The Resurrection of Segun Akinyemi

Eight months, six days, ten minutes and thirty-five seconds. That's how long Segun Akinyemi has been dead. No, that was wrong. That was just how long Ezinne knew him to be dead. Segun had died hours before then. The moment was engraved in her mind, when the knowledge of ‘Segun, her husband’ shifted to ‘Segun, her dead husband'. Ezinne tried not to remember that fateful day but it wouldn't be repressed; forcing her to look, to remember. The hospital had called and it had only taken one minute to make her a widow. She couldn't remember what came after. Calling his mother, the burial ceremony, the endless condolences. It only seemed to her fleeting bursts of memory, unable to grasp and hold on to anything even if she tried. And Ezinne didn't want to try. Her life was cleaved into two: the moments before she got the call and after. Before, she was whole. After, she was broken; her head a sieve, a patchy blank surface. She was prone to forget things now, but not like this. There was no way she would have forgotten this. “My love,” Segun crooned from the doorstep. “Let me in.” She stumbled back, her back hitting the wall. This couldn't be possible. Segun was dead, she had seen his body. She had shoved dirt onto his casket after they lowered it, as was tradition. So who was this imposter? Has she finally lost it? Segun’s eyes softened. “Don't be scared, Ezi. It's me, your husband.” Ezinne opened her mouth to scream but she couldn't make a sound. She was too horrified. Segun sighed and took a step closer. “No!” She screeched, trying to back away but there was no place to go. Her back was against the wall and she didn't want to turn away and risk taking her eyes off this…demon. “Don't come any closer. I cast and bind you….” She tried to pray, but she was shaking too much. Fear made her stumble over her words. Segun bent his head, seemingly in anguish. Ezinne didn't believe it for a second. When he raised his head, his eyes were sad. “I thought you missed me.” A sob bubbled in her throat. “You're not Segun. You're…not him. My husband is dead. You're not him.” His face twisted and he stepped over the threshold, into the house. She tried to run but he grabbed her arm. His fingers felt liquid and seemed to melt into her skin. She screamed in utter terror. She tried to tug away, but his grip was strong even though he was less than solid. “I thought you missed me. I thought you wanted me to come back,” he said over and over again. The words shifted around in her head. This wasn't real. She was hallucinating, grief had finally caught up with her. People don't return from the dead. They stayed dead, leaving their loved ones behind. But if she wasn't imagining it. Segun had come back. Why? Had she called him back to life with the magnitude of her longing, or was he not ready to die? Nobody was ready to die, least of all Segun. He was coming back home to her when he got in the way of a drunk driver. But he hadn't let that stop him, he had made his way to her. “Segun…” She leaned into him and he engulfed her in his arms. “I've missed you so much, Ezi. The past months without you were horrible,” he confessed and she nodded. “Me too. Me too.” They were together in the same feeling. She was basking in relief when Segun's embrace slowly became tighter. She squirmed. “You're hurting me.” But he didn't stop. He steadily squeezed, stealing the breath from her lungs. He increased in length until he towered over her. He no longer looked like her husband. Instead, he was a hulking figure made out of shadows. Intense hunger reflected in his red eyes and Ezinne was helpless, unable to escape. There was nowhere to go, he had laid a trap and she had walked right into it. “Don't you want to be together forever…?” His warbled voice melted her ears. She felt a thin line of blood dripping down her nose and she couldn't wipe it away. She couldn't move; only able to tilt her head up, accepting her fate as Segun prepared to swallow her whole. Then a single phonecall rang in the silence. Without thinking about it too much, Ezinne dived to the side of the room and broke free of the demon's hold. She ran down the hallway, grabbing her phone from the dining table and entering the bathroom, locking it. She held her breath for a few moments but nothing bared down on her door. She looked down at her phone. It was a text message from Amaka, her best friend: I'm coming over. Amaka was one of the few people that never let her get away with saying she was fine. “For God's sake, you lost your husband. There's nothing fine about that,” Amaka said, worry for Ezinne making her sound frustrated. Ezinne found herself avoiding her friend because it was easier. Amaka must have gotten sick of her excuses and had decided to hunt her down. Ezinne froze. Segun was still out there! She couldn't let him attack Amaka too. She unlocked the bathroom door silently, before creeping out into the parlour. But nothing came out to catch her. She was alone. Her breath caught. Segun was gone. Was it because she ran? She didn't mean to, she had just been frightened. “Segun?” She went through the rooms of the house. All empty. Segun was nowhere to be found. “Segun! Segun, please!” She dropped to the floor. “Please come back. I'm sorry!” No one answered her call and Ezinne broke down. Segun's second disappearance hurt more than the first time. She heard the front door open but she couldn't bring herself to move. She hoped it was Segun and if it wasn't, if it was someone about to do her harm, she hoped they made it quick. Amaka appeared in the doorway. “Ezinne?” She took in Ezinne lying on the floor and ran to her. She put her hand on Ezinne’s forehead, feeling her temperature. “Are you okay? Of course you're not. Have you eaten?” “Segun is gone.” Ezinne's tears continued to flow. “I've lost him again. Why did I chase him away?” “I'm sorry,” Amaka held her tight, comforting her. Ezinne knew she sounded mad but Amaka treated her ramblings as if it was expected. “Next time, come to me, okay? I've got you," Amaka said soothingly. Ezinne shut her eyes tightly. She prayed to forget this moment. She prayed for Segun to come back to her, she prayed for this suffering to end. She rested her head against Amaka’s shoulder and tried not to feel like she was still being choked of air.

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