Joju - by Talib Anibaba

Spirits —Cold, filled with eternal turmoil, tethered to the earth for eternity, unable to move on to the next world, tormenting those who still live.The night was cold in Lagos, more than usual in fact. The moon was in full shine, quite the perfect scenery that set the tone for a very eventful night.“Oma se o” a young man said, staring at the abandoned building he stood in front of, before he spat on its walls.Most people would consider what this young man had just said and done disgusting, but with a building with such a history, it was to be expected.Ten unexplained deaths on a single property. The government tried to cover it up on all accounts, but it was well known by the people around this neighbourhood that this property was cursed.“Br… brother Da…rey, that’s very unsanitary,” a voice crept out from behind the gates of the property. A young girl stepped into view, holding something wrapped in red cloth.Darey looked back at the young girl.“Temi, what are you doing outside the gate? Come inside joor,” he exclaimed, giving her a sharp look.Temi had refusal written on her face. Her body tried reciprocating but was still powerless to her elder brother’s words. She stepped onto the property, slowly and with caution.“I don’t know why Mommy said I should follow you sef,” Temi remarked as she finally stood beside her brother.“I’m not happy about this either, but you actually need on-field experience,” Darey said before looking back at the building. “Now, just be ready to hand me what’s in your hand when the time comes.”Both bowed their heads while Darey said a prayer before they stepped in.As they opened the door, nothing felt out of sorts compared to the eeriness they had both felt beforehand. Temi felt a sense of relief, even letting out a sigh, but Darey still had a serious expression on his face.“I don’t know why you are sighing,” Darey said. “If you can’t sense anything out of sorts from the inside, that’s a big wahala.”That statement spiked Temi’s fears and anxiety through the roof. Considering people had lived on this property before getting killed, it meant that whatever was lurking inside the building was able to hide its presence.Moving through the living room, the house seemed to have been left untouched, considering the furniture was all still intact. Though there was a surplus of dust, strangely there were no insects in sight — not even a single cobweb. It was as if they were also avoiding this house.Finally, they both heard something on the first floor. It sounded like a low voice singing. They moved slowly up the flight of stairs, trying their best not to make a sound. They eventually made it up and saw an open space with three doors. Slowly following the singing to the open door, they looked in — and saw a woman.A headless woman.Singing, beads on her hands and neck, blood flowing down her body, wearing old traditional clothing.At that moment, the first noticeable insect in the building — a cockroach — decided it was the perfect time to crawl upon an already jittery Temi. She screamed and threw what she was holding into the air.The spirit turned and noticed the two. Her singing twisted into screams as she prepared to attack.Darey, alert, kept his focus on what Temi had thrown.But why would he do that? What was so important in the red cloth? And more importantly, why were these two teenagers confronting such a spirit?As the red cloth unravelled, what it had been wrapped around was revealed. Darey reached out and clasped it in his hand.A blade.You’d ask: what could a blade do to a spirit?Under normal circumstances, nothing. But this was no normal circumstance, and this was no normal blade.A quick slash — and the result was Temi still on the floor and Darey standing, watching as the spirit went from screaming in agony to softly sobbing, to eventual silence.These two were from an organisation that dealt in exorcisms within Nigeria — an organisation their family was deeply rooted in. Darey was what you’d call a rising star within this organisation.As they exited the building, Temi wrapped the blade back in red cloth, feeling a tad bit guilty for having screamed and tossed the weapon into the air.“I don’t know why you dey fear. Shey you dey doubt your brother?” Darey said when he noticed how Temi looked.Temi looked up at Darey.“As how na? Of course I trust you.”“Then no dey fear when we go out again, ye,” Darey said, grabbing Temi’s head and shaking it back and forth.As they finally walked out of the gate, Darey let go of Temi’s head, and she responded:“OK o.”

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