The power of envy

Back in the village, there was a girl who was both intelligent and beautiful. However, she struggled to choose good friends. Her name was Lilly, and she was loved by all her teachers in primary and high school. One day, during her 11th grade, her school organized a camp for high school students in her circuit. The camp was quite challenging for everyone, but Lilly managed to endure it. she managed to make a friend by the name of Quinton, she was such a bubbly person and Lilly was an introvert who hardly had friends during her childhood. Meeting and making friends with Quinton made her feel like she fit in, it was like a lifetime achievement because when the camp was over, she couldn’t stop talking about her at home to the point where her mom was getting annoyed. Luckily enough Quinton lived 3 streets from hers, so it was going to be easy for them to hang out and do what friends do, the only issue was that they attended different schools. After camp she was always glued to her phone texting Quinton, they did video calls, and voice calls and kept on posting each other on social media. Unfortunately, Quinton was not gifted academically, she was a true definition of beauty with no brains. Lilly used to help her with studying as well as other schoolrelated activities, it was easy for her to understand since she was being taught by her friend. Quinton would still fail exams even after Lily’s help, she wished she could drop out, but Lilly encouraged her to keep on trying and ended up doing well. Quinton's mom was very happy that her daughter was doing well academically because of her new relationship with Lilly. Lilly trusted Quinton with all her heart and ended up telling her about her HIV-positive status, it was surprising because nobody knew except for her family. Honestly, Quinton envied Lilly's life because she had everything a girl could ask for, starting from the perfect family, beauty as well as intelligence. She passed with distinctions almost every term while Quinton never had a distinction in her report. Most community members wished their children could be like Lilly because of her lowkey lifestyle, in most events she was invited just to encourage other people to be like her and study hard as well as smart. Envy and jealousy go hand in hand. Quinton's grandmother was a well-known and powerful witch doctor. She was very close to Quinton and wanted the best for her, one day Quinton went to visit her and she asked about her well-being of Quinton and how life was treating her, Lilly was part of the topic .” you must like your new friend Nana, the way you talk about her “said the grandma .” she is the best thing that have ever happened to me although I admire and envy her whole life I wish her life was mine “replied Quinton. Grandma started laughing in a very wicked way, it was as if she was possessed. “I can help you get her life only if you promise that you will follow my rules and do everything the right way without feeling guilty lastly your mom should never find out because of her good heart she will force you to abort the mission, “said Grandma. Quinton couldn’t believe her eyes and ears, as much as she wanted Lilly's life, she didn’t want to bewitch her or harm her. She kept on looking at her grandma with disbelief, she knew her grandma was a witch but didn’t think one-day witchcraft could be a suggestion for her to get someone's life."I can't believe you just said that! You're so cruel!" Quinton exclaimed. She got up and tried to leave, but her grandma tried to stop her. However, she was too fast and managed to leave without any issues. When she got home, her mom was surprised to see her back so early. Quinton and her grandma usually got along very well to the point where Quinton even forgot to go back home when she visited her. But that day was different, she just went straight to her room and didn't speak to anyone until the next day. That day, she planned a picnic at the park with her friend Lilly, and they both looked forward to it. They prepared and left for the picnic, where they set up a beautiful spread of junk food and fruits. It was amazing, but when they were on their way, Lilly got too many compliments from people on the street, which made Quinton jealous. As they were busy lying on their towel talking, a certain guy came up and asked for Lilly's number. After a while, he started telling her how beautiful she was, and once again, Quinton felt that jealousy growing inside her. She kept pretending as if nothing was bothering her and that she was having the best time of her life, but inside, she was hurting because of her insecurities. The day went by, and it was time for them to go home. They hugged each other goodbye and went their separate ways. The thought of everything that happened during the day with Lilly stayed in Quinton's head. That night, she couldn't sleep. The next morning Quinton decided to go back to her grandma's hut She was ready to do everything in her power to get Lilly's life including all her intelligence and since her grandma was very powerful it was going to be an easy task just if she followed all the instructions and made sure that she never did anything wrong. Her grandma explained that she had to plan and get Lilly's t-shirt or other clothing as well as her book or anything that she used for academics, and they will attack her intelligence first then others will be sorted out later. That night Quinton was learning everything she had to do which involved