Lekan had never seen anger so quiet, Noah's face was devoid of emotions but the ticking pulse at the side of his forehead told her otherwise. Feyi still looked shocked from the paper he had just flashed in her face and it was only Lekan who could see Zeke, so it was up to her to spin a lie, or maybe give him the truth.

Although she doubted he would believe her.

"We didn't send that to you," she began, it was the wrong thing to say because Noah gave a derisive snort and she began scrambling for something else she could say. Lekan didn't like that he unnerved her, maybe it was because he seemed to act like the reason he was in Mary Slessor, he didn't bother to sugarcoat who he seemed to be.

"Tell him the truth, show him Osas's note." Zeke whispered in a silly manner as if the others could hear him.

"We got that same paper too," She said, this time, Noah was silent, waiting she realized. Lekan showed him Osas's own copy but the suspicion did not totally wear off.

"You could have made two copies, I don't know." Noah scoffed.

"Listen to yourself," Lekan said, anger beginning to swell in her chest, she was getting tired of his stupid arrogance. "Why would I go through the stress of printing a piece of paper just to mess with you? I mean, I don't even know you!"

He wasn't deterred. "The spawn of Satan knows me." He pointed at Feyi who narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing.

"Spawn of Satan and Anger Extraordinary, you have good choices in friends, Lekan." Zeke said with a chuckle. Lekan shot him a baleful glance.

"Shut up, Lucifer." Feyi shot back. "The last thing I want to do is share the same space with you, go jump in the well."

"Yet here we are," Noah said easily. "Let's say I believe you, what the hell is going on then? Who the hell is distributing letters around and asking them to meet like a lovers tryst?"

"Good question, idiot, that is why we're here." Feyi mocked.

Lekan hated the glimmer of interest that glittered in Noah's eyes, he stuck his hands into the pockets of his trousers — his blue uniform trousers.

"What are we waiting for then?" He cocked his head to the side then began to mount the small steps up to the cafeteria doors. Noah paused and turned back with a slight frown before pushing open the doors carelessly, making Lekan cringe as they creaked wide open.

"I mean it, Lekan, I don't want to be in the same space as Noah." Feyi said. "He's bad news."

"We're all bad news, remember?" Lekan said, walking up the stairs next. Zeke was already at the top and a moment later gone.

"He is the worst of news, I don't think there is anyone who really likes him here, while most of us keeps out of trouble, or at least try to get the hell out of Mary Slessor, he tries so hard to get into trouble."

"What is he in here for?" Lekan asked as she pushed past the open doors, shutting them behind her once Feyi entered.

"Murder." It was Noah's voice that called out in the dark.

The lights flickered on, blinding Lekan momentarily but she didn't notice, she was gaping at Noah.

"Murder?" She spluttered.

"Of course not," Feyi rebuked, turning to Lekan with an eye roll. "He likes to tell everybody that, truth is that he's the son of a fairly popular politician and he got into trouble dealing drugs, too much trouble that even daddy dearest couldn't bail him out."

"Just tell everyone my story, Feyi, like I am not standing right here myself to tell it." Noah scoffed.

Realization dawned on Lekan, he was just another rich boy who tried to act ghetto because it made him look cool. It was stupid but she felt stupider for expecting more.

"Can we just move on?" Zeke hissed with irritation, he tapped Lekan on the shoulder. "Tell your friends to stop arguing."

Lekan rolled her eyes. "They are not my friends, idiot."

She turned to Noah but found him already staring at her in his unnerving manner, he had wide piercing eyes that when narrowed appeared like they were looking into one's soul.

"Come on, let's do a quick search and leave before someone sees the lights on, we're lucky the cafeteria is way at the back." Lekan said, already strolling towards the counter. This time, she did not hop over it, choosing to use the door.

Once they were in the kitchen, Feyi and Noah began to argue again. Lekan wanted to switch off the lights to startle them so they would stop yapping.

"There is nothing here, as you can see, detectives." He said, drawing out the word 'detectives'. "I don't know why I even bothered with the both of you."

"I found Osas's journal in the sink." Lekan cut in. "It was wet and useless."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Feyi snapped.

"I don't even know you, or where to find you, we might share a whole dorm but we share it with almost a hundred girls." Lekan said. She deflated, there was nothing to see that she hadn't seen yesterday, unless she found a way to open the door at the end of the kitchen then there was nothing else she would find.

Lekan turned to whisper to Zeke but he was gone.

"Zeke." She called out the same time Feyi said; "look!"

Then both Feyi and Noah were racing towards the metal door and almost pushing each other on the floor.

"There's no knob." Feyi said frantically. She was roaming her hands over the door so quickly that when Lekan called out a warning of the grate, she had already cut her finger on it.

Feyi drew back with a hiss of pain and Noah was peering grimly at the grate on the door when the ground rumbled slightly beneath their feet.

Lekan drew back and looked up just in time to see the metal door shifting open slowly. Noah and Feyi took steps back until they were rubbing against each other.

