تسجيل الدخولThe next day was quiet. Morning light came through the living room windows. Amara was in the kitchen washing a few cups. She kept her mind busy with ordinary chores, not wanting to spend the whole day thinking about the woman in the white clothes or the way she had knelt in the street.Around noon, the front gate buzzer rang.Amara looked up from the sink, wiping her hands on a small towel. A moment later, the security man walked up the short path to the front door and knocked sharply.Amara opened the front door herself. The security man stood outside with a polite smile, glancing back toward the yard."Madam, Grace is at the gate," the man said."Oh, please let her in," Amara said immediately.The security man nodded and hurried back toward the gatehouse. A minute later, the heavy iron gate creaked open, and Grace walked into the compound. Amara smiled when she saw her. It was good to see a familiar face.Amara stepped out onto the front porch to meet her."Grace! Welcome," Amara sa
The morning light came through the bedroom curtains. Amara moved through the kitchen, keeping busy while Daniel sat at the dining table nearby, going through papers on his tablet. Liam played quietly with a plastic truck on the rug.The front gate buzzer rang.Amara froze, her hand hovering over the kettle.A moment later, the security man hurried up the short path from the gatehouse and knocked sharply on the front door. Daniel stood up immediately, walking over to open it.The security man looked agitated, glancing back toward the street. "Oga Daniel, that woman from yesterday," he said, speaking quickly. "She's back outside."Amara felt a sharp spike of tension. Without waiting, she walked quickly to the front window to see for herself. Daniel noticed her movement and came over to stand beside her, looking out through the glass as well.A few yards away, standing near the utility pole opposite their gate, was the woman. She wore plain white clothes, slightly rumpled now in the morn
Amara woke up in the dark.There was no sound, no sudden noise to pull her from her sleep. For a second, she just lay there, half asleep and tangled in the duvet. Then she reached across the mattress, expecting to find Daniel beside her.Her hand met empty, cold sheets.Her eyes snapped open. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked around the room.Daniel wasn’t in bed.In the dim shadow near the corner of the room, sitting upright in the armchair, a dark shape was motionless.Amara blinked hard, trying to clear her vision. The faint moonlight from the window caught the side of his face. It was Daniel. He wasn’t sleeping. He wasn't even lying down. He was just sitting there in the quiet, watching her."You’re not sleeping?" she asked, her voice thick and heavy with sleep.Daniel didn’t answer right away. He stared at her for a long beat before speaking, his voice quiet. "I couldn’t sleep."Amara sat up a little bit, pulling the blanket higher over her chest. She studied his fa
The hours dragged on. Amara sat in the quiet living room long after Grace had gone, with only the dim glow of the hallway lamp keeping her company. Every little pop of the walls made her think someone was moving around. Around half past ten, headlights suddenly swept across the living room wall. Amara sat upright so quickly that Liam stirred beside her. For a second, she was sure it was Daniel. She hurried toward the window, but the car continued down the street without stopping. She stood there watching the red lights disappear into the darkness. Her shoulders dropped. "Where are you?" she whispered. It was past eleven now. Carefully, so she wouldn't wake him, she stood up and carried Liam down the hallway to the bedroom. She laid him gently in his crib, tucking his small blanket around him. He stirred for a second, letting out a soft sigh before settling back into his sleep. She stood over the crib for a moment, watching his little chest rise and fall. Her mind kept going back
Night began to creep in, and the house felt colder than it usually did. Amara sat on the edge of the living room sofa, holding Liam against her chest. The soft weight of the baby usually comforted her, but tonight she couldn’t relax. Her nerves were still on edge, and she couldn’t stop thinking about the woman across the street and the way she had stood there for hours, staring at the house as if she was waiting for someone.The wall clock clicked as the seconds passed. Seven o’clock.Daniel was never this late. He always came home by five. That was his routine, and Amara had gotten so used to it that anything outside it felt strange. She reached for her phone on the coffee table and tried his number again. The call didn’t even ring. It failed immediately, giving her a dead, hollow tone.She dropped the phone onto the cushions and stared at it for a few seconds, hoping it would suddenly ring.It didn’t.Suddenly, a loud, sharp knock echoed from the front gate.Amara jumped, pulling Li
Ever since she came back from Grace’s house, things had shifted. Amara had completely stopped bothering Daniel about trying to make friends or mingle with the outside world. She had intentionally distanced herself from Grace, realizing the woman was just a busybody who only cared about gossip. Looking back, Amara saw Grace as no different from any other nosy neighbour. They were all the same. She had learned her lesson about letting outsiders get too close.It was a quiet afternoon when Amara stepped out of the front door with little Liam strapped to her waist. She had a bag of trash in her hand, intending to toss it into the bins outside. But as she stepped onto the pavement, her eyes drifted across the street.Right opposite her house, standing barefoot behind a low pillar, was a woman dressed entirely in plain white.The woman stood there, watching her without blinking. Amara froze, her heart skipping a beat as she stared back for a few long seconds. She tried to make sense of who







