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Two days after the four witches visited Bola at her provision store, something very shocking happened. One Saturday afternoon, Bola instructed her two oldest daughters to go to the market and buy some Ingredients for soup while she told her last daughter to remain at the provision store.

Because Bola was not feeling well that day, she decided to rest at home. Around 2 pm, while Bola was sleeping in her room, she suddenly heard some voices. When she opened her eyes to see where the voices came from, to her greatest surprise, she saw the four witches in her room. The four of them had worn the same red attire again and were all standing beside Bola’s bed.

“What are you doing here? How did you get inside my room?” Bola asked as she jumped out of her bed.

“Relax, Bola, we do not mean you any harm. You do not need to be afraid of us. We are family,” one of the women said.

“God forbid. We can never be family, and I want you out of my house now,” Bola yelled.

“Ah! Ah! Bola, why are you acting like a child? You should be privileged that we came to you ourselves. Most women come to us, and we decline their offer. Do not act like this,” another woman said.

“Iya Shakirat, I don’t know how you entered my room, and I don’t care. I want you to take your friends and leave my house. I have told you that I do not want to become a witch. Is it by force? Shebi, if I wanted to become a witch, I would have come to you like the other women you mentioned,” Bola yelled.

“Bola, you need to calm down and listen to us. In this village, everyone knows that any woman who is a member of the Red Witches is a person of honour. Do you not want that honour and respect?” One of the women asked.

“No, I do not want it. I already told you I am not interested. I do not have any children to sacrifice in the future, neither will I sacrifice another person’s children,” Bola said.

“Bola, when we came to your store, we thought you acted that way because it was in public. That is why we decided to come and meet you privately. You are a wealthy woman; you have everything you want in life. What else do you have to lose?” one of the women asked.

“I have everything to lose. I do not want to be responsible for any bad luck in my children’s life,” Bola said.

“If you join our coven, your children will be very successful. We will protect them like one of our own, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about,” one of the women said.

“Iya Shakirat, are your children successful?” Bola yelled, ” What about you, mama Segun? Which of your children are successful? Do you call being a drunkard and nuisance in this village, successful? If that is your definition of successful, then I do not want it. I have greater plans for my children,” Bola added.

“So, is that your final decision?” One of the women asked.

“Yes, that is my final decision. I do not want anything to do with you and your coven. Please leave me house now, and I’ll pretend you never came here,” Bola said.

“There’s no problem, Bola. We will leave. We know you are still ignorant; that is why we will leave you to think about what we have offered you,” one of the women said.

“I am not thinking about anything. Please leave my house. There are many women in this village who will happily join your coven. Please go to them and leave me alone,” Bola said. 

Immediately after Bola said that, the four women looked at one another and nodded. Then, they stumped their right legs simultaneously and disappeared.

“Ah! What kind of trouble is this? Is it a crime to be wealthy in this village? I have said it already, and I’m repeating it, I do not want to be a witch. I do not want to become the mother my children will be praying against,” Bola soliloquized.

The first time the four witches visited Bola at her provision store, she was not really worried, but when they appeared in her room, Bola began to worry about them. 

After the witches visited Bola in her room, a week passed, and she had not seen them again. When she had not seen them for a whole week, she thought that they had finally forgotten about her, but she was wrong.

That same night, after a very stressful day at her store and at the farm, Bola retired to bed early. Around 1 am, she had a strange dream that felt so real. In that dream, Bola saw herself standing in the centre of women who were singing and dancing. 

“What am I doing here?” Bola soliloquized. Immediately she asked that question, all the women stopped singing and dancing, and they all turned in her direction.

“You are here because we summoned you,” one of the women said. Almost immediately, Bola recognized the voice and the person. It was Iya Shakirat, one of the red witches, who came to her store and house.

“Iya Shakirat, why did you bring me here? I have already told you that I am not interested in joining your coven,” Bola said.

“Is that so?” All the witches asked in unison.

“Yes, that’s my decision, and absolutely nothing can make me change my mind. I do not want to make a decision I will live to regret. God has blessed me, and I am pleased with what I have,” Bola said.

“Hmmmm! The red witches have heard you,” the witches said in unison. “But the red witches do not like it when someone turns them down,” they added.

“I do not care if you like it or not. Leave me alone. It is not by force to be a witch. After all, I have not seen any benefits of being a witch,” Bola said.

“Hmmmmm! The red witches have heard, you can go,” the witches said in unison.

Immediately the witches said Bola could go, she woke up in her room.

“Ah! So these women have the audacity to summon me to their coven. Should I kill someone before they understand that I am not interested in becoming a witch? I am not the only woman in this village; anyone can become a witch,” Bola soliloquized, then she went back to bed.

Unfortunately, Bola had no idea that whenever a person was summoned to the coven of the red witches and the person turned down their offer, there were dire consequences.

The following morning, Bola woke up as usual to prepare for the farm. While she was trying to pick an outfit, her oldest daughter ran into her room.

“Mama, mama, something is wrong. It’s simi, she is not waking up,” Bola’s oldest daughter, Omotola said. Simi was Bola’s youngest daughter, and she was always the first person to wake up in their house.

“What do you mean Simi is not waking up?” Bola asked in a confused voice.

