Lange watched as his wife was dragged in by one of the terrorists. He had sworn that he will not give the code to the terrorists no matter what. But now he was not so sure. His wife looked at him and he looked away. Whatever her face going to say, he was not ready to see.
“So Mr President, now we have your wife here. What do you say?”
“Don’t give them anything they ask for Johnson!” His wife shouted. “They’re going to kill me anyway.”
“She’s right, we will kill her anyway, if that’s what she wants. But do you want her to suffer before she dies?”
Lange kept his head down. There had to be another way. He heard some movement and he looked up; the terrorist approached his wife and put his hand around her head.
“Wait! Take your hands off my wife you filthy animal!”
“I don’t have time to waste Mr President, give me what I want or…”
Lange said and sighed. “Alright, here goes.”
“Smart decision, Mr President. Let’s hear it.”
“Seven, Lima, Yankee, Echo, Two, Eight, Foxtrot.”
“Thank you Mr President, you are my hero.” The masked terrorist said.
Lange shook his head and looked up at his wife, she was crying. He knew he was the reason she was in so much trouble. Even if the terrorist did not kill them, there was no way he was going to be able to face her anymore.
He had given the terrorists a code but he knew it was only a matter of time before they were back. And this time, he would really have to make a choice between his wife and the whole world.
***
Eric could feel their gaze, he hated that the whole world depended on him dying – or worse.
“Alright, I will do it.” Eric said and he saw their faces light up.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Orunmila asked.
“Want to? Nope! But I realise what it means, so yeah, I will do it.”
“Okay then, there is no time to waste, you have to head to the portal right away.” Orunmila said and paused. “This is the might be the last time I see you all, only Edumare knows what will happen out there.”
“Wait a minute, you are not coming?” Ogun asked.
“No, I cannot interfere in these matters. I will be watching you and if Edumare agree, I will send as many Aljanus as I can.”
“Before you go Orunmila, I need to ask you something.” Eric said and walked towards Orunmila. “If I die, where do I go?”
“You are coming home to Edumare. Not as a god but as human.”
“Hmm, and if I go to Hades, do I have a chance of ever leaving?”
“I’m sorry but no. Only Ibilis has the keys to Hades from the inside.”
“Okay, I’d better die then. Let’s go.”
***
There was a bounce in his step as he walked to the transmitting device. Everything was coming together for him and soon he would have the world in his hand. There was still the challenge of outwitting Ibilis but he would cross that bridge when he got there. For now, he had to get the darkness into as many countries as the device controlled.
“Alright, Professor, give us your code.”
“Okay sir!” The professor said and handed a paper to the man seated in front of the device.
The device was not very big; it was just a small electronic and magnetic device connected to a computer. But the people who built it had no idea what powers it had – Ibilis did. It would not be as easy to get other Presidents to surrender as it was with Lange but he already had a plan to counter that.
But first, he had to get the device working.
“How is it going?” Sarkin Aljan asked the technician working on the device.
“It’s taking a long time to activate sir.” The technician said.
“Of course, it is. Do you think it is your blackberry you are trying to activate?”
“Okay sir.”
He turned away from the man and looked at the Professor. When his men told him he was going to help them, he was surprised. But really he should not have, loyalty was a rare virtue among humans. Gods were not any different, he knew that from his personal behavior. He had betrayed Edumare by agreeing to work with Ibilis. He turned away from the professor, he reminded him of himself, reminded him too much. There was no way the professor would last long.
“Sir, there is a problem!” The technician said.
Sarkin Aljan rushed to his side, he could not afford to have a problem, not now when he was so close.
“What is it?”
“One of the sets of codes was wrong.”
Sarkin Aljan turned and punched the wall! “He thinks he can mess with me.”
“We have only one more try or the device goes into full lock-down!”
He stormed out of the room and walked towards the president. He would not allow a common human trifle with his plan.
