oyestephen: Just like "cyber lover" this story has a touch of "spiritualism"....keep it up

ya, Stephen, i was inspired by people like Dean Koontz and Steven kings

Try ke? You over try jor. Ride on sir, nothing do you.

This is good. Frank, u r definitely killing it. The suspence is tight. As for the editting, its nothing Ishilove cant handle. Thumbs up dear. I'm tagging along

Uniquexty: This is good. Frank, u r definitely killing it. The suspence is tight. As for the editting, its nothing Ishilove cant handle. Thumbs up dear. I'm tagging along

damn, i keep on making so much error... well, i already have my editor who does my editing for me. but pls if you can, point out my errors so that i can learn and try to do a better work in my updates.

thanks, glad u like it

Oyestephen, thats frank's style of writin na,(spiritualism and some killings.)

In my opinion, one of the signs I look out for to know whether a writer has arrived i.e is he/she comfortable in his/her skin is when he/she is able to write from multiple point of views and do it sucessfully.
Good characterization, ur characters are distinct and so real. You also pay attention to details, ok let me stop being effusive with my praise. To cut it short,you are a good writer.

Good write-up,following ur story

luvmijeje: In my opinion, one of the signs I look out for to know whether a writer has arrived i.e is he/she comfortable in his/her skin is when he/she is able to write from multiple point of views and do it sucessfully.
Good characterization, ur characters are distinct and so real. You also pay attention to details, ok let me stop being effusive with my praise. To cut it short,you are a good writer.

Thanx girly, even with my typos and other forms of errors, I still get such nice words from u. Thank u.

@don, I see u. Pls don't leave me in d end.

Alright guys, thought I was going to b busy tomorrow, but just realized it is public holiday. So I might update tomorrow afterall. Thanx

It's a beautiful story, I'm hooked already. You're good,very good. Oh,almost forgot . . .you try

Yeppi! An update today. Oya bring it on.

Chapter 4

Tuesday

Benson sat his massive form in his E-class, waved at his wife and eleven years old daughter and drove out of Opara Street. Benson has always been a big guy, but his big body had witnessed an increase in form in recent times. There had been a tremendous decrease in his involvement in physical activities but a boost in his amount of food intake.

As he drove out of Aladinma housing Estate, he harked back to the brief family meeting that was held at the family house yesterday. He always gets a flush of childhood memory whenever he entered the family compound. It was a very big palace like compound with six structures of different sizes and shapes. The Omenka family was likened to a mafia cult group by neigbours and the society at large.

“Source informed me that there might have been a witness to Chief Orji’s murder. Are you sure nobody saw you yesterday?” The big old man was referring to Emeka and Joe. Emeka was his son, a junior to Benson, while Joe was his late brother’s son. Both were the ruthless killers of the family. They always lead on any violent activity that the family undertook. A large body size and crave for violence was a dominant trait in the Omenka’s family lineage.

“We were careful enough Papa, but I have an idea of who the witness might be. You know we can’t be too careful Papa,” Emeka said. They all respected Papa but he didn’t train them in a way that would make them fear him. Papa believed that such fear of one’s object of respect could inhibit the person’s ability to be bold and daring in the outside world.

“Well, it’s your mess; you have to take care of it, we are not yet sure what the witness saw. He is supposed to give a clear detail of what he saw to the police tomorrow morning. So… you know what to do. Meanwhile I want to congratulate you for successfully taking that fool out of the picture. He had always had a way of giving me sleepless nights.” Papa was a man of few words whenever he was unhappy but many words when elated. He was always proud of his boys; they have proven to be the true sons of Omenka. He was confident that whenever they were asked to do a job, they will definitely get the job done.

“We will take care of him first thing in the morning before he causes any damage.” Joe assured. He couldn’t help but imagine what he would do to the goddamned witness.

“Benson, you have to ensure that Hon. Iwu fulfills his end of the deal. I spoke with him yesterday and he asked that you come around the usual meeting spot tomorrow afternoon, I hope you wouldn’t be much busy?” Papa said.
“No Papa, I will definitely see him. I cannot miss the appointment for anything, knowing how important this business is to the family.” Benson actually wished he would join his younger brothers in tomorrow morning’s mission. He was really missing out in the action. This was why he was always picking fights in bars; he wanted to feel a piece of the action.

Benson had always wanted to be on the street like his brothers but Papa’s had been wise enough in ensuring that he became a lawyer. Papa had felt that it was important that the family have a family lawyer just in case of unforeseen circumstance. That decision had been a perfect one. A family lawyer was more important than a dozen ruthless family killer members. Saving Emeka’s ass from rotting in jail twice was one of his achievements for the family among other legal supports.

Well, he was still glad with the turnout of events. Right now he was the richest member of the Omenka and also their only somewhat legitimate source of income.

The final fact was that they all protected each other. At the mention of their family name, all enemies run.
“Yes, if you can seal off this deal, things will really turn around for us. Iwu was very glad when we spoke on the phone yesterday and from the look of things, I am positive that through him, we will definitely have more access to coke than we can imagine. This must be done; otherwise I cannot guarantee how we can cope with the bankruptcy that awaits us within the next three months.”

Iwu had insisted that he deals with Benson only, mainly because of his legal status in the state. This wasn’t surprising as most of their business partners had always insisted that they must deal with Benson. Benson was a confident Lawyer and so distils all feeling or air of fear with his presence and actions.
As he parked in front of his office, he still felt uncomfortable with the fact that someone might have seen his brothers kill Chief Orji. Somehow, he felt if this was not handled well, the situation might blow out of proportion and to an extent that he might not be able to handle. This was a drug issue they were dealing with and overtime the family had learnt to thread with caution in their drug activities.

