Northern Nights

by Abeni Inks

  Hunh? Rocks?

  She raised a brow. Bit her lip when her mind suggested.... Surely he wasn't thinking...?

  She shook her head.

  No. No. Nopes! But... Oh gods!

  The thought made her tingle with arousal and she shivered. Rubbed her hands down her arms.

  Certainly this is the height of juvenile lackaidaisy?!

  Ifekunle extended his hand.

  Certainly we can't... Can we talk about this? We won't...

  She placed hers in his. Spared a backward glance to confirm no one was watching.

  “Oh fuck”

  Ifekunle’s thickness filling her was almost too much.

  Demilade shut her eyes against her barrage of tingling nerves. Leaned forward with her palms flat on his chest.

  Ifekunle’s palms splayed over her butt. Held her. Then he surged into her till all of him was buried in her sweet sex pot.

  Demilade threw her head back on a scream. Nipples stabbing the air pointedly.

  They had found a smooth rock bordered by huge rocks. Lending privacy and the illusion of a cave.

  Ifekunle pulled out a fraction. Dove back into Demilade.

  Delirium slipped into his blood and stars dances behind his eyes. She felt so good. So right... He was going crazy.

  “Pinch your nipples Baby”

  Demilade’s eyes flew open.

  “Now! Dammit”

  Demilade cupped the weight of her breasts. The act felt pagan. Heathen.

  “Pinch, Baby. Let me feel it in your pussy”

  Goose pimples rose on Demilade’s arm. She rolled her nipples between her thumb and index finger.

  “Harder”

  “Ooh fuck”

  Electric currents zinged from her nipples to her juice box. She needed to move. To ease the building ache.

  Demilade rose over Ifekunle. Brought herself down.

  Ifekunle thrust up. Pushing himself deeper. Burying his full length in the sopping warmth of her contracting deliciousness.

  “Aaah. Dammit”

  Demilade was riding harder. Faster. Her pussy contracting over Ifekunle in shorter spasms. He was getting lightheaded. lLost to passion’s maze.

  “So bloody perfect”

  “Oh fuck. Ifekunle, Ife...”

  His name was chant. Worship.

  Her back arched deeper.

  She ground herself on his sweet joystick. Screamed as lights went off in her head and passion exploded in her limbs

  “Don’t stop. Don’t fucking stop”

  Ifekunle switched their positions in a swift move.

  A hand beneath her head cradling her, and the other on her clit; he extended her orgasm.

  “Oooh, Ooooh”

  Demilade jerked as she was thrust into passion’s storm again. Her back completely off the rock.

  “Oh gods! Oh please. Ifekunle please”

  Ifekunle thrust harder, faster.

  Driven by passion’s delirium. The sight of his woman contorting beneath him in throes of mindlessness.

  Soon he was overcome. Shooting hard and hot. Passion’s craze only sated by the sight of Demilade.

  Jaw slacked. Eyes unfocused… then passed out in his arms.

  Wrung to exhaustion like thoroughly squeezed cloth.

  Chapter 18

  RULES

  MUST

  BE

  KEPT

  Ifekunle stared at the bellboy. Not understanding.

  “Who gave you this?”

  “Four men. They were scary Sir. They took your wife”

  Ifekunle’s head snapped up.

  “What do you mean by ‘took my wife’?”

  “She did not fight Sir but she… I might be wrong Sir, but she didn’t look happy to follow them.”

  “Wait. Start from the beginning”

  Ifekunle's heart thundered. He was suddenly assailed by heat in the air conditioned room.

  “They came, the 4 men.

  I went to tell them that the hotel is fully booked, and show them the restaurant if they wanted to eat. But they said no, that they were waiting for someone. I asked if they knew the person’s room number or name so I could call help them call the guest; but they looked at me one kain. They said the person is already coming down”

  Ifekunle started pacing the room. He was sweating so bad, he took his shirt off. It had really gotten very hot!

  “I turned that let me go and call security in case they are dangerous. Next thing, Aunty came downstairs. As I turned to greet her I saw them calling her.”

  He paused. There was something in his mind. He seemed to debate saying it, or how to express it.

  “Oga when Aunty saw them it was like she wanted to run. They used their hands to call her; like jazz.

  Abi why would 4 people use their hands to call only 1 person if she was expecting them?

  They didn’t call her name. They didn’t greet. In fact, they didn’t say anything. I went to meet them that what is happening. That's when one of them gave me the paper. His hand was cold like frozen chicken! I swear. Like maybe they are working in cold room.

