RESIDENTIAL GHOST – Episode 2

I fried one, two , three , four , five , six , seven.." She counted her fingers. I ate one now I can't find the remaining six... Abi I no go school again?? She looked all around the parlour for the meats but she didn't find any. She raised the couch to see if the meats were under , but she didn't see any. She dropped down the couch and heard a giggle above where she was kneeling. Tracy looked and saw a little girl of 2 years  sitting on the couch, whose hair looked so tattered , her eyeballs were missing as her eye socket seemed empty and dark. Dark blood were dripping from one side of her mouth and strings of saliva dangled from her mouth. Particles of chewed meat were fallling from her mouth. The stench oozing from the girl was so terrible, as her flesh looked like something that was mummified . Tracy looked on ,fixed at the spot.. shocked to her bone marrow. When she regained herself ,she let out a bloodcurdling scream and ran outside the house. Tracy accidentally ran into Josephine who was just   coming into the compound , Josephine grabbed Tracy as she leaned on Josephine for support panting heavily. " Madam , what's the problem ?? Why are you running??? " Josephine asked  but Tracy kept on panting and pointing towards the parlour door  " Ma please speak naaa, you're keeping me in suspense and am getting scared. Oya let's go inside na , so you can calm down" Josephine suggested . Immediately Tracy heard that word " let's go inside " She squeezed her face. "Eeehh!! Go.. go where?? Go inside??? You and who eeeh Josephine" Tracy immediately grabbed her slippers, clapped it together and ran towards the gate outside the compound. Josephine not knowing what Was wrong with her madam or what she saw followed suite . They both ran outside like mad people as Josephine tried to catch up with Tracy who ran like Usain bolt even with pregnancy. When they were far from home , they stopped to catch their breathe. " Ma , you've not told me what you saw that made you run like this ooo." " Josephine , I've finally seen the person eating the food in the chicken ..sorry I mean in the KITCHEN!!". Josephine arched a brow curiously. " And who's that??? Before Tracy could start narrating the incident, a car halted beside them and honked noisely. Them James alighted from the car and went to meet them. " Babe what's the problem? This one both of you are looking like scape goats". " Good evening sir" Josephine greeted but James ignored her.  Tracy ran and jumped on her husband, who held her tightly. " Ghost !! a ghost is in our parlour !!!"     James scoffed . "A ghost ke?? How can you believe in such superstition?? Do ghosts  exist???  Tracy stared at her husband bewildered . " What I saw with my two korokoro eyes.... She ate my meat!!!! she.... ""  Tracy paused and scratched her head in confusion. "Josephine are you the one feeding my wife with such stupid stories? " James barked. " Noo oga , I just came back from market , madam nearly pushed me to the ground ok where she was running.. I had to join her oooo, " Josephine confessed. James stared at his wife who stared back at him with pleading eyes. " Oya let's go home" He tried to drag her along but she refused. James and Josephine had to plead with her seriously before she agreed. " You're endangering the life of our unborn child"  After completing her chores , Josephine retired to the bed so exhausted , she knelt near her bed with her rosary to pray but felt so sleepy that she had to climb her bed and sleep. In the middle of her sleep , she felt a warm , thick fluid dropping down her cheeks. She shifted slightly but the fluid continued dropping, Making her uncomfortable to sleep anylonger. She immediately opened her eyes and what she saw pinned her to her bed unconsciously. A dead body hanging on the ceiling her directly above her and drops of blood dripped down from it's rotten toes . Josephine struggled to shout but no word came out of her mouth, suddenly the dead body opened it's eye... it was pitch black and void of eyeballs. It smiled so wickedly reaveling dirty set of scanty teeth stained with blood. " Jesussssssssssss!!!!!!! Josephine managed to scream and dashed towards the door to the corridor. She banged violently on her boss's door. " Madam oooo Oga ooooooo "  Just immediately James opened the door, Josephine lurched herself inside and shut the door behind her.  "What's the matter with you??? what's the meaning of this stupid drama you just displayed now?? " James asked in anger while Tracy sat up on the bed looking tensed.    Josephine leaned on her knees for support while panting heavily. " Oga I saw ... a.. a.. man hanging on my ceiling fan" she said . " What nonsense are you talking about???  Josephine seeing that James won't believe her , rubbed her fingers on her cheek where the blood dropped but there was nothing there. " So it's true that you're the mastermind behind all this strange behaviours  my wife has been exhibiting these past few days? " he asked bitterly. Josephine was dumbfounded. " I swear oga ... I swear I saw it.... It's in my room!!!!! " she defended. James marched out of the room , followed by Josephine.. Tracy being scared of been left a alone ran after them to Josephine's room. They came into the room, but everything seemed so calm. No bloodstains , no stinking body hanging on the ceiling fan. James gave Josephine a hard stare.  