in the barricaded room...he had a blade on him and he was cutting himself lose as quick as possible.. I quickly crawled close to him and made friends with him by begging that he gives me the blade when he is done with it as I asked how he got it and he responded that he forgot it in his pocket this morning after cutting his nails with it ..

The others noticed and came close as well and within minutes, we all had the bondage on us cut off but our captors must not know so we pretended to still be tied by placing the ropes on our legs and hands just as it was before.

We were six all together in the room which included four females and two males.
Two of the captors soon came to the door of the room cursing and saying abusive words to us not knowing of our plans to ambush them. As they opened the gate, the males among us grabbed the two of them and sliced their necks with the blade at the same time holding their mouths to avoid them from shouting and strangling them at the same time.
They died within seconds and we were free to leave the room but we were still scared since we didn't know how many of them were in the building...
As we silently walked out of the building, we saw human skulls and body parts in one of the empty rooms... This scared us the more.
We got to the gate and that was when we were noticed by one of the captors, he chased us like his life depended on it.
Thank God we picked the bunch of key we saw on one of the men because that was what we used in opening the gate but one of the women was not fast enough..
She was caught and the rest of us fled.

(EVENING)
Everywhere was getting dark faster than we hoped and because we knew our captors would be looking for us, we decided to pass through the forest to find our way to the highway to avoid been detected by the captors..
This was a really bad decision because we eventually got lost and the five of us had no choice but to spend the night in the forest.
We were all not used to the forest, we were bitten by soldier ants and all sought of insects.
The cold alone was enough to turn liquid water to ice and there was nothing to cover ourselves with so we held ourselves close as we shivered through the night.

The party was supposed to be for today but I didn't even think about that... My safety was the utmost priority for me as at now and if I survive this, I won't even go to any party in my life again. I said within me when the thought of the party popped into my mind.
I'm sure mum, Aisha and James would be worried..

Day 3
Morning

We found our way back to the express road all looking unkept. Today is the third day and I'm still outdoor with no phone, walking bare footed in the middle of nowhere...
The rest started waving towards incoming vehicles for assistance..
I have learnt my lesson and won't want to make the same mistake again so I stayed away from the road watching afar of..

Within an hour they've all found busses to pick them and I was the only one left.
I became scared again..
Scared that I would be caught by the ritualists, scared that something bad would happen.
Only scenes of bad occurrences ran through my mind like scenes from the movie final destination.
Thankful that I wasn't dead yet and hoping I don't die, I could hear siren and knew it must be the police..
The sound got closer and I became desperate.. I knew that was the only hope I had to go home and I wasn't ready to waste the opportunity.

I took a leap of faith and walked into the road.. Now I was at the middle of the express road waving as I saw the police vehicles coming with speed towards me and they were not seeming like they wanted to stop.
As they got closer and saw I wasn't planning to leave, their speed reduced and to my surprise, it wasn't just a police vehicle but police vehicles excorting an important personality.
One of the police officers came out of the escort van angrily and didn't even wait to hear what I had to say. He Grabed me and gave me a slap for endangering my life.

Tears rolled out from my eyes and without me giving any explanation, my look already explains it all..
Someone then beckoned to me from the window of the car in between the escort vans. I responded as I walked devastated towards the car..
I was surprised to see that he was the Governor of Lagos state.I had never seen him in reality only on television.
He told me to come into the car to sit close to him and narrate my ordeal which I did.

I explained in details all that happened since it was still fresh on my memory and the conversation kept our company all through the journey.
In no time we were in Lagos and he suggested that I follow him to the Governors office before leaving for my house which I complied with.
As we got to his office, I felt because I looked unkept, people would look at me in an awkward way but the reverse was the case.
People greeted me well and I felt honored.
He then took me into the office and asked me to sit, which I did and he opened his table drawer and packaged an envelope which he gave me.
I was glad, really happy. I thanked him Continually and as a good yoruba girl, I showed my gratitude by kneeling every minute to thank him.
He then ordered his escort to take me home which they did.
When my mum saw police cars coming to the house she started crying thinking they were bringing her daughters body but as I stepped out of the car, the crowd that were waiting to mourn my death jumped for joy and started shouting happily.
My mum could not hold her joy, she weeped joyously as she embraced me.

THE END

Do you think the story would just end like that?
I haven't told you all how much the Governor gave me na.
As I entered the house and explained my ordeal to my mum skipping the part that I was going for a party when it all happened, she was thankful to God and when I mentioned to her that the Governor gave me money, she was like why didn't you say that since....
You know the look when you are waiting for rabbit to come out from a hole..
We were really positive o...hoping to see something big and we were not disappointed.
One million naira was what was written on the cheque o. You heard me one million naira...
We were so happy and to tell you the fact, i wish I was kidnapped again...
Maybe this time I would see President Buhari😂

image 1

image 2

By my brother John Akharia

His quill bleeds

Please check out part 1