Sacrifice of blood and love

Ada lives a much more luxurious life than her boyfriend's. It was a , a bedroom flat, she was able to afford it from her online jobs and her office job as a sales representative plus her father helped pay for it. She went to her fridge as soon as she got in and popped a bottle of Coke. And took some meat pies she had made out Half was packed in an envelope and given to Mezuo, and about 4 more were left for herself. She went into the sitting roms and lay on the couch, drawn by the quietness she dozed off. And when she awoke, it was late evening, she got her purses and started going back to Mezuo's place.

Mezuo was packing his bag for the trip back home.

"Must you go ?" Ada asked him".

It was the Orishiri festival again. His father already asked him to come home. And he had agreed to. leaned down and kissed her. He got up and so did she, helping him carry his bag. In front gate in his self-contain apartment, which was on the ground floor just along the road, they waited for a keke. few minutes later they said goodbye

"Bye," he said and looked straight almost immediately

Bye, "she responded .

He always seemed so distant to Ada; sometimes, he would be lovely and caring. Other times, he was just distant. But Ada loves him _or she makes herself_

"He loves me," she would always remind herself.

Alone again, she began to feel her mood dwindle. She always hates it when she is in a sad mood, but she often is, so she decided to think of Mezuo. Perhaps his scent would help, but still she was restless and soon what was left of his scent was lost to the stench from behind. He hardly ever visits this apartment since she moved in.

Before Ada exchanged her apartment for his. He hardly ever visited her apartment.Even thou it was much more comfortable.

He came only the first time and twice more. He always got angry and ended the conversation when she asked him to come over. Once he asked "Why can't you just come to my place without complaining?"

"I'm not complaining, I'm just saying my place is a lot more comfortable. We could enjoy. Our time better there.

"Should I get a much comfortable place? " he asked

"Sure," she said, happy he could

"Maybe instead of paying the full rent at your place. Move into someone smaller so I can rent a better apartment and we can spend good times together there."

She really didn't expect that's. "You...." "I like my place. It was really difficult for me to get there, and it's such a good spot."

He came forward, kissed her and his hand ran through her neck."why Don't we switch houses"".

He was being affectionate with her. Gentle The way he was spole, and he was actually looking at her. She looked around. She really wanted to please him, but thinking of staying I. Such a small space like this made her suffocate on the inside.

"You spend more time at my place than yours, so you already live here."

"Okay," she said, dancing to the attention he was giving her.

The first time she slept in her new room, she threw up all night, The noise from the road she could barely sleeping for a week. When she called him, crying. He said, "You are going to get used to it. It's just a matter of time," and he said he had work and ended the call. She learnt to spend a lot of time at his place. And fewer at her new place.

Her father didn't know this. And when he came to town for business , he called and rather than invite him she asked him to take her for lunch. And then followed him to his hotel and didn't even let him mention coming to her place.

An hour and some minutes later, she was done cooking. She took her bath, dished her meal and sat on the bed, and began to eat. The appetite left rather quickly as the wave of nausea came. The smell from behind. She had totally forgotten that having her bath would make the back smell. The drainage system was faulty. For the past 3 months, she's been living here. It started almost instantly. She already told Mezuo about it. He promised to call a plumber.

"Babe, about the plumber" ?she remembered the last time she asked him

"He is coming," not raising his eyes from the computer screen, he was always glued to.

"It's been 2 months. The smell is getting really bad," she pressed

" I said I will call him," he said, still glued to the screen.

"You haven't even called him already?" She asked, deducing from the statement.

Mezuo, knowing he was caught, raised his face. "Why are you disturbing me about such little things? Must I do everything for you?" he raised his voice, staring at her.

"It just...".

HE fixed his look more on her, and with that, she stopped speaking. He didn't speak to her for the 5 days she spent there. Nor did he eat the food she made. He just went out at night and came back the next morning. Finally so exhausted from the treatment, she was forced to return to this little hut she called it in her mind. She called the plumber herself this time, and he promised to come today. She was expecting him. Meanwhile, she dropped the food now totally lost her appetite. And she decided to take a walk. She was exhausted; she wished she had a friend to go to. The only person she had here was Mezuo.

...

That evening when she got back, the smell was gone. She was famished, so she picked her food again.

She ate and called the plumber again. He said he couldn't make it, and she knew her sleep that night was going to be disturbed. She still had to have her night bath.

