CHAPTER 1: The voice in the forest

In a small neighborhood called Majohe, on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, there stood a tiny rented house built from ordinary bricks. Its paint had faded long ago, and the iron-sheet roof rattled loudly whenever it rained.

The house was far from luxurious, but it sheltered a family that struggled every single day to survive.

Inside lived Adili, a hardworking young man who survived through factory shifts and random labor jobs. He was thirty-two years old, but exhaustion had carved deep lines across his face, making him look much older. Every morning before sunrise, he woke up to chase another day’s income.

No matter how hard he worked, life never seemed to get easier. Debts piled up around him like chains. Rent, loans, food—everything demanded money he barely had.

Living with him was his wife, Adila, a calm and patient woman with gentle eyes hiding years of silent pain. They had been married for ten years without having a child, and the whispers from neighbors had slowly turned into cruel gossip.

Still, their love for each other remained strong.

Above them all ruled Adili’s mother, Bi. Sauda, a sharp-tongued woman whose words cut deeper than knives.

“Adili!” she shouted almost every evening during dinner. “Ten years without a child? That woman is barren! Leave her before you waste your whole life!”

Adili usually lowered his voice to avoid hurting Adila.

“Mother,” he said calmly, even though anger burned inside him, “I didn’t marry Adila only for children. She is my wife, and I love her.”

From the bedroom, Adila heard every word. Tears filled her eyes—not only from sadness, but also relief. At least her husband still stood beside her.

The Night Everything Changed

One evening, Adili left work completely exhausted. His body ached from unloading cargo at the harbor all day. His back felt like it had been hammered repeatedly, and his mind was drowning in thoughts about next month’s rent.

To save transport money, he took a shortcut through the small Pande forest, a route many people used to avoid traffic.

Night had already fallen.

The darkness felt unusually heavy, like a thick black curtain swallowing the world whole. Then the wind began to blow violently through the trees.

“Something feels wrong tonight…” Adili whispered nervously.

Suddenly—

WOOOOOOSH!

A powerful gust swept through the forest. Tree branches crashed against each other like someone banging metal doors in anger.

Then he heard it.

A strange sound.

It was neither human nor animal—a painful screech that pierced directly into his ears and shook his mind.

“Aah!” Adili grabbed his ears tightly. “What the hell is that?!”

Fear wrapped itself around his chest.

But then he remembered Adila waiting for him at home with cold dinner on the table. He was the only person she truly had.

“I’m a man from Dar es Salaam,” he muttered, forcing courage into himself. “I can’t be scared of shadows.”

With trembling hands, he raised the flashlight on his phone and continued forward carefully.

Then suddenly…

A soft female voice echoed through the darkness.

“Please… help me… somebody help…”

Adili froze instantly.

“Who’s there?” he called out quietly.

No answer.

He slowly pointed the flashlight toward the trees.

The weak beam revealed something beneath a giant baobab tree.

A girl.

She was curled up on the ground, her right leg trapped inside a metal hunting trap. Blood stained the dirt beneath her, and her face looked pale with pain and fear.

Adili rushed toward her immediately.

“Hey! Don’t be afraid,” he said gently. “I’ll help you.”

The girl looked up at him with trembling eyes. Yet beneath the fear… there was something strange in her gaze. Almost as if she had been waiting specifically for him.

“Please…” she whispered weakly. “Help me… I’m scared…”

Adili knelt beside the trap and tried to force it open.

The metal was freezing cold.

“This thing is tight… hold on,” he grunted while struggling.

After several painful minutes—and with the help of a heavy stone nearby—he finally smashed the trap open with a loud—

CLANG!

“It’s open!” he breathed heavily.

The girl collapsed from weakness, but Adili quickly caught her before she hit the ground.

Her skin was unnaturally cold.

Cold like water from a deep well at midnight.

“Thank you…” she whispered softly. “You saved my life.”

For a brief moment, Adili felt chills crawl down his spine.

Her voice didn’t sound entirely human.

Trying to ignore the fear growing inside him, he asked carefully,

“Who are you? And what happened to you out here?”

The girl stared into his eyes silently for a few seconds.

Her eyes were strangely dark… so dark they almost seemed completely black.

Then she finally spoke in a faint whisper.

“My name… is Zawadi.”

Adili frowned slightly.

“Zawadi? Who’s hunting you?”

But before she could answer, her eyes rolled shut and she collapsed unconscious in his arms.

“Hey! Zawadi! Stay awake!” Adili shook her gently in panic.

Silence swallowed the forest.

Even the wind stopped moving.

Adili stared at her in confusion.

“She knows my name… but I’ve never seen her before…”

Without wasting another second, he lifted her onto his back.

Oddly enough, she felt incredibly light. Almost weightless.

“You can’t stay here,” he murmured. “I’ll take you home.”

As he walked deeper into the darkness with the mysterious girl on his back, he felt something watching him from behind the trees.

Then suddenly—

That terrifying sound returned again.

But this time…

It was much closer.

Very close.

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