Akata Witch

Chapter Two

(3rd POV)

Over the next few weeks Orlu and Sunny walked home together, a new friendship between them. There was a reason for this:

Black Hat Otokoto

Black Hat was a ritual killer on the loose, the local newspapers were constantly running stories on him, each more and more terrifying. Headlines like: BLACK HAT OTOKOTO CLAIMS ANOTHER VICTIM; KILLER KILLS CALM YET AGAIN; and FRESH RITUAL KILLINGS IN OWERRI.

These victims were always children.

Mothers were more cautious, making sure their children were home safe. This was what Sunny's mother was like. "Make sure you and that boy, Orlu, walk home together." Sunny's mother liked Orlu a lot.

When Orlu and Sunny would walk home, Chichi and Kai were always there to greet them. They were a regular occurrence and Sunny began to get used to them being there. Chichi told Sunny that she mostly helped her mother around their hut, and when she wasn't doing that she was "traveling," walking to the market, the river, and all over the countryside. She claimed that she walked 55 kilometers to Owerri and back in an afternoon. When Sunny didn't believe her, she held up a cut of cloth.

"I got this wrapper from the market there," She said proudly as she held it up.

"Looks expensive," Sunny said. Kai snickered behind her, as she had heard this story before.

"Yeah," Chichi grinned. "I kind of stole it."

Chichi and Kai laughed loudly at Sunny's disgusted face.

Eventually, after a while, Sunny didn't seem to mind Kai and Chichi, and the four, Orlu, Chichi, Kai, and Sunny, became extremely close.

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One day, Sunny walked home by herself. Orlu told her he had somewhere to be after school and hopped on a bus.

Without having Orlu to talk to and keep her mind busy, she kept thinking of the raging serial killer. She started shivering and walked faster down the street.

"What's your problem?"

Sunny turned around and Chichi was standing there. Sunny looked slightly annoyed. "Why are you so rude?" She asked.

"I speak my mind. That doesn't make me rude." Chichi grinned, giving Sunny a handshake. She was wearing an old and battered green dress and, as usual, no shoes.

"In your case, it does," Sunny laughed.

"Wharreva," Chichi spoke in a drawling voice. "Are you going home?"

"Yeah. I've got some homework."

Kai then came out of her house and saw the two. She grinned and hopped over her small metal gate, walking up to them, her sandals clacking against the ground. She was wearing green, airy looking pants and her green tank top with a light blue jacket over top.

"Heya, Sunny, Chichi. What're y'all talkin' about?" She spoke with her high and low voice, drawling her words.

Sunny said hello but Chichi was unusually quiet, making the two others look at her. SHe made an arch in the ground with her toe. ".....so you and Orlu are close friends now...?"

Sunny shrugged and Kai raised her brow at the question.

"Well," Chichi started. "If you're going to be good friends with Orlu, then you have to be friends with me and Kai, too."

Kai blinked, confused, and Sunny frowned. "Why's that?" Sunny asked.

"Because you're his in-school friend, and we're his out of school friends." Chichi said, as if it was the most commonly known thing. Kai blinked before giggling a little, and Sunny laughed loudly. "I'm not his girlfriend."