Prologue

What you most cherish for what you most desire

" Nonso what kind of insane tasks are these? I can't shed blood just because of a few pennies."

"Few pennies you say" Nonso muttered to him. "This is a life changing opportunity. It is a shortcut to success."

"Nonso, I have heard of spiritual dealings like this one and how they all turn out tragic in the end."

"What do you mean by turn out tragic? It is your own endeavours that will turn out tragic not mine."

"Nonso I have heard of things like this, it sounds easy and may look like a shortcut to wealth but in the end the shortcut becomes longer than expected."

Cyril had tried his best to talk his friend - Nonso - out of that dreadful idea he had stumbled upon. He even sighted the endings of great men - as it was rumoured - who had endeavoured into spiritualism and how they all ended. Men like Robert Johnson, Urban Grandier and Nicolo Paganini but Nonso would not give heed to his friend's plea.

"Look Cyril, I don't want to hear anything from you. Just keep your tragic thoughts to yourself, don't inflict me with your negativity. Please!

I have set my mind on the prize and nothing will push me off track. If you like say it is the longest shortcut, I will still do what I must do."

"Nonso, you mean to tell me that this task given to us by the Oracle doesn't faze you even a bit."

"Was that a question or a statement? If it was a question here is your answer. As I speak to you now, I do not have a single cent to my name. I am broke and hungry. I didn't eat last night before I went to bed. So figure out for yourself what I'll be willing to do so I can eat three square meals or more everyday and have some left to help my family."

Cyril sighed in frustration and said.

"Fine then, we will do this but nothing should happen to Abiola."

Cyril finally gave in.

The two friends agreed to do what the Oracle had asked. The great Oracle - Akpara Ekpe - had demanded from Cyril the only one he loved - his girlfriend, Veronica. She was everything to him and though she did not feel the same way towards him, he loved her still - Yet he was willing to give her up in exchange for wealth.

It wasn't an easy decision to take, he contemplated day and night to find another way out but the Oracle had been clear " That which you cherish most for that which you most desire." He cherished Veronica but that hidden desire that burns within him like a flame, that quiet river that flowed furiously beneath his skin, that venomous canker that gradually and slowly eats into the deepest parts of his being - the desire to be respected, to be honoured, to be accepted by the society - the desire to be rich. It lurked somewhere beneath that fleshy beating mass called heart and it overwhelmed him. He decided that desire beats love any day.

For Nonso, his family members were his most cherished (possessions) - his mom and his three sisters. They were all he had but not all he wanted, he wanted more and he was going to get it which ever way possible. For him family came second, he would often say " money makes a family."

The tasks were to be carried out at night, when the wicked roams and evil takes lead. After many moons, Nonso finally came back home to visit his family - at least that's what they thought - but in

the blackness of his heart he had impregnated his mind with the thoughts of performing his first task.

His first task had not sounded too difficult, he only needed hair from his sisters pubic areas - her private part and her armpit - and also the hair on her head and the underwear she had on.

He was also to use a white handkerchief to wipe her genitals. He had planned out how the night would go and how his plans would play out. He had made sure to dip a few drops of valerian and lavender root - a cocktail of sleeping juice - enough to knockout two antelopes.

Meanwhile Cyril had also succeeded in lacing Veronica's drink with the same sleeping juice, he had her brought to an isolated place in a thick bush were her screams would be heard by only the beasts and birds that had made the night their stronghold. She was sound asleep, ignorant of what is to befall her. He laid her down on the ground, reached into his backpack for a knife.

The Oracle had asked for a kidney, a womb, a tongue and a nipple and he was here to harvest them from her. He pierced her belly with the knife and sliced through down to her groin. She let out a scream with all the strength left in her, but no one is to heed to her wailing. The heart of man truly is evil.