Only very few observant people knew the Omenka’s family was involved in drug. All thanks to their constant delinquent activities which had served as a cover to their main source of income.

Recent government activities had made business slow. Hon. Iwu had approached them with a new business idea that would ensure constant flow if coke but his problem was Chief Orji who was known to be secretly taking steps to reveal Hon. Iwu’s involvement in drug. Eliminating Orji was the only option and he was now a bit relieved that the snitch was gone. Somehow he still knew that they had to be careful since it was now eminent that this deal must be successful.
He got to his office at Omenka plaza, one of his family’s few achievements, parked his car in a space which was a few distance from the plaza and walked into the plaza.

He was just about to open his office door when his mobile phone alerted him. He obviously didn’t hear his secretary greet him.

It was a text message from Emeka.

‘The witness has been eliminated.’

He smiled and quickly replied ‘Good, now I feel better. Thank you, now I can handle the rest,’
Now, Hon. Iwu can continue his transactions without any hitch. The family was going to make so much money from this deal. He couldn’t wait to speak with the drug baron.

*** *** *** ***

JoBlè: It's a beautiful story, I'm hooked already. You're good,very good. Oh,almost forgot . . .you try

lol, thanks

Emeka and Joe went straight to their hideout after the hit. Two other accomplices were with them. The hit had been successful and they were here to discuss the details and make sure there were no loopholes.

“My angle was clear, I was sure nobody suspected anything.” The first accomplice said, he was popularly known as Bullet.

“Good, how about your side?” Emeka asked the Afam.

“No, no, everything was very smooth on my side. The town was seriously sleeping the whole time of the operation. Forget it; nobody had idea of what was going on.” He said with full confidence.

“That’s nice to hear. I am glad we are able to clear this mess, we would have put the family in serious trouble and this would have gotten us more broke.” Joe said, his cloths were covered in blood and he was changing them as he spoke. He had handled the machete.

They had left for the witness home as early as 4am. They already had information that he was going to meet the police and discuss what he saw first thing that Tuesday morning so they beat him to it. The police didn’t think it was necessary to put him under protection because they weren’t sure of what he saw. The witness himself didn’t think that what he saw would be helpful.

The fact was that Joe had noticed him during the cause of shooting Chief Orji around the area. Joe had seen the window slightly opened but didn’t think that whoever was behind the window had clearly seen enough of them, so without wasting much time, he had let it go.

But their informant in the police force had notified Papa yesterday that there could be an informant who felt he could try identifying Chief Orji’s killers. He contacted the police via phone and revealed only his name but not his address. That was enough for the Omenka boys. A little investigation after their brief meeting yesterday revealed that Joe’s suspect had the same name with the unidentified informant.

Both Emeka and Joe were also aware and perturbed by the recent financial situation of the family. They were already known as one of the richest families in town. Their family wealth had been instrumental in ensuring that they were untouchable even by the law.

It made them above the law.

Now the money was fast running out. Drug business was becoming riskier and this was a chance to redeem the family and they could afford to miss it.

“That would have been serious. Are you aware that Papa is already planning to sell the Prado Jeep? I also over heard him talking to one of his political friends about borrowing some money.” Emeka chipped in. He was more handsome and witty of the two.

Both behaved like twins. They graduated together form the same institution, protected each other, were always seen together, and both were 30years old.

“God forbid. Well, I believe barrister will seal off this deal and the money will come rolling once again.” Joe assured. He was the more brutal of the two.

Upon successfully breaking into the witness one room apartment with Emeka, Joe had softly tapped the sleeping man. As he woke up, Joe had quickly covered his mouth with his large palms while Emeka skillfully tied his hands and legs with a rope.

Without wasting anytime Joe had slashed him into pieces with his knife cutting off his tongue first. Afam and Bullet had kept watchful eyes on the surrounding just to ensure that the slight sound coming from the room did not wake the neigbours.

“let’s quickly clean up and alert him that we are through, meanwhile…” Emeka said, as he walked to the edge of the bed in the room, and picked an uncorked bottle of Brandy, “…we can have a cheap party starting this morning. I already informed three chicks to join us, they will be here soon.” He opened it and soon everyone was having their share.

double post

Chidi got to his office by 8.30am. This morning he decided to skip his normal routine of morning exercise so that he could see Nkiru before the police talked to her. He also didn’t want to miss her by the time he got to her house. The fact that he was actually going to see her and interact with her had influenced the way he dressed that morning.

He was looking smart in a Navy blue T-shirt and a black chinos trouser matched with a brown and white sneakers.

He got to the workshop, got little information from his boys on the situation in the neigbourhood and workshop, and then drove straight to where she lived with her sister.

Nkiru and her Sister lived on the down floor of the building which had six flats on the whole. It was a neat building with an equally neat surrounding located on extreme left of Ikenegbu Estate, Owerri.

He noticed the window curtain shift indicating that someone had peeped to see who was visiting. He didn’t have to knock twice before the door opened.

His heart beat stopped as he beheld the angel of his life.

“Good morning she said,” trying hard to maintain a poker face. Chidi could still see a trace of fatigue in the pretty face. He also noticed that she was already dress up.

“Good morning, umm… I am aware that Adanna is not back home yet, I will really love to offer any assistant that you might require, besides I might have information that might help.” Chidi managed to say.

“Information?” Nkiru’s face relaxed a bit. She had always been aware that Chidi like her, the way he always stared at her whenever she passed his workshop already made his feelings for her obvious. It was nice knowing that she had such effect on a good looking guy like him. She also knew he didn’t have the courage to approach her. The day he eventually tried making his feeling for her known said it all. She can’t forget how he almost pissed on his pants and how the sweet handsome face became red with embarrassment.

