He splashed some more water on his face and stared at his reflection in the mirror.His eyes were red and he wasn't certain if the ringing in his ears was coming from the muffled sounds of the nightclub upstairs or from inside his head.

The alcohol in his system was raging.
He could feel it's heat surging through him like liquid fire.

He had to keep it together.He thought to himself.

"She's here because of you"Damiete whispered to his reflection.



"Arguably the most beautiful Girl you've ever met is out there on the dance floor waiting for you...so.pull it together"he commanded his slightly disheveled self in the mirror.

The bathroom door swung open bringing in a loud blast of music from the club upstairs.
The sound was muffled again as the door swung shut.

"Are you high?"Obinna asked from behind him.

Damiete just stared at his best friend in silence.

"You need to pull it together...Kadilo is waiting for you upstairs"Obinna said with a sigh.

"So I keep telling myself."he said as he splashed some more water on his face.

"ZPF has won the elections my brother"Obinna said grabbing his shoulders.

"KOLLUPIA is ours....your cousin is President"he said giving him a slight shove.

"I almost can't believe it myself"Damiete said as the door swung open again.More loud music came in.
"ZPF!"a stocky man exclaimed as he shook Obinna's hand.

"Yes o!"Obinna said jubilantly.

The stocky man gave Damiete a silent nod and entered one of the cubicles.
"You see?"Obinna said.
"We're supposed to be celeberating... there's enough alcohol upstairs to keep us high for a month..."Obinna was being overly dramatic as he usually was with his wild gestures.

"....Kadilo wants you menh!"he said just as the sound of flushing was accompanied by the stocky man exiting the cubicle.




"So how's it going with Ebi?"Damiete asked just as the door swung open and another momentary blast came in.

"My brother, I can not kill myself....I have begged and begged"Obinna said with an air of discomfort.

"You cheated,you should beg....it's that simple"Damiete said flatly as he turned around to face him.

He was feeling less intoxicated.The water had helped.

"Yes...yes yes I know,but for how long?" Obinna asked as he came over to the sink.

"I mean how long does a guy have to beg his girlfriend after she catches him with another girl?"

"Obinna....she caught you with a prostitute"Damiete said calmly.

Obinna rolled his eyes.This was clearly a conversation he'd heard one too many times.

"Abeg, as citizens of the Federal Republic of KOLLUPIA, can we exercise our constitutional right to clubbing and leave gist that won't put women in our beds this night?"

Damiete was about to say something but thought better of it.
Obinna was right,it was a night to celebrate.

They headed back to the upstairs.

The music was really loud and the place was packed full.Thick waves of cigarette smoke floated about like misty phantoms in the crowded club.
The Dj was mixing up a storm.
All around them,bodies were pressed up against each other like sardines in a can.I guess everyone's glad there was a violence-free election he thought.

The mountain sized bouncer tapped a button on the steel door to the VIP section.The door itself was was about 12 inches thick. It had been constructed to look like part of the wall.It had no outer door handle. As always the green light came on which told the bouncer on the other side of the door that it was okay to open it.

Damiete always thought it was a cool system to see in action.It was to ensure that not just ANYONE could gain access into the VIP section.It was another reminder that Kollupia was changing.
With new investors and all, modern technology was fast becoming an everyday thing.

The inside of the VIP section had it's own bar and rest room.It was big enough to fit in about 15 people. Though on that night, it had just Ten people.Including the bouncer,a bar tender and a very busty waitress.The room had tiny thick tinted glass windows one could use to peek into the rest of the club.
It had its own central cooling system.
Damiete often wondered what would happen if a fire broke out in there.

By the time they got into the VIP section, Damiete felt a small knot in his stomach when he saw Kadilo.
She was dancing with Ebi.She looked like a music video vixen come to life. Damiete couldn't believe she'd decided to come out on a date with him that night.

She was just stunning.

When she saw him, she threw him a naughty smile as she pressed herself against Ebi suggestively.

She knew he liked watching her.

Ebi threw Obinna a small glare but kept on dancing.
Damiete was about to order for another bottle of champagne.He had turned his head around to look for the closest waitress......

...........when the music stopped.




At first everyone thought it was just 'DJ trick'.
All braced themselves for the music to return.

