following diligently

teamplayey:
Good job!

lol, happy sunday Sir.

emitheo:
following diligently

thank you for the follow up Sir. You guys should not mind the numerous errors. I am just reading it.

nice story

Placeville motel and bar it is. Rita and I are waiting

gsteve:
Placeville motel and bar it is. Rita and I are waiting

lol

cruzzbint:
nice story

thank you My Lady .

1974

"Rita! Scream!!" I spat in pain as I jumped off a ledge of my mansion .

Falling wasn't my fear, nor the pain of impact nor the height I was falling from nor the six13 mm rods sticking out of my back, nor my guts spilling out. It was the stagnant flow of time!



2003

I drove into Placeville motel and bar. Two heavily bosomed ladies in their 30s rushed after my car as I drove in. I slowed down to find out what was the cause of the ratchet. I wound down

"Yes?"

They had gotten close enough before it dawned on me that they were hookers.

"Fine boy, do you like what you see?"

I totally did not like what I saw. With a huge frown on my face, I wound up swiftly and found a nice spot to park my car. I took a deep breathe surveying the environment. The motel was a long array of bungalows with a large shade for drinkers and those seeking life band entertainment. Most of the people there were obviously night crawlers that did not have a single care in the world or knew the significance of time.I observed a three man band comprising of a drummer , a saxophonist and a singer making awful music.

I carefully counted the money I had on me and separated them into five closely equal parts. I noticed the cut on my hand was clothing. I took a piece of cloth and wiped the mess the blood had made on my hand. I adjusted the rear mirror to observe my appearance. Satisfied, I wound up all the windows, buried Precious bag pack under the seats and took out my packed bag.

As I made my way to the reception , I noticed I pretty young lady with blood trickling down her legs from her short skirt. I stared at her for a moment with my bag hanging over my shoulder. The girl couldn't be more than 18 years old. She had very stunning face upon closer observation. I shrugged off the thought of speaking to her. Pretty girls and bad luck , I whispered under my breathe as I walked past her to the reception.

"Are you staring at me! Did you just seem me?! "

I ignored the maiden and walked fast. What was I thinking, she could be a crazy nut job.

"Hello , I would like to book a room please."

"What kind of room?" A short dark man replied with a puff of his cigar facing the fluorescent bulb above his head. I would have smacked him if he puffed it in my face, I thought to myself.

"Is room 11 available?"

"Yes it is." He paused for a moment . " a thousand two hundred naira per night. Check out time is 12 noon ." He continued with searching eyes like trying to ascertain if I could foot the bill.

I paid for three nights . " No receipts? "

" It would be brought to your room. Let my boy help you with your load. "

I observed a young teenager walk up to me to help me off my bag which I gladly declined. The boy stood a few meters close to my shoulder. Most people stop there. I stand at about 6 ft 4 , the tallest in the family.

"Do you care for entertainment , I have some really nice hard working girls I could book you for the night."

"No please, I just want my receipts."

"What of refreshment, my boy can assist with that." I felt hungry , and really needed the refreshment.

"Send the boy in thirty minutes . Please let me have the receipt now. "

"Ok , here is your receipt." He said sliding over the receipt and a key on the desk.

"Thank you" i said as I walked out if the reception. I had taken a mental note of the room arrangements from my car. I strolled down a passage.

"Just keep going down the hall way" I heard the receptionist scream"

"Its called a passage! " I screamed back at him. The weather was so cool. I felt very hungry and weak.

I finally found the room . I noticed the girl I saw earlier looking lost. I quickly avoided her gaze before it met with mine. "Nut job" I whispered to myself as I opened the door. I carefully unpacked my things. The weather outside was getting cloudy .

I went to the bathroom and took a shower. I kept having flashes of Precious, her brother, the boy in the tank , Sniper, lady cheek bone , Rita". I turned off the shower and changed into a vest and boxer .

"Where is Rita now" I said in a hushed tone as I dried my hair with a towel.

"Hello Chika" I knew that voice.

"Rita! You woldnt believe what I have been through. Where were you?!"

"Calm down. You would explain everything. I had to run to a morgue to get a fresh body to host myself. Waited and waited, nothing. The ones I saw were either hideous, old or damaged."

