I was cleaning the house when my father came to me and said "rhema would you like to follow me to church today" I hesitate before answering him because I often go to church with my mother either we want to help him in cleaning the church or do other things I feel that's the girls work cuz that's the rule in Nigeria girls got to do all the stuffs
So I said "I will like to follow mama oo" we will catch up with you later. But just as I was about to go inside back my mom came and said I shouldn't bother I should follow my dad that she's not feeling quite well that day
"Ahh mom what's wrong with you" maybe I should stay and take care of you then" but she hesitate and said I should follow my dad so I could be able to help him in church
At that time my father's church was still a very small church with few members
"Okay let me change my clothes then" I hurried inside and changed into a very long gown the gown that my mom bought for me on Christmas Eve.
I cherished the cloth so much that I would wear it everytime we are going to church
Present Day – Thursday, 3:17 AM
I didn't post the verse at least… not yet but somehow, someone did by morning, it's everywhere.
Twitter. TikTok. Audiomack. Even WhatsApp aunties are forwarding it with voice notes that begin with "Blood of Jesus, listen to this demon girl!"
The line that set it off?
"Your pastor put his hand on my thigh while preaching about Joseph. I didn't tell Potiphar's wife - I told the world....."
The verse burned like kerosene in church halls and like all fires, people rushed toward it – either to gawk, fan it, or kill whoever lit the match.
Mushin – Ayo's Compound – 6:44 AM.
Ayo's pounding on my door.
"Rhema! Open up! Na wahala o!"
I drag myself off the studio floor, where Debby and I crashed after a sleepless night of recording and arguing about if we should drop the verse looks like someone made the decision for us.
"Wetin happen?"
He shoves his phone in my face the screen reads: "BREAKING NEWS: 'Night' accuses Pastor Daniel Owolabi of sexual assault in leaked freestyle diss."
There's a photo of me mid-performance on the rooftop, mic in hand, jaw tight, eyes hot like vengeance.
Debby lights another joint (cigarettes) from the couch.
"Told you the world was hungry."
Later That Morning – Lagos Island – Pastor Daniel's Press Conference
There's a red carpet. Paparazzi it looks like an album launch but it's a sermon in disguise.
Pastor Daniel wears all white. His new wife beside him. Bible on the table. Sweat on his forehead.
He holds up a hand, trembling slightly. The crowd hushes.
"I have never… ever touched that girl. She is disturbed. Possibly possessed. We have prayed for her before. She refused deliverance. What you are witnessing is not a confession. It is an attack – by the devil, on the body of Christ."
He pretends to choke up. Dabs invisible tears.
"I forgive her as Jesus forgave but we must not let evil go unchecked."
He calls me evil,calls me mentally unstable, calls me the devil's puppet.
What he doesn't know is I'm the devil myself
Group Chat – NIGHT CIRCLE
Ayo:
They just aired her verse on radio
Na pastor go collect this time o
Psycho Debby:
Wait till they hear the second verse
DJ Smog:
You're trending. I hope you're hiding.
Rhema:
I'm not hiding i'm loading.
Later – The Studio
News crews have camped outside my block church members sprayed oil on my window.
Debby sharpens a small blade in her hand like she's waiting for war.
"Actually I've been waiting for someone to bring out the 'psycho' in me"
I look at her with a funny eyes .
"This city made me now it's gonna hear me." We both said it together and I immediately burst into laughter
Mehn that's my line. Debby said hitting my shoulder
"Anyways drop that knife you're not a street thug" I said and laugh out loud it been long I've felt so much happier"
So I was thinking and suspecting"smog" was the one that leacked that verse you sang. Debby said in a serious tone
He's the only hacker in our group what do you think ?
"Well I guess but I think he was just trying to help you know"
Solomon Adeyemi nicknamed"Dj smog"
Was an Underground DJ, hacker-lite, digital plug
I actually don't like is vibes he's mysterious, always wearing shades, speaks in memes and riddles he Grew up in Surulere.
Friday – 6:44 AM
The banging on my door felt different this time.
It was Ayo.
He was sweating and they're panic in his eyes.
"Rhema… Ife's gone."