He entered the room and grabbed the first lady. He motioned to one of his men.
“Grab him, he gave us the wrong code.”
He would torture both of them till he got what he wanted.
“Listen up Mr. President. I should have known you will pull something like this, so here is how it will go. I will torture your wife till you give me the correct code, and whatever pain you thought you felt, it won’t even be compared to what she will feel.”
He placed his hand on the woman’s head and she began to shout. Lange was shouting alongside her but he did not stop. He wanted her to feel the pain, he wanted Lange to see her pain, maybe then he would realize he meant business.
“Stop it! I will give you what you want!”
“Okay, I will pause. But if you give as much as one wrong digit or letter, you and her and everyother member of your family will live with pain the rest of your life. Believe me, you don’t know the beginning of the pain I can bring.”
“You won’t have to. I’ll give it to you. God help us.”
Good.
***
“This is it!” Eric said.
They were not very far from the portal now. Anne looked across the space that separated them from the building housing the portal. It would not be easy crossing, there were men, several of them pacing around the house – heavily armed too.
“They were not this many earlier.” Damola said. “Well, I guess I’m to blame for this number of men then.”
“There could be another reason.” Eric said.
“Are you sure you are up for this?” Anne asked Damola.
He was well built, she knew he could hold his own in a fight but she feared for him. Ogun could stop the guns the men carried so the fight was going to be fought by hand, but still the terrorists had the advantage of their numbers.
“I am fine.” Damola replied. “I think you are over-thinking this. We have a plan, let’s follow it.”
Anne sighed and stepped forward. She raised her hand and stretched it towards the building. A gentle wind started to blow in front of the building and then it started to increase in speed. The men in front of the building protected their eyes from the dust that was thrown up in the wind.
It was time for Ogun. Anne kept her eyes on the men. Ogun needed to get close to them before he could knock off their guns, it was her duty to keep them distracted. It appeared she was doing a good job, the men did not look in Ogun’s direction until he had their guns bent and knocked out of their hands. It was easy, too easy.
“It’s time to get you into that room Esu.”
Esu and Damola joined her and they moved towards the men.
“What the hell is that?” Esu esclaimed.
Anne looked ahead and shivered. It was the d–n dog – Manzo!
“What do we do?” Anne asked.
“We fight it!” Damola said.
“Not you Damola.” Anne said. She could not bear to see him fight the monstrous beast. “Stay behind please.”
Damola rushed towards the dog before she could stop him. She screamed and ran after him. A hand grabbed her and pulled her to a stop. She pulled away from the hand and towards Damola but the hand held her still. She looked up at the owner of the hand, it was Ogun.
“Get Esu into that building, I will take care of the dog.”
“But Damola is…”
“I will take care of Damola too. Just make sure Esu is able to end the portal.”
Anne held Esu’s hand and they ran towards the building. They crashed in through the door and stopped just before the barricade.
“How do I get in?” Esu asked. “I need Ogun to get in.”
“Okay, I will get him. Stay here, don’t leave!”
She turned back and opened the door. She felt a sharp pain pierce through her stomach and she staggered backwards. She looked at her stomach, there was a dagger sticking out of it. She looked up and saw the man that had put it in her. She pointed her hand towards him and he was blasted away by a burst of wind. She fell to the ground and groaned.
“Anne!” She heard Damola’s voice shout.
She leaned a hand on the wall and pushed herself to stand, the dagger turned and she fell back to the ground. Damola got to her and picked her up.
“Anne, stay with me.”
“I love you Sango!” She said.
“Stay with me please.” He shouted.
She smiled and closed her eyes.
***
Sarkin Aljan looked at the device load. Lange had been wise enough to give him the right code this time. He would have access to all the commonwealth countries in two minutes. It would take another ten minutes for those countries to start getting fed the darkness.
He looked away from the screen and began to pace. Soon he would have all he wanted since he got to Earth. He still had to deal with Ibilis but he knew that would work for him. Once the whole of mankind was at his mercy, even Edumare will reason with him.
