𝔼𝕂𝕀𝕃𝔸

11

Mmachi watched as trees, billboards and similar buildings rolled by while trying to tune out an old song by Celine Dion booming from the car's stereo. It didn't help that Chidiogo kept humming along to the song and she felt her irritation growing just like the dark fumes pouring out from the faulty exhaust of a trailer in front of them, clouding around the car while slowly obscuring the sight she'd been admiring.

She could pick up hints of the acrid smell that had managed to sneak it's way through the air vents and shut windows, mixing with the cool air circulated by the air con and making her situation all the more unbearable.

She began feeling nauseous after sometime, having been trapped in the vehicle for over two hours. She was just about to ask the driver to stop so she could step out for some fresh air when a taupe duplex came into sight.

She sighed, grabbing a hold of her lilac school bag and hurrying out of the car as soon as the hum in the engine died. She walked on the paved parts, making her way around the the lawn on purpose while Chidiogo strolled across it.

Chidiogo made it to the front door and was inside the house before her. She took in deep breaths before walking in.

The door stood ajar and she gave it a small push. She was rewarded with a creak as she made her way across the lobby.

She entered the living room, deciding to head straight for the stairs but paused when she saw her mother with Chidiogo. She held onto both her hands asking how she was doing.

She pulled her into a hug afterwards and continued her redundant questions.

Mmachi stood watching them for a few minutes. Not once did their mother ask about her. Finally fed up, she rolled her eyes, walking past them.

"CHASE!" she yelled making sure they heard her.

She ventured further into the house repeating the name while looking around for the Golden retriever her father had gifted her for her sixteenth birthday.

"Chase! Come here boy!"

The wooden stairs creaked underneath her feet, the thud of her footsteps echoing around the house as she stomped up the stairs.

"Chase?!"

She was beginning to get a bit worried. He usually rushed to the door to greet her whenever she arrived and it had just been a week since she left. What could have happened?

She strolled past her parent's room and went straight to her room. Her hand was on her door knob when something made her pause.

She turned to the side, casting a long glance at the opposite room. It's door was cracked open a bit, enough to reveal the thick darkness which didn't even budge as the lights from the lobby tried to seep into the room.

An eerie chill ran down her spine and she turned her knob quickly, slamming the door behind her. Her fingers were quick to find the light switch and in a matter of seconds, visibility returned to the room.

She looked around, a bit surprised by how everything seemed to be coated with a layer of dust. The room had only been unoccupied for a week and it already looked abandoned.

She waved her hands in the air as she forged in, just in case any net of cobwebs lay in wait to ambush her. She repeated her dog's name but instead of the cheerful barking that followed on a norms, she only got her own words in return.

She stopped in front of her bed, which still bore lilac sheets she'd tucked in before leaving for the hostel, before going down on her fours.

Her knees lightly grazed the slippery surface of the spiral optical illusion carpet just in front of her bed as she peered under the bedstand. She couldn't make out much but she was certain Chase wasn't under there.