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Chloe sat still, watching the news, stroking Joel's fur. She had the dream again. This time, she saw her children in hell. It was more horrible than the past ones. Most of those days, all she saw were the blazing fire, the big maggots, and the huge rats. However, this one was definitely horrifying and she wished she could get acid to wash it away from her mind because she also saw Irene. Despite all, she didn't see her father. Mr. Kings couldn't have made it to heaven, he was her father but didn't deserve heaven. He was a horrible man. He shouldn't have fallen in love with Chloe's mother, and she wouldn't have given birth to her out of wedlock.

Maybe the devil was playing with her mind. He must probably be somewhere else in hell along with her mother- they both deserved going to hell.
She was supposed to be out there searching for information herself but her father-in-law was around, she couldn't dabble into such, leaving him to himself without proper preparation. He wouldn't be deterrent to her desire to find what Mummy church was hiding, but she had nothing to fear because she had placed Segun on it.
The house was boring. So, she rose and tended to her flowers with Joel rubbing itself against her body. She had trimmed the edges of the leaves when Mummy Church came around. For some reason, a sort of rot was beginning to grow on the leaves and she had been trying to avoid such. As she fondled the blade of the flowers, she imagined how heaven could be. She had read about it in books by some authors. She would really love for people in Nigeria, especially in FortuneCity, especially one of those missing ladies to testify of it. Only God could really give a true picture of how heaven would look like, and one could only understand better if one was from the same tribe or the same area as the one who had the message.
She was very sure one of them would return from heaven one day to tell them about heaven. However, before that time, she would sit down to watch things unfold, and pray to God of heaven that he would send down a rain of righteous visionaries. She opened her jotter and went through it again. There were so many messages that she wished she could play a part in making these things work. If she could really help in building an army of God, it would really make her excited. However, the Bible stated that they should write the vision. How would she write the vision when the only thing she could see was the rotten evil of hell?
She picked up her phone and dialed Raphael's number. If she spoke with him, Nosa would be pleased and he wouldn't disturb her about not talking, not crying any longer.
'Stupid boy', she said as soon as Raphael called her name over the phone. 'Won't you come to mummy?'
He groaned as if he was busy, but she already knew his reply.
'I'll be there'.
They talked, abused one another in a mild way, and fixed the next day for a meeting. Then, Segun sent a message. 'I really need to shift post. Shayla needs me'.

She gritted, bit her lower lips, and stared into nothing. The only option was for her to go herself. She picked her phone and called him. 'Why are you doing this? You know I need you more than Shayla. She had just left with my husband'.
A regular wife should be angry at her husband for having an external affair, but if it would make him happy, she had no issue with it.
'But I need my life than even the money I'm getting'.
'I can help you get away from the authority's trouble if you want'.
'I don't want. Katrina is still with them. She doesn't know what I do for a living. And Shayla is banking on that'.
'Send me your location through WhatsApp'.
'I'm at…'
'Over WhatsApp. Remember the story of the man hanging from a rope'.
'I need to…'
'If he didn't wait longer, he wouldn't have gotten help'.
He sighed. 'I'll hang on. But please relieve me in time'.
'Before another bird flies over wherever you're, I'll be there'.

She fondled the rotten flower and knew there was no other option than to do the things that would help matters: she sliced the rotten leaf off its stem. She entered the guest room her father-in-law slept in, and gently tapped him.
'Papa, please wake', she said as she tapped him.
The tired old man wriggled in his sleep and turned to listen to her. He tiredly opened his eyes and took a few seconds to come to the realization that Chloe was the one in front of him.

'My daughter, hope all is well?'
'I'm sorry for waking you, but I think my Pastor's wife needs my help, and I don't know…'
'If someone is in need, you need to head there'.
'Thank you, Papa, but how we will… In case you need food, I've prepared food for you…'
'I'll wait'.
Chloe gritted. What if Mummy Church decided to do something else?
'Then, you can try the juice I and Joel did'.
'Joel? Who is…? Oh! Are you leaving us alone together?'

Chloe laughed and understood what he meant by that. Her father-in-law wasn't fond of her cat, and Joel too always had a reason to be disgusted by his presence. Chloe had always tried to make the two of them closer, but it was always a futile effort. Unfortunately, their enmity always had a heightened sense whenever Nosa was around since Joel would muzzle up to Nosa, who might choose that time to be away from his father or argue with him.

Upon driving outside, she knew what the rotten flower symbolized. The nosy woman was meandering around her gate. The funniest part of it all was that she always wondered why her husband wouldn't take care of her. She would cut her off.
Excitedly, the woman hopped towards her and flagged her down. Chloe hissed and stopped the car.
'Mummy kings, I saw your husband with a woman. She was hugging him'.
Chloe snapped at her. 'Woman, what do you want? The money?'

The woman, unashamed, nodded repeatedly. Chloe hissed, grabbed her bag, and unzipped it and fetched her wallet. The woman edged forward. Angry and hoping to never see her again, Chloe removed wads of one thousand notes and pointed it at her.
'Thief', a man shouted from afar. Chloe looked up and saw a fierce man rushing to meet her. The nosy woman looked at the man with fear and backed from Chloe. The man marched to meet Chloe.
'Please, what is she doing?'
'I'm just greeting her', the woman said and pulled her crying daughter nearer.

'I was just…' Chloe said as she stretched the money out.
'Please ma, don't ever give her money'.
'I wasn't begging for money. She just wanted to give me'.
'Don't give her, ma. I traveled…'
'Paulina's father, let's resolve this at home'.
'Don't give this woman any money ever in your life. I traveled and sent her money. But when I returned I got information that she had been going around, looking poor and begging for money. You're in for a hard time, Paulina's mother'.

Chloe drove off into the darkness of the day. Segun sent the address to an old church in a land she had recently acquired. The journey to the address of the old deserted church Segun felt like hours. She hoped he would stay there till she arrived. At that moment, she felt bad for expending her energy on poke-nosing and behaving like a weed in the affairs of her Pastor's wife, but if it would do good to her and the world, Chloe wouldn't back down. Her desire for FortuneCity was to see it come to term with God's way.
Immediately she got to the place they were, Segun pointed them out to her and complained as he drove away. She didn't know why he was still freelancing with Shayla when she could keep paying him for just monitoring her company. However, she had learnt that human desires were greater than their hunger for money.

After he drove off, she sat there and watched Mummy Church having a heated discussion with a lanky woman, who looked as if she had been bereft of food for months. From the way they kept glancing from one place to another from the dim light in the place, she could guess the woman was afraid. The problem was that she wasn't even sure if the woman really saw heaven or hell.
Mr. Kings, her father, had a belief that one must aim for whatever one wanted, and not seat behind wheels to expect it drop in her laps.
She drove towards them and came out of her car as her mind scanned for the best reason for her sudden appearance. Chloe always ensured that any land she bought was lightened up with a lot of street lights. Immediately, she got into the ray of the street lights, Mummy Church was the first to see her. She became pale and swallowed hard. She kicked the lanky woman, who caught the cue and saw Chloe.
'Mrs. Obaigbenwen… I don't understand, what are you doing here?'

Chloe looked surprised as her mind raced with the best reply to Mummy Church. 'Mummy, I should ask you the same'.
'We…' Mummy Church said and stuttered.
At that moment, Chloe felt like a cat, which had just cornered a rat. She stood straight and hoped her stance would send the fear of God into Mummy Church. If that woman was truly a visionary, she should really get off the hiding spree, and pass the message to the world. The world needed to know what God had in plan for the world. Although many of the messages were almost the same, they still needed to tell people how and what God wanted the rapture to happen. And also what they needed to prepare for in heaven.

'We're scouting for land', the lanky woman said and glanced shyly at Mummy Church, who nodded as if it was a lesser sin and can be easily forgiven.
'Yes', Mummy Church said and nodded repeatedly. 'We are scouting for land'.
'Well, the land is sold out or would soon be'.
'How do you know that?' Mummy Church
'This land would soon be mine', Chloe said as she pretended to stare at the land that was being overgrown with grasses. She had just paid some people to cut the grass some weeks ago, but she was surprised at the way the grass had grown so big especially in the harmattan period. Although the whole area was dark, she still saw the shape of their height.

The woman fidgeted and glanced at Mummy Church, who looked rattled also.
'But I thought you just bought three of recent'.
'Yes, I told you why already'.
Mummy Church nodded.
'So, the land wasn't in your father's name?' Mummy Church asked.
Why will she ask such question? 'I told you already. I bought it in my name, not his name'.
'By the way, why did you people come here in the night? There are vigilantes here'.
'This is the only time she can get the chance to come'.

'This is serious', the lady said and shook with fear.
'Let me talk to her', Mummy Church said and used her good hand to drag the frightened lanky woman away. The lady kept glancing at a building at the edge of the land. The house belonged to the guard she paid to watch over the place. She did that for her other lands, but this particular one had been reported to be a haven for a lot of evil. So, she paid him to make sure nothing of such happened there.
Chloe pretended to walk towards the house. She didn't need to see the man because he wasn't expecting her. But if it was to keep up with her desire. She heard the woman argue with Mummy Church in low tones for a while. Despite desiring to listen to their conversation, she knew she just had to keep walking.

'Leave me', the lady shouted. 'I will meet her. I will tell her. This is the perfect place'.
She turned as it was expected of her, seeing she was near them. Mummy Church tried to pull the woman by the hand, but she evaded her and hurried towards Chloe.
'Sister Obi... Agnes… I'm Agnes'.
Chloe walked towards her with caution as it was expected of her. She had to keep pretending to be unaware of her plight. 'Yes? Sister Agnes, I hope nothing is making your peace rot away'.
'There is. I'm dying or might die soon'.
'I said it', Chloe said and glanced at Mummy Church, who held up her half arm in despair. 'I said I was perceiving something evil'.

'It's not evil. We're not doing anything illegal'.
'Like trying to steal something from my land?'
'Steal? Of course not. It wasn't anything illegal'.
'Then, what were you two doing?'
'Sister Agnes, we can still solve this. You are not ready', Mummy Church said and glared at Chloe as if she was suspecting her of something ominous.
'Mummy Church, let us solve this together. A problem is like a sour soup; one doesn't get sympathy from others until they've also tasted it. Let's taste this problem together. Expose this bottle of urine'.

'I'm ready, Mummy', Agnes said and turned to Chloe. 'I need a place to hide'.
'Hide? Are the police looking for you?'
'Police would have been better. I saw visions', she said, whispering.
Chloe looked at her in a queer way, pretending to disbelieve her. She chuckled and turned to Mummy Church. 'Are you people trying to joke with me on a cold December night?'
'Joke? In this daring period. Please o. I saw a vision of heaven and hell'.

'Seriously?' Chloe said as she tried to imitate Nosa's way of showing he was surprised. 'Heaven or hell?'
'What does it matter? All that matters is that I don't want to die?'
'Nobody will kill…'
'The kidnapper', Mummy Church chipped in.
'The kidnapper', Chloe said in fake realization.
'Yes, the kidnapper', Agnes affirmed.
'Wow. The Kidnapper. How do you intend to hide?'
Agnes glanced at Mummy Church, and at the bush. 'I really need a place to relay the message to the world'

'See this woman, what message? You need to tell the police', Chloe said surprised.
'Just kill me now. I told Mummy Church but she said no. Who do I listen to?'
'She can't', Mummy Church said and glanced at the bushes that were being blown by the cold air.
'Why? They would help her'.
'No. They won't. I told one of them, and the next thing I know was that she was calling me that someone was trying to break into her house'.
'I told her it was coincidental'.
'Coincidental my foot'.
'That's strange. What will happen now?'
'I want to relay the message from this place. They won't be able to track us down here. It would really help me, and I can hide here'.

Chloe glanced from Agnes' pleading eyes to the frightened gait of Mummy Church.
'You will be here, but I will monitor your progress'.
Agnes jumped happily, while Mummy Church could only give a weak smile. She was definitely having an ulterior motive. Chloe too had her own ulterior motive. Immediately she got back to the public, she would tell the police. Agnes couldn't hide forever. She needed the strong hands of the authority, and with her money, she would ensure she got it. All she needed to know at that time was whether it was heaven or hell the woman saw.

5 Error 404

Joana, depressed after the session of prayer, and encounter with Nosa, trudged home. She felt she needed to preach the gospel before she got to her room. However, she had to change her mind when she remembered a previous ordeal.
Her house was referred to as Fish estate. Although her house wasn't located in an estate, the houses in the compound looked like an estate. The compound was very large. There were four flats, beautifully painted and properly maintained, within it. Also, it had a story-building with thirteen rooms. She inherited the house from her grandmother, who sold fish when she was alive.

The ordeal rang in her mind as she climbed the stairs. She remembered the day because that was the first time she had a share of heavenly visitation. It was the fourth of January. That day, Joana headed for the room of the two ladies in her house. They were known to dress awkwardly, and might end up in hell and also take a lot of people along with them. So, she made a duty to preach to them. That day also, the night had covered the house. More so, fear still tugged her heart, and the coldness of the month made her shiver from within.

When she got to the door, she whispered their names and wanted to knock when she heard the strangest of thing. Someone was moaning in the room. She would have probably overlooked the moaning if she hadn't done it before. One of the ungodly ladies was with a man in the room. She hissed and walked towards her room, but decided to break the defiling of her compound by making sure she preached the gospel.

So, she returned fearfully. She wasn't sure she was doing the right thing. She was yet to see where Jesus did that type of thing in the bible. Logically, she was trespassing but she couldn't let them go to hell. Suddenly, she heard something vibrating. Her mind went immediately to Victoria, her prostitute-friend, who later gave her life to Christ and made her a Christian. Victoria used vibrator a lot. The moaning from within the room was definitely moaning from someone using such. She decided it was time to stop the ungodliness in her house. She knocked harder. The door opened with her first push. And lying on top of each other weren't a man and a woman or a woman with a vibrator, but a woman on a woman, sweating profusely. Joana screamed.

The two of them jumped off the bed. The two ladies, Claudia and Tracey, were rattled. Even Joana was too perplexed. She ran out, pulled the door and shouted again. Even if the world didn't come around to listen to her cry, they would see the result of her anger. She was angry on God's behalf. There was no way she would allow such thing as this to go undiscussed or unresolved. Her home had turned to pseudo-Sodom and Gomorrah.

'Ah! My house that should be referred to as a place of worship had become the habitation of the vilest of things. God forbid', she screamed outside the room. 'Come out you fools'.
From within the house, Claudia was shouting repeatedly, while Tracey called after her as if she was pleading with her. But Claudia was the stubborn one. She had always wanted the innocent Tracey to be the only one in the house. She should have followed what she felt at that moment.

'You people would pack your load and your sodomization out of this sacred house', she yelled and bounced about like a big balloon ball. She was so sure that the Lord purposely sent her to their room because he wanted her to discover the secret that lurked in that their room. Tracey was an unusually dark, tall lady. She had a knack for plaiting her hair, and that made her face shine in a very pretty way. Her face alone was what many in Joana's former line of business referred the face of the perfect beauty. Men died for her type of body because she was full in the right places. Even if she wanted to fornicate she shouldn't have dabbled with the addictive lesbianism.

'Shut your foul mouth, you this rubbish can', Claudia shouted as she rushed out. She came out as if she was prepared to make Joana as slim and short as she with enough beatings. Even if she wouldn't be involved in any physical fight with them, she would express her mind to them, and ensure that they leave her house with immediate alacrity. She would ensure that they run like men whose wives suddenly appear in a hotel to confront them for their adulterous way of life.

'I won't curse you, I won't pray for you but my mouth wouldn't stop talking. You people are nuisances'.
By this time, her neighbor's daughters, who might have come out of their room because of her noise began to try their best to be around them probably to make a jest of her. They didn't really like her, and she too didn't like them. The only people she loved from their fatherless family was their mother and elder sister, Gladys, who were serious Christians, and were worth emulating.

Yet, she couldn't focus on them as she and Claudia kept ranting at one another. In the next few minutes, Mummy Gladys was out and was trying to pull her away.
'Madam Joana, blessed are the peacemakers'.
'That's your job. Mine is to purge this house of the filthiness that's creeping into it'.
Luckily, Gladys was in the house. Most people in the house, even her, always craved the type of blessings and behavior.
'You two. In my house? That is Sodom… You are sodomites'.

Gladys' mother tried to tear the two of them apart. Tracey pulled Claudia, but she brushed her aside as if she had taken a drug that expanded her muscles, urging her to fight.
'What does this woman think she is? A sanctimonious... Is she Jesus? Even Jesus was a good person. I will show you pepper and fire. And to be clear, I am the fire and the pepper. Do you think we don't know your history? We've heard how you were once a prostitute'.

Joana felt hurt as she saw Gladys sympathizing with the ladies. She had seen hell and knew that people like them would surely end up in the lake of fire, and she didn't want Gladys to be a part of them. She, therefore, wielded the last weapon in her armory.
Joana jumped and shouted,' thank you. But now I'm saved. See the two of them, Lesbians. And I know who taught who. You this short tiny devil. The Lord forbids you'.

Gladys gave a Tracey a cold glare that made her Joana's heart dance within her. Now, she would have a reason to make the ladies come to the realization of seeing it. Gladys returned to their room, probably disgusted.
Joana, still infuriated, allowed Gladys' mother drag her away. She had to stop fighting when she was very sure she had gotten to Gladys. With the way Gladys now felt about them, one of them would begin to have a changed mind and would probably change for the better.

