₦airaland Forum

seunviju: I hope he comes back to his senses.Nice update dear and how is your health?

Improving. Thanks for your prayers

dammygoody: Looks like his brain is coming home gradially ...
Well done ma'am Vonn....this is nice.
By the way, how us your health now?

Much better. Thank you

CHAPTER THREE


From afar, Tonia sighted Julian under the almond tree at the bend just before the mosque and changed her direction towards him.

"Good evening." She greeted beaming with smiles. Julian just nodded approvingly at her dressing which looked simple but expensive.

"How are you?"
"Fine. Just want to thank you again for the lunch and money you gave me. I really appreciate that."
"To be frank I enjoyed every bit of it." he said placing his arms round her waist and drawing her closer to him.

Tonia was reluctant for a second or two but later gave in. Now they were standing few inches apart that one could feel the air from the other. The place was serene and Tonia felt hot. Suddenly she fred herself from his hold which surprised Julian but he was prepared for it.

"I never knew you were this shy." he teased her tilting her head up with his index finger.

"Am I?" She queried to know which made him grin.
"No stop, its not funny."
"I'm sorry I........"
"That's not what I meant. You're......."
"That's okay, I understand you but you'll always be that shy girl I know."
"No I'm not." she defended.
"You are."Julian chuckled.
There was silence for a while. Then Tonia checked her timepiece and gasped.
"Julian I almost forgot I have somewhere to go before I came up."
"No qualms." He finally said and with a light kiss Tonia walked away. Julian stayed back and watched her as she walked till she was out of sight. He nodded and left with her facial expression mean.

...........................................*..................................

"Ralph wait now. Why you dey do me like this nah." Julian hurried up to him.

"See see, after what happened don't you think you should go your way. I thought we've been through this. How do you still want to be friends with someone you have no iota of trust in?"

"I was frustrated nah. I couldn't help suspecting everybody around me."
"Everyone except your girlfriend nah."
Ralph shook his head and left.

It was just as if his world was falling apart. The previous day, he had gotten a call from an unknown person and since then he hadn't figured out how the person got hold of his new line. Just few of his course mates had it.
The person had threatened to deal with him if he still contacted Tonia ever again.
Of course he could only Identify himself as 'Skillz' before the call ended.
Now was the loss of a friend. He was indeed tired of campus life and his only consolation was that in a couple of weeks, he would be out, probably with a second class upper. He found an apartment outside school where he thought he could concentrate more in his studies which he rented and paid for a month.
He once wanted to give Tonia a call but discarded the idea with the fact that he was the same person that got threatened because of her.

He accepted that God was with him by making him lose his phone with everything in it, so he was not any longer with her number.
With these he resolved to keep to himself for the rest of his stay I school. He agreed to himself that what he was moving towards was much bigger than a girl who never came to ask of his welfare for the past week.

He tried to erase everything and started on a clean slate. He studied harder that he almost had no time for anybody.

After his exams and project defence, he was sure he would make it. He waited for no one to remind him before he packed his things and left for home.
......................................................... continues

Fatalveli: 2 be candid, ur story makes me feel a heartbeat..... Had it been u are a girl I wouldn't mind going chest 2 chest wit u cos u are a darling

Leave my boyfriend for me ooooo

This Hakeem has problem. Maybe its juju.

Julian dropped his phone on a low stool by the bedside and sat down with a thud.

Exhausted he used his hands to support his head as he was deep in thought.
Already he had spent almost half of his pocket money and he knew that deducting an additional amount would pose a problem to him.

Suddenly, he looked up and saw a figure moved from the window.
"Is that Ralph? How I'm I sure that he wasn't the one that arranged for the theft as he was around when I got Tonia's call."
Julian rushed outside only to discover that the place was serene. He found nobody around.
Disappointed he went back to his room, knelt down and asked for God's protection for the first time in weeks. Then he slept off.

