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HORTUS LILIM

swoosh💦.....I felt the cold water draw away from me. I open my eyes, the blinding sun producing a reflex action from my arms as it moves to protect my eyes. I blink slowly to allow my pupils to register the light, and slowly scan my surroundings. What is this? This has to be some kind of realistic dream. My dreams were usually vaguer, the type you never remember, so what kind of dream was this?

I see movement a few meters away from me, two bodies, quickly I scramble up and move toward's them, I mean, I might as well get as much information as I can right? Slowing down as I got closer to them to try and assess the situation, I realized that they looked familiar. Okay, this dream is getting weirder, I don't think I have ever seen a familiar face in any of my dreams, not to mention two.

I could see clearly, they were my classmates, @awesononso(nonso) and @caleb090(Caleb). The adventurer in me kicked in and recklessly, I picked up the pace and met up with them, while they looked around and spoke in hushed but bewildered voices.

"Bro, what are you guys doing here? didn't realize you were into beach parties😏" I said

that startled them, they looked up and seemed to calm down that there was a familiar face too.

@awesononso asked "beach party? I cant remember being invited to one🙁, last thing I remember, I was studying the femur after Gross anatomy practicals today, I don't remember getting here or why I would be sleeping on a beach😳".

okay, now I was rattled. I also remembered. I was busy with the skull too, how did I end up here? wait! this isn't a dream?😬

while I tried to draw a chronological map in my head of how my day went, @caleb090 spoke. "Alpha, are you messing with us, what have you done this time?😒"

My face went grim, Caleb's question still lingering as I checked my watch, I pushed the power button and there was surprisingly network service, but the time and date were scrambled. I took my phone out of my pocket and the same thing scrambled date and time. What?! I searched "TIME" on google and my phone restarted. Okay, now I was really rattled.

"Bro, I do not think we are still on earth😬, maybe some planet with really good MTN signal, but time is nonexistent". I finally said.

They looked at me and pulled their phones out. The same thing, I advised them to put their phones in airplane mode to conserve batteries while we tried to understand what sort of prank this was. We all did.

The beach was a wide one, with a very thick forest with really tall trees of different kinds adorning it, wow! Leading the group, we headed into the forest, we were greeted by really tall oaks, for what felt like 25minutes we walked, in utter silence, except for the breaking of twig and rustling of leaves. No signs of dangerous animals, just the occasional squirrels, rabbits, and a deer we spotted far off to our left. We came out to a clearing, to our left there was rich vegetation of bananas, to our right there were more oaks and some trees I couldn't recognize, maybe mahogany?

"What if this is heaven, and we died in school?" Nonso finally said after being the most silent all these while.

"Yeah, I don't think I died from studying a bone, although the boredom was well on its way to kill me. Also, I think Heaven would rather have us singing praises in a temple than have us feature in the Jumanji part 3, don't you think?"

"Maybe it's the garden of Eden," Caleb said, and simultaneously I slapped my face 🤦‍♂️ realizing he might be considering the absurd theory Nonso is proposing.

"Yeah of course it's Eden, I think this sand was used to make adam, smells like his cologne, don't you agree?🙂" I said, sarcasm dripping in my voice like water from a leaky faucet.

I turned and faced the banana vegetation, heading towards it, I mean, I might as well take some brain food if I'm going to think a way out for myself and these two deluded people😪.

"Maybe you have a better theory,🤷‍♂️" Nonso said, as they turned to follow me

"I don't have yet, but I won't jump to hasty conclusions, at least if help comes, There will sign of intelligent life in this Island."

probably 30 minutes into this seemingly endless banana vegetation I spotted a tree with a very tempting bunch. I went to help myself with some bananas, 10 seconds hadn't passed and...

"What did you say?" Caleb asked.

"I didn't say anything" I replied.

"But I thought u...Monkeys!"🐒

I turned to see a really mean faced troop of baboons, coming at us quickly, in all four limbs. The smartass in me wanted to correct him and say that these were chacma baboons, the most dangerous types, but as I opened my mouth, I heard a voice I'd never heard before come from my throat...

"RUN!"

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it was neither a command nor a request but I was already ahead of the group and before I could blink, Nonso and his long legs glided past me like a gazelle that just escaped the hunter's bullet by a hair strand. I could hear Caleb catching up and I sped up.

the rumbling sound from the feet of the charging baboons stopped abruptly, and I turned only to see them pick stones to start hurling at us. wham! a stone hit my back, another narrowly missing Nonso's head. We saw the clearing ahead and ran faster, adrenaline fuelling us.
Bursting out unto the clearing, we took deep breaths and crashed on the lush soft grass.

"Wow, Nonso, ever been struck by lightning in a lab? because that speed..." I finally said, after catching my breath

Nonso chuckled "I love running and basketball"

"Is everybody okay?" Caleb asked

"Well asides from the hunger, bruises from stones, and sore muscles, I'm in perfect condition, let's camp in the woods over there" I replied.