As she inserted her keys into the new lock, she was very sure the fight was having its effect in their life. She entered the kitchen to get her food.
For hours, after she finished washing the empty plate, she watched the numerous videos of those that had gone to hell. Yet, she was restless. Her eyes were heavy from a desire to sleep, but she took a bottle of sleeping pills and popped one. She had prayed along with the various videos of the testimonies of those ladies that went to heaven, but she wasn't satisfied. She would do whatever it took to make heaven. She had given all her money to the church and had stopped wearing hair attachment, rubber attachment, wool attachment; none of her clothes showed any part of her body. The only visible part of her clothes were her head and hands, then her feet.

As she kept watching the videos, someone gave an interpretation that ignited the information Nosa wanted from her. She jumped with ecstasy and aimed for a paper and a pen.
'Hallelujah! I got the name', she shouted. 'Oh, I got the name'.
She wrote it down and slumped back into her seat. If she called Nosa that moment, it might be a wrong time as the midnight had just passed. She would wait until the next day.
'I got it', she shouted again as she concentrated on the video.

As soon as the midnight passed the thirtieth minutes, someone began to fiddle with the door. She was startled. That was surprising. She tiptoed nearer to the door and strained her ear to be sure she was hearing well. The person was definitely trying to break in. She should raise alarm, but her body could do only one thing that was programmed in it: what she had prepared for a day like that.
Gradually, she increased the volume of the loud television until she was sure one of the tenants would lament about how she had started her display of craziness, but she wasn't concerned. There was no way she would allow backbiting that was prevalent with harlots, and regular unchristian-like women affect her or stop her from saving her life.

She rushed into the kitchen and unlocked it. Luckily, she always greased her door. So, it would definitely not make any unnecessary noise. The back of her kitchen led to a bush, which she knew like the back of her hand. Her grandmother had planted a lot of crops there and always dragged her along. She hid there and was very sure nothing would bring her out till the intruder left.
Although she didn't expect her fear to be true, she couldn't risk her life. The intruder might truly not be after her for her dreams. The intruder might only be a thief but might end up killing her. She couldn't allow herself to play to that risk. Heaven helped those who helped themselves. When she was sure she was safe in the bush, she dialed Nosa's number.

***
Nosa laid beside his three-month-pregnant mistress, widely awake as he wondered why women could be so irritating, irrational, and irresponsible.
'Nosa. Baby...Did you hear what I said?' Shayla said and cuddled him.

'I heard, and seriously I think that's off the mark. You're losing your mind off the target set for you'.
'Wow. That's pure. Isn't it? Am I just another puppet? Or, yes, I'm your mistress, whom you can stress on the bed, but can forget at any moment'.
'Seriously, what're you saying?'
'I'm saying it was high time you made me your wife like you promised the other time'.
'But this isn't our present mission. You're to remain, my mistress, as you called it. We promised it won't go far. The plan was that it wouldn't go this far?'
'Wow! Pure truth from a foul mouth. Can you hear the rubbish that is being spilled from your mouth right now?'
'Seriously. We didn't make plans on it getting this ridiculously far. Have you seen Breaking Bad?'
'How's that my concern?'
'If you've seen it. You would understand that you are behaving like one of the characters, you…’
'I don't want to understand anything'.

'I remember the day we discussed this. We had two bowls of pepper soup, how many bottles of beers? I'm trying to help you seriously remember that particular day…'
'Nosa, you know me. I'll make you sink, you'll rot in the deep and no one will take a look at you, not for any reason'.
She was right. He needed to be gentle with her. Despite being on probation, she still had a lot of influence. Or she could decide to make Chloe aware of the whole situation.
'Whatever it will be, just calm your nerve. I'll find the right solution for you. We will...'
His phone rang and rattled on the table he placed it. It was Joana.

'Joana, I told you to stay calm. Some police officers are coming there', he growled into the phone.
'That's not why I'm calling. They are here already'.
'Then, why?'
'The name I told you I wrote on a piece of paper',
'Yes'.
'Someone took it'.
Nosa sat up. 'How?'
'I don't know'.
'Did they take any other thing’?
'No. They took only the name'.
'That's strange. Why will the person be after the name and nothing else'.
'Am I God? Only God could have known. But he won't even tell me at the moment. He is still angry with me for not telling the world about the visions. I'll…'
'Joana. Joana, do you remember it at this time?'
'No. I wish. I wish. Oh God! Why am I forgetful?'
Nosa felt like slapping her, telling her to keep quiet and think of the possible names. He inhaled and looked about in the room that was blue because of the blue bulb in Shayla's room.

'Calm down. Sleep and wake tomorrow, you'll remember'.
He wished he could go to her place, but he couldn't. He was on a boat with Shayla. There was no way she could allow him to go, not that night, not until the day was bright. She was the only one that could prevent him from working. And now, she was doing that.

6 Imprisoned in Knowledge
After the police left, Joana was still in shock when she received a call from Raphael. At first she tried to pick the call but the battery went off. She was surprised. She charged it the other time. Checking it, she discovered that she was using the worse one. As if she was on fire, she removed it and inserted the better one. Then, she called Raphael's phone again.
'Joany, your life is in danger'.
'Yes. Someone just broke into my house'.
'Someone broke into your house? Are they mad? Who are these people monitoring your life? As in The one here is also monitoring your life. After what happened, I tapped to my boss' phone call and had been monitoring his calls'.
Joana, who laid on the sofa and had promised herself a good sleep, sat up. 'So?'
'I don't understand what they mean, but someone wants you dead or so. They are searching everywhere for you'.
Joana fingers danced on the sofa, and was sure she would soon cry out in frustration.
'What do you mean? I know the devil has started working or is it God?'
'What are you saying?'
'God wants me to tell the world about my encounter but I haven't done so'.
'But God will not do bad things for us like that'.
'But he is God, he is the ruler of the Universe and would get his demands, if he so pleases'.
There was a short pause from Raphael. 'That's what I hate about all these S.U. You make others hate God. But will God send someone to kill you?'
'Yes.'
'You didn't make me say what I want to say. I don't even know if the person is even trying to kidnap you like the others'.
'Oh God', she shouted.
'Trouble!' Raphael also shouted. 'Bottle of urine'.
'I know. I'm in serious trouble'.
'NoNo. It's not you. Do you have television there? Switch it on. Hear the news. Listen to what they say to what they are saying'.
'Where?' Joana scrambled out of the sofa and ran for the remote control. Then, she hurriedly began to change the TV stations.
'Ah! Idiot! Go to FcTv'.
She hurriedly turned the station to Fortunecity TV and heard the news. So far, the twenty-four people who saw the vision about hell had gone missing.
'Ah! I'm dead. Raphael, I have to tell the world tomorrow. God will be angry at me'.
'You're mad. You want to die, right? You will just die. Someone is kidnapping people and you want to talk. No. Go out and paste it on yourself from tonight that "people, I want to be kidnapped'.
She watched the news blankly. There was no way Raphael could convince her otherwise. 'See, Raphael, I must share my testimony o. And I must let people come back to God'.
'You're deceiving yourself. OkayIf you will do it, let me hide you'.
Would she want Raphael to hide her? He was a sinner. But what bad would it do if a sinner began to help her, a believer? The bible said if you find favor in God's eyes even the heathen would scramble to help you. All she needed was a place to write from and publish. Then, maybe she can do videos too.
'Okay'.
'In other words, you have to move immediately'.
'No. I've not taken anything'.
'Ah! Joany, who made you as foolish this? Don't you understand, people are after you? They want you dead or to kidnap you. They would smash your body, and crunch it'.
'I understand'.
'Where's your place?'
'Johnson Avenue. Sophia Close. The last house'.
'Not far. Not far. This is 9:27. Meet me at Samuel Junction in 40 minutes. If I don't see you there then, I'll call the police'.
'Okay'.
'Thank you'.
'Thank me when you're safe'.
Raphael had always doted on her when she was still a prostitute. He never allowed any other person service him. Most of the time they spent together met him showering her with love. He would continually request for her hand in marriage; a request she graciously refused. He promised to do anything for her, even become one of her puppets, but she adamantly refused.
Those days, he was more of a Christian than she. So, she believed he would try to make her a church-goer because he believed in the spirit of discernment, which he wrongly called the spirit of the prophets. She packed her clothes and left home; yet, sad that the word of God would make her leave home.
***

Nosa had woken immediately he felt Shayla removing the handcuffs. She said she wanted to try something else on him that night. She called it sex with handcuff or whatever. But she was naughty and calculative. She knew he might have reasons to run away again before the morning came, and God was his witness, if the cuffs weren't there, he would have used the fly boat to the land to meet Joana.
He rose from the bed, packed the load of CDs on the visions and stealthily entered the sitting room with his laptop. Then, he entered the kitchen, took and opened a drink and returned to the sitting room.
There, he watched the videos, skipped all the frivolous introductions, and began to note names of Pastors. The most consistent names were the general overseers of two big churches in Green City, Bringer of Life Ministry and In Christ's Might Church'.
Tomorrow, he would visit them. And his whole investigation would begin or should he say continue there. He should comfort Chloe, and wish her a merry Christmas. He picked his phone and chatted up Chloe on WhatsApp. The message was sent, but not delivered, that suggested one thing. Chloe's phone was off. Chloe rarely switched off her phone. She loved to be abreast of news and new information.
'Maybe she hasn't updated the WhatsApp still', he mumbled as he inserted one of the CDs to watch. Then, he returned to his seat, where he was vigorously jotting down information. He would have loved to ask people questions, but the problem was becoming rampant. It was high time he became the knight in shining armor for these ladies. They might really be killed off, and he wouldn't want their death to be pinned on his heart for long.
'Baby, what are you doing?' Shayla's voice reverberated behind him. He jumped slightly and smiled. She was good at catching him unaware.
'You see', she said and laughed. 'I'm your boss, I will always make you fall'.
He chuckled. 'I was dozing off'.
He was known for never being caught off guard. The only person that had ever caught him off guard was Shayla.
'Over and over again', she said as she bounced towards him, and dropped beside him on the chair.
'Never and never again. You've hit your mark for the last time. I'll always be ready'.
'Like the last time'.
'But I said that flippantly'.
'Like you said the last time...Just admit it now. Admit I'm your boss, and I'll never do anything to win you again', she said as she cuddled him. He dropped his head on hers.
'You're not my boss. I'll always be steps ahead'.
'Why?'
'I'm a P.I, by the way, Merry Christmas'.
'I'm with the Federals. Merry Christmas'.
'You're not with the federals, you're with the locals'.
'The locals are with the federal and that means?' She said as watched him for an answer. He knew the answer but he loved to make her wait for it.
'Just say and let's watch this rubbish. It means what?'
'Information'.
'Yeah...So admit I'm your boss'.
'No. I'm the boss'.
'If you don't agree with me, at least the person kidnapping is a step ahead of you'.
'No... The person has kidnapped 24 people. I'll catch her'.
'That means I really knock you out', she said beaming. 'I told you about another kidnapped person while you were asleep'.
'Jesus...' Nosa shouted and jumped out of the chair. 'What's her name?'
'One Joana or something?'
'Oh, God! She cried that people were after her'.
'Was she the one that called yesterday?'
'Yes. But she hasn't publicized the revelation. Are you sure you got the name right?'
Shayla shrugged. 'Maybe I was knocked out too. Maybe it was the name you said while receiving that call that stuck to my brain'.
He rose and went to pick his phone. Joana complained of not sleeping well because of fear. She might still be awake. He dialed her number, but it was switched off.
'She had been kidnapped?'
'But who could be kidnapping these people. This person is good and slippery', Shayla commented and was lost in her thought. He glanced at her just in time to see her holding out 6 fingers to herself.
'I'm going after her', he announced and began to tidy the table.
'No. You're not going anywhere till the morning comes'.
'I'm on this case'.
She stomped her feet. 'No, baby. My people would be on it. I'll give you information'.
'You don't understand; she needs me'.
She rose as he turned after he picked his keys. She cocked her gun. He heard it well.
'What? What's wrong with you?' He asked as he hoped she was joking by pointing it at him.
'Nothing? You said I have the right to do this immediately you become heady'.
'I don't mean this way'.
'I'm not concerned o. Move to your corner of the bedroom'.
He sighed and moved to the bedroom. The last time he disbelieved her, she shot the gun to brush his skin, but not to give him a deeper wound. That was what happened when you fall in love with a woman obsessed with you.
'I'll give you all information you need. But this morning, till 10, you are for me'.
She made him cuff himself to the bed, then she dropped the gun on her side of the bed and climbed him. 'You're going nowhere, not now'.
Even if he tried to hurt her now, she was at a vantage position. And there was no need to go violent since it wasn't a matter of life and death. He slumped into the wood as she continually kissed and caressed him.

7 Disappeared
Joana's fat body, depression, and new-found faith couldn't make her jump over Raphael the moment she saw him. Before, she would have hugged him, brought down his head into... She shook her head. Thoughts and memories like those ones were meant to die with her baptism. They shouldn't be allowed to resurrect again.
He was as tall as ever. His broad shoulder still made her have a tinge of desire to hug him again, but she denied herself of it. It was unholy and she needed to abstain from every appearance of evil. He had a knack for keeping a white beard and an afro. He still kept them, the way she always admired them. His big chain shone from his neck alongside the bracelet and the ring he wore. If she didn't know him before, she might have assumed the ring was charmed as it was the custom of so many get-rich-quick guys.
'Jah!' Raphael shouted when he saw her pulling a Dhayour duffel bag. His scowl deepened as she got nearer. 'Joany, what have you done to yourself? No. This is pathetic, even the fish in the Sardine that had recently been growing thinner isn't as thin as this'.
'What?' She asked as she followed his gesture that she should enter the car. His eyes didn't leave her as she scrambled into his car. The darkness shouldn't cover how she was. If not for the reflection of the street light, and the busy street, she might have refused to meet him. He should have waited till the next day, but the fear releasing itself into her was a better motivation and persuasion than he.
'First of all', he said as he started the car. 'Jah! This is too much. Bottle. This is a bottle of urine'.
'Whatnow? Raphael, you have started this your crazy ways of acting again'.
'When you started using my name and started speaking formally I knew you have changed...'
'Of course'.
'For bad. But this...You look worse. You are now looking like all those Deeper Life people. Why now?'
'See I've met Jesus. If any man is in Christ, old things are passed away. Hell and Heaven are real'.
'Of course. Of course, I know. Prophet Vegas, you know that my very handsome Prophet. He went to heaven last week', Raphael said and chuckled. 'When he first said it, I thought he was lying, but one of those tiny waist ladies in the church said he wasn't lying. Then, she winked at me. And I knew my prophet must have gone into trance after copulating with her'.
'But this one is real'.
'I know. All of them are real. But, God can't be wicked enough to take everybody to hell'.
'God is not wicked. He just has his rules and laws'.
'That's your problem. I know Jehovah well; he has his method. He knew all of us would not be faithful. That's why he made some of you faithful'.
'Raphael, see...Forget it. Just know that life is short'.
'Yes. I will forget it. My problem still remains that why the sudden change? You look too drab. You are not wearing those...'He said and gestured at her breast. She felt naked in his presence.
'Stop that now. I'm a daughter of Zion'.
'I know'.
'So who was the person that had been calling to know about me?'
'I don't know yet, but I've given it to Emma...Emmanuel. You remember him now'.
She nodded. 'Your partner in crime'.
'No. Emma is not my partner in crime. He was my mentor. The guy was good. He can have three women in a row'.
'It's okay. What did he do?'
'Emma is now a bonafide Christian', he laughed. 'He called it something...Born something like that'.
'Born again...What did he say?'
'Yes. Born again. He has stopped going to clubs and the rest. Now, he is also crying about Heaven and Hell'.
'You see. If your teacher has changed, why can't you change?'
'Did God create us to go heaven?'
'Yes...'
'Why didn't he just create us in heaven?'
'Oh I see where you are going? So you think gallivanting about the whole town would do it? You have not change for better at all. And I'm surprised at your way of life'.
'See forget it. Emma will get the answer to me soon. The guy is good with all this computer stuff'.
'Good. Maybe I'll tell Nosa the person'.
'Which Nosa?'
'He's...What' your concern?'
'My concern is that you will marry me again'.
She laughed. 'What does light have to do with things of Darkness?'
'See this hippopotamus o. I'm darkness. I'm helping you to safety and you're calling me darkness'.
'I'm sorry'.
He bantered on as they drove into the darkness, into her unknown future. She knew the apostles ran from place to place because they were under siege because of the word of God. People wanted to kill them, persecutors. Her own fear wasn't about persecutors. It was from someone that was just kidnapping them and wasn't even demanding ransom. She allowed her mind meander into oblivion. If she was persecuted like the apostles, she would endure it, but she couldn't possibly die without the message of God to the world.
He checked his phone and yelled, 'thank God'.
She sat up with the expectation that he had gotten the response from Emmanuel. 'What's that?'
'My boys. Those boys are good. Ah! Bet9jaYou people have failed. My two odds make sense. Somebody must suffer. Your father'.
'What's all this? You haven't stopped gambling?'
'See this girl-she. Gambling is my water and blood. How do you think I maintain my fine look? When I finish with you, I will load games for tomorrow. Ah! Betnaija Their mother'.
Joana hissed and turned to watch the darkness and the light that reflected through it. Raphael inserted a song and was dancing. At least, he should wait till she got down from the car before he rejoiced. She glanced at him as he rejoiced with his croaky voice. She turned to the window and thought of the many times of her life, and knew that if she got the opportunity to choose again, she would choose this one over and over again. Working for God was the sweetest thing that could ever happen to her.
Suddenly Raphael stopped. She turned to look at the place they were. They were in one of the brothels in town. The sounds of knockouts resounded from nearby stalls, and Raphael bared his teeth at the blasts from the knockout. He pointed at them and shook his head as if they brought out archived memory.
'What? What are we doing here?'
'Celebrating Let's buy something to drink before anything happened to you'.
'Are you m What's wrong with you? I told you I'm a Christian'.
'And I'm a Buddhist? Forget all those rubbish. Do I look like someone that has gummed his eyes? You are very safe here'.
'Raphael, stop all these jokes'.
He burst into laughter. 'But at least, let's eat pepper soup made with Catfish'.
'I don't eat the same food that sinners see as the best'.
'Jah!' Raphael exclaimed and raised his hands. The music from within the brothel spread outside and above the one he was playing in his car.
'You're not feeling fine. You ate these things when you were here. Somebody should help my memory? I even bought you Suya from Ibrahim, the Fulani. If not that he has gone home, we would have bought some'.
Joana shrugged. 'Those were in the days I was foolish'.
'Then, foolishly pay back all the money we used then'.
'Those were in my old life'.
'Something is wrong with your church brain', Raphael said as he hissed and turned. 'I'll look for someone better'.
He looked around and sighted a slim lady on Yellow shirt. He gestured at her. She rushed towards him with her tiny legs. Joana was sure he couldn't do anything foolish with her sitting there.
'Baby girl', he said and pointed his phone at her. 'I tried to call your number, but it wasn't going through'.
'That's because I forgot to give you my number', she said and flaunted her padded chest at him.
'Raphael, please let's go', she groaned.
'A minute', Raphael said and dashed out of the car. The lady outside rolled, but Raphael ran past her into the brothel and returned with four cans of beer. Joana slapped her hand on her face, while the lady stared in surprise.
'Till later baby girl. This church woman wants me to leave this beautiful place. Merry Christmas'.
'Miser', the slim lady yelled at him.
'Chicken That's how every one of them does. They are looking for a husband on the road', Raphael yelled and drove off.
'What do you see in that woman?'
'Beauty is in the eyes of the beer-holder'.
Joana glanced at him and hissed. Then, looked back into the darkness that engulfed the roads of Fortunecity. Raphael hissed at her and opened a can of beer. It made a noise that propelled a big sigh from Joana.
He drove off and started the song playing in his car, and shouted along with the song. However, he became silent when the playlist got to Four years by Stylplus. Gradually, houses started dissolving into grasses and the grasses soon started making way for huge trees. Then street light gave up on them and handed the watch to the moon.
'Raphael, where are we going?'
'I'm taking you to a place no one would ever think of finding you'.
'Where?'
'Prayer Mountain. My prayer mountain', he said and winked.
'What of my video testimony and the magazine?'
'You will do it.'
She became silent again and tried not to talk to him. At least, she was having it both ways- working with a heathen and still pleasing God. She preferred to term it as God having his way. On a normal circumstance, she wouldn't have trusted anyone, but she trusted Raphael. They had gone far in their relationship for her not to trust him. She might not like his method, but she liked him and believed he would never hurt her, even if they handed the world over to him.
When they got to the place, she was skeptical about heeding to Raphael. Despite the fact he told her he was taking her to a mountain, she never believed it would be a place like the one he had just brought her to. The peak of the mountain was the only thing protruding from the tall massive trees that surrounded it. Even in the darkness, the blackness of the mountain's peak highlighted the coldness that was building up in her heart. She shivered as they got out off the car. The rain was drizzling, and Raphael merely glanced at the drizzle as if it was a child jumping about excitedly because its favorite TV show was being played.
Raphael began to give her details of how the place was without a balanced network, and how lonely it might want to be.
'I thought it was a church'.
'A...?' Raphael said, hissed and chuckled. 'Me? Bring you to church? The only church I like is the one I attend and no other', he said as he brought out two torchlights from the duffel he withdrew from the trunk of his car.
'But when did you plan all this?'
'Since the day I met you. After you told me about the cruise you took and always wanted to take. I always wanted this to be our own cruise. I've been planning to leave the world alone and spend the rest of the year with youOn' He said as his eyes roamed her body.
'Argh! You need God. The Bible says without holiness you can't see God, even heaven'.
'Who? Heaven? God? I don't want to see God now. I have a lot of plans for my life'.
Then, they came to the top of the mountain and he pointed the torch towards a direction. 'That's the house. It used to belong to me and my friends'.
'Do I know them?'
'Not sure'.
He turned and pointed to a very far end. 'I wanted you to come to this place. That place I and my friends used to play a lot of games there. It's sloppy but one of us knows how to climb it. We would run and come out of the other end', Raphael said, smiled and shook his head.
'Let's go. I'm tired. And everywhere is dark'.
'Yes, I know. I'll remember to show you tomorrow. Immediately, we enter I'll take your phone'.
***
When Raphael was sure she was out of earshot, she dialed the number.
'She's disappeared', he said.
'Thank you'.
Then there was a pause at the other end.
'Where is she?'
'Remember our promise. I can't tell anybody where she is'.
'I remember. I just want to access her when it's time'.
Raphael shook his head. This wasn't time to even think about passing the information. 'Remember why you asked me to do this?'
'Yes. I know...'
'Okay. I'll update you soon. She wants to me to upload a video of her tomorrow'.
'We will do it. Just do everything to make her stay put'.
'I will. And I will change her mind about announcing herself to the world'.