In a dream, he saw himself being given a hot chase by cultists from different directions. His hands and legs were bruised with blood running down in tiny droplets.
His singlet was in shreds. With every second that passed, the pace continued to reduce till it got to a point where he fell. With blurred sight, he recognised Ralph amongst the lot.

Immediately he woke up. What was wrong with him?
"Could it be that Ralph is also a cultist?" He asked himself.
"Why are almost all my friends even cultists?" Unable to extract the answers from the walls, he closed his eyes back and slept off.

....................................*.....................................

"Don't make any silly move or you're dead."a threatening voice choke him from behind. This voice sent chills down his spine. He wanted to turn his head to know who had talked to him but was stopped halfway when he felt something placed just above his butt.

'Don't waste my time. Get the money." They were in a small ATM room, so no other person was around to know what was going on.

"P...Please that's all I have." As he finished he felt the object move up to his head. Frightened he wasted no time to hand the money over to the 'anonymous' behind him.
"That's my boy." With this he ran out of the room and mingled intelligently with the crowd.

Julian almost got mad. He had decided to go to a more distant place and also early that morning but it seemed that was where he met his doom.
He walked like a zombie to his apartment and managed to push the door open before launching himself on his bed.
He wouldn't even say anything to his room mates and they didn't bother either. He was yet thrown into another bout of thoughts.

"How am I going to get the money? What I'm I to tell Tonia? To disappoint her a second time wouldn't be fair at all. If I walk up to anybody to ask for money.....well I'm not even sure any f them would claim to have half the amount."

All these ran through his mind. As he was thinking, Tonia called and after exchanging greetings, she relieved him by saying that her elder bother sent her money.

.....................................*.....................................

One day, as Julian was coming back from lecture ,people were running towards him. In a bid to avoid collision, he tripped over a stone. His phone dropped from his hand together with some of his books. He bent down when he regained balance but couldn't find his phone. He quickly searched around with his eyes but made no progress.

Suddenly he became afraid of the school.
"Was he the only unfortunate guy in the school?" he thought.

Picking up only his books, he walked on till he reached his room. He packed a travelling bag and left for home with the money he still had on him.


"Guy I'm totally broke. My head fit scatter for here." an exhausted Julian slumped into a seat in the parlour.
"What's the problem. Why is your face like poultry droppings?"

"It's not easy. Lemme catch my breathe first."
Duron glared at his brother in amusement.

"If you're sick, go treat yourself. For the past five minutes you come back you've been complaining." Duron said impatiently. A surprised Julian kept silent for a while and then left to his room.
Duron was in his first year in the university while his only younger sibling, Sasha was in her fifth year in one of the best secondary schools in the country.

Around 7.pm, everyone was back and they had dinner. After the meal, they all decided to stay back to watch a tv programme. Julian wanted to make a call to his course mate whose number he had in his wallet and needed to use Duron's phone which got all a little bit surprised. Tired of hiding, he just told them the truth about all that had happened to him, not forgetting to avoid Tonia as the reason for the money withdrawals. But his mum wasn't going to be fooled.

"I thought I told you to stay away from that girl. Now see what it has cost you."

"Mum I'm not dead alright. I don't even see why you should all link this up with Tonia. Its not like she was the robber or something."
The dad who had been silent all the while kept glaring at his son. He reminded him of his younger self- so stubborn.
"Go to your room." he ordered. Julian needed no other word. Angrily he got up and walked to the staircase. Halting before he took his fifth step he tilted his head back and stated.

"I'll be leaving in two days and will like to have my account credited." He knew that no matter the amount of commotion in the house, his dad wouldn't leave him stranded. And with that he ascended the stairs to his room.

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

.............................................................

A heavy knock landed on Julian's door and it flung open almost immediately showing his friend, Ralph. After the usual 'chop-knuckle' greeting Julian decided to get dressed so they could leave to a nearby joint when his phone rang.

"Julian, please i need your help."
"What is it? Just tell me."
"I need you for some money right now. I kind of got hit by some pick pockets this evening and I don't have another on me. I relly need it to buy some books start my assignments." Tonia complained.