“It is completed sir!” The technician said.
“Good, connect to the portal.” Sarkin Aljan said.
“In ten minutes, I will have the world jumping at the snap of my fingers.”
All he needed now was for the portal to do what it was created for. Everything was going great!
***
“Esu, if we don’t get this done now, we will all be dead!” Ogun shouted.
Damola wanted to get up and rip the man’s head off. But no, he could not let go of his Oya. His body shook and the tears streamed down his face. He could not lose her, not now when they finally had a chance to stay together.
“Esu! The barricade is open, it’s time to go!”
Damola looked up at Esu, he saw the reluctance in his face. He did not blame him, it was a difficult thing to do. He would gladly take his place, especially now that his only reason for living was no more, but he could not.
“Are you going to do this or not?” Ogun was getting more agitated.
Esu walked towards him, his eyes on Anne.
“If she somehow survives this, tell her I was glad to meet her.” Esu said to him. “She is a very nice person. And if she doesn’t, then I guess I will be seeing her on the other side then.”
“I can’t take this crap anymore!” Ogun said
Ogun walked towards them, grabbed Esu and carried him towards the portal.
“What are you doing?” Esu shouted.
“I’m throwing you in the portal, I suggest you do what you have to.”
“What? Wait a minute.”
Damola tried to stand but he was held down by the weight of Anne. What was this crazy man doing? It was dangerous.
“Hey, stop it!” Damola shouted. “Hey!”
Ogun threw Esu into the portal and the room suddenly became filled with smoke. Damola carried Anne and struggled to his feet. He stumbled towards the portal, he got to the barricade and stopped.
The portal had darkened. He looked around for Esu and Ogun, they were not in the room!
Had he really lost all the other gods? Was he the only one left, and without any power? Was this Edumare’s plan? He looked up and screamed!
***
Something was wrong! The portal had suddenly lost connection. He had shot the technician in a moment of anger and panic. He had no idea what was happening and he had no way of finding out. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the number of one of the guards stationed with the portal.
He waited and listened as the phone rang; there was no answer. Something was wrong, he knew it! He redialed. What could have gone wrong? He had made sure Sango could never get through to the portal and the Professor said he had had somebody take care of Esu.
“Hello.” His man finally answered the call.
“You idiot, where have you been? What’s going on with the portal?” Sarkin Aljan screamed into the phone.
“Sarkin Aljan…” The voice came through the phone softly. “It is over. The portal has been destroyed!”
No way!
“Who is this?”
“I advise you to run because I’m coming for you and I won’t stop till I kill you!”
It was Sango! He ended the call and dropped the phone.
It was over for him. He had to escape into a place he could not be found by Ibilis. He looked at the President and his wife passed out on the floor, he stepped across them and ran out of the room.
It was great that he had a Plan B.
He had lost the battle but he would still win the war!
EPILOGUE
“This was your plan?” Orunmila asked.
He knew he could and should never question Edumare but he had to, just this once!
“They lost to Sarkin Aljan! I could have done something about it! They lost!”
“Did they lose Orunmila? Do you really believe that they lost?” Edumare asked.
“They are all destroyed. Even Sango who still stands is nothing but a good-for-nothing human.”
“Is that what you think humans are? Good for nothing?”
“I did not mean it that way my Lord.” Orunmila said, bowing before the throne. “But surely my Lord cannot be pleased by this outcome.”
“They saved the world even if they gave themselves doing it.”
“So they are lost forever my Lord?”
Edumare looked away from him and into the distance.
Orunmila knew that look, there was something coming. He smiled, there was something coming, something great! There was something coming!
.
.
.
Author’s Note: Thanks to everyone who followed this story. This is however a first draft of the first draft, so I will be making several adjustments to the plot, the structure everything. Thanks for following though.
By Donwalt