8
Meddlers
There is this wait that can get on ones nerve, and if not watched, would ruin every accolade that one had gotten for being patient. Nosa impatiently kept a tab on the time and kept glancing at Shayla.
'Eat your food. Staring at the time wouldn't make everything resolve itself and would do you no good'.
'Your man said Joana hadn't come out since, and that's disturbing'.
'I told you they are good'.
'Please, let me go. Have I not fallen in love with the wrong woman like this?' Nosa said and sighed.
'Yes. You have fallen in love with a bloody wrong woman. How will you leave me for weeks and want to go before a new day, are you sick?'
'But you understand what's happening'.
'Story for the gods'.
'I need to see the other case. The new missing person'.
'I told you the police were at her place. Her case wasn't consistent with the others. She left home and wasn't found. You're not eating'.
He glanced at his food and winked at her. 'You know my mind is not here. I want to be out there, chasing every lead and clue'.
'I know and I also know this might be the last time I'll see you. So, no. Eat. Now'.
He sighed and fiddled with the food. Like Jesus, whose food wasn't meat and drink, but to do his father's will, Nosa's food wasn't yam and egg and tea; it was to feed on the grumpiness of some people; ask numerous irritating and accusative questions, and find out about the vilest of the thoughts of men. He shrugged and ate his food slowly, picking it as if it was laden with worms. He rose and Shayla's hand flew to the pistol she laid on the table.
'It's ten'.
She glanced at the food. 'You've not finished eating'.
He shook his head, took his key, and stormed into the room, and returned. 'If you're the man of the house then I would remain here. Did you woo me or did I?'
'Nosa, don't try it. Being huge or stubborn doesn't open the door. It's only the one with the key. Even if this door isn't locked, I'm the free passage to wherever you're going'.
The moment his hand touched the doorknob, a bullet scraped the edge of the door, a few inches from his hand.
'What's this?'
She shrugged and glanced at the food. 'I know you love me, and won't make me hurt you, but you have given me the go-ahead to always do this to you. Why are you always heady?'
'I need to go to find this woman'.
'No, you don't need to do anything. You're acting as if this case is your hemoglobin as if you can't live without it'.
He dragged the seat, collapsed into it, and stabbed his fork into the food and made noise with it. There was no way he would definitely obey her. The food would probably be sweet since she was a good cook, but his appetite had traded place with his inquisitiveness. The food was an insurmountable obstacle. The more he tried to push them into his mouth, the more he felt the urge to leave the house.
She dropped the gun on the floor in anger as she hopped out of her seat. The gun clattered for a while as her chair screeched and collapsed.
'I'm tired of you', she yelled and skipped near him as if her legs were on fire. 'Did I say you should love me? Why did I ever meet you? Maybe I wouldn't be worked up because of you? Simple food', she lamented and her voice began to break as tears clambered down her eyes. 'You treat me like a piece of shit'.
He rose and moved near her, but she withdrew. 'Don't you dare touch me'.
'I will eat', he said and sat. 'See. I'm eating'.
She continued crying as he gulped down the food. There was no way he would allow her to hold him down with something that could simply be solved by heeding to her desire. She kept hinting her approval at every swallow he had. The moment he finished eating, she went down on her knees and clasped her hands. 'I'm sorry'.
He stared at her disgustedly. She tried to hold his hand, but his cold glare made her withdraw it. He rose and went to get his stuff. She crawled towards him and tugged at his trouser. He gritted and glanced away. What could he do with her? She knew just how to pacify him. Their time together should have taught him that, but he still always fell into her trap. He rubbed her head, scattering her hair, and kissed her forehead.
'I've got to go'.
'I know'
Her phone beeped. She sighed dejectedly and nodded as Nosa headed for the door. The journey from the boat to the beach felt like an eternity. He kept ruminating over everything she told him. He didn't even consider the cool breeze that trailed after him. There must be a way to solve this mystery without him losing contact with everyone that could help him solve the case. Even if Joana wasn't missing, she was still partially useless. What could make someone keep forgetting things?
The moment he got to the land, he rushed to his car and sped off. He contacted his computer analysts and informed them about the missing Joana, and how they must help her also. He then proceeded to try to contact Chloe, who said she was with Mummy Church and asked him to make sure he came home for Christmas. He felt happy that she had detached herself from his father, and was with someone that could really help her loose herself from the tendrils she had wrapped herself.
The problem now was that his analysts were right. There was no way anyone could have known where he was or even what he discussed with Joana if he wasn't bugged. They must have really bugged his phone and he would go to the end of the world to ensure he discovered who they were. How could they know he would be on the case? That means the person was either from Mr. Johnson's case or Joana was lying about her not telling anyone except him.
'Please, please get out of the way', he murmured. The happiness from meeting Moriah the previous day was still lingering within his bones, and he wouldn't allow anyone take the opportunity from him.
The car in front of him belonged to a learner, who kept to the middle of the road. Nosa honked repeatedly and hoped his anger wouldn't take over his desire to remain happy. There was no way he would allow anyone tamper with his crime scene. Crime scenes were like February 29; one would have to wait for an eternity before one could get a better clue.
When he got to Joana's house, upon entering the compound and being directed to Joana's place, he met her house had been scattered. He looked around for anybody to tell him what happened there, but no one was available to help him.
Seeing that he had no choice than to advance into the house, he withdrew his gun and proceeded to his house. The silence of the compound, as well as the graveness of the massive house, made him aware that it would be foolish to make any noise. He wondered how she coped living in such house alone. Yet, she would never in her right mind leave the house empty, and the door ajar.
He entered the compound and searched everywhere. Her clothes were all scattered on the ground. The objects in the house were scattered. In his quest for finding any evidence at all, he saw something in the mirror. Quickly, he withdrew to the passage, to a vantage point, to a place no one would suddenly jump on him. The mirror reflected someone's leg.
'Come out gently with your hand in the air'.
The room's door creaked, then the person slowly walked out with both hands in the air.
'Police. Who are you?' Nosa shouted from where he was.
'Boss. Please, please. I swear. I just needed the money'.
'What money? Were you here to steal?'
'I swear'.
'I don't believe you. Who are you?'
Nosa moved towards the room, but the man was faster. He hurriedly locked the door and held the doorknob with something bulky. Nosa pushed, groaned and pushed, but the door didn't budge. The only thing he heard was that of the person breaking a window and jumping out. He got a glimpse of the thief the moment he opened the door. He rushed through the door and sped after the man into the bushes behind the house. When he got there, he met the bush settling after being rattled. Nosa followed the man into the bush, determined to catch him, but had to stop because it would be a fruitless effort just like searching for a needle in a sea.
He sighed, marched towards his car, and dialed Raphael's number. They were friends from childhood. The womanizer just happened to be available at the right time for him and had been instrumental in making things work fast at the moment.
'Raph, her house was just burgled by someone'.
'That's serious. Thank God I called you for her safety'.
'I didn't take her serious at first. Thanks to you, I did now'.
'She has done her crazy testimony. Oh God! How did I ever fall in love with her? She must change. I'm not sure I can keep up with this her newly found love for God. People love God and don't die for it. Her own is worse'.
Nosa chuckled. 'RaphThat's your cross to bear. Beauty is in the eyes of the beer-holder. Tell her I said "hi"'.
'Remember, we don't want anybody to know'.
'Brother, let them know. Everything is frustrating'.
'Remember your phone is hacked'.
He assumed that if he changed his sim card into another phone the person wouldn't get access to his calls, but getting to Joana's place had proven him wrong.
'I know. Let the idiot. You, idiot, listening at the other end. I will catch you'.
Raphael sigh. 'Guy, that's reckless. I miss Moriah. How far with the investigation? You should have gotten a lot by now'.
'Nothing. Raph. My mistress held me at a gun point'.
'Bad guy. Shayla is a stubborn girl. She isn't a bottle of urine. You should go gentle on her. Oh God!'
'What's that?'
'I just mentioned her name'.
Nosa started his car. 'You don't want to try her. Whoever is hacking my phone should be careful. Nobody dares try her. She's a legal tyrant. She can kill at the blink of the eyes'.
'By the way, Chloe called.'
'Why are you telling me? Were you not her best friend?'
'I was until that naughty Irene became closer. And I told that naughty one too to let's have fun before she traveled. That adamant idiot. I miss them all. I miss' Raphael said and paused.
Nosa knew who he wanted to say, but didn't encourage him to talk further because he might spill the beans about Moriah's resurfacing.
'When last did you hear from Irene herself?' He said as he drove off and plugged his earpieces into the phone.
'Irene? Four days ago. We are not as close as I am with Chloe. But Chloe just snoozed off and forgot everyone for one week. She only says hihi now'.
'Irene is dead'.
'Wawu! Jah!
'See, I have to go. The fact is, Chloe is withdrawing to herself again. Talk to her'.
'I will. Oh! Fine, Coke body Irene is dead'.

