📖 Chapter Six:
[The Ghosts We Keep]
The hospital room smelled of antiseptic and quiet dread. Ejiro was stable, but her silence was louder than any scream. Nkemdilim hadn't left her side. Amaka, meanwhile, sat alone in the courtyard, phone pressed to her ear, listening to a voice she hadn't heard in months.
Her mother.
Genevieve (voice call):
"Renée ma chérie… I know you're busy chasing shadows. But I need to tell you something."
Amaka closed her eyes. The Brussels wind echoed faintly through the call.
Genevieve:
"I met someone. His name is Liam. He's kind. He listens. He doesn't ask me to be anyone else. I want to remarry."
Amaka's breath caught.
Genevieve:
"I know what you're thinking. That I'm replacing your father. But I'm not. I'm choosing joy. And I want you to do the same, I'm worried for you, find a man settle down ma chérie".
Silence.
Genevieve:
"You promised me, Renée!. You said you'd live. Not just survive. You said you'll stop if it gets dangerous, But you're still chasing ghosts. Your father's,your friend's, maybe even your own. I don't want to lose you the way I lost your father .Come home. Come back to me Renée. Or at least stop all this it's not worth it.
Amaka didn't reply. She couldn't. The veil pulsed in her bag like a heartbeat she couldn't silence. She hung up the phone.
(Kite Returns)
Later that night, Amaka received a message. No sender. Just a symbol—a stylized eye wrapped in ink.
She knew it instantly.
Kite.
She moved to an enclosed part of hospital grabbing a cup of coffee with her.
They spoke through a video call.Kite sat it a dim lit room.he wore a hoodie, sunglasses, and a grin that didn't reach their eyes.
Kite:
"Brussels is heating up. I wanted to update dimeji but he was out of reach. Adrian's moving like a ghost with a flamethrower. He's trying to locate Chuka. Real name. Real face. Real bloodline."
Amaka:
"Why?, do you think his up to something?"
Kite:
"His after Chuka,Because Chuka's not just an ordinary professor He's the key. The veil was built on his algorithms. His memories. If Adrian finds him, he'll rewrite the archive."he wants to hide his tracks.
Amaka's fingers tightened around her cup.
Kite:
"And there's more. A child in Nsukka. Drawing symbols. On walls. On trees. On his own skin. Symbols that match Obinna's lost journal. The veil is echoing through generations."
Amaka whispered.
Amaka:
"Then we're running out of time."
🩸 The Erasers Strike
In Abuja, the senator's death had sent shockwaves. But it wasn't just a hit. It was a message.
The Erasers didn't just kill. They deleted. His files. His speeches. His digital footprint. Even his birth certificate vanished from the registry.
Luc watched from a distance, sipping tea like it was blood.
Luc:
"Let the veil scream. Let the archive burn. Let memory become myth."