Which made her shiver unconsciously. " Oga believe me .. I saw it here ... directly above  me " She tried to explain. " Common will you shut  your mouth my friend.. It's like the marijuana your boyfriends gave you only manifests at night but let me warn you.. let today be the first and last this rubbish will repeat itself...You won't find it funny next time cause I won't take it lightly with you!' He warned ,then pulled Tracy who was hiding at his back  cowardly. Immediately the both of them left the room Josephine ran down to the parlour to sleep.   . Tracy marched towards her room as she turned off the corridor light. Something caught her attention as she saw a silhouette at the extreme of  the dimly lit corridor. She hurriedly turned back the light but the silhouette was nowhere to be seen. She turned it off again and same silhouette appeared , she then turned it on . Her heart raced severely , before she could get hold of herself she saw the silhouette racing towards her and she fell with a thud on the cold floor.  Josephine came running out of her room , she screamed and tried to wake Tracy up but her pulse seemed weak and her breathing was so fast. She had to rush Tracy to the hospital with the help of the gatemam Akin.  When Josephine explained that she knew nothing about what happened to Tracy, James refused to believer her. He insisted that she pulled one of her superstitious prank on his wife. He met the doctor who confirmed that she slumped because of shock and needs two weeks bed rest because she's having  a threatened abortion.  When Tracy was discharged from the hospital, she tries explaining to her husband the strange things happening in the house. " Babe, I saw someone standing at the end of our corridor when I tried to enter the room. The figure's feet wasn't even touching the ground. Please believe me ... this house is evil , we need to evacuate as soon as possible" Tracy pleaded. James went and sat near the bed she was, he held her right hand tightly. " Babe,, you know those things doesn't exist.. It's just your brain trying to trick you" he said convinced. Tracy pulled out her hand from his in annoyance . "Why are you been difficult?? Why are you like this???"  "Darling  calm down... Remember the doctor said you shouldn't stress yourself, and here you are shouting" James tried to calm her down. " Why won't I shout?? When you have refused to agree to the reality that there are some witchy witchy ghost in this house , who are bent of scaring the f*ucking hell outta my life!!!!!.  It's... it's... itss like I've gone crazy .... like I've gone insane'   Tracy screamed uncontrollably. "Shhhhhhhhhhh" James shut her up and pulled her closer to him. " Clear your mind of such imaginations. Ghosts don't exist, okay. "  Tracy pulled away from him and looked into his eye with tears rolling down her cheeks. " Believe me James.... pleasseee they are here... I can sense it please believe me" Tracy said. James stared at her for a while. " Okk, alright... there's a ghost lurking around the house. Will you now rest??? Doctor said you really really need rest . Please don't stress my unborn child.  Tracy opened her eyes  and stared at the wall clock opposite her. It was already 2:15 am. She just didn't know what woke her from sleep and sleep left her eyes.   She saw a pair of bloody eyeballs,behind the curtains. Since the room was dimly lighted ,the eye shone so obviously bright and menancing.    Fear gripped her as she held  the bedsheet so tight. The figure behind the bloody pair of eyes began to emerge from it's hideout. It came  covered from head to toe ,it didn't have a specific shape as it seems to be smoky. The figure had a very long ,dark fingers which it stretch towards Tracy. " Bloood....." it whispered so softly yet so loud. Tracy shivered as the figure floated slowly and gently toward her since it had no feet. " I've been starved for so long... I need food .... Am hungry!! Tracy " The figure said. Tracy was so shocked to her marrow. " How on heaven's name did this ugly creature get to know my name??" she thought. " In the mighty name of Jesus ,I command you to get behind me!!!" Tracy shouted . Fear gripped her so much that she wasn't sure that she was the one who said it. " Hmmmmm. Prayer warrior.. Folks like you,I kill with only a snap of my fingers. You just remembered you have a saviour now" The figure mocked. " In the Name of Jes......" Tracy tried to pray, but the mysterious figure tilted it's face slightly to the left and Tracy began to float above the bed. " Jamesss!!!!!? Save meeeee!!!" Tracy screamed but James was busy enjoying his sleep. " Woman you're so loud and lousy !, just give me what I want and I'll let you be." The figure pointed at her protruding tummy. " It's a lie....you won't go with my baby!!! " Tracy cried. " Let's see how it goes" the figure began to tilts his hands in a strange manner as blood began to drop down from Tracy's private part. " Food is ready" it said as it disappeared leaving Tracy to land on bare floor with a heavy thud. " Aaaaaaaaaa my tummy,my babyyyyyy" Tracy screamed her lungs out . James woke and met his wife on the blood bleeding profusely. " Babe..... Tracy what's this??" he asked desperately. Tracy crossed her hands on her head. " They took my baby ooooooo. My childddd ooooo" James looked around the room ,seeing noone around apart from the both of them. " Who are the " they'??? Just then , she saw  a pair of red eyes staring behind the window curtain.   