Jeremy’s heart raced at a frightening pace, his breaths coming in quick, shallow gasps as he gripped the steering wheel of his car, tires screeching against the asphalt. Panic etched across his face as he glanced nervously at the rearview mirror, praying desperately that she wouldn’t appear out of the blue.

He had stormed out of the office long ago, yet those frightening words she roared echoed loudly in his ears, and he knew he was now in danger.

“Dear Lord Jesus, Lincoln wasn’t lying!” he gasped. “Her witchcraft really is on another level. This isn’t the standard African witchcraft, chale…”

“Foolish mortal!”

The witch’s enraged voice echoed in the car, chilling a shrieking Jeremy to the bone. “You think you can reject me and escape from me? You must be stupid!”

The traffic was surprisingly very low this evening, which fared well for him, because he was speeding at a crazy rate whenever he could. He might not have been able to get away from her, but he needed to get home as fast he could.

She was angry now, and only God knew what kind of evil was gathering up in her mind.

“You can’t run, you can drive, but you can’t hide! I’ll make you regret this forever!” Her snarls were unrelenting and echoed through the car. “You are going to regret this! Do you hear me? YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET THIS!”

Jeremy yelped in fright at the last scream, almost losing control of the steering wheel as a result. He grabbed it just in time to keep from steering off the road and crashing into an electric pole.

Hyperventilating at that close shave, he shook his head. “I gotta call Lincoln,” he murmured to himself. He said he knew a lot about the activities of these evil ones; surely he’d have an idea or two about dealing with them. He picked the phone to search for Lincoln’s contact.

Then it blacked out.

“What the…”

A scornful sneer followed. “Stupid man. You’re not making any calls!”

Jeremy gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to scream out in frustration, then threw his phone down and focused on the road. At this point, the only thing that mattered was to get home and get the family to safety. As far as contacting Lincoln or any of their pastors was concerned, he could drive them there.

Yeah, the way this witch was moving made every movement extremely risky; she was virtually one step ahead of every move he made, but a move had to be made. Standing idle wouldn’t help. Action had to be taken.

***

Parking near the gate, there was no time to get one of the boys to open the gate. He had to get them out of the house as quickly as possible.

Dashing through the gate and across the compound, he burst through the front door, drenched in sweat and terror etched across his face. Aurelia looked up from the dinner table, concern immediately furrowing her brow, while Marcel and Terry, seated with her and busy reading books, glanced at their father with wide eyes.

“Babe, is something wrong?” Aurelia asked worriedly.

Gasping for breath, he slammed the door behind him. “We need to leave, now!” he exclaimed, urgency lacing his words.

Aurelia rose from her chair, eyes narrowing in confusion and worry. “What’s going on, Jeremy? Where from this?”

“I’ll explain on the way! Just come and let’s get out of here right now! It’s urgent!”

Aurelia and the boys looked confused and very worried. Whatever had the head of the house spooked out must have been bad; he looked drained and petrified.

“Come on! Let’s move! Please! Let’s move, now!” he barked desperately, punctuating each word with a clap.

Without another word, they all sprung up from their seats and hurriedly moved through the living room towards the front door, where he stood. As they trotted toward him, however, he saw shadows flickering through the windows.

His heart sank. Oh, no. She’s around.

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

Urging him as passionately as he could, he opened the door. As they stepped onto the porch, however, they stopped dead in their tracks.

There, standing on the porch in a hauntingly ethereal form, was the witch, her evil eyes glowing with an otherworldly malice.

“JESUS!!!” Aurelia screamed, shielding their sons behind her. “What is this?”

The witch looked up at her. “Your worst nightmare!” she smirked, her voice now distorted and sounding like a creature straight from the depths of hell.

Heart pounding like it was on an overdose of steroids, Jeremy grabbed his family’s hands, pulling them back into the house. The door slammed shut behind them, but the sound of the witch’s cackling laughter lingered in the air.

“Mummy, that’s the one! That’s the witch who came to scare us in the room!” Terry cried, fright apparent on his face.

“Oh my God, what does she want, what does she want?” Aurelia whimpered.

“No time to think about that. Let’s pass the back door! Quickly!”

In a frenzy, the family sprinted through the corridor and reached the kitchen, hoping the back door would be their salvation.

