CHAPTER TWO
"Welcome to the Black Witch Covenant, my child."
I slowly opened my eyes, but I could not see clearly as the rays of the sun touched my face. After a few minutes, my vision cleared, and I saw myself lying on an animal-skin mat, surrounded by mysterious men and women chanting in tones that I could not understand.
My head was spinning. Then I remembered my uncle and aunt throwing me into the dam. As I sank down, I remembered the sack I was shoved in being torn apart by the crocodiles. After that, I felt as if the world had swallowed me.
How did I survive that calamity? I was sure I was dead. How come I was alive without even a scar? I once heard that in the land of the dead you feel no pain. I smiled, thinking my prayer had been answered. Now I could meet my parents in the land of the dead.
"My child, I saved you under the water. I heard your screams and suffering. Your voice echoed in my ears, and I used my black magic to take you from the mouths of the water beasts."
I jumped from my thoughts and asked the lady if I was in the land of the dead. I also wanted to know who she was. The woman laughed, but that laugh sent a cold chill through my body. It was terrifying.
She told me that she saved me and that I had been reborn to become a great witch. She introduced herself as the Queen of the Witches, but she also said I must call her my godmother because I had found favor in her eyes.
Everything was confusing. What did she mean that I was reborn to become a great witch? And where on earth was this place where I was being kept?
After a few days of resting, one night I woke up from the hut where I had been sleeping. I went outside and took a few steps toward a big baobab tree where I heard people singing and chanting around a fire.
As I drew closer, I panicked at what my eyes witnessed.
There were two men surrounded by those witches. I saw my godmother holding a black dagger designed with strange carvings. She stabbed one of the men, drew his blood, and filled a clay pot.
After that, she drank the blood without hesitation.
Then she used her dagger again to cut the man's chest. I saw her long black nails sink into his chest, and she pulled out his heart.
I could not bear it anymore.
I covered my face with my palms. With the little strength I had left, I carried myself back to the hut. My heart was pounding, and I even started to vomit. I cleaned myself and lay down on the mat.
That night I did not sleep. The vision of those two men kept appearing in my mind. I asked myself who the next person to be slaughtered mercilessly would be. Would it be me?
I promised myself that tomorrow I would escape from that place of wicked witches. But how? I did not even know where I was.
Another question haunted my mind: why did they save me if they knew that I would become their meal?
In the morning, the Queen came to me and told me that I was supposed to join their covenant. She said that if I joined them, I would gain the power to take revenge on the people who killed my parents and abused me.
For a moment, the thought of revenge made me happy.
Then the memory of the previous night flashed in my mind. I told myself that I would never stay in that terrifying place. I had to escape before it was too late.
During the day, some of the witches accompanied my godmother to hunt humans, as they called it. Earlier that morning I had lied to my godmother and told her that I would join the covenant. She told me that at night I would perform the rituals.
After she left for the hunt, I got my chance to escape.
Luckily, I found my way back to my town. But this time I did not go straight to my enemies.
Instead, I went to the palace to report everything that had happened to the king.
END OF CHAPTER TWO