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

Abandoned and alone...

I rolled around on the bed, unwilling to get up. Unwilling to face reality. I just wanted to escape, to relive the memory Rema and I shared.

I closed my eyes and thought of him. Instead, the evil version of him flashed before my eyes.

'Be careful Xena. Z-Zula is coming for you.'

I could almost hear his warning husky voice float around me.

"Why is Zula after me? Why does she want to kill me? What did I do to her?" I asked out loud, my eyes were wide open at this point.

My dad knew about Zula. My mom knew about Zula. I'm sure Kelvin also knew about Zula. Everyone did. I was the only one in the dark.

Did my dad make a deal with the devil?

Faded Reality