CONT'D
Chloe arranged everything the night before. Her father-in-law would be duly taken care by one of the house-helps she paid a lot. They had designated time to come but for the period of his stay, they would attend to him like the king he was.
Against the one-handed Mummy Church's cry, she called the police and paid them to watch Agnes. The DPO promised to send two guys the next morning. So, she drove off to her land, where she slept over. She got a video recorder for her and some food items to make her comfortable. Then, she informed the policemen assigned to her that she was on the move. They hinted her that she had just been followed.
When she got to the door of the building Agnes was staying, she looked about and gave a thumbs-up to the policemen in hiding. Sighing, she knocked. But Agnes didn't respond. She looked about and at the knob of the door. She was probably sleeping naked and it wouldn't be ideal for her to barge in. Chloe had to accord her the respect for humanity. She knocked again, harder this time. Yet, Agnes didn't answer the knock.
This time, Chloe was frightened. What if something had happened to her? She turned the knob of the door. It opened without any struggle. The room was only plastered and had just a small bed, which the man in charge of the place's security was supposed to use.
Chloe called Mummy Church.
'Hello, Sister Chloe. How are you?'
'I'm on my land now, and I can't find Sister Agnes'.
'Yes, she said she was afraid of being alone in that place, so I went back there to pick her and we've moved to a hotel'.
'A hotel? A place where spiritual weeds are known to strive'.
'I know, but we had no choice'.
'She needs to be in a place that no one would trace. I'm with the video camera to help her produce the videos of the vision she saw'.
Chloe felt like strangling Mummy Church for making such stupid foolish decisions.
'She wants'
'Where are you?'
'You don't need to bother yourself. She's doing fine'.
'No. My heart is not at peace'.
'You don't need to feel obliged. We would'
'Are you in a place to have a quality taste of the good morning? I'm not mocking you, but we both know that I have the resources to keep this woman safe. I can even get her police if she wants that'.
'No police' Agnes and Mummy Church said.
'Don't involve the police'.
'But you still need a more secure place'.
'I told Mummy but she said she didn't trust That she didn't want to stress you'.
'I want to be stressed. You're one of the people I've been hoping to meet for months. I need your safety than you'.
'But we She is safer here'.
'She's not safe. Not anywhere. She can't taste or smell safety until this thing is over'.
'She didn't tell anyone except the two of us'.
'Let me feel the pain too. Where are you?'
'Mummy, let her'
'Don't bother'
'We are at Jummy Hotel. You know where that is?'
'Who doesn't know Jummy Hotel? I'm on my way'.
She hissed and hurried to her car, and had almost forgotten about the Policemen assigned to her. She beckoned to them and hinted at the latest development. They understood and hurried
To their own car. She drove off. Agnes thought she could be on her own, but there are consequences for being a lone ranger.
When she got to the hotel, she only had to tell the receptionists her name to get her Agnes' information. She had a major share with almost everything in Green City. The extremely rich Mr. Kings wasn't just rich and wasn't her father for nothing.
When she got to the door and knocked, Agnes opened the door and screamed in surprise.
'How did you get the room?' She said, backing away.
'If I could easily get it, tell me how no one else would get it'.
Mummy Church seemed rattled also because she struggled to get up from the chair she sat in. Agnes spun towards Mummy Church.
'I told you technology would affect things. Who knows? They might be listening to our conversations. Do you ever watch American detective films?'
'I'm a Christian and my focus is on heaven, I don't have time for frivolities'
'Films, frivolities? If not for the film, I wouldn't have known how to deal with some issues in my life'.
'That's unbiblical'.
'Mummy' Chloe said but was interrupted.
'Please, don't tell me Mummy is right. That's why many of us miss vital information'.
'It's okay. I've heard', Mummy Church shouted and waved her amputated hand. 'Let's discuss what is on ground'.
Chloe was perplexed. The woman was acting as if she didn't see a vision. She assumed those that saw visions always had a better behavior. 'No need to talk much, we need to leave immediately'.
'Why the haste?'
'Why the haste? The kingdom of God deals with time'.
Chloe opened the door and gestured for Agnes to leave. Mummy Church stared at her as if she had an ulterior motive, which was true. Yet, her ulterior motive was to know what she knew before she was finally kidnapped. Mummy Church shrugged and followed Agnes. Chloe locked the door, and went after them.
When they got into the car, they drove away with Chloe constantly watching the fearful Agnes vibrate. The journey to her land was like eating food in hurry: they were there in no time. Agnes jumped down, and Chloe did so too. Mummy Church, however, was reluctant in getting down from the car.
Chloe was very sure that she might be scheming things again. But whatever she had in mind, she would definitely fail. Chloe glanced back and nodded when the policemen gave her signals from the place they hid.
She hurried Agnes into the house and was followed by a moody Mummy Church. Agnes was excited when Chloe returned to her car to take the camera for the video coverage.
Agnes started out as many of them would start, and almost made Chloe shout at her to skip to the part where she and Jesus got to their destination. However, her preamble was too much and at some point, she would take a moment to cry or burst into hymns. Chloe and Mummy Church would either console her or rejoice with her. Time was of the essence, but Agnes didn't act as if she was aware of that.
Since Mummy Church had a mistrust for her, Chloe had to act carefully. Although she didn't see anything wrong in what she was doing, it was wise to give Caesar what he needed.
'So, when we got to heaven', Agnes continued and aroused Chloe's interest. She listened with all attention as she soaked the information in. Then the woman began to mention deeds of people and how they were happy in heaven and how some got the best of life. Chloe prayed someone could mistakenly see her mother; it would give her the assurance she needed that God can forgive her for giving birth to her child out of wedlock.
When she finished relaying her message, Chloe knew she just had to do what she planned before. Agnes' message was the strangest of all and should be the one to be preserved. The others continually came back with a report of hell, but she came back with a report of heaven. Chloe picked her phone and called the policemen to come out of hiding. They needed to guard this woman in somewhere very safe.
She turned to the woman, and glanced at the insecure Mummy Church. There was nothing that could be done that moment than to let them know the truth.
'You said we shouldn't involve the police, but you see that you need their protection'
'Y'
'I'm paying them to protect you', Chloe said, raising her voice to subdue whatever Agnes wanted to say.
'I told you she would follow the law', Agnes shouted at Mummy Church.
'That's a lie from the pit of hell, and it provokes punishment. I was the one that told you'.
Chloe was surprised. Although, she shouldnt have been surprised. Mummy Church was a double-faced woman, who could act good around one and backbite about the same person.
'I'm saving your life', Chloe shouted. 'Do you think if I upload this video, they wouldn't find you? They would smell you like ants smell out sugar. The kidnapper would pluck you away from the reach of the numerous people your life would bless like fruits do'.
'Don't you dare tell me what I know is a lie', Agnes yelled and walked over to the mini bed, where her bag lay. She spun and hit her chest. 'I know how much I lived in fear before I told anyone. Now, I told Mummy Church and I told you to make me safe. Do you think I would have asked you for help if not that I had refused to obey God If I wasn't like Jonah?'
'Sister It's okay', Mummy Church said.
'It's not okay. You said we could trust her'.
Mummy Church grabbed her own head. 'I told you? Did I mention anything as regarding her except that she and her husband are known for following the law? Is anything ominous in that?'
'You people have proven yourself to be people I can't trust'.
Agnes carried her bag and stormed out. However, Chloe didn't have to chase her because right outside were the policemen. She sighed and decided to watch the event unfold.
'Madam, you won't be able to leave this place'.
'You see what I'm saying?'
Chloe moved near and dragged Agnes' bag, and flung it into the house. 'Sometimes, people especially the one with the problem, are not always aware of what they want'.
'Policemen, this woman is not supposed to harass me. I'm the one with the vision and don't want your protection. God is my protection. At least, I have done His wish and He would save me'.
'Mummy Church, say something, tell her to return to the house for her safety', Chloe turned to Mummy Church.
'I can't. In fact, she should run as fast as she could from Green City, from Fortunecity, from Nigeria. Away from here'.
'That's like taking a plant with disease and planting them in another ground. This kidnapper would keep searching everywhere for her unless you don't want me to upload the video'.
Agnes shook her head vigorously. 'You must upload it'.
'Yes, you must upload it', one of the policemen said.
'I don't understand, are you the one with the video? If God doesn't want me to upload it, I won't', Agnes barked and ran inside for her bag.
'God would want you, and we need this kidnapper to come after you so we can get him'.
'Like a trap. She is a bait?' Chloe asked in lower tones.
'That's the word', the first policeman said.
'That's' Mummy Church said as she placed her good hand on her hand. 'That's wicked. The Bible adjures us to not tempt people'.
'The Lord, our God', Agnes affirmed. 'This is like trying to know God's power'.
'Impossible', Chloe said. 'Officers, that wasn't the plan'.
The policeman folded his hand as if the words weren't coming out as expected. 'We would use this place as a bait'.
'No', Agnes said and rushed out with her bag. 'I'm not going to be used as a bait. My God wouldnt support such craziness'.
'That's the right thing to do', the policeman said.
'Then, you need Jesus. He would direct you', the woman said and dashed for the path that led out of the bush.
'Sister. What are you doing?' Chloe shouted after her.
'Yo 'The fairer police shouted and raced after her.
Agnes got wind of the fact that she was being chased, and ran like a whirlwind. The grasses she encountered were soon swirling as the other police joined in the chase. They shouted as they ran after her.
'You caused this', Mummy Church said to Chloe and ran after them. 'You always go to places you're not wanted'.
Chloe was so surprised that she stood, transfixed. She only wanted to help someone into safety. If Jesus came and the trumpet was blown, many people would die because they didn't have the message from this woman. The Police's job was to guard this message and not to become a rodent. She ran after them, but fell into the grass. She dusted her gown, and removed her shoe. Then, she continued her race after them. They kept chasing Agnes, whose speed looked like an animal whose tail was on fire. She had an unusual strength for race, and Chloe would commend her for that. Before long, the second police had caught her. He jumped on her and held her firmly to the ground.
'Leave me', Agnes screamed, and twisted, but his firm grip held her in place. Very soon, the other policeman was holding her still.
'This woman is stubborn. She is following us to the station'.
'But it has to be her freewill'.
'Freewill be damned'.
'Sister Chloe, these are your people. Talk to them', Mummy Church exclaimed and gestured at her.
The lady kept shrieking and trying to kick her way through, but the policemen seemed to be prepared for her. One of them cuffed her hands, and slammed her face into the bonnet of the car, making Chloe wince.
'Careful', she shouted. 'You don't want her maimed'.
'Sorry, madam. We're taking her to our office. She would be safer there'.
Chloe turned and pointed to the house. 'She would be safer here. Or a hotel or any other place than the police station'.
The dark policeman shook his head vigorously. 'This woman is adamant and wouldn't help our case. Even if she would still be taken to a place for her to be used as the bait, we would still take her to the station'.
'You're taking her nowhere', Mummy Church cried, and pulled at their clothes.
'Watch us'.
Mummy Church's eyes were now red. 'Leave her alone. She is God's vessel unto honor'.
'Who will help us get the other vessel?'
'What are your names?' Chloe shouted and pulled the door. But the two women were flung back. 'I will make sure you're sacked. I brought you here with my money. You people were given to me after I gave your boss money to release you to do as I wish'.
The other police hissed and started the car. The fair one poked his head outside.
'Call the police and tell them that Marcus and Vincent are with the woman. Tell them my code if you need that. Do you need that also? So, they would tell me what to do?'
They drove away with Agnes, screaming in the car, and Mummy Church beating their trunk till they drove off. Chloe too tried to run after them but had to stop when she was exhausted.
'It's your fault'.
'I was only trying to help'.
'You have not helped yourself. People die around you You're cursed. Now, you've caused trouble for another one. You always go where no one wants you. You're not wanted. You entered your parents lives when they hadn't married. You entered Nosa's life and gave him a child. We never wanted you in this case'.
Chloe gritted and swallowed as the images of her dead children, her sad, caring father, and her friend. Immediately, she remembered her mother's word that she was cursed. She blinked back tears.
'We would find her', Chloe said with a husky voice.
'The police I'll call their DPO. He gave me the boys', she said as she began to dial his phone number.
'Put it on speaker phone'.
Chloe glared at her and dialed DPO.
'Mrs. Kings Obaigbanwen. It's nice to have you call us again'.
'Your boys have just caused havoc and earthquake here. They've opened a bottle of two-week-old urine'.
'My boys?'
'Yes, the ones you sent to me'
'Yes. Those boys. I'm sorry. The idiots came back here some minutes ago and said they got to your place late. I was infuriated. But they would head over there now'.
Mummy Church yelled, and untied her scarf, and wrapped it around her waist.
'But they just left. Two men; Marcus and' Chloe said
'And Vincent. Marcus and Vincent', Mummy Church added.
'There is no one by that name here'.
'But they just carried her away because she wanted to run away because she didn't want police's protection'.
'No. There is no one by that name. Let me call'
The DPO called someone and after a few seconds, he asked the person some questions about Marcus and Vincent.
'Madam, there is no one by that name'.
Chloe collapsed to the dusty, hard floor as her mind because to process the thing that just happened there. She had just allowed the kidnappers get the one she was searching for.
'Where are you? Madam Kings, where are you?' The DPO shouted.
Mummy Church yelled and stomped the ground. 'You will find them'.

9 Baselines
Since he was very sure that Raphael was in total control of Joana's case, he decided to go to the churches that were mentioned in the videos. There would be something to help him catch the kidnappers.
Upon getting to The Bringer of Light Ministries, he swallowed hard at the money that had been spent on the church's building. At this point, he wouldn't blame Nigeria's 'Daddy Freeze' and even Fortunecity's 'Bad belle' for always ridiculing Pastors. The compound was very large, and from where he stood, he might not even get a view of the end of the church.
After being directed to where he would park his car, he waited for the secretary of the church whom he had called. The protocol of the church was such that he wouldn't see the General Overseer, Dr. Immaculate John, until the secretary had talked to him. A man, who was older than expected, who would be around 60 years, walked towards him smartly like a 39-year-old man.
'Good erm... morning sir', he said as the man acknowledge him and shook his hand. 'So, sir I want to meet the secretary'.
The man chuckled. 'I assumed you expected a cheeky girl. No. I'm the secretary'.
'Oh! I just wanted to confirm. I knew you spoke to me the other time, but I thought'
'Yes, I get that a lot. It's Daddy's way of life'.
'Daddy? Dr. Immaculate?'
From all indications, the man was far older than Dr. Immaculate. If he wouldn't be old enough to be his father, he would be old enough to be his uncle. But the man still accorded him respect. Nosa fused into the piety. 'Oh Daddy!'
'Yes. He doesn't love to be in a situation of great temptation as a young blood, like David. So, he made me his secretary being a man that has served in the vineyard for years'.
'Vineyard? As in wine vineyard? I never knew we had that in Fortunecity'.
The man smiled. 'No. I'm talking about God's vineyard. Do you go to church at all?'
'Oh! Of course'
'Are you saved?'
'EhnI believe in Jesus'.
'Hmmm. You should give God your all. Let him be your savior. Your world would revolve more in peace and tranquility if you give him all'.
Nosa nodded as they moved into a richly painted house, which housed objects that projected affluence. The old secretary led him to small office as he kept lecturing him about Heaven.
'Daddy said I should handle anything you have for us'.
'But I need some questions answered by him'
'I know. I'm his secretary, he shares every detail with me'.
'You don't get'
'Young man, I'm not a fool at my old age. The joy of the Lord is my strength. I have the mind of God. I can do all things through Christ that strengthens'.
'Okay, sir. What was Pastor's reaction to the slanders about his church?'
'Slanders? There have been no slanders.'
Nosa sat back and stroked his chin. 'Do you mean he hasn't heard about the things some people that returned with visions said about him?'
'We heard. But he didn't hear anything'.
'What do you mean?'
'I filter most of his documents. I've told the police all of these before'.
'And as I said, I'm a P.I'.
'Parish Instructor...Oh! Private Investigator'
Nosa chuckled and sat up.
'Old age is telling on me'.
'I get'.
'But there's no way. He wouldn't have heard about it'.
'In what way?'
'There's no way. He has a policy. Whenever you start saying "Daddy, have you heard what this person said"; he would stop you and tell you no, and wouldn't wish to listen to the matter because it might be defaming and could make him sad'.
Nosa admired the Pastor. He should imbibe such character. That would help him a lot.
'Well, he needs to hear about them because according to what I heard, your church is one of the two top churches that were slandered in the messages of those that went to hell'.
'Well, God will continually take the ladies into hiding: He will make their scheme stop. They are devilish, sir', the old secretary said. 'The only problem I have with them is that fear sells'.
The man's face was already wrinkled. His skinned head shone in the light. There was something about this man that compelled Nosa to trust what he was saying about the Pastor.
'But sir do you think anyone from the church would do such thing?
'Are they demonically possessed? Our Daddy has taught us that if anyone slaps us we should present the other cheek. Although I respect myself enough not to allow my face to be smitten'.
Nosa laughed. 'I wish it were true'.
'It is. No one from this church would have such audacity'.
Nosa tried different investigative skills but it was futile. He knew he had to head for the other churches.
As the secretary saw him off, his phone rang. Nosa walked off to his car. However, not before he heard, 'we lost it. To her. This woman is becoming a bone in the throat'.
The moment he entered his car, Raphael called again. Nosa wished this guy really knew how he felt about him, maybe he wouldn't keep calling. The way Raphael became closer to his wife even after what he tried to do to Moriah still bemused him. He, whom everyone knew was fond of sleeping with anything in a skirt, became closer to his wife than Nosa. He was always angry at Raphael for trying to rape Moriah, and wouldn't have talked to him if not for series of death around him, which compelled Raphael to come around. During those trying periods, Moriah only called and didn't give him the chance to trace the call before she disconnected it.
'What now?'
'I just went to see Joana to show her the edited version of the testimony'
'And you can't wait till after you've seen Chloe'.
'Chloe gave me a specific time'.
Nosa sighed. He was getting worked up, and sweat was already popping out of his skin. 'I should have known. See Raph, she needs to cry or talk. Just make her do one. Perform your magic'.
'Trust me. I'll make her pop out of her miry ground'.
Nosa nodded. 'Okay later'.
'NoNo, not later. Joana said she remembers the names she heard and has written it for me'.
'Give me'.
'Over this phone?'
'Text it'.
'No. Everything about you is bugged. You're another experiment that would soon turn to a bottle of urine'.
Nosa hissed and thought for a while. 'Okay, let's meet at the first place the two us met'.
'Ahhh! Bad child. Bad guy. Okay', Raphael said excitedly.
'By four?'
'Four like foursome'.
'Raph You're a dog', Nosa said and chuckled.
'Learning from the master. Just try to come early. We really need to talk'.
'Hope all is well?'
'Yes. It's nothing much. It's about Fela Durotoye'.
'What's about him? I like him. The man would make sense as our President, Nigerian President'.
'That's why when we meet, we need to talk about volunteering for him, and I need you to help me talk to Chloe as regarding money. You know what I mean. We need this man in this country'.
'When we meet'.
'Yes. Meanwhile, you should come to our tree house one day. I've placed both of our pictures. I need Moriah's recent picture and Chloe is refusing to have hers there'.
'Raph, when we meet'
'Foursome'.
'Argh!!!'
That was one thing about Raphael, you would have a reason to laugh. He decided to go to the other churches, but he got the same outcome as the first. The case was still at a standstill. Mr. Johnson's call came in and went off immediately. The man was surely an idiot. He wanted the case to end immediately and give all the praise to his Eagle Eyes Security.
***
5

