Silence didn't feel like silence anymore.
Not after what the boys had seen. Not after the chanting. Not after the glowing sugar cube left in Ayo's pocket like a curse.
The moment they entered the small, dimly lit living room, fear walked in with them.
Ayo's mother rushed out from the kitchen.
"Ayo! Why are you boys shaking like leaf— what happened?"
Ayo opened his mouth…
…but nothing came out.
He couldn't tell her.
He couldn't tell anyone.
Banji finally stepped forward.
"Ma… we were chased."
"By who?" she asked gently, but her eyes sharpened… almost too sharply.
Before anyone could answer, her phone vibrated.
She looked at the caller ID —
and her face went pale.
White pale.
"Ayo," she whispered. "Go inside with your friends."
"But—"
"NOW."
She moved away from them and answered the call in the corner, her back facing the boys.
They didn't want to eavesdrop…
but the moment the voice on the other end spoke, they froze.
A deep, calm, chilling voice:
"Oya report. Has the cube taken?"
Ayo's mother swallowed hard.
"Yes… they have the sign."
Banji's heart stopped.
Adeoluwa grabbed Emmanuel's arm.
Ayo stepped backward instinctively.
His mother continued:
"Yes… Adun will receive him.
No, they didn't notice me.
Yes… I'm still in position."
The boys could not breathe.
Ayo's mother…
The same woman who forced him to go to Madam Sugar's charity event…
The same woman who begged him to attend the private party…
She was part of them.
The White Mask.
The god Adun.
The cult they had been running from.
But… why?
Ayo's mother hung up and turned around.
The boys scrambled back, terrified.
"Ayo—" she stepped forward.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
Ayo shouted, voice shaking so bad it cracked.
Her expression softened.
Too soft.
Too careful.
"Ayo, please. Let me explain—"
"Explain WHAT?" Emmanuel snapped.
"That you're working with those demons?"
"A cult?" Adeoluwa spat. "A killer group?"
Banji's voice cracked.
"You… you wanted them to take Ayo?"
Her lips trembled — not with guilt, but with frustration.
"You don't understand."
"Then MAKE us understand!" Ayo yelled.
She took a slow breath… and whispered:
"Everything I ever did was to protect you."
Ayo stared.
Protect him?
"How is sending me to a ritual party protection?"
Her shoulders fell.
And for the first time, the boys saw something in her eyes:
Fear. Real fear.
"You don't know the truth," she whispered.
"The money Madam Sugar had… the charity… the blessings… the success… everything came from Adun. When she died, the pact broke. Someone had to replace her. And—"
Her voice shook.
"And the god chose you."
Ayo felt his chest collapse.
"Why me?" he whispered.
"Because," she whispered, "you carry sweet blood."
The room went dead silent.
"And if you don't accept Adun," she continued, "White Sugar will take that blood by force."
The boys exchanged wide, horrified eyes.
White Sugar.
The real leader.
The one Madam Sugar was running from.
The one who wanted their money back…
and Ayo's life.
Ayo's mother stepped closer, pleading:
"I swear, I was trying to buy time. If I kept them updated, they wouldn't touch you."
Banji whispered, "But the White Masks came tonight."
"I know," she said, panic rising.
"That means White Sugar is moving faster than I expected."
Emmanuel clenched his fist.
"What do we do?"
She looked at the boys… then at Ayo.
And her voice dropped to a whisper of desperation:
"You must run."
But before anyone could react—
BOOM!
The back door blasted open.
White smoke flooded the room.
Figures stepped inside.
White robes.
White masks.
Silent.
Deadly.
Ayo's mother screamed—
"GO! RUN!"
The boys grabbed each other and sprinted toward the front door—
But standing outside the doorway…
blocked in moonlight…
was a tall figure.
White agbada.
White mask.
Cold red glow from the eyes.
White Sugar.
His voice rolled out like a calm storm:
"Sweet blood…
come to me."