1 Watery grave
As Evilyn and the Witches of ibadan battle fiercely over the fate of the world, the vast population trembles at their blazing fury. With vast amount of dark magic and supernatural energy rising from both sides, the balance of nature was shattered allowing it's fury to be released upon world.
Here in the roaring rivers of CALABAR, Akpan Affiong struggles with his boat in the heavy rain trying his best to get to shore, his wife Isabelle who had recently given birth held on to their son, Joseph as her husband tries to get them to safety.
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Isabelle ➡ My God!! We're not going to make it. The river is coming to life. I fear for our son.
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Akpan ➡ Do not despair my love. We're almost there. Don't give up yet. Hold on to our son. We're going to make it.
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Holding onto her son tightly, Isabelle sits still and prays to God for guidance. In that moment, thunder claps boomed the sky as lightning bolts descended on the roaring river, the baby in Isabelle's arms begins to cry as the thunderous sounds and lightning strikes began to tear the sky apart. As if that wasn't bad enough, the river itself began to unleash it's most fearsome creatures .
Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, Akpan fixes his gaze on the shore which was a bit further from them, if the river wasn't so wild, the boat would have made it there by now.
As the sailor focuses his gaze on his destination, Isabelle begins to ask her husband if they're there yet but before she could get an answer, something in the water hit the boat so hard that it nearly capsized.
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Isabelle ➡ What was that?
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Akpan ➡ I don't know. Hold on to Joseph and sit tight.
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Isabelle ➡ AKPAN!! THE RIVER, THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE THE RIVER.
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Piercing his gaze in the dark river waters, Akpan sees big fish tails splashing in the river but what he sees after that made me freeze with fright.
Here before the very eyes of the sailor, dozens of bewitching mermaids pop their heads out of the river, smiling seductively at the sailor. Akpan who was too shocked for words tried to pull back but the stunning beauty of the mermaids made him forget himself completely. Seeing that the sailor was already charmed by their looks, the mermaids bring out half of their bodies exposing their full rounded breasts which was enough to turn any man's mind to mush, they then begin to sing so melodiously hypnotizing Akpan, once they had done that, they began to urge him to jump out of the boat to join them in the river.
Seeing what was going on with her husband, Isabelle grabs her husband's shirt pulling him back into the boat, she then slaps him releasing him from his trance.
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Isabelle ➡ Akpan.. We need to go.
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Akpan ➡ What happened?
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Isabelle ➡ LET'S GO NOW!!!
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Before the sailor could to do anything, one of the mermaids suddenly jumps into the boat and yanks him effortlessly into the river, Isabelle tries to save her husband but the poor man was submerged into the river in a blink of an eye. The last thing Isabelle saw of her husband was his blood which bubbled up on the river as he was being eaten by the mermaids. Hanging onto her life and her son's, Isabelle decides to drive the boat to shore but before she could get there, the mermaids began to tear the boat apart ; taunting her with the last moments of her husband.
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Mermaid 1 ➡ Your husband's flesh wasn't that delicious.
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Mermaid 2 ➡ Maybe hers will taste better.
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Mermaid 3 ➡ I don't want her. I want to taste the flesh of her baby. Infants are much more delicious.
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Isabelle ➡ You won't have my son's life in Jesus name. May God damn you all.
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Mermaid 2 ➡ (laughs) SHRED THE BOAT SISTERS.
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Mermaid 1 ➡ Yes.. Let's feast on her before she gets to shore.
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Mermaid 3 ➡ It won't matter even if she gets there. We'll still chase her.
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Determined to get to shore alive, Isabelle speeds the boat accelerating its speed to the limit. Despite increasing the speed of the boat, the mermaids still intercept the boat shredding it to pieces little by little and within a matter of minutes, the river water began to enter the boat.
Realizing that the boat would soon sink and that she was close to shore, Isabelle holds her baby tightly and jumps into the river swimming with all her might but before she could get far, one of the mermaids yank her and the baby into the buttom of the river.
Here inside the depths of the watery hell, Isabelle struggles as she fights off the mermaids scratching her body with their claws, one of them even bites her right leg tearing off her flesh.
Despite feeling the gruesome pain, Isabelle endures and tries to swim up the river to save her baby but the mermaids soon overpower her and feast on her. Just as Isabelle thought that all hope was lost, a rainbowed haired mermaid appears out of nowhere and disperses the others off Isabelle and seeing that it was too late for the human to be saved, the mermaid grabs the baby from Isabelle's hands and swims upward to the river with sonic speed staring back at Isabelle who had succumbed to her gruesome fate. After getting to the river top, the mermaid swims to the other side of the river which was far from the mermaids and then gets out of river heading to shore.
Using her magic powers, the mermaid turns her fins into human legs so as to enable her to walk on the ground. Walking around in the heavy downpour, the mermaid scouts around for any human shelter so as to drop the baby and after a while the mermaids sees a small house 🏚 and then approaches it but before she could get there, the mermaid realizes that the baby wasn't breathing.
Realizing the condition the baby was in, the mermaid uses her magic to remove the water that had penetrated the baby's body and once she had done that, she then used the rain water to heal baby. Within a matter of seconds, baby Joseph becomes awake and begins to cry.
Moved by the baby's cry, the mermaid removes her necklace and puts it around the baby's neck. As soon as she does that, the baby keeps quiet and begins to stare that mermaid's face innocently. Seeing that the baby had calmed down, the mermaid approaches the house and knocks on the door steadily and as soon as she sensed the occupant heading towards the door, the mermaids disappears into the heavy downpour and heads back to the river.
Meanwhile, mrs. Nkese who was surprised by the knock on her door at a time like this decided to go and see who was the unreasonable fool that came to her house under this heavy downpour that had been going on for days. As soon as she opened the door, she looked around and saw nobody, she was about to go back into her house when she saw a beautiful baby boy wrapped in a blood stained blanket in her doorstep. She froze instantly with shock not believing her eyes. She began to wonder who had dropped a baby in front of her house and seeing she couldn't figure out who, she decided to observe the baby.
Nkese noticed there was nothing wrong with baby despite the blood on the blanket, she then suspected there was something sinister behind this. Fearing the worst possible unknown outcome, Nkese picked up the baby and headed straight to the river to abandone it there and soon as she got there, she carefully dropped the baby and began to walk away but before she could get far, the baby began to cry making Nkese to halt in her steps.
Hearing the painful cries of this mysterious baby, Nkese's heart became soft. The woman was afraid of what might happen if she brought this baby in her life but then she couldn't just leave the baby like this. It was cruel and brutal. In that moment, Nkese felt guilty and began to rub her belly remembering her unfortunate fate for not being able to conceive after countless marriages. She then turned around and looked at the crying baby thinking there might be a reason why this baby was in her door step.
Giving up her cruel intentions , Nkese turns around and heads back to the baby picking up from the ground. She then juggles the baby in her arms trying to make it stop crying and after a few seconds of petting, the baby keeps quiet and falls asleep in Nkese's arms.
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Nkese ➡ Dear lord! I really don't know what to say. For a baby to show up in my door step during this dark times, God I hope this is a blessing in disguise. Forgive me little one for trying to abandone you, It looks like we've both lost something. I'll look after you until you're old enough to live your own life. I'll be your mother and you my child. May God see us through out our lives together. Let's get you out of the cold rain, my house is not much but I'm sure it will provide some comfort.
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Holding the baby tight in her arms, Nkese heads back to her house hurriedly to escape the downpour but before she could get out of sight, the rainbow haired mermaid appears out of the river staring at her, she then smiles and swims back into the depths of the river.