Shaylahad never imagined that pregnancy could make her heavy. Despite her complaint about the pregnancy, it wasn't protruding, maybe because it was in its third month.
She wore a blue polo, a pair of blue Jeans trousers, and a blue cap to match. Despite her being in the car, she regularly glanced at different places because she wouldn't want any of her colleagues to see her.
She tapped the steering wheel, and continually shook her head. If Joana hadn't poked her nose, she would have lured out the women's kidnapper and would have still cured the spread of rumors about those men of God. Now, she would use her as the bait, and she would do anything it required to get the kidnapper.
Bringing her out of her deep thought, Segun knocked her side of the car. He looked away and she gestured for him to enter the passenger's seat. He walked briskly, entered and faced her.
'Someone beat us to it. I think it's the kidnapper'.
'How will the kidnapper know about the paper?'
'I don't know'
'Don't tell me you don't know. I made a fool of myself with Nosa so you can find it. Instead, you refused to pick up my call. Were you with Katrina?'
He looked away.
'I knew it. You were now calling me when he caught the person you sent'.
'Almost caught. That's okay. I'll find that fat prostitute'.
'Do, and don't mess up this time. I hope it's not your name she heard at all'.
'I hope too. If I catch that Victoria. Her big mouth'.
'Get away. This kidnapper has links and a lot of people helping them. You need to be careful'.
'Okay boss', he said as he stepped out of the car.
'If you die before we end this case, I'll come after you in the grave and kill you again'.
He slammed the door and she drove off. He had always had a desire to know the safe house she hid the ladies, but she refused to tell him the location. Although she trusted him, she didn't trust the fact that he might say something to someone. Who knows, he might tell the police something to save Katrina from the prison?
Katrina was their new recruit, and the two of them were supposed to be on a mission in Fortunecity, but the two of them diverted and stole. He was lucky to be saved by a mysterious woman, whom he refused to name, but Katrina didn't get the same fate as he. She had been in the police custody ever since. Nevertheless, she still sensed Katrina's stay at the prison as something fishy because Rachael and the whole of F.A.L.T (Fortunecity Association of Life Takers) would have ensured that she was released.
When she got to the compound and honked, the gateman opened the gate instantly. They didn't exchange pleasantries. The compound was buried in the suburb of Fortunecity. The fence around it couldn't easily be climbed. F.A.L.T built such houses at different places in Fortunecity and Nigeria as a whole.
She got out of the car, strapped her weapon bag around her, and marched into the house. She nodded to acknowledge the two hefty guards at the entrance of the sitting room.
When she entered the sitting room, two of the missing ladies- Victoria Akachi Amadi and Lila Uzo- were seated on the cushions, waiting for her. They must have been waiting for her since they called her that morning because Lila pouted like she did whenever she was angry. Shayla dropped into one of the green seats across them, and waited for them to talk. However, after waiting and glancing at their silent frowning faces, which seemed lightened by the cream coloured paint of the house, she decided to trigger the conversation.
'I got your message'.
'That's why you're here, of course now', Lila hissed and looked away.
'See, Shayla, when I'm released from this place, I want to go back to my old life. As in, when I got here everything about my former life just got a boner and the desires rushed back. That stupid life was boring. Me? Living like a real church girl?' Victoria said, groaned, snapped her fingers, and looked away.
'Me too. I wasn't born to live a dull life. Look at me, I'm like a ghost. No. Vampire. Drab. Ah. Yuck', Lila said and began to turn her arms as if she was inspecting them. Just like the first time she met her, Lila was wearing a black fishnet leggings and a pink spaghetti, with no aim to cover anything on her body.
Shayla eyed them as she headed for the other side of the house. 'You two are crazy. Is it because we didn't allow the kidnapper have his way with you?'
She was recruited to be the middleman between the churches and the prostitutes. After 'Desire Greatness Ministry' saw that people were getting visions about heaven, they decided to raise fake visionaries. She was given the duty of prepping them. In retaliation, some rich loyal men from Bringer of Life Ministries also paid Chief Suberu, and she was also given the job to prep them, and to guide them all. In order to have time for it, Rachael ordered her to do something that would make her suspended from the police force, where she was acting as the inside man, and she did more than that: when she saw a member of Gragus Team, she expelled all her anger on him.
In the other part of the house were the prostitutes meant to work for Bringer of Life Ministries. The contract was such that they couldn't tell any other person, not even their fellow prostitutes. And they adhered to their part of the contract until someone killed two of the plants, and she had to start bringing them together into hiding; yet, she still separated those from different churches, and had refused to let them meet one another.
Her main concern was how to save the other fake women in the trap of the kidnapper, and how to catch the kidnapper. Whenever she caught the kidnapper, she would ensure she broke his leg, and make him go through pain for causing the death of innocent struggling women.
'If you say so', Victoria said, curled on the chair, wearing a dark-blue bum short and a silver blouse. 'Then, ten million per year is not enough. Increase it'.
'Why not ask for your pictures to be posted on the church's bulletin. Fools', she said and slammed the door behind her.

10 Hoping
The journey home was filled a lot of horrific lamentations from Mummy Church. Chloe wished she had truly not meddled in the business of the visionary and had helped the vision in the little way she could, she wouldn't have received such words from Mummy Church. She choked back tears many tears.
'You must find her for me', Mummy Church said as Chloe drove into the estate Mummy Church and her husband resided. The street was disturbed by the continuous bang from the knockouts being thrown into the air. The DPO had promised to help them search for this particular woman above others. So, she didn't know what Mummy Church wanted from her again.
'Even if you hid her, what would be would be'.
'Don't you dare tell me rubbish. If you had always remained in the place assigned to you, no cursed thing would have happened to her. You should go to the prayer mountains available in the world and let them know that you need to wash away the curse that has followed you from birth'.
Chloe sucked it up, and opened her mouth to talk, but stopped, seeing that they had gotten to Mummy Church's house. The bungalow stood out among others with a big banner of Pastor Fowosere and his wife, hung in front of the gate.
'I'm so sorry. But it was needed'.
'Don't tell me rubbish. I'll be back at your place', Mummy Church said as she banged the door, and stormed into her own house.
Chloe knew it would take her a great effort to reach home without any incidents. Then, the worst thing that could ever happen to human being happened to her there, she saw her Aunt's car. Chloe gritted as she honked to greet her aunt as they got near each other.
'Your psychiatrist called me to say'Her Aunt said from her car.
'I'm fine'.
'No. He believed you're ticking like a bomb'.
'I'm not ticking. I've stopped going for long'.
'And you're doing what?'
'None of your business'.
'Hope you're not working?' Her Aunt shouted.
'Merry Christmas'.
'Remember my brother's contract'.
'To hell with. Merry Christmas', Chloe said and drove off. She was in bigger problem, and the only thing her Aunty was so concerned about was her contract with her father. God would make sure he rotted in hell for his useless contract.
***
Nosa stared at his wristwatch for a long time before he decided it was time to leave. He had called Raphael repeatedly, but he wasn't picking his call and that was very typical of him whenever he was with a lady. Nosa had been sitting in the pub the two of them first met. Then, they were in their early teens. Nosa came there when he was only fourteen years because he wanted to know the feeling of being in such place, while Raphael was sent there by his drunk father, who was now dead.
Angry, Nosa drove off to Moriah's house. She would yell at him for coming to her place for the second time in two days. There was no way he would ever escape her repulsion. Times like that required that he used the best people. For reasons he couldn't totally agree with, she decided to pick a slum over a coded place. He had called his people for this exact work, but they were still stalling. She was the one that could do it within minutes.
He fumed as he kept dialing Raphael's number. The guy was something else. He shouldn't have trusted him with Joana's life.
Immediately he came in sight of Moriah's house, he saw some preachers and hissed. These were another set of Christians that disgraced God. He knew he was one of those sets that oscillated between the love of God and the love for other things. But these set disgraced God by looking drab and useless, more useless than those he saw at Victoria's place. At least those ones were moderate in their drabness. Most of them were always decent, neat, and presentable.
These sets, however, were known to always wear big things, probably to show that their God was big. God is big, no doubt. One could see it on the side of the sun, the earth and the water. But why must everything about them show that God was too big? The clothes were always oversize. For the men, they draped themselves in archaic suits that shouldn't be seen on anybody; and the ladies, their skirts were wide enough to wrap five little children. Despite that, they took pride in telling those whose ties were thin that they were sinners because they didn't wear the same fat ties as they. So, when one of them, a lady- lanky and hungry-looking- clambered towards him, he prepared his answer for her.
'Brother, Jesus loves...'
'Don't bother'
'I have to. You're a sinner'.
Nosa spun in his track and sized her up. 'And you're God. You're my judge?'
'Repent. The kingdom of God is at hand'.
'I know...'
'Turn from your sinful ways'.
He hissed and walked away. But like his shadow, she trailed him with her husky voice. Normally, if not for her extra large worn-out bible, one would have assumed she was a smoker because her lips were black and her eyes red. And who knows, she might be a smoker. Many of them were known to pretend to be on fire for God but were always battling with an addiction or the other.
'Hell is real. You're going to hell if you don't repent'.
He chuckled. 'You... I'm a Christian, sister'.
That statement made her pause in her speech, and like the midday shadow, she seemed to stop for a while, and he thought he had finally warded her off until he saw her shake her head and run after him. 'No. You're not. You're wearing Jeans. Those that went to hell saw it. It's a product of the devil'.
Nosa scoffed and almost buckled as he repeatedly knocked on Moriah's gate. There was nothing he couldn't give to be off the street. He waited at the gate and gritted as the lanky preacher-lady hobbled towards him.
'Take this tract. Read it. God will speak life to you. Forsake sin'.
Nosa refused to look at her pointed hand. She stood firmly and hurriedly turned to passersby to give them tracts. Whenever she did that, she would spring back towards him as if that was her default settings, and the others were frivolities. She acted as if he was a bone, while she was a dog, and she would do anything to remove the bar between them.
'Narrow is the path. Heaven is narrow. Do you want to go to hell?'
Nosa felt like slapping her head away or zip her mouth for eternity. Where was Moriah for God's sake? She was taking too long. Or was she refusing to open the door for him again? At least, even if she would reject him, she should save him from this God-forsaken preacher. He brought out his phone and dialed her phone number again.
'This tract will teach you about God. HellIsReal'.
'I know. Jesus has saved me'.
'Don't say that. All have sinned and have fallen short of the kingdom of God. You, me and everyone have fallen short of the kingdom of God. But...'
'I'm not a sinner'.
'Then, you lie and the truth is not in you.'
'God! Oh God! I didn't know you're now on earth. Please God forgive me', Nosa said, knelt before her, clasped his hands together and pretended to be in a sorrowful mood, and closed his eyes.
'What's this?' The perplexed preacher lady shouted and withdrew from him.
'I'm praying for forgiveness'.
'I'm not God. Pray to God. Pray to God Almighty'.
Nosa bared his teeth at her. 'SeeThat's a guy smoking at the other end. Join him like Jesus Christ did to the prostitutes and preach the gospel. He needs it, not me. Why are you trying to open the eyes of the one that can see when you can possibly open the eyes of the blind?'
The lady was perplexed and batted her eyes repeated as she watched Nosa in awe. 'You uttered that from your mouth. That's vile. That's of Lucifer. You're of the devil your father. God will change you. I come against you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth'.
Nosa was surprised. She jumped about like a bulldog that was smacked on the head and was practically barking at him. Passers-by stared at them. The world seemed to rotate around her as he wished the ground would swallow her. Or if he could catch the attention of one of her owners, her brethren so that they would come around to put a leash on her, to clamp her mouth together. Where was Moriah? He could have left the place, but he needed that information about Raphael desperately.
He turned to the preaching lady to talk, but kept to himself, and turned again to the gate. She shouted at him to look at her. Then the door opened.
'Nos...' Moriah began to say but stopped as she glanced from Nosa to the woman, who had progressed to raking about Devil and demons.
'Please, let's go inside', Nosa pleaded.
'No', Moriah said defiantly and gave him an amused smile. 'Someone is preaching to you'.
'Let me through. You don't want to be exposed. It's another bottle of urine'.
'It's healthy'.
'Moriah'
Moriah, still looking sexy and sweaty, placed her hand across the entrance. Naturally, if she gave him the chance, he would have carried her into the house, to her bedroom, kissing her all the way. However, the only thing he needed there was to escape the psychopath behind him.
'Oh! It's this... No wonder you refused to listen to God's word. You're here to meet a prostitute'.
'Me?' Moriah asked and shifted out of Nosa's way. He, seeing the opportunity, ran into the compound, sighed, and thought otherwise.
'Yes. You. Come to Christ and forsake the path of the devil. This is Dev...'
Moriah jumped on her. The woman crashed to the ground, her Bible flying away, revealing a lot of papers and her bag also joined in flying out of her hands.
She screamed but not as loud as Moriah, who railed curses on her and pelted her face with punches. She kept punching as if she had to melt the lady's face with her punches before her anger could be deflated.
'God punish you. How dare you? Me? Prostitute?'
Nosa pulled her off the wailing woman, who was now defaced with punches from Moriah. Her hair was now scattered, but that didn't stop her from yelling.
'God would destroy you like he did Sodom and Gomorrah', the lady shouted as she struggled to get up.
Nosa hurriedly carried Moriah. Her legs flailed in the air as he dragged her away. She yelled and he could feel the venom of her anger in her expanding body.
'Leave me. Leave me to deal with this slowpoke. I'll show you. You're not holy pass. I can be whatever I want. Nobody. I know their types...'
Nosa shoved her into the house as he began to lock the gate. She rushed towards the woman and tried to run past the gate. Nosa pulled her. The lady screamed in pain and shouted that she would surely be blessed because she was being persecuted by the devil. She picked herself, and packed her things, and screamed, 'The truth is a needle. It would pierce you'.
'I know their type. They are prostitutes', Moriah shouted as she banged on the gate.
After being assured that he had locked the gate, Nosa carried her towards the room. At first, she fought him, but when he didn't drop her, she giggled.
Put me down. NosaPut me down'.
By this time, regardless of his initial desire, he wanted that moment with her. He kissed her neck, and she giggled.
'No. Pastor's child'
'I don't care'.
'God will punish us'.
'I don't care'.
'Your wife. I don't...'
'Chloe will never know. Remember we don't want to turn her bad'.
'And I don't want you to be bad'.
She pulled away, but he kept pecking her neck. She cringed.
'Don't you get? I'm bad already.'
'Not as bad as me'
'I know. But, I want you'.
'Not now. Not here'
'Inside'.
'Never'.
'Impossible'.
'Watch me', she said and released herself to his continual pecking. He released her and she turned to kiss him. He let go of his grasp and was engrossed in kissing until she suddenly pushed him away and grinned.
'I told you'.
'You cheated'.
'Woman power'.
He shook his head and straightened his cloth. Things and times were bad, but he must give in the moment, her moment, for his own sake also.
'I told you not to come here often'
'This is a case of emergency'.
'Are you being chased?'
'I'm always being chased'
'Is your life in danger?'
'My life is always in danger especially when I'm not with you'.
She opened her door and allowed him to enter immediately.
'I told you to let me put a tracker on you'.
'For God's sake, you've not forgotten this: I'm not to be tracked'.
'Your death sentence. Things could get out of hand'.
'Remember that case I was called for yesterday'.
She stared into space for some moments and shook her head. 'I don't remember your case. I don't want to remember your case. I'm nothing to you. I'm not your mistress or your wife. Well, maybe I'm your girlfriend. I think I am'
Nosa batted his eyes repeatedly. 'What are you saying? I wish I had time for this. You're not my mistress or my wife. You're my love.'
'Don't you dare go there'.
'Moriah, this case is massive. I can't find Raphael. He visited my wife this morning. I can't find the womanizer'.
'He visited...'
'Chloe'.
'And you allowed him. Have you forgotten he had...?'
'Crushon her. I know'.
'Yet, you allowed him. That's bad and reckless. Why are you always reckless?' Moriah said as she edged towards the door. She turned to him with sad eyes. 'I could have trusted him, but after our last encounter, I don't think I can trust him'.
He nodded and rubbed her arm. She gave him a galling look and brushed his hands away. He raised his hands into the sky and followed her indoor.
'So, we were supposed to meet at Korede's bar'
'Seriously?' she said and smiled. 'The two of you?'
'I know, right? I was hoping it would help me forgive him for being so crazy around you'.
'That place holds a lot of memory', she said as she began to type into her computer',' the good, the bad, and the ugly. But more of the bad'.
'So, I waited there for more than an hour. He didn't show up'.
'Raphael. He must have met a lady on the way'.
'I know. But, I seriously need to find him. He has something on this investigation'.
'Before he returned to heaven through the same door he used in coming to the earth'.
Nosa stared at her for a while, trying to decipher what she was saying, and when he understood that she meant he might die through sex, he frowned. 'That's gross'.
She rolled her eyes. 'I've told you not to associate with me, daddy's boy'.
'Find him'.
'Okay. I'll triangulate the phone towers around his phone and then ping his lo...'
'Don't give me the details. Find him'.
She nodded and proceeded to type into her laptop. She was like a goddess and the computers were like her subjects. Notifications from different computers popped up repeatedly, and she kept typing until she got his location. 'He's...'
'Where's that?'
'I don't know but I think...You know what? Bring your phone'.
He stared at her suspiciously, and she got the meaning.
'I swear. I won't do anything stupid. I won't bug your phone'.
She collected his phone and did what she knew how to do best. Before long, she returned the phone to him. He collected the phone and rubbed her arm. 'Thank you'.
She pulled him nearer and kissed him longingly. He felt like going on and on till the end of the world came. He could give up everything for being near her. But he couldn't stay for long because she would soon draw away and call him reckless. With her, he always tried to caution himself. Painful though, he pulled away and she swallowed hard.
'Why didn't you say yes to my proposal? We can still work something out'.
She wagged her tongue at him, and he could swear he saw her eyes become red, but he didn't want to dwell on that.
'I will make you bad', she said as she warded him off.
'I want to be bad'.
They silently walked on till they got to her gate. After she typed something into the computer at the gate, she held his hands and kissed it longingly. 'I don't want you to be bad. I love you'.
He opened the door, and there he met a lady, another breed of the first preacher. She ran up to him and said, handing him a tract. 'Sir, have you given your life to Christ?'
***
She received the most shocking news of her life: they've lost the woman they've been after since the previous day. She rushed out of the house.
'I'll handle this'.

Any comment will make sense..

Come lemme hug you
But honestly, this story is outta this world. You are muah

queenitee:
Come lemme hug you
But honestly, this story is outta this world. You are muah

Thanks. You don't disappoint. I expected you to be the first person to drop a comment.