  I said that they can’t leave here with Aunty but she shook her head as if she was begging me. Or maybe she was warning me. The men started laughing and one said I was a foolish human.

  When they got to the sliding door one of them looked back and said I should make sure I deliver this note”

  He shivered physically, catharsis.

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  “They kidnapped her, didn’t they? We can call the Police Sir. Big Grandpa’s son-in-law is their Commissioner.”

  “I’ll tell you… I’ll let you...”

  Ifekunle was indescribably scared.

  He had broken no rules. How had they known Demilade? Who were "they"? Where was Awo Nla?

  He ushered the bell boy out of the room. Shut the door.

  He walked to the centre of the room. Shut his eyes like his Uncle had taught him long looong ago.

  1Awodele Awo Nla omo Awonla! Omo e n ke si e

  He gathered his breath to repeat it but a whirlwind swept him up. When it calmed he was in Awo Nla’s shrine.

  “I wondered when you'd finally do that”

  “You told me I could have my own woman. You said nothing had changed!”

  “And nothing has”

  “So why did who take her? Which rule did I break?!”

  Awo Nla took in the dishevelled appearance of his nephew. If his tone had not informed him, the wild desolation in his eyes convinced him: this was not a courtesy call.

  “You’ve never lost both your manners and cool before. At least not that I know of. What’s going on?”

  Ifekunle found himself unable to feel the reprimand; his mind wholly fixated on getting Demilade back.

  He handed the note over to Awo Nla; bowing slightly. He was helpless. His woman was somewhere he didn’t know. And he couldn’t go to the authorities to find her because he wasn’t supposed to exist anymore.

  The import of his death bore down heavily.

  Ifekunle shook his head to dislodge the weight but it smarted in the corners of his eyes. Sat on his chest till he couldn’t breathe.

  He slid to the floor; head bowed between his knees. Let the floodgates loose. Pain wracked his soul and he let it go. Bawling. His entire body shaking.

  Awo Nla’s heart constricted. He could feel the heartbreak of the boy who was as good as his son.

  “I want her back. Help me, Uncle Mi”

  “Her? Who is her?”

  "Demilade”

  “Demilade? The Demilade? Secondary school love of your life, Lade Girl?!”

  Awo Nla’s mouth gaped.

  How had Ifekunle found the girl because of whom he had flatly declined to go to Germany? He wanted to hear how this had happened. All of it. But the note didn’t bear a return address. Time was of the essence. He needed the full picture of what had transpired.

  * * *

  1. Awodele Awo Nla omo Awonla! Omo e n ke
si e:

  Awodele, Commander of the Cult, son of Awonla! Your child calls to you

  Chapter 19

  “Awobiyi, remember that pact we made to never lie to each other?”

  Ifekunle’s eyes were weary. Desolate.

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. Awo Nla only ever called him by that name in the direst or best of circumstances.

  “I’ve never broken it”

  “I know. And I need you now, more than ever, to honour it”

  He met his Uncle’s eyes; nodded sharply.

  “Did you tell Demilade?”

  “You said the words were to never leave my lips.”

  “Did she find out some other way?”

  “Is there a label on my forehead I’m unaware of? I’m as human as the next person. You said so yourself. I just happen to also have membership in the spirit world”

  Awo Nla frowned.

  “And Demilade? Is she human?”

  Of course she was. Human. His Demilade couldn’t be a living dead. She couldn’t have known the pain of death. The searing loss of everything that came with it.

  He was shaking his head when he paused. His fingers started tapping the air rhythmically. Subconsciously.

  Pain thud like lead in his chest.

  “Her phone never rang”

  “Never?”

  “I was grateful for the bliss but… Her mother used to coddle her. And she said her mother is fine when I asked. Her mother wouldn’t have left her on a vacation without calling to check in on her, could she? Especially not when she went North”

  “North?! YOU went North? You deferred youth service by a year so you wouldn’t...”

  Ifekunle had the presence of mind to look bashful.

  “Demilade wanted to go north”

  Awo Nla’s jaw dropped.

  He needed to get this done and over with. He most definitely wanted to hear all of the story.

  “Uncle mi, is it dangerous if she is like me?”

  Awo Nla nodded gravely.

  “It is the second most important rule. It seemed very far fetched. But I should have told you.”

  Not for the first time that month, Awo Nla wished life had happened differently. He didn’t want to be explaining the rules of the undead very carefully to Ifekunle. The pragmatic in him however rose.

  Ifekunle wasn’t lost to the silence of death or corrupted by the other world. There was much to be grateful for. And a young lover to be rescued.

  “Did you guys… You know...”

