Chapter 1: The failed mission

The school refectory bustled as it regularly did on Thursday evenings when Jollof Rice was being served. Every Class of Student from JS1 to SS3 chatted excitedly on their respective tables in groups of threes, fours and fives.

It was easy to tell the table of each class as the size of the girls progressively increased as the tables progressed. The smallest, most fragile looking girls were JS1s with squeaky voices. They talked quietly trying not to draw the attention of the seniors. The SS3s on the other end of the spectrum seemed the biggest girls in the refectory - in both size and personality. They spoke more loudly and without fear of anyone and laughter rang out more frequently from their tables.

Although, this was what the spectrum looked like. It was not uncommon to find a small looking SS3 girl or a JS1 who had sprouted much earlier than her mates. There were certainly a few of them however, the majority just fit the mould.

On the opposite end of the hall, a big circle clock ticked happily away. The refectory seemed oblivious to it as they gisted and gestured their stories; discussing the events of their day. More girls walked into the ref than left it. So, no one noticed when two girls slipped out of the JS1 table - which was closer to the entrance - and into the night.

Outside, the taller and thinner of the two girls walked faster and turned sharply to the left wall of the refectory and backed into it. The smaller girl followed hastily behind. This side of the building had no bulbs and the windows on were wooden and completely shut. The only light there came from spaces in the window frame where light escaped from the refectory in thin rays. They were completely hidden in the dark. To make it worse, opposite the wall, a barbed wire fence ran parallel separating the school farm from the ref. In the darkness, the twisting stems from the plants and weeds appeared mor sinister than plants were meant to be.

Chidinma - the taller girl - peeped around the side, two students were standing at the door. She saw them glance at their watches and quickly dash into the refectory. She looked at her accomplice. Jennifer's small frame was backed tightly into the wall almost like she wanted to become one with it. Her wide round eyes darted around in the dark like a mouse being cornered her heart pounded in her chest and Chidinma was sure she could feel the vibration on the wall behind her. She caught Jennifer's eye and put a finger to her lip to remain quiet even though she knew the fear was already doing all the work. She wondered if it was really a good idea to do this with Jennifer, but in the end, it was Jennifer's fault they were here in the first place.

A moment passed and they heard the wooden doors of the refectory creak at its rusty hinges then scrape the ground as it dragged to a close. Chidinma looked up to the closed windows above them. From it, came the sound of multiple feet shuffling to stand up. She looked at Jennifer who was pressed even more to the wall and wondered; if someone were to stick their head out the window, they'd probably think Jennifer was just an obscure painting. She almost laughed at the thought but firmly pushed it aside.

Pages flipped impatiently inside the refectory. Chidinma grabbed Jennifer's hand firmly. Then the hymn started in harmony.

"O come to the throne of grace

O come to the heart most pure..."

"It's time to go." Chidinma whispered impatiently and pulled her friend. They stumbled forward and began to run. They ran beside the barbed wire fence - taking care not to rattle it - following the path up a hill to the uncompleted building ahead. They rounded the building and only then did they stop to catch their breath. Jennifer was bent double breathing hard. Chidinma's head swooned. It must have been a few moments before she was ready to go again.

She turned to Jennifer. "Sorry try and catch your breath, we're not running again." Jennifer huffed and wheezed and collapsed into a sitting position with her head between her knees. Chidinma quickly ran to the edge of the building and looked down the path. The refectory doors were still closed. She came back and joined Jennifer. They were on the edge of the school lawn tennis pitch. The building which shielded them was supposed to be a gymnasium but it had been neglected for a long time. Its massive hollow windows made Chidinma uneasy.

"Let's go now. We don't have time." Chidinma said.

"Chi - - Ch - - dinma." Jennifer said between wheezes. "Must we really do this?" she took a deep breath before continuing her shallow breathing.

"It's like you want to serve punishment till you graduate. With this bad mood Senior Swanky has been on, if she gets a hold of you now, you'll be suffering her punishments till she leaves this school. But its already too late to go back now." Chidinma said turning to look at of the court ahead of them. "Next time, don't forget anything belonging to Senior Swanky anywhere."

"I didn't forget it." muttered Jennifer.