different kinds of traditional herbs, she learned how to mix them, and her grandma explained how she was going to pour it into Lilly's drink almost every day so that she would lose her mind. The next day she went back home with a delighted face, she knew her dreams were going to come true because her grandma was the best. Lilly was busy studying when she got an invite to a study session at Quinton's place, as Quinton was her best friend, she had no reason to refuse so she agreed, and Lilly was very happy that she was going to study with her partner in crime without any pressure not knowing that the worst was coming. The study was going so smoothly that Lilly even lost track of time, she realized very late that she had to go back home but Quinton's mother suggested a sleepover since it was very dark outside and was not safe to go home. Lilly didn’t mind and that’s when Quinton got access to her study book and her t-shirt as she wore quintons clothes after bathing, Quinton was very happy that her mission was about to start, and it happened quicker than she expected. That evil in her was slowly revealing itself, the following morning she made breakfast for Lilly and did her things with her drink and the poor girl was clueless and saw no harm. She ate breakfast and prepared to go back home since her mom said she should return early after a sleepover; she couldn’t find her t-shirt and asked Quinton to help her look for it. Lilly gave up and told Quinton to look for it when she got some free time and Quinton agreed. She went back home and suddenly started to feel a headache, the strange thing was that she felt as if her head was burning. Her mom took it lightly and assumed that she was drinking at the sleepover. Days went by and the headache got worse, she couldn’t even study for 30 minutes that’s when she decided to call Quinton not knowing she was the cause of her headache. Quinton suggested that she go see her grandma as she was very good at those things, Lilly trusted her friend and decided to tell her mom about it, but her mom didn’t agree as she was a Christian. She argued with her mom until it got worse to the point where she packed her bags and went to Quinton’s house. Quinton’s mom was surprised when she saw Lilly with suitcases at her doorstep crying, instead of asking what was going she pulled her into a warm hug, and she started crying. Everything was moving fast and little by little Lilly was losing herself, she turned on her family because of a light argument, and she started hating studying and bunked classes. Quinton was very happy to see her plan coming together but she was worried that Lilly might do the worst since she wasn’t herself. Even if that was the case, she didn’t stop pouring the herbs into Lilly's drink every day which made her to be worse. Lilly turned into something that her teachers and other people didn’t recognize, Quinton somehow felt very ashamed being with her and she started distancing herself from her at school. On the other side Lilly's mom couldn’t stop praying, she cried to God every day, and sleepless nights and overthinking were her daily routine. It was pouring for Lilly because she started seeing and hearing things that everyone couldn’t, she was having weird dreams but somehow, she could hear her mom praying for her. Lilly’s mom tried talking to her, but her child didn’t want to hear even a piece of what she was saying, Quinton's mom also tried but she failed. Grandma could see everything that was happening, and she was happy because her granddaughter was finally going to get her heart desires and yes by harming someone's child in the process. It was sad to see Lilly going through everything alone, she was losing everything including weight and her mind. She was no longer that clever and intelligent girl everybody wished their daughter could be like, Quinton was performing very well at school and most teachers were surprised. Lilly was underperforming which was kind of weird because ever since she got to high school she was performing very well, some teachers tried talking to her, but she didn’t want to hear anything, her mom was always in and out of school meetings. She became strong for her daughter and didn’t stop trying even when she saw that there was no longer hope. Lilly’s intelligence was gone because of someone she called a best friend, Quiton's mom was tired of her behaviour and kicked her out instead of going back home she went to live in the street, the school was no longer in her mind everything didn’t matter if she woke up and found food in the dustbins, she was good. Her mom tried to get her out of the street, but she would run as if she saw a monster when she saw her, it broke her into pieces, but she didn’t give up on her instead she brought food for her without her noticing. She was hoping that her daughter would one day see her as her mom, not a monster that she sees. Life was going well for Quinton; she became the top learner and got several medals, and her mom was very proud. Grandma was also happy that her powers were working for someone she loved dearly for once, not knowing that life was too short, and everyone's days were numbered on Earth. Lilly continued to suffer while Quinton continued with her matric passing with distinctions, street life became a normal one for Lilly and her mom got used to waking up and cooking for her daughter who stayed in the street. One day Quinton's mom found Quinton performing a ritual that she was taught by her grandma