GHOST (The Shadow in the Dark)

Part Three

            I could not sleep, I kept turning on my bed thinking of a way to get out of my current predicament. Every hour, I re-sent the message but it kept bouncing back. I had to check my call balance which was showing ‘N919.56’, I even had ten free text messages. But the message was not going through. He had written ‘see you tomorrow’ which was my fellowship day.
      I had a 7:AM lecture at B2 lecture hall at Faculty of Arts but for the first time, I went late. The hall was already filled up and I had to stand by the wall. The noise at the back prevented me from hearing what the lecturer was saying, not that I would have heard anything. My mind was occupied with the killer with the name Ghost. I brought out my phone to check if my message had been sent but it was still showing the same thing. I tried it again and as I press send, someone pulled my phone from me. I struggled to pull it back same time raising my head to see who was pulling it. The loud laughter from the students explained my shock. It was the lecturer, I never saw him coming neither did anyone alert me to drop my phone.
“Get out of my class” Dr. Bright shouted pointing at the door.
“Please Sir” I pleaded knowing fully well I was in trouble and my phone was just the beginning.
“What’s your Matric number?”
I was really in deep shit. Those were the words students dreaded from him. There was a saying that the question came with carry over, meaning I had to repeat that course.
“Please I…”
“Class rep, give her a paper and biro to put her matt number. I want you out of my class and I don’t ever want to see you in any of my lectures.”
He walked back to the front and continued his lecture.
“Don’t stress yourself Ella, I have your matt number” Chidi the class rep shouted so everybody could hear him.
The class resumed their laughter and Dr. Bright was silencing them when I left the lecture hall.
       I had no idea what to do and how to go about my predicament. I found myself sitting down at one of the iron chairs at the car park which was directly opposite the busses selling snacks. I inhaled the fresh air and allowed the cool atmosphere brought about by trees to calm my body. My dad had always said it was better to think about the positive side of everything not just the negative. There should be something good from my phone getting seized. I would no longer communicate with him. But would he understand or believe I was not lying and trying to evade him?
What about the carry over issue? I was already feeling headache and the fact that I did not sleep throughout the night was not helping. I felt being watched and I turned sideways. They were still around. The policemen, but my gut told me they had increased their numbers. I could not tell how I knew people were watching me, I could just tell. I felt so sad that one of them who had watched me just the day before was dead. He had hanged around the bus stop and I had seen him with a bottle of coke and egg roll. He was killed because of me, because I could not face and handle my own problem. I wondered if they were not afraid. Okay they were definitely too alert and kept looking around like Ghost would pick one of them soon. I wished I could tell them to relax, that he was not around, that I would make sure none of them joined the list of those that had died because of me, but I could not. My eyes met with one of them and he turned the other way. I raised my head and rested it on the iron handle of the chairs. There were few people sitting down because it was still too early.
I must have slept off and it was understandable. A tap on my left shoulder woke me up.
“Hi Ella.”
It was Chidi. He had been one of the first people to ask me out. It was because of him and others I did thread on my hair. It attracted the wrong people because it was long past my shoulder. I had no memory of ever cutting my hair, Grandma said it was a disgrace for a woman to cut her hair. But even with the thread and long gowns, I still felt stares from unwanted males. I thought of how to answer him and decided on remaining silent.
“The lecturer wants to see you.”
That caught my attention.
“Don’t be afraid, you girls have easy life here. If it was a boy, that phone is forever lost. At the end wetin you nor won give me na him you go use beg lecturer.”
He stood up and left. I understood what he was implying but that did not stop me from running all the way to the department and to his office. I knocked, my hands shaking.
“Yes?” Dr. Bright shouted.
“Sir, I was told you wanted to see me, the girl you sent out Sir.”
There was no answer but the door was opened after some seconds.
“Come in and sit down.”
He did not go to his seat but sat down on a black couch by the door. He pointed to the tiny space close to him. I stood there debating if it was proper to sit down that close to a man known for sleeping with students.
“My friend, I am busy. If you don’t want to sit down, the door is not far from you.”
I decided to sit down, he had not done anything to warrant my suspicion but I stood up almost immediately after he grabbed my shoulders.
“I was told you wanted to see me” I stammered.
He looked at me for some time.
“Why are you behaving like a novice, you are acting like you have not done it before. I like you Ella, and I want you to be my friend.”
He said it like it was something normal. I still stood there.
“Except you don’t want your phone and your A.”
“Sir, I’m sorry about what happened in class, I apologize Sir.”
“What about my offer of friendship?”
He stood up and walked close to me but I shifted back making him stop. He suddenly pulled me to him but I pushed him away.
“Please sir this is harassment.”
“Okay, you can go now. Get out, not many get this opportunity you have just thrown away.”
He was already on his official seat and was writing on a book.