She really couldn’t tell how she felt for him. Yes, she always saw him as an extremely good looking and well to do young man which most girls would die for. But she had always remained indifferent in her feelings for him. Perhaps his inability to approach her and say something meaningful had inhibited her feelings from moving either direction.
She always pitied him, but enjoyed the show.

Now, she couldn’t help but notice how adoring he looked. She also wondered what information he had and hoped it was something positive.

“I can see you are all dressed up. Why don’t you allow me to drop you wherever you are going while I fill you in as I drive?” Chidi said.

“Okay, I am actually going to the police station. Please give me a minute; I will join you in the car.”

He waited for almost five minutes but he didn’t mind, he could even wait for a whole day just as long as it was Nkiru. He continued to hold his breath as he waited for the magnificent structure to actually come into his car.

She was beautiful.

When she finally came in, he prayed to God he would be able to concentrate and drive well. The air in the car was redolent of her sweet perfume; it made him feel like he was driving a private jet.

“I spoke with an Inspector friend of mine yesterday about Adanna, and I learnt from him late last night that Adanna fits the description of a lady who escaped from City Hospital in the early morning of Monday. She is said to have killed three nurses before leaving.” He slightly looked at her as he spoke.

He could now see her resemblance with Adanna. Their main similar feature was their lips. While Adanna’s face was straight, Nkiru’s was flat and accommodated he facial features perfectly. She was also lighter in complexion but with an equally dark hair. Adanna was a little bit taller than her sister with slimmer body features than Nkiru. Like her sister, Nkiru had full legs that carried her admirable hips and full body perfectly.

“You know that is not possible right? There must have been a misunderstanding somewhere.” She looked very sure that the information was wrong.

“I thought so too, but Inspector Bassey sounded like he knew what he was saying. In fact they were even planning to come to you this morning and to ask you some questions about her behavior in recent times. The lady at the hospital was delusional, they said.”

There was a little smile on her lips, “They must be joking. Well, let’s get to the station and hear what they have to say. I just wonder where she is. Is she safe? How could she just disappear just like that? It makes no sense. You can’t imagine how last two nights were for me.”

“I understand. It worries me too. I am sure we will find her. We have to remain hopeful.

Somehow, she was glad she was with him at the moment. She hopped he would be with her all day, helping her and saying those comforting words to her. She noticed that he was trying hard to avoid her eyes as he spoke.

“Have you contacted your parents?” he asked.

Yes, I have… my dad is late and my poor mother has been worried since she got the information. Everybody is keeping their hands crossed. Like you said, we are just hoping for the best.”

They finally arrived at the police station near government house. Chidi found a good place and parked.

Inspector Bassey was in his office. It was a typical Nigerian police office, scanty with a filling cabinet on the far left, two leather chairs for visitors and pictures of the president, governor and top police officials on the wall. His table was also scanty with few writing materials and a plastic name tag. This wasn’t the first time Chidi was entering the office.

Bassey looked tired, which was surprising because the day was just beginning.

He sat up immediately he saw Chidi and the pretty young lady, “Oh, I am glad you are here, please have a seat… is this the missing girl’s sister?”

“Good morning Sir,” Nkiru greeted as she sat down.

“Yes, this is Nkiru… the air here looks more excited than the usual, what is happening?” Chidi was trying to make himself comfortable as he spoke.

“Welcome young woman,” the Inspector said to Nkiru, then to Chidi, “Like I said yesterday, Owerri is becoming something else. A young man was butchered in his house this morning by unknown persons. In fact we just found out that he was the same individual who informed us yesterday that he might have information on Chief Orji’s murderers. We were expecting him to turn up in person this morning as he promised, only for him to be found in pieces at his home.”

“Wow! that is organized crime. Some well informed people are a step ahead of the police,” Chidi exclaimed.

“Yea, and it now seem obvious that we have a mole in the force. Well, that is the reason why we couldn’t make it to your place this morning young lady. I am guessing you have not heard anything from your sister yet. Did Chidi inform you on the latest development?” he automatically switched to their reason for being in his office.
“Yes sir, but I didn’t think that the lady I question is my sister.”

“You can say that, but does your sister have a twin?” The Inspector asked.

“No”

“Then how possible is it that she could be missing, yet someone who looked exactly like her is being identified as the lady I am talking about?” he stretched his hand and searched through a pile of few files on his table as he talked. He located a flat file with just two sheets of papers inside and opened it. This is the case file of the lady that escaped from the hospital yesterday. I took interest in the case after I realized that the lady’s description was the same with the description Chidi gave me yesterday.”

Nkiru collected the paper he handed to her. It described nobody but Adanna. “How could this be possible,” she muttered under her breath.

“The report the hospital gave was that she was found unconscious on Ajah Street, off Wetheral Road. She was brought in by good Samaritans who claimed they didn’t know her. It was discovered, after she became conscious, that she was not in touch with reality. This the hospital staff found strange since she was well dressed and all that.” Bassey explained.
“Yes, the hair salon she patronizes is somewhere around Ajah Street.” Nkiru confirmed, she was now almost certain that the lady in question was Adanna.

“Our main reason for wanting to talk to you is to find out more about her state of mind, so that we declare her a danger to the public. We would have done this since yesterday, but we are really overwhelmed by rampant murders in the state.”

“She is not the type that would hurt anybody and I can assure you that she was in a perfect shape when she left the house on Sunday evening for the salon.” Nkiru desperately explained.

“Like I told you yesterday, Adanna is a very nice girl who avoids getting into trouble with anyone.” Chidi added.
“What is her occupation?” the inspector asked.

“She is a small time interior decorator with her shop outlet at Douglas Street. She had never had any problem with any of her clients.”

