Silent Screams - Season 1 - Episode 17

Episode 4 years ago

Silent Screams - Season 1 - Episode 17

.
She paced her room back and forth, her heart beat faster at the thought of marrying a spirit.
Yes she knew her parents were wicked but to marry her off to a spirit, could they be capable of such an inhuman act.

Maybe the dark figure wasn’t real, maybe she had just been seeing things and he was just a mare creation of her imagination.
‘But how do I explain the tattoo on my leg?’ She asked no one in particular. ‘Could Jada have been right about her suspicions?’
Leila pursed her lips and rubbed her sweaty palms together, the idea of the dark figure being her supposed husband was sickening. She hoped the prophet would provide her with answers to the many questions she had.
She was woken from her reverie by the vibration of her phone. She picked it up and read the text message from Chibuye ‘I need to urgently see you.’
‘Hey are you okay?’ Leila asked
Another message came through on her phone, ‘I am not okay can we meet please.’

She really needed someone to talk to about all the things that were happening and she knew Chibuye would be good company.
‘Come and pick me at 15:00 after work,’ she replied.

‘It’s a date then.’
‘It aren’t no date, we will just be talking about a bunch of useless things.’
‘I will see you later baby.’
‘Later.’

She placed her phone back on the table and walked straight to the bathroom. Leila practically jumped into the shower and sighed as the cold water coursed over her. She stepped out of the shower ten minutes later & dried herself.
She opened her closet and pulled out a purple pencil skirt and a white blouse. She quickly got dressed and walked out of her room, with her hand bag slung over her shoulder. She found the rest of the family having breakfast.
‘Morning,’ she greeted as she headed towards the door.

‘Aren’t you having breakfast hun?’ Her mother asked.

‘No,’ she shook her head.
‘Need a lift?’ Jada asked

‘I am fine.’
‘Have a good day at work then,’ Jada said
‘Thanks sis,’ she responded and walked out

The walk to the school was about twenty minutes Leila arrived at seven fifty, ten minutes before class started. She hurried off to her class to prepare for the lessons ahead. The idea of spending the whole day with noisy children infuriated her, she wasn’t passionate about teaching this wasn’t her thing.

‘Morning Leila,’ Marjory smilingly greeted her.

She turned to face her, ‘Hey Marjory.’
‘How have you been, your father said you were taking a few weeks off work.’
‘He did?’

‘Yes so I am surprised to see you here.’
‘Oh. I feel a whole lot better now so I am fit to work,’ she faked a smile.
‘If you say so but please don’t hesitate to take time off anytime you are unwell.’
‘Okay,’ she nodded her head.

‘That aside, your father told me about your upcoming marriage, congratulations girl, how come you never said anything about that?’
Leila shook her head, ‘I was waiting for the right time to tell you,’ she lied.

‘I am so excited for you girl, I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend.’
‘I didn’t know either,’ she said under her breath.

‘Say what?’
‘Nothing.’

‘So where is your engagement ring, have you started planning the wedding?’
Leila was quiet irritated with Marj’s probing, this was a sensitive issue to her, she had no idea why her father was telling the world that she was getting married.

‘With all due respect Marj, I don’t want to talk about my upcoming marriage.’
‘Oh,’ she said disappointedly.
‘Yes.’

‘Alright hun, I will see you later, feel free to come to me when you need advice concerning weddings and marriage in general.’

‘Okay.’ Leila said quiet irritated.
Marj walked out of the room and went straight to her office.

She took a deep breath before she turned to the pupils who had just walked into the classroom, she greeted them with a smile and big bear hugs, despite not having a passion for teaching Leila loved to treat her pupils with love.

As soon as everyone was in class, she started with her first lesson for the day.

Time seemed to be going faster than normal that day and before Leila knew it, it was already 15:00. The pupils ended their day with their class prayer then they grabbed their bags, waved good bye to Leila and rushed out of the class.

As soon as the last pupil walked out of the class, Leila started packing her books so she could leave. She had nearly finished packing when Marj knocked on her door and she poked her head into the classroom.
‘There is a good looking gentleman looking for you outside.’

‘Oh, I will be out in a bit.’
‘Not that it’s any of my business but is he the man you are set to marry?’
‘No Marj, Chibuye is just a friend.’
‘Such a yummy friend, tell him I am single and searching,’ she smiled
‘I will do just that Marj.’

‘Okay, I will keep him company as you finish up,’ Marj said before she closed the door and walked away.

Leila shook her head in disbelief, before she went back to packing her books. When she was done, she picked her hand bag and headed towards the door.
When she got to the reception, she found Marj and Chibuye talking, they were sitting so close to each other.

Leila cleared her throat before speaking, ‘Chibuye!’
‘Hey stranger,’ He stood up almost immediately.

‘Hello to you too,’ Leila faked a smile.
Chibuye stepped closer to her and kissed her cheeks, ‘We missed you,’ he whispered
Leila blushed.

Marj stood up, ‘It was nice seeing you Chibuye,’ she said
‘Pleasure is mine.’
She walked back to her office.
‘What was that all about? Leila asked Chibuye.

‘I should be asking you, didn’t you send her to keep me company.’
‘Oh please,’ she rolled her eyes.
Chibuye grabbed her bag from her and lead her to the car.

*

He drove for close to an hour and Leila wondered where he was taking her too but she didn’t ask. Finally they arrived at a restaurant on the outskirts of town. He got out of the car and opened the car door for her.
He held out his hand to her, she took it and he lead her towards the entrance.

‘Why didn’t you say to were bringing me to such a nice place, I would have dressed better,’ Leila frowned.

‘You look awesome I bet you would look awesome even in rugs.’
She laughed, ‘Chaffed for years!’
‘I just wanted to bring you somewhere different.’

At the reception, Chibuye gave his name for the reservation and they were shown to their table at the far end of the room, the room was cozy and small.

Leila sat down ‘I love this place,’ she whispered.

‘I am sure you will love their food more,’ he pulled a chair and sat down too.
They looked at the menus on the table before the waiter arrived and asked them to order.
After the waiter left, an awkward silence fell before them.

‘So!’ they finally said in unison.
Leila laughed, ‘Sorry you go first,’ she said.
He gave her a tight smile, ‘Ladies first.’
‘So,’ she began, ‘My sister and i went to see a traditional healer a few days ago.’
‘A traditional healer?’
‘Yes, I have been having some strange dreams and I have been seeing this dark figure in a black hood with glowing eyes.’
‘A dark figure?’ He asked, eyes wide open
‘Yes.’

‘How long has this been going on Leila?’ he asked
‘This figure has haunted my dreams for as long as I can remember at first I thought the figure was a figment of my imagination but now I don’t know what to think anymore and my parents think I am just making everything up.’

‘And what did the healer say?’
Their food arrived before she could respond to his question.

‘Well the healer said some strange things, she bowed down to me and called me a queen, she said my husband is quiet a strong and powerful figure.’
‘That’s strange so what’s the way forward.’

He couldn’t tell her he too had been seeing the strange dark figure because he didn’t want to worry her.

‘I want to seek help from a man of God and if that doesn’t work then I don’t know where else to seek for answers.’
‘This is bigger than you, I am willing to help you find a solution, when are you going to see the prophet?’
‘This Friday.’
‘I will go with you.’
‘Why are you helping me though, what do you want to gain from all this.’
‘It’s no secret that I like you, yes I know you are set to be married but I can’t help it, I just want to see you happy, I want you to be free Leila.’

She smiled, ‘Thank you,’ she said as she looked at Chibuye feeling like a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
.