I swallowed hard uncomprehendingly . I hugged her all the same. I had been having a terrible time and just needed to hug someone.

It was brief. I was finally able to properly asses the room. It was neat and spacious. It had a desk , chair and a reading lamp, two fluorescent bulbs, a side stool with a novel on it, a ball pen between the novel, an air conditioner and window with louver panels .

"So what is the next plan?"

"We get that mark off your hand."

I stared at my arm , there was no mark.

"Look deeply."

I finally could see it. A red star with the letter P engraved in it.

"Oh my God. How do we get rid of this?"

"We have to visit an old friend of yours"

"An old friend of mine?"

Nice work
Am just @ ur back

I could finally lay my head to sleep. I woke up about an hour later sweating terribly ,even with the old air conditioning cooling system on. I touched my forehead to be sure I was not coming down with a fever. I stared across the room, it was dark till I saw a pair of eyes staring deeply at me from a corner of the room. I was startled .

"Hello Chika". Came Rita's cool, calm voice.

"Oh. Its creepy staring at someone sleeping" i said as i made my way to the window for fresh air. I noticed the girl I saw the other time bleeding from her skirt seated on the bunnet of my car.
I was alarmed.

"Can you imagine that crazy nut job is on my car!" I blurted out unconsciously wiping sweat off my face.

"She is not crazy" Rita whispered from my back .

" Just ignore her." She said flatly returning to the corner of the room where she sat .

"And don't get funny ideas. Remember the last time I told you ignore a person and how a dead body ended up in your trunk. In our world you have ignore, ignore and ignore"

I swallowed hard and returned to bed. All I could think of was precious. I hand turned and turned on my bed like mud on a potters wheel. I turned on the light and noticed the novel on the side stool by my bed.

"Things fall apart" I read out. I had never read the book in as much as almost everyone around me had in some way ,have contact with the book. I read a few lines and could not concentrate. It seemed the lines on the book were moving in waves spurned by tidal currents. I heaved the book aside and noticed Rita was still staring at me.

"Do you always do that?"

"Yes" came her swift answer. "Do you want to talk?" Rita spoke with a smile.

I saw this as a perfect opportunity to ask all the questions that were bugging me.

"You said we were going to see an old friend of mine. I have little or no friends. Lets start with that."

Rita was quiet for a moment staring at me unblinkingly .

"We are going to see a certain man by the name Daudu Bello. "

"Daudu Bello? " the name was so familiar but I was sure the person was not a friend. I placed my hand under my chin and thought deeply racking my brain and tearing trough memory and thoughts; files and folders in my head.

"Daudo Bello!! " I blurted out.

No, probably not. Yes, that was the most popular Daudu Bello I knew or anyone knew. "Daudu Bello? The richest man in the country? How is he my friend. I admire the man, but I don't know him."

"You Know you have a knack for asking the wrong questions. This is by far the worst version of you. Don't worry you catch on soon."

I ignored her comment and utilised my window to ask my questions. " So, how is he going to help me out with the mark on my hand. How are we going to even see him. Millionaires don't have such time."

"Billionaire actually . You see, I told you that there are many abnormals like you and I".

I am yet to see what was abnormal about me , I thought to myself. "He is a coven nobel, the leader of the witches."

"Witches? " i laughed, it sounded so funny "witches" . There was something funny about the word to me. It then dawned on me that it was not funny with the way Rita starred at me with muderous intent

. "Please continue" I spoke with a shaky voice.

"They dont like being called witches anymore, atleast since Bello took over.They call them selves alchemists. He can get that thing off your hand. Question time over, now go to bed, we are heading for Lagos Island tomorrow. You need sleep."

I looked through the window and noticed the girl on my bunnet had disappeared.

Lagos island.

gsteve:
Nice work
Am just @ ur back

Ure doin beautifully well with ur story... Pls spice it up with a little sex scene and mild romance to help us kill tension
#nairaland loves sex stories

darkid1 if favelexzy one come spoil ur written pattern abeg just say the word cos am already at the door, I go just bundle his ass throw outside this room now now. By the way, what a nice work u got going down here.

