Joshua has always wanted to have a family and Rita and Chloe are the closest to having a family that he has come to. He loves Rita dearly and plans to marry her before the year ends. They are living together, in Rita’s rented apartment, as he completes building his own house. Chloe is Rita’s daughter, and even though she is not his biological daughter, he loves her as though she is.
But now Jezebel wants him to offer Chloe as a sacrifice. How that happens is that he will rape her as Jezebel watches gleefully, then he will bite her ear until she bleeds. Jezebel will suck all the blood in her veins and she will die instantly. Somehow the bite wound will heal instantly, and when a post-mortem is done, it will reveal that she died of either a cardiac arrest or hypertension.
Joshua doesn’t want to do it, but Jezebel has threatened to wipe out both his family and Rita’s-including Chloe if he doesn’t.
*
When his father died when he was in form two, Joshua became the de jure head of the family. The law in that de jure is unclear, but his relatives would like to think it is customary law. That theory is problematic though, because by custom one of his uncles should have inherited his mother to become head of the family. But they were all Christians, including his uncles, so that did not happen. His mother was the de facto head of the family. Of course. She was the one who knew what they would eat, what they would wear, how school fees would be paid, and so forth. They were not struggling, because their mother was a teacher, and she and her late husband had put up some rental property that supplemented the family income.
But then Joshua’s mother was struck by cancer, and that is when things started going south. Cancer is an expensive disease. It drained them financially. Initially, their mother took a loan from her Sacco to cover the expenses. That load helped with the logistics of flying her to India for surgery. When they came back, she took another loan from the bank, using the rental property as security. That is what helped with chemotherapy. But their mother was not getting any better, and the money ran out. Friends and relatives helped, but they could only do so much.
Because of the financial strain that the family was under, Joshua was forced to take a job as a marketing assistant at a real estate company immediately after doing his final KCSE paper. Cancer was draining their resources, and they needed more and more money. Joshua worked long hours, and the money wasn’t much, but he was not complaining. At least he was earning something so they would not sleep hungry, and he was grateful that he had landed the job in the first place. Many of his classmates would have been grateful to have the same opportunity.
Still, even with the money he was earning, the financial burden was huge. Joshua remembers the day that Jezebel approached him as if it was yesterday. He was standing on the side of his mother’s hospital bed with his sister. Their mother was dying, that much was clear. Joshua had just sat for his KCSE exams, and he didn’t even know whether he would pass because of the stress he was under. His sister was in form two.
A beautiful nurse came by the bed and looked at their mother sadly. Then she whispered in his ear that she could help, though in an unconventional manner. Joshua was ready for anything, and that is where his troubles began. The nurse, whose name is Jezebel, was into some very weird religion. She took him to a shrine where a faceless priest forced him to drink human blood and sleep with Jezebel. He was instructed to feed his mother his semen, which he had collected in a condom after his encounter with Jezebel, and he obeyed.
Miraculously, his mother was healed. She was in a coma when he fed her the semen, and he was alone with her. He bought a can of yogurt, and after placing the semen in on a spoon and forcing it into her mouth, he pretended that he was feeding her yogurt, for the benefit of everyone else in the ward. He has never told her, or anyone else, what had happened. He acted as surprised at her healing as everyone else.
Unfortunately, the price was steep. He was told by the unseen priest that the first six women he fell in love with would be the sacrifice to the gods that had healed his mother. But so far eight of his lovers have died at the hands of Jezebel, her faceless priest, and their gods. Chloe will be the ninth. But Chloe is different because she is not his lover. She is an innocent ten-year-old girl whom he sees as his daughter.
And now Jezebel wants him to offer her as a sacrifice. When will this madness end?
*
Joshua remembers all the women he has ever loved in his life, but the one who left the biggest wound in his heart was Maureen. Maureen was his first love. She was a small-bodied, dark girl with a dimpled smile and a charming personality. She was also bright and very intelligent, which is why his then-boss had hired her as the office manager, at Joshua’s recommendation. They were both economics students at the University of Nairobi, which is where they had met. Joshua remembers the first day he saw her. She was in class making a presentation, and as usual, he was seated at the back of the room. He preferred seating at the back of the classroom for no reason in particular.
Although they had been classmates for two years, Joshua had not noticed her before. That is probably because he hardly ever had time to hang around the university. He only came for classes, and he would leave immediately afterward. He did not have time to make friends. By the time he joined the university, he was already a rising star at the real estate company where he was working. It consumed a lot of his time, and the only reason he attended classes was because he was a disciplined man.
Joshua knew that he was bright enough to pass without attending classes. He could always study in his office and only go to the university to do exams. But he knew he needed to exercise discipline because if he couldn’t create time to attend classes, he would probably be too busy to study as well. Besides, if he didn’t go to class, he would be forced to pay someone to sign the class attendance list for him, and that would open an avenue for blackmail.