I walked slowly to the table.
“Please sir, Please sir” I said bending one knee.
“I said get out. Come back when you have stopped acting childish. Out” he shouted.
     As I walked to another lecture hall for my 9:00AM class, I felt lost. This lecturer would also lecture me till four hundred level and most tales I had heard of him, he could follow up on someone and he had connections. The DPO would not be able to help in this matter. He was far away north and this was south and I had no proof even if I wanted to report him. I almost did not hear what the lecturer said throughout and also, my three other lectures. I only remembered I had not eaten during my fourth and last lecture for the day which was ending by six. I always went for fellowship straight from my faculty. I had to bear the sting in my stomach, then bought a drink and meat pie after the lecture.
           Night was approaching, so was Ghost. I thought of not going for fellowship but I remembered the deal. I was not playing a game with a normal human, this was a killer. I could not allow anymore police officer die because of me. But he never mentioned location and he knew how to enter my room. I was feeling tired and needed to rest, then think but going home was not the best option. I would have follow-up fellowship brethren calling me to ask why I was absent and then if I did not give them a convincing answer, they would visit me and put themselves in the list of people I would protect. Not that I could even protect them from him. They had already paid me visits more than three times because of my two weeks absent.  I just decided to go for fellowship to avoid further complications.
   Throughout fellowship, I was body present but spirit absent. I only knew they were saying the grace when they started singing the fellowship song. And just before they concluded their loud amen, I was out. I did not want to follow the crowd back to Ekosodin. We always moved in groups because it was safer that way. It took about twenty minutes to walk from All Saints’ Chapel, through Engineering to Ekosodin Back Gate and they always announced for Ekosodin brethren to wait and move together. The night belonged to cultists, bandits, robbers who linger around and attacked easy targets like a girl walking on her own. But I had a bigger predator who could disarm six policemen within seconds. If he wanted to attack, even the whole fellowship would not be able to stop him. It was better I walked alone.
     And I was right to make that decision because I felt his presence immediately I entered the street that led to the office of the Vice Chancellor. At least, the solar light in that street were still functioning with one constantly going off and on. I turned and saw like two of the policemen behind me. I hurried my steps and as I got to Engineering Faculty, I sighted two more resting by the flame of the forest tree situated at the car park. The last working street light ended there, it meant the rest of my journey was going to be dark. I started shaking as I entered the passage of their lecture hall which would lead me to the main road. I had no idea why my adrenaline was kicking in. I felt the desire to run, to get out because his presence was too overwhelming.  I heard footsteps behind me and I turned in time to witness the death of the police officers I had just passed by the flame of the forest tree. They could only mutter a dying sound like they were gaggling.  For the first time, I saw his full height but that was all, it was too dark to see his face. I wanted to run, my head was screaming for me to run to safety, but my body was frozen. He started moving towards me and my body only listened to me when he was just few steps to me.
  I had no idea why I was running, where could I run to? But I still ran. It was after few minutes when I was already in Faculty Park that I noticed he was not following me. There was just one bus loading to Main Gate. The driver was shouting one chance as I ran past him to the street leading to Back Gate. I paused and inhaled a lot of air, then continued running.
  I had completely forgotten I had nowhere to run to. It did not take long to remember because I felt his presence immediately I entered my street. He knew my street, he knew where I live. It was a waste of time running. There was nowhere to run. I thought about running to my Secretariat but changed my mind. If he could enter my iron door room with nobody having any idea or memory of seeing him, then my Secretariat was not safe, I would only lead him to my fellowship brethren and they will be added to people he would use to blackmail me with. Just few people were in my street and they were totally oblivious of me and my predicament. I was tired and I needed to sleep. There was nothing to do but go to my hostel. I had not opened the gate when he closed up on me. His body pushing me to the gate.
“You broke our deal.”
That was the first time I was hearing his voice. It was all male and deep and husky. How funny that word came to my mind.
“You don’t have a soul, you just murdered two police officers.”
I was still terrified but there was another emotion waking up in me. I was angry, I was vexed that he was making my life miserable.
“Where did you keep your humanity? How can you be this soulless?”
“I am a ghost.”
He answered calmly like I was asking a funny question and he was giving an obvious answer. There was no remorse in his voice.
“I did not break any deal, my phone was seized and I did not refuse to see you. You are just looking for an excuse to kill innocent people. How did I break the deal? How?” I shouted.
“Sssh, don’t attract more deaths.”
I froze from his words. He was serious. It made me remember we were by the gate, someone could come in or go out and they were in danger.
“Follow me peacefully.”
He was going inside the street by the time I turned to look at him. It was same time one of my neighbors walked towards the gate with her boyfriend holding her waist. They had no idea I just saved their lives and as they entered the gate all happy, I walked to my doom.