The Mystery of Kamara

Kamara (by Barhbie)

Story by Lynda

The full moon was going to rise in a fortnight. Whilst others looked forward to the exciting memories that came with the moon, Kamara detested it. She had never looked forward to it.

For months, she had battled with her conscience. She knew what she was but he didn’t. She hated the fact that he had been kept in the dark from the beginning. The last man she was with deserted her as soon as she divulged her secret and it would break her if she was ever jilted again.

She made up her mind, she was going to tell Kola, she loved him and didn't want any secrets between them. She ran off to his place to get it off her chest but met with a locked apartment, she lost her courage. Yet another missed opportunity to lighten her heavy heart.

“I love this girl! I’ve never loved anybody the way I love her. When I’m with her, everything feels warmer, brighter. At the mere mention of her name, I get butterflies in my...”

“Kola, you can’t marry that girl, never!” Blurted his mother. He stood still for a moment then paced about the room, unsure of what to say. They had been arguing about this, incessantly, for a couple of days.

“That girl is an ogbanje! When I look into her eyes, devilish chills run down my spine, Kola! There’s something about her, even my pastor has confirmed it!” His mother continued.

“I will marry her! There’s nothing anyone can do about it!” He said, as he left his mother's house angrily, slamming the door behind him.

Kola was awoken by the sound of thunder. He picked up the carved, wooden old clock from his bedside table. It was 5pm, the weather had tilted to show signs that it would rain. The clouds had turned from white to a darker shade of grey and the wind was rustling heavily enough to pull off the roof of an edifice. The afternoon blue sky was no more.

He had a nudge, a feeling that something was wrong. Was it because tonight was going to be a full moon? "That is ridiculous, those are just tales for children to fear the night", he thought to himself, but the persistent sensation that something just wasn’t right lingered. He brushed off the feeling and climbed into the shower in preparation for the new moon festival.

Strange things happen whenever the full moon shines. Whilst Kamara pondered on these things, she also pondered on how Kola would feel, knowing what she was. She wouldn't be attending the festival, she would lock herself up in her apartment to avoid a repeat of what happened last time. Slipping deep into her thoughts, she fell asleep.

Kamara woke up with a thudding headache, her temperature was high too. She felt perfectly fine before she slept, could it be happening!? It wasn't supposed to be today! She groped widely in the air, unsure of what to do, or where to go, as if drowning, reaching for a lifesaver that was never coming.

She bolted out of bed as her skin became covered with goosebumps that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. Dizzily, she reached for her drugs, hoping that it was just a mere fever. She forced a handful of tablets down her throat and just then, she slumped.

Kola had prepared for the festival. He rang Kamara's cell to let her know he was coming but his calls were unanswered. He drove over to hers, hoping that everything was okay, that he would find her at her place. When he knocked, no answer.

It is 8pm and the decorations for the festival were ready. The drums, the masquerades, dancers, fathers, mothers and their children, all prepared. In no time, the rhythm was in full swing.

Kola arrived at the centre of the festival just when the dancers were entertaining the crowd. They were dressed in skirts with beads around their waists, and bare chests with chalk markings around their nipples. He watched in amazement, as the female dancers moved to the rhythm of the music, swayed their mature but virgin waists, swung their hands and feet, and jiggled their bare breasts to the  excitement of  the crowd.

The children clapped, the mothers sang and the drummers drummed, Kamara was awake. She didn’t know what had happened but her eyes were bloodshot red; she looked like she had just been resurrected from death. The thudding headache hit again and she held her head, staggering and pushing away things that seemed like obstacles; tables, chairs, even picture frames, she screamed, it was happening again.

In the blink of an eye she had morphed into a questionable creature with thorns sharp enough to pierce human flesh. Her claws, long and pointy; her ears, long and pointy. She became oblivious of her acts and her environment, she wandered out of her apartment and into the night. 

Kola was busy searching for Kamara, at the festival. “Maybe she had gone without me”, he thought. He kept searching. The full moon appeared, bright and white, as if to help Kola in his search. There were chants of voices intertwined with local instruments made from wood, bone and strings, euphoric sounds to depict their excitement and just then, there was a loud thud. Someone coming from the direction of the forest had slumped. 

The crowd gathered and behold, it was more of 'something'. A creature was laying there, seemingly lifeless but then almost immediately, it morphed into a person, a female, it was her. The gruesome image of seeing her transform made the crowd shiver with fright. 

Kola stood there not believing his eyes. The love of his life, his queen, was also this monster. Suddenly he began to suffocate, he couldn’t breathe. Maybe it was the unfolding events or perhaps memories of his mother's warnings, he didn’t know exactly what it was, but he couldn’t take it anymore.

A beauty? Yet a monster? How? Why? Different questions he had no answers to, came rushing through his mind. He slumped!



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