On that particular day. Maureen was wearing a yellow dress with black flowers and black heels. She walked up to the raised platform of the lecture theatre where the professor was standing, and everyman’s eyes were on her, including the lecturer. There was no doubt she was beautiful. She smiled before she started speaking, and she had the most beautiful voice. And the more she spoke, the more Joshua realized that she had a beautiful mind too. He recorded her presentation on his phone and showed it to his boss that same day. The man was impressed and he later interviewed her and hired her.
Joshua also made up his mind to pursue her romantically. By that time, he had forgotten all about Jezebel and the covenants he had made with her gods. Joshua did not have to wait for long to get a chance to talk to her. That same day, as he was walking to the car park after class, he bumped into her. In the few years since he started working as a real estate sales agent, he had switched jobs and joined a bigger real estate company than the one that initially hired him. He joined the second company as a marketing executive. The pay was good and he was able to rent a one-bedroom apartment and buy a car. His employer allowed him flexible working hours, provided he met his targets, to enable him to complete his degree.
After meeting Maureen in the parking lot on that day, Joshua greeted her, introduced himself, and told her that she had made a wonderful presentation. They started discussing that topic, and somewhere along the way, she told him that she wanted to get to Westlands as she had stuff she wanted to do there. He offered to drop her there and she agreed.
It was around midday, so Joshua offered to take her out for lunch as they completed their conversation and she agreed. They talked for almost three hours, and as they parted, they exchanged numbers. A beautiful friendship was born that day. Every day they sat together in class, and after every lecture, they would grab a snack at the student cafeteria while discussing what they had learned that day. Two weeks later, Maureen was hired by Joshua’s boss, and they would drive to work from school together. It wasn’t long before it became apparent that they were in love. Joshua decided to formalize things by asking her to be his girlfriend.
They dated for three blissful months before Jezebel appeared. And she appeared at a most inopportune moment when Joshua and Maureen were in the throes of passion. He was shocked to see her, inside Maureen’s locked bedsitter. Up until that time, he believed Jezebel was an ordinary human being.
“What are you doing here? And how did you get in?” he asked, perplexed. She was standing casually at the edge of the bed. Watching them.
“I have come for the sacrifice that you promised the High Priest. But finish your business first.”
“Babe, what is it? What are you staring at?” Maureen asked.
It occurred to Joshua that Maureen could not see Jezebel, and she could not hear the conversation. This was something that was happening in the spiritual realm. With a ghost standing nearby, Joshua didn’t think he could continue with the sexual activity. But his body, rather than switching off, got even more aroused until he finished his business with Maureen.
“Now bite her ear until it bleeds,” Jezebel ordered. Joshua found that he could not resist the order. He bit off Maureen’s ear, who at first smiled thinking he was nibbling the earlobe romantically, and then screamed as the pain set in. Jezebel pushed him aside and then took his place and started sucking at the bleeding earlobe. Maureen became very still.
“Now get dressed and leave immediately.”
The next two days were tense moments for Joshua. He expected the police to show up anytime and arrest him. He called Maureen numerous times, but her phone went unanswered and eventually got switched off. He thought about going to her house but he did not dare. Eventually, word reached the university and the office that she had been found dead in a hotel room in Narok. Word was that she had suffered a heart attack while asleep. How her body ended up in Narok Joshua has no idea. Nobody mentioned a bleeding ear, and nobody mentioned his name. People around campus and the office knew they were friends, but only Maureen’s best friend Mabel, knew they were dating.
Mabel and Joshua mourned Maureen for a long time, and in the process became close friends. It wasn’t long before they started having romantic feelings for each other. But Joshua, horrified by his experience with Maureen, did not make a move on Mabel. Mabel threw hints at him, but he ignored them. As the hints became stronger and stronger, he started avoiding her. He did not want to put her in danger by dating her. He had been told that the sacrifice for the healing his mother received would be the lives of his first six girlfriends. Joshua figured that if he decided to live a chaste life for the rest of his life, he would not have to pay the sacrifice.
He was wrong.
Jezebel appeared to him one night as he was preparing to go to bed.
“Why are you not dating Mabel?”
“I don’t love her.”
“We both know that is a lie, Joshua. You are trying to cheat the High Priest of his sacrifice. But that will not happen. Tomorrow Mabel will invite you out for dinner. You will accept and after the meal, you will ask her to be your girlfriend. If you don’t, I will take your mother, your sister, Mabel and finally you. You will all suffer slow but painful deaths, one by one. You will be the last to go so that you can see the pain you are inflicting on your people.”
The following day, Mabel met him after class and invited him for dinner at her parents’ house. She told him that her parents were in Mombasa and would not return until the following day. Joshua accepted. That evening he found himself in Karen. After the meal, he officially asked Mabel to be his girlfriend, and she readily accepted. One thing led to another and they found themselves in bed. Jezebel appeared, and the scene at Maureen’s house repeated itself. Mabel’s parents found her dead the following day, and the cause of her death was said to be high blood pressure. She was said to have been alone when she died.
Joshua had been her boyfriend for less than thirty minutes. This scenario played itself four more times. Joshua would like a girl but would fear to make a move, but Jezebel would appear and coerce him to date the girl. That is how Winfred, Karen, Rachel, and Pauline died.