“Well, we know for sure that an unaccounted incident led her to an unconscious state which was why she was brought to the hospital in the first place. While I instruct that image of her be put in every corner of the town as well as mass media public announcement, we will also investigate on what actually happened between when she left the salon a healthy person and when she was found unconscious.” Bassey said

“Should we have the impression that this process will start immediately?” Chidi asked.

“I cannot assure you investigations and even public notifications on her case will start immediately. We are under pressure trying to locate Chief Orji’s killers. But I promise that I will do my very best to ensure that your case is looked into as soon as we have a small chance.”

Chidi immediately noticed the disappointed look on Nkiru’s face.

“That is not assuring Inspector, it is not fair that my sister’s case be shoved aside for another case which I can see that the police force regard as more important.”

Bassey stood up; well if I had the power I would have started rolling the ball in your case even before you arrived here this morning. Chidi is my friend I am aware of how concerned he is about Adanna. But let’s see how it goes, I will communicate with you as soon as something comes up.”

It was a helpless situation. The policeman had indirectly made it clear that Adanna’s case wasn’t important enough to be given immediate attention since more attention was directed at Chief Orji’s case which was more important than Adanna’s.

They silently got into the car and drove off the police station in silence.

*** *** *** ***

“I’d better rush to the clinic,” Dr. Samuel got up and headed for the door. He had been with Daniel and the amnesic lady for the past thirty minutes and was glad to see that she was doing much better than yesterday. The headache had reduced, according to her and she felt a little bit stronger. The latter, he confirmed by the neat condition of Daniel’s abode when compared to how it was yesterday.

“Thank you very much Samuel, I really appreciate your effort.” Daniel said as he walked him to the door. The doctor had come with extra cash and enough breakfast in a food flask for two people. Daniel’s heart had further been gladdened with the awareness that the patient was feeling much better and might not be in danger after all. The only problem that remained was that she was still amnesic.

“Thank you Doctor, you have been most kind.” Adanna said to him as she observed the two friends from the background. She had noticed a change in Daniel’s behaviour when the doctor came into the environment. There were brief moments of unwarranted hesitations and Daniel was trying very hard to avoid the doctor’s eyes. But the doctor’s response to his needs showed that they were or used to be good friends. Well, she was feeling better this morning and that was enough reason to embrace the tiny feeling of happiness within her and nature it into hope and great expectation.

Daniel closed the door and sat down on the nearest seat in his sitting room. His house was different. His mind set had also changed.

He had been surprised when he woke up and found her cleaning the house. Daniel was a deep sleeper and could, whenever he felt sleepy, sleep anywhere available and be comfortable. He was still sleeping on the long leather seat in his sitting room when she was half way through with cleaning the whole house. It had been like waking up in a new environment.

It was just strange having a woman in his house. She looked good in his boxer and T-shirt.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he slowly said, still trying to shake off the sleep in his eyes.

She was cleaning the dusty furniture with a piece of cloth she found in the house. “Oh, I am sorry but, unlike you, I am not used to staying in this kind of environment.” She said before looking towards his direction. “Good morning.”
“Yea, morning.” Daniel was now sitting instead of lying down. “Are you trying to tell me that you remember the kind of environment you are used to?” he asked in all seriousness.

“No, I don’t remember anything yet. But I am feeling much better today. The headache has subsided and I don’t feel the dizziness anymore. That drug the doctor prescribed must be very good.”

He was just gazing at her as she spoke. The house was just alive with her presence. And for the first time in a long while he felt a little less lonely.

He liked her. The way her lips curved when she talked and smiled. The ease at which she was adjusting to his environment and making him feel at home, something he had never felt since he parked into this house.

Wow, he thought, it’s been a long time I felt this relaxed.

“Why do you like such a dirty environment?” she broke into his thought, “I bet some pigs wouldn’t even want to live here. Do you believe that when I woke up this morning, I thought I was in a refuse dump?”

She might not know it, but she just reminded him of why his house was unkempt. He remembered that twenty four hours ago, he didn’t care about anything or anyone in this world, not even himself. The feeling started creeping in again.
He stood up and walk towards the bedroom, “Well thanks for helping me out, like I said before, you didn’t have to do it. I don’t give a damn if the house is neat or not.” He concluded from the bathroom.

She could detect slight disgust in his voice. “Well, cleaning here wasn’t a big deal. Honestly, it felt like something I am used to doing. I just have this desire to clean here up and love-vendor it into a magnificent state, like I am trying to remember something.”

He walked back into the sitting room and sat down, “That is nice, perhaps your memory might not take long to come back after all. We will wait and see what the doctor has to say.” From nowhere, the image of Benson flashed in his mind and he became lost in his world of thought again. Then he felt that anger and hatred for him. How can he be here, in his home, with a strange lady while Benson was still walking a free man all over Owerri? What will Akudo and his daughter be thinking of him from the world beyond? He regretted not having been able succeed in his plan yesterday. He knew he would never be a happy man alive, not with Benson alive and not caring about what he was going through.

But he wasn’t angry with this pretty lady for disrupting his plan. Helping her had impacted positively on him and had made him felt different for change. The feeling was good, but he couldn’t explain it. That was why he was hell bent on trying to ensure that he helped her to the end.

“Daniel!” she called

He was jolted out of his rumination by the sharp feminine sound of his name. He suddenly looked at her, “Sorry, I was lost in thought, what were you saying?”

She stared at him for some seconds, “I was thanking you for helping me yesterday and was also wondering why I was in the hospital and why those men wanted to abduct me.” She said. What was bothering this man? She thought. The disarray in his room was a sign that he was going through some emotional problems; he didn’t even have food in his house. And she could recall that yesterday he had said something about God not helping him with his wife and kid. Could he be going through financial or marital problems? Was she a burden to him? How would she make it out there without his help? God! She didn’t even know who she was!