  “It was…”

  Ifekunle was stomped for words. Exhaled. How did one explain the meeting of souls in lusty privates?

  “You never said it’d be so beautiful”

  Awo Nla’s lips pursed. Tilted left and upwards. That was maybe arguable but now wasn’t the time.

  It occurred to him that Ifekunle had lost his virginity exactly as he’d insisted he wanted to.

  Pride unfurled in his chest. Bloomed. If only more humans understood that forces of the universe often bent to the bidding of their will.

  Now how did he go about asking the next question? Eventually he just spat it out.

  “Condoms?”

  Ifekunle shook his head.

  “And I’m fairly certain she’s pregnant”

  “1E gba mi! You stole her from someone?”

  Ifekunle laughed at Awo Nla’s very rare exclamation of helplessness.

  “Would you believe if I told you?”

  Awo Nla wasn’t sure he wanted to know but Ifekunle had his shy smile on. It was usually hard to deny him anything when he looked like that.

  He threw his hands up in surrender.

  “I felt the moment her egg... You know. And my sperm. The very first night”

  Excitement lit Awo Nla’s resigned face up.

  “Wait. Your child, Ifekunle? Demilade is carrying your child right now?”

  He nodded solemnly.

  “It was as real as her body in my arms. I don’t know if she could feel it but I’m pretty certain, 2Baba mi. Demilade is pregnant with our child”

  “Then it is sorted. Let’s go”

  Awo Nla reached for his sheepskin, wore it.

  He reached into a box. A new sheepskin sat there. Ifekunle’s. It was to be his 30th birthday gift and initiation into the sacred priesthood that was his familial heritage.

  “Awobiyi, you know what this means?”

  Tears pricked Ifekunle’s eyes and he didn’t bother to hold them back.

  “But I’m dead now. I can’t. I cannot”

  He crumpled to the floor.

  He had looked forward to it every birthday. To taking his place alongside his fathers.

  “You underestimate your heritage, Awobiyi. Rise.”

  There was compassion in Awo Nla’s voice. Understanding. Love. The older man held the sheepskin in front of him.

  “Ifekunle Awobiyi Awonla

  Seed of the loins of Awofeyi

  Cradled in the womb of Adiaha

  Your fathers ask that you rise to your heritage.”

  Suddenly other presences permeated the room. Ifekunle looked up. Felt his jaw drop.

  His father, grandfather, great grandfather... and many men that he did not know. They stood donned in their sheepskin, wielding their staff... the full cult regalia.

  Together, voices as one, they spoke.

  Share our pride in service to the gods of your fathers, Awobiyi

  You become more than spirit today. More than Man

  You are emissary of the gods. Arbiter of worlds.

  Evil shall never corrupt you. Your soul is preserved from death

  Son of the gods, welcome to the cult

  Together they raised their staffs. Slammed them like the thump of a judge’s gavel. The earth quaked and the shrine shook. None of them wavered. They were solid. Planted like the iroko.

  Awe filled Ifekunle's eyes. He rose.

  The sheepskin floated to slide on him. A perfect fit.

  The gods accepted him. It was done

  * * *

  1. E gba mi: People save me!

  2. Baba mi: My Father

  Chapter 20

  “Executioners of the underworld!

  I, Awodele Awonla -commander of all the cults- summons you!

  It is forbidden that the bird calls and the loins sleep

  It is unheard of that the lion roars and the jungle makes jest

  Executioners of the underworld, heed my call”

  Four men appeared before Ifekunle and Awo Nla; blood splatters on their clothes.

  Ifekunle’s heart skipped.

  They had brought a chill into the room. He could see why their presence would have made the bell boy uneasy. And they were the ones who had taken Demilade? God’s Blood!

  Awo Nla had called them executioners… Gods, please!

  “You took one of ours. We want her back”

  One of the men parted his lips. Reveal immaculate teeth.

  “They broke the rules. The Daya do not intra-marry. We must take humans. Balance the worlds. Ensure the eternal intertwining that prevents illusions of difference and wars”

  Awo Nla smiled.

  “Then perhaps you should hand her over.”

  “Is that a threat, son of the gods?”

  Awo Nla smiled at the man. It was a dangerous upward tilt of his lips.

  “Forgive my manners. Would you like something to drink?”

  The four men exchanged glances.

  Awo Nla was a powerful, incorruptible priest. One in an ancestry of priests since the start of time.

  “We don’t make the rules, Awo Nla”

  “No. But perhaps you should exercise justice in dispensation of your duties. Or has the thirst for blood corrupted the nobility of your office?”