Tracy was admitted to the hospital that night where the doctor confirmed that she already lost the baby. James was so confused and angry. Since he was a kid he never believed in Ghosts talk  more of their existence. He never saw one , and he thought that Ghost were just made up imaginations of the human mind. He just taught there were mere fallacies. But Tracy and Josephine complaining that ghost was living in same house with them was something he couldn't phantom. Tracy was discharged from the hospital few days later . She felt so bitter and angry with James who she claimed was the one that made her loose her baby. James apologized several times but Tracy wasn't ready to give him a listening ear as she began giving him silent treatment. The day she was discharged, she stepped into the house and was surprised to see her husband's nephews and niece who rushed to greet and welcome her back home, Jake ,Mary and Andrew who were 16,14 and 12 years respectively. Since the school was on vacation ,Tracy guessed that James invited them over  for the holiday even without her consent. "Them never chii chomchin" Tracy thought within herself. She just nodded her head and went straight to the room. The kids enjoyed their uncle's mansion as everything they needed was at their beck and call. They had spacious spaces to play and plenty food to eat. But their enjoyment and peace short-lived as the real owners of the house began to manifest themselves. After a sumptuous dinner of  Jellof rice and fried plantains. Everyone retired to their various rooms.  Jake, Mary and Andrew slept in same room. Just as everyone was in deep sleep, James and Tracy heard loud thuds on the floor , outside. Seems like people were jumping or running.. but whatever it was they couldn't phantom. They listened attentively and heard the children screaming in fright. They rushed out to the children's room where they saw them running Helter skelter. Immediately they saw Tracy and James , they ran toward them panting . "What's the matter??" James asked. "A big cockroach entered into my pyjamas and bite me!!!" Andrew complained  as he scratched his groin area as if his life depended on it. "We saw  a big rabbit at the foot of our bed laughing like an old man!! " Mary said as cold shiver ran down her spine. Tracy and James stared at each other not knowing what to say.  James turned to the kid and stared at them one by one as if he wanted to detect any mental disorder in any one of them. " I don't understand... Which one is a big rabbit laughing like a old man?? " He questioned  " Uncle believe us , the rabbit is very big and black as charcoal . it has ash eye balls and very big teeth. It scared us to our wits !!! " Andrew confirmed as the rest nodded in affirmation. Tracy believed what the kids were saying but dared not say it out. She just wished that one day , James  would encounter the deadly ghosts so he'll believe. James rubbed his forehead in confusion. " Common kids ... such things doesn't exist... okay. Maybe it's just hallucinations you know???. "Hallucinations ke?? Uncle how can three people hallucinate the same time, seeing the same thing at the same place???. Or Maybe you put loud into our food for us to start hallucinating. That's not possible.. we saw a rabbit at the foot of our bed laughing at us!!! " Jake insisted obstinately. James sighed. " Okay , okay !! where's the rabbit??? " That was what were were looking for before you and Aunt Tracy barged in. We don't even know where it disappeared to " Mary said.    " Okay.. go to bed please.. it's already late. When the day breaks , we'll talk about it. Don't fear, nothing will happen " James assured. The kids calmed down as Tracy switched off the light in their room and left with James . Just immediately they shut the door behind them , the lights came on again. " Aunty Tracy??" Jake called thinking maybe , she came back to turn on the light but he didn't get any response.  The kids stared at each other, trying so had to convince their young minds that nothing strange was happening. Jake been the senior had to show bravery as he walked to where the switch was and turned it off. " Let's go to bed " he said authoritatively as he climbed the bed. Before he could lay his head on the pillow, the switch clicked and the light came on . The kids became very scared as they held on to each other. The light began to flicker in a menancing manner, as the dark and ugly figure emerged from the thin air .   Andrew slumped that instant , while Jake and Mary screamed their lungs out to no avail, as nobody in the house could hear them.  Early in the morning, Tracy went straight to the children's room. When she came inside , she found them sleeping in odd positions. She quickly woke them up. "Good morning Aunty Tracy!!" they greeted . " Good morning , how was your nights? She asked hoping they'd say something about what happened last night. "Are you guys okay??? she asked. They nodded simultaneously. Tracy unwilling left the room " I had a bad dream where the lights went on and off and a strange creature with red eyes appeared into our room" Andrew whispered to his siblings in fear. Jake and Mary looked at each other surprised. "I had same dream too! " Jake and Mary said almost at once. They stared at each other in silence. " We had same dream... that means it was real" Andrew suggested. "We can't say but its too scary to be real" May said. Afternoon hours , while her siblings were taking their nap , Mary felt bored and decided to stroll around the compound. She headed to the backyard and was shocked to see a young girl seated on a nursery filled with red roses.. She had the urge to run into the house but she refused to .  