My brain didn't catch it at first.
"Gone where?"
"I don't know she left last night said she was meeting someone in Festac a 'friend from church she never came back her phone's off."
I sat up straight. "What friend?"
Ayo pulled out his phone, scrolling fast. His thumb stopped on a chat thread.
Unknown Number:
"We know you support that demon girl. Delete your post about Pastor Daniel, or you'll regret it."
Ife:
"Do your worst."
That was the last message she sent.
Present — 7:15 A.M.
Debby was pacing the studio like a caged lion.
I was leaning over the table, staring at the threat message.
"This is them," she said. "This is exactly how they work first threats. Then silence."
Ayo slammed his fist on the table.
"We're not waiting for police they'll just hand her back to them." You know money buy those police.
"So what's the plan?" I asked.
From the corner, DJ Smog pushed his shades up and finally spoke.
"Give me two hours. I'll trace the number. But when I find it, you need to be ready to move. And you won't like where it leads."
Two Hours Later — DJ Smog's Hideout, Yaba
Smog's lair looked like it belonged to someone who never saw daylight.
LED strips old laptops stacked like bricks. Screens flickering with lines of code.
"Your sisters last phone ping was in Festac. Industrial area that's cartel territory."
Ayo's fists tightened. "Then we go there now." ?
Smog leaned back in his chair. "Midnight would be good less eyes and you'll need gear not church clothes."
Debby grinned "Don't worry. I've been waiting to slice someone up since last Sunday."
Festac – 12:42 AM
The streets were sleeping,
but the air still carried that Lagos hum distant engines, a generator coughing somewhere, a dog barking at ghosts.
Ayo was behind the wheel his eyes was locked on the road. Debby sat in the back, her knife glinting under the dim streetlight that cut through the window. I could hear her humming Burna Boy under her breath like it was a war song
We pulled up three blocks from the location DJ Smog sent "from here, we'd have to move on foot"
Smog's voice in my earpiece:
"Two cameras are in the front gate. One armed guard outside. But be careful I'm picking up more signals from inside."
We cut through the shadows along a cracked wall until we reached the back of the warehouse a loading dock with only one dim bulb.
Debby took the lead. The guard didn't even hear her coming until the butt of her knife handle kissed the back of his skull. He went down without a sound.
Inside the Warehouse
It was too quiet.
Metal shelves lined with dusty boxes.
The smell of damp cement and something sour.
We followed the faint sound of sobbing until we found it a rusted cage in the corner.
Inside were five girls some not older than 14 their eyes were swollen and clothes ripped
Ayo's sister, Ife, was crouched in the back, hugging another girl like they were keeping each other alive.
When she saw Ayo, her voice cracked:
"Brother... they said they were taking us for church youth camp".
I was about to cut the lock when the back door slammed open.
Three men in black suits stepped in they're not street thugs they moved like trained bodyguards
One of them pulled out a phone and pressed it to his ear.
"Yes, sir. We have them."
Even from across the room, I could hear Pastor Daniel's voice smooth, cold
"Bring me only Rhema and I want her alive."
The first man swung for me.
I ducked and drove my knee into his ribs.
Debby was already a blur of motion, slicing at the second man's arm and making him drop his weapon.
Ayo cracked the third across the jaw with a rusted pipe he found on the floor.
It was messy and very loud
By the time it was over, two men were groaning on the ground and the third had fled.
We smashed the padlock. The girls stumbled out, some crying, some too shocked to move.
Ife clung to Ayo, shaking.
"There's something else here you need to see."
She led us to a locked office door.
Debby kicked it open and that's when we found walls covered with photos of me from different shows neatly dated, neatly labeled.
Stacks of envelopes sat on the desk, each marked with the names of politicians and businessmen.
And right in the center a flash drive.
Debby held it up, smirking.
"I think we just found the real sermon."
Smog's voice again:
"Police are outside not the good kind seems this one's are bribed get out, now."
We grabbed the girls and ran into the night the city was awake now
—————
If they're some certain English you could not understand ask in the comments and I would give you your answer
Cause obviously this is a Nigerian accent broken English tongue 🖤