11 The Voyage
Everything seemed calm and she would have loved it to remain so. However, it was eerie. Who wouldn't want silence? It was beautiful. She enjoyed silence a lot even before she got born again. Those days, because of the numerous blasting speakers of the clubs and the motels she used to work; and the rancor and noises of the different prostitutes, she always craved for silence. Once, she had gone to the beach with a customer on his voyage. Just the two of them. Most of the time, she always left him weak on the bed. The peace of that place, she longed for it once more.
However, the only thing silence could do to her now was to make her sit up in fear. In fact, her fears were numerous that she was afraid she would die from them.
To add to her woe, the trees around the mountain began to howl like a pack of wolves. She sat up and looked about in the house. The house had touches of a woman and the pictures of Raphael and Nosa. He placed two empty frames beside those. They seemed to be friends as Raphael had claimed.
By the way, Raphael was supposed to have arrived. He promised to be there in the evening to stay with her, and she wasn't doubtful because he always kept to time. She had given him the benefit of a doubt for like two hours, and she knew something was wrong. Someone must have gotten to him. The devil had used them to get to him. If something happened to Raphael, she would never forgive herself for allowing him to get involved in her case. He may still have the devilish habits in him, but she was so sure she could still change him.
There was no other way she could do anything than to leave the place to call him on phone. The night was already settling on the mountain and she would have been too afraid of going out, but her greater fear was to be sure she wouldn't sleep alone in that place. God had manifested himself by allowing Raphael to agree to stay with her. If he also refused to show up, that could only mean God was getting angry at her for hiding behind papers to tell about his coming.
'God help me. Forgive me', she mumbled as she shut the door behind her, and stepped into the windy night. The trees from their different corners looked like human figures, and she knew within a few seconds, she would die from fright. So, she ran back into the house.
She meandered about and searched for her phone. It didn't take a minute to find her phone. With its torchlight, she found her way down the mountain. The journey down the mountain was rough and almost made her heart jump out through her mouth.
The only things she needed was to get a good network. She raised her phone, and the network bar was empty. She hissed and kept walking down the mountain.
As soon as she got down from the frightful dark mountain into the drizzles on the ground, she remembered that her Glo SIM card was also at the back of her phone case. She stopped using it for security and sanctity reasons. Now, it was time to use one of her sinful cloths in order to remain sane. The network, Glo, which always had the home advantage, had been known for its ability to be useful in times like that. It could get network connection anywhere.
The sun was peeping from behind the trees, behind the orange cloud, waving its last goodbye at Fortunecity. Immediately she inserted the SIM card into the phone, it got connected. She dialed Raphael repeatedly, but his number kept ringing. That was a clear indication that God didn't want her to work with him anymore. In fact, that means she couldn't stay in that place.
The battery of her phone began to drain quickly. Then, it occurred to her that after she dismantled the phone, Raphael took the better battery. Before she released the battery, he tried to collect the phone, but she refused and succumbed when he said he would opt for only the battery. She used the other one after he left since he didn't know she had a backup battery. She picked out Nosa's number and called him. After a few descriptions, he got where she was, and that excited her. He told her to stay put, but the howling tree and the numerous shadows that played neared the mountain made her know she couldn't go back to the house. Probably when he had her time, she would beg Raphael to get her things for her.
However, after sitting at the bottom of the mountain for ten minutes, she knew it was the high time she started making life-saving decisions by herself, and she stopped relying on people to come up with the ideas. If she could get to the city early enough, she could surely get where Nosa was.
As the night edged nearer alongside the drizzles and the cold of the mountain, she knew she was in for a troublesome time.
'No. No. God. Help me. I trust in you. I'll do what you want'.
At that moment a car drove towards her. Her heart flopped with joy, and she flagged it down as if she just saw Jesus. Her long fat skirt danced around her like a balloon.
'Help', she yelled at the car.
The driver reduced the pace of the car and stopped in front of her. The woman in the car wore dark shades, a polo, and black trousers. Another darkness. She should reject the offer. However, the Bible says that if the Lord be for us even our enemy will do things in our favor. That must be the hand of God.
'Hey! Lady. How're you? Are you stuck?'
'Yes. Are you the hand of God?'
The lady removed her glasses and peered at her. Then, she paused for a while and chuckled. 'Oh! I get! I guess I'm the hand of God'.
'Okay! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you'.
She said as she entered the car. Now that she was in the car, she remembered that she must call Nosa. Yet, she feared for her phone's battery. A biro was lying on the dashboard of the car.
She picked it and turned to the woman. 'Can I use this?'
The woman nodded, and Joana hurriedly wrote Nosa's number on her palm. As if the phone's battery was waiting for her to do that, it went off immediately. She gritted and turned to the woman. She held her lips and watched the dark shade of the woman, and hoped she was about to do the right thing.
'Please, can I use your phone to make a very important call?'
'Hmm...Of course. Just try to go easy on the call credit'.
She dialed Nosa's number, and her fear made her body shake, causing her to hold the phone so hard.
'Where are you?' Nosa asked immediately she informed him she was the one on call.
'I just left the mountain...'
'But I asked you to stop, to wait for me'.
'This place is terrible'.
'Wait for me. Ten minutes to be there'.
'A woman is helping me'.
'I will soon be there for...What! What woman? What's her name?'
'Sorry, he's asking who you're'.
'Shayla', the woman replied in a low tone.
'Shayla'.
'Shayla?' Nosa asked.
'Shayla', Joana said
'Shayla?'
'Yes. Shayla'
'Don't try to do anything stupid. Try to run. God! I should have known. She's the kidnapper. Give her the phone, and try to run'.
'Oh...Ah' She was perplexed and didn't know what to do. The only thing she could do was to release her scarf.
'He wants to give you directions'.
Working as a prostitute had made her enjoy a lot of free rides, and had made her lose grip off the reality of life that there can never be free rides in life. She should have known the ride and the sudden appearance of the car was too good to be true. Just as the lady collected the phone, her scarf flew off.
'My scarf'.
The lady stopped the car and grumbled into her phone. Joana jumped out and ran for the scarf, but not before she noticed the lady's broad smile as she heard Nosa's voice on the phone.
The lady smashed the phone on the ground. Joana ran after her scarf. Fortunately, the breeze made it roll towards the forest. The part Raphael pointed out to her the other day, which he said led into the forest was just standing out at her. She ran into it. Prostitution was bad but made her agile especially when she had to stand up to her mates.
The sun was sinking, and she wished she was on that Voyage again, and not on the ridges, not fighting for her life, not in love with Jesus. She ran and shook the thought out of her head. Jesus was everything. Heaven was real, and that was her aim. But for now, her short-term aim was for God to save her from whoever that woman was. Nosa didn't tell her who she was dealing with. He only told her that he would be there for a short while.
'Oh. God. I'll do what you want. Just save me', she cried as she scampered through the forest. She ran into the forest as the leaves continuously slapped her body.
'Stop. Hey, stop', the Shayla lady shouted from her car. But she wasn't ready to wait. Even if she was pointing a gun at her, if she didn't shoot her, she wouldn't stop.
Joana ran and didn't stop stomping the grasses until she got to a sloppy part. She was plunged down the hilly part, which had little rough edges. She shrieked as she tumbled through the forest until she got to the end of the slope. Miraculously, she fell into a bush. They scratched her though, but she preferred their scratches to the Shayla lady at the top of the hill. She had forgotten about the slope.
When she glanced up and saw that she wasn't made yet, she rejoiced as she ran off into the thickness of the forest, and allowed herself to be immersed by the darkness that was invading the massive forest. All she needed there was to find the place Raphael said led outside. Then, probably, Nosa would find her, and she would finally get to see her voyage again.

Divepen1:
Thanks. You don't disappoint. I expected you to be the first person to drop a comment.

Ahn ahn see blushing.
You are welcome jhor

12
Grassed
When Nosa heard Shayla's words, he felt like running mad. She was the one. He should have known. She had all the help she needed to carry out such feat. He should have suspected that she was involved. The problem he had there was to know how deeply involved she was in all these. He sped off in his car and called Moriah. When he lied to Joana the other time that he knew the place she was, he only stalled her. Immediately he dropped the call, he had called his computer guys but they were yet to give him a reply.
'You're calling me'.
'Moriah. Not now'.
'I will block your line from reaching me till Friday'.
'Not now. I need your help'.
'Johnson would soon be here'.
'I will be brief. I need you to help me search for anywhere in Fortunecity that has mountain'.
'Why? And have you tried our mountain?'
'Oh, God! Our mountain. You're right...Damn right'
'Where are you?'
'I'm looking for her. The person I'm looking for... The woman I was supposed to protect'.
'And she's at our mountain?'
'- our mountain'
'She's at our mountain? How did she?'
'I don't know. I'll call you back', he said and hoped he wouldn't break the rule of never disconnecting the call whenever Moriah was talking.
'It's Raphael. Raphael did this. I'll kill...'
Nosa disconnected the call and focused on the road. Someone drove in front of him stupidly. He hissed and gritted. No matter how angry he was, he shouldn't let his anger take control of his words towards other road users.
The driver, who was wrong, shouted, 'your father!' But Nosa held his calm and was sure he would pounce on Shayla the moment he saw her.
He wondered what he would do as he bit his lower lip, and placed a call to the number Shayla used in calling him again, but the phone wasn't connecting. He decided to call Shayla's line, and luckily, the number went through.
'Shayla',he shouted the moment the call got connected. 'If anything happens to that woman. I'll destroy you'.
'Hey. Calm down. I should be the one ranting. What woman?'
'Shut up. Shut that thing you call a mouth. I'll hunt you down'.
'Nosa'.
He disconnected the call and sped off. His mind wasn't at peace even twenty minutes after he sighted the top of the mountain. He just wished he was headed to the right place because the mountain was just at the end of the city, near Black Town. He would have to take another 180-degree turn to go to the next mountain. He was so much in a haste that he didn't reduce his speed when he got to some dangerous bends, even if cars rarely took that route.
Moreover, when he and the others always came there, they barely encountered cars except for occasional trucks. However, that was when the three of them still always had a good time, when Moriah always wanted them to escape the clingy nature of Chloe since she always refused to go with them to the mountain because of some evil occurrences that surrounded it.
So, when he saw a car parked at the side of the road, he tried to avoid it. Then, it occurred to him that no car should be parked on the mountain. There wasn't ever any reason for anybody to park there. The church nearer to the mountain had moved away to a farther distant.
He stopped the car and jumped as he removed his gun from its holster. With the way he was angry, it would take a great deal of control not to shoot Shayla when he saw. She betrayed his trust and played him for a fool. She had just used his bald head to play drums, and he would make her smell the disgusting scent of animal skin.
Despite the receding daylight, he was still able to see a pathway and deep footprints in the marshy floor, leading away into the forest. The wind around the mountain howled like the rage in his stomach, and he gripped his gun harder.
He looked around for a while. There wasn't anyone around to answer his questions if he asked any. So, he ran into the forest and would have turned back had he not noticed a fresh slide through the slope on the ground. When he, Moriah and Raphael used to come there, they had a day fixed for playing hide and seek in the forest. One of the ways to know if any of them had passed that side was to check the slope. Then, only he knew about a secret thick root that stretched to the base of the slope, and that infuriated the others who always wanted to know about the root.
Quickly, he grabbed the root, which he was too happy to still find, and climbed down the slope. He wasn't clear about what to do when he got down.
'Shayla', he shouted. 'I'm here for you'.
He shouted again and ran off into the woods. If for no other reason, for the sake and the fact he really wanted to get the name of the person involved, he must catch her. The only thing that might stop his hand from killing her would be to know the whereabouts of the missing ladies. Would he really need it?
'Shayla', he shouted again and brushed the bushes aside.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang in the wood and made birds fly into the dark sky. They scattered in the air and chirped terribly. Immediately, someone screamed from the far end of the forest. Nosa's adrenaline pumped faster and his speed increased as he climbed the path of the forest. The bushes around the path were becoming too overgrown for him, but he still knew how to maneuver through it. This time, he was no longer careful of being heard.
'Shayla, you're so dead', he yelled and charged into the woods. The dead of Green City would increase in the number that day.
The woman that screamed kept screaming her head off. By this time, other people had joined the wailing woman in her scream. He ran towards the place with the hope he wasn't heading into another trap.
When he got to the place the scream came from, he saw a man lying on the ground writhing in pain. A young woman was crying over the man that seemed to have been shot. The woman wore the same cloth as one of his preaching disturbers. By this time, a number of the others there had used their phone as torchlight. Nosa was angry at the way the whole event was changing directions. The people around the woman were mostly teenagers. She cried and pleaded for his help.
'Please help'.
'Who shot him?'
'A woman'
'Where is she?'
'She ran towards the top'.
He wanted to stay back to help the dying man, but if he left Shayla, many people would still die. Like his mother used to say, the pollution was from him. Nosa clambered up the hill just as four gunshots rang in the highway. Despite being one of their regular route in their plays, the road was harder to clamber through because of the darkness. By the time he climbed up, he saw a car driving off.
'I'll kill you', he shouted as he ran after the car. He stopped in his track and returned to his car in an effort race after them. However, when he tried to chase Shayla with his car, he discovered that the front tires, as well as the headlamps, had been shot. He tried to drive the car like that, but the only thing he could do was to struggle with it.
Nosa screamed into the darkness, and he punched the wheel thrice. There was no way he could move. The only place of solace was their tree-house. He ran into the road with the hope of finding someone to help him. There was no one to call. He might have called Chloe but she didn't know the place because every time they asked her to follow them, she always refused. Also, he couldn't call Shayla because she was the culprit. So, he dialed Moriah's phone number.
'Don't tell me you need another thing. Just tell me you just want to hear my voice'.
Nosa sighed into the phone, and with a weary voice, he said, 'please, can you come to our tree house?'
'Why? I don't want to have memories right now'.
'Come on. I'm stuck here'.
'How?'
'My mistress, Shayla- she is behind all the trouble'.
'That's impossible'.
'It is I'm here because she shot my tires and headlamps. I can't find any car here'.
'Oh, that's a bad way to crash. I'll come for you. This event is turning into a bottle of urine. Now, you see what would have happened if we kept our bicycles there'.
'I'll be inside the house'.
'They would have been useful. I'll be there soon'.
He disconnected the phone, and picked some vital things from his car, and dragged himself into their tree-house. At that moment, he was happy that Raphael was a fan of hiding things in the oddest of place, and that he never gave up on people, even when they were fighting him. Last year, when he came to renovate the place, he called Nosa and told him he had kept a key for them in a small hole around the door. Then, Nosa rebuffed his effort and told him to never bring up the issue of the house because it revived memories.
Nosa walked through the path and climbed into the room. The moment he entered the house, he knew how much he missed the serenity of the place. Angry at the whole events that had happened that day, he slumped into one of the chairs. Raphael had really renovated the place.
They got the house when they were in their 100 level in the university. They had made a plan to go tour Fortunecity after they've written their final exam paper. The plan was that the four of them would take a ride through the road of the forest with Chloe's car, which they agreed to use after a long deliberation about using their bicycles which they changed because Chloe couldn't ride a bicycle. But unfortunately, Chloe fell sick on the D-day. Since none of them could drive a car because of their strict fathers, they agreed to go without Chloe on their bicycle.
Upon getting to that side of the mountain, they met an old man who had just tumbled down the mountains and was terribly injured. When they asked him for his place of abode, he directed them to the house.
At that time, the house was in a terrible state. Raphael took up the task of arranging the house while Moriah and Nosa took up the task of taking care of the old man. The old man, whom they later called 'Mountain Papa' explained to them that his children had left him for long, and the only thing he could call his own was the house, which he tried to take care like his own son. He was off into the forest to gather some woods when he slipped and injured himself.
From that time, they all decided to always visit him, and that was how he began to call them his children. And true to his word, they acted like his children.
Since Chloe's father had taken her on a holiday, she couldn't be a part of their holiday project, which was to take care of the Mountain Papa. They spent a lot of money, which, luckily, Chloe was too happy to supply because of her absence.
Despite their effort, Mountain Papa died some days to their resumption. They all cried because they had lost a great friend. On his dying bed, Mountain Papa willed the house to them. And they too began to care for it to preserve the memory of something they've all done; taking care of Mountain Papa. Every year they all contributed money to take care of Mountain Papa's house. Although Chloe refused to see the house because she believed something didn't want her to see the house, hence the death of Mountain Papa before her arrival, she was still part of the project. So, she didn't know the place.
He glanced through the pictures on the wall - of him and Raphael. He wished Moriah was ready to talk to Raphael, maybe he would have her pictures there. He also wished they had the picture of mountain Papa. They would have included Chloe's picture also, but she refused to have her picture hanged on the wall. The only thing she wanted to have associated with the house was her money.
Nosa, fuming at how he would have caught up with Shayla and would have rescued Joana, if he wasn't indeed reckless, turned from the pictures. He knew he shouldn't have shouted, but he couldn't let Shayla go without seeing the trouble she had caused.
Seeing that he would be idle for the next twenty-five minutes Moriah was expected to come for him, he brought out his phone to watch the movie on it. Since the TV series he was watching was on his laptop, he decided to focus on the movies on his phone. One shouldn't miss two things at a time. Their foolish trouble had really made things worse for him. They all should die and rot with their cry about heaven.
Their tree-house was always a place they all found solace when they were deep trouble. It was his own turn to find solace.
Just as the film got to its climax, Moriah knocked on the door. He rushed off the couch to meet her as she opened the door. They had to leave immediately. But she pushed past him and shouted in amazement at the change in the house.
'Yes, he has really tried', Nosa said from the door.
She nodded and looked around the house. The moment she saw their pictures hanged on the wall, she burst into tears. Nosa was perplexed and he ran to meet her. She raised her hands to show she was fine, and tried to smile but burst into tears again. Nosa pulled her nearer. The world be damned. If Moriah was crying, there was no way he would leave her, and attend to anything wrong with them, and the missing women.
'I'm sorry', she said as she wiped tears from her face. 'I just remembered everything. The memory flooded back. Oh! I miss this place'.
'Me too'.
'Let's go', she muttered as she brushed his hands away, and didn't look at his face again as she rushed outside as if she would burst into tears again.
He smiled. It took him a great effort too not to burst into tears at the sight of their picture. He had missed every one of them being together. 'You know what? After this whole ordeal, we should all hang out here'.
She nodded. 'Chloe?'
'We would do as we always did. We would bring her here through Skype'.
Moriah nodded as she pointed out the path they used to race through. Despite the darkness, the funny memory of the place rushed back. She owned the idea of the game.
'Why haven't you written any game yet?' He asked as he went downhill.
She held on to the bushes around. 'Many reasons, but I'm working on one already'.
'Good. I hope it features all our games'.
'Of course. It features us, and many stages'.
'That's good. Any name?'
'None, yet. I would have called it Fortunecity Three Musketeers but Chloe wouldn't be too happy to be exempted'.
'I trust you. Talk to Chloe about it. She's good with names', he said with the deliberate effort not to rush as she was holding his cloth now.
For some unexplainable reasons, she dropped his cloth, and he turned to look at her. Only to be met by her hand, trying to smack his head. Since he had changed position, she fell into him and they fell through the remaining part of the mountain. Within a few seconds, they stumbled to the ground, with her lying on him. He touched his head and saw that he wasn't injured. She chuckled. Memories of the times they've all fallen in that same manner rushed back.
'I should name this side: the fall of death', she said.
He roared with laughter. And she joined him. Even if he had the mind of catching the thief that night, it wasnt possible now.
'Are you sure it is good to let her know I'm back?'
'Chloe? Yes. She would be super-excited'.
Moriah sighed and was silent for seconds. 'I just hope'.
They entered the car, and she played their favorite songs of the year before their separation- Four years by Stylplus of Nigeria.
Memories of the old times flooded back; the memories of how they climbed the mountains together, the bicycle races, the hide-and-seek games for money, and the times they've all vacated home to have picnics, the times they all spent in secondary school. All these came flooding back, and tears formed in his eyes as Moriah drove off. She brought her hands to touch him, and he let it remain there. There were many desires that he longed for.
He wanted to be that good boy, whose only goal was to have Moriah as a wife; he wanted to be like Raphael, whose main goal was to be on top of every situation; he wanted to have Chloe only as a crush, nothing more; he wanted to have Moriah, whose daily dream was to write the best games in the world. The games Moriah wrote and made them all participate in. He wanted all those things that propelled and brought them together. He sighed as the car drove off.
She drove him off to his house.
***
When she got to his house, the fear that made her stay away all those years returned. She saw her secret expanding in front of Nosa, and his world of love crashing down.
'Your hive', she mumbled as she got down.
'The bee is inside'.
'Seriously?'