After the death of Pauline, Joshua thought he was finally free. Six girls were dead, and while he regretted it, he was relieved that no more deaths would occur on his account. But on that score, he was wrong once again.
One year after the death of Pauline, he fell in love with a girl called Rhoda. He had no fear of asking her out because the past was gone. They dated for only two weeks before Jezebel appeared.
“What do you want? I have already cleared my debt.”
“Have you ever heard of the word penalty?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You tried to cheat the High Priest and the gods out of the last five sacrifices by pretending you did not love them. That is like defaulting on a loan. It attracts a penalty. And this girl will be the penalty.”
“You confirmed to me that Pauline was the last one.”
“Yes, of the original debt. I said nothing about the penalty.”
They went through the motions and Rhoda died of low blood pressure. She was in his house, so he was the one who rushed her to the hospital. Doctors fought with her but lost the battle within an hour. This traumatized Joshua. It was as if Jezebel was on a mission to destroy him. He wondered whether he should have left his mother to die. He loves her, but seven innocent lives is too steep a price to pay.
Joshua swore that he would never fall in love again, and for a year he buried himself in his work and avoided social places. This earned him a promotion, and he became the CEO of the company after the existing CEO, the founder of the company, decided to concentrate on another start-up he had established. He left Joshua in charge and transitioned to be the Board Chairperson. Joshua inherited not just his former boss’s office, but his secretary as well. Norah was a beautiful and intelligent girl. Because of the nature of her work, she spent considerable time in Joshua’s office.
She was single. He was single. They were both lonely and soon romance started brewing. They kept it secret because they did not want to attract office gossip. Joshua decided he would not sleep with her until they got married. But Jezebel did not have the patience. She appeared to him in his office one afternoon and ordered him to “consummate” the relationship.
“What do you want from me?” he asked desperately. “Haven’t you killed enough people?”
“Every loan has an interest. This girl will be the interest and then you and I will be done.”
“You said that last time.”
“I said nothing of the sort. I just told you that that girl was the penalty. This one is interest, and then we will be done.”
“I am not going to do it this time.”
“That is fine. But you know she will die anyway after I have killed your mother and sister. And finally you.”
Reluctantly, Joshua obeyed. He lost not just a friend and lover, but the most dedicated employee the company had. He did not date again for two years. During that time, he left employment and founded his own company. He focused his energies on building his company, and since he is experienced in real estate and has built a network over the years, it did not take long for his company to pick. Late last year he started building the house of his dreams.
But something else happened last year. He met Rita.
The first time he saw her he was attending a church even where he had been invited as one of the speakers. It was a church-sponsored investment forum, and he had been invited to speak about real estate as an investment option. Rita, a lecturer, had been invited to speak about education as an investment.
They got talking that day and even exchanged contacts. Soon, they became friends. The romance started building, but Joshua resisted the feelings. Although Jezebel had indicated that she would not appear in his life again, eight women were dead and he loved Rita too much to want to risk her life.
But then one day she kissed him on the lips. He got carried away and kissed her back. From that moment, he knew he would be in a relationship with her whether he verbalized it or not. He is a gentleman, so he formally asked her to be his girlfriend and she accepted. For six months nothing happened. He met Rita’s daughter Chloe and a father-daughter was formed. Three months ago he moved into Rita’s house. They are planning to have their traditional wedding in August and white wedding in December. By then his house will be complete and they will all move there.
Life has been normal, and Joshua was relieved that Jezebel has finally left him alone.
But Jezebel appeared a few minutes ago, shortly after Rita left for work.
*
Joshua was preparing to take Chloe to school and then head to work when Jezebel appeared. Ironically, she has come for Chloe, not Rita. She wants Joshua to rape his adopted daughter and bite her ear as he has done to past lovers. If he doesn’t, Jezebel threatens to kill his mother, his sister, Rita’s parents, Chloe, Rita, and finally himself.
Joshua holds Chloe in a tight embrace and does his best to stop tears from falling. He has made a decision. There is no way he is raping his daughter.
“I love you, Chloe,” he tells her as he releases her. “I want you to always know that.”
“Me too, Daddy.”
“Okay. Get in the car. We will be late for school.”
Joshua drops Chloe to school but he does not go to work. He goes to his lawyer’s office and updates his will. In his previous will, he left everything to his mother. But his incomplete house is not captured in the will. He updates it by giving the house to Rita, together with six million shillings to complete it.
He has already decided to end his life. Too many people have died on his account, and it has to end. If Jezebel goes ahead to kill the people she threatened, at least he will not be around to witness it. There is a place he knows where there is a slope that leads to a dam. He drives to the top of the slope and pauses as he looks at the small lake below. He closes his eyes and presses the accelerator all the way down.
[THE END]
[On Tuesday I will tell you the comprehensive story about Joshua and Jezebel, and Rita and Chloe were sucked in in the novella, Forces of Darkness.]
Related FREE STORY; The Sacrifice
Previous Novella; Root of All Evil