calling Lilly's name, she just stood at the door and listened to every evil word her daughter was busy saying. She couldn’t believe her ears and went inside her daughter's room only to find out that her ears weren’t deceiving her. She froze when she saw everything and her daughter who couldn’t even say a word to explain herself. It was such an awkward moment and Quinton’s mother decided to leave the room finally without saying any word to her daughter. She then took her handbag and went straight to Quinton's grandma because she knew she loved using Quinton to complete her missions. She was fuming with anger as she got to the grandma's hut, she had a customer, but she didn’t care. She barged into the hut and went straight to strangle Grandma; the customer was so confused and scared so she ran for her life. Quinton’s mom became weak and ended up bursting into tears letting the grandma go. She wasn’t thinking straight, and Grandma kept her cool as she knew that day would come when Quinton's mom found out everything that they were up to. Grandma tried hugging Quinton's mom, but she couldn’t let her instead she pushed her away.” how could you be so evil to a point where you use your granddaughter for evil things?” asked quintons mom. “She was covered with tears and mucus and the grandma didn’t even know how to answer her. She gave her a packet of wipes and sat with her down until she was calm and ready to hold a better conversation. Grandma explained everything that was going on from Quinton's envy to how she taught her to perform rituals, mixing herbs and stealing Lily’s things so that everything could be transferred to Quinton. She even emphasized the part of a perfect family as they became a perfect family and happy one after Lily’s tragedy, grandma explained almost everything and told Quinton's mom that she cared about Lily’s happiness more than anything in the world. She further explained that there was no turning back because if they tried to stop everything one of the family members would become a sacrifice and there was a possibility that Quinton might lose her mind. After everything that the grandma said Quinton's mom decided to leave and along her way back, she met Lilly who was covered with dirt and lost too much weight. She couldn’t keep it together and burst into tears knowing the fact that someone's daughter was suffering because of her daughter's jealousy. it was painful to see Lilly that way as she used to help her daughter without expecting anything in return, she started feeling sorry for Lilly's mom and imagined what she might be going through. The damage was already done, Quinton's mom was stuck between saving her daughter and saving Lilly through being who she was. That night she couldn’t sleep all she thoughts about the mess that her daughter got herself in, she started imagining how life would be for her daughter if she died because she relied mostly on her and lastly, she wasn’t even sure that she was the one who was going to be the sacrifice. Ever since that day, she found Quinton performing her things she never spoke to her, it was as if she turned into a ghost because she was always in her room trying to find the solution to everything that was going on. Quinton didn’t even care about her mother it was as if she turned into the devil himself, she continued with her everyday ritual routine which made Lilly's life worse. Her mother one day woke up and decided to talk to Quinton about the situation they were in, she tried emotional blackmailing to get her out of it, but she wasn’t buying it, it was as if she was possessed or something. The truth was that all the rituals she performed connected her with her grandma's evil powers, her grandma controlled everything she did including how she talked and responded to people including her mom. Quinton’s mom then decided to go to a certain pastor around their neighbourhood not knowing that the pastor got his powers from Quinton's grandma, he insisted that they should pray about everything knowing very well he had no choice but to abide by the rules of where he got his power. That pastor was the same minister at the church Lilly's mom went to, he gave Lilly's mom some water which he claimed was holy knowing very well it was for her to give up but her everyday prayers overcame it .Lilly's mom was a threat to the church as she was very faithful to the lord and abided by her rules without promoting other substances that the church was using, Quinton’s mom got the same water that Lilly's mom got when she consulted the pastor. It was a disaster, Quinton’s mom started losing her mind as she wasn’t strong when it came to praying and having faith. She started by embarrassing her daughter at the awardwinning ceremony where she almost spilled the beans about her ability of Quinton to get and pass with flying colours. When she got home from the ceremony everything became worse, she started throwing things around and hearing evil laughing voices. Quinton was very scared for her life not knowing what to do, everything that happened to Lilly the time she was staying with them started happening to her mom. She tried calling her grandma, but she couldn’t reach her, she didn’t even know what she was supposed to do because when she tried talking to her she would get a slap. Lilly’s mom never gave up on prayer, it was like her daily bread meanwhile Quinton's mom became worse and ended up roaming around the street half naked and she ran for her life when she saw people as if she