"How much is it?"
"Ten thousand naira.....I know its too much but i can't help it."

"No no...well, I'll see what I can do about it. Its really nothing."
"Thanks a lot." Tonia expressed and hung up.
Turning to Ralph, he tried to explain why he wouldn't be able to make it out with him but his friend blared up.

"I don't get it. So I'm no more important than that girl. Is that what you're trying to say?"
"Look it's not it. My girl is stranded. I can't leave her for another time. Just try to understand me."

"You know what, it's okay. Someone I took as my friend and now......you ain't worth it anymore." Ralph dashed out of the room.

Julian stood confused. After a while he fell back on the bed,facing the ceiling but staring into thin air.
He stayed there for more than five minutes before he got himself.

Getting his mind made up he wore his clothes and left on his way to a bank.
After the withdrawal of a certain amount of money he headed back to school.

What fate had for him was an inviting package. When he got back to his apartment, he dipped his hand into his pocket but felt nothing. Scared he dug deeper but just then he noticed that his fingers came out on the other side. It had been cut open and the money taken.

"God why are these happening in a day. What wrong have I done?" he asked himself. Just then a call from Tonia came through and he picked it up.
"What's keeping you so long. I've been waiting for you but you've not showed up like you assured me you would." her voice rang out.

"Baby.....I'm sorry. It's just.....something came up." he replied with unease running his fingers across his hair.
"Give me tomorrow, I'll make it up to you in the morning." he reassured her .
"Are you serious?"
"Yes.....sure."
"Okay thanks. I'm counting on you." she siad and disconnected the call.

"Girl you too much. I hail." were shouts from her friends who were there with her.

They had connived with a friend to carry out the whole plan. As agreed they paid off the guy who did the job in kind.
"Our next step should be........"
"Easy okay, just cool down. Let's not be in such a hurry or he would suspect something. He would get me the money int he morning. Then we can think up our next plan."
Tonia finished, looking up for their opinion and found they were nodding in agreement.
On a second thought, she privately decided to call Julian in the morning and ask him to forget about it. She didn't want things to be too fast.

In jubilation one of her friends slotted a disc into the CD player and selected the music track 'single ladies'. They all went gaga as they danced and twisted to the rhythm.
..........................................................................

TemitopeDaniel: I'm a writer likewise, I understand uu. Wish u quick recovery.

Thank you

TemitopeDaniel: Lol.... abi na, nawa oh!


Weldone Vonn, loving this more! more power, any oda update dropping tonight?

I doubt. I need to rest because of my health. Hope you understand.

seunviju: Nice story vonn but this julian no c say this girl no love am?must he force himself to love.keep up the good work dear

Thank you.......
He doesn't know because Tonia has been pretending.
*thingswedoforlove*

manutdadex: nice write up! Keep it up

Tnx dear. God bless.

CHAPTER TWO


"I rushed here as soon as I could. I hope there is no problem."

"No, none that I can think of. It's just....there is this party at my friend's place tonight. It's his birthday and I was wondering if you can accompany me." Julian explained and Tonia heaved.

"Is that all?" When Julian nodded she shook her head.

"I don't think I can make it, I'm sorry." She apologised.

"Why? I mean its just a birthday party of one of my friends. I promise to bring you back if you don't feel like staying any longer, please....."

"I would have loved to but I have this assignment which we're to submit tomorrow. I can't just dump it all to accompany you to the party."

"So if you were done with the assignment you would have gone with me?" Julian asked and she nodded.

"What's it all about?" Tonia dipped her hand inside her handbag and searched aimlessly for a piece of paper where she wrote it down.
Finally she produced it from her bag and handed it over to Julian who surveyed it quietly.

"Consider it done." He said at last.
"What? How? You're not even an Economics student." Tonia laughed and Julian just smiled.
"You'll get it in the morning, trust me. Back to my offer, you have no more excuse." Julian reminded her. Tonia thought for a while and bit her lower lip in a way that amused Julian. Finally she smiled and looked up at him.
"Good to go."
"That's my girl." He beamed and gave her a light kiss.