"Let's go." The two girls crossed the edge of the court still following the barbed wire. At about the middle of the field, it turned left, but they didn't follow it. They kept walking to the other end and came to a very horizontally long building which they crossed. Then they crossed the music hall and finally they reached the Junior Students block.

The two-storey building extended to the right and housed the JS1, JS2 and SS3 classroom at the top. A designed that ensured that the junior students were always in check. The girls scurried to their block which was the ground floor of the building. Then down the corridor to the last class before the staircase. Chidinma unlocked the big padlock quietly trying to prevent as much clinks as possible. Then she pushed the door open carefully.

It opened with a drawn-out squeal and Chidinma heard Jennifer grit her teeth. The classroom was completely dark. But they knew it well. The girls tiptoed through the sea of desks without hitting any of them. Chidinma was close to the desk when she heard a clatter behind her and turned to see Jennifer, cheeks puffed and holding her foot tight. She'd hit one of the desks.

"Are you Blind?!" Chidinma whispered fiercely.

"Everywhere is dark. What do you expect?!" Jennifer said holding back a groan through gritted teeth.

"It's your classroom. You walk this place every day." Chidinma said. She saw the white of Jennifer's round eyes roll in the darkness and heard her scoff. Then she limped towards her

Chidinma got to the desk and unlocked the small padlock. The books inside were arranged neatly with the smallest at the top and the biggest at the bottom. "Which one is it?" she said to Jennifer. Jennifer pulled out an average sized textbook from the desk and showed Chidinma. Her eyes were a bit teary. Chidinma thought of consoling her but this was neither the time nor place. She closed the desk quietly and locked it.

"OK, let's go." She felt her heart give a big push. Halfway there and no trouble. We're going to make it she thought. They navigated the dark classroom faster now towards the door. They were halfway there when a sound stopped them.

Krr-koi. Krr-koi. Krr-koi

Someone was coming down the steps. Chidinma looked at the wide-open door then she looked at her friend. Jennifer's eyes where even bigger than they'd been at the ref. She had managed to pull them so far back that she looked like she had no eyelids. There was no time to run.

"Quick, get to the wall." Chidinma said. The two girls scampered and crouched by the wall beneath the wide windows of the classroom. It seemed like all the school walls were coming through for them this night.

Chidinma bit her lips and wrapped her arm around Jennifer's who was trembling and hugging her tightly like she was trying to hide inside her body. Her mind was spinning. What were they going to do? This was always a bad idea. It was only her first month on secondary and she was already going to be suspended. Of course, she knew the security guards patrolled the school at night. But the school had only two security guards who were ancient and they mostly just slept.

She heard it again. This time it came from the foot of the stairs and it was coming towards their classroom. Slow, steady and felt like the feet were dragging. Krr-koi. Krr-koi. Krr-koi. A cold breeze seemed to flow into the class and Chidinma felt the cold in her spine. Any moment now, a flashlight would shine into the classroom and they'd be done for and there was nothing they could do. The footsteps came again. Their hands tightened around each other. She felt Jennifer bury her face deep in her side. Chidinma fixed her eyes on the doorway and waited for the next footstep to land.

But they never did. Had he reached the door already? She asked herself. Maybe she didn't hear the rest of the footsteps, maybe he was standing in front of the door now. But why wasn't he flashing a light?

They waited for what seemed like ages, but nothing happened. The night just went on and there were no footsteps. Chidinma knew she had to something. They couldn't just sit there with hopes and prayers. Time was running out. She decided she'd peep out the door. If the guard was standing there, her presence would probably frighten him and they'd escape while he was still in shock. She knew it was not sane but it was better than sitting there.

She looked at Jennifer, put a finger to her lip to shush her and gently released her embrace. She saw Jennifer's eyes widen but Chidinma gave her a sharp look and freed herself. She edged along the wall to the edge of the door then took a deep breath and bent her head slightly past the edge of the open doo so that she could use only one eye to scan the doorway.

There was nobody there. She swept the doorway with her eye searching for the hem of a trouser or a shoelace. But there was nothing. She craned her neck and looked back at Jennifer and shook her head.

The two girls slipped out into the corridor; it was dark and empty. They locked the classroom door. Chidinma wondered whose footsteps they'd just heard. She suppressed the question that came to get mind.

