Deep in the heart of the shifting forest Tolu floated inches above the ground, legs crossed , lost in the whispers of an ancient tome. The book hovered in front of her, it's pages flipping on their own,guided by the dark purple energy swirling around her finger tips.
A slow clap broke the silence.
Tolu eyes snapped open , her magic flickering for a moment before she turned.
Christopher.
He stood at the edge of the clearing, hands crossed , expression unreadable. His usual smirk played in his lips but his eyes told a different story.
"Wow", he said, stepping closer. "Floating? Dark magic? And there I was thinking you couldn't surprise me anymore."
Tolu sighed." What do you want Christopher?"
"Oh, I don't know." He tilted his head mockingly.
"Maybe to ask you why you went behind my back to testify against the vampires?" He took another step." Or maybe why a certain corpse went missing right after." Or maybe - and this is my personal favorite - why you're out here messing with same magic that killed your fucking boyfriend."
Tolu rolled her eyes." I really do not have time for this Christopher."
"Of course you don't. You're too busy using the same magic that fucked you up." Christopher scoffed." I know what you're trying to do, testifying against the vampires , stealing dead bodies from hospitals ,so you can try to resurrect Emeka and cover up your tracks." He said as he started to clap .
"Oh please pardon me for trying to bring my boyfriend- your crush back to life. Do I need remind you what I am the only one who has actual magic here and who's actually doing something. What are you doing exactly you don't even have magic." Tolu replied angrily.
"You may have magic but your knowledge about it is as bad as your ability to keep your boyfriend alive." Christopher said as his smirk vanished.
Tolu closed the book with a snap , levitating to her feet. "I don't have to explain my self to you Christopher. If I have the power to bring Emeka back to life imma fucking do it ok?" She turned sharply and disappeared into the shifting forest ,leaving Christopher alone.
LATER THAT DAY....
Meanwhile Adunni sat and waited patiently, listening closely to the faint sound of Mr. Olamide footsteps (Mirabel foster father/ her uncle ). Then she heard it - the click of the front door closing, he was finally gone . This meant she could search his room for more clues .
But there was one problem, Iyanu Mirabel's foster sister and her cousin.
Adunni needed to distract her to be able to search the room.
She turned back, forcing a playful grin." Let's play hide and seek Iyanu."
Iyanu face lit up. "Really? Okay! I'll count while you hide."She turned her face to wall . Pressing her hands over her head.
"One…Two…Three…"
But Adunni didn't waste any time.
She closed her eyes and focused ,Then she opened it. A faint shimmer toppled through the air as time froze inside the house. The air turned eerily still. The ticking clock in the house stopped mid- motion, its second hand hovering in place . Iyanu stood frozen,mid-count , her mouth slightly opened.
Adunni rushed into her uncle's room.
She went through drawers, flipped through stacks of old papers, until finally-
She found it.
The second journal.
Her hands trembled as she flipped through various pages of instruction and equations. Then she saw it, another letter tucked away. She opened it and it read.
Brother,
If you're reading this, I assume you're still keeping your head low. I wish I could say the same. They are still looking for me .
It broke my heart to send Mirabel away, but it was the only way. Two time-linked children in the same era…they would have sensed us instantly. Now, the timeline is stable, and they can live normal lives…Tell Mirabel everything, but not until the time is right. When she and her twin are both ready and their fate calls.
When those twins find out the truth about their origins, about the Bureau, it will awaken a power unlike anything the world has ever seen. You have to promise me you'll protect Mirabel.
Adunni drew in a shuttered breath. She couldn't believe what she had just read .All this while her parents never told her she had a sister- a twin sister. She always wondered why they mistook her for Mirabel, not knowing they're were identical twins.The questions swirled: who was hunting her mother and father, and what did they want with her and her twin? What exactly are we supposed to do?
THE NEXT DAY.....
The sky was a canvas of inky black, punctuated by the cold, indifferent light of distant stars. In her backyard,Tolu performed her forbidden ritual. The air crackled with dark energy as she chanted in a long-forgotten language, her voice resonating with the raw power of necromancy. Before her, was the body stolen from the morgue lifeless and cold.
