“How did that happen?” Yanvirrak asked.

“All strange circumstances,” said Richard. “Four people drowned in the pool even when the lifeguards were on duty. Eight committed suicide in their rooms. And the others died of unknown causes. It all happened right here in this hotel. I have no idea how any of that happened. But no one believes so. That’s Ghana for you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Narvari.

“People have their opinions. None of the things that happened could be explained, so Ghanaians claim I made my money through money rituals. Can you imagine?”

Money rituals? She almost laughed out loud. Didn’t such things only exist in Nollywood movies? But seeing the gravity in Richard’s eyes, she knew this was no laughing matter.

“They say I killed all those people for money rituals. Can you imagine? They have completely ruined my reputation and no one wants to visit this hotel. It is completely untrue. I am a Christian and there is no way I will have anything to do with the work of the devil.”

“Alright,” said Azmel. “But what kind of help do you need from us exactly?”

Narvari also wondered the same thing. They were vanquishers, not public relations officers.

Richard said, “The thing is that this isn’t the only bad luck I’m facing. Not only have I lost my hotel business, but my other businesses are also failing.”

“Explain.”

“I had a large cold store business in Tema,” Richard said. “But just three days ago, the whole place was razed down by fire. The same thing happened to my provision shop in Kasoa a week ago. In only three weeks, I have lost almost all my businesses.” He paused, his eyes reddening. “One of my children even died in a car accident.”

Richard clenched his jaws as if trying to stop the tears dangling at the corner of his eyes from falling. “My wife has divorced me and taken all my other children away because she thinks I have used our own child for money ritual.” Emphatically, while beating his chest, he added, “Me. Money rituals. Can you imagine?”

Richard balled his trembling fist. “I’m losing all my money. Everything. And yet people dare to say that I am doing money rituals. Can you imagine?”

Narvari’s heart went out to Richard. How could one person suffer so much grief? It was even a surprise that he had not broken down in tears yet.

Once Richard calmed down he added, “I don’t know why all this is happening to me. I just don’t know. So I tried to get help from somewhere but it got too expensive and I stopped.”

Azmel, who had been listening quietly all this while without any reaction, finally narrowed his eyes. “What kind of help?”

“I went to see a prophet,” said Richard. “I went to see a powerful man of God.”

“And he helped you?” asked Narvari.

Richard nodded. “Things started working out for the better once I started going to his church and following his instructions. But now I can’t afford his services anymore. He told me to bring certain items and an offering for a new prayer session but I don’t have the funds for that now. I already owe people so much. So I stopped going to him and things have become much worse.”

Wow. Narvari had never had to think about religion in such a manner. From the way Richard spoke about the prophet, it was clear that he had a lot of faith in the man. But what Narvari found strange was why the prophet would ask for a fee before helping out members of his church. Shouldn’t the fee be a donation — something that came out of goodwill instead? Well, maybe she was wrong about it. She had never been to church anyway.

“Did the prophet tell you what the problem was?”Azmel asked.

“He said the spirit of my grandmother was sitting on my luck. That’s why I keep getting so much bad luck.”

Narvari nodded. So that’s why Richard invited them. Previously, she wouldn’t have believed anything about spirits and all that nonsense. But not anymore. Demons were real. The spirit of a dead old woman hunting her grandson was relatively normal.

“The person who told me about your business said you are professionals when it comes to spiritual issues. I told him I couldn’t afford it but he offered to pay for me.” For the first time, Richard managed a small smile. “It’s the only lucky thing that has happened to me in weeks.” He paused. “What’s the name of your church?”

Narvari looked back at Azmel, as she had no idea how to answer this question for obvious reasons. With a straight face, Azmel said, “The Ancient Order of Vanquishers.”

Richard nodded. “I see. I don’t think I’ve heard about it before.”

Was anyone going to tell the man that they were not a church?

“We are not a popular church,” said Yanvirrak.

Apparently, no one was going to say anything.

“So how does this work? How will you find the evil spirit?” Richard scratched his forehead with his tattooed hand.

Narvari frowned. She was sure the red outline of the tattoo was a semi-circle. But now, it was more than half a circle. What the hell? She cocked her head, subtly taking a closer look at Richard’s hand. Had she imagined it or was the circular ring around the tattoo growing?

“Narvari, is everything alright?” Pheera whispered beside her.

Narvari raised her head. Everyone gazed at her.

“Nothing.” She coughed. Could her first mission get any more awkward? “I was just looking at Richard’s tattoo. I thought it changed or something. Maybe I was wrong.”

“What tattoo?” Richard narrowed his eyes.

“The tattoo on your right hand.”

The man’s face paled as he quickly turned his hand to take a look. “What are you talking about? I don’t have any tattoos on my body.” Narvari sensed the fear in Richard’s eyes as they glanced at her. “What’s going on? Can you see something on my body?”

