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Chapter 1

Dera had deliberately avoided going down to face her family during supper, well, that was the normal routine,none of the house keepers were, are surprised, but the piercing scream they heard from her room at exactly 1:05am in the morning really shook them, not only them but the mother and younger brother of the aforementioned banshee.

Because normally she wouldn't scream but keep it to herself no matter the mares that visits her in the night.

Frantically, the overly scared madam of the house ran all the way to her daughter's room and banged the door vehemently, although Dera was no longer showing forth are talent of exhausting her vocal chords, but if you listened well you would here her continuing muttering incoherent words that might sound gibberish but were real.

Please don't, please don't, the light is too blinding, please don't, please don't....

So because of this, the Mrs Williams standing at her daughter's door forced the door open, we can't really call it forcing because the door, initially, was not locked. Immediately she was granted access which she paved by herself, she ran to her daughter's bed and shook her,and with a hoarse voice she called the name of her first born.

"Dera, Dera, please wake up, it's just a mare, baby wake up."One could see she did what she did with a heavy heart,because as she saw the sweaty face of her now quiet and still daughter who did not listen to her mum's order of waking up,she allowed her face to show her inner turmoil of heartache.

So as to not wake the sleeping Dera up, she quietly cleaned her glistening forehead with her long sleeved night ware, it was long sleeved because the weather was a bit cold that night and her husband cannot sleep without the air conditioner on.

The white woman cursed her husband in her heart. Insolent man, could not even get up from the bed when he heard his daughter's scream. With that in her heart, she adjusted her daughter's blanket and kissed her on the nose and chuckled when the girl scrunched her nose up.

 My baby

Then she turned around to leave, as she was leaving she did not forget to turn on on the heater of the room and closed the door quietly behind her back as she went out, but she was surprised with what she met at the entrance of her child's room, all of the housekeepers where present excluding the gatekeeper,she thought they had probably hear the screaming of Dera earlier and had gathered around to check what was wrong. Once again she cursed her husband in her mind.

 Incompetent man!  Even the housekeepers are doing your job for you.
 
But before she could curse any further, the head maid took the incentive and asked the question the whole staff have been wanting to ask.

 "Oga Madam, I hope aunty Dera is okay? The scream we hear is much, is why we are here ma."

One could tell she had difficulties speaking the "lengthy" English, but how could she not speak English when she was dealing with an English woman herself.
 
"Thank you for your concern everybody, but you do not need to worry, Dera just had a dream, there's nothing wrong with her, you can all go back to your rooms. "
  
But before Mrs Agnes, the robust looking head maid could reply, a voice was heard. "Of course she would 'dream' and disturb the whole house since she is mentally....disturbed." Everybody turned the next room beside Dera's room and saw the young master of the house who had deliberately pronounced the word 'dream' with a stress, standing in front of his door nonchalantly while holding a mocking disposition. What he wanted to utter was even harsher than what came out of his mouth.

Mentally deranged sister of mine, a damn psychopath, I wish I never had a sister!

With this attitude of his the mother was sure to scold him, but that was after she compelled all her employees to vacate to their rooms, "Lanre, how dear you say that about your sister? Because of this you are truly grounded for a week, and don't you dear protest, this should teach you to be respectful towards your elder sister."

"But mum, I didn't do anything wrong, it was Dera that disturbed the whole house by screaming knowing fully well that my room was beside hers, she did it deliberately mum, you can't just ground me when we resume new school year next week."

The replica of the woman standing right before him stomped his feet as he complained bitterly, his fine features contorting into an exaggerated annoyance as he does so, the boy was surely handsome, he got the skin of his mother and looked just like his mother, white pale skin, sharp straight nose and humongous ear, but the only thing that makes people feel like he surely has a black gene, is because of his hair, which was silky,thick and short, not really short,but,like every other African boy and man.

It is so of course because his father is a Nigerian who had married a British woman.

The woman who had gotten the hang of how Nigerian mothers scold their children, went to where her child was standing and dragged left his ear pulling it forcefully.

"ow, ow mum,you are being abusive, aren't you white?" Lanre complained as he held his mother's hand that was dragging his ear while wincing.Not minding the spoilt brat, the woman opened the door to his room and pushed him in. "Go inside your room and sleep this instant or I will add more to your punishment, insolent child, I don't know who you took after with your rottenness? But I will send it out of your body before it escalates any further, go inside spoilt brat I must not see your face outside for a week."With this she slammed the door shut and rubbed her hands together as if dusting dirt off. As she turned around to leave so she can got to hers and her husband room, she heard the sudden prostest of her male child

"No mum, you can't do this to me, how will I survive a week without going out?"

"shut up!" she commanded and climbed up the stairs she had not really taken note of when she was rushing to get to her daughter earlier smirking. Serves him right,insolent child, like father like son.

But in the staff quarters nobody was sleeping as they all, male and female, gathered around the center table in their living room to chat lowly about what had happened and about how they had been terrified by the light hating young mistress of the house.