A New Creation – Chapter 7B

By Young C.c
A New Creation – All Episodes
The quietness in town had gone far beyond Denril Crescent and the school, even areas which were several kilometres away from the Crescent and the University were unusually quiet and calm, it was as if they were mourning the death of a mighty ruler of theirs. The news of the soon to come campus war spread abroad the city so fast. The store owners who would usually close their stores between nine to ten pm before closed and locked the shops before six pm.
Students who stayed in the campus had began to flee from their hostels. Even the lecturers joined in the fleeing. Only those who stayed outside campus and well secured areas by the government were bold enough to stay in their homes. Some students in the mass communication department also summoned the boldness to stay behind as they would love to follow and be the first to report the news as the event unfolds.
“Damn! How come you people missed Host?” Screw barked angrily as he smashed a bottle of alcohol on the tiled floor. Coded, OJ and Small were standing before him, they kept quiet as Screw blasted on. Small and OJ continued to stare at the ground while Coded eyes followed Screw everywhere as Screw continued to pace about angrily.
“I didn’t plan for us to miss this first strike,” he said after taking in a lump of smoke from the tobacco in his hand. “Why didn’t you call me before killing the girl?” He turned to OJ.
OJ raised his head slightly and turned to Small who had led the job for an answer.
“Baba, we didn’t want to leave without dropping any message for him,” Small replied after much hesitation.
“But you should have called me or Coded on phone, I would have asked you to bring her over here. Coded would have proffered a better plan too,” Screw barked out again, emitting the smoke from his nostrils and mouth on Small’s body.
Small just stood there wondering why Screw was so furious about the assignment. To him, they had done a very good job but instead of receiving an applause, they were being chastised.
Only OJ and Coded knew why Screw was so furious. They had been in the cult longer than small, even though small was their major hitman. Screw’s plan was to ki*ll Host first, believing that they hit the Shepherd, the sheep would scatter. That would have been the easiest way for them to win this battle of supremacy. But now that they’ve stepped on Host’s toes instead of taking him unawares and silencing him, Host was going to reinforce with his team and strike back with inspiration from the pain they had caused him.
Screw knew how much Adesuwa meant to Host, he knew how Host valued her above any other thing or person. He knew that Host was ready to do anything for her. He knew so much about Host’s love for her. The dreadful thing was that he also knew so much about Host himself. In fact, they have had several encounters, Screw knew that Host was not a person to be toyed with.
Host and Screw were students of the same department, although for the past two years none of them had been seen attending classes nor doing any school work but their names were always in the class attendance and test sheets.
Screw and Host had become rivals from their first year in school. They clashed with each other on the football pitch during one of the department’s training sessions when Host had being selected as a preferred striker to Screw. Since then, they always opposed each other.
Screw was the first to join a cult group sometime close to the end of their first year’s first semester. His cousin who was a 400Level student of engineering then was the leader of the cult. Host joined a the Arch Angels cult few days after Screw. But Screw’s initiation was more noised in the class then as a lot of folks were aware of his blood ties with the unknown leader of the cult.
Screw and Host’s first bloody clash was in two hundred level second semester. Host was already one of the major hitmen in his cult then. He was sent to take the life of a young rival cultist who had disrespected the leader of the Arch Angels. The young man happened to be a friend and roommate to Screw.
That day, Screw and his friend were returning from a night club by 2am and their phones were switched off due to low batteries already, the light from the moon had led them home safely.  When they got to their room, there was darkness all over because of failure in electricity supply. They entered into the room and began to search for their rechargeable lamp where they kept it close to the door, beside their television set. The light then suddenly came on from the corner of the room, where Screw’s friend had his bed positioned, the lamp was guarded by textbooks at each sides to prevent people from seeing who was behind it. They could see traces of green clothes but couldn’t see the person’s face. As brave cultists that they were also, they did not run but stayed, energized by the confidence that they were in their room. The person in the green cloth began to draw near, pointing the light to their faces, making sure that the shinning blade of his dagger was seen.  Screw quickly scampered towards where his box was located, he had some weapons hidden there.
Screw’s friend also brought out a knife which was hid behind his belt to protect himself, he tried to strike the intruder first even though the bright light was disturbing him from seeing properly. Surprisingly, the intruder did not make any attempt to attack. Unfortunate for Screw’s friend, his strike wasn’t against any person. The lamp had fallen down immediately he struck and he fell down with it, on a stick wrapped with green clothes. Alas! The intruder wasn’t the one holding the lamp but was navigating with a long staff. Before Screw’s friend could recover, a dagger was thrusted into his belly and blood began to gush out.
Unluckily for Screw also, he met his box opened and weapons all gone from there. He rose up and removed his knife also. The intruder picked up the lamp and directed it towards Screw.
Then luck shined on Screw, electricity was restored that moment and the room was brightened. The intruder’s body was seen in his green gown but his face was covered with green paintings. The intruder flung the lamp away and gave an evil laughter.
“Tell your fathers that the Host of the Arch Angels have delivered his judgement to him,” the intruder said with scorn, pointing to Screw’s friend’s lifeless body. After that, he fled through the opened door and was seen to jump over a fence.
Screw rushed to his friend’s body but it was too late, he had stopped breathing. He stared at the bed where the intruder was seating. All the weapons he was looking for in his box were on the bed.
“The Host of the Arch Angels,” he whispered to himself in anger. Then, no one knew Host or who he was then. Screw didn’t know at that moment that it was his rival who killed his friend.