A Moonlight Romance

Chike wanted to feel the sort of love he had read about in all the novels and seen in the big romantic movies. He needed that calming assurance of being loved, of knowing he existed not just for himself but as a part of something bigger. The love he had been deprived all his life had led him on a quest to find the one who would complete him, the one who would know him inside and out and fulfil all of the wildest longings of his aching heart.

The first thing he thought when he saw her pictures was how much she reminded him of his ex. It was almost weird, but scrolling through her Instagram posts, he could swear that he felt a certain kinship with her. There was familiarity in the way her smile stretched from ear to ear, and the exotic clothes she wore brought back happy memories of the hot harmattan afternoons he experienced growing up in Owerri, before that tragic day when his mother was "swallowed" by the Otammiri river. Before his father stopped being bothered about him and life in general.

But it was her eyes that held his attention the longest and reminded him the most of Kunle; the only person he had ever loved in his life, the one man who held the power to shatter his heart as completely as he had done almost five years ago. Chike had been a 300 level economics student of the University of Lagos on that fateful day when Kunle walked into his department, and the very first thing he had noticed were his eyes. Strong, confident, mournful eyes. Eyes that missed nothing yet seemed to feel everything.

Theeyes are the window to the soul, he had thought tohimself.

It started from ahandshake, a simple introduction, exchange of pleasantries and then phonenumbers. Then the texts followed, the calls, the meetups. He had never knownabout that part of himself, had never even tried to explore anything outside ofwhat he knew. But Kunle knew, and he had so much experience, so much wisdom andconfidence, it was so easy to trust him, so easy to relax and let him lead theway. The love that blossomed had to be hidden from their friends and everyoneelse for obvious reasons. It was impossible not to suspect however and certaineyebrows were raised and questions asked. But love won in the end and Chike,for the first time in years, was finally happy and at peace with himself.

And then Kunle walkedaway. Chike couldn’t understand how easy it was for him to just decide he didnot love him anymore. It seemed so quick and well thought out, just a threehour delay between getting the ‘we need to talk’ text and Kunle telling him tohis face that he didn’t want to do it anymore, that he wasn’t ready for such acommitment to any man or woman.

“You can’t mean that,” hehad blurted out while trying to hold on to his jacket, “You love me, you knowyou do.”

“Come on man, it’s really not that serious,” Kunle had told him in his usual flippant manner. “I like guys and I like girls, and so do you Chike. We’re too young to be joined at the hip like this, we have literally our whole lives in front of us.”

Chike had sat alone on the bench at the bus park crying his eyes out while the campus shuttles filled up one by one with students going to Yaba, Bariga, and everywhere else in between. As the semester progressed and his world turned into several empty black spots, it dawned on him that Kunle had never really loved him, and had in fact just been using him. The pain turned to anger and he took it out on himself. He self-harmed, experimented with the latest drugs, and forgot himself in the sweaty embrace of a dozen different guys and girls until, from the depths of his being, he finally found the strength to pick himself up. The experience cost him an extra year of study but to him it was all worth it because he was older now, stronger, wiser and more prepared for life. But still, he was as desperate as ever to fall in love, and also to be loved, deeply and truly.

As he continued to scrollthrough sexy_ayeesha’s Instagram heweighed up his options and decided to damn the consequences. Man must love, he thought to himself,sending the first of six direct messages. He was pleasantly surprised when hisphone started to vibrate barely two minutes later. Swiping down on the screen,he saw that sexy_ayeesha had repliednot just once but six times to his six different messages. His heart began tothump fiercely and he jumped off the sofa and yanked the red plain tie his officeforced all employees to wear off of his neck. He paced his small living room incircles; from the TV to the painting of palm trees on the rear wall and backagain, all the while completely fixated on his phone and only stopping toremove the footstool from the way after he had bumped into it a dozen times. Heloved her energy, the way she responded to his messages with gusto and zeal,and her eyes, those big, bright balls of passion. He felt himself being drawnin once again, he felt himself cave to the beckoning of her soul through thoseeyes; her effect on him reduced not in the least despite the Instagram filters.He promised himself that he would be careful this time, he would not give hisall only to be left hanging and alone. Never again.