Murmuring began as the crowd turned towards the DJ.

But the light skinned tattooed DJ wasn't even paying attention to the crowd.He had taken off his head phones and seemed to be straining his ears to hear something.....from outside.

Damiete would remember this moment for the rest of his life.Because from that moment,his life as he knew it was over.

It was in that moment he heard the first gun shots.

Everyone else heard them too.

In a city like Pride-land, the occasional gunshots were a norm.But continuous automatic gun fire on the night following the release of the Presidential Election results wasn't normal.....it was a crisis.
"What's going on?" he heard Ebi asked as she and the rest of the VIP room came to peek through the windows.

That's when it happened .

The front door to the club exploded in wards in a sudden blast of fire, shattered glass and smoke. The Bouncer by the door was thrown into the crowd like a rag doll.

More gunshots outside.

A tsunami of panic swept across the club, as people started screaming and running blindly in all directions.

Several girls rushed to the VIP door.
Damiete could hear them beating their hands and fists against the metal on the other side.

"Joe...open the door..open the door" came the frightened voice of who Damiete assumed was the bouncer on the other side.

As the mountain sized Joe rushed to open it,
"Don't open the door came a voice from behind them. They turned to see Opuwari on his feet by the bar pointing an authoritative finger at the bouncer.

The large man stopped, staring at his employer questionably.

More screams and muffled gunshots outside.

"but sir......" Joe began.

"I said, do not open that door!"Opuwari ordered with a stern and somewhat frightened look on his face.
"....JOE....wetin dey worry you? open this door" came the frightened muffled male voice from the other side.

The male voice was drowned in the sea of screams from outside.
Damiete watched the DJ hurriedly locked himself inside his cubicle and hid behind some Speakers

"Jesus!" obinna exclaimed.

That was when he saw them.

The first one stepped in through the torn up door, wielding what looked like an AK 47 Assault Rifle.
He was bare chested wearing bullet chain across his shoulders, then another entered the club, then another...soon Damiete lost count as they all trooped in with their rifles pointed at the terrified crowd.

More screams.

The constant muffled screams and thumping outside the door was frantic

".....open this door!!!!"

Then the gun men opened fire.

Loud blasts rang through the air as bullets tore into people.
Damiete watched a girl's head literally explode as it was caught by a round of gun fire.

"Jesus" the waitress by kadilo exclaimed.

"Everybody get down!!!!" Damiete screamed. But his order came a split second late.

Obinna was suddenly thrown backwards.
The back of his head erupted with a thick spray of blood that splattered across the adjacent wall and .......on Kadilo.

Damiete watched almost in slow motion as his best friend's body violently crashed into a nearby table sending champagne bottles and glasses flying in all directions.

Kadilo began to scream!!!!

But her scream was cut short as Damiete threw the whole weight of his body on her, dragging her to the floor as more bullets cut through the air.

The busty waitress was hit in the chest by an AkA 47 round.
She died instantly.

The remaining eight people inside the VIP lounge flung themselves to the floor amidst the sounds of terrified screams, gunshots and muffled thumping against a steel door.

This went on for at least another two minutes or so.

Then it stopped.

Long silence.

Sounds of distant gunshots.

Damiete couldn't tell if it was Kadilo's body that was trembling.....or his. Her screams had become whimpers as the commotion outside died down.

The entire occupants of the VIP lounge were huddled on the floor ....frozen as if they all held their breaths.

"RPA!!!!" came a loud male voice from what used to be the dance floor.

Then came a series of chants from at least Fifteen other male voices in unison
"Gbosa....Gbosa...Gbosa!!!!!"

"ZPF will never rule this country" another Male voice declared.

"Check them" the Voice ordered.

Sounds of heavy footfalls followed.


Damiete's chest was pounding as the foot steps continued.He had a scary thought in his head and prayed to God he was wrong.

"please...." came a the weakened voice from the dance floor.

"YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE?" came a hoarse Male Voice.

"Please...please...."it was impossible to tell if the voice were male or female.
But the fear in the tone was glaring.
.
There was a metallic clicking sound,...........and then the deafening roar of a Gunshot.

Silence.