She quickly had her bath, then left the room for a stroll. She came to the shop where she usually gets her provisions. She had little money with her at that point, she was still working on a project and hadn't gotten paid . The last project she worked on, she gave some of the money to Mezuo. Initially, he said he was broke. Then later he asked to borrow some and still hasn't paid back. She just realised she was broke, and she has been for a while now.

3 days have passed, and still no plumber. The smell got worse. Although she did enjoy spending some time outside. She couldn't eat well, or sleep well. She decided to go back to her place.

A fume of smoke covered her face. Still standing at the door staring into her place, it was unrecognisable. It was like a club.

Hello, she started when he answered.

"How are you?" was his immediate response. " I'm busy now, let me call you back."

"I went to my place and ..."

"Why did you go there was his harsh response.

"I went to stay there ."

"What happened to your place?"

"That's where I went to," she responded

"No, that house is my house, okay. Mine don't go there stay at yours "

"Your house is smelling" the fact she called it his house made him even angrier.

"I can't stay there".she finally said

Finally, both places stayed silent. Come over here

"What ?" She asked

"Come to my hometown. I wanna introduce you to my family. My mum especially I want to show her the woman I love," he added

Surprised "What ?"

"Yes, come over tomorrow. I will be waiting," and he ended the call.

Silas knew there was something off about his daughter. She didn't invite him to her home like she always did, but rather let him sleep in the hotel. She lost weight, looked sick, like she was being maltreated, and she was awfully quiet even around him. He has always known she had her own shy ....no, it was more than shy, he told himself the truth self-confidence issue. He still couldn't pinpoint why she has such an issue. Maybe it had something to do with her mother dying so early.

If he didn't find and pay for the house himself he would have doubted if he was right. This was more of a clubhouse. Naked women are lying around. Drugs in the air

He went inside looking for his daughter. She was nowhere to be found. And just as he was about to leave, the landlord and police officers came in.

They caught each other's look. The landlord would usually greet him, adding a sir to his name. But he was apparently upset by the incident he didn't even want to catch his gaze.

"What's happening??"

"He rented the apartment out to these"

"My daughter," a mixture of surprise and shock. His voice. Have her personal issues led her to find comfort in such a lifestyle? "No, he shook that feeling off. If that were the case, she would be here.

"No, that's useless, boy, she is seeing."

" Let's go for a drink" and they both left.

As Ada was leaving. She heard her landlady, as usual, shouting at her children. l She greeted the landlady.

"AdaAda," where are you going ? .

"I'm going to see Mezuo's family.."

If Ada were being honest, she would have admitted that the look on her face spelled disgust. "That man,..oh, ok. You are going, "

"Yes"

She said nothing with her voice, but her looks told it all. The lady shook her head as she walked away. And now she was just staring as a man looking rich walked in.

"Good evening. I am looking for Mezuo."

"He travelled to the village," she looked at him with a frown

"What about Ada?"

" Who are you? She asked. Just coming here asking questions," her illiteracy spelled out. "What ?"

"Ada is my daughter. I am looking for her."

"She goes...to his village ".

"What "

"Mezuo's village"

"Where is he from?"

She looked at him knowing he was well to do opened her hand to him. And looked away.

He put money in her hand

She smiled and gave the information away.

He didn't need to go inside to see the true state his daughter has been living in.

As he was leaving, he heard the landlady

"A useless boy," the landlady shouted. And she went on about him. Her final words called him to urgency, "better go and collect your daughter, or she will die".

...

"Yes, Papa, I stay in a flat, I have a woman too. His son seems to be doing very well for himself. It was time.

"Mezuo," he called him, "It is time," he told him

"Time for what he asked, having no clue.

"For you to break the curse " our family used to be amongst the wealthiest families in our community. But not anymore. Mezuo didn't understand that. He grew up in poverty.

It's not normal, we've been subjected to poverty. It's goes all the way back to your great-grandfather's grandfather, who met a woman, and she plotted with her lover

Over the decades, we come home every end of the year. We would always go to the farm and..."

" kill a goat, and eat". Mezuo completed the sentence. That was his favourite part of the festival. They really never had enough money to buy meat every time. Same time every year, they would kill a young male goat, but he never really understood why they had to kill it by the riverside.

He often wondered why they couldn't live in the city like others did. Not until he was old enough to live on his own.