The chat moved to WhatsApp over the next couple of days and Chike and Aisha could not get enough of each other. They texted well into the night, they texted while he was at work and several customers lined up in front of him waiting for their various banking transactions to be sorted out, and they texted while he was stuck in traffic as the angry conductor berated a mother of two for still finding a way into his bus despite his many shouts of “I no get change o”.

Aisha sent him pictures that were not on any of her social media accounts and he marvelled at the seeming softness of her skin, the fullness of her lips and the dark sheen of her natural hair. And then those fucking eyes. The first time she sent him a voice note it was sultry, short, and clearly intended to be suggestive. He had taken the initiative and finally given her a call.

“Your voice is exactlyhow I expected it to sound,” he gushed over the phone.

“Really? Wow please tellme more,” she giggled, “Is that a good or bad thing?”

“It’s perfect that’s whatI mean, it’s completely perfect just like you.”

“Please stop whining me,I know exactly how you men are. You seem so different now but I’m sure all thatwill change when you get whatever it is you want.” He wished he could tell herhe didn’t want to be different, he didn’t want to feel this way at all. Hismistakes of five years ago were still raw in his memory and he never wanted tolose control like that again. But her next words sent him spiralling out oforbit.

“I want you to come seeme.”

Chike felt the wind getknocked out of his sails and he forced his constricted throat to stammer. “You…you want me to come… “

She laughed loud andhard. “Yes, I want you to come see me. Why do you sound so surprised?”

He cursed himself for hisineptitude. He was certain she was going to change her mind. Why had he soundedso shocked? What woman would want a man who wasn’t even sure of himself?

“No it’s not that. I’mnot shocked it’s just that… I just… “

“You just what Chike?”The mockery in her voice was clear even to him.

“When would you like meto come?”

Her response wasimmediate. “The next full moon, that’s exactly three days from now.” Perhapsshe sensed the slight hesitation he felt so she hurriedly added, “Ha ha, it’snothing serious. It’s just going to be my first time seeing you and I wanted… Idon’t know, a little bit of romance maybe?”

Chike felt his spiritbegin to soar. The words Aisha was saying sounded exactly like what hedesperately craved to hear. “It’s a date,” he almost screamed into the phonebefore she had the chance to change her mind, “Yes I’ll come see you. Noproblem.”

“Then it really is adate. I’ll text the address and other details to you right away.”

For the next two days Chike was a different man entirely even as he tried to keep a lid on his expectations. He knew of many Instagram couples that had worked out and were still working out. Okay maybe not many but still, there had to be a point to the app other than double tapping on pictures, living a fake lifestyle and hair vendors posting twerk videos in order to get more customers, he thought to himself. His happiness was almost complete and even his colleagues at work could see it. So could his landlord, who silently wondered to himself if it could be an opportunity to increase his rent.

On the third day Chikerose from sleep with joy in his heart and spent ample time grooming himself forhis evening date. The next couple of hours were spent in fantasy land,conjuring up scenario after scenario of how things could play out. His Uberdriver was a woman, a first for him, and thankfully she wasn’t the chatty typeso the trip was conducted in relative peace and quiet, aided by the soft musicbeing played from the car stereo. Chike slept off on the way and would havebeen shocked to know just how many SARS checkpoints his driver had manoeuvredthrough on the way to Aisha’s house in Ikorodu while he slumbered andsnored.  She woke him up when they got onthe exact street and together, they followed the directions previously provideduntil they reached the cul-de-sac and the massive imposing structure thatoccupied it.

Chike’s first thought asthe driver reversed and turned away was how any woman claiming to be single andso young could afford such a house. His second thought as he stared up at thethick growth of trees and vines that surrounded the gate and exterior walls waswhy anybody in his or her right mind would want to live in such an utterlylonely and desolate place. Despite a certain castle-like appeal, the house lefthis stomach feeling unsettled but he shook it off, pushed the side gate openand walked in.

