I often think of that day—the most peculiar incident I had ever encountered in my life. It happened during one of my university days, when all that was on my mind were parties and pretty girls.

Dubem, Wesley, and I were returning from a Friday night party. We had gotten bored a few hours in and had decided to leave, so we trudged back to the hostel, arguing viciously about something.

It was a little before 11 o'clock.

The three of us knew how dangerous the school roads were rumored to be at night, but we were not bothered. This was not our first time, and it certainly wouldn't be our last.

I was strongly disagreeing with Wesley over something he had said when I noticed someone a few meters behind us.

I couldn't make out anything about the man except that he was buff and in his hand he held something long.

I called the attention of my friends to this discovery, and after glancing back, they teased me about being scared. I noticed, though, that their paces, like mine, had increased.

I took another look back and the man had increased his pace too. He was getting closer with each wide step. My heart started thumping really fast.

Wesley had just turned and seen the same thing.

He said he was going to run and I said we should all run. Dubem, after taking a peep back, agreed.

We broke into a run.

We heard footsteps quickening and when we turned, he was running too. His hand was raised and the moonlight told me he was carrying a cutlass.

Panic broke out in our small group. Fear surged through me. Dubem started calling Jesus and the angels. Wesley gasped for air. We sprinted desperately toward the speck of light in the distance—the hostels.

Even when we couldn't hear his footsteps behind us anymore, we didn't stop till we got to the gate.

I dashed in first, being the fastest. No one came in after me. No one was behind me.

I came into our room, breathing heavily, after frantically searching for my friends around the grounds.

Wesley and Dubem lay fast asleep on their bunks.

It hit me like a wave. I remembered—They hadn’t gone with me to the party. I had gone alone.