The red-Jups set off for their initiation ceremony; This was a yearly ritual performed judiciously to prove the loyalties of the new recruits. The first two days of hunting had been futile. This night held no promise still.
The clap of thunder and lightning bellowing through the humid air, announced the heavy downpour’s mission. It was determined to ruin the hunting experience.
Two young preys sprung up suddenly from the forest, like ghosts on a lost path to hell. They ran towards the female hostel leaving behind their poise and dignity.
It was as though they sensed they were being watched. Sydney knew danger was imminent, and the only reasonable thing to do was to protect her younger sister.
“Run Claire, run like your life depends on your speed,” She screamed. “I would create a distraction, whatever happens, do not look back.”
“No, Sydney,” Claire trembled closely behind her. “Who are these people?……What do they want?”
Opposed to answering her sister, Sydney was more interested in the immediate removal of their hindering stilettos to propel them forward, and faster.
The hostel was still several miles ahead, and it seemed almost impossible to make it to the gate. One of them had to give in to save the other from their unrelenting predators. Sydney decided to bear the cross, after all, she was the fool who put her younger sister in harms way.
Claire on the other hand, remained persistent with her questions, even when answers weren’t forth coming.
“Shut up for once Claire and listen to me! These guys are dangerous, I can handle them, you need to get to the hostel and call for help.”
She knew there was no truth to her words. No one had the courage to face the red Jups. Besides, the hostel guards reiterated the need to return to the premises before 10pm every forth night. They would most definitely ignore her call for help. She however had to do whatever was required to protect Claire.
Sydney glanced back for a split second to take in the precarious situation. Their captors were close now, and she had to do something to get her sister out of danger.
She halted abruptly and fell to her knees with loud screams…………”please take me and let my sister go, she is only an innocent teenager.”
Six viscous men approached, they were dressed in distinct red bandanas, and black overalls. A number of them were gidi with joy as they sampled their meat for the night.
“You must love this sister of yours,” one of the gang members mentioned. He was definitely their leader. The air of authority around him was difficult to ignore.
“You know what, today is your lucky day. We would spare her, you on the other hand would stay right here. Beat it little girl,” he gestured at Claire.
“I am not going anywhere without my sister,” she responded boldly.
“She speaks!” He praised with a clap.
“Look girl, you better do as you are told before we decide otherwise,” This time he spoke with fury.
“Please leave, get back to the hostel. I would be with you soon,” Sydney quickly intervened.
Claire however did not move until she was shoved forward by another member of the notorious gang.
She ran towards the hostel, blind with tears and wild imaginations of what those nincompoops would subject her sister to.
It had been an unprecedented night; they did not envisage being stranded on third mainland bridge.
Sydney had been invited for a friend’s birthday party on the Island, the mistake she made was smuggling her younger sister out of their parents’ house to accompany her.
Claire left the house comfortably after telling a conjured lie, carefully backed by Sydney.
Her parents had no reason to doubt her, after all, she had always been an obedient child.
The useless Taxi driver who had been hired to transport them back to the hostel was to blame for their ungodly arrival.
He was reckless enough to put a vehicle with little fuel on the road. It was all shades of horror when the car stopped right in the middle of the bridge.
To think that this foolish man had the nerve to ask for a push of his rickety car. They only made it back by some stroke of luck and with the help of another motorist, oblivous to the danger ahead.
Syndney had already been forced to the ground and her legs were pulled widely apart. The monsters in human form paid no attention to her cry for mercy.
“You know what to do, so go ahead,” their leader addressed one of the recruits. He could almost pass for a teenager, this timid fellow didn’t look so far from Claire in age.
“Sir, please I can’t do this, it goes against my morals. I would do any other thing, ” he stuttered.
“Are you crazy?” a resounding slap hit his face in seconds.
“If you don’t want me to send you to your ancestors this night, it is best you do as you are told,” he yelled.
“Capo, no mind am, I go show am how them dey give woman, I am not called sharp shooter for nothing,” another hideous bofoon from the gang mentioned before getting down to the dirty business.
Sydney screamed as soon as the ill mannered man pounced on her, he ricked of alcohol and was merciless. He was obviously high on cheap drugs.
At that moment Sydney knew her life was over, death was a more bearable fate to the humiliation and horror the smelly Ogre subjected her to.
Claire stopped short of her tracks on hearing her sister’s scream. She turned back against sensible reasoning, and decided to watch from a distance.
