Auntie Mercy's Last Night**
Mercy Adjumani had prayed over the poison for three nights—a cocktail of ground oleander seeds and rat bile, blessed by a Lagos witch doctor.
*"Cleft-lipped children are doorways for demons,"* the witch doctor had croaked. *"Close this one."*
**11:03 PM – The Nursery**
Mercy's sweat smelled of palm oil and fear as she crept past the sleeping nurse. The incubator's glow painted the room an eerie blue. Inside, the *thing* that had killed her sister's womb slept peacefully, its disfigured lip twitching.
Mercy uncorked the vial.
**The Mistake:**
She didn't notice:
1. The room's temperature **dropping 20°F in seconds**
2. The IV stand's shadow **stretching like pincers**
3. The baby's **eyes open—glowing gold under the lids**
**11:07 PM – The Sting**
Mercy poured the poison into the feeding tube.
The child's hand **shot up**, seizing her wrist. Five fingers—each tipped with a **black, chitinous claw**—pierced her veins.
*"You mistake me for prey."* The words vibrated in Mercy's skull, **not in Twi, but in a language carved on pre-Egyptian obelisks**.
**Biological Betrayal:**
- Mercy's arm **swelled purple**, veins rising like tree roots
- Her teeth **loosened**, clattering onto the incubator
- The last thing she saw: the baby **smiling with a mouthful of needle teeth**
**Cause of Death (Per Coroner):**
"Acute organ failure consistent with **bullet ant venom**... but mutated to attack human neurons