In the evening, the people of Lagos were given some good news. The return of the missing students who went on a tour circulated all over the media in a short time.
Reporter Francis Ebuka was again reporting live on television. Mr Roland was invited over to narrate how everything went.
"So what's the truth behind everything?", asked Francis Ebuka.
"Well...", Mr Roland sighed, "Mr Joseph took them to the Anaka community where he planned to use them for a ritual purpose or something. Fortunately, some kind farmers found them and kept them safe until we found the students. Those farmers even led us out of the woods so we could get back home", he narrated eloquently.
"How about the lives lost?", inquired the reporter.
"Well...", Mr Roland thought for a while, "Four students and their driver were lost during their time in the land of black magic in Anaka community. The driver was poisoned by Mr Joseph according to what some students claimed. For the students, one was killed in his sleep, two by a ghost and one was consumed to nothing by a large army of ants...definitely something supernatural. Mr Joseph was a black magician."
"May those souls lost rest in peace", Francis said with a bow.
"Amen", Mr Roland responded.
"The footage you showed to us clearly shows Mr Joseph being killed by something that couldn't be captured by camera", Francis expressed with surprise.
"He was killed by a ghost he invoked. We found out there is a necklace he always wore that protected him from being killed by ghosts and they would rather kill people around him. We forced off the necklace from him and what you saw in that footage is what happened after", he explained.
"The adventure was really strange...even the bus the students were conveyed with got missing and we haven't been able to find it till now", he added.
"We're going to show you all the video and sensitive parts have been censored. But if you know you can't deal with explicit contents, don't bother watching", reporter Francis turned to the screen.
The video was played on screen and Sandra was one of the many viewers watching at home. She wore a grimace on seeing how Mr Joseph dropped dead to the ground. She shook her head in dismay. "Vanity upon vanity", she said.
* * *
While the news was being broadcasted all round, Tricia and family never watched it. She, Dominic and Mum were rather having a happy family dinner.
"The next few days is Christmas. How's it going to be celebrated this year?", Mum asked.
"The usual ritual Mum. Inviting people and serving them food and giving out gifts", replied Tricia.
"Yeah! Definitely sticking to that", Dominic supported with his mouth full.
"Thought this year is going to be a special one?", Mum smiled.
"Lending out gifts to people will always be special", replied Tricia. Dominic gestured his support again.
"Fine then! The normal ritual will be done again", she giggled. She was extremely happy to see her daughter again; the main reason behind her smile.
* * *
On Christmas day, Tricia's home was beautifully decorated, colourful tiny bulbs everywhere. The mat kept outside bore an artistic piece of writing that ran;"Merry Christmas To You!" They kept a lot of wrapped Christmas gifts at a corner in the living room.
Their home was filled with relatives and friends. Amongst Tricia's friends were Ben and Grace. Her friends stayed in her room having their food while she assisted her brother and Mum to serve the ever increasing number of visitors. Generally though, everyone ate to their satisfaction, some leaving with extra food.
Tricia and her brother gave out gifts to their friends. Some of Dominic's friends that visited were Rita and Mr Donald. Their Mum gave out gifts to the rest, cash donations to some. Tricia's family were known for their free giving nature and just like other years, that very year also had really beautiful moments. And as usual, lots of pictures were taken.
* * *
Four months later. Dominic was about to leave for work when Tricia called on him to make a request. Dominic was surprised to see her not dressed up for school.
"Why aren't you dressed up for school?", he questioned.
"There's nothing much to do today so I rather stay home today", she replied.
"Okay then", he replied, "You called me, any problem?", he gestured for her to talk.
"It's not a problem...I want to make a request", she said.
"What can I help you with?", he asked.
"I promised those farmers I'd visit them some day, so please take me there whenever you're free. Those farmers did a lot for us, let's not forget them that easily", she spoke softly. She knew her last sentence was the best weapon to use in convincing him.
Dominic remembered that very moment Tricia ran to go whisper something to the farmers, feeling what she's asking for at the moment has something in connection with what she had said to them. He thought about her request for a while as she stared at him intently, eager to hear his response.
"I'll take you there tomorrow", he promised her, much to her delight.
"Thank you so much!", she squeaked.
"Have a nice day!", Dominic wished her and opened the door to leave.
"Have a nice day too!", she exclaimed and closed the door.
* * *
The next day as promised, Dominic drove her to the farmers place. They parked right in front of the house. The couple went out of the kitchen, curious to know who had visited them.
Their curiousness soon changed to joy when Dominic and Tricia stepped out of the car. Tricia went to hug the woman while Dominic and the man shook hands.
"What a pleasant surprise!", the woman grinned, playing with her hair.
"I told you guys I'd visit and I've done just that", Tricia said cheerfully.
"You two have a seat in the porch", the man gestured.
"We'll get you guys something to eat", added his wife. Tricia and Dominic happily made their way to the porch while the couple went to the kitchen to finish up the cooking.
* * *
A man was being chased by another man for stealing three of his corn. "Get back here you thief!", the owner shouted. People soon joined him to chase after the thief. This went on in Anaka community.
To make people stop chasing after him, he ran into the land of black magic through the woods. The crowd stopped chasing after him at once, letting him run into the forest alone.
"You don't go into the land of black magic during weekends!", he called on the runaway thief out of concern. The thief returned deaf ears and kept on running into the woods until they could not see him anymore.
The thief hid behind a big tree, panting so heavily. "At least I'm sure of my breakfast", he gasped out, "Now I better get out of here through another way", he looked round for tracks.
Suddenly, he felt something move past behind him like the wind. "What was that?", he looked round, his heart skipping a beat. After fully knowing his life was at risk, he began running away for his life.
His run did not last long though, the ghost of Mr Joseph popped out from behind a tree and gripped him tightly at the neck. He was just as how Father Christmas had left him dead, part of his neck torn off.
He decided to kill the thief just as how he was killed. He raised the thief high up in the air who dropped the corn to the ground. Mr Joseph pierced the thief's neck with his sharp nails and tore out a part of the neck, leaving the thief to drop dead straight away to the ground. He threw the flesh he held in his hand away. He watched the dead body, wearing a very angry expression.