“I called her this morning to wake and do her chores, but she didn’t respond,”Bola’s oldest daughter said.

“Maybe she is deeply asleep. Go and shake her or sprinkle some water on her face; she will wake up. You know she can be a deep sleeper sometimes,” Bola said.

“Mama, I have done all of that. Seun and I have even lifted her, but she is not moving,” Bola’s daughter said in a teary voice.

When Bola heard that, she dropped the clothes she was holding and ran to her daughter’s room.

“Simi, Simi,” Bola called and shook her youngest daughter, but she still did not wake up. ” What is the meaning of all this? Simisola, wake up; mummy is calling you,” Bola said in a concerned voice.

“Is she dead?” Seun, Bola’s second daughter, asked in a teary voice.

“God forbid, my daughter is not dead. She is still breathing. I just do not understand what’s happening?” Bola said.

“Maybe she is sick. We should take her to the village herbalist; he will know what to do,” Omotola, Bola’s oldest daughter, suggested.

“Hmmm! This has never happened before. God will help me. I will not mourn my children. I will not bury my daughter,” Bola said in panic.

Without wasting time, Omotola carried Simi’s weak body on her back, and she took her to the herbalist’s house. On her way to the herbalist’s house, Bola bumped into one of the red witches, Iya Shakirat, but she didn’t wait to talk to her because she was in a hurry.

“What did you say is wrong with your daughter?” The herbalist asked Bola.

“Baba, I don’t know. She went to bed with her sisters last night but did not wake up this morning,” Bola explained.

“But there is nothing wrong with her. She is just sleeping,” the herbalist said.

“No, Baba, I don’t think she is sleeping. I tried to wake her several times, but she didn’t respond,” Bola said.

“You don’t understand, Bola, this is not an ordinary sleep. Are you sure you did not offend anyone, or she did not offend anyone? Because people only cast this kind of sleep spells as an act of wickedness,” the herbalist said.

As soon as Bola heard that someone had cast a sleep spell on her daughter, she jumped and shouted.

“Woman, calm down and clean those tears. Crying is not allowed in this great oracle,” the herbalist said.

“Baba, you know me in this village. I am not a troublesome person, and I haven’t offended anyone. Although Simi has a sharp mouth and gets in trouble with her fellow teenagers at times, I don’t think any of them would do this to her,”  Bola said.

“Do not underestimate anyone. The heart of men is desperately wicked, and they are capable of doing anything. Someone has cast a sleep spell on your daughter, but do not worry, I will reverse it,” the herbalist said.

“Ah!” Bola exclaimed in relief. “Thank you very much, Baba,” she said as she fell to her knees.

“But there is something you must know, whoever cast this sleep spell is very powerful and if I attempt to reverse it now, your daughter might not wake up. So, I will have to let her sleep for at least 3 days before I can reverse it. Don’t worry, even if it means me going to the heavens to reverse this, I will do it,” the herbalist said.

“But, Baba, three days is too long; she might die. Can’t you do it in one day?” Bola asked.

“Do you trust me or not? I am telling you what will be good for you, and you’re saying something else,” the herbalist said.

“Thank you, Baba. I will come back here in three days. Is there anything you would like me to buy or bring?” Bola asked.

“No, do not worry about that. Just come back in three days like you have said,” the herbalist said.

“Thank you, Baba,” Bola said before exiting the herbalist’s house.

On her way back to her house, Bola saw some youths running in her direction, and she immediately sensed that something was wrong.

“Mama, Seun, where were you? We have been looking for you everywhere,” one of the youths said while trying to catch his breath.

“What is it? Why were you looking for me?” Bola asked in a concerned and confused tone.

“It’s your store. Your store is on fire. We tried our best to extinguish the fire, but 70% of your goods have been destroyed,” the teenage boy said.

“My store? It cannot be my store,” Bola denied.

“Mama, Seun, don’t we all know your store? Some of the villagers are gathered there now, trying to put off the fire. Please come with us,” the boy said.

When Bola saw that the boy and the rest of the youths were serious, she left them and ran to her store.

Unfortunately, the youths were right. Bola’s store had caught fire and the fire burnt almost all the provisions she had inside it.

“Who did I offend o?” Bola fell and rolled on the ground when she saw the horrible state of her provision store.

With Bola’s last born at the herbalist’s house and her store burning to the ground, it was apparent that something was wrong.

Luckily for Bola, there were some kind villagers who consoled her and took her back to her house.

“Mama, Omotola, I am very sorry that your store caught fire. We should just be glad that no one was in it; otherwise, things would have been worse,” one of the village women consoled Bola. 

While some of the women were still consoling Bola, the four witches showed up at her house to mock her.

“Mama, Bola, I heard about what happened to your store and your daughter, Simi. It is unfortunate,” one of the witches said, but Bola did not answer her.

“Hmm! But how can all these things happen to one person in one day? Are you sure you did not offend anyone?” Another witch asked, but Bola refused to respond.

“We will take our leave now. We only came to sympathize with you. May God help you,” another witch said, and then they all left one after the other in a single line.

After the witches left, Bola went inside her room and cried her eyes out. Unknown to her, what she had seen was only the tip of the iceberg, and her life was about to worsen.

Watch out for part 3

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