CHAPTER ONE: THE AWAKENING Whispers in the Foehn
Night settled over Limbe like a held breath.
The Atlantic murmured below the cliffs, waves crashing softly against black volcanic stone. Above the town, Mount Fako loomed silent, ancient, watching.
Valery Mballa leaned against her cluttered desk, scribbling furiously on a torn notepad. The ceiling fan groaned overhead, pushing warm air that smelled faintly of salt and sulfur.
Three disappearances.
Old Town.
No witnesses.
Rumors of whispers voices near the mountain.
People in Limbe were afraid. They didn't say it openly, but Valery heard it in the pauses, in the way eyes shifted when Mt. Fako was mentioned.
Her phone buzzed.
Quincy: Meet me at Bota Bridge. Now.
Valery stiffened.
Quincy Kombo wasn't the type to ask casually. Rising fast in local politics, he wore charm like armor and secrets like shadows.
Valery grabbed her jacket.
Outside, a strange wind descended from the mountain the Foehn warm, unsettling, carrying whispers that felt almost like a warning.Shadows on the Mountain
Bota Bridge glimmered under yellow streetlights, the water below dark and restless.
Quincy stood near the railing, hands clenched, eyes scanning the road.
"You look nervous," Valery said.
Quincy exhaled sharply. "You shouldn't be here."
"That's not how your message sounded."
He leaned closer, voice low. "Popsy saw something."
Valery's heart skipped. Popsy the street-smart kid who survived by knowing Limbe's hidden paths and secrets.
"What did he see?" she asked.
Quincy swallowed. "Something… moving near the mountain. And Belle she's involved."
Valery frowned. Belle, the singer with a voice that could still a room.
"Since when does music lead to disappearances?" Valery pressed.
Quincy didn't answer.
Above them, Mount Fako disappeared into clouds.The Anthropologist's Obsession.
Dr. Precious Luma's office at the University of Buea was stacked with books, artifacts, and hand-drawn maps of volcanic paths.
"The Bakweri people don't believe the mountain is just rock," Precious said, adjusting her glasses. "They believe it chooses."
"Chooses what?" Valery asked.
Precious tapped an old manuscript. "Balance. When humans take too much power, land, blood the mountain responds."
Valery's pulse quickened. "You're saying these disappearances are… offerings?"
Precious hesitated. "Old traditions speak of a treasure, bound to Mount Fako's energy. It protected the people ,until greed corrupted it."Outside, thunder rolled.: Looney's Tip.
Valery's phone vibrated again.
Looney: Sama's in danger. Find Belle. Trust no one.
Before she could reply, her phone rang.
"Sama?" Valery answered.
A whisper came through the line. "I'm hiding. Quincy's involved in something big. Bigger than politics."The call dropped.
Valery stared at the screen.
For the first time, fear outweighed curiosity."Belle's Song"
The Black Stone Bar pulsed with low light and smoke.
Belle stood on stage, her voice sliding through the room like incense ancient, haunting, unmistakably Bakweri. The crowd fell silent as if hypnotized.
When the song ended, Valery found her backstage.
"People are disappearing," Valery said. "Tell me why."
Belle met her gaze, eyes dark. "The mountain has a price."
"And Quincy?"
Belle leaned in close. "He's paying it."
A tremor ran through the floor so slight most wouldn't notice.
But Valery did, suddenly
Popsy appeared from nowhere, eyes darting.
"Looney says the juju is real," he whispered. "The mountain's angry."
Valery handed him water. "You need to stay visible. Safe."
Popsy shook his head. "No one's safe."
Then he vanished into the night.
CHAPTER TWO
Quincy's Denial
Valery confronted Quincy in his office.
"You're tied to every disappearance," she said.Quincy's expression hardened. "This is politics. Drop it."That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you'll get." Precious' Research,
Precious spread ancient symbols across the table.These markings mean protection through sacrifice," she said. "But the protection was never meant for one person."
Valery felt a chill. "Quincy wants power."
"And the mountain demands balance.
Sama called again, breathless.
"He's desperate now. Says the mountain won't wait."
"Where are you?" Valery asked.
Static. Then silence ,The Cave Entrance
Looney waited at the mouth of an old volcanic cave, paint-stained hands trembling.
"This place shouldn't be opened," he said.
Inside, bones lined the walls. Symbols glowed faintly.
And at the center a map leading deeper. Looney's Death ,Looney was found at dawn.
Ritual marks etched into his skin.
