by Sochima's books
The Akpan family moves to a new house in a new city to escape debt and threats from their old home. But the house is wrong from the start — knocking from the walls, moving curtains, and their dog Daph acting terrified. 18-year-old Edidiong, angry and grieving his old life, finds a hidden red orb in the wall. The moment he touches it, a voice speaks in his head. The entity, Bkoath, feeds on Edidiong’s anger and loneliness, slowly possessing him. Daph goes missing, strange things start happening, and the family realizes something in the house has chosen Edidiong. As Bkoath grows stronger, Edidiong changes. He lies, hurts Hazel, attacks the repairman, and levitates with red eyes. His father ends up in a coma, a native doctor and 6 security men all fail to stop him, and the house becomes a trap. The family learns from an old note that the house once belonged to Father Michael Akpan, who tried to seal the demon but failed. Help arrives in the form of Sochima, the priest’s daughter and an exorcist. She discovers the demon’s name — Bkoath — in her father’s secret room, and realizes the demon is bound to the house itself. In the final exorcism, Sochima confronts Bkoath using the demon’s name, holy water, and a ritual, but the entity nearly kills her. Madison saves her by striking Bkoath with a cross, and the demon burns into ash. Edidiong collapses and sleeps for three days, then wakes up as himself again. The family visits their father in the hospital and reunites, finally free. The house is quiet, the ash is buried, and for the first time since they moved in, the Akpans are together with no shadows, no whispers, and no knocking.
