The Hunted School

The Final Battle

*CHAPTER 13: The Bell In My Father's Compound*

I did not sleep that night.

The bell kept ringing outside my window in Upper Sakponba, even though Rose Secondary School is 3 kilometers away in Sapele Road. How can I hear a bell from that far?

I called Jennifer back. Her number was switched off.

My mother entered my room. "Henrietta, why are you awake? You have new school tomorrow."

"Mummy, do you hear a bell?"

She listened. "No bell o. Is it your imagination? Maybe you are still traumatized. After what you saw in that evil school."

But I was hearing it. _Gong! Gong! Gong!_

At 2am, I looked outside my window again. The yellow light I saw earlier was gone. But there was a footprint on our compound sand. A big footprint, with school shoe, with blood.

Someone stood outside my window.

I locked the window and hid the diary of 1989 under my pillow. I broke one pot, but Jennifer said there is second pot under the new block. That means the covenant is not broken. That means I am still number 17.

Morning came. I went to my new school, Federal Government College, Benin. The girls from Rose Secondary who survived — Blessing, Faith, Miracle — were also posted to different schools. But we created a w******p group: THE 14.

Blessing sent a message: _Henrietta, I heard bell last night too. For my side._

Faith: _Me too. 2am._

Miracle: _Me too. And I saw yellow light behind our house._

We all heard it. The second pot was calling its girls.

At 12 noon, during break in my new school, the principal called me to his office.

"Henrietta Solomon? There is someone to see you."

I entered. It was Mrs. Victoria Osagie. The 72-year-old proprietress. She flew back from Canada. She was supposed to be arrested at airport, but she was sitting in my principal's office, wearing white lace, smiling.

"So you are the brave girl who broke my pot?"

*CHAPTER 14: The Proprietress*

I wanted to run, but my legs froze.

Mrs. Victoria Osagie looked like a rich grandmother. Gold teeth, big glasses, expensive bag. She did not look like a killer.

"Principal, can you excuse us? I want to talk to my granddaughter's friend," she told my principal.

My principal left. He respected her because she is rich and owns many schools.

She locked the door.

"Henrietta. Sit."

I did not sit.

"You think you ended it? You broke one pot, yes. But every covenant has two legs. One under old block, one under new block. The old block pot was for the old girls. The new block pot is for the new girls. If you break one, the other becomes hungry. Very hungry."

"What do you want from me?"

She opened her bag. Inside was a rusty second key. And a photo of 17 girls from 1989. Young girls, smiling, with afro.

"I started this in 1989 because I had no students. I went to Uromi. The native doctor said bring 17 stubborn girls every 10 years. Their blood will make your school number one. It worked! Rose became number one! Parents rushed to bring their children! But the pot needs to drink. You stopped it from drinking. Now the school is sealed, my daughter Obaseki is in prison, my school is ruined. But the spirit in the second pot is still hungry. It needs number 17 to rest."

"So you want to kill me?"

"No. I want you to finish it. Only number 17 can break the second pot. Only the last girl chosen can enter the new block. The police sealed the school, but I have the key. If you don't break it tonight by 12 midnight, the pot will call all the 14 girls you saved, and it will kill them in their sleep, one by one. You heard the bell already, abi?"

My phone vibrated. It was Blessing calling, crying: _Henrietta, I am bleeding from my nose! My neck cut is open!_

Faith texted: _My own too! Blood is coming out!_

Mrs. Victoria smiled.

"You have 10 hours. 11:59pm tonight. Come to Rose Secondary new block. I will wait for you at the gate. Come alone, with the diary. Or watch your 14 friends die."

She stood up and left the key on the table.

"Be brave like you were, Number 17."

She walked out.

I picked the key. My hands were shaking.

Tonight, I must enter Rose Secondary again.

Final Battle

---

*CHAPTER 15: Back To Rose*

9pm. I told my mother I was going to study at Blessing's house. I took the diary, my mother's small torch, and the new key Mrs. Victoria gave me.

