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 woke up in a quiet world. Everywhere was dark. I couldn't see anything. But I could feel. The ground beneath me was sandy. I stretched my ears and tried to pick out sounds to confirm my location.

I heard the sounds of the waves. There were waves around me. I was by the beach!

Suddenly, I could see a bright light coming from a far distance. I squinted my eyes and I saw it drew nearer.

"Rema," the familiar voice called.

I turned around and I found Diane. The girl that had come to my dream to tell me that Zula wanted to kill me.

"Zula wants you to return to Xena. She finds her fortunate enough and wants her to be happy. You need to make her happy," she said.

I was still in shock when I found myself being poked by a small finger. It was little Gena.

"How?" I asked unsure of what was happening.

Rema: My Story