was seeing monsters. Quinton kept on performing the rituals regardless of everything that was happening with her mom, it was as if she had no feelings and would laugh at her mom when she saw her. She was slowly turning into her grandma meanwhile her mom was the laughingstock of her community. A lot was going on, it was disaster after disaster as Quinton's mom got every day. Lilly started seeing her mother as a parent, not as a monster she would run from when everything started, the bad was that she didn’t want to go back home. Her mom didn’t mind spending her whole day in the street with her even though it was as if she didn’t remember most of the things they did together as mother and daughter, the only thing that mattered was that she was slowly becoming her daughter again. Quinton’s mom ended up in the same street that Lilly was staying in, she became friends with Lilly, and they shared almost everything it was as if there was a stronger connection between them that kept them together always. Quinton continued to live the life of her dreams, which was to pass with flying colours at school every term she ended up doing very well with her finals. On the day of collecting statements hers was missing, the principal looked everywhere for it but she couldn’t find it .They searched everywhere in the principal's office but it was nowhere to be found, after a while they decided to call the people who were responsible for matric statements and he told them that Quinton wasn’t appearing in the system and it showed that she never registered for writing matric examinations. Quinton couldn’t believe her ears, it was as if she heard the Chinese language, and out of the blue, her sight became blurred. She fainted and ended up in the hospital, she was in total shock and the worst part was that the universities she applied to were waiting for her results and most of them rejected her due to not submitting a valid proof that she wrote matric examinations. She tried reaching out to her grandma, but she was nowhere to be found until she ended up being discharged from the hospital. She was all alone, and the reality that her mother was gone started sinking in.She immediately packed her bags and went to her grandma's place but she found no one, the only thing that she found was her grandma's burning hut.She started shouting for help but nobody came, after a while she decided to go check on her grandma at her favourite spot near the river valley. When she got to the river, she found her grandma sitting near the riverbank with her legs inside water as if everything was going well. She was very surprised because her ancestral hut was on fire and she was at the river relaxing not doing anything about it, she then decided to tell her what was going on with her hut and she immediately got up and ran back to the house. She couldn’t believe what was going on, her skin started changing to pale, her eyes became dark blue, and her nails became longer than normal. Quinton didn’t know what to do about her grandma, she wanted to help her and was scared at the same time. She felt like everything was a dream just like the life she lived for the past few months. Her grandma turned into some monster that she only saw in horror movies, it was as if something in her wanted to get out so badly. She started struggling to breathe to the point where she ended up on the floor, it was as if something was strangling her. Lilly was getting better whereas Quinton's mom was getting worse, Lillys mom couldn’t stop praying for the both. Grandma’s hut was no longer recognizable, it was as if there was never a hut in the first place meanwhile Grandma was rushed to the hospital. On the other side, Lilly's mom got a phone call from MEDUNSA asking for Lilly as she passed her matric with flying colours, miracles were happening. Lilly’s mom was very shocked and happy while her god was working overtime, the pastor that Quinton's mom went to was also admitted to the hospital and his skin was also changing like grandma’s. The doctors were shocked as Grandma had snakeskin, and nobody wanted to help her to the point where the hospital decided to discharge her as she was scaring other patients. The only person she had was Quinton, she never left her side even though things were falling apart. since Grandma's hut was burnt, they moved back to Quinton's house, Quinton took care of Grandma and continued with rituals, but strange things were happening, the candles when she performed the ritual were no longer brightening the room like before as if someone was blocking them. Quinton started having nightmares whereas her grandma was getting worse, her skin was representing the horror snake movies, it was very scary. Days went by and Grandma was no longer recognizable, she was in pain, and deep down she wished someone could strangle her to death just to end her pain. Quinton’s statement ended up not being found and she became angry when she heard that Lilly was offered an opportunity to study at MEDUNSA meanwhile she didn't even know the matric door. The rituals were no longer working and the herbs that she had were also finished, reality started sinking in. After a week Grandma passed away and Quinton fell apart, she had no one. Everyone in her family hated grandma because she was a witch, nobody attended her funeral, and it was sad as Quinton was all alone. She lost her knight in shining armour, someone who crossed oceans for her, and it was as if part of her was ripped apart. Her mom