Somehow she was beginning to get attached to him, she felt protected by just being around him.

There was a sharp knock on the door and Daniel quickly rushed to open the door. He was already sure that it was his doctor friend. Funny, he couldn’t even remember the last time someone knocked on his door.

*** *** *** ***

“You know I will feel much better if you can let me in on what is bothering you.” She said to him as she ate from the plate of rice in her hand. It was thoughtful of Dr. Samuel to bring food along with him. The food tasted nice but Daniel had refused to eat, claiming the he was not yet hungry. She remembered that he ate very little last night before going to bed.

He looked at her for some seconds. She was easy going and her presence was helping in calming his nerves. She was the only reason why he had not gone totally crazy for not succeeding in doing away with both his life and Benson’s yesterday.

Why did she think he would want to tell her what he was going through? Will she understand and tell him something different from what he had been hearing from his friends? What difference will telling this pretty confused lady a little about what he has been going through for the past two years make?

“Don’t worry; we should concentrate on helping you instead of complicating things with my problems.”

“I really think I should take my mind off my problems for a while. You can’t keep it all to yourself, I am really concerned.”

He smiled at the way she talked while eating, perhaps he should just tell her and hear her opinion from a stranger’s point of view. Besides he was already enjoying her company… something he had denied himself of for a long time now. It would do him no harm talking to someone about his problem after a long while.

“I will need you to pay attention. What I am about to tell you is very important to me and I wouldn’t want to say it if you will not pay attention.”

“I am all ears she said,” as she took the last sip from the sachet water in her hand.

“Two years ago, I was a happily married man with a beautiful daughter. I and my wife, Akudo, were a perfect match for each other and I have never had such wonderful times with anyone in my life. We really loved each other and were there for each other in times of need. She was perfect for me and I felt I was perfect for her too.” He stopped; he was already in a thinking mood.

The way he looked made Adanna wonder if he remembered she was there with him listening.

He sighed heavily and continued, “She was a teacher in the same school my four years old daughter schooled. And I always made sure I took my time off work and picked them whenever school was over for the day. I remember always looking forward to seeing her, like I didn’t see her every morning or like she didn’t live with me. I could never have enough of her. I loved her.”

Tears were already coming from his eyes. The emotions emitting from him overwhelmed her and every object in the sitting room. She could only remained immobile as goose flesh flushed all over her skin.

“I used to run a consulting firm and was pretty comfortable with my family, finance wise. It was all good until one unfortunate day that I was too busy to pick Akudo and my little girl. I got a call from a stranger informing me that my family was hit by a drunk driver on the spot they were waiting for bus. Both died at the spot. Tell me who gets drunk by 4pm?”

“Wow.” It was a soft whisper that escaped from Adanna’s lips. She didn’t realize that such extent of harm had been done to this man.

The tears that flowed from Daniel’s eyes were uncontrollable. He didn’t attempt to stop them from flowing.

“Could you imagine that the drunk Driver was Benson Omenka a renowned barrister in the state?”

The name didn’t ring a bell to Akudo, but from the way he called the name, she was expected to know the lawyer. She remained silent and listened to him even as he took deep short breaths as if letting out piles emotions that have been built in him all these years. He was struggling to speak; the words were coming out from the subconscious where he had repressed them for a very long time.

“I tried to seek justice when I realized that the law wasn’t even making any attempt to punish the offender whose recklessness had led to the demise of my lovely wife and kid. But I came to the realization that he was above the law, in fact every of the Omenkas where above the law. They were licensed to be reckless.”

“How could that be possible?” the surprised Adanna asked.

“That was even the most painful part of this whole experience. They made it look like my family deserved what happened to them. And before I knew it, the offender became the victim. The Judge and a lot of prominent bad people were good friends to this notorious family…” a wiry smile escaped his lips and he looked up thoughtfully. “It is quite funny how evil attracts friendship and love. I was subdued by the family’s clout. They made me realize that I was just an ordinary citizen and shouldn’t think that I was anything more than that just because I lost my wife and kid. But I tried my best to fight for them. I didn’t relent in pursuing the case, and then I started receiving threat messages. I was simply asked to decide if I will like to join my family and the favour would be granted to me instantly.”

Adanna observed that the tears had stopped flowing. The man opposite her was now an angry man. The eyes were now different and she was afraid that he might have done something terrible in the cause of grieving for his family.

“I wasn’t afraid of death, but I became a nuisance to those who were supposed to uphold the law. Benson was a very good criminal lawyer and he knew how to manipulate justice to his favour. I couldn’t prove he was drunk even though it was obvious at the time of the accident and gradually, the case was swept under that carpet.

I became devastated after this, I couldn’t function well in the society and my firm crumbled. Gradually I started isolating myself from people and even thought of suicide but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was now living on just my savings and soon I became broke. I sold my how after a year and six months, and parked in here. So many people didn’t know my new home even Samuel who tried his best to be there for me.”

“But why did you push yourself away from someone who genuinely wanted to help you?” Adanna asked, she remembered seeing how the doctor was making so much effort to be there for him even for the short period of time she had met him.

“I wanted to hurt Barrister Benson by hitting him with car; I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. But Samuel discouraged me and asked me to let it go. How could he not understand? How could he feel that I’d rather go through sleepless night thinking about my family and feeling incompetent of giving them justice? Taking his advice did me more harm than good because I suffered more but he wouldn’t know; no one knew what I was going through. The world moved on like nothing happened. All around me I saw lovers shearing wonderful moments, the rich and evil enjoying their wealth and fame and nobody really cared about what happened to Mr. Daniel. Nobody really understood what I was going through so I decided to stay on my own.”

