Chapter 8

Emilie 

Cold! It is so cold! I reach out sleepily for my blanket and wake up with a start when my hand comes up empty.

Its raining heavily, causing goose pimples all over my arms and legs. 

I feel the sudden urge to pee. Getting down from my bed I groggily find my way to the bathroom.

On my way back I catch a glimpse of my parents room, the door is thrown open, something feels off. Peeping inside briefly, I realize neither one of my parents is in the room, their absence hits me forcefully, causing me to become fully awake.

I rush into the balcony and check to see if there's an explanation to this, i check the the bathrooms and the toilets again before hurrying downstairs. I realize I might be frantic for nothing, parents don't just leave the house in the middle of the night right?

I check the living room and the kitchen frantically before hesitantly knocking on my dad's study. 

A thought comes unbidden to me

"What if rapture happened and they were carried to heaven?" We had seen the movie at the church's film show last week Thursday and the scenes were still fresh in my mind. 

I knock harder for a second before deciding to twist the handle, the door swings open slightly and I see my father in a raincoat holding a flashlight and an iron rod. He sees me first, making his way towards me.

The relief makes me sag, causing me to stagger a bit. No rapture has happened thank God! I will never sin again I promise!

I take in my father's get up, the look in his eyes causes something to twist in my stomach.

"Where is mommy?" I try but the howling outside carries my words.

It takes a painful second, then another, then another till what finally feels like eternity before my father  answers.

"Your mother left" he says shortly as if that little sentence should provide me with all the knowledge. He takes off his glasses and rubs his head before putting it back on. I stare blankly at him, how am I to respond to this?.

Why does he have that in his hand? Why would she just leave in the middle of the night. Did he do this to her?

"Take care of your brothers and sister and lock the doors, don't open them for anyone till I return." He warns

I nod without actually hearing the  instruction. My father places a lean hand on my shoulder and shakes me lightly but firmly. I stare at his face but don't register a thing.

"Lock the doors and don't open for anyone till I return, do you hear me Emilie?" This time around I hear him, and as he leaves I bolt the main gate and pin the padlock on the inner door, it takes a struggle because of my petite frame but it all works out well.

I look around and notice the kitchen door slightly ajar, in an instant there is a frightening thunder clap and the power goes out. 

I immediately go white with fear, screaming at top of my lungs I run back up the stairs, into my room, squeezing myself between my sister and the wall. 

Through the entire ordeal my little sister doesn't even flinch, she's sleeping peacefully. The room is illuminated by the dim rechargeable lamp, no longer charging in the corner, it must have come on when they took the light.

The twins are a tangle of arms and legs— and sheets on their bed, I watch their chests rise and fall in unison.

There is a crackle of thunder outside, forcing me to wrap myself from head to toe in my mother's blanket , I shake, visibly scared in spite of the light from the lamp. 'Daddy will bring her back', I repeat to myself, trying to soothe my frayed nerves.

*                          *                         *

That was the first time it happened. I didn't know what to think then, I couldn't have been more than 6 at that time. 

I am fully awake now, the tiredness seeping into my blood, making me restless. I know what this is, I hate it, but I know all the same. Thoughts like these don't just pop into my head from nowhere. 

This has happened before. I can almost smell her... Around, present. I knew it could be days, weeks even before she finally showed up back in our house, but it was something.

My head is throbbing painfully, I get up to go to the bathroom. Easing my head down close to the sink I cup my hands around the tap and drink in the cool water, bathroom water, but soothing all the same.

I anticipate her return anxiously, but this time around feels different, something cold coils in my stomach forcing the water I just drank back up my mouth and nose. 

I retch noiselessly, careful not to wake the others grasping the hard ceramic of the sink to steady myself.

Something has changed. I cannot put my finger on it just yet, but something has definitely changed, only God knows what her coming back might spell.

I notice the WC cover slightly askew, something makes a noise inside it.

Turning on the bathroom light I work towards fixing it. Pulling back the lid I see eyes— a face... Glossy and wet, it looks like a, a, a... 

"Snake!" The scream that leaves my mouth sounds nothing like me. I step back in a fear and haste, running into the door, hitting my face squarely.

The ensuing pain causes my eyes to water and I am forced to close it. My forehead and nose sting angrily. I am running blindly now, the pain dulling my senses. I run into something, no, someone, before falling over. 

I hear an irritated complaint before Agape speaks up.

"Why are you shouting? its the middle of the night!" she manages to question and chide me at the same time. 

"Snake!" I hiss through my teeth. The blood drains from her face and she crawls away in one swift motion. 