Mary wondered who the young girl was and why she looked so shabby and unkempt. She looked like someone who hasn't taken her bath for years. Although she didn't see her face because she was backing Mary. "Hey!! Who are you??? Mary called out with fear but the girl neither responded nor turned to look at the person speaking. "Miss, am talking to you.. What are you doing here??  She asked a bit louder than before but the stranger still  didn't move an inch. Mary looked around upset, not knowing what to do. "I'll kick you out of here if you don't tell me who you are.  I've never seen you before.. you look so dirty and stinky. This is my uncle's house and I have every right to kick you out of here because nobody knows you . Besides , how did you get into our mansion this mad girl??.  You Better stand up and leave peacefully before I report you to uncle James Who'll throw you out of our house" Mary threatened with so much pride in her voice.  The girl was still not moved by Mary's rantings and threats .  Mary got fed up and decided to push the girl out violently. She rushed and pulled the girl by the hand , she fell down almost immediately as the girl's elbow pulled off and landed on the ground with Mary. Fear gripped Mary, As she saw the hand on the ground. She began to crawl backwards. "This is not ordinary .... This is not ordinary oooo" She cried.  The young girl turned her face and stood up. She had brutal scars on her face and one of her eyeballs were missing. Her neck was slightly bent to the left and maggots were coming out her mouth.. The horrible sight made Mary nauseous. She tried hard not to vomit.  They girl floated with her big black robe, Mary stared at her legs to see that she had no feet. She looked at her elbow on the ground then turned to Mary.  Mary shivered like a rat thoroughly beaten by a heavy July rain. "Go away!!! Go away from me" Mary screamed.  The girl continued floating towards her and suddenly possessed her. Mary stood of from where she's been sitting and dusted her trousers. A sweet but deadly smile escaped her tiny lips..  "Nice body .. " She said as she admired herself from her bust to her toes.  "At least my body is complete and beautiful now" ,She gushed with excitement. "Finally am here to posses my possessions ... to kill and destroy... " She whispered and rolled her eyes. " What are you doing down here, Mary? " A voice called behind. Mary turned , it was Jake her brother. "Nothing.." She said. "Is that a rose flower?? Jake asked excitedly as he saw the flowers.  Mary frowned . " Yes , rose flowers" Jake rushed to touch them but Mary blocked him. " Don't touch my flowers ." she warned. Jake stared at Mary, Amused . " Flowers??? when did you plant them?? Come on get lost " he  pushed her away and went to touch the flowers. Mary looked on with so much anger and left.  She opened the kitchen door and the aroma of Vegetables soup that Josephine just finished preparing swept her off her feet. Within 3 minutes , she mysteriously emptied the full hot pot of soup and sneaked back into the room. " Shea they have started again ?? " Josephine screamed loudly from the kitchen.  Tracy rushed to the kitchen to see what happened. Both of them were surprised and speechless. Tracy called the children aside to ask them if they knew anything about the soup in the pot , but all of them denied . Tracy didn't worry about about asking them again since she already knew the mystery behind it . Tracy began to map out strategies to leave the house, with or without her husband James, but before she did that , she tasked herself to find make findings about the house ;The main owners of the house and the previous occupant because she heard that the house has been sold at least  three times to three different people. Immediately the clock struck 00:00 am, Mary began to float above the bed horizontally with her eyes tightly closed and her fingers twined into each other. Her black long braids danced in a serpentine manner in a scary way. As she maintained that strange position, it made her sleeping siblings so uncomfortable that they began to toss around the bed , until they woke up to see their sister Mary floating. The duo wiped their eyes  furiously to be sure of what they were seeing. She slowly rotated to a vertical position , facing them. She open her eyes , and it shone deep red . Cold shivers ran down their spine as they screamed all the way down to James and Tracy's room. They banged and banged on the door with fear as Mary floated towards them with a wide spread arm as if inviting them to come to her. She opened her mouth and laughed so loudly as swarms of bees escaped from her mouth and filled the whole place. Luckily enough , James opened the door before Mary could catch up with them. They bolted the door behind them crying and shivering in fear as James switched on the light to take a good look at their scared faces. "Maryyyyyyy!!! " Andrew cried silently. " What happened to Mary?? " Tracy asked curiously. " Mary.... Mary has been possessed by a demon... " Jake cried. " What??? " Tracy screamed as her heart skipped . Before they could say Jack Robinson , the bedroom door was plunged out of its hinges and landed on the floor as the kids adjusted to avoid been injured. Mary floated Majestically into the room, with her neck slightly twisted, her arms hanging on the air and her mouth widely opened. James fell down on the floor with shock as he held his chest. Everyone of the clinged to each other shivering like dry leaves.  