If you don't turn this into a book, this masterpiece....you would be cheating this and the next generation

Signed: Miles

On behalf of all writers

It's scary... Buh I won't scream cos even if I wanted to help myself I can't leave this thread. I'm so following.

lol, I do appriciate all the comments.hmmn, about the sex scene... Its not something that comes easy to me, I can only assure you guys of short romance along the line,thank you guys. I shall update soon.

"When you get there , you would be checked clean by a weird procedure; don't let it bother you..."

I interrupted Rita , half way through her sentence. "Wait, Dont tell me you're not coming with me?"

I was driving at about 70km/hr. I just wanted to be done crossing the third mainland bridge ; it gave a nerve breaking nausea to my body. I could smell the sea, the algae , the fishes, all smelling at once , and it was terrible.

"I cant go in with you. I don't have a body to host myself. There are just a few things I can do in my current state.

I could hardly concentrate. "Rita, I dont feel well, my body..."

"It would wear off soon,its very normal. If I was in my body right now, I would feel exactly the same, ignore the feeling, It would wear off . Like I was saying; when asked what office you're going to, you answer is 'The white office, by the shoelace on the third clock. ' That used to be the password; it should work. If it doesn't, say an old friend wants to see Bello... The later is risky though."


"I hope I can remember all that. So when I see Him, I just tell him I need to get the mark off my hand?" The car was silent. I turned around and Rita was gone!

I felt like crushed ice cubes ran down my body. Once again I was alone with the sound of my auto mobile . The nausea had disappeared and I could enjoy the soft warm breeze blowing across my face as I wound down the window.

I had driven past Broad street and connected to Nnamdi Azikwe road . I stopped and reversed the vehicle, I had passed the building. Tower pharmaceuticals. The building was hard to drive by without noticing. It was the place. I parked across and surveyed the glass building. It was magnificent ; an architectural edifice.

I tried counting the number of floors in the building and got the numbers mixed up at some point . I tried to make sense of everything Rita told me.

I closed my eyes and wiped me face . I took a few breathes rubbed my fingers on the steering. I looked through the side mirror to observe the pedestrians and jay walkers. Satisfied with my survey, i crossed the road and observed my reflection on the reflective glass panels on the building. The previous day had taken a toll on my looks . Even for a guy that used the mirror less that most people; I looked like an old banana peel.

Still I walked in briskly and confidently trying to work my way with the glass door and it seemed to open on it own. The interior was even more beautiful that I could start to imagine or describe. It was like I was in another time . The sweet smell, the cool atmosphere, the aura was just something anyone could get used to.

I stood in what seemed like the reception hall and noted no one seemed to have noticed my presense. I Observed everyone was clad in white in the most sophisticated manner. It had to be the company policy for dress code. The ladies wore short fitted white skirts with white armless tops, others had white blazer. The men wore white fitted suits with trousers just at their ankle level. I was mesmerised . The contrast of splendiferous people in such a scenic environment was a pleasant beau to the eyes.


I noticed a pretty lady approaching my direction , before words could escape my mouth, she passed me by without uttering a word to me.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Are you lost ?" Came a calm cherubic and seraphic voice. I turned and was graced by the same lady that walk towards my direction the other time.

I had to admit , in the few terrible days, the only fringe benefits where the stunning ladies I had been meeting. From Precious, to the bloody skirt lady and now this. They were by far more attractive that all the ladies I had seen all my life.

I tried remembering the password Rita gave as I stammered through my sentence, Observing the fair ladies red lipstick. "The white office by the shoe lace on the third clock"

"What?" The she remarked with a confused grimace registered on her face.

"Sorry, who is in charge on this floor?" I asked. She probably knew nothing .

"I am head of HR here, so tell me what you are looking for. This building is a restricted area not for people to just waltz in. We run a pharmaceutical here . " she replied with a very informal twist in her tone.

I felt so stupid. "I have a message for Mr. Daudu Bello . "

"I think you have to leave now you man before I call security on you. "

I could only do one thing. I walked out of the building , and across back to my car.

I reclined the chair , grabbed a pistol from the bag under the seat and walk back into the building with the gun buried under my shirt. I located the lady whispering to another pretty lady in a glass cubicle . I waited till she saw me .

