I couldn't remain calm after Lesego left to meet with Ryan.


I was hoping she would have called by now to tell me what he wanted, but knowing her, this was her way of keeping me on my toes as punishment.


It had been hours, and I was still pacing around the house, waiting for her to call me.


Clay had left after her, claiming that he had an errand to run, but I could see through his lie.


He had been behaving strangely in the last few days, and I was starting to get worried.


Finally, around 8p.m., my phone blared up, but it wasn't from the person I expected.


"Bridgette?" I answered tiredly.


"Masechaba," she said in a panic, and that got me awake. "You have to come home urgently; Claudia is not waking up!"


Oh, no! What has that troublesome girl done now?


My stomach hurt as if someone had fed me with a pot full of anxiety.


This had Karabelo written all over it, it could be her way of getting me out of hiding.


"Bridgette, I can't leave. I–"


"I know," she interjected. "But I don't know what to do. I need you!" I removed my phone from my ear as she wailed.


Damn, my heart has never soared the way it was at that moment.


She couldn't bring herself to use her powers to find out what was the problem with her daughter, because she cared too much.


It didn't matter how much I resisted, Bridgette cared about her children, and she loved us unconditionally.


"Okay, I'll be there in a few." I hung up and went online to hire an Uber, and I was at Bridgette's in no time.


Claudia was laying on her bed, passed out. The scariest part was that she was convulsing and sweating while making incoherent sounds.


Her skin was so pale and cold like she'd just been plucked out of an iceberg.


"How long has she been like this?" I asked Bridgette when she returned with a fresh bowl of hot water.


She was a mess, there was no trace of the woman who normally had it together; her eyes were puffy and red, and she was shaking.


I took the bowl away from her and placed it on the headboard, then I helped her to the study chair at the corner.


"Bridgette, have you had anything to eat since the day started?" She shook her head.


"I'm not hungry," she finally said. "I don't understand, I thought she was just coming down with a fever or something, but she got worse by the minute."


I sat on the bedside and continued placing the warm cloth across her face.


I just wanted to seem useful, but I could see it was not working.


This was not a fever or whatsoever, it was something spiritual, and Bridgette knew it.


"Go ahead and go to bed, I'll stay with her for the night." She did not argue, she just nodded and left the room. "What have you been up to, Claudia?"


I don't know if Bridgette sensed it, but Claudia's soul was not present. It was as if she was in two places at the same time.


She was fighting to wake up from whatever nightmare she was facing, but she was trapped somewhere.


I knew how to get her back, but I couldn't do it without Bridgette's assistance, and I didn't want to wake her up.


Guess it would all have to wait until tomorrow.


I stayed up with Claudia until eventually, I fell asleep.


However, nothing could have prepared me for what welcomed me in the land of the dead.