got an accident, and she heard it from rumours as she didn't even know where she lived. The world was slowly closing on her, she decided to visit her mom in the hospital only to find her in a worse condition. She cried her lungs out because she knew everything happened because of her evil heart. She slept at the hospital for almost a week because her mom was still unconscious, her life was really falling apart and her mom wasn’t getting any better. One day Lilly found her way into the hospital to see Quinton’s mom as she was a very close friend of her in the street .she found Quinton sleeping on a chair and somehow something in her triggered when she saw her ,it was as if she was seeing her greatest enemy .Her eyes immediately changed and something in her wanted to strangle Quinton in her sleep .Quinton was woken up by the bad smell of Lilly ,she jumped when she saw her and wanted run away but Lilly held her hand .The terrifying moment was interrupted by the movement of Quinton’s mom and they both ran to hug her but she panicked when she saw Quinton and was very scared for her life .She immediately pushed Quinton away and screamed to a point where the doctors heard her ,she also asked Quinton to leave the room as she was scaring her .It broke her into pieces but she had no choice but to leave ,on the brighter side Lilly went straight home after visiting Quinton’s mom it was as if she healed after seeing Quinton .Her mother was very happy and people in the community were staring but she didn’t care ,she immediately went to hug her after she saw her opening the gate .She didn’t stop thanking the lord for bringing her daughter home in one piece .Lilly felt like her old self again ,everything started making sense and was finally well again. Quinton started losing it to a point where she even attempted a suicide but luckily enough Lilly found her in time when she went to seek answers about everything that happened to her .She was rushed to the same hospital where her mother was admitted ,deep down Lilly wanted the suicide to be a success but curiosity in her didn’t want to let Quinton get away so easily .Lilly and her mom never stopped visiting Quinton’s mom in the hospital, day by day she was getting better and her injuries were slowly recovering .The sad part about everything was that they had to cut her leg as it was injured beyond repair but she eventually made peace with everything .The time Quinton attempted suicide she cutted her wrists and fortunately she was discharged after a week ,whereas her mom stayed for another month .She was kind of embarrassed because the person who saved her life was the same person she bewitched and complicated her life .One day she decided to leave her township for good and start off her life far because she didn’t have the courage to face Lilly almost every week .She packed everything ,unfortunately when she opened the door she found Lilly standing at her doorstep .She wanted to scream but Lilly quickly covered her mouth and took out a knife to threaten her ,she then locked the door and tied her on a chair .It was as if when she saw Quinton anger mode was always activating .She started beating her up to an extent where she was covered with blood ,it was weird because she kept on beating her up without saying any word and Quinton kept on apologising but Lilly’s anger kept on increasing .After a while she decided to sit down with her and asked her to explain the reason why she did everything ,at first she just kept quiet but after few beatings she had no choice but to spill the beans .She explained everything from the day of the picnic to her second visit to her grandma ,she further explained everything she did to her including making her lose her mind as well as abandoning her family to live in the street .Lilly’s mom kept on wondering where her child was ,she kept calling her but it went straight to voicemail. Quinton’s house was the last place she expected her to be so she never bothered to check ,she was worried that she be in the street again .Lilly kept on staring Quinton in disbelief ,she was so furious and wanted to kill her but the anger in her wanted her to experience everything she went through .She kept on beating her up until her screaming voice became faint and was helpless. She roamed around the house and found the razors that Quinton cutted her wrists with ,she then told Quinton to cut them again since she was saved by her and if it wasn’t for her she would be buried .Quinton had no strength to talk ,Lilly decided to start cutting her hair since it was her pride .Pain and betrayal can change a person ,Lilly became a monster that Quinton didn’t recognise .She enjoyed everything she did to Quinton starting from beating her to cutting her hair ,she was even laughing as if she was possessed .After two days one of Quinton’s neighbour heard someone screaming at Quinton’s house and it immediately caught their attention ,when they arrived the blood that was on the floor caught their attention and immediately called the police .When the police arrived ,they found Quinton laying on the floor covered with blood and Lilly staring at her as if nothing was wrong .That day Quinton’s mom was discharged from the hospital and Lilly’s mom was ready to move in with her until she was better as she refused to move in with them . Lilly’s mom thought maybe Quinton attempted suicide again only to find out that her own daughter killed someone she used to call a best friend and showed no remorse.