chapter nineteen

Adaora's pov

The next morning, I was still lying in bed when Ifunanya barged into my room like she owned the place. She didn't even knock.

"Adaora, wake up!" she said, her voice filled with amusement. I groaned, pulling my blanket over my head.

She yanked it off. "See this one," she teased. "So you've finally joined the club, eh? Welcome to womanhood!"

I shot her a glare, my stomach still aching. "Ify, please. I'm not in the mood."

But she just grinned. "Ah, see how you're forming. Yesterday you were screaming blood, Mama! like you were dying. I thought something serious happened!" She mimicked my panicked voice, then burst into laughter.

I grabbed my pillow and threw it at her, but she dodged easily. "Ifunanya, leave me alone!"

She sat on my bed, still laughing. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. First time is always stressful."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. The pain had lessened a bit, but I still felt weird like my body wasn't entirely my own.

Before I could say anything, I noticed something odd.

Chuka.

He had walked past my door earlier, but now I realized something. He was avoiding me. Normally, he'd be the first to come in and disturb my peace, but today? He hadn't even greeted me.

"Ify," I said, sitting up. "Where's Chuka?"

She raised a brow. "In the parlor, I think. Why?"

I frowned. "He hasn't spoken to me.

Ifunanya shrugged. "Maybe he's just in one of his moods."

I found Chuka in the parlor, sitting on the floor with his PlayStation controller in hand. His eyes were glued to the screen, but the moment he noticed me, he stiffened.

"Ify, pass me the remote," he muttered quickly, pretending I wasn't there.

I narrowed my eyes. "Chuka."

No response.

I stepped closer, folding my arms. "Chuka, why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not," he said, a little too fast.

I glanced at Ifunanya, who was already grinning like she knew exactly what was going on. She plopped onto the couch, shaking her head. "Ah, leave him, Ada. You know how boys are. He's just embarrassed."

"Embarrassed?" I repeated, raising a brow.

Chuka groaned, running a hand down his face. "Ify, must you say everything?"

I stared at him for a moment before it clicked. My period.

A slow smirk crept onto my face. "Wait… Chuka, are you seriously avoiding me because of that?"

His ears turned red. "I just don't want to talk about it!"

Ifunanya burst into laughter. "See as he's forming! Big boy is shy because his sister has grown up."

Chuka scowled, muttering under his breath as he focused harder on his game.

I shook my head, amused. "Chuka, it's not that deep."

"It is for me," he grumbled. "One day you're my annoying sister, the next day you're ugh, just don't talk about it around me, abeg."

I chuckled, flopping onto the couch. "Fine, fine. But you can't avoid me forever."

He didn't answer, just kept playing his game like his life depended on it.

Ifunanya nudged me. "Don't worry, he'll get over it. He's just in his feelings."

I smiled, watching Chuka pretend I wasn't there. Maybe things weren't so strange after all. At least, not with my family.

But as I shifted, my gaze flickered toward my room, where the golden necklace still sat on my table.

As I settled into the cramped seat of the bus, shifting uncomfortably because of the pad, I let out a quiet sigh. This was going to be a long day.

The fabric of my uniform pressed against my skin in all the wrong ways, and every little bump in the road sent a sharp reminder through my lower abdomen. I pressed a hand against my stomach, trying to breathe through the discomfort.

Then I felt it.

Something cool, smooth, and impossibly familiar against my collarbone.

I froze.

My fingers trembled as I reached up, tracing the delicate chain, my breath catching in my throat. My heart pounded as my fingers brushed over the golden pendant.

No. No, no, no.

I had left it on my table.

Even when my cramps had woken me up in the middle of the night, I had seen it there, untouched. I had not put it back on. I knew I hadn't.

So how was it here?

The bus jostled forward, but I barely felt it. My vision blurred at the edges, my pulse roaring in my ears.

I gripped the necklace between my fingers, my knuckles turning white.

I wanted to rip it off, to throw it onto the floor of the bus and run. But my hands wouldn't move. My chest tightened.

A whisper, soft as the brush of the wind, curled into my ear.

"You cannot part with what is already yours, Nkem."

I gasped, whipping my head around.

Nobody.

Just strangers, lost in their own morning routines, unaware of the cold terror crawling up my spine.

I stared ahead, my body stiff. I wanted to scream, but what would I even say?

I squeezed my eyes shut. Maybe I was just imagining things. Maybe my cramps were messing with my mind.

But the necklace solid, real, warm against my skin said otherwise.

When I got to school, I felt distant, my mind drifting in and out of the conversation around me. The dull ache in my lower stomach made it hard to focus, but it wasn't just that the weight of the necklace around my neck was impossible to ignore.

I barely noticed when Ifeoma walked up to me until she waved a hand in my face. "Hey! Earth to Adaora!"

I blinked and looked at her. "Hey," I mumbled.

She frowned. "What's wrong?"

I sighed, leaning against my desk. "I started my period."

Instead of being shocked, Ifeoma just raised a brow. Before I could say anything else, Stella and Zainab joined us, catching the last part of my sentence.

"Seriouslly," Stella said, eyes wide. "You mean you're just starting now? We all had ours since 11, 10."

Zainab smirked. "Mine was 9 self."

We all stared at her.

"Nine?" Ifeoma repeated, laughing. "Na wa! You start early no mean say you go win award."

I shook my head. "Abeg, you people should leave me alone. This thing is stressful. My stomach still hurts."

Zainab patted my shoulder. "Just drink plenty of water. It helps."

Stella scoffed. "Forget water, my dear. Just find paracetamol and sleep. That's the only way."

I nodded absentmindedly, my fingers drifting up to my necklace again. The cool metal sent a shiver .

My pad kept shifting sideways, making me uncomfortable. I groaned in frustration and hurried to the restroom to change it.

The small stall was quiet, the dim light flickering slightly as I peeled off the used pad and reached for a new one. I was too focused on adjusting it properly to notice the strange change in the air.

Then, out of nowhere, thick smoke curled around me, silent and suffocating.

I froze.

"Nkem," a deep voice murmured, soft as a whisper yet surrounding me completely.

My blood ran cold.

"My flower," the voice sighed in pleasure. "I smell your blood."

A deep chuckle followed, rich and amused. "Hahaha… My angel, your blood calls to me."

I trembled, my entire body going rigid.

"My flower is ready for me."

Terror gripped me. My breath came in sharp, panicked gasps. I couldn't see anything only the swirling smoke filling every inch of the stall. The voice wasn't coming from one direction; it was everywhere, pressing against me, sinking into my bones.

"Stop," I whimpered, squeezing my eyes shut. "Please."

But the voice only hummed in amusement.

I had to get out.

I reached blindly through the dense fog, feeling for the door. My fingers scraped against the rough wall, struggling to find the handle. The smoke was thick, disorienting, making it impossible to see.

My hands kept searching, desperate. My heart pounded so hard I thought it would burst.

Then finally my fingers brushed against something solid.

The door.

I gripped the handle and yanked it open, stumbling out into the hallway.

The smoke vanished instantly.

The bright fluorescent lights of the school corridor nearly blinded me. Everything was normal students chatting, teachers walking past, no sign of what had just happened inside.

But my hands were still shaking.

And in the back of my mind, his voice still echoed.

"My flower… you cannot run from me."