Strange figures began to troop into the room floating . One of them landed above James's head and positioned it's face into James .  The figure had no eyes balls and mere looking at the empty socket made his head dizzy and weak as he began to scream for help. One of the smoky figure , lifted Jake from the Place he was sleeping and took him high to the ceiling where it dropped him and left him to fall. The eerie noises and voices , they made was enough to send someone to an untimely grave. James rolled on the floor helplessly, While Tracy laid on the bed looking so lifeless. The children passed out. Early in the morning, Josephine rushed to Tracy's room , She heard all the noises the previous night but fear didn't allow her to step out. Seems The ghosts forgot an extra person in the house. Josephine tapped them to life as they woke up looking so fatigued. James began to scream immediately he opened his eyes and the flashback of  last night memories flashes through his memory. " Ghosts!!!! "  He stood up to run but Josephine held him by the pyjamas. " Calm down , there's no ghost Oga" Josephine said , though scared but she tried not to show. " We need to leave this house James ,.... I told you times without number but you didn't believe me now you've seen for yourself" Tracy said. " Am sorry about that darling.. I will never in my life doubt you again please .." he pleaded desperately. " What are we going to do to my sister...??? What happened to my sister??" Andrew cried, squeezed in one corner of the room. They stared at each other unsure of their next plan for Mary. " What do we dooo????? Tracy cried with fear. James walked about the room restlessly. " Before we proceed in anything we need to find out the foundation of this house first. We need to find the problems from the root before we can help Mary come back to her real self " James said.  Tracy and James began to look for solution to Mary, who was locked up in the room . She barked and threatened everyone that if they don't get her out, all hell  will let loose. No one had the morale to go open the door for her. "Not that I can't open this door ooo" She said "But if I open this door by myself , you all are Dead. Better let me out of this room.. I need to move around my house !!! " she barked... James and Tracy desperately went out of the house in search of any close neighbor who could tell the history of their mysterious house. Though they had very few neighbors most of them didn't really know about the first owners of the house, but they confessed that a family of six were found mysteriously dead one early morning. Fear gripped Tracy as she went closer to her husband and held him tight. They walked down to a very old hut which seemed to be the last house in that area followed by small chains of green mountains. " Hmm... you really want to know about the Akeem house?? They old woman who lived in the hut asked. She had grey hairs and her aged limb wobbled as she leaned on her wooden walking stick for support.  She gnashed her teeth and smiled , revealing her incomplete teeth stained with tobacco. "Akeem house??? " Tracy asked. " Yes, That house is called the Akeem house" The old woman nodded. "We want to know the history of the Akeem house.. The first owners , to the last occupants before us. I heard that the house has been sold to atleast 3 families before us" James said. The old woman nodded. " Yes ... that's true. The first owners of the house... were just the husband , the wife and two daughters. The eldest daughter should be about 17 years old while the younger daughter was 2years plus  at that time. " James and Tracy stared at each other then turned at the woman . " They lived happily when they parked into the house which they built after years of hardwork and Pain. The wife was a very close friend of mine. They were loved by everyone because of their charitable and cheerful nature. But then something happened" . Tracy held her breath in suspense as plenty thoughts ran through her mind. " The Older brother of Mr .Akeem ,the owner of the house became so envious and jealous of them because everyone loved and respected them.  If you look at the foot of that mountain , you'll see an old abandoned house" she pointed. There was a very old house that looked like what they abandoned ten years ago. It has no roof,and the colour of the buildings were already faded away. "That was where Mr Akeem's brother lived. After several thoughts of evil and bitterness. He decided to eliminate his brother and his family.  "That's wickedness!!!!!" James said angrily. The old woman smiled mirthlessly and gnashed her teeth. " He suffocated his brother by tying him up in a plastic bag and buried him alive and plucking out his two eyes. " Tracy twisted her face in disgust as she began to feel nauseous.  " He hanged his brother's wife on the ceiling fan after stabbing her to death. His youngest daughter was buried in a little nursery bed where rose flowers were planted". Fear gripped her as she remembered the day she plucked flower from the nursery and later began to hear cries of a little child. She swallowed hard. "The eldest daughter ,he snapped her neck to the left and plucked out one of her eye balls". " This is pure wickedness. Why are people so wicked to this extent!!!" Tracy wept. " The man later occupied the house with his family but were seriously tormented by the people he killed. Five members of his family died at once that night, excluding him. Out of fear ,he sold the house and ran away but they caught up with him and killed him " The old woman explained. " That serves him right!!!" Tracy and James shouted. The old woman smiled. " Since then no occupant of the house lives in peace as anyone that buys the house will have no peace because of the haunts until they eventually sell it .  The spirits never rest because the house was built with their sweat and hardwork and they vowed that no one will eat the fruit of their labour. Tracy sighed. "But ma,how did you get to know the details of all these???" James asked inquisitively. The old woman smirked and  changed into something,same thing they've been running away from. She immediately changed as a ghost,without eyeballs and bloody clothes. "Because I am Akeem... and you're occupying my house!!" " it said with pure bitterness. Tracy jumped into her husband's bossom shivering with fear, James tried as much as he could to comport himself , he controlled the urge to wet his pants. Just then , his wife and daughters appeared together with him. They looked perfect like they were before the got killed. Tracy began to shed emotional tears as James tried hard to shut her up. "So what do we do now" James asked them. "  We want our corpse to be exhumed!!! " The first daughter said . " Oh my God!!! " Tracy said in shock. James shook his head . " We can't take that risk of exhuming your corpses . We can't!!. We'll be leaving your house first thing tomorrow morning, I promise you" James disagreed. A dangerous frown appeared on Akeem's face as he arced his brows. "There's no going back ... not now ... not ever " Akeem said in a serious tone. Tracy jumped up and down in frustration and confusion. " What have we gotten ourselves into ??? What the hell is this ??? James cleared his throat and signaled His wife to keep quiet. " Why??? Not that we did anything wrong to you guys!!. We know nothing about you murder and murderer.. so why get us twisted around this case???? James asked in annoyance. "Because you reside in my house!!! and you've seen me face to face. I've never come face to face with any resident of that house but we make sure we snap the living hell outta them till they get tired and go. You guys are the only occupant of that house that choose to tarry longer not minding the several warning and haunts. You guys are so courageous I must confess. We don't care if you have any hand in our death or not, it's either you bury us properly in our house or get ready to die one by one cause we are so blood thirsty right now!! " Akeem threatened. James scratches his head in confusion as he turned to his wife who was so speechless, he felt cheated. " You're just trying to manuplate us into doing your bidding but that won't work" Akeem smiled. ' Remember Mary, remember your unborn baby we took and we are still yet to take another if you don't do what we asked you to do". When Tracy remembered about her baby she lost, she pressed on to James  for him to agree. "Our baby... James . I can't stand losing another baby please let's do what they asked us to do. " She pleaded with tears. James stared at his pathetic wife and sighed. ' Okay , so what happens to us after??? he asked. Akeem ignored that question. " Exhume our corpse and bury us side by side , right in the middle of the parlour. You'll bury the house documents together with my corpse" James frowned. " So??? What happens to us?? "You get your filthy a$$ outta my house!!" Akeem said in an insolent tone. " You're not serious about that. .. what happens to us ?? to the money we paid for the house??. Are you gonna kick us out just like that.?? After exhuming your corpses and burying it back?. You're just been ungrateful and selfish. If you think it's easy , why didn't you do it yourselves a long time ago???. James said which so much morale that shocked Tracy. The ghostly figures stared at themselves as if communicating with their minds. " In that room you're staying, there's a hidden closet covered with a thick rug. Take the money there and leave!!! " Akeem said with unwillingness. " But why can't you allow us leave in the house,even after settling you ?? James asked curiously. "James it's like something is wrong with your brain!" Tracy fumed behind but James Ignored her. " Let you stay??? So you'll all step over our heads every now and then??. Your clock is ticking. You have only 24 hours to save Mary and save your wife ... we are still bloodthirsty and we don't care if you know anything about our death or not. Next time make research before buying any property you know nothing about " Akeem warned and disappeared with his family. " James we need to do something... I don't  want to die oo!! Not now!!  "Calm down Tracy!!!!" James shook Tracy violently, she felt dizzy and fell freely on him, crying. " James , we've got to do something. I don't want to die .. I don't want to lose Mary and I don't want to lose another baby either," " How do yo expect me to do something with my whole brain , whereas you keep crying like a kid. what do you expect Jake and Andrew to do ??? Tracy wiped her tears. " Okay, I'll be brave .  What's the next thing to do? James's mood brightened up a little. "We need to know where all those corpses were buried first of all. I recollect he told us one of his daughters were buried in the nursery at the backyard"  Tracy nodded. " That's true. We've spent so much time here. We need to go back home. I wonder how those kids are coping with Mary".  The both of them hurriedly left the hut . When they got home, they saw Jake and Andrew sitting outside the gate, looking panic stricken. Tracy rushed towards them. "Are you okay ?? Andrew.. Jake... what Happened..?? Did Mary hurt anyone of you??. Andrew looked into her eyes and burst into tears , crying uncontrollably While Jake remained speechless looking very pale. " Speak up!!!" James said with so much authority that made Andrew comport himself. "Mary......killed...Mary ...killed.." he stammered coldy. Tracy got scared and impatient. " Mary killed who?? please speak to me ?? who died?? " Mary killed Akin ,the gate man!!!!" Andrew dropped the bombshell. Cold shiver ran down Tracy's spine as she looked up to her husband who in turn looked shocked and scared. She asked the boys to stand up . " Noo.. I want to go back to my mother...!!" Jake finally spoke up. " How can you go back to your parents without Mary your sister??? You guys came complete,and you'll have to leave complete. Without your cooperation,we can't achieve this.  Listen to me.. we have to rebury the dead bodies so Mary will be free" James explained. " Rebury dead bodies???? Which dead body are you talking about and what business do we have  with them" Jakes questioned. " The real owners of this house were murdered. So they are angry,that's why they keep tormenting everyone. So we've got to help them so they can finally rest on peace" James explained briefly. " As long as Mary ,my sister regains herself I'll do it" Jake made up his mind. One hour  later , James and Jake were already digging through the nursery,but they were yet to see any sign of a corpse.  Jake used all his strength and anger to destroy the whole flowers in the nursery. Luckily for them, The spirit possessing Mary was already calmed and Mary was sleeping peacefully in her room. Just as they were about to lose hope, their shovel hit something thick. They threw the shovels aside and used their fingers to dig out the earth. A small skeleton came out to view. Everyone held their breathe. They cautiously brought it out so it wouldn't disassemble.. " Are we burying it now?? Andrew asked. " I don't think we should bury it now without exhuming the remaining corpse . " Tracy suggested. " But how on Earth do we know where the remaining bodies were buried?? This kind of stupid errand is very stupid" James said with so much annoyance.  Just then , they heard a voice behind them. They turned around to see who it was .. behold it was Akeem.. He appeared with his deformed body which scared the hell out of the boys who immediately his at James and Tracy's back. Tracy's heart skipped. " Please can you stop comingg to us with this horrible appearance of yours.. You make us scared!! " James said after recovery from the shock of seeing the scary figure of Akeem.. " Oh really.... but I didn't do this to myself!!!!!" Akeem replied, one could sense the bitterness, anger , and cruelty in his voice. " Okay ...  Okay you win" James resigned. " The  body of my wife is buried at the foot of the mountain. The third chain of the mountain precisely. There you'll see sugarcane plantations, you'll see the exact position if you see a sugarcane plants with blue roots. "  Andrew and Jake stared at their Uncle and Aunt to see if they actually agreed with such stupid and stressful task. "What about your daughter ??" James asked grudgingly. Akeem frowned as his single eyeball moved up and down in a dangerous manner that made Everyone of them shiver with fear. " She was thrown into a well.. beside that hut close to the mountains" Akeem's said coldly as he turned back and began to float away as usual till he disappeared into  a wall. Tracy stared at her wristwatch, two hours already gone. " We need to hurry up" Tracy shouted. They ran toward the gate , before then James dragged the cold body of Akin the gateman into this quarters, locked it up and left. They ran like lunatics towards the mountain, they didn't care if they were seen  or not , after all very few people lived around. Two hours , they're still yet to get to the mountain. "Am freaky , freaky tired..." Andrew yelled out as he stopped to catch his breath , while others followed suit. " Let's not give up, we're almost close... Please.. " Tracy pleaded. " I just don't know what sort of rubbish is this... suffering for another man's sin all in the name of house!!. It doesn't make any sense!! " James complained bitterly. " Am doing this all because of Mary , just for her to get herself" Jake said  to comfort himself. " Let's get going , we've already exhausted 20 minutes here already!! " James hushed them as he stood up and forged forward, the rest followed him hopefully.   