“Not again!" I whispered to myself as I got pulled into the dark void trying to grasp the emptiness that surrounded me. It’s been two months since I came back from the land of the gods and things have changed since then. I’ve found myself drifting away into endless voids and seeing things I shouldn’t have been able to see and this night was no different.

Suddenly a light broke through the void and I found myself standing in front of the gate of one of the biggest estates I'd ever seen. It was magnificent.

The gates opened automatically and my feet carried me inside. Actually, I more or less drifted inside. The inner part was beyond my comprehension. It was much bigger than two football stadiums. It was filled with beautiful houses that I couldn't help but imagine living in. One house stood out in particular, it was as though it was made of gold, lined with pillars and statues. It even had a fountain and for some reason, I was drawn to it.

When I thought I would get smashed against the gigantic doors, I just passed through it and entered inside and my jaws almost dropped to the floor. The interior was more impressive. It was lined with beautiful antiques on pedestals, pictures on walls, chandeliers and so on. It had a large hallway and I couldn’t help but gawk at every single thing that I saw.

But then my admiration got shattered by the sound of a very angry man shouting at people. I was drawn to the voice as I passed through the door into what looked like a banquet hall. And there sat a bald man at the head table, flanked by men dressed in black suits.

Two guys were sitting beside him, one by his right and the other by his left and they both had their faces down. The man was yelling something in Yoruba, which I don't understand and he slammed his fist hard on the table, startling the other two guys.

But one thing bothered me. This man looked familiar to me and I was trying to recall where I had seen him before. My eyes inadvertently shifted to a dreadlock wig on the table and it clicked, I suddenly remembered.

The man was Sango the other god of Thunder. The hair I saw him putting on during the staring contest was a wig. I wondered how it hadn't come off with all of the ruckus that he and AMD caused during their weird staring contest. The thought of it all made me snicker and his head turned sharply in my direction.

“Who is there?” He asked as his eyes flashed in a rage of lightning.

But before I could say anything, I got pulled backwards and consequently was reconnected with my body, and I woke up profusely sweating. I checked the time and it was already 9am. I got out of bed and did a little stretch. I don’t work out. I found it stressful, annoying and such a drag. That done, I went to the bathroom and freshened up.

I walked back to my room and picked up my phone. There had been no light the previous night and the battery was low. But as I picked up the phone, it suddenly started charging.

I discovered this ability a month after I came back from the land of the gods. I could stimulate electricity. Most times my parents had thought we were using the government light, but it had been me. All me. But I didn’t do it all the time. The first time I left the lights on and slept, I almost passed on in my sleep, if the dehydration, fatigue and hunger hadn’t woken me up, it would have been a different story.

I went out to the parlour to meet my parents and greeted them, as usual they were done eating breakfast. And as I prepared mine, my dad reminded me.

“Remember to buy the fuel I gave you money for yesterday. You should have gotten it but as usual, laziness wouldn’t let you.”

I just rolled my eyes. Laziness, he said. I wonder whose fault that was, I thought to myself.

My dad who was this strict kind of person with a little bit of paranoia, or perhaps a lot, added to the mix. He worried over the littlest things and was the reason I always was sitting at home without a job, waiting for my youth service.

My mom on the other hand was an easy going person and very relatable. But she complained I was too self-isolated and not very friendly, which was actually kind of true.

“Any news from school yet?” She asked.

“Not yet, we are still waiting for the department.” I answered while forcing myself to chew the stale bread I had bought the previous day. "I swear to God, these bread sellers are working on my last nerves", I said within me as I sunk my teeth into the hard loaf.

“Hmm… it’s well, everything will work out fine.’ She said, forcing a smile.

“I pray so.” I said in between sips.

After eating, I cleared the dining table, washed the cups and swept the living room. (Yes. The life of an unemployed graduate. It sucked that much). I put on my crocs (Which I hated with every fibre of my being but wear it because my mom bought it) and grabbed the ten litre gallon and headed out to buy the fuel. I took a tricycle down to the fuel station, filled up the gallon and started walking towards the junction to take another tricycle home.