Nosa nodded. They used the concept of the hive for their fathers' houses. They believed the old men's statements were always dedicated to sting them.
'How come you didn't tell me?'
'I met him asleep. He's yet to see me too since yesterday'.
Moriah shook her head. 'I'm not sure I'll enter the house'.
Although she was sure he would control his desire to lavish them with copious insults, she was sure his father reaction would still be the same around her.
'Seriously. Will you now leave without hitting your target? Let me get Chloe here', he said.
'Okay, but how will you cope in this hive?'
'I'm not sleeping here tonight. I must find somewhere else to sleep tonight'.
'Will you crash at my place till tomorrow?'
'Seriously? Seriously? That's smooth like a clean shot'.
Nosa excitedly hugged her and rushed to the house to get Chloe. In her joy that things were edging towards perfection, she didn't notice a car drive into the street. It was until it came near her that she realized that it was coming towards her. When the car stopped in front of her, Chloe stepped down from the car. Upon seeing her, Moriah had mixed feelings. She didn't know if she should be excited about seeing her or afraid.
'Moriah?' Chloe said with her pretentious smile.
'Chloe', she said, and turned towards the gate, and shouted. 'Nosa'.
At least, if Nosa was there with her, Chloe wouldn't be threatening her with her secret. Chloe laughed wickedly as she edged forward, and hugged her. She didn't need anyone to tell her she became stiff at the contact with Chloe because she didn't even reciprocate Chloe's hug.
Chloe whispered into her ears. 'I'm very sure this is a courtesy visit or have you told Nosa what happened at the Tree-house?'
Moriah gritted. 'He doesn't know you know the place'.
'Then, let's leave it like that. Remember our contract. Don't open the bottle of urine'.
'It's still firmly closed'.
'Good girl. And you didn't call me yesterday'.
'Free me. I'm tired of this your regular check-up that you can't involve Nosa'.
'Will you rather I call you regularly or tell Nosa about our ticking bomb'.
Nosa stumbled out of the gate towards them and beamed with joy. Chloe turned to him and hugged him.
'Oh! I'm sorry, baby, that I left Papa at home'.
Nosa frowned. 'What's my own with Papa? You know me now, one bullet to the chest and to the head. A quick death. This one that you're going out. I'm happy'.
'I've haven't become gregarious over the night. I and Mummy Church quickly went to a prayer meeting, and I didn't know it would be intense and would take time'.
'C'mon. Take your time', Nosa said and turned to Moriah. 'I see you too have met. We found the lost girl'.
Chloe laughed. Moriah inhaled and tried to fake her smile.
'Yes, the lost girl'.
'I'm not a girl. I'm a lady', she said and hoped it would break the ice that was building up in her already. At that moment, Moriah knew she would cry if she didn't leave him soon.
'My car The person I was chasing shot the tire and rendered it useless for pursuit, but I've got my people on her. They would find her'.
Chloe nodded. 'Pick another one tomorrow'.
'I'll do that this evening. I have to return to the place I slept yesterday'.
'By this time?' Chloe asked and glanced at Moriah. She understood the meaning and bit her lower lip.
'I have to be there earlier. At least, I came home for the Christmas'.
'You know you and Papa have not even discussed since he arrived'.
'And allow him to buzz on me? No. I'm not talking to him. Leave him in his bed. He should be sleeping by now'.
'I'm sure you won't have any excuse when you finish the case'.
'I'm very sure I'll have an excuse to never be around that man'.
'Your father', Chloe corrected and glared at Moriah.
'Yes, your father', Moriah said correcting him also. Nosa looked perplexed.
'What's with the two of you? Why are you acting as if you're my mother? I know my mother. I'll call her if I need advice', he said and marched into the house.
Chloe edged towards her. 'Remember Patoranking's song. No kissing. No touching. No hugging, and no nothing. If I should smell anything, then the world would help him know that you're a'
'I will heed your word', Moriah said. 'At least, it was his men that found me'.
A car revved within the compound.
'They found you? Or you found them. No one can find you if you don't want to', Chloe said with clenched teeth and fists. 'So, that means it was you he saw yesterday morning when he ran out. No wonder you didn't check up on me'.
'You're evil'.
'I have all of your interests at heart'.
Nosa drove to the gate and opened it. Chloe brushed Moriah's dress at the chest while Nosa returned to his car.
'You might be the mother of computers. I am the mother of info. I'll know. I know he is following you home. He must not enter your compound today or forever. How you'll do that is up to you', Chloe said and gave her plastic smile again as she returned to her own car, and reversed for Nosa to drive out.
'When all this is over, we want to have a get-together at our Tree-house. I promised him I will tell you. After the get-together, I will go'.
'Why are you telling me? I told you the place is cursed for me. The last time I came, my eyes saw the evil in man. No, the evil in women'.
'Then, Skype'.
'I'll Skype'.
'Promise?'
'Promise. No matter where I am'.
Moriah nodded, entered her car and drove out of the way. Their farewell greeting was totally animated, and Moriah couldn't stay any longer in front of the devil Nosa referred to as a wife.
Upon getting to her compound, Nosa was still far behind with the car. She hurriedly got down and locked the gate. That surprised him that he parked, jumped out of the car, and banged at the gate. She crashed into the gate.
'I'm sorry for raising your hopes. I saw Chloe and remembered everything. You're married'.
'No. Don't do this tonight'.
'I'm sorry Nosa'.
'Don't do this'.
'I'm dead sorry'.
'No, you're not. If you're, you will open this door'.
'I'm sorry'.
'Damn', Nosa screamed and hit the gate.
He slid down the gate and refused to believe her. She burst into tears again, and this time, she didn't want him to hear her. If he heard her he might want to know why she was crying. So, she rushed into the house and cried her eyes. She had allowed a little desire make her lose the person she loved most in the world and made her lose her freedom as well as a good friend. It had made her a servant to the green snake called Chloe.
She knew Nosa wouldn't return home, so she filled two baskets with wraps of cookies, gala, chin-chin, and two cartons of juices each. Then, she returned outside.
'Nosa, take from the top of the gate', she called and raised the basket. If he took the basket, then they would be doing the same thing they always do at the beginning of the year, a tradition they've stopped for close to ten years now.
'New year's night', Nosa said and collected the basket. Raphael started the tradition.
'To the womanizer'.
'Yeah, to the womanizer', Nosa replied. In a few minutes, the door of his car opened and closed. She returned to her own car and knew they would both sit there and wait for the morning. She burst into tears again.

Terhide5000 Meneski Speedstaro9 Seunnla patjane cyberprince Clemzy16 iyoha240 Diamondwriter Creeza Lawlahdey
Adesina Jagugu88li allylic ashatoda opal4real prinxxdave Little95 Dannyj19 Marvwhite bigbauer flourishbliss Mariinee favour155 saxwizard sofiaAmrozia preciousuweh Damibiz dhehbbor iamloyalty matrycx precial419 finalboss koopanated kimkardashian

kimberlywest TheBlessedMAN bibijay123 Honeywealth MichaelBlake40 istandi eROCK247 nostradamus Whiydhee amikeem HORLADSTAR great moorevic eniola7 joedreamer Mrmoore14 DOLLAT7852 Lexytee loverboi97 Erinola057 icezi ERF SNOWBOI360

lildiamond Okhagbuzo Akimwale14 glory419 yorubadboi09 Lotiababe harleypearl

Divepen1:
Terhide5000 Meneski Speedstaro9 Seunnla patjane cyberprince Clemzy16 iyoha240 Diamondwriter Creeza Lawlahdey
Adesina Jagugu88li allylic ashatoda opal4real prinxxdave Little95 Dannyj19 Marvwhite bigbauer flourishbliss Mariinee favour155 saxwizard sofiaAmrozia preciousuweh Damibiz dhehbbor iamloyalty matrycx precial419 finalboss koopanated kimkardashian

kimberlywest TheBlessedMAN bibijay123 Honeywealth MichaelBlake40 istandi eROCK247 nostradamus Whiydhee amikeem HORLADSTAR great moorevic eniola7 joedreamer Mrmoore14 DOLLAT7852 Lexytee loverboi97 Erinola057 icezi ERF SNOWBOI360

lildiamond Okhagbuzo Akimwale14 glory419 yorubadboi09 Lotiababe harleypearl

Present Sir

HORLADSTAR:
Present Sir

Welcome sir

13 The Good Old Path
Shayla was still fuming about Nosa's call and the ladies' foolishness when she stomped out of the other section of the house to meet the discontent prostitutes. The ones in the other room were also making ludicrous demands. They said they needed a bit of freedom. What freedom? They were even lucky to be alive. If Rachael hadn't ordered her to put them in a safe house, she would have ensured they tasted the same fate as those kidnapped.
She glanced at her phone repeatedly. There was fire on the mountain. Her Intel who worked as a computer analyst at Glo Fortunecity had just told her that the man, Raphael, she was following was nowhere to be found. Also, Segun also had told her that he was so sure he knew where their fat ex-prostitute would be. She had asked him to go to the place and make sure he did anything to get the information about the name she heard from Victoria, even if he had to torture out it of her. At this point of the case, he dared not make any mistake. After he had done that, they must use the woman as a trap for the kidnapper. Segun would take the glory while she would be exonerated for torturing a criminal and return to her work, where she was working as a spy for Fortunecity Association of Life Takers (F.A.L.T).
However, she must find a way to douse the wisp of smoke that was showing its face in the safe house. With what she was facing at the moment, she couldn't help but agree with Racheal, who insisted on not making the ladies have contact.
'You girls would either...'
'Who is a girl', Lila shouted and hissed. 'Let's know what we are doing? I'm not your mate in any way. How old are you? Can you be up to twenty years?'
'I'm only fourteen years', Shayla retorted and held her shaking hand in place. She was already getting anxious and would soon do something stupid. She gritted, knowing that her shaking hand would only stop if she left the place or removed two of Lila's teeth.
'Lila, ice your temper. Let's give a conclusion on this'Victoria said as if she was assured of Shayla's change of mind.
'We're not making any conclusion', Shayla growled. 'You girls are lucky to be alive. By the time that kidnapper gets hold of you, you'll know what I'm saying. If not for me, you'
Lila edged forward in her seat and looked disgusted. 'What are you? If not for you, would I be here in the first place?'
'Then, pop out', Shayla shouted at her. By this time, both of her hands were now shaking, and it was beginning to reflect in her voice. In place of talking, she always preferred using her hand. The result was always awesome, quick and conclusively.
'Don't look down on me. I have connections', Lila said as she adjusted herself on the edge of the seat. 'I have real and big connections'.
Shayla cracked up with laughter. 'You? Those that were kidnapped, even the rich ones among them, were kidnapped despite their numerous boyfriends. Who are you?'
'I have mouth', Lila shouted, pointed angrily at her mouth and said with much vigor. 'This...My mouth...It will work for me, I swear. It will work'.
Shayla sat up. 'Even the mouth of the best speech maker cannot...Wait! Are you saying...? That's impossible'.
'Nothing is impossible. With me, nothing is impossible'.
'God that wants to punish you is planning to use my gun', Shayla snarled as she withdrew her gun from her bag and brandished it in front of Lila. That should scare her enough to keep shut. She was supposed to be somewhere else, but there she was, battling with these goats. 'Do you think babbling about our contract would have no consequences?'
'You can't kill me. Watch and see. I'm leaving this rotten place, this rotten life. I wasn't a Christian and I'm not ready to be one. I'm tired of all these and I know you won't want to be in this place too if you were me'.
'Ice your temper', Victoria shouted without facing anyone, while her hands stiffened as if she was about to crush her own head. 'Use protection on your words'.
'What protection? May protection burst. See, you, this small Shayla, I will show you that you can't kill me. It's not even possible'.
'That's very possible. And who is this flat brain Victoria telling to shut up? See, don't let me waste my bullets on you two. I've done things I wouldn't normally have done. And what are you crying over? Are you not being paid?'
Victoria stood to interfere. 'We can find a better...'
'I was being paid for what I loved; riding men', Lila said and waved disgustedly. 'Not thisThis ermDirty lifestyle of pretending I saw visions of hell. God is just kind; he would have struck me dead. I'm tired'.
Shayla inhaled sharply and scoffed. 'See a Pig complaining about death. Your life is in mess already. We are just trying to put you in a glass cabinet so that people will assume you're good. My hand is becoming numb. In order words, I'm no more in control. My shaky hand can press the trigger. Beware and back off'.
'Lila, we can wait. Shayla, what if we have a definite day we'll stop all these?'
'Babe, you have no day. The contract remains the same. Don't expect any date. This is the 21st century. You go when I say you go'.
Lila rose angrily. 'Stop me then. Unless you kill me'.
She really would have loved to do that, to gun them down but her contractor and Rachael would want otherwise. Lila throttled out of the parlor and banged the door behind her.
'You better talk to her', Shayla shouted to Victoria. 'Calm her down, if not you'll lay her corpse into the ground'.
'You too calm down and stop being a b...'
'If you dare finish that word', Shayla said as she rose from her chair. 'I will tear your mouth without fear.'
Victoria gave her a curt look and paused to say something, but she kept quiet.
Shayla was marching out of the house when her phone rang. Rachael was on the line. Racheal was younger than she and would be maybe three or four years younger, but no one dared have an encounter with her. The ones that tried it all died including Rachael's instructors. She had been trained to withstand any type of pain and to know how to solve issues. She thrived on things that others would easily fail at.
'Kill one of the girls. The commissioner wants them all dead. Let's kill one of them now, I'm still strategizing, but killing one of them is the best move for now'.
'Hope it wouldn't backfire?'
Rachael chuckled. 'Backfire? You know me. It's a good move and worthy of our trial. It never and would never backfire'.
'What about the other girls? What would happen to them?'
'Leave them in the safe house'.
'Okay', she said and her voice faltered.
'Hey! I know what you will want to do. Don't try it. Make sure one of them dies'.
Shayla returned to the house. She was always good and loved killing corrupt men, but always felt bad anytime she was ordered to kill anyone that reminded of what she used to be before she was kidnapped at the age of nineteen by Chief Suberu's men to be trained as an assassin. These girls were only trying to meet both ends meet, and shouldn't be plunged into men's feeling of pride. If the commissioner wasn't proud, he wouldn't have collected money from men who wanted to shut up people who were talking against their place of worship. Despite not being a regular churchgoer, she still always found a reason to believe God is alive and would punish people for killing the innocent ones.
She licked her lower lips and knew what to do. She would make Lila disappear, and cover-up for her death with something else. Suddenly, the door to the rooms Lila and Victoria were staying flew open and Lila rolled out a bag. She now wore a black jacket over her spaghetti top. 'I'm going. Vicky, you can decide to stay here'.
'You're not going anywhere. Sit right there, we need to talk', Shayla said dejectedly. She knew how it would be if she discovered that she was being made to disappear. She would be living everything she adored behind and would be flushed to a place no one would ever suspect.
'Can you see, Lila?' Victoria said as slumped into one of the seats. 'She's ready to talk. We will have a good thing to get from here'.
'No. I'm tired', Lila said, shook her head vigorously, pulled her bag and tramped towards the door. Shayla was so furious that she shot at the handle of the door. Lila screamed and jumped back, making her bag slam onto the ground. Victoria also shrieked. She spun to face Shayla with an alarmed glare.
'Witch. You're a witch. Wicked Witch. I'm going. I'm leaving this devilish place', she said, panting hurriedly. Her breathing was loud and jagged. She remained in the same position as her glances went from Shayla to her fallen bag then to Victoria and back to Shayla.
Shayla loved the fear that oozed out of her. It was good and could easily be influenced. That gunshot would make her look like a puppet. She would dance to any direction Shayla wanted. It would give her control over her. With shaky hands, Shayla gestured towards the door to their room. Lila stared at her as if she was calculating on how to avoid Shayla. Shayla was very sure she would calm down.
'Seat your prostitute-self down on that chair before I put a lot of holes through you'.
However, Lila wasn't one to be easily controlled; she sprung back into action and ran for her bag. Shayla held the gun firmly.
'She is holding an iron', Victoria screamed with a quivering voice. 'Lila. No. She is holding an iron. She is holding a cold gun'.
Trembling and shaking her head as if she was drugged, Lila spun towards the door. 'I'm going. I'm leaving. I'm tired'.
Shayla hardened her grip on the gun. If her hand continued shaking like it was doing at the moment, she would shoot Lila without controlling the trigger. She wanted to avoid shooting any vital organ on this stupid girl. Can't she just stay put till they solved everything?
She growled with clenched teeth. 'Don't do anything stupid? Lila, don't do anything stupid'.
Her muscles were already tensed, and she could feel it even in her voice, and her own breath was becoming louder than anything in the room as her eyes kept widening in its socket.
'No. My daughter is at home. Do you know who she is with?'
'I don't bloody care'.
'You should care. You're pregnant. I can see it. Don't do this to me'.
'We can talk all this out', Victoria shouted as she tried to lower Shayla's stiff hand. With a push of the hand from Shayla, she tumbled to the nearest chair.
'No. I'm not talking', Lila shouted and grabbed her bag nearer.
'Lila, it's just for few days. We will leave this place'.
'Don't tell me poo. My daughter is with my condescending Aunty. That's the only person close enough to me that will accept her. And that woman will ruin her life like she ruined mine'.
'How's that my concern? My concern now is your safety. And that, your mouth stay put'.
'The woman will make her what she made me. If I'm not there, she would turn my daughter into a prostitute'.
Shayla looked at her and inhaled angrily. 'Your daughter can never be a prostitute for two days, idiot'.
'Two days, can you hear the uselessness spilling out of her mouth?' Lila shouted, grabbed her bag and stormed towards the door. Victoria ran to meet her, and stopped her, but she shoved her aside and pulled the bag away. 'Don't you dare'.
'I'm going', she said without turning back.
'You're not going'.
'You're a mother'
'About to be'.
Lila ran for the door but didn't get there before Shayla shot her thigh. Lila wailed and crumbled to the ground, holding her jiggling legs while Victoria screamed, 'you've killed her!'
'My leg', Lila screamed with all her strength as she rolled from side to side with the leg still raised high.
'She's not dead'.
'My leg'.
'Oh, God! You shot her'.
'Get a grip on that and help her'.
Victoria, still perplexed and shaking, hobbled to her side and held the bloody leg for the screaming Lila.
Victoria began to cry in tune with Lila's cry.
'The witch. My leg. The witch shot me'.
'Come and help her'.
'Get her up and move toward that room', Shayla ordered and pointed towards the door separating from others. There was nothing she could at the moment than to take them into the place. She couldn't leave them there. To save Lila, she needed the First aid box but to get it meant she had to go to the other side of the house.
'Carry her'.
Lila groaned as she was in much pain, but with the way Victoria was going, one would assume she was also in pain.
'Move Move'.
She faced them as she hurried to the door and pressed the security code for the door. Then, she opened it and opened the next. Immediately they entered the flat of the other ladies, they rose to meet them.
'Victoria', one of them exclaimed.
'Vicky', the other shouted.
The ladies shouted and rushed to her side. It was expected that they knew each other.
'Who sh... said the one called Keisha, whose backside could make any man turn to look at her the fourth time. 'You shot her'.
Shayla withdrew from them. 'Lay her on that bed'.
After they did, she barked instructions to them and told them to steer clear of her side of the room.
'You were supposed to take care of us', Victoria muttered.
'I'm sorry To take care of us? She had been torturing us', Keisha shouted as she paced the room. 'God knows where she put the others'.
'The others were not fake', Shayla barked as she brought out a knife, and began to work on the wound.
'I am not...'
'Shush it. You all know you were fake'.
The ladies kept quiet, and she focused on the wounded, screaming prostitute in front of her.
'At least, let us go back to our fake life', groaned Lila and winced.
'You still have the mouth to talk' Shayla sneered and rammed a soaked cotton into Lila's mouth. She shrilled and spat out repeatedly. Then, Shayla continued working amidst the various snide from the insolent ungrateful prostitutes.
After Shayla was sure she had removed the bullet and had cleaned the wound, she turned to them and stared at their different bodies in draped in their petty clothes. 'I want to save you. Every one of you. But you're ingrates and fools. Your kidnapper is still outside'.
The thin one, who had refused to talk all the while, turned to Keisha and Victoria with outstretched arms and said, 'Kidnapper?' She kidnapped us'.
'I'm not...'
'She's not the kidnapper' Victoria said.
'Why is she now holding us?'
'I'm saving your sorry brains...'
'NoNo'
'Are you girls mad? If you don't know, the dead ladies were also fake. They were planted. Who do you want to pretend to? All these people are also pretending'.
At that moment, a message entered her phone: There are consequences of inaction and delayed ones.
Shayla stared at the ladies' eyes to be sure none of them was the spy. She looked about to detect any hidden camera. The ladies stared at her as if she was going insane. But with Rachael, one couldn't be safer. She moved out of the room and turned suddenly, pulling out her gun. She pointed it at Lila's head. The other ladies screamed and scrambled for cover, which wasn't available. So, they clamped their hands over their heads. She shot Lila and left the room in the wake of the gun's noise and the scream of the other ladies.

