JUST A CHANCE!

                   CHAPTER    NINE!
                         INTRUDER!








         My parents travelled and I was left alone with my siblings. Mom made sure to prepare everything we'll need for the time they'll be spending over there.
Dad didn't forget to nail his rules on our heart, so we won't give any excuses. He kept ranting it over and over again that I found myself singing it to myself one certain time 😂.
Dad gave me assignments and said I should do them every day! That was annoying I must confess. The enjoyable part of their travel is the fact that I'm automatically the head of the family 😁. I love respect seriously, and I really don't joke with the fact that I'm the first child.
          Three days after their travel, after night devotion. I made sure my siblings were asleep before I retired to my room, that had become a routine for me, an assignment from Mom. Suina was always my headache, as I always have to sing her to sleep 🤦‍♀️. Sometimes, she'll ask me to read one of her comic books for her, with the ideology that everyday has different songs and books that allures her to sleep. She's a pest sometimes.
After one of our usual ups and downs, she decided to sleep. So I went downstairs to make sure everything was in place. I switched off the kitchen light and left the parlour and library on. Then I went to my room and  lay on my bed, off to dream Land 🌃.
          A bang downstairs woke me up. At first I thought it was a dream and decided to sleep back. But I heard it again, followed by a faint sound and footsteps.
     Was it Maya, I thought. She acts as a ghost sometimes. She had this habit of eating at the middle of the night.
 One night, mom was scared when she heard a sound in the kitchen by 2am in the morning. Going to investigate, she almost hit Maya with the stick she held. Maya explained that she usually felt too hungry at that time to suppress the hunger, she had to eat.  Mom got tired of scolding her and let her be. But this night felt kinda awkward and out of place. So I decided to play mummy tonight and do the scolding.

I went downstairs through the back stairs and at the middle of the journey, I froze! I heard voices of two men, not quite old though. Then the library light went off. I shuddered.
One of them told the other to check out the rooms upstairs while he stays down. As he said that, I tiptoed to my room as fast as I could and closed the door quietly. I took a stick I use for my karate practice  as I hid by the side of the door. My room was the first room from the front stairs, so I assumed it would be the first room he would check.
          After some time, my door clicked and opened with me behind. An hairy entered, looked around for sometime then headed to my bathroom on my right. DONG! DONG! DONG! the stick landed on his head, and he lay flat on the floor motionless. I got a rope and tied his hands and feet, rolled him to my big wardrobe and locked him inside.

          My fear decreased a bit and I was ready to face the other one downstairs! While all these was taking place, I made sure not to involve my siblings as I thought that it would worsen the situation and make things more difficult for me. I also prayed that Maya remain in her room and not wake to have her usual midnight meal.

       I went downstairs this time through the front stairs but carefully. As I tiptoed to the sitting room, my ears were open wide for any signal from any angle. There was no one in the sitting room and that raised my fears. God please keep my siblings safe, was my utmost prayer🙏.
As I headed to the library, I heard a sound upstairs. My heart raced, my legs trembling under me while I was shivering. I had to pick courage from who knows where and headed to the direction the noise came from, cautious of the situation on ground. I used the front stairs.
As I got towards my room, I saw a figure coming out of Maya's room with something on his hands. Different thoughts ringing in my brain, that I almost fainted.
Is Maya still alive? Has she been strangled to death? Has she been kidnapped? What the hell has that evil Merodach done to my sister. I wanted to run towards him but my instincts said otherwise so I waited patiently, tears welling up in my eyes. The guy went to Suina's room which is between mine and Maya's. He tried opening the door but it wasn't responding.
         That really got to me because I was the last person to leave her room that night and I remember vividly that I just banged the door and didn't lock it.

        The trickster took something in his pocket and used it on the door and it opened. Immediately I dashed towards him with anger and I heard my siblings screaming on top of their voices. I got to the room to see the man in the floor, my siblings baptizing him with instant pepper spray. Infront of the room was oil. My siblings poured the contents on the floor, the man had fallen into the  trap and slipped. I helped the situation by giving him the last bang on the head and he lost consciousness.
          I called the police immediately and within few minutes, they were in our house. I checked the time and it was past 5am. The scoundrels were bundled into the car. Two police men stayed with us after contacting our parents. They left when the weather got a little brighter.
           My parents called and told us that they boearded the first flight and they were on their way home. I just knew I took the right decision by not contacting them at first.
I asked Maya how she knew about the tricksters.
         "I woke up my usual time and was about to go down stairs. Then I saw you tiptoe into your room like someone being chased. I got the message immediately and went to Suina's room. I woke her up and explained everything to her and what her screaming would do if she tried to. We immediately locked the door, got the olive oil on her table and emptied everything at the entrance of the room. Next, we took pepper spray from her wardrobe and waited for any unfamiliar sound on the door" Maya said excitedly.
           "I almost fainted when Maya told me, gosh I was so afraid. I just did what she asked me to do when she explained that it was the only way no one would get hurt. Well, thank God no one was hurt at all.   But right now, I am still in fright. The way he entered, oh my! I didn't know when I screamed. I need to sleep" Suina added and went back to her room.
        I and Maya cleaned up the mess and waited for our parents to come back. The thoughts of everything flashing in my mind. It was a shock but I felt like a hero!