“Greatest TV shows? That’s a tough one. Where do we even begin?” Margaret wondered aloud, her can of 7-Up in her hand as she shifted in her seat. The Annor couple was around for a visit that lovely Saturday afternoon, and as was always the case whenever they met, once the regular formalities and lunch, which had been a tantalizing serving of ampesi and kontomire, were complete, it was time to chat about something random.

As far as they were concerned, anything was fair game. From the Disney classics they loved as kids to the countries they had visited and would love to visit one day to the politicians they believed were the best people to have never had the chance to lead Ghana. They would talk about it, engage in banter for hours if given the chance. The bond was really strong with these two couples.

So as Jeremy and Aurelia sat in their couch, and Kevin and Margaret in the other chairs, this was the topic for that afternoon.

Jeremy leaned back in his chair and smirked. “Let’s start with the classics. Breaking Bad, anyone?”

Aurelia rolled her eyes. “Of course. That’s the first one he’ll mention. If he didn’t start with that, I’d know a clone has kidnapped my husband.”

Everyone else laughed.

Kevin raised his can of Malta Guinness. “Not that I disagree, though. That’s a masterpiece of a series right there. The transformation of Walter White is pure genius. From some innocent teacher to a wicked drug lynchpin. Chale, stop! And it never ran out of steam. Excitement from start to finish!”

Margaret looked skeptical. “Ehh. It was good, but the greatest? I’d rather go with The Sopranos. That one is straight up classic.”

Jeremy’s nose turned up. “Blah! For that ending alone, it loses points. Ah! How do you just black out on us and say that’s the end. No closure whatsoever. Hoh!”

Aurelia laughed out loud. “Jeremy’s never gonna forgive the writers for that, I can tell you. When we watched it, he was raging when that ending happened. Like proper raging.”

“Na why won’t I? Eh? Let us know what happened to Tony. For Breaking Bad, we all know how it ended with Walt. This one, we can’t tell. If he died ooo, he didn’t die ooo, we don’t know!” Jeremy insisted, growing quite animated in his frustration with the way he threw his hands about, which had the Annor couple in stitches.

“Ei, Jeremy, the thing really worry you!” Margaret guffawed.

“I swear!” Kevin snickered. “Ibi like if you catch the David Chase guy, you really go shake am.”

“Massa, I go shake am roff!”

The living room was filled with laughter.

These moments were constant whenever the four of them met. Whether in the Provencal house or the Annor residence, three things were guaranteed once the two couples met and had chats about random stuff.

Laughs. More laughs. And a couple more laughs.

Of course, there were bound to be clashes every now and then, but there was enough maturity between them to nip it before it got out of hand.

As they calmed down, the voices of Marcel and Terry rang through the air. “Daddy!”

Jeremy looked in their direction, and as he saw the good-boy grins on their faces, couldn’t help but break out into a grin himself. He had promised they could use the PlayStation for the rest of the afternoon, and they were ready to claim their promise.

He gestured toward the console, comfortably sitting next to the TV. “It’s all yours, boys. You know how to do the disconnecting and all, right?”

“Yes, please.”

“Alright, go on.”

In less than five minutes, they had taken the necessary cables out and were carrying their ‘afternoon treasure’ to their room. As they did, Aurelia ordered them, “Make sure you put the lights on while you’re playing. And no fighting. If I hear you boys fighting with each other, there’s going to be trouble. Understood?”

“Yes, Mummy,” both answered meekly, remembering the punishment she gave them the last time they almost exchanged blows over a game. They carried the console upstairs and disappeared into their room.

Once he heard the door lock, Jeremy had a big grin directed at the Annors as he nodded toward his wife. “You guys know something? I think she’s hella sexy when she’s strict.”

Aurelia immediately hit him on the arm. “Jeremy!”

Kevin and Margaret laughed.

***

The room was filled with the sounds of rapid button mashing and the occasional victorious cheer as Marcel and Terry huddled around the glowing screen of their simple television and the PlayStation. Fully focused on what was before them, Marcel clutched his controller tightly, his eyes wide with determination, while Terry leaned forward with a keen expression, his fingers dancing skillfully over his own controller.

There was only one objective: to win this battle.

“Terry, watch out! Here comes the big alien boss!” Marcel declared loudly, doing his best to get one over his younger brother.

Terry snickered. “Don’t worry, Marcel. I got this. I’ve defeated this boss like a million times already.”

Marcel scoffed. “A million? More like a hundred!”

Terry rolled his eyes and chuckled. “You underestimate me, Marcel. I’m the ultimate master at this game! Nobody can conquer me at this. Not even Daddy!”

Now it was Marcel’s turn to roll his eyes. “Master for the where? You wish! Tweaaa! I’m sure I can beat you with my eyes closed!”

Terry gazed at him. “Challenge accepted! Close them and let’s see what you can do!”

Marcel giggled and squeezed his eyes shut, furiously pressing buttons. His spaceship veered off course and crashed into an asteroid.

Nothing less than you would expect if you couldn’t see what you were doing.

“Nice one, Captain Blink-a-lot!” Terry mocked.

Marcel was defiant. “Okay, okay! I was just warming up. Watch me now! I’ll now show you shege ankasa!”

“Bring it on!”