“Was it better? Did it make the pain go away?” Adanna asked. The look on her face showed that she really wanted to know if staying alone was the right decision, because she didn’t think it was.

“I wouldn’t say it was better because while I isolated myself from the world, I unconsciously stayed away from my own self. I didn’t feed well, didn’t clean my home and wasn’t making money for myself. But I was able to build up the courage to take a firm decision. I decided I was going to kill Benson and take my life too. So I started following him, and waiting for the right time to strike. Yesterday was the D-day. I was just about to strike when, from nowhere, you came and disrupted my plan.” He stopped.

There was a lingering silence in the room.

What happened yesterday was a miracle, Adanna thought. He wasn’t meant to die yesterday; nature had used her to save him. He had met her for a purpose.

This got her asking… who am I?

alright guys, have a wonderful workers day

VanTee20: You are doing a great job Mr. Frank. I just hope you won't mind editing the very few typhos in the first post, like author for arthur, religion for relgion etal. Anyways I dey follow you like twitter. Keep the good work up sir.

vantee u never complete ur own story u dey here dey do editor for another man own if i catch u..... Frank u too much followin u all d way

Frank os back again... U r a genuise...May u av a reason to always smile in lyf cos u put a smile on ur followers face includin MEEEEEE....

My guy,my boss double post too much o.

Damex333: My guy,my boss double post too much o.

thanx for alerting me

Candis009: Frank os back again... U r a genuise...May u av a reason to always smile in lyf cos u put a smile on ur followers face includin MEEEEEE....

thank, u... glad i make you smile

Oga frank well done .anytin Fø̲̣я̅ Ūя̲̅ pple today

wumsgreen: Oga frank well done .anytin Fø̲̣я̅ Ūя̲̅ pple today

ya, very soon my dear... but i am promising nothing for tomorrow

Frank,, Great Job!
Am an ardent follower of your story..!
Jt have sum few questns
1. Can two perfect pple come 2geda as couples in d real world or is jt fiction?..as in d case of Daniel and hs wife.

2. Are u based in Owerri?..cz u lyk using dt city as ur plot.

iebanehita: Frank,, Great Job!
Am an ardent follower of your story..!
Jt have sum few questns
1. Can two perfect pple come 2geda as couples in d real world or is jt fiction?..as in d case of Daniel and hs wife.

2. Are u based in Owerri?..cz u lyk using dt city as ur plot.

if you notice, the perfectness described there was Daniel's perception... he had every reason to see their relationship as perfect. personally i thought the relationship between me and my late girl was perfect, despite very few backdrops. thats how life is my bro. he loved her and if it were u, will you describe the negative side of someone you love to another person when talking about them? wont u wnat to paint it as perfect especally when it has to do with the one you love? do i make sense? pls correct me if i am wrong

i am based in Abuja although i was brought up in Zaria, kaduna... did my secondary school in Owerri(government college owerri) and my present personality was influenced by my experiences in Owerri. and i am from mbaise so i know owerri very well. its a simple town, and its easy for me to relate with it when telling stories

Chapter 5

Blessing Okonji used to be a neighbor to the Okontas a long time ago. The Okontas parented Adanna, Nkiru and Obinna. Blessing used to observe the Okontas and think that they were a lovely family, but his opinion about them changed with time.

Blessing was the first child of his Christian, born again parents. The religious status of his family played a major role in forming the wired personality later developed. His father, Mr. Okonji believed he was a special son of God as he ensured he missed no church service, prayed at every time he was alone, and ensured he brought his children up in the way of the Lord.

This way didn’t go well with Blessing but he had to obey his father anyway. He hated the church. It tried to make him everything he wasn’t. He was supposed to be an extrovert but the church forced him to be an introvert, he knew he had violent attributes in him but they forced him to be a weakling, he was a very intelligent kid, but they made him dull. They dampened his self esteem and relegated him to the background when deep down within him he knew he was supposed to at the forefront in every situation. He blamed everything negative in his life on the church.

Blessing was dying inside even at a very young age.

“Christians don’t walk like that, Christians don’t speak like this, you are the vessel of God, you don’t go there, and you don’t keep such friends, it is wrong to talk to girls so flee from fornication.” His father, a quiet but strict man would, always say. His father believed in the bible verse that said, ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child.’

Blessing and his only brother and sibling, Praise, were forced to become who they didn’t want to be.

His father killed their social life with his belief. And blessing’s real nature was seeking expression inside despite sometimes trying to talk to his few friends out of doing something wrong. He couldn’t tell how much he became a nuisance to his friends and soon they began making jest of him, calling him a priest just to mock him. The name stuck.

Blessing was an angry child. He wanted to be heard but he was obviously saying the wrong words.

Blessing always craved to be a leader in everything he did. But how could he be a leader when he had low self esteem and couldn’t even get his friends to listen to him? Everything about his life was going the wrong way. He hated his life. He hated his parents.

His father wasn’t even a prominent member of the church, a common usher who had no say in the church.

Sometimes Blessing wondered why his father got himself attached to the church in the first place. The man was so poor despite his fervent prayers; they couldn’t even afford to eat three square meals or even attend good school.

Yet, Blessing was somehow inclined to religion.

Then there was the fact that Blessing was left handed. He got scolded at in everything he didn’t, not only from his parents but church members and teachers in schools.

“You are a very disrespectful child; you want to insult me with your left hand?” his elders would tell him. He almost felt that his left hand wasn’t part of a human body.

He was always scared of doing the wrong thing. He was just a troubled youth.