They eventually got to the mountain they were directed to. They saw the sugarcane plantations, it was so large that The kids began to feel discouraged to continue , but when they remembered Mary they had no other option but to continue.  Finally , they saw the sugarcane with blue roots, they began to dig around but unfortunately the rain caught up with them.  There was a terrible thunderstorm and everywhere turned dark as heavy rain began to blow.  Tracy and her husband dug faster but  the rain caught up with them and beat them mercilessly but still yet they continued. Finally they were able to exhume the skeleton from the earth. James angrily snapped the bones at the joints and carelessly packed them into a bag.  By then, they were all shivering like wet rats , they were already drenched .  Going back home seemed very hard as the road became so muddy and sloppy. Andrew got so sick that he began to throw up, James  carried the sick child on his shoulder with the bag on the other hand under the rain. 30 minutes gone , the rain showed no sign that it'd stop anytime soon. The journey became so tough , they were already exhausted but Jake refused to be discouraged as he went before them. They finally got to the well, by then the rain had subsided. The well was covered with a big rusted steel pan and thick grasses surrounded it. It looked like something that has been abandoned for centuries. They rolled over the rusted pan  and looked into the well. "Thank God " Tracy whispered. James turned to her looking very angry. "Thank God for what.? What are you thanking  God for?? That we are going to jump into a stupid , stinky , abandoned well in search of one stupid decayed skeleton like that ??? "  James barked , as if waiting for the right time and the right person to unleash the anger he's been enduring for a long time. " I mean thank God that the well is shallow and there's little water in it" Tracy defended. James opened his mouth to argue further but shut it up immediately he remembered that they had little time left. He immediately dived into the well with an empty bag  as Tracy and his nephews looked on helplessly. Within few minutes , he crawled out of the well with the bag. "We have only 5 hours , 24 minutes left " Tracy reminded as they walked back home looking tired and worn-out. " Will you keep singing it as a song??? Calm down for once and stop pressurizing everyone! " James reprimanded.  When they got home , it was already 3 : 15 am. They began to break the tiles in the parlour to dig graves.  While They were busy digging , Jake suddenly stood up and screamed which distracted Tracy and James. "What's the matter with you??" Tracy asked with fear. "The ghost never told us where his body was buried .. He only told us about his wife and two daughters!!! They dropped the equipments in their house tiredly. "Honestly, am tired!!!!" James cried unable to control his impatience. Tracy sighed heavily as she stared intensely on her wristwatch, which was partially covered with mud. "What are we going to do, Uncle James ???." A cool breeze blew past them and  Akeem appeared in his usual ugly figure , but this time around no one got scared. "I wasn't buried " he said coldy. "Then what happened to your body??? " Tracy Asked.. A dirty frown appeared on his face. " There's a small, empty water tank  at the roof of this house.... he kept me there"  Before they could think of a question to ask him , he floated away as usual. James and Jake rushed to one of the rooms upstairs while Tracy continued digging with Andrew who seemed to regain a little strength. After sometime, James and his nephew came running downstairs with a big plastic bag. He opened the bag and saw Akeem's skeleton ,indeed he was suffocated mere looking at the way he was squeezed into the bag .. Without wasting time,they began to rebury the skeletons side by side in different graves. James surrendered the house documents to Akeem's grave before covering it with earth. When they were done scooping the last sand into the grave,Mary came running towards them. Everyone was taken aback,which made Mary pause halfway in confusion. "Am okay now... am fine" She cried but Her siblings didn't believe her as they stepped back in fright. " Believe me....it's me Mary your sister.... am back ..."  Andrew rushed and hugged her, followed by Jake. James and his wife looked on , feeling relieved. "We are forgetting something..." Tracy called out thoughtfully. Everyone paused. " What's that??? Mary asked. " Josephine !!!!!!!!" They all rushed upstairs to Josephine's room and were shocked to see her hanging on the ceiling fan dead. "Oh my God" Mary began to cry.. followed by Jake and Andrew. Hot tears rolled down Tracy's cheek as she hurriedly buried her face into her husband's chest. " She died because of us ..." Tracy whimpered . James patted her back lovingly. " it's over now...". Thick cobwebs began to cover everywhere and they remembered that their time was already up. The walls began to crack...  James rushed into their room and  took the money   Akeem instructed him to. They ran Helter skelter as the building began to collapse gradually. They left the house without looking back.  The End. @Rose