The pain tore her apart, she saw her sister struggle and writhe in pain. Claire had never felt more powerless and livid.
Sydney was being held down by two hefty men while another defiled her in the presence of three spectators, and all she could do was watch.
Her sister was given a few slaps to silence her but she just did not stop screaming. The pain was a lot to bear.
It had started to pour heavily, but the red Jups couldn’t care less, all they were interested in was completing their mission.
Sydney tried to catch her breath while the unrelenting animal continued to defile her. Her hands were firmly secured, making it impossible for her to escape.
Claire was angry, fearful and hysteric, she sprinted back to the hostel, as though her life depended on it.
Sydney on the other hand knew she was a dead girl lying if she was denied access to her reliever inhaler, her breaths had become shallow and her asthma symptoms were tilting towards severe. .
She attempted to call the gang’s attention to her gasps but was unsuccessful. The timid recruit seemed to have noticed her distress but was too frightened to make any move. She was gradually slipping away, the disgusting drunk continued to grind her until she became still.
“Capo, it’s like this witch has stopped breathing o,” Her euphoric defiler mentioned, minutes after pounding her to stupor.
Their ‘Capo’ stepped forward to assist her with a few slaps. He must have expected some form of movement or cry of anguish from her, but none was forthcoming.
“She is probably pretending, carry this useless girl away and dump her at the school’s lake. We have to look for a better prey for this spineless recruit.”
Claire got to the hostel gate and made a ruckus in an attempt to wake the security guards. She screamed and shook the gates for thirty minutes before an uncouth, lazy guard walked up to her with a dysfunctional umbrella.
“Madam, what on earth are you doing? Do you want to wake everyone?” he shot at her.
“Besides, why did you stay out this late? You know the hostel rules.”
“I am sorry Sir, please you need to wake the other guards, my sister is in danger,” she cried.
“What do you mean young lady, I am in no mood for games, you either get in or you stay out. You should be grateful I came to open up, the other guards were ready to leave you stranded in the rain.” The Lazy guard was half awake and couldn’t make sense of any word she spoke.
He opened the gate, pulled her in and shut it thereafter.
“Now go to your room and stop this nonsense.” He spoke before heading back to his quarters.
Claire was confused, she thought about her sister who was still at the mercy of those nitwits, there was a need to act fast.
The gate had been closed and confusion was an understatement for her state, she desperately needed help for Sydney.
“Sister Lola should know what to do,” Claire raced to her sister’s room.
Lola; her sister’s roommate was already asleep when she got there. She avoided drawing attention to the room like she had done at the gate. Instead, she dialed Lola’s line.
It took a few trials before she got a response.
“Sister Lola, I am outside, “ Claire sobbed.
“I wasn’t expecting you guys back today,” Lola mentioned as soon as she unlocked the door.
“I have told you to stop calling me Sister, I am not that far in age from you. Where is Sydney?”
“Sister Lola, you have to help me, some scary men abducted her on our way here. They let me go but she wasn’t so lucky.” Claire spoke in disarray.
“Calm down Claire, what do you mean by some scary men?” Lola was wide awake now.
“There were about six of them, all similarly dressed with red bandanas tied to their arms. I could barely make out their faces but I think their leader has a huge scar on his left cheek.”
“Oh my God!” Lola screamed. “The red-Jups have your sister, how on earth did you escape?”
“The red what?” Claire asked with a brittle voice.
“They are a ruthless group of cultists that have instilled fear in students and lecturers alike.”
Claire’s worry became even more pronounced after Lola’s remarks, she began to imagine more terrible things those men could do to her sister.
It was as though her heart was going to make its way out of her chest, the fear that consumed her was second to none.
“Sister Lola, please let’s hurry and beg the security guards downstairs to accompany us to the school forest.”
“Accompany us to do what exactly? Ah! This is pointless Claire; they won’t move an inch, especially because it has to do with the red-Jups. Everyone is terrified of them, even the security guards.”
We can only hope and pray that she returns in one piece.”
After Lola’s statement, the silence that ravished the room became palpable. They both sat at opposite ends of her bed, in deep thoughts about Sydney’s predicament.
Lola tried hard to stay awake but dozed off eventually. Claire however could not afford the luxury of sleep. She mumbled a word of prayer for her sister with a pool of tears and went down to the hostel gate a second time to check for her sister.
Claire somehow held on to Sydney’s promise and believed she would make it back before daybreak.