As she worked, she felt a familiar presence, a nagging disruption to her carefully constructed focus. Annoyance twisted her features.
"What do you want, Christopher?" she snapped without turning around. "I told you, to leave me be."
Christopher stepped into the glade, his face etched with concern. "Tolu. You need to stop this. You don't understand what you're doing."
Tolu whirled around, her eyes blazing with fury. "What I understand is that you're always interfering. You're either with me or against me, Christopher. Pick a side! Stop trying to be the good guy, because frankly, it's annoying ."
"And this isn't? This is a necromancer's plaything. A ritual that will forever scar your soul?" Christopher advanced, his voice rising in desperation. "If you really loved Emeka, you'd let him rest! You wouldn't defile his body with this…this abomination."
"You wouldn't understand," Tolu spat, her voice thick with emotion. "You weren't the one who killed him, if you were in my shoes you would do the same."
Christopher sighed." This isn't the answer. It's going to destroy you, I've seen it fuck up people's life." His expression harden ." I can't let you do this, i won't." He reached out , his hands outstretched." Give me the book, Tolu."
Tolu glared at him, her eyes filled with a mixture of rage and grief. "No. I'm sorry, Christopher. But I have to do this."
Left with no choice, Christopher lunged forward, grabbing the ancient tome from Tolu's grasp. He turned and fled, sprinting towards the street, desperate to get as far away from her as possible."
He ran as fast as he could, the heavy book clutched tightly in his arms. Finally, when he thought he had put enough distance between himself and Tolu, he slowed, gasping for breath.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him began to tremble. He looked up, fear gripping his heart, but it was too late. An unseen force lifted him into the air, his body twisting and contorting in unnatural ways. He cried out in agony, a scream that was abruptly cut short as his body was violently ripped apart.
A rain of blood and gore splattered the street floor, the remnants of Christopher's life painting a gruesome tableau against the tarred road .The book, now stained crimson, tumbled to the ground.
In an instant, Tolu materialized beside the fallen tome, her form shifting and reforming into a grotesque parody of a crow.
She bent down, her avian fingers gently picking up the book. "I'm sorry, Christopher," she whispered, her voice a raspy echo of its former self. "I tried. You gave me no choice."
With a final flicker of dark magic, she vanished, leaving behind only the lingering scent of blood and decay.
LATER THAT MORNING.....
The ritual continued, now fueled by a new, darker energy. Tolu chanted, her voice stronger, more resonant than before, as she poured her will into The lifeless body.The air shimmered, and a faint purple glow enveloped the body.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, his eyes fluttered open. He gasped, his chest heaving as he drew in a ragged breath. He looked up at Tolu, his expression confused and disoriented.
"It worked," Tolu breathed, tears streaming down her face. "You're back. I brought you back."
The man struggled to sit up, his movements stiff and unnatural. "What…what happened?" he asked, his voice raspy and unfamiliar. "Where am I?"
"You died," Tolu said softly. "But I brought you back. I brought you back to life."
"You can go, return to your family." Tolu said.
He stood up, his movements still unsteady, and turned to leave the glade.
Tolu watched him go, her heart swelling with joy. She had done it. She had finally perfected the spell . All she needed to do now was to find Emeka's body and she had an idea of where to look.
The man walked slowly through the forest, the moonlight filtering through the trees. He felt disoriented, confused, like he was waking from a long and terrible nightmare. He remembered the pain, the darkness, the feeling of…nothingness.
He stumbled out of the forest and into the familiar streets of his neighborhood. The houses were quiet, the streetlights casting long, eerie shadows. He walked towards his home, his heart filled with anticipation. He couldn't wait to see his wife, to hold his children again.
He reached his front door, his hand trembling as he reached for the handle.
Suddenly, his body convulsed. A jolt of searing pain ripped through him, every muscle in his body spasming uncontrollably. His eyes widened in horror as he felt his flesh rotting, his bones twisting, his very essence dissolving.
He collapsed to the floor, his body contorting into a grotesque mockery of its former self. The last vestiges of his humanity flickered and died, replaced by a hunger, a darkness, a primal urge that consumed everything.
The man came back but as something dangerous, something Tolu had no idea she had created.
A zombie.