The next few minutes were filled with laughs, cheers of joy and mockery as the Provencal brothers busily played their game, lost in the world of space adventures.

Suddenly, a loud creaking sound echoed through the room.

Both boys jumped in their seats at the edge of the bed. They exchanged confused glances, pausing the game to listen. The room fell silent, the only sound being the faint hum of the PlayStation.

Marcel looked confused. “Where did that come from?”

Terry looked around the room, seeing if he would anything out of the ordinary. He shrugged, then got up and looked around the room quietly, checking out each corner to see if there was something strange.

A minute of checking, and he returned to the bed. “Nothing ooo.”

Marcel frowned. “Strange. The door too is closed, so where from that?”

Terry shrugged again. “Or maybe it’s from outside.”

‘Yeah, maybe. Okay, let’s get back to the game.”

As Marcel’s finger hovered over the Start button, ready to resume their fierce battle…

…the room plunged into darkness.

The young boys panicked. The TV screen was off, and some strange cloud of darkness had suddenly draped itself over the room.

“What’s happening? Is it light off?” Terry wondered worriedly, already on his feet.

“I dunno ooo,” Marcel whimpered, already scared out of his wits.

Suddenly, the air in the room grew colder, and a mysterious mist began to swirl near the PlayStation.

That mist was enough to convince the boys to get out. Something scary was happening.

They darted towards the door, rushing to open it and get out.

Only problem was, it was locked. Marcel pulled the doorknob furiously, aghast at how it was suddenly stuck.

“Open the door! Open the door!” Terry shrieked.

“I’m trying! It’s not opening!” Marcel responded, as panicked as his little brother. This was all very strange. Where was this coming from?

As they struggled to open the door, resorting to banging on it and crying for help, the swirling mist grew bigger and bigger. The bigger it grew, the bigger the anxiety and terror in the guts of Marcel and Terry grew.

“HELP US! HELP US!” Terry yelled.

“MUMMY! DADDY!!” Marcel screamed.

Then, with a burst of ethereal energy, they saw her.

Crimson eyes. Evil smile.

And they heard her roar.

Spine-chilling and unsettling…

And right in their faces.

Out of their mouths came the loudest blood-curdling scream they had ever let out.

***

“Nahhh, guys, honestly, this is a tough ask,” Jeremy laughed. “Between Friends and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I can’t choose. Chale, the theme songs all be top tier!”

“Oh, as for me, it’s Friends. It’s just beautiful,” Margaret stated. “Fresh Prince is bouncy, like, good vibes, and it’s great. But Friends just has this beauty to it. The way it reminds you of friendship and all. For me, it takes the top spot-“

The frightened screams from upstairs cut her short. They all looked at the stairs, the aura instantly switching from excitement to worry.

“Boys?” Aurelia called out, rising to her feet.

“Marcel? Terry?” Jeremy did same, his heart pumping.

The boys came running down the stairs, looking like they had just seen monsters in their room. Marcel rushed to Aurelia, while Terry buried himself in his father’s arms, both crying once they reached the solace that their parents were.

“Honey? What’s wrong? What happened?” Aurelia asked, her motherly instinct in full effect.

Sniffing, Marcel simply pointed to their room. Struggling to catch his breath, he stuttered. “W-w-w-we-we-we saw a scary something in the… in the room.”

Aurelia looked confused. “Scary something?”

Marcel nodded, still letting his words out in fragments. “Th-th-th-the TV went off and-and-and some st-st-strange something came near the PlayStation… and… and… and…”

“And some evil face bi scared us!” Terry blurted out, moving his face from out of his father’s shirt. “It was scary. It’s like she wanted to eat us up…”

“She?” Jeremy asked, looking down at his son, a sharp burn in his gut.

Terry nodded, his face tear-stained. “Her eyes, they were so evil. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Kevin and Margaret, who were also on their feet at this point, looked extremely worried at what the boys were saying. “Jesus!” Margaret exclaimed. “Where did this come from?”

Aurelia shook her head. “No idea. But I know what to do for now. Babe, you stay with the boys. Maggie, I’m going to get some oil from my room. Help me pray over their room. I don’t know what kind of foul spirit wants to mess with our children, but the devil is a liar!”

“Amen! Let’s go!”

“Baby, go to Uncle Kevin, okay?”

As the ladies made their way up the stairs, ready to pray away the evil spirit, and Marcel was being consoled by Kevin, Jeremy was back in his seat, with Terry by his side. As he comforted his younger son, his mind raced with numerous thoughts.

This is surely the handiwork of that witch. It must be. I can’t believe she’s moving to my children now.

Almost a week and a half had passed since that last phone call with Lincoln, and the dreams had ceased somewhat. This, unfortunately, made Jeremy quite lazy, and so the urgency he had been given after that warning from Lincoln had dissipated in no time flat. Of course, his fear of how Aurelia would react remained as strong as ever. Despite Lincoln’s belief, he still feared how she would react.

But now… it looked like he had to reconsider. If she was going as far as to terrify his innocent boys, then she was soon going to come after the entire family, and probably even his friends.

Now, silence no longer seemed the wiser or safer option.

Looks like I can’t be quiet anymore…

No, you can’t, Jeremy. Look how she’s coming after your sons. Quit the “I’m scared” act and do what needs to be done!