Months went by and the exams drew near. Uche had noticed the latest development. The cultists were watching her, and she was worried.
'Could this be part of Adas' plan? Could she go this far? Should I tell someone?' questions plagued her mind like a disease.
Students filed out of the class once it had concluded but Uche remained seated. She was going through her notes until she was rudely interrupted.
"Auntie. Wetin you still de do for here?" a guy who wore a red bandana to represent the cult he belonged to, called out to her.
"Sorry o. make I leave" Uche answered anxiously.
"Ah. There is no problem o. you fit stay if you want, just bless your boys small nah?" he retorted.
"I'm sorry o. I no get anything right now maybe later"
"Okay o. you don promise us" the guy answered while walking away with the rest of his members.
Uche was flabbergasted. She did not know how to react to what had just happened. She had been in the school for years and she was never bothered by cultists, so why start now?
Uche did her assignments while she waited for Bukola to return. Her classes always ended earlier than Bukola. Once Bukola had returned and settled in, Uche made sure to narrate her encounter with the cultists. "Na wow o. It's not like they hurt you or anything sha, it's probably just a one-time thing. It happens. No need to worry. Just focus on the upcoming exams" Bukola said, soothing Uches' nerves. Uche sighed "You are actually right. It's probably just a one-time thing and the exams are in two weeks, so I need to focus" she had the conviction to stay focused but her heart wavered. Something was not right. 'Why would they start bothering me now, after so long' Uche pondered.
As it turns out, they were both wrong. It wasn't just a one-time thing. They harassed her on many occasions and in different ways: they either shoved her if they walked past her, threw her books to the floor when no one was looking, forced her to stop wearing certain colors; telling her it belonged to certain cults, though she perceived it was a lie, but she refused take chances. She was scared. Sometimes she would hear them insult her; not like they tried to hide it, they wanted her to know she was their topic of discussion, and it broke her morale. It was so unfortunate that the bullying had broken her so much that she had forgotten she had her Creator.
The bullying went on for weeks and Uche was finding it hard to concentrate on her exam preparations. Bukola had attempted to help her focus, but to no avail. Bukola had tried pushing Uche to report to the school authorities, but she refused to entertain that option. Bukola refused to give up and tried reporting un-behalf of Uche, but that didn't go so well. All lecturers feared the cultists and decided not to interfere, and the Administrator, the only person Bukola was sure would have eradicated this problem, was absent.
Three days had passed and to Uches' surprise, the cultists had not disturbed her. She was glad but couldn't help but be paranoid. One evening, while Uche walked to her hostel, the cultists ambushed her. She tried fighting off the man that grabbed her but came to a halt once she noticed she was at gunpoint. She was petrified. She was forced to sit in a chair while her hands and feet were bound to the chair. "Please just let me go. If its money you want, I can get it for you. Just let me go" Uche pleaded, but neither swayed. "Shut up there! This nah my cabal. See your mouth like money. Just de grateful that our boss sey make we no harm you, if not I go destroy that pretty face for you" one of the cultists spat. Uche subbed louder upon hearing that they had been hired by someone.
"See ehhn. I go put bullet for your brain if you no want shut up. Kini (what)" a different man spoke up. Three men had taken her, and she feared what they would do to her, so she attempted to silence her tears but couldn't help but hiccup.