I dunno who to support gan self

queenitee:
I dunno who to support gan self

Lol... I think they all seems righteous

Nice and gud write up...

Whinky23:
Nice and gud write up...

Thanks alot..

14 The Regrets
Shayla drove out of the compound, rubbing her stomach and heaving repeatedly as she made sure she didn't cry. The hole she made in Lila's head flashed back to her. Unlike the other times she had killed other people, she couldn't wash or will this guilt away. Normally, she would have taken a strong hot drink to wash it down, but she didn't have the time. She had just deprived a woman of ever seeing her daughter again. And maybe, it was true. Maybe Lila's Aunt would make her baby a prostitute. Maybe she should have gone easy on her. She shouldn't have really shown her Edo side. She was an architect to the fact that Lila's child would have to cry over the grave of her mother. Would she want such life for her own baby, for Nosa's baby?
When she got to Segun's location, he was looking lost as he sat in his car, and she felt like screaming at him. He said he knew where the missing ex-prostitute was, but his car was nothing near any house. The only thing she heard was rigorous prayers from the top of the mountain. As she reduced her pace to park near him, she was met by people lamenting as they helped someone that seemed to have been injured.
Not ready to cause a scene, Shayla reined her anger, and talked with clenched teeth, whispering, 'what did you do this time?'
'I lost her'.
'Was that why Nosa called me the other time?'
Segun blinked and hit his head severally. 'I lost her. I swear by my head, I got here early. I swear. Immediately Olivia told me that the man in the customer care didn't come here, I did my research and I rushed here. I did. But I think someone got here before us. I think the Gragus team got here before us'.
She stared at him and wished she was Medusa; he would have become a stone for his stupidity. She stiffened her hand in anger and gave him a cold glare that made him cringe.
'You lost her. She was our only hope. You lost her'.
'I didn't. I haven't just found her.'
'Why were you now waiting?'
'Because I don't think she's here, and I don't know where to go. I suspect she had been taken like the rest. We are back to the first set'.
'That's not true. My source was real and you confirmed it from your source'.
'Yes. That's why I would have been surprised too. When I got here, I met a church. I even pretended to want to see their prophet so that he can pray for me all in the name of scouting for her, but there was no one there that looked like her. The place church compound is something like how will I put it? It's like a field. You know what I mean'.
'I don't know what you mean and I don't want to know'.
'I mean she isn't here'.
'Then, we've got to get going'.
She tried to fathom all the possible solutions and knew she had to return to her base, and do what most people in F.A.L.T hated- being dependent on Racheal. She called her as she drove off, and gave her the details of how events ran at her side.
'We need all the help necessary. This person had taken everyone we could use to catch him. What do we do?'
'What do you do? We need to salvage the situation. News has gotten to me that the Gragus Team is behind or in support of this person, and be careful. This person's style is different and seemed to be an effort from both someone within our group and someone not totally a male. Yet, this person is good'.
'Okay. What to do?'
'You shouldn't ask me that. You know, don't you? I'll send help. But whatever you do, be smart. Something is brewing here. Meanwhile, Bennett is dead'.
'Leech is dead? Oh!' She said and sucked her breath as she imagined the still body of the one person that always took her breath any time she saw him. 'How did that happen? How's Jessica taking it?'
'Don't bother yourself with the unglorified details but just stay sharp especially with your baby'
'How did you...?'
'I'm Rachael'.
She wanted to scream that Rachael wasn't God, but had to refrain herself from doing something stupid. However, when the call got disconnected, she screamed loudly. Bennett was dead, and Rachael was acting like God. She screamed and drove off as she stared into the darkness of the road.
Now, that they've lost her again, she had to employ another tactic in knowing where the woman was before things went out of hand. She directed Segun to go to and start searching for another person with vision. Segun complained about having a lot on his plate.
'Then, eat them and empty your bowel in the prison. I won't mind defiling Rachael and Chief', she grumbled to him as she started the car again. She had to return to bury Lila's corpse.
When she got there, the other ladies were weeping over the corpse. She cocked her gun, bringing them back to reality and ordered them to carry the corpse outside. While two of them were doing that, she ordered the last one to put a shovel in the backseat of her car. Then, she opened the trunk of the car and ordered them to dump her corpse there. Seeing that she was ready, she asked them to return to the room and gave the guards orders to watch them closely.
She couldn't understand the reasons she was doing what she was doing, but she couldn't let a mother die without the proper covering of a grave. Would her own unborn child have wanted that for her?
She drove off to a deep part of the forest around and dug it up. As she did so, her mind went back to the day she stood on the edge of the grave of her parents, who died in an accident. The silence of that day flooded back to her and she stared blankly at the empty grave. The numbness that had taken over her returned to her with a lot of emotion. Digging the grave felt like a wake-up call for the tears that had being in hiding all this while. She shook her head to send the tears away.
'Things are not the same. The dead cannot rise again', she said as she slammed the shovel on the dark pile of sand.
With a sweaty body, she dumped Lila into the grave she dug, and covered it up. As she straightened the bulge of the grave, the moonlight crawled out of the clouds that gathered in the sky, above the mountains, and she remembered how she sat watching the moon in the night after she had had the cause to bury her parents. The memory of those times brought her to her knees and she yelled, 'why?'
She crumbled to the floor and cried for the guilt of killing Lila, for losing Joana, for Bennett that was claimed to be dead, for her parents, for living a life she couldn't pass to her own daughter.
If things could work out well as planned she would leave this lifestyle and go somewhere far, somewhere she could start all over. With a painful heart and a tired body, she dragged herself to her car. The next day, she would return go to Moriah to help her in the search. It was high time they used the best and faced the problem squarely.
***

Divepen1:
Lol... I think they all seems righteous

Yes *sad face*

Nosa doesn't know what he is dealing with yet in the name of a wife. The woman knows everything about his side life and yet remains calm. She is a viper. Poor Moriah gave up the man she loved so much because of a little secret.



I couldn't do anything all through yesterday due to this story.


Biko come and update.

Pearl05:
Nosa doesn't know what he is dealing with yet in the name of a wife. The woman knows everything about his side life and yet remains calm. She is a viper. Poor Moriah gave up the man she loved so much because of a little secret.



I couldn't do anything all through yesterday due to this story.


Biko come and update.

Yes. I wonder how it will feel to lose someone we love because of a secret too

Pearl05, Queenitee

....

Nosa watched the gate and must have slept off around 3 am. However, the next morning's sun met him on the way from Moriah's house. He honked thrice to inform her of his exit from the place. She honked to let him know she understood him.
Nosa brought out his phone and began to trace Raphael's phone. It took him a while before he finally found out where the phone was pinging from. If he got to Raphael, he would destroy him before he listened to his explanation.
The journey to the place the phone was pinging from was like a road through hell. When he finally saw Raphael's car, it was parked into the drainage on the road. That was very unlike Raphael. Nosa hurried off his car and saw the side of Raphael's car had been crashed into. Right on the floor was his android phone, which had been terribly smashed. Nosa shouted in horror.
'No. No'.
There was no hope anywhere. There was no way he could find the answer now. He searched his car, but all he could see were CDs of different musicians- gospel, secular, Fuji, foreign. Also, he saw the X-rated magazines that were neatly arranged by the side of the driver's seat which were now splashed with blood.
After thoroughly searching for anything at all, he knew it was a fruitless effort. There was definitely nothing he could do at that time than to go Shayla's place. Someone had gotten to Raphael, and had probably, injured him badly.
So, he returned to his car and drove off to the beach. Still angry at her, he knew he would never forgive her for what she had done. He should have seen through all the façade, but he was only concerned that she wanted to destroy the joy in his family that he didn't take notice of her other actions.
In his rating, she always came third even though he still hadn't told her. As wise as she seemed, she still didn't know about Moriah and he loved it like that.
When he drove to the beach, he stormed into the house and began to search for any clue at all. He ransacked the house and searched everywhere. He was too pissed to listen to anything. In his reckless search, he unearthed a file and saw a list that he would have thought had no significance if he didn't see Moriah's phone number in it. He was so surprised. Right in front of her name was the word 'Supplier'.
That infuriated him beyond words. So, Moriah was involved with Shayla? He crunched the paper in hand as he felt hot blood circulate his body. He brought out his phone from his pocket and dialed Moriah's number.
'You' He barked immediately the phone got connected.
'Nosa?' She said, startled. In their days of knowing one another, he had never used such condescending tone on her. Even after knowing what she did for a living, even after she told him that she couldn't marry him, he refrained from the use of such tones. She had betrayed and deceived and made him look like a fool. There was no way he would forgive her this time. She knew that Shayla was involved in the kidnapping and death of these ladies, and she kept helping her. There was no way he would accept any explanation or excuses from her.
He shook his head and disconnected his call as he headed towards her house. She would hear the last of his anger. He drove off and repeatedly disconnected her call. She was never loyal; he knew that, but he never knew she would play a part in one of his downfalls. His investigation was supposed to go smoothly if she hadn't disrupted it. He dialed Shayla's phone number again but it was disconnected.
'The Witch', he muttered.
The journey to her place was warlike. Unlike the other times that he was the one being victimized by other road users, he drove recklessly.
'I'll kill you, imbeciles', Nosa shouted as the other drivers complained about the way he was driving. Instead of apologizing, he screamed curses at them. They were all untrustworthy.
When he got to her house, she rushed to the gate. He was soon accosted by one of those preachers, who insisted on giving him a tract. He barked at her, and she withdrew, glaring at his furious eyes. Immediately she opened the gate, she pulled him inside. Despite his anger, he allowed her to pull him. When they were still University friends, she was the only one who knew how to stop him from doing stupid things whenever he was angry. One of her tactics was pulling or pushing away from where he wanted to make a fuss.
A very good case was the day someone was trying to evict Moriah out of her house because a richer girl wanted the same room. Nosa was ready to beat the landlord to a pulp, but she pulled him away and the anger subsided. Although Chloe got a new house for Moriah, and the girl committed suicide in the same house six months later, Nosa would have disfigured their faces.
However, not today. There was nothing she would do to make him stop being angry.
'You're despicable'
'Nosy'
'Don't you dare chew my name in that filthy mouth of yours like a chewing gum'.
She looked rattled and stared at him. 'What did I do wrong?'
'What? What did you do wrong? Can you hear the poo you're spilling from your mouth? What did you do wrong?'
She blinked several times and opened her hands.
'You knew Shayla'.
'Yes. She's your mistress'.
'No. No. Don't give me that crap. You knew her as a customer or the real customer'.
'Oh. She...Oh Nosa it's not like that'.
'You knew her'.
'She doesn't know I know you'.
'You knew her. And the two of you played me'.
'I wouldn't do that. Nosa, please hear me out'
'You both played me: My only lead is gone. You helped her'.
'I didn't help her'.
'I knew I was bugged, but I couldn't have suspected that she did it'.
'Oh no. I didn't help her bug anything. The thing I gave her to bug you wasn't even to listen to you. I claimed it didn't work because of some jargons just to make her not bug you. She didn't get information from you'.
'Keep that lie to yourself: Someone has been listening to me'.
'I'm not the one. I can help you stop it', she said and held his hand, which he flung away.
Withdrawing from her touch, he shouted, 'Don't you dare touch me. Don't you just dare. You're...'
'Nosa. I only acted as their transit of illegal entry from Togo to Fortunecity, Nigeria'.
'Who did you bring?'
'A guy named Segun and one lady'.
'What about them?'
'The lady is in the police custody, but the Segun guy is still roaming Fortunecity as a wanted person'.
'Just like you'.
'Nosa... Hear me out'.
'Don't call my name. You're a betrayer'.
'Nosa', she called as he stormed out.
'Nosa', she screamed as he banged the door behind him.
When he got to his car, he found a tract about those that saw visions. It entailed stories of different people that had gone to hell through visions. He had read it before. The way people went to hell these days was disturbing. And was stupid. If those idiots had not caught the disease of seeing visions of heaven maybe everything that happened to him wouldn't have happened. He crunched the paper and threw it into the nearest dustbin.

How can I get the complete book? I don't understand okadabooks stuffs. I can't wait for the updates.



Cbella
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Come and see what I've found.