Suddenly, I noticed a girl at the far end of the road and she was staring intently at me. I thought it was one of those things and looked away.

I found a tricycle and entered, but he needed two more passengers before he could move so I had to wait. I looked back across the road and saw that the girl had crossed and was walking towards me and then my blood froze.

Her shape started to contort and her flesh was rotting as her figure bent turning her into the most hideous creature I had ever seen, and worse still, it was coming towards me with speed. I screamed and yelled at the driver to move the tricycle.

“Guy, wetin dey happen?” he asked me in pidgin totally oblivious of the situation.

“Wetin dey happen? You no dey see that thing wey dey come here?” I said pointing at the creature which was almost close to us. He looked in the direction I was pointing and squinted his eyes.

“Na that old woman you dey talk about? You dey call person grandmother thing. E no good oh, maybe she wan enter keke.” He said and waved at her.

My heart beat faster than a drum rolling to the national anthem. What did he mean by old woman, what exactly was he seeing?

By the time I could collect my thoughts, the creature was already close and it bared its fangs, and its talon like nails which were sharp as knives. I dove out through the opposite side of the tricycle and started running as people stared at me in disbelief, obviously none of them saw the creature for what it truly was.

The creature was on my heels of course, snarling and growling at the same time. I didn’t bother to look back. I flagged down another tricycle as I was running and jumped in. I didn’t even bother to ask the driver where he was heading to. As the tricycle moved, I looked back to see if the creature was still giving chase and it wasn’t there anymore.

I was about to give a sigh of relief when I heard something on top of the tricycle and my heart threatened to jump through my mouth. The creature brought its head down as it peered into my face. Drool dripped down its rotten and ragged mouth. I just sat there frozen in my seat, unable to move and I stared in horror. I didn’t know what the other passengers saw but they didn’t look too worried and the creature didn’t bother with them either.

Just as it was about to lunge at me, something shot it from nowhere and it exploded into dust. I looked out of the tricycle and couldn’t see who or what shot it down, but I was grateful it did. Whoever or whatever it was saved my life. However, the driver dropped me somewhere else entirely different from where I was going and I had to find my way back home.

When I got home, I was shaken up pretty bad. I dropped the gallon of fuel, which I didn’t realize I was still carrying, and walked to my room. I was trying to put a few things in order like the situation I had just faced. What happened to me and why had nobody else noticed anything? I wanted to tell my parents but that won’t end well because I would probably be seen as possessed and that’s a one-way ticket to drag me to church where I will go through countless deliverance sessions and probably be given a bottle of Goya Olive oil to drink. I didn’t have the time to deal with that kind of ridiculous situation.

Ever since I got back from the village to Umuahia after my encounter with the impossible, things had started getting weird. First, the powers, then the dream travel and seeing things that me saying them out loud will probably land me in a mental home with a weekly visit to an annoying therapist or getting my glasses checked if I didn’t know better. But the attack thing was new to me and left me wondering if the amusu followed me from the village.

Suddenly, my phone beeped and I picked it up. I looked at the number calling and quickly stood up from my bed and answered the call.

“What the...AMD? How did you?” I didn’t get to finish as he interrupted me.

“Come outside your gate, Chioma will explain everything to you.” AMD said and hung up the phone leaving me confused with a billion questions in my mind. I quickly put on my slip-on and rushed outside and opened the gate. AMD was not kidding after all. Gorilla girl was standing right in front of me.

“Ch- Chioma. How are you here?” I managed to ask.

“Good to see you too fish brain", she teased. “And you are welcome too.”

I looked at her as though she was crazy “Welcome for what exactly?” I asked still confused.

“Thank you is supposed to be your line young man, who do you think saved you from that amusu earlier on.” She said crossing her hands on her chest and frowned at me.