For another two minutes or so, they listened in horror as the gun men checked to make sure everyone on the dance floor was dead.

Another Gunshot.

"Please,,....please don't......."came a female voice.

Sound of fabric tearing.

The female voice screams.

Hoarse Male laughter.

More fabric tearing.

More Screams.

This went on for another 15 minutes or so.......then......... there was another gun shot.
the female voice was silent.....
............forever.

In the distance, Damiete could still hear the faint sounds of screams, gunshots and explosions.
It seemed the world outside was in chaos.

He caught sight of Obinna's motionless body.
The eyes of his best friend were still open,as the blood slowly oozed out the back of his head.


More gunshots from the dance floor.

"Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God" Kadilo was muttering under her breath as the tremors in her body continued. She was shaking so hard he had to hold her tight.

For a long time, the Gun men seemed to be "checking" the bodies.
Then there were sounds of bottles being put in bags, as they helped themselves to liquor.

Damiete felt a sudden warmth oozing from the seat of Kadilo's pants.

At first he thought she was bleeding,......but the smell proved otherwise.
"Oh my God-Oh My God" she was still muttering under her breath oblivious to her bladder.

The eight people remained huddled inside the VIP lounge with the smell of blood,urine and smoke as the Gun Men outside searched the bodies of the dead.

More distant gun shots and screams

Then the club generators went off.
Apparently, the machine was being dismantled.


Then all was silent.





"Have they gone?" someone whispered in the darkness.

"I can't hear anything" another male voice whispered.

Kadilo's body was still trembling in his arms. He could still hear her muttering.

He wondered where Ebi was.

In the confusion he had lost track of her.
"Ebi!!!"

No response to his whisper came.

"Ebi!!"

"...I'm....I'm here" came a voice that was more or less a whimper in the darkness.

"Is....Obinna.....?"her shaky voice asked.

Damiete tried very hard to blurt out the image of his best friend lying there with a bullet hole in his head.
He tried to blurt out the sounds and things he'd seen in the past few hours.But they refused to go away.
They would forever remain tattooed to his subconscious mind for the rest of his life.

More distant gun shots and car tires screeching.

"Are you okay?"he whispered into kadilo's ear.But her tremor filled body could only mutter;
"Oh my God...Oh my God"

"Kadilo!!:" he whispered again.

More muttering

She's in shock. he thought.

"We have to call the police" Opuwari's voice said frantically.

The light from his phone pierced through the darkness.

"Jesus!.....no signal"the panic in his voice was rising

"Does anyone have a signal on their phone?"
"Keep your voice down" Damiete hushed.He didn't like letting go of Kadilo, But he had to reach for his phone.

His fingers were sticky and smelled weird. He honestly didn't want to know what it was.
There was no signal on his phone either.

This was the same with everyone else.


For a long time they all just lay there in silence.What was going on?Damiete thought.


Three hours later.

The sun was coming up.

They managed to pull the door open, and stepped into the dance floor.


It was a hellish scene before them.


Bodies were strewn all over the place.
Some were so badly torn up by bullets,it seemed impossible to identify them.

There were pools of blood everywhere.
He felt Kadilo's grip on his arm.....it was almost painful as they....cautiously stepped through a slaughter house of human corpses.

Bullet holes in the walls,
Hundreds of Shell-Casings on the floor.
Damiete took Kadilo's hand as they stepped over the naked dead body of a young girl.

She had a single gunshot wound to the head.

Kadilo seemed to be in a world of her own as she continued muttering to herself.
She gripped his hand tightly as they walked.
"could you make her shut up please...she's making me nervous." Opuwari said as he almost tripped over a dead body.

Damiete ignored him. His thoughts went back to his friend Obinna.

This had to be a nightmare, he thought.

Outside.

There were burning cars, bodies riddled with bullet holes and machete cuts.Some of the bodies were still burning.

Most of the buildings on the street were on fire. Some of the gates had been.....smashed into.

"What the hell was going on?" He heard one of the girls from behind ask.

Damiete swallowed a small lump in his throat and turned to the rest of the group and said;

"I don't know whats going on,.......but whatever it is, we have to some how find our families,.....and survive this..I think our country is at War...!!!!"

to be continued

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