The next morning, Camila's alarm blared, pulling her from a dreamless sleep. She dragged herself out of bed, still half-asleep, and begrudgingly got ready for school. Her father's driver was already waiting outside, his black SUV a familiar sight in the compound. The ride to school was a blur of traffic and the blaring Afrobeats through the cars speakers. As the SUV pulled up to the gate of Regent International School, her mood brightened.
Her friends, Fatima and Amarachi, were waiting for her by the schools main entrance. Fatima, with her perfectly styled braids and designer backpack, was the fashionable one of the trio. Amarachi, the studious one, had her nose already buried in a textbook, her glasses perched on her nose.
"You're finally here!" Fatima exclaimed, pulling Camila into a tight hug. "Amarachi was about to start her morning revision without us."
Amarachi looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Camila. Oya, lets go, Mr Segun will soon lock the class."
The three of them walked into the school, their laughter echoing through the hallways. They discussed their weekend, the new viral videos on TikTok, and the latest gossip. As they settled into their seats in the lecture hall, the conversation took a more serious turn.
"Did you guys see that video on Instagram?" Amarachi asked, her voice low. "The one about the guy who said he was possessed by a jinn?"
Fatima shuddered. "I saw it. It was terrifying. My mom made me watch it and then made me say my prayers and everything."
Camila rolled her eyes. "It's fake, guys. They're all just looking for clout."
Amarachi sighed. "I used to think that too, but my brother… he had a bad experience while he was abroad. He never talks about it, but it changed him." Fatima and Camila looked at her, their laughter silenced.
"What happened?" Fatima asked.
Amarachi hesitated, her eyes scanning the room as if afraid of being overheard. "He and his friends, they went to this abandoned building. It was a dare. They said they heard whispers, and he said something to taunt them. That night, he started having night terrors. He would scream and scream, and his eyes would turn pure black."
Fatima's heart began to beat faster, but Camila remained unfazed and let out a scoff. "It was probably just a nightmare, Amarachi. You guys are so gullible."
"No," Amarachi said, her voice firm. "This wasn't a nightmare. He was different. He became withdrawn, and he would mumble things in a language no one understood. My parents took him to see an Imam, and they said he had been cursed. The Imam had to perform a series of exorcisms to get the jinn to leave. Before the jinn left, the Imam asked him why he possessed my brother and the jinn said, he stepped on one of its children while they were there." She shuddered. "He's better now, but he's not the same. He still has this vacant look in his eyes sometimes."
"You know, I've heard some stories like that on TikTok. That guy that's always talking about those kinds of things. The last video I watched he talked about one powerful book that could summon jinns from their world." Fatima explained.
"And do what with them?" Camila asked incredulous.
"... How am I supposed to know? I just watched the video." Fatima replied.
"If you don't believe it we can test it out. There's an old book store in Wuse market that has that kind of stuff." Amarachi stated.
"Really? What…" Camila began, but a certain presence entering the class took her attention.
Just then, a handsome boy with a charming smile, fresh hairstyle, strong cologne and a book in his hand walked past them. His name was Usman, Camila's longtime crush. He winked at Camila, and she immediately felt a blush creep up her neck.
Fatima nudged her. "Aww… Ms Usman. You should try and talk to him."
Camila watched Usman walk away, the conversation about jinns now a distant memory. She smiled. "Maybe I will." The bell rang, and the class began as the teacher stood up from his chair, but Camila's mind was still on Usman. The warnings of her mother and her friends seemed so far away, a relic of a world she refused to believe in.