When Blessing aka Priest was JSS3, his social studies teacher in the course of teaching veered off topic and mentioned something about left handedness. This picked Priest’s interest so he waited after classes and approached the teacher who took so much delight is telling Priest everything he needed to know. He gave the young inquisitive boy a psychology/medical text book which explained everything about handedness.

Priest took his time to read the book and that became the beginning of his reading habit. He read motivational books, religious books, mysterious books and scientific book.

From the book given to him by his teacher, priest understood the reason why he was left handedness.

He discovered that the left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa, therefore the dominant hemisphere which could be as a result of certain social factors or genetic factors determines if an individual will be left handed or right handed. In Blessing’s case, his right hemisphere was more dominant than the left. Only about 10% to 30% of the world’s population was left handed. Blessing liked that. To him, that signified that they were special people.

He found out that left handers also tend to have unusually good visual-spatial skills and the ability to imagine spatial layouts. They were also better in mathematics than right handers who tend to be better in English language.

Who cares about English, Blessing thought, to him mathematicians where more intelligent than their counterparts.

This gave rise to the beginning of his delusion about himself.

He started seeing himself as a special person. His religious mind started taking a different toll. He was going to be a leader, come what may.

Only that his idea of religion was different from his father’s. He wasn’t going to be a worshiper forever, not here on earth and not in the world beyond.

He then started seeing himself as a god. Okay, even if he wasn’t a God on earth, he was definitely going to be one when he dies. The idea of going to heaven and worshiping god forever didn’t appeal to him. So he started seeing life after death differently.

Blessing had always known that this world was full of mystery; of course he had seen pastors perform miracles in the church and heard testimonies of strange happenings. In his own world, he had witnessed strange things occurring around him. Calling someone’s name or thinking of him and he suddenly appears, having a weird feeling because something bad or good happened to a loved one, all proved this world was a mysterious place.

Everybody had secrets, and Blessing had his too, he was a child molester not to mention the evil violent thoughts that always pop up in his mind.

Yet, he was religious.

He tactfully molested all the kids in his neighborhood but for one reason couldn’t touch Adanna, the wonderful and perfect family’s first daughter.

She was his enigma.

He couldn’t understand what it was about her that makes him stand straight at the sight of her. She was a little younger than his younger brother.

Praise liked Adanna. He was just 13 and had strong juvenile feelings for the 10 years old and could do anything for her. She knew he liked her so much, but her innocent soul didn’t allow her think she was supposed to reciprocate, so she enjoyed the attention he gave her. She knew she could tell him to do anything and he would do it.

Adanna’s parent always believed she was a special child. To them she was a bringer of good luck. Her birth had been associated with the family’s wealth and her presence always brought good tiding. Once, when she was seven, she had playfully stolen her aunt’s cell phone, causing her to miss her flight while searching for it, this got everybody mad. Later it was discovered that Adanna had taken it. The flight crashed.

Adanna had also once persisted that her dad didnt travel on a said date with the excuse that she wanted to be with him. She had cried and cried until he postponed the journey. The bus he was meant to travel on had a fatal accident and everyone died. All these she did, ignorantly. But adults around her quickly associated her with good luck.

Blessing associated her with bad luck. He couldn’t just stand her yet he had no reasonable explanation to this.

Blessing continued to observe Praise as her adored her.

“Adanna like fruits, I am going to get more cashew so that I will have enough to give her,” Praise had once said. He had just climbed down the tree and felt he didn’t get enough for himself, his friends, brother and off course Adanna.
This had gotten Blessing angry, “Adanna this, Adanna that. She never takes anything from you, yet you force things on her. Did she ask you for cashew fruit?”

“Leave me alone, who told you she takes nothing from me? I know she likes fruits and she will be glad if I get some cashew for her.” Praised had protested while he moved to climb the tree the second time. His friends only observed, they could do with more cashews.

“Keep on fooling yourself. She does not even know you exist.”

Praise fell from the tree that day and lost his life. He was 14 years.

Blessing’s delusions increased. His hatred for Adanna worsened.

To him, she had killed his brother, but he had a strong feeling that he was her target.

Blessing continues to dig deep into life mysteries. He began to read mystery books. He wanted to understand what power Adanna used and how he could conquer her.

His parent’s wealth financial condition worsened and soon his father died of a strange illness. Blessing had to drop out of school and the future became scary.

His self esteem dropped more and the only way he could awaken his dying spirit was to molest little girls.

He decided he was going to molest Adanna, it was a suicide mission, but he already had a death wish. The future had nothing for him.

He was caught trying to molest her and other kids opened up after this. Blessing was sentenced to two years in prison; he was just nineteen years old.

Again, Adanna had gotten him. He came to believe that she was responsible for every bad thing that had happened to him.
He made a lot of friends in jail as he became popular with his preaching. His religious belief was different and it was suitable for criminals. They liked it, and they liked him. There he baptized himself and did away with the name Blessing. His name became Priest. Blessing was the old him, Priest was a completely different person.

Priest was a leader, a ruler. Priest controlled his world.

His self esteem was boosted and he clearly saw himself as a special person, his left handedness said it all.

By the time he came out of prison, Adanna’s family had relocated and he didn’t see her again. That didn’t stop him from having her somewhere in his long term memory.

But Adanna didn’t have any knowledge that Blessing blamed her for his misfortunes. She was aware that her friend, Praise, had fallen from a cashew tree and died but didn’t know that he climbed that tree because of her. She was just glad that Blessing, whom she had always been scared of, didn’t succeed in molesting her.

Priest joined a group of thugs, who invested their time in harassing people, petty stealing and rapping girls. Whenever he raped any girl, he always pictured it was Adanna he was raping.