"I'll pick you up, 8 O'clock." He said and Tonia nodded before getting ready to leave.
"Alright lemme see you off."
"No, don't bother yourself. I'll be alright." She defended.

"Okay see you at 8, bye."
"Bye." Tonia said and left.
On her way, she thought of all that transpired and chuckled.
"Fool." She breathed out.
...........................................................................

**************************************
"So what are you going to do now that he is back?"one of her friends Vivian asked Tonia as they sat round a table in the cafeteria.

"I'll dance to the tune of the music, as simple as that."

"And how are you gonna do that?"
"Well my move is to make him think that I love him, then use the opportunity to suck him dry."
There was silence when she stopped.

"On a serious note, d...don't you think this is risky. I mean the whole blackmail stuff?" Anita asked.

"Piece of cake." she said with a snap of her fingers.

"Just like that? What if he gets wind of your plans before you actually complete your mission?" Anita persisted.

"Girl, you sure know how to bug people with questions. When we get to the bridge, I bet we'll think up a way to cross it. In the meantime the money is ours." she concluded confidently and they all hailed her once more.

Her phone rang and when she took it out from her purse and checked the caller, she realised it was Julian. She quickly signalled to the others to be quiet.

"Tonia, I'll like to see you before the end of today. I've been to your hostel but couldn't get you. But you can tell me where you are and I'll meet you there.....if you're not so busy."

"Don't bother, I'll come but i hope there is no problem?"

"No, not a thing. Okay I'll be expecting you in....."

"Two hours." Tonia assured him.
"Right, see you then. Love you."
"Bye" She looked up at her friends and realised that they were smiling at her.

"What?!"
"What was that all about?" Sheila asked.

"Don't really know. He just said he wants to see me. Now back to business. We'll keep the whole stuff and share amongst us at the end, agreed?........Who is with me?" she asked looking at them.

"I dey honey." Sheila said immediately.
"Me too ooo." Jenny chipped in. There was silence.

"Vivian, Anita.....what's wrong?" a surprised Jenny asked.
"See, I don't think i like that idea. I've thought about it."
"Anita,what's your opinion?" Tonia asked getting irritated.

"I don't buy that either." Anita replied calmly. The two other girls sighed in unison.

"Well, I never knew we had born again christians in our midst." Tonia taunted them.

"Whatever. Just be very careful. You'll never know when you're dealing with naked wire." Anita advised. The trio looked at one another and laughed mockingly.

"Wait wait hold on...... I hope you have another Julian in mind because if you're talking about the one I know, then you'd have to rethink."

"He's more like mum's pet. Come on, the guy is so in love that he'll reason stupidly." Tonia added.

"Hey, why are you girls begging. Can't you foresee that when we get the money, just the three of us will share it." Jenny pointed out.

"Do as you wish but we've made up our minds and there's no going back." Vivian said and Anita nodded in agreement.

"Okay but don't come to us by the time we start flexing around school."
"We won't dare." Anita said as they lifted their hands to show it. Suddenly Vivian who couldn't hold back burst into laughter and the rest joined her without knowing the actual cause of the outburst.

They discussed other issues before Tonia remembered that she had an appointment to keep.
She excused herself and left. Not quite long, Jenny and Sheila also decided to leave. Vivian and Anita were left behind......they had their own thoughts.
********************************************************************

My health has been a concern for a while now. I hope God heals me soonest.


I managed to type something today.

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

A week later in a hospital, doctors were on their usual surgery and got to a ward.

"How long has he been in this condition?" a doctor directed the question to the nurses around.

"Exactly two days, doc. He was brought in unconscious. Since then, I'm afraid no improvement has been recorded so far."
The doctor nodded.

"His name is Julian Cole." she finished.
"Any families around?"
"Yes, his father came down yesterday evening after you left. Thank God he had his phone on him."

