A woman’s scream sliced the still night air. “Help me! Please God … help meee!”

Nkanyiso, a tall young man with gentle brown eyes, had been asleep but he bolted upright now, reached over and switched on the bedside light.

“What’s the matter, my love? Are you having a nightmare?”

His wife, Nombulelo, was sweating and crying, and, when he saw her face, he gasped. She looked like the walking dead. Plus her neck was bruised and when she tried to speak, her voice was a hoarse groan.

“Nkanyi … help …”

“Good grief – you look as though you have been through hell,” he said, pulling her into his arms.

Her eyes fixed on the silver bedroom curtains of their Musgrave flat, fluttering in the breeze. Although they both came from rural homes, the couple were renting this place in Durban, with the hope of buying it. It was small and perfect for two. There was no need for anything bigger since they were unable to have children.

“Talk to me honey! What’s going on?” Nkanyiso was afraid and tears welled in his eyes. There was something seriously wrong with Nombulelo; it was like she was possessed.

“It’s okay, it’s a bad dream. You will be okay. Let’s pray,” he said, laying her back down and then kneeling beside her on the mattress, his hands on her stiff shoulders. Slowly Nombulelo’s body relaxed and, at last, she spoke.

“Nkanyiso, ever since I married you I have been having these nightmares. Is there something that you are not telling me? Please … I need to understand what is going on in our lives.”

Nkanyiso flinched. “I’m not hiding anything,” he said quickly. “Trust me.” He took her in his arms and stroked her head so that, at last, she dozed again and he switched off the light.

Then it started again, but this time, through the screaming, an animal-like voice came from deep within Nombulelo: “We must be cleansed, or else we will know no peace in this house.”

Nkanyiso tried to pray again, but no words came from his mouth.

***

Tell us what you think: What is the cause of Nombulelo’s strange night-time behaviour?