He still continue to dig into spiritualism and even joined some secret spiritual groups, but they didn’t give him what he wanted and soon he found himself jumping from one spiritual group to another. The leaders wanted to be worshiped, but Priest also wanted to be worshiped.

Once, one of the spiritual groups came sent three members to harass him for leaving their group. They were of the opinion that Priest already had their secret and was meant to be with them forever. He had made a blood oat and sworn to serve their belief forever. Priest had surprised them by stabbing their leader to death. They were perplexed as he took them by surprise and continued to stab his victim in cold blood.

He enjoyed it and loved the look of fear in their eyes.

The other two had to take to their heels and no one harassed him again.

Religion flourished in his environment, different churches grew with members and then he thought… there was no religious group for bad people like rapist, murderers, looters and thieves.

His journey into spiritualism made him realize that he was a god; everybody was a god and deserved worship. Not everyone can be worshiped here on earth, but everyone can be worshiped in the life after death. You can be worshiped as a devil or as a god.

But how can you achieve this? KILL YOUR ENEMY OR BE KILLED BY YOUR ENEMY. This was what he preached, this became their motto.

And so that was how the religious group called ‘The Religion’ was set up.

*** *** *** ***

Recently Priest saw Adanna in his neighborhood. She was doing some interior decoration work for a client’s house. He knew it was her even though she was much older. She should be twenty six by now, he rightly guessed. She still had that childhood innocence and God, she was prettier.

Then fear gripped him. She was his enemy and had come to finish what she started.

She had come to torment him again.

His life was going on well, his congregation was growing in number. He was revered beyond his expectation. His followers would do anything for him, they could die for him.

He had succeeded in giving the rejected in the society something to belief. He had given them a reason to live. No more guilt, just a mission.

Now what did she want? Why was she back in town?

Well, this time he will get her before she gets him.

So he sent Chinedu and Jack to get her. But once again she had proven stronger. He really wanted to bring her alive so that he could r.ape her before killing her. She would make a nice r.ape, he had thought.
He must come up with a good plan. He must get her before she gets him.

Chapter 6

“We are back with some useful information my Lord.” Jack called from just outside Priest’s chamber.

Priest came out almost immediately. He had sent them out earlier that Tuesday morning to get more information on who owns the Toyota that had escaped with Adanna. The plate number was their only means of getting more info on Adanna’s where about. They were already sure that she hadn’t been at her residence since she escaped.

Priest wondered what she was up to. The lady was really proving to be tougher than he had thought of her.

“What have you got?” he asked as he led them to the auditorium.

Jack and Chinedu allowed him to lead the way as they spoke.

“We were able to find out that the car with the registration number is owned by Mr. Daniel Ikoha, but we weren’t able to get his present residential address because he sold his house a few months ago and left for a new place. The address that he registered the car with was the old one, he obviously didn’t bother to change it.”

“Are you telling me that this is a dead end?” Priest slowly asked. The alarm he felt not showing on his face.

Chinadu spoke up, “We did a little digging and found out that Mr. Daniel lost his wife and kids two years ago. It was a case of a drunken driver who missed his way and sent the two to their early grave.”

“How could this information be useful?” Priest asked, allowing his mind to run wild.

“The offender was Benson Omenka…” he allowed the surname to sink before he continued. “Benson used his influence to deny Daniel any form of justice and not even a dime was given to him for compensation. Daniel was totally oppressed by the notorious barrister and his family. Our source told us that Daniel have been devastated since then. He closed down his consulting firm, sold his house and disappeared.”

“Only he just appeared and rescued Adanna from you guys,” Priest completed.

“Well, it seems he was trying to take matters into his own hands because his car was parked very close to the Omenka Plaza at Wetheral road where Benson’s office was located on Monday morning before he drove off with your earthly enemy.” Jack added.

“And how are we certain the he was trying to harm Benson? What makes you think he wasn’t already waiting for Adanna?” Priest asked, this was getting interesting, he thought.

“We have thought of that possibility, but the chance that he was waiting for her on that spot is very unlikely. So we thought that the best option is to guess that he was with watching the barrister and planning to hurt him.” Jack said.

Priest became silent, and activated his thinking mood. This mood, to him was a time he speaks with his spirit.

The two brutes waited patiently. Dealing with Priest required that one learn to be patient. He normally takes his time to whatever he intends to do.

“I am running out of time, and we can’t sit around waiting for her to show up again since we don’t even know what she might be planning. She had deliberately not shown up at her home and this proves that she is definitely strategizing. We have to bring her out of hiding and to do that we will kill the Barrister and make it look like it Daniel did it.”

Priest knew about the Omenkas. He wasn’t afraid of them, not that they were going to know what his them anyway.

“How does this bring her out of hiding my Lord?” Chinedu asked.

“The Omenka family has more recourses than us to find Mr. Daniel. The police will willingly work for them once they find out one of the prominent sons has been murdered. Trust me, with their money, fame and connection, Daniel will be located in twenty four hours. We will just remain in the background and observe and once we find out their location, we strike.”

Chinedu and Jack nodded in agreement. They were going to have a field day.

“We must strike today. There is also a possibility that Daniel will come out on his own to prove his innocence, it is all going to work out fine, I believe.” Priest said, wishing that Adanna would be brought alive so that he could eventually have a taste of her before killing her. “Alright, you guys should get going. It is almost noon. You know the drill, be discrete and make sure everything points towards Daniel.”

“Yes my Lord” They both chorused and walked towards the large white hall.

Priest observed them as the matched out. He was proud of himself for being able to have such caliber of men under his control. He had succeeded in making them and his entire congregation find comfort in his abode.

*** *** *** ***

He really wanted to bring her alive so that he could molestation her before killing her. She would make a nice molestation,

nice one bro but Please work on this