The compound was a much better sight especially in the glare of the fast setting sun. The grass was neatly trimmed and a marble cut pathway led from the gate straight to the veranda. The building itself had three or four green vines creeping right down its front which rendered a classic feel to the entire aesthetic. Chike was barely half way down the path when the door of the house swung open and Aisha raced out to meet him and jumped into his arms. He was overjoyed. All his internal misogyny about a single woman living in such a place instantly evaporated in the wake of her exotic scent. She was dressed in a flowing red satin gown and in his mind ‘beautiful’ would have been too plain a word to be used in describing her.

They finally releasedthemselves from each other’s embrace and Chike got a chance to look her in theface. Immediately he was lost in her eyes and that feeling of familiarity hehad felt when he first gazed upon her Instagram instantly returned. She didn’tremind him of Kunle anymore, she reminded him of home. He was finally home, hadfinally found his place in the world and he was never going to give it up.

Aisha linked her hands inhis as they walked into the house together. He was impressed by the décor andher sense of style. It was clear that she had focused much more of her taste onthe interior rather than the exterior of the house and it was not a wastedeffort. He whistled softly under his breath and she turned to face him.

“You like?” she teasinglyasked.

“I love. Like, reallylove.”

“Awwn thank you so much,”she replied as she led him to sit on the plush sofa.

“So what would you liketo drink?”

“Anything, absolutelyanything you’re offering right now, I don’t even care.”

Aisha laughed; a full,hearty laugh, then she walked in the direction of the kitchen and quicklyreturned with an unopened bottle of wine and two glasses.

“You have very goodtaste,” he said examining the bottle, and as an afterthought he added, “Omalicha, i meela!”

She blushed so fully thathe immediately knew he had made the right choice. “I’ll love it if you speakIgbo to me, especially all those your pet names and praise names for yourwomen. I’m completely in love with such things.”

Chike, who’s spoken Igbocould be described as basic at best, wasted no time. “Ah ah! If it’s that alonethen consider it done. I’ll spoil you with the language ehn, olu gbajie boys.”

They laughed together fora long while and then she abruptly sat right in his lap and stared deep intohis eyes. He knew that in this moment she could ask him to slap the Pope and hewouldn’t even hesitate.

“Is this moving too fast?I mean, are we moving too fast? Because this is great and all but if it’s toofast then…” He didn’t wait for her to finish before moving in for the kill andcapturing her lips with his. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity beforehe stopped and smiled contentedly.

“It’s not moving too fastasa nwa. You won’t believe me butI’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life. This feels so right andnothing could ever be better than this.”

They spent the next hourmaking out, sipping wine and barely engaging in any small talk. Finally she gotoff his lap and on her feet, straightened out her gown and stretched her handto clasp his.

“Follow me upstairs, Iwant to show you something.”

Chike wasted no time ingetting to his feet. Of course, hethought to himself, I have a few thingsto show you myself. They followed the spiral staircase to her bedroom onthe second floor and again he marvelled at the simple elegance of the entirehouse and warm comfort of her chambers. A large water bed was placed directlyin the centre of the spacious room and all other furniture arranged around it.The curtains were a dark red colour and completely closed, the walls blendedwell with the curtains and the bed itself, which was also another shade of red.Everything matched and it was all very beautiful and pleasing to Chike’s eyes.

“Stand right there. Yes,right there, don’t move please” Aisha said, directing him to the foot of thebed as she walked over to a part of the wall that held a chrome panel withdifferent buttons and switches. She flipped one of the switches and for amoment nothing happened. Then all of a sudden, a tiny, whirring noise like anelevator running on its levers started to sound directly above him. He lookedup to see a small section of the ceiling begin to slide back, slowly, oninvincible hinges. It opened up fully to reveal a translucent glass roofcovering the space, from which the brilliant moonlight descended into the room,illuminating the bed behind him and everything else the light touched. Theblueish hue of the moonlight contrasted perfectly with the muted red coloursall around him, transforming Aisha’s bedroom into something out of aneighteenth century fantasy novel.

Chike stood in awe as theroom changed into what he always imagined heaven would look like. The sky roofwasn’t something one saw every day but it had been executed to perfection, withthe glass constructed in such a way that it absorbed the rays of the moonhitting it from outside and then magnified the light all through the room. Hefinished his admiration of the room and turned to face Aisha. She looked likethe goddess of sin basking in the brilliant light, her flowing red satin gowncompleting the aura of royalty that had descended upon her.

