The Last Call I

Long ago, in a quiet village near Ibadan, the chief priest had recently passed on without appointing a successor. The villagers became worried so the elders approached their highest deity to reveal the next chief priest. 

Days later, a young hunter named Adigun was chosen by the village deity. It was an honor, a sacred duty to be the chosen one, but Adigun had no interest in the shrine nor the serving the deity—his desire was to see the world, to travel beyond the forests and rivers that caged him.

The elders heard of his refusal and warned him. His family pleaded. Everyone knew that the deity had spoken and Adiguns fate was sealed. But Adigun's mind was made up — nobody could convince him.

One morning, before the first cock crowed, Adigun, tired of the villagers, packed his bag and disappeared.

Days passed, followed by weeks. Terror seized the villagers — had the gods struck him mad? Had Adigun overpowered their gods? They whispered.

The first death came and One by one, Adigun's entire family perished—some from strange illnesses, others found lifeless in their huts. By the time the last body was buried, the elders knew — No one defies the gods and escapes unpunished.

Adigun, the chosen one after traveling for days arrived the bustling old city of Ibadan. It was everything he ever wished for so he swore never to return to his village. He settled down and started a new life as a butcher in the local market. One day, he met a beautiful woman from the city, they got married, and they had a son—Alabi.

But tragedy struck. His wife died mysteriously during childbirth, and Adigun was left to raise his son alone. He buried his wife with his past, keeping the secret of his heritage and the curse that followed his bloodline hidden from his son, Alabi.

Years later, Adigun died under strange circumstances—mysterious, unexplained, as though the gods had finally come to collect their price for his defiance.

Alabi took over his father's business and grew up without knowing the truth about the past, just as Adigun had intended. The civil war took a toll on his business so Alabi sold everything he had inherited from his father, moved down to a small village near Ibadan and bought a small plot of land. He became a farmer and eventually got married. One year later, they had a son whom he named after his father—Adigun. His life was peaceful and success was beginning to smile on them when fate, as it always does, caught up with him.

Alabi and his wife both died under equally mysterious circumstances, leaving Adigun an orphan. The deaths seemed random to outsiders, but those who knew the story of how Alabi’s father died started to whisper.