"Our curse is tied in this community. Buried in something that belongs to us. To break this curse a woman caused. Now, a woman who loves you must break it"

But papa, how do you know she loves me? His voice low.

You own your own an expensive apartments. Dress well and have come back with much money. It's not yours. You are my son, you are cursed too. Someone must be taking care of you. Only a woman who loves can take care of a man"

"Papa,We still don't know where the curse is buried."

"We've learnt something new. The woman used our ancestors' blood, and with the blood of the sacrifice in the river that flows through our lands. His blood was the key. We've always thought we needed our blood to release the curse. But no. We need our blood and the blood of someone who loves us. Our grandfather loved her, and that was a key ingredient."

When Ada called and told him she had gone to his apartment. Anger made him mad, but, jealousy first ignited it. And knowing what he knows now. That his hard work would never yield anything, all because of some stupid love story. All because of a woman. "Come over ", he said

It was that time of the year again, but this time it was different. He saw the trip down the farm different. He didn't put his best into it like he used to because he knew it would yield nothing. And when the time came, he was eager.

She will be there when the sacrifices are made. As the blood flows, so will yours and hers.

Ada was there. Trying to make a good impression, His mother looked over her. Knowing what he knows now, he looks at all of them. His mother's smile towards Ada . All her suffering was still marked on her face..

His brother, too. Looking old, his face was marked with hardship; he was ugly.

He was going to save his father. He was going to save them all.

That night after she arrived, that's the very night he had sex with her. He wanted to be sure she still loves him.. Now at the riverside, the goat bleeding as the knife cut through. She turned to leave , she didn't want to see such cruelty. He quickly caught her hand.

"Let go Mezuo! " she struggled to let go. The goat still alive was struggling. It's blood splash everywhere as it fought. Finally she wriggled her hand off and started running away from there.

"Stop," he called out.

His father blocked her path.

Fear came first through her legs, then gradually climbed up through her spine as she saw Mezuo cut himself and let the blood flow through the river.

"Come, my love," he stretched his hand.

She looked at him. The words sound like poison to her ears, killing off whatever nutrients was nourishing this relationship. Like a recoil stretched to the limit, her sense snapped back quickly, and she realised how ugly this man is. Saw through his lies. His heart was black without an atom of love. She wondered why exactly she hurt herself. Every moment they shared came like worms crawling through her body. She began to itch.

"Time is going," his father urged him. He came forward and dragged her back to the river. She fought. he cut her very close to the wrist. And her life gradually began to slip away.

Mezuo tied her cut hand to stop the bleeding. "No need, my child. There's nothing you can do. Her life is a sacrifice."

With a bit of shock, "She's going to die ?" I thought you said just her blood

" Her blood is her life ".

His fear escalated as he realised his blood was flowing through that river too, " and my blood?" He asked immediately.

"You are safe, my son,"

They carried her, and they all returned. They all waited for a sign. Maybe her death was the sign they were waiting for. No one knew.

A knock at the door. That evening, they all jumped out of their sleep. And wild, scared eyes stared at each other. Exchanging glances. Their hearts beating fast

His father's quickly got up, he went straight to the door and opened it. He was faced by a man, taller and heftier than him. Who looks rich? He thought, "Riches have finally found me."

"I'm here for my daughter."

His hopes were cut off like a bridge snapped in two.this man was here to save him.feeling inferior like In his whole life realis"What daughter?" he responded, aiming to scare away.

Mezuo came out. He recognised him even thou Ada had never introduced him to him, he had seen his face once or twice while scrolling through her phone. "Where is my daughter?" he shouted this time, looking at Mezuo. Who was breathing fast

Fear and regret set in, but he was a strong man; he told himself. He was going to save his family, he told himself.

Ada's father felt weak.Looking at both men, he was certain his daughter was not in safe hands. She was hurt. He tried to fight in his own way, no way. He turned and started leaving. He picked up his phone and began dialing.

They knew he was going to return. They looked in on her she was still breathing, fighting for her life.

"Should we finish it up, Baba?" Mezuo asked.

"No," it must be natural. "Let's get her out of here".

It was dark now. They carried her away.

Soon an old man came standing at their front yard. He was dancing.

"Have we appeased the gods? Have we broken the curse?

" Only cementing it with every passing second"

" What do the gods want. We've given blood and love."

" You gave a sacrifice of blood and

hate ".

You have no ounce of love in you. And for that reason, you can never break this curse. If the girl dies, your fate is sealed for life.