Standing up, I led the way to the thick woods, ignoring my aching muscles begging for rest.
In the woods, We looked for a nice place to camp, spotting a wide nice space for the three of us, I headed there

Cut!

something had fizzled past my face, stopping me right in my tracks, and cut the top of my nose. I followed the flight of the object and saw a makeshift arrow lodged into the tree to my right.

turning to our left, We saw two figures, a manly figure squatting with a bow and arrow in his hands, aiming at us, the other was standing and seemed female, She had a long spear in her left hand.

"I don't think they are lilim" the lady spoke

"Who are you?!" The man bellowed at us.

Wait! I recognized these voices, I tried to pinpoint where I'd heard them before, and Caleb spoke

"We are 300Level medical students of the University of Nigeria, we don't know how we got here"

The University of Nigeria, University of..... Wait, that's right!

"Dr. Kannon and Professor Stallion?!" I bellowed, remembering where I knew the voices from.

They were our professors who went missing a year ago. @whitestallion who taught biochemistry and @cryptokannon taught us physiology.

"How do you know our names?!" they shouted back and I stepped closer slowly, with my hands up.

"We were in your classes before your sudden disappearance." I said.

The duo exchanged looks and started walking away. Caleb, Nonso, and I stood and watched in confusion till Stallion turned and asked us

"Are you coming or not?"

we hurried after them.

* in a cave, that looked and felt too comfortable, some kind of weird tea in a makeshift coconut cup in my hands *

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"What do you remember last?" Dr. Kannon asked no one in particular

"Well, we were all at our different hostel, after Gross anatomy practical..."

Kannon and Stallion exchanged looks

"...and we were studying, the next thing we are waking up in the daytime on the beach, on this Island"

"Hortus Lilim"

"What?"

"Hortus Lilim" Stallion repeated "That's the name of this cursed place" He shook his head

Dr. Kannon then spoke "Lilith is the first woman on earth, although not recorded in the Christian bible, she was Adam's first wife, created not from him but with him, through sand too. she was rebellious and refused to be subjugated to Adam, therefore God cast her out of Eden. She met Samael (the devil) and bore him children, those children are known as the Lilim. They have twice the strength of an average human, but not immortal. As a way of ensuring his children are catered for and replacing Eden for Lilith, Samael built this Island for them, Hortus Lilim. Hortus is the Greek word for Garden".

The three of us stared at the granite floor of the cave, digesting all we heard, then I spoke

"Why are we here?"

Dr. Kannon looked at me, daggers in her eyes and he said "Every Year, they perform sacrifices to Samael, to keep them strong and as a tribute to their father. Every year, The favored child, Mazikeen, and the chief priestess performs a ritual. They pick a continent, and summon two people, then hunt them and sacrifice them."

Mazikeen - source

Stallion took over "They appear at the mystic falls and summon the sacrifices while seeing them through the water in a basket"
My jaw dropped
"Mazikeen has a coven of sisters, we have studied them, Kalarya is her right-hand woman. The weakest link in the coven is Kamara. I once heard her sing in english, calling herself a daughter of Cain, and not of Samael"

"Cain the first murderer?" Nonso asked

"No, the pizza delivery guy" I replied with a smirk.

Dr. Kannon looked at the three of us thoughtfully.

"Seeing as a year has passed and they didn't get to chop us up, they just have summoned three this time around to appease Samael"

"Wow". That was all I could say.

"How do they select?" Nonso asked

"Well we weren't sure, but now we think we know how. They pick people who have outstanding IQ who had been close to the dead. Professor Stallion and I were on the verge of a breakthrough in arthritis and we were working with a cadaver in the Gross anatomy lab, when we were summoned" Dr. Kannon said.

"That is weirdly specific" Nonso said.

"We need to find a way out. When is this ritual starting?" I asked

"Midnight tomorrow" Stallion replied.

"Then let's get to work" I said with a look on my face that told anyone who cared to notice that I was prepared to escape or die trying

Next Morning

The sound of loud drums banging vibrating the trees woke us. The festival of hinting had begun, and I was about to meet demon spawns. We were prepared, or so we thought.

The last night was spent scheming planning and setting traps. five against a whole clan, the odds were funny, if you were on the other side.

The three of us pulled out our phones and logged on to steemit.
"What are you doing?" asked professor Stallion

"We are asking our friends on steemit for help, we created a campers challenge, where they'll show us how to make the best makeshift tools within the next hours." Answered Caleb.

"Wow" said Dr. Kannon stepping out of the cave to join us for the first time, "Let's get to work"

we spent what seemed like 5 hours carving and making weapons, traps, and devices that we will need to fight them off. I had a strategic mind and was a good fist-fighter, Dr. Kannon was the healer and used the spear really well, Caleb was good at making those makeshift traps and he made a spiked wooden club from an oak branch, Nonso was the fastest and would draw them into the traps for us and professor Stallion was the strongest, doing the heavy lifting and was a skilled archer.

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Finally, we were ready, Dr. Kannon made us a very bitter smelly tea from herbs and mushrooms. She told us it would work against poisons and help us heal faster for at least 24hours.

we finished our tea, I requested we pray together, there were some arguments but I convinced them we had nothing to lose, and we asked God to intervene.

while we waited for dark for the hunt to commence, I heard a sound, before I could alert the others, strong hands descended on us and it had all gone to waste.