Now it all made sense. Why didn’t I realise it sooner, just like how it was back at the bush, the stone shot? I shook my head clearing the thoughts.

“More importantly, why are you here?” I asked hoping to get some answers.

She looked at me as though I was crazy “To save you of course, you think we don’t know what has been going on with you? The powers, the dream travel?” she said looking concerned.

“you know all about that?” I asked feeling surprised at how they could have possibly known.

She just shook her head and explained “Remember that staring contest between Sango and AMD? Well the power they gave off that time flowed into you and that’s why your eyes opened to the realities of this world, things you wouldn’t see under normal circumstances, you can see them now. Do you understand? You have the powers of two thunder gods flowing in you and I’m sure the Amusu sensed it too. If we don’t do something about it, this won’t be the last time you will be attacked and you might end up putting your family in danger.”

The thought of putting my family in danger stung me. “So what should I do? how do I fix this?” I asked feeling so lost.

She smiled and placed her hands on my shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Meet me in Calabar in three days and we will work something out.”

“Wait, what? Why Calabar?” I asked feeling more confused and lost.

“Just meet me there and I will explain every other thing. You ask too much questions", she said and frowned in annoyance.

“I ask a lot of questions? I’m pretty sure you would do worse if you were in my shoes", I said while glaring at her.

She sighed then got serious all of a sudden. “What’s that behind you?” She asked as she pointed behind me. I turned to look but didn’t see anything.

“What do you mean, there’s nothing be..."

I looked back at where she was standing but she was gone.

“That two timing…“ I said some other things along with that. Things that would make my mom wash my mouth with lye soap.

I went back into the house thinking long on how I would make it to Calabar in three days. I got back to my room and slumped on the bed wishing I could close my eyes and everything would just vanish, but like they say, if wishes were horses (although I’m not sure even beggars would ride).

The next day, I told my parents I would be going to Calabar to submit some documents in regards to the NYSC program. My dad bought it, however my mom didn’t. I swear that woman is too smart.

While I was packing and preparing for my trip the next day, she walked into my room and studied me carefully.

“Isi ukwu” she said in Ibo which meant big head. “I know you are not going to submit any document. You just want to travel.”

“One can’t just get past you huh?” I said while laughing.

She told me to be careful and greet my elder brother for her. I nodded and she left. After I was done packing, I sat down and tried to think of any possible reason why Chioma insisted I must come to Calabar, but I couldn’t think of anything. The rest of the day went by so quickly and finally, it was travelling day.

When I alighted the tricycle and walked to the Bus park to board a bus, I was on edge. I haven’t been outside since the fuel station incident and I was feeling a little jumpy (Would you blame me?). I entered the park, paid the transport fare and got on the bus. I didn’t take much load with me because I loved travelling light.

Luckily, the bus got filled up quickly and we had an early start. The journey was going well so far, nothing out of the ordinarily.

“It’s going to be alright.” I assured myself “What’s the worst that could probably happen?”

And that my friends, was how I jinxed my luck. From a mile away, I could see black birds flying towards us. I looked at them for a while and laid back down, thinking it was nothing. All the hairs on my body stood erect as my body’s defence instinct kicked in. I quickly got up and looked again and that’s when I realized they weren’t birds at all. They were… bats!

Thunk! One slammed against the window and I jerked backwards, almost knocking the guy sitting close to me off his seat.

“Guy howfa na?” the confused fellow asked me.

I pointed to the window as the second bat slammed against it causing a crack, then the third, fourth, fifth and the crack widened. This time around the passengers noticed, but they thought it was birds and I was not surprised. I edged the driver to drive quickly so we could out run the blood thirsty bats but he just shook his head and kept driving.

I looked outside the window as all the bats converged together and with one massive effort, they blasted through the window and swarmed the bus as all the passengers got thrown into a state of panic.

The driver swerved left and right trying to regain his focus and lost control as our bus slid off the road into the bush. It ran in the bush for a while before it hit a tree and stopped.