Rose Secondary School at night looked like a dead body. The yellow police tape was still there: CRIME SCENE. No gate man. No students. Only darkness.

Mrs. Victoria was waiting at the gate, with a black umbrella, even though there was no rain.

"You came. Good. Number 17 is always brave."

"Where is the second pot?"

"Under the principal's office. New block. I buried it there myself in 1989, when we built the new block. That is why Mrs. Obaseki never allowed anyone to dig around principal's office."

We walked inside. The new block was silent. The principal's office door was open, but inside there was a hole in the floor. A hole that was not there before. It was breathing. Cold air.

"I cannot go down," Mrs. Victoria said. "I am too old and I am the one who made the covenant. The pot will kill me if I enter. Only you can enter. You are pure. You broke the first pot."

"Why should I trust you? You killed 51 girls."

"I killed them for my school. Now my school is dead. If you don't break this pot, the 14 girls you saved will still die. And the spirit will follow you to your new school, to your mother's house, forever. Bell will ring every night."

My phone vibrated again. Blessing: _Henrietta, I fainted. My mother is taking me to hospital._

It was true.

I climbed down the hole.

It was deeper than the first pit. This one had no girls. It had only one pot, bigger than the first. Black pot, with red cloth, with 17 names written around it with blood. I saw my name: HENRIETTA SOLOMON - 17.

Around the pot, there was black blood, like a small river.

And behind the pot, there was someone sitting.

A girl. Wearing Rose Secondary uniform from 1989.

"Sarah Osagie?" I whispered.

She looked up. She had no eyes. Just black holes.

"You are number 17. I was number 17 in 2009. I have been waiting for you."

*CHAPTER 16: Number 17 Must Die*

Sarah Osagie stood up. She was not alive, not dead.

"Every 10 years, number 17 must die to wake the pot. In 1989, number 17 died. In 1999, number 17 died. In 2009, I died. Now it is your turn. If number 17 does not die, the other 16 will die in her place. That is the rule."

"So I must die for Blessing and Faith to live?"

"Yes. Or you break the rule. My grandmother Victoria did not tell you everything. There is a way to break it without dying. You must give the pot what it has never had."

"What?"

"A voluntary blood. Not taken by force. Blood given freely, by the one who created the covenant. The blood of the Osagie family. That is why Jennifer could not do it. She is too young. Only Victoria's blood can cancel it. But she will never give it. She is selfish."

I understood. Mrs. Victoria tricked me. She wanted me to die in place of her. She wanted number 17 to die so the pot will sleep again, and she can reopen her school.

I climbed up quickly.

Mrs. Victoria was waiting at the top, smiling.

"Is it broken?"

"No. Sarah said it needs your blood. Your blood, not mine. You are the one who made covenant."

Her face changed.

"That small witch Sarah told you? She is lying!"

"Then go down yourself! If I am lying, go down!"

She shook her head. "I cannot. I will die."

"Exactly. So you sent me to die for you."

I brought out my phone and started recording video.

"Mrs. Victoria Osagie, proprietress of Rose Secondary School, 72 years old, confesses she killed 51 girls..."

She tried to grab my phone.

I shouted, "Sarah! Come up! She is here!"

A cold wind blew from the hole. Sarah's spirit came out, floating.

Mrs. Victoria screamed.

Sarah held her.

"No! Sarah! I am your grandmother!"

"You killed me, grandma. In 2009. You tied my hands. Now it is your turn to give blood."

Sarah dragged Mrs. Victoria to the hole.

Mrs. Victoria was crying, "I am sorry! I am sorry!"

They both fell into the pit.

There was a loud sound, like a pot breaking. Then a second sound, like water pouring.

Then silence.

The black blood river stopped.

The hole closed by itself.

The new block stopped cracking.

I ran outside. My phone rang. Blessing: _Henrietta! The bleeding stopped! My neck is healed!_

Faith: _Mine too!_

The second pot was broken. With voluntary blood.

Number 17 did not die. The maker of covenant died.

I walked out of Rose Secondary School at 11:59pm.

Behind me, the school's yellow light finally went off.

Forever.

---