"So what are you going to do with the suicide note?" Itohan asked after a while.
"It's not suicide,"
"Are you trying to say she was killed? Ivie, please."
"But you saw it yourself." From where she sat she could see Gaga eyeing her curiously. She had told her what she had seen in her vision, so it understandable if she didn't know what to believe anymore. But Ivie was sure. "See, I know it's hard to believe, but there's an occult group in this school."
"Ivie, c'mon," JohnMary grunted.
"This is a missionary school," Aisosa reminded.
"Exactly! The devil is an enemy of God, where else do you think it would want to compete power aside from where God has chosen as His abode."
"She said 'it'." Itohan rested her head on a branch. "You're referring to the devil as 'it'." She sounded annoyed.
"Well, considering the suicide note I can understand why you think there's a cult," Aisosa said.
And she was going to find it. Whatever killed Precious, the forces behind what killed Precious would kill another student, only on the twelfth of November. She had time to unravel the mysteries, and maybe save the dwarf from her cursed fate.
But it wasn't really about saving the dwarf for Ivie, it was her urge to want to see the end of it all. She wanted to know how Sister Gabriel got involved, she wanted to know more about that thing that killed Precious, wanted to know the need for the agreement.
The lead she has was more of a dead end. Where would she go from now? Sure, she couldn't return it to the school and ask them to help her in this case, the same school who concluded it as suicide. Hadn't they read the letter? Why conclude it as suicide when it glaringly was not? Or was the school in on it too?
"Too much for one night." Itohan jumped down from the tree. "Let's go to bed."
"I second that." Gaga yawned.
They left the forest and headed to the Beige building where the dormitory was. JohnMary escorted them to the female dormitory before leaving for his own.
"What excuse are we going to give Sister Omo?" Aisosa asked as they lingered at the entrance of the dorm.
"She must have slept off by now," Itohan replied.
"And if she hasn't, she's going to give us a long sermon about righteousness and what not, it's why I prefer going through the window." Ivie pushed the door slowly to reveal the sleeping sleeping, head slumped on her desk. "Good riddance to bad rubbish," she huffed and they tiptoed into the dorm, shutting the door behind them as quietly as possible.
Itohan was the first person to go in, as her room was close to the door.
Aisosa retreated second, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
Gaga's room came before hers so Ivie was left to journey to the end of the dorm alone. Just few steps away from her room, she heard a noise, footsteps behind her.
Too drowsy to turn, she said, "Did anybody forget something?"
No response.
"It's too late to be playing hide and seek, I'm so sleepy, tomorrow please."
No response.
Her brows furrowed in confusion and she spun around and immediately, something bashed her forehead. The hit was too hard that her skin broke and blood trickled down her face. She slumped to the floor, unconscious.
The person before her glared, a frown on her face. The vase she held was firm in her grip, and a crack and blood was on it. She blew out the candle around them and blended in the darkness, returning the vase where it belonged, and waited in case her ambush had alerted someone, especially the people who just newly went into their room.
She waited for a while, and when there was nothing, emerged from the dark to drag Ivie's still body, her steps careful.
"This would have very much been avoided if you had not poked your nose where it didn't belong," the person whispered to herself.
When she dragged her to the front of the desk, Sister Omo who had been sleeping abruptly opened her eyes and they stared at each other before nodding.
The Sister stood up me helped her in dragging the body until they reached the forest where Ivie's group met minutes ago, only this time, they went further.
"We still have time," Sister Omo said.
"It'd have been harder to capture her if she's already inside her room," the person replied, leaning against a tree and lighting a cigar.
"You were told to scare her," Sister Omo said.
"This one does not fear. And she has a leverage, she just won't stay put. I mean, who sees trouble and walk right into it?"
The Sister shrugged.
Slowly, the rest of their members started to arrive until they were completed.
"This face looks all too familiar," another Sister said. "Ivie?"
"What is she doing here?" The stern man asked.
"She knows about the note."
"How is that—" the second Siater started to say when a great pain erupted from within her and she went on her knees. In a flashlight, the stern man was before her, his hand driving the pain.
"You had just one work to do," he said.
"Which I did," the Sister grunted, her forehead trickling with sweat. "I don't even know how she got it."
"I think Sister is right, Ivie doesn't know how she gets the note herself, somebody gave it to her," the girl said.
"Now, that's even worse." The stern man conjured more pain. "Another person knows, that's worse!"
"How far deep has she gone?" Another man asked, kicking Ivie's body.
"She even wants to go deeper, she knows there's a cult, I think she suspects Sister Gabriel, she keeps asking questions about her. But there's something else, it's Father Chibuike."
The stern man released the Sister from his wrath. "The new priest?"
"I feel like he knows something," the girl said. "I think he gave the note to Ivie, I just can't understand how. Ivie didn't see him, JohnMary didn't see him either, but he's always poking at her. And she seems to be covering up for him."
"I heard he asked the Dean about the suicide note," the gentle man said.
"He did," the stern man said.
"What are we going to do with her?" The Sister who had been choked asked.
"Kill her?" The girl replied.
"If what you say about the priest is correct, we can't risk killing her, not now," the stern man said.
"If we don't kill her now, she's going to pose a bigger threat, she has never known when to stop."
"You're supposed to be friends," Sister Omo reminded.
"She insulted Master, she has to pay."
"What did I say about leaving your emotions off the case?" The stern man asked, "It seems you're forgetting the rules." Then he addressed the others. "We're going to use this to our advantage. If the new priest is in on it, then good, I don't like him anyway. But we're not killing this one, at least not yet."
The girl murmured softly, "It's a big mistake."
"Are you trying to question my authority!" The stern man stormed at her and looked over her to prove his dominance. "Nobody kills her. But leave her body here, I'll give her a punishment for breaking the school rules, and keep her within arm's length."
Distance away from them, a cat watched. It had been watching since Ivie was dragged from the school building, and followed them into the forest. Its eyes lingered on Ivie's body on the ground and the rest of the people before it slipped away from the forest, trotting into the school building.
It walked in the dark, its eyes scanning, its legs hurrying. It went to Ivie's window and looked through it, as if to be sure who it saw was real and good thing the girl liked to keep it open.
Then the cat rushed to Father Chibuike's window and galloped over into the room.
Father Chibuike sat on his chair, his leg stretched and his eyes closed. The cat climbed on his laps and whined.
"Amaka, ogini?" He asked in the Igbo language, grunting. 'Amaka, what is it?'
The cat moved restlessly on his thigh, whining uncontrollably until he opened his eyes and locked gaze with it.
The cat jumped down from his thigh and moved towards the closed door, pacing in front of it. The it started to scratch the edges of the door with his claws.
Father Chibuike studied it. "If you wanted to go out, you'd use the window. That you want to use the door means you want my company." He rose to his feet. "Witnessed trouble, have we?"
He moved with grace and opened the door. The cat jumped out before him.