Aurelia, her hands shaking, rushed to the door first and grabbed the door handle and pulled, only to find it locked. She pulled extra hard. It still wouldn’t budge.

Desperation and fear etched on her face, she turned to Jeremy. “It’s locked! What do we do?”

Before Jeremy could respond, the kitchen trembled with an unnatural energy. The air thickened, the atmosphere becoming charged with an ominous force. The family turned around, terror gripping their hearts, to witness the witch materializing in the center of the kitchen.

With a sinister cackle, the witch raised her hands, and the back door rattled as if possessed by a malevolent force. Shivers ran down their spines seeing that. She snapped her fingers, and the kitchen door sealed shut, locking them all inside. Panic set in as realization dawned that there was no way out.

“Daddy, what do we do? What do we do? What do we do?” Marcel asked tearfully, holding on to his father. Aurelia began praying fervently, hoping the superior powers of heaven would come to their rescue.

The witch looked unimpressed by her actions. Sniggering, she mocked, “You’re engaging in a fruitless exercise, woman!”

Aurelia stared her defiantly in the face, ready to get it on with her. “It is NOT a fruitless exercise!” she cried. “The Bible says that-“

“Bible this!”

As the witch raised her hand again, the kitchen erupted into chaos. Household appliances whirred to life, spinning around the room in a frenzied hurricane just under the ceiling. Plates, pots, and pans became deadly projectiles, forcing the family to duck and dodge in a desperate attempt to avoid the onslaught.

At this point, Aurelia’s attempt to battle her was dead in the water. Making sure she wasn’t hit by a plate or a frying pan was a bigger objective.

As the family gathered at one corner of the room, trembling in fright, the witch stared them down and let out a wicked laugh.

“You thought you could run from me, didn’t you?” she hissed, her voice reverberating through the room. “Fools!”

She then pointed at the sink. With a wave of her hand, water surged from the faucet in a gushing torrent, quickly turning the kitchen into a watery nightmare. The sink overflowed in no time flat, and the water level rose rapidly, flooding the floor and trapping the family in a growing deluge.

Fear etched across their faces, the family clung to each other, struggling to stay upright in the chaos. This had to be the most terrifying experience they could ever have: getting trapped in their own kitchen with the growing likelihood that they might drown in it. It would probably be chilling to watch in a movie, but experiencing it was ten times worse.

Marcel and Terry were crying, Aurelia held them tight, and Jeremy could only stare in dismay at what transpired before them, with the water level now above their ankles.

This is all my fault. We’re in this because of me. It’s all my fault. Damnit! he swore inwardly, cursing that fateful evening. Oh God, if only I had never followed them to the club… in fact, if only I had never followed them to Ada! Ugh! This one night stand is the worst mistake of my life!

The witch, watching their plight with malevolent delight, roared with laughter. “Fool!” she sneered, an icy-cold glare at Jeremy. “You thought you could cross me and get away with it? Insignificant fool!”

Aurelia turned to Jeremy, dread and curiosity in her eyes. “What does she want?” she yelled over the loud madness in the room. “Why is she after you?”

Jeremy stared back at her, sadness in his eyes.

If only he had told her the truth and not hidden behind the ruse of fear all this time. Now look at what that cowardice had caused! Lincoln was right.

Well, I don’t know what’s gonna happen right now. We’re trapped. There’s no way out. This witch is on fire, and we just can’t stop her. Might as well come clean before we die.

“Babe… that’s what I needed to talk to you about,” he explained.

Aurelia looked bewildered. “Wh-wh-why? Wh-wh-wh-what have you done? What did you do? D-d-did you sign a deal with the devil or something?”

Jeremy shook his head. The ‘hurricane’ above them was quite distracting, and the water level was fast rising to their knees. He was going to have to be fast about this. He let out a loud sigh.

This was it. Now or never.

“No, no. Not that. See, Aurelia, the truth is, we’re in this mess because… Aurelia, I-“

“HEY!”

From out of nowhere, a powerful wave of icy cold water crashed over Jeremy, virtually engulfing him and tossing him away from his family.

“JEREMYYYYYYY!” Aurelia screamed.

Damn oh damn, it’s gone insane in the house! Is the witch gonna conquer them? I sure hope not!