📖 Chapter Three:
[valiant sisters 👯♀️ ]
The rain hadn't stopped since dawn. It drummed against the windows of Amaka's safehouse like a warning. She sat at the edge of her bed, room cozy,legs tucked in beneath her,staring at the wall where her father's photo used to hang. She'd taken it down two nights ago. Not out of anger—but out of exhaustion. She knew a storm was approaching, She could smell it, she can almost feel it.
The veil had been quiet. Too quiet.
Her phone buzzed. A message from an encrypted number.
Nkemdilim tried to reach you. She's unraveling. The veil is bleeding again.
Amaka's heart clenched. She hadn't spoken to Nkemdilim since the church incident Ejiro had ranted about in voice notes laced with Pidgin fury and chin-chin crunches.
She opened her notebook. The one with no lines. Just symbols. Scribbles. Memories. The ink pulsed faintly—like it was waiting.
(Meanwhile, in Port Harcourt)
Nkemdilim sat on the balcony, wrapped in a shawl, eyes scanning the skyline like it owed her answers. Ejiro paced behind her, phone in hand, voice rising.
Ejiro:
"See, I don call Amaka number tire. E dey ring but she no dey pick. Wetin dey happen sef? Abi she don ghost us?"
Nkemdilim:
"She's not ghosting. She's decoding."
Ejiro:
"Decoding wetin? Na only her sabi all this veil matter. Me I dey fear o. You dey see things wey no dey. You dey shout for night. You dey talk to wall. Na so madness dey start!"
Nkemdilim turned slowly.
Nkemdilim:
"I'm not mad. I'm remembering."
Ejiro:
"Remember wetin? You no even know who you be again. You dey talk say your papa na Obinna, say you be seed. Seed of wetin? Abii Na mango tree?"
Nkemdilim smiled faintly. The kind of smile that comes when pain becomes familiar.
Nkemdilim:
"I need to go back. To the archive. To the mural."
Ejiro:
"You wan go Enugu again? You dey craze! You no hear say Luc and him crazy boys dey there? You wan make Luc catch you? Abi you wan make dem erase you?" this girl I no know watin dy worry you o!
Nkemdilim:
"If I don't go, I'll disappear anyway."
(The Call!)
That night, Amaka finally picked up.
Amaka:
"Nkem?"
Nkemdilim:
"I saw him. In my dream. Obinna. He was holding the veil. But it was torn" I'm scared, I'm having the same nightmares almost every night.
Amaka:
"You don't have to be scared, I'll be here with you every step of the way". "And if the veil is torn,Then we need to stitch it. Together."
Nkemdilim:
"There's more. The pastor… he knew my name before I spoke. He had a tab. He was searching me. I think Luc is using churches now. As cover."
Amaka:
"Then we burn the pews."
🔥 (The Plan)
They agreed to meet in Benin City. Neutral ground… away from Luc and his operatives,away from the tensions they were drenched with. Ejiro insisted on coming.
Nkemdilim: Ejiro please say I won't forgive my self if something goes wrong.
Ejiro:
"See this one, no even try convince me o I no go let una go alone. If anything happen, na me go shout pass. I get loud voice, watin I Dey house Dey alone nah?"
They traveled separately. But this time amaka wasn't accompanied by demiji, she didn't want to draw attention. Burner phones. Fake IDs. The veil pulsed in Nkemdilim's bag like a heartbeat. Amaka carried her father's tape recorder again. This time, it had new messages—ones she hadn't recorded.
Obinna (recorded):
"If the veil bleeds, the archive must be sealed. But if it sings… let it echo."
They arrived at a guesthouse off Airport Road. No signs. No staff. Just a key under a flowerpot and a note:
Welcome to the echo.
💫 (The Reunion)
Amaka and Nkemdilim embraced. Not like just Like sisters, but survivors. Like storm and seed.
Amaka:
"You look tired."
Nkemdilim:
"I look remembered."
Ejiro:
"Una two dey talk like prophet, like say una be ancestors of olden days, nawao Make una talk like human being small nah. Abeg I wan go buy suya. Anybody wan join me.!?"
They laughed. For the first time in weeks. But beneath the laughter, the veil pulsed. And in a dark room across the town's building a man watched them through a cracked screen.
He smiled, picking up his phone,
It seems our visitor finally arrived,
Get luc on the line,
"Let the echo begin."