“You can all see the tattoo, right?” Narvari exchanged glances with her team. But they all looked at her like she had just grown a liver where her eyes used to be.

“What tattoo?” Yanvirrak said.

Narvari almost berated Yanvirrak to stop joking about such a serious matter but then Pheera said, “I’m sorry, Narvari. But I don’t see anything.”

Narvari froze. Pheera would never pull such a prank on her. Was she losing her mind then? How was she the only one seeing the mark?

“Sacred vision,” said Azmel. “Use sacred vision, everyone.”

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“Holy shit.” With his eyes aflame by his purple sacros, Yanvirrak gawked at Richard’s hand. “You had this on you the whole time?” Yanvirrak turned to Narvari. “It was smart using sacred vision, Shar.”

Confusion clouded Narvari’s brain like a fog. But I didn’t use sacred vision.

“I need a better look.” Azmel asked Richard to give him his hand. The man did so without question while Azmel carefully observed the tattoo with his sacred vision.

“I can see the demon energy inside it.”

“What? Demon energy?” Richard’s large eyes became even larger.

Azmel nodded. “The demon energy is sealed that’s why we couldn’t sense it before. But there is a mark of a demon on you.”

“Are you saying I’m being haunted by a demon?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Azmel released Richard’s hand, returning to his seat. He turned off his sacred vision. “But fortunately I know exactly what’s going on with you. And I know just how we can solve it.”

“You do?” Richard sighed in relief.

This man must be a real man of faith, Narvari thought. How strong was his faith that he wasn’t even questioning people claiming he had a tattoo when he knew for a fact that he didn’t? To be fair, he had come asking for their help so it would be rather annoying if he didn’t believe them.

“When you described all your bad luck I thought you were just being dramatic,” said Azmel.

Narvari’s face flushed in embarrassment. Azmel was so brutally honest it hurt her soul. But Richard didn’t seem to mind. Perhaps he was more focused on the solution to his problem.

“After putting everything together,” Azmel said, “I now understand what’s going on.”

“Is it the spirit of my grandmother?”

“No, Richard. That prophet lied to you. He’s been scamming you.”

“What are you talking about? Prophet Yeboah is a real man of God. So many people attend his church.”

“Do you want our help or do you want to go back to the prophet?”

Richard looked like he had something else to say, but he remained quiet.

Taking Richard’s silence as an answer, Azmel said, “There’s a mark on your right hand. I know you can’t see it, but it’s there and it’s not a tattoo. It’s something called a hexing rune.”

A hexing rune?

Narvari had seen this word in one of the demonology books while reading about a hexing demon. But the demons were so many that she merely skimmed through this one. From the little she read, she knew that hexing demons cursed their victims with bad luck and somehow those hexing runes were related to it. Unfortunately, she didn’t pay much attention to this particular demon so she was still ignorant about how hexing runes worked.

“What does it mean?” asked Richard.

“Someone has purposely put a hex on you, Richard. You’ve been cursed. That’s what it means.”

“What?” Richard gaped. “But why will anyone do that? I haven’t done anything to anyone.”

“I cannot answer that,” said Azmel. “But I can tell you that hexing rune on your body is the reason for your curse.”

“How did a hexing demon even put the rune on him in the first place?” asked Narvari.

“A hexing demon didn’t do that. Someone else did.”

Narvari cocked her head. She really should have read this. Then she wouldn’t be asking such stupid questions.

“Hexing demons are only attracted by cursed objects and people,” Azmel explained. “They don’t put the curse on the people. They simply fulfill the curses coded within the hexing rune. “

“So someone put the hexing rune on Richard to attract a hexing demon. And that hexing demon is making the curse on the rune come true.”

“Exactly.”

“But who would do such a thing?”

“Who else?”

Narvari watched her teammates in confusion. They seemed to be understanding what was going on but she was completely lost. Richard must be in a far worse situation than she.

“That’s one of the most complex hexing runes I’ve ever seen,” said Azmel. “Only a Vessel is capable of casting this.”

A Vessel? Narvari’s eyes widened. Just like Stein. Those evil bastards. Did they get off on making the lives of others unbearable?

“I don’t understand any of this?” Richard said. “What’s going on?”

“Basically, someone has put a hexing rune on you which contains a series of curses,” said Azmel. “The rune has attracted a demon making all those curses come to pass. But the rune is still incomplete. Which means that there are even worse curses in store for you. In the end, it’s going to kill you. You will likely take your own life once the circle is complete.”

Jesus, Azmel. But how else could Azmel sugarcoat this?

With a shaking hand, Richard rubbed the back of his palm where the tattoo was supposed to be. The poor guy. Narvari felt rage slowly bubbling inside her bowels. Those bloody Vessels were nothing but the demons they served.

“When do you think all this bad fortune began? Try to be as accurate as possible.”