We all came out of the bus and luckily for me, I didn’t sustain any injury at all but I wished I could say the same for other passengers. Most of them sustained light injuries while the driver was unconscious.

“What’s with this unfavourable and ridiculous situation?” I asked myself as I clenched my fist.

Suddenly, I started hearing screeches as the bats swarmed out of the bus and headed straight for me. I turned towards the bush and ran as the bats dove after me. The other passenger shouted after me but I didn’t stop to turn back, I just kept running farther into the bush.

I arrived at an area with tall trees and hid behind one of them. I was already hyperventilating and thinking of things to write in my will.

“That’s not going to work you know?” Said a voice from one of the shadows of the trees.

“Who’s there?” I asked as I could hear the sound of my knees knocking together.

A guy emerged from the shadows, he had a bow and arrow slung across his shoulder with a riffle in his hand. He had skin the colour of chocolate, his face was beardless and his head was spotless and sparkling. He wore a short sleeve black shirt tucked into a black plain trouser and was putting on Italian shoes.

“Hiding from them won’t work you know? You are radiating with power right now and they are drawn to you.” He explained as he unslung his bow and arrow and slung the riffle on his back. He fired an arrow so fast that I didn’t even notice him nocking it. The arrow impaled the first bat that broke out of the trees and it exploded into dust.

“Woah, what the...", I said as I ducked to the floor and covered my ears.

He prepared three more arrows and fired them at once as I heard screeches and explosions. This went on for a while and then he stopped firing and looked at me.

“What are you doing down there?” he asked with one brow lifted up.

I stood up quickly and brushed the dust off my trousers. “Umm- nothing, who are you by the way?” I asked.

“You are welcome.” He said, glaring at me. “I just saved your life and this is the thank you I get?”

“Oh! My apologies! Thank you. I... I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up", I said bowing my head slightly.

He raised his shoulders high “You don’t need to do all that.” He said while straightening his collar and I knew deep down, he was enjoying all of it.

“So who are you and how did you know I was here?” I asked, hoping to get answers this time.

“My name is Osoosi, god of hunting and scouting, avenger of the accused and those seeking justice.” He introduced.

My jaws dropped “OMG, you are a god? That’s amazing! God of hunting. It makes sense how you were able to fire those arrows real fast. But you are a Yoruba god right, what are you doing all the way here?” I asked.

He just smiled and hung his bow and arrow back on his shoulder. "It doesn’t matter which tribe I’m from. I am a Nigerian god. Besides Amadioha sent me to help you because he sensed you were in some kind of trouble.”

I wanted to ask how AMD knew I was in trouble but Osoosi turned and started walking into the trees and motioned me to follow him.

“I left my bag back in the..."

I didn’t get to finish because my bag was just at the base of a tree in front of me. I rushed and grabbed it and then I ran after him.

“Where are we going? I was on my way to Calabar and we haven’t even crossed into Akwa Ibom yet.” I said as I walked behind him.

“Don’t worry. Just follow me.” The god said as he reached two trees that were close to each other. He muttered a few words as he placed his hands on one of the trees as some letters appeared in Yoruba language on the tree and suddenly the space in between the trees began to shimmer as he walked through.

I ran after him and crossed over as I came out in a field with few trees here and there. Over the horizon I could see a port with ships docked on them and at the opposite end I could see the road with cars moving. The place looked so familiar and immediately it clicked.

“Oh my God, is this Airport Field?” I asked in shock and disbelief.

Osoosi nodded and laughed at how shocked I was “Your jaw is open young man, close it up and take a cab home. Chioma will come and pick you up tomorrow.”

I closed my mouth and thanked him as I carried my bag to the road side and flagged down a cab and entered.

The ride was smooth, no monster attack, no amusu and definitely no crazy bats. I reached my junction and alighted as I carried my bag and walked up my street, greeting some people I knew. I reached my house and entered. As soon as my brother saw me, he was shocked.