She cat walked slowly towhere he stood, obviously enjoying the dumbfounded expression on his face.“Take off your clothes,” she whispered seductively, placing a palm softly onhis chest. His brain took hardly a second to boot before he acceded to herrequest and was soon struggling with his clothes. She grabbed the hems of herdress and in one swoop lifted it above her head and let it drop to the floor,standing totally naked in his presence.

Before his mouth could dropany further Aisha pushed him onto the bed and climbed astride him. Her lipsfound his again and locked on as they explored each other’s bodies, caressing,kissing, biting and scratching. When she finally guided him inside her Chikethought he was going to faint from the sheer pleasure of it all. He thought hehad already died and gone to heaven, evidenced by the immense beauty of thewoman on top of him and the room they were in.

“Chike do you love me?”

From his vantage positionlooking up at her while she slowly rode him, it was impossible for him to feelanything but love, in that moment.

“Yes, I love you Aisha,”he hastily replied as he tried to stifle his grunts and groans. “I love youmore than anything else in this world.” He wrapped his fingers around her slimwaist.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Do you want to be withme?”

The pleasure was becomingintense, it was impossible for him to think rationally. “Yes I want to be withyou, I’ve never wanted anything more in my life,” he gasped out.

“Are you mine? Do I haveyour heart and soul?”

His eyes met hers. Themoonlight above and all around her looked extraordinary and as he looked intoher eyes he felt himself trapped by their beauty, by the blue and white fire hesaw in them. One hand clutched tightly at the bedsheets while his other handtravelled the entirety of her soft backside. He was about to explode and had nocontrol over the words escaping from his mouth.

“Yes Aisha I’m yours andyours alone. You have my heart and everything else. You are my queen, I want tobe here with you and never leave. I am yours.”

“Forever?”

He didn’t hesitate foreven a moment. “Forever.”

Aisha smiled. And Chike,on the verge of the most intense orgasm of his life, felt himself start tofloat off the bed. Yes! Yes! Yes! Hethought, I’m coming, this is incredible.Then the pain hit him, sharp, piercing and worse than anything he had everexperienced. Chike’s eyes finally opened and he knew that something had gonehorribly wrong. The moonlit room that had been so insanely beautiful only a fewseconds ago now took on its real shape with markings and inscriptions on thewalls that looked like they were written in white chalk as blood flowed down fromthe ceiling, steady and unrelenting, to form a pool around the bed.

A foul stench like death filled the room fromnowhere and he couldn’t feel his body. The intense pain persisted though,firing all through his limbs but he couldn’t move and he had no control of hisarms, legs or anywhere else. The woman on top of him was still writhing andriding, only now as he tried to focus on her despite the pain he was in, Chikeexperienced true horror, the type of which he had never known before. It wasAisha, but then it wasn’t really Aisha. Those eyes that had completely capturedhim before were now empty and lifeless. Under the moonlight, she looked like acreature from hell; her skin was dry and scaly like a lizard’s, shock-whitehair, and claws where pretty, manicured nails had once been. He tried toconvince himself that he was imagining things because of all the pleasure hehad been feeling, but this couldn’t be his imagination. Not the horns springingforth from his lover’s head, or the dark feathered wings attached to her backthat seemed to have come out of nowhere.

Chike felt like he was being sucked into her,felt his soul start to leave his body and travel up to become one with her. Thepain coursing through him reached its crescendo and his eyes began to close,everywhere around him getting dimmer and dimmer. The thing on top of himsuddenly started to laugh; a loud, high-pitched cackle that was the trueembodiment of evil. The grotesque scene was further enhanced by the rays of themoon, still steadily pouring in through the glass roof. Chike, knowing that hewas completely finished, mustered up all his remaining strength, forced airinto his lungs and screamed, as loudly and desperately as he could. But nosound came out. Nothing could be heard but the monstrous cackling of thecreature straddling him, draining the life out of him. And then absolutesilence as his eyes finally shut, never to open again.