Upon observing me, I waved at her with a smile on my face. Obviously angered by my gesture she charged towards me with her heels making clack clack! Sounds on the tiled floor.

" I thought I told you to leave!" she blurted in a hushed tone . I pressed the nozzle of the gun against her temple.

"I am so sorry ,I hate to do this, but I need to see the Bello man, my life depends on it and now , yours too. You are going to take me to him."

This is a really cool story, it's more like I'm watching this story than reading it. I applaud your narrative skills.

It's quite a story. Keep rolling, bro.

9ic

flashinglights:
This is a really cool story, it's more like I'm watching this story than reading it. I applaud your narrative skills.

u are right bro.. Very right

Good move..

Nice story......

nice story told in a narative and conceptual way
you dont need to watch this story as a film before you understand it

kip it up author
and kindly continue where you stopped

Smiling ear to ear,glad you guys liked it . I shall update next week.

Nice piece,only if the updates could be more regular.

IamLukas:
Nice piece,only if the updates could be more regular.

My thought exactly

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of consistency in updates. School resumption and all. Uhmm, let me update.

Her face was lull and calm like stagnant water. I kept to the smile on my face as not to attract suspicious eyes, surprisingly there was non. I had to pause for a while to take a quick spin around with my new hostage pressed againt the nozzle of my gun. Not a single soul in the building had the slightest care in the world as every man and woman was about his or her business with immense concentration .

"Young man, you have no idea what you are doing. Just walk away quietly and I promise I wouldn't raise an alarm."

I chuckled , leaned towards her ears and spoke in a hushed tone. " You see, the safety is off. If you try any thing , and even if I don't want to, I would pull the trigger by reflex . So let's make this really quick. I don't want to soil this lovely white tiled floor with blood."


"It is marble" She whispered as we made our way to an elevator.

" 13 floors. I could have sworn I counted more than..." The Lady placed her palm on a metallic plate and 33 floor elevator level keys appeared .

"Did you think things through before coming here..."

Those were the last words I heard before I notice the air vent started filling with elevator with a blue gas, and the last thing I saw was a coy smile play across the pretty Lady in red lipstick.


I woke up to an almost eye blinding illumination. It took about twenty minutes of head aching concentration for my pupils to properly dilate and adjust to the room light .

"State your name and reason for being here"

Came a strange and inhuman voice. More godlike than human. I tried to stand from my chair but every muscle in my body failed me. I was not bonded or strapped to the chair, I just couldn't move. I followed the voice and found panel of five males and a two females about a kilometer ahead. I stared around in horror. I was not in a room. I was in a really large hall.

I took a deep breath .

"Do I have to repeat my self young man" it was frail looking albino man. Even after straining my eyes, I couldn't make much of his face, asides his bald head, strange loss of eye brows and white native atire everyone on the panel seemed to have clad themselves in. His eyes were closed. He too might have been suffering from the strong light rays.


"I am here to see the alchemists. I am Chika Favour. "

"Full names please."

"Chikamso Favour". It had been a while I heard my first name. I dropped the name as I grew older and realised only females around me bore the name. "

"Why have you presented yourself before us."
I was quite confused . I almost disagreed with confirming the albinos statement and then thought against it.

"A priest put a mark on me, and I want it out." There was a silent murmur amongst the panel. "

"How do you intend in paying us for our services." Rita never spoke of a payment of any sort. I had just enough money to spare , say ten thousand naira at most."

"How much do you charge?"

"Please place your palm on the arm rest of the chair "

One of the ladies spoke for the first time. I huffed and puffed with every strength left in my body to move my hand, but my muscles failed me.

"I don't know what you people drugged me with, I think you folks over did it. I can't move a muscle."

"Our point exactly, you have no use to us. A noble that gets branded by a common priest . There is no way in the world and beyond that you could afford to pay us. We do not run an NGO here..."

I heard a door crack open from the wall close to the panel . A very dark skinned chubby man appeared clad in a white kaftan with an half chewed apple on his left hand.

"Cut the boy some slack. Everyone can be useful , even a dead clock is useful, at least twice a day it says the correct time." The man turned to my direction, took a bite from his apple. " Hey buddy, I heard you have been looking for me."

Wow! . . . but this update was kind of short. Gracias #