Richard rested his forehead in his palm. “About three weeks ago. Or maybe more. I’m not too sure”

“Well, you need to be sure. The hexing rune takes a month to complete. If it’s been three weeks, then you have another week. Or perhaps just a few days left. You need to tell me everything you remember about your condition.”

“I-” Richard stuttered, his face as pale as paper, “I remember there were some days when all I experienced was good luck. The bad luck comes and goes.”

“Strange. I’ve never heard about that.”

“Well, I told you I saw a prophet and he was helping me.”

“Right.”

“Yes. And whenever he prayed for me, the bad luck would go. But after a few days, it came right back.”

“How long have you been going to the prophet’s church?”

“Oh, more than one month now. Maybe one month two weeks.”

“Before you started the church, what was your business like?”

“It was good. Business was very good. But when I joined, the business became better. I got more contracts, more clients.”

“For how long?”

Richard paused thoughtfully. “For about two weeks. Then the first tragedy came. Someone committed suicide in my hotel. And things got worse from there.”

“But as soon as you went to the prophet things became better?”

Richard nodded slowly. “When the suicide happened, it was all people talked about and I lost so many clients. But once the prophet prayed for me, it was like everyone had forgotten about it.”

“Have you ever had any physical contact with the prophet? Did he ever touch you?”

“Well, yes, of course. He laid his hands on me to pray for me.” Richard shot Azmel a cold look. “Why are you asking me so many questions about the man of God? Are you trying to tell me he has something to do with this?”

Narvari thought the same thing. The way Azmel interrogated Richard about the prophet made it look like the prophet had something to do with the hexing rune.

Wait. Narvari’s eyes darkened. Was that prophet the Vessel then? Holy shit.

Yanvirrak smirked at her as if to ask if she had figured it out yet.

Azmel said, “I think it’s suspicious how your hex began when you went to the church, and somehow it stopped whenever the prophet took money from you and prayed for you.”

“It was a seed I was sowing for God’s blessing.” Richard countered. Clearly, his temper was rising at having the prophet defamed like that. But was it really defamation if it was the truth?

“With all due respect, Richard, that prophet gave you a demon’s curse in exchange for your seed.”

“But… But that can’t be true. Prophet Yeboah is one of the most respected prophets in the country.”

“I guess we’ll have to see him to find out. If he cast that hexing rune on you, then he’s the only one who can break it. That explains why you get good luck whenever he prays for you. All he does is break the hex only to put it back after a few days.”

“I still don’t believe Prophet Yeboah did this to me. Why will he even do this?”

“How much do you pay him for every prayer session?” Azmel folded his arms.

Richard’s face fell, as though he had just figured out everything. “Fifteen thousand Ghana Cedis,” he whispered. Then more defensively, he added, “Not just for the prayer but for things like anointing oil and candles.”

“Is that like a lot of money?” asked Yanvirrak.

“It’s about 2000 US dollars, I think.” Narvari shrugged.

“For a single prayer session?” Yanvirrak asked. “Damn. I’m in the wrong profession.”

“I can’t believe Vessels are parading as pastors. But then again, I’m not even surprised. Those scoundrels are truly evil.”

“Can you break the curse?” asked Richard.

“I can’t personally do that,” Azmel said. “I need the Vessel to do it. You’re going to have to tell me everything about this prophet. It’s the only way we can help.”

Richard nodded. According to him, the prophet’s name was Prophet Daniel Adjei Yeboah, and he was the general overseer of Global Power International Prophetic Church. Wow, what a mouthful.

For the next half an hour, Richard told them about how he first heard about the church from a colleague and how he went to worship there. He also recounted the great miracles he saw in the church. The sick woke up from their sick beds and crippled walked. The blind saw, and the mute spoke. He also said that people gave testimonies about how they easily won visas to Europe and North America soon after the prophet prayed for them. Narvari was confused about how getting a visa to another country needed divine intervention. Hell, she was confused about the whole thing.

Richard explained how his business started booming until one day things went crazy. One Sunday, Prophet Yeboah picked him out of the congregation and told him his business was suffering but God would deliver him. Thus began their prayer-payment relationship. It went on for a while until Richard ran out of money and could no longer afford the prophet’s services.

After showing them a picture of the prophet and where to find his mega-church, Azmel instructed Yanvirrak and Pheera to stay with Richard and never leave his side.

“I don’t know when the hex will be complete,” said Azmel. “Make sure he doesn’t kill himself. If the demon shows up to harm him, vanquish it.” Azmel took out a holy cage from his backpack, throwing it to Yanvirrak. “The hexing demon is only third-order. But in case it’s higher than normal like the last time, just capture him.”

“What about me?” Narvari asked.

“You’re coming with me.”

Narvari grinned, suddenly not feeling like this mission was a waste of time. “Where are we going?”

“We’re going to church.”