“Howfa na? You are early oh.” He said looking at the time on his phone. “This is just ten o’clock.”

I smiled. "Our bus was really fast.” I said as I thought to myself that no matter how fast the bus was, it was impossible for me to be that early. I remembered the other passengers and felt bad for them.

My brother bought the explanation because there was no other explanation to justify the situation. I could tell him I walked through a portal and he wouldn’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me if I were him either.

I collapsed on the bed because my legs felt like jello, probably a side effect of portal travelling. I wondered how I had managed to keep my sanity after everything that had happened so far.

After getting a little rest, I unpacked my clothes and the stuff I came with, Including the back pack I stuffed inside my traveling bag.

The day also went by quickly and before I knew, it was morning already and my phone beeped. I checked it and saw a message that read.

“Meet me in front of UNICAL main gate.”

I didn’t need a fortune teller to tell me who the message was from. I quickly got up, prepared myself, made noodles and told my brother I was heading out.

I got to the junction and took a cab that dropped me in front of Unical’s main gate and I paid the driver and alighted. I looked around but there was no sign of her anywhere.

Amidst a sigh, someone tapped my shoulder and I almost jumped out of my skin. I turned around to see Chioma with a very ridiculous expression on her face.

“You should have seen your face", she teased.

“Don’t do that, please. I’ve been very jumpy lately because of all the things I’ve been through these past few days and you just raised my blood pressure a notch", I said in all seriousness, quite unamused.

She perceived the firmness in my voice and flinched. “I’m sorry, I know you have been through a lot. It was bad of me to joke like that.”

I sighed “it’s okay, so where are we headed?” I asked.

“To Parliamentary Extension.” She said and started flagging down a taxi.

“What are we going to do in Parliamentary Extension?” I asked as my curiosity threatened to explode out of my chest.

She finally flagged down a cab and we both entered. And as usual, Calabar cabs had a way of making you feel uncomfortable despite the fact that you are paying them. We were four in the backseat which was originally meant for three. I endured the fact that there was a big lady sitting right next to me who readjusted herself every ten seconds, putting me in a world of hurt.

We arrived at Parliamentary Extension and we all got out. I shot the woman a glare and followed Chioma as she started walking up a tarred street.

“Where are we going really? You can’t expect me to just follow you blindly", I said getting annoyed.

She sighed and turned to me. “You are really impatient you know? Fine! We are going to AMD’s house.”

I wasn’t sure I heard her right. “Did you say AMD’s house? Amadioha, the god of thunder and lightning has a house in Calabar? How does that even work?”

“Well technically, he has houses all over the country, so it’s no big deal", she said in a matter of fact tone.

We took a right turn and ended up in a street that mere looking at it, you’d know it was owned by one person. There was a huge gate in the middle and we walked right to it. Chioma pressed the electronic bell and after a while, the gate opened and we walked in and my jaws dropped to the floor. The house was massive with few minor houses here and there.

“Hey stop gawking and follow me! You have a weird habit of leaving your mouth open", Chioma said as she walked towards the main building.

I noticed that there were a lot of people scurrying here and there, carrying appliances, furniture and picture frames. It was as though AMD just moved in. The door swung open as we walked inside and I resisted the urge of letting my jaws drop again. The interior was magnificent, whoever designed it had a very good taste.

There in the centre of the room stood AMD, giving directions to two guys that were trying to hang a huge portrait of him on the wall and the most surprising of all was that he was in human size but still huge.

“No, no! You are getting it all wrong, scoot a little bit to the left! That’s too far left! Scoot a bit more to the right. Go higher a bit. No! No, that’s too high, go lower.” He confused the guys so much and I could tell they were dying under the weight of the massive portrait. I felt sorry for them.

“Lower! Lower! Wait! Higher! Perfect!” he said as he clapped his hands together and then turned to face us. “Ah! You are finally here, Umm… what was your name again?”

I looked at Chioma. “I seriously hope he is kidding.”