They scurried down the corridor out of the Junior Students block. Then traced their steps back the way they came past the buildings and finally they were at the tennis court. They crossed the court to the fence with quick steps. Then they were by the uncompleted building. Then it was a beeline down the hill to the refectory. Chidinma felt a bit of relaxation come over her as they got to the building, she noticed Jennifer's step relax too.

They had almost crossed the building when a circular patch of white light illuminated them into sharp focus. It was a flashlight. They froze. Chidinma turned to see the source. It came from one of the hollow windows on the uncompleted building. She could barely see the face but she recognised the night guard.

"Chidinma." She heard Jennifer's teeth chatter as she spoke.

"Jennifer, run!" It was simple and short order and she didn't want for Jennifer mull it over it. She blew down the hill turning only to slightly to confirm that Jennifer was behind her.

At the foot of the hill, the refectory doors open and light travelled up the hill to meet them. The first set of students saw the two girls running towards them and screamed as they ran back inside.

The two girls stopped in front of the ref bending over to catch their breath. The girls in the refectory trooped out and circled them. They whispered and pointed at them. Then a tall fair girl with glasses came out of the refectory looking confused. "What is happening here? I thought I said to go and prepare for night prep." Then they seemed to spot the two girls wheezing hard with their daywear soaked in sweat. "What is this? Where did this two come from?"

Nobody replied. Faces looked at each other wondering who'd volunteer the answer. Chidinma looked at the Senior. It was the head girl Senior Dee-dee.

"You!" The girl pointed at a smallish girl in the crowd no taller than Jennifer who shook slightly. "What happened?"

"Senior, I don't know. We just saw them running back from school. Nothing was chasing them."

"From school, but this time?" she checked her watch. "By 8:15pm. Two JS1 students?" her voice was a mixture of shock and disappointment blended nicely together. Chidinma couldn't help looking up at her face. It was very cross. Then another girl came out came. She was taller and thinner and her eyes slanted up like a cat. There was a smile on her face. But it was not welcoming. And as she came, the junior students unconsciously took back a step. It was senior Swanky

She came up behind Senior Dee-dee and placed a hand her shoulder. "What's going on, we're about to start the discussion."

"Can you imagine these two JS1 students went to the school premises this night?"

"This night?"

"Yes. This night."

Senior Swanky eyed the two girls then Chidinma saw her eyes fall on the textbook she didn't remember was still in her hand.

"Is that my textbook?" Senior Swanky asked snatching it from her. But she didn't wait for the answer. "Jennifer, I thought I told you to bring this book back for me from school. What is it doing in this stupid girls’ hands.”?

Chidinma's heart burned but she shut her mouth tightly.

"No. You didn't tell me to bring it back. You just told me to hold it. You only told me you'd need it this eve--."

"Are you now calling me a liar." Snr Swanky said cutting her off before she could finish. Her voice had a certain chill to it when she spoke.

"No." Jennifer's voice was squeaking now. Chidinma knew she was holding back tears.

"It sounds like you're calling me a liar Jennifer."

"She never said that, you didn't let her finish." The words escaped Chidinma's lips before she could hold them. She felt the eyes of everyone in the scene. Snr Swanky turned to her and she looked up directly into her eyes. She glared at Snr Swanky like she was tempting her to do her worst. The air between Senior and Junior was hostile and the crowd held their breath.

"It's OK. The two of you, get to our dorm and wait for me." Snr Dee-dee said behind Snr Swank popping the tension like a balloon. "Swanky, we'll deal with them after the discussion." Snr Swanky turned to look at her. Her dark face was even more swarthy than usual.

"Ok but they can't just wait." Snr Swanky said and she turned back to the girls. "You'll kneel down and hands up. And let me warn you." she said pointedly at Chidinma. "If we come in by mistake and meet your hand slacking. I will make sure you don't sleep this night." She scrutinised Chidinma's face. Chidinma gave her best scowl. Both of them locked eyes and lingered for a moment. Chidinma hoped she could feel her hate telepathically.

"All right everybody should go and prepare for night prep. The two of you should get to our dorm now." Snr Dee-dee said dispersing the crowd

The crowd murmured and whispered as they walked back to the dormitory buildings. Chidinma felt someone pull her. It was Jennifer. Her face was red from the crying. "Come, we better go."

She felt sorry for her friend. They made their way to the SS3 dormitory and entered.