In a matter of seconds, the door was open.

"Blood," Lekan muttered aloud with horror. "Blood is the key."

When she looked at Noah, he looked green in the face, while Feyi was staring at her bleeding hand and glancing at the open door.

"So, who goes in first?" Noah asked, Lekan watched his throat bob visibly as he swallowed thick.

Feyi's hand shook and their answer was clear, none of them were ready to step foot inside, and Lekan knew their fear wasn't born out of some childish fear of being swallowed by the unknown, they truly didn't know what lay ahead.

Lekan took the first step into the musty space, there was a thick scent that clad the room that made her want to throw up, it was Feyi that confirmed her suspicions.

"This room smells of blood." She said.

Both girls shared a glance then stepped further into the darkness. There was a single window in the room and moonlight filtered through it, illuminating the small space, there were several marks on the walls that looked oddly like claw marks and Lekan shuddered to think of what animal could have made it.

But the marks weren't the most shocking part, at first, Lekan didn't notice it but then as she stepped closer, she noticed the coffins at the right corner, five of them resting against the wall.

They were a deep black colour and the wood looked freshly painted, they were new coffins.

Lekan vaguely heard Noah make a disgusted noise but she couldn't help but stare unblinkingly at them.

"Are they? — are they empty?" Feyi asked, her usual boom of a voice suddenly quiet. Are they made for us?

"Only one way to find out." Lekan heard herself say, as if under a spell, she walked to the first coffin and unlatched the lock. She paused, suddenly realizing that if she opened it, whatever she saw or didn't see inside, there was no going back from that.

Still she opened the top and let it slam down, revealing its content, there was a boy lying in it, he couldn't have looked much older than her but the skin stretched tight around high cheekbones made him look ancient. His eyes were shut in death and his mouth was a firm line. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans and his hands were crossed on his chest and he looked to have been dead a long while, he didn't even stink.

"Is he dead?" Lekan heard Noah ask, somehow she had become the leader, the expertise in all things death.

"Yes, he is dead." It was Feyi who answered, she too was peering transfixed at his face. Lekan didn't want to open the others, knowing well that they wouldn't be empty but Feyi was already latching open the next where a young girl lay.

Five dead people, three were children, the other two were grown up teenagers and an elderly woman.

"I don't understand, is this a morgue? Someone is preserving these bodies." Noah spoke from the door, he was leaning on it as if he if he didn't, he'd collapse.

"I have a theory." Feyi said.

Lekan was sure she was thinking the same thing too.

"I think whoever is killing us, is doing so to raise these people, look at how fresh these bodies are, they aren't rotting — even though they look to have been dead a while."

"I don't know." Although all skepticism was gone from his tone and all that was left was confusion.

"Look around and tell me everything going on is normal." Feyi challenged him, her old bravado returning.

"I don't know," Noah repeated, he pushed himself off the cold wall and Lekan resisted the urge to mention that the back of his shirt was stained with dust. "I need to think, whatever the both of you are digging your hands into, leave me out of it."

"If you see me, pretend that I don't exist." He said, he was already retreating out of the room, Lekan saw how he has shut down everything in his eyes, it was his way of coping, it was his way of defending himself. She wished she could do the same but the supernatural did not surprise her anymore.

Lekan and Feyi still stood even after he was gone.

"I don't blame him," Feyi said as she shut the coffins.

"Yet you're standing here." Lekan said.

"Let's say, I have seen something like this happen before." Feyi answered. "What do we do now?"

"We leave here and I speak to someone who might understand this." Lekan said, Feyi didn't ask who, she just nodded.

"I think whoever is doing this is singling out victims one at a time, I got close to the first bodies." Feyi swallowed visibly. "Osas had stopped bleeding by the time he was found, the others had fresh wounds."

"I don't know." Lekan echoed Noah's words.

Feyi shrugged. "This stays between us, and let's hope Noah doesn't blab, I don't think he will though, everyone will call him call him crazy."

Call us crazy, Lekan corrected her internally, because it sounded crazy, even to Lekan who had seen enough of strange occurrences. But outwardly, she nodded.

Feyi gave a yawn and shook her head. "Tomorrow morning, you're sitting with me at breakfast."

She left after they shut the back door, the both of them agreeing to return separately so they weren't caught together. Lekan could have been worried about how she would sneak back in, but she wasn't, instead she sat at the top of the steps of the cafeteria and pulled out the phone Dr. Munachi had given to her and dialled the only number saved on it.

Dr. Munachi picked up on the first ring.

"Lekan, is there a problem?" She asked, she didn't sound surprised.

Lekan watched the stars above twinkle almost mockingly and wondered where Zeke had disappeared to, and so conveniently. She had a theory for that too. She had theories for everything, but answers for none.

"How possible is it to resurrect the dead?"

***

The girl spent forty nights in a cold cell, she marked each day and night with her overgrown nails drawing a line on the wall.

But the first night was one to remember, she was not alone.

A gray figure sat in the dark and cried on that first night and on every other night after that one.