She bowed her head slightly and then looked at me “Show some respect fish brain.”

I sighed and followed her lead. After raising my head, I remembered I had to thank him for sending Osoosi to my rescue.

“Thank you for sending Osoosi to save me back then, I don’t know...“ I stopped as I looked at him. He wasn’t even paying attention because he was busy swiping on his tablet so I just let out a sigh.

“Ah! You finally made it!” A familiar voice said as I turned to see Osoosi coming out of a corner with a can of beer in his hand.

I was glad to see him, unlike some other people. I bowed my head slightly in his direction. “What are you doing here sir?”

He sipped his beer and made a satisfactory sound. “Well I was in Calabar when I heard AMD was moving into his new house, so I came to say hi and that was when he sensed you were in danger and sent me to help you.”

“That’s exactly how it was", AMD said without looking up from his tab. Osoosi looked at him and shook his head.

“Are you going to tell him why he is here, or are you going to keep swiping that tablet?”

AMD finally looked up and then looked around. “Sorry, please come with me.” He apologized as he led us to another room.

We all got seated and he offered us drinks as he cleared his throat.

“Emeka, we all know that strange things have been happening to you lately. First, the powers and then the attacks, but don’t fret. Everything will be fine.”

I looked at Chioma and back to AMD “How did you know what has been happening to me?” I asked.

“You have a part of me in you, we are connected now. But it’s not only me, you also have a part of Sango inside you too", he answered.

The thought of two men in their forties being a part of me creeped me out and was disgusting in every way possible.

“No wonder I see two of you whenever I sleep", I said in a half whisper but AMD caught on.

“What do you mean you see us when you sleep?” He covered his body with his hands. “Don’t tell me you’ve seen me in the bathroom before.”

“Of course not!” I blurted out. But actually, I’ve seen him doing the humpty dumpty dance in the bathroom and believe me, that’s not something you’d want to see.

“Let’s not digress from the current situation.” Osoosi said as he shook his can to know if there was still any beer inside. “Sango’s Axe has been stolen.”

My eyes widened. “His Axe? You mean the signatory Axe that represents who he is? No wonder he looked pissed the last time I saw him. How did it happen?”

“During our last celestial meeting of the gods, whoever took it used that opportunity when Sango was not around", AMD explained.

I scratched my head vigorously. "Do you guys have any lead?”

Chioma spoke after being quiet for a while. “Aganju, the god of volcanoes and desserts, also the brother of Sango. He was the only one absent in the meeting.”

“What agenda might he have to steal his brother’s Axe? I asked feeling a bit confused.

Osoosi grabbed another can of beer from the table and AMD glared at him.

“He is not in good terms with his brother and has been looking for ways to sabotage his brother’s authority.” AMD said.

“Which leads us to a quest for you and Chioma.” Osoosi summarized.

“Quest? What quest?” I asked as my stomach grew uneasy.

Chioma stood up and came to where I was sitting. “They want us to find out what happened to the Axe and possibly get it back.”

“What?” I shouted as I stood up. “But they are gods aren’t they?” I said pointing at AMD and Osoosi. “Can’t they find it themselves?”

“Well, you are right about one thing, we are gods. But when it comes to matters like this, our messengers do all the work", AMD pointed out.

“But I am not a messenger" I screamed out.

“Oh? But you have the power of two gods inside you. Actually Sango doesn’t know about this yet because he has been preoccupied with finding his stolen Axe. He would vaporize you if he finds out. Find his Axe and get on his good side", AMD said while sipping a can of beer.

I slumped back into my chair “What happens if I refuse?”

“I take back my essence which is within you and your own essence as a human won’t survive either. You know what that means for you, don’t you?” AMD said with a stern face. “Are you in or not?”

At this moment, I wished the earth would open so I could just dive in and hide. But I had no choice.

“Where do we start?” I asked.

AMD let out a hefty laugh as though we just shared a good joke “Now you are talking. Shall we begin the strategy meeting?”