Lilian_Nkunga

"Kelvin... If I leave, Zula will kill everyone," I said in a shaky voice, before breaking down into sobs. I closed my eyes and allowed the tears to flow freely. If I were to leave, then my previous experiences would come to pass.

"What are you saying? You don't have to be a hero! Someone else can do that!" His voice was already rising. "I don't need a hero... I-I need my sister," he pleaded in a small broken voice. 

Hearing his pained voice shattered my bruising heart into a thousand pieces.

"I love you all," I managed to say.

"What? NO!" he screamed but I cut the connection.



***



A ritual has governed Aromes since its existence.

Every fifty years, the first born child of a family has to face Zula and die.

This year, Xena is chosen.

The morning after her eighteenth birthday, she wakes up to meet her home island devoid of all its inhabitants; including her family. She searches everywhere for all the people but she is unable to find them anywhere. The situation is hard for her to comprehend. At first, she thinks its a joke. She hopes its a prank. She refuses to believe that she has been abandoned. Until she finds the first dead body. The dead mutilated body of her father.

Then she starts hearing and seeing things that aren't meant to be. Horrifying screams, a manic creature, a cloaked figure that only comes when she takes off her glasses.

Only then, does she realize that there is no escape and her inevitable death patiently awaits her.

ALONE: Retold

I reluctantly lifted my eyelids.

It was a new day. I stared around my room. My sight was blurry as always since I didn't have my glasses on. My body ached but I ignored it. I was more concerned about something else.

There were only natural sounds like the ocean waves dancing against one another, nearby birds calling out to one another, and the wind whistling past my house.

There were no human sounds. Everywhere was quiet. No chattering, no laughter, no cries.

Last night, I had hoped that after waking up this morning, I would find that everyone was back. That everything was back to normal again. That the nightmare had finally ended. It was disappointing not to hear any of the sounds.

Induced Coma