Valery clenched her fists. This ends now. Belle's Warning
Belle whispered, "Stop Quincy. He's awakening what should sleep." Quincy's Past
Valery uncovered the truth.
Quincy's bloodline traced back to Bakweri chiefs guardians of the mountain.
He wasn't chosen.
He was reclaiming Sama's Kidnap
A note lay where Sama once hid:
The Nature decides.
Confrontation at Dusk
Valery faced Quincy beneath a blood-red sky.
"It's bigger than us," he said. "Join me or be taken."
Behind them, Mount Fako rumbled.
CHAPTER THREE
Valery felt it the moment she stepped inside warm air pulsing outward, heavy with sulfur and damp earth. Her torchlight flickered across jagged walls carved by fire centuries ago.Precious followed closely, clutching her notebook. "This isn't just a cave," she murmured. "It's a ritual passage."
Belle stood near the entrance, her silhouette framed by moonlight.
"I won't go farther," she said softly. "Some paths must be walked alone."
Valery hesitated. "You know more than you're saying."Belle's eyes reflected the flame. "Enough to be afraid."The ground trembled faintly.Mount Fako was awake.
The Symbols of Bone and Fire
Deeper inside, the walls changed.
Symbols etched into stone spiraled like smoke human figures, flowing lava, hands raised in surrender. Bones lay arranged in careful patterns, not scattered.
"These weren't murders," Precious whispered. "They were offerings."
Valery swallowed. "Willing?"
"Chosen," Precious corrected. "Or convinced."
At the center of the chamber stood a stone platform, blackened by heat. Ancient gold artifacts lay half-melted into the rock, glowing faintly."This is the treasure," Precious said. "Not wealth authority. Whoever controls the ritual speaks for the mountain."
Valery's voice was tight. "Quincy wants to be its voice."(Quincy's Revelation)
Applause echoed through the chamber.
Quincy stepped from the shadows, dressed not in a suit, but in ceremonial cloth marked with the same symbols.
"You finally understand," he said calmly.
Valery raised her torch. "You killed people."
"I honored them," Quincy replied. "They gave Limbe time. Balance."
"Sama?" Valery demanded.
Quincy's smile faded. "The mountain requires something pure. Something connected."
Precious gasped. "Bloodline."
Quincy nodded. "She belongs to the old line. Just like me.
Popsy ran barefoot through Old Town, heart hammering.
Men followed him quiet, determined.
He ducked into an alley, hiding behind fishing nets, clutching his phone with shaking hands.They know. They want witnesses gone.He sent the message to Valery just as footsteps closed in.A hand grabbed his arm.
Popsy screamed.
Valery's phone buzzed inside the cave.
She read Popsy's message and felt her chest tighten.
"We have to leave," she said.
Quincy blocked their path. "You leave when the mountain decides."
Suddenly, Belle's voice echoed from outside low, vibrating, ancient.The cave walls shuddered.Rocks cracked.
Quincy staggered back. "Stop her!"
Valery grabbed Precious's hand and ran.Belle's Song of Dissonance
Outside, Belle stood barefoot on volcanic stone, singing not melody, but warning.
The wind howled. Ash drifted from the mountain's peak."This song isn't ritual," Precious realized. "It's resistance."
Belle collapsed as the final note faded.
The mountain growled.The City Trembles
Limbe woke to chaos.
Windows rattled. Dogs howled. The earth rolled beneath sleeping bodies.
Radio stations crackled with warnings.
Valery stood on a rooftop, staring at Mount Fako as smoke curled into the sky.
"This is just the beginning," Precious said. Sama's Escape
Chains burned Sama's wrists as she ran.
She didn't know how she'd broken free—only that the ground had split, the guards panicked, and she had fled uphill, toward the peak.Her phone rang.
"Valery," she cried. "He's lost control. He thinks the mountain chose him."
"Where are you?" Valery asked.
"Near the old shrine," Sama said. "And it's getting hot."
Quincy stood alone in the cave, blood dripping onto the stone platform.
"The city doubts," he muttered. "But I believe."
The lava channels glowed brighter.
The mountain answered ,No Turning Back
Valery reached the shrine as ash fell like black snow.
Sama collapsed into her arms.
Behind them, Mount Fako roared—not in anger, but judgment.
Precious whispered, "Once the decision begins… it can't be stopped."
Valery looked at the mountain and understood.
This wasn't punishment.
It was correction.
END OF PART ONE