Carried on shoulders, strapped on wooden platforms, the sisters carried the five of us to a tomb-like dungeon with very little air for the five of us. it was practically a cave with a large boulder rolled over the entrance and the little spaces only enough for air to come in.

* in a cave dungeon *

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In the dungeon, I stood up and kicked hard against the walls, my foot hurt, but my head hurt more. Nothing breaks me like a plan that fell to pieces.

"You will hurt yourself" Dr. Kannon

"who cares, I'm dying soon" I retorted

"where is your faith?" Caleb asked

"What hope is there again? or do you have miraculous powers?" I asked, sarcasm and pain dripping from my voice.

"shut up the both of...."

Professor Stallion was cut short by light entering the cave as the boulder was rolled aside by a very huge sister. she was about 8ft tall and had an abnormally deep voice. Beside her was a beautiful demon spawn too, of normal size and had a charming innocent face.

"Haskus erabnea haletatataho maho labea karima"
"She says you should drink up, or face the pain of the rituals, she doesn't really care if you do"

This must be Kamara😳. Our professors failed to mention how beautiful she was.

"That is so nice of you to offer us pain killers before torturing us to death, we really appreciate your hospitality" I replied in a sarcasm and anger laden voice.

"I'm sorry"

that caught me off guard

"I really do not understand the need for all these"

"Maybe you can help us escape"

Her toes shifted. Was she nervous? Dr. Kannon looked at me as if to say, good job, continue

"Hakin tafea!" the giant sister roared, reminding us she was there.
"I am sorry but I have to go", she turned and left with her step-sister. while the door was rolling shut, I shouted out at her

"Please come back!"

It was now utterly dark, probably 2 hours to our death, and we brought out our phones to use as torches, we opened steemit and a lot of people were asking how it went in the comment section. We told our ordeal, and a lot of people felt sorry for us, some prayed

then I noticed a comment. a user said

"Why not find this fountain and get Kamara to say the spell in reverse, it should teleport you back"

I showed it to the other guys, they agreed I mean it was our only shot.

I looked at the huge boulder blocking us from the outside, and I stepped to it and placed my two hands pushing from an angle. The others looked at me like I was mad, but I had determination in my soul as I pushed and pushed. Suddenly, it started moving and I was able to shove it aside, then Kamara stepped in.

"Oh,😅" I said, blushing, realize the boulder moving had nothing to do with me. "Didn't realize u will be back"

In hushed tones, she asked us to follow her. We got to a cave, diamonds were glittering all over the walls and the floor was in steps. we went down and down in spirals till we came upon a fountain. This must be the mystic falls.

I told her about the reversal spell idea and she agreed she was thinking the same thing but didn't know if she had the power to carry such a spell.

Let's try. Six of us stepped into the fountain and held hands in a circle, surrounding her and she started

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"Hace Amin Hortus Lilim. Rebou Saddam!"
"Hace Amin Hortus Lilim. Rebou Saddam!" she repeated, the water stirred a bit

"Hace Amin Hortus Lilim. Rebou Saddam!" there was wind and the water was stirring, but I looked at her and saw she was bleeding from the nose, as I was about to rush her and tell her to stop, we heard the sound of drums

"They've noticed your absence!" she cried
"Good thing this is one of the last places they'll look" Dr. Kannon reasoned

"We don't have time to waste then" Kamara said

"Please don't try anymore" I begged her, you could die

"Yes she will" a voice came from the cave and we saw a fierce amazon looking sister walking towards us

"Kalarya!" Kamara cried

Kalarya? the second in command????? what?!

"Kamara what are you thinking? Don't you know you do not possess the power to cast this spell alone?"

"Help me sister" Kamara begged

The rest of us watched their exchange in utter shock. Why would the second in command be so close to the weak link, unless...

"For the sake of our father, please..."

oh, that explains it.

Kalarya looked hesitant, then she told us to return to our previous position and try the spell again. She knelt beside the water, immersed her hand hand hand in unison we chanted

"Hace Amin Hortus Lilim. Rebou Saddam!"
the water stirred really fast, the wind getting stronger
"Hace Amin Hortus Lilim. Rebou Saddam!"

Footsteps approaching...

"Hace Amin Hortus Lilim. Rebou Saddam!!!!!!"

* SILENCE, DARKNESS. *

my eyes open and I notice my head is rested in someone's lap, and fingers playing with my hair, the smell of formalin oozing to stir me fully awake

"Kamara" I said as I opened my eyes to the familiar room we used for Gross anatomy practicals.

I helped myself up, pinched myself, and woke the other guys up. It wasn't a dream, we made it! Hugs and tears were shared around the room and we made a video, together, and a post to go with it, thanking steemians because we could not do it without them.

As we stepped out of the laboratory, I smiled at my new friends, and looking back, I knew that Gross anatomy practicals would never be the same again.

Special Thanks to my Co-stars😂😂😂
@awesononso
@caleb090
@cryptokannon
@whitestallion

Cc.
@steemcurator01
@steemcurator02
@steemcurator03
@belenguerra