"How?!" She demands, standing behind the curtain to her room, wrapping herself in the thick fabric. Unique pushes a sleepy head out of the room and eyes us both. 

"What is it now?" She whispers, the sleep evident in her voice, anger as well.

"There's a snake in the toilet!" Agape provides, trembling and eyeing the toilet like its the doorway to hell.  

"How?" 

"I don't know, I haven't seen it, ask Em"

"It's true" I quickly provide, getting up finally. I touch the sore spot on my forehead gingerly, this was definitely going to be swollen by morning.

"Who will take it out?" She quizzes

"Take it? Take it? Like its a cricket?" Agape all but screams 

"Calm down drama queen" I whisper, the rebuke evident in my voice.

"Oh, oh, drama queen ba?" She counters 

"There is flit in daddy's room" Unique pipes 

"What will flit do? Is it an insect? God! When did we start having reptiles in this house? Is there even a Bush around? What if it has laid eggs?!" Agape cries shaking afresh in the light of this new information.

"Shhhhhhhhh" I warn clamping a hand over her mouth. Her face feels wet

"Are you crying?" I ask uselessly. She just eyes me and moves away.

"What happened?" I hear quietly behind me and I jump for the second time. What is it with me tonight?

"There's a snake in the toilet!" Agape shrieks filling Dan Dan in on the gist. He looks at us incredulously.

"Not toilet, cistern" Unique corrects

"Snake?" Dan Dan asks disbelief evident in his voice 

"Oh, sorry Miss English, cistern, toilet, anyone, there is a snake in there and we need to get it out!" Agape retorts

"Snake? How?" Dan Dan pushes

"How did it even get inside?" Unique soliloquizes out loud.

"Answer me now! Snake?!" Dan Dan shouts annoyed.

"God! Yes, Dan Dan, a snake!" Agape hisses cuffing the back of his head.

"Shhhhhhhh" I warn again, I don't want to wake Precious up, with all this commotion. 

Looking around now for stick, preferably long and heavy, a mop maybe... But everything is inside the bathroom, how am I supposed to get it out?

"The lid is on firmly, unless someone opened it an placed it in there".

"Placed it? Placed it? Are we talking about the same venomous reptile here?" Agape is hysterical now

"Not all snakes are venomous" I say absent mindedly 

"I will remember to tell you that when you're in the hospital dying slowly from the venom in your vein!"

Unique simply rolls her eyes at Agape and shrugs

"Wait!" Dan Dan yells suddenly, cracking a sheepish smile.

"Its not a snake!" He says moving towards the door, I grab him by his shoulder, turning him around to face me.

"Leave him Em, he's a man, he should go and protect us women"

"You're mad! He's our little brother, man my foot!" Turning to Dan Dan, I say

"What are you talking about?"

"Its not a snake, its a frog... I put it inside because you didn't allow me keep it in the house, and I heard they like a lot of water" he explains shrugging my hands off, he walks confidently to the toilet, lifting the cistern lid he brings it out, brandishing it boldly for us all gawk foolishly at.

"Everyone, meet Mr. Froggy"

"Wow! Very inventive!" I hear myself say, all the built up tension escaping, leaving me flaccid. 

"You're taking that thing out! Now!" Agape orders

Dan Dan looks like he might argue but  then he just shrugs and turns to go.

In an instant the frog leaps from Dan Dan's hand and lands on Agape. The scene that follows would be laughable if we were not so tired. 

Agape's screams, Unique and Dan Dan both lunging for it, more of Agape's screams, me throwing a towel over it to try and trap it, no more screams from Agape, I think maybe she has passed out from the fear.

I wrap the towel around the frog and hand it to Dan Dan.

"Release it through the window, don't ever try this again!" I warn as sternly as I can manage.

"Unique, please follow him and make sure he does" I add, unique nods and they both leave, descending the stairs in a quiet procession.

"Stand up drama queen!" I call out trying to put the bathroom in order, the throbbing on my forehead has stopped thank God, but it feels sore to the touch.

"Have you caught it?" I hear her sniff after a while. 

"Mhmmmmn" I say closing the door and helping her up. She stands for a long time, watching me silently while I work.

"I'm going to sleep now" she says quietly, I feel sorry for her. Her phobia of reptiles and their amphibian cousins feels much more than an amusing joke.

She pushes the curtains out of her way but pauses for a brief second.

"I dreamt about mom, just before this happened, that was why I woke up"

I stare at her face for a long second, she knows what this is, what it means just as I do... She was there when it started, maybe she doesn't remember every single detail but she knows. I sigh deeply before finally replying.

"Me too"