After spending few minutes, the doctor left the room to attend to other patients and the nurses followed suit.

When Mr Cole came again, he asked for a transfer to another hospital and was granted the request without much hitch.

He was rushed off because of his condition. With the right facilities and medication, there was improvement.
He could atleast open his eyes, move his fingers and nod or shake his head. Gradually he began speaking but slowly and weakly. When asked what transpired, he always kept mute.

After speaking with their family doctor, Julian's dad, Alex, was assured that he would be discharged in a week.
At a week's end, Julian was already strong enough to travel home. His dad made sure he paid the hospital bills and left a generous tip to the former for treating his son without hesitation.

Coming home, he was joyfully welcomed by the family. That evening, he got to know that there had been clashes between cults and anti-cults recently formed in the school. Some cultists got killed, some wounded and captured.
The few lucky ones were fortunate enough to run into hiding.

Like a bolt from the blues he remembered and longed to see again the beautiful face of his girl, Tonia.

"Come on, Stupid!!!" his mind yelled at him.
"Stop thinking piffle. Have you gone nuts. You almost died......infact you died and mistakenly resurrected because of her and here you are trying to worsen the whole situation. Boy, use your head."

He was quiet for a while but on a second thought he ignored the voice and waited for the day he would see her again.
..............................................................................................

"I thought i would never see you again." Julian said as they disentangled from the embrace.

Tilting her face a bit upwards he searched into those blue eyes of hers which seemed to be flowing like the deep blue see.
Tonia feeling guilty shifted her gaze to his chest.

"I thought i would never see you either." she managed to say in pretense. With a peck he walked her slowly to her bunk.

Tonia wanted to know what happened to him and without hesitation he told her of his ordeal.
He finally advised Tonia that in anything she does on earth, she should never put total trust in anybody.

Tonia filled him in on the recent happenings in school- the anti-cult saga, the friday night clubbing that ended in disaster, the fellowship drama night that was wow...
It was then he gathered that his friend Greg was involved in one of the shoot-outs and got himself killed in the process.

They discussed well into the evening before Tonia decided to see him off to his hostel as it was almost past visiting hours.

On her way back her phone rang.
"Tonia don't tell me that what I've been hearing is true." a voice sounded at the other end of the phone.

"What is it. Just go straight to the point girl."

"That Julian is back or is that his ghost?" her friend Jenny asked.

"Argh! Gossip girl. It's reached your ears already. Well you heard right and as a matter of fact, I just saw him off like three minutes ago."

"Gosh! too soon to jump back." Jenny teased.

"Jenny easy okay. I'll talk to you later." Tonia disconnected the call.

"Hmm.....my plan right now is to suck him dry since he doesn't want to leave me alone." she thought.
Almost immediately she smiled, realising she'd hit a jackpot.

............................***...........................

ToriEmManson: Julian RIP...how will Julian just die like that at the beginning ehn...James Bond no go dey again o#just thinking though#

Kudos vonn...shine brightly this month

Nah so I see am ooo..............maybe his brother will take over from here............................
Just my thoughts..........wait............lemme check my script again.

Unibenstudent: Sup uniben student

I see you bro

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

Julian was leaving the lecture hall after the test when he was accosted by his friend Greg with two other guys.

Smiling, Julian stretched his hand for that crazy handshake but was surprised at the attitude Greg put up towards him.

Greg moved further leaving just a few inch distance between them. With his eyes almost bulging out, he told Julian to get prepared to face the consequences.

Before Julian could ask for explanation, Greg was gone. Puzzled, he looked around but no one seemed to have noticed what transpired. All was concerned with his business.

"Has he found out that I was out that night?" he asked himself.

He knew that the worst thing that could happen to a student was being in bad terms with cults.

That was not a matter of friendship anymore. Even if his friend was with him,he wouldn't be able to do anything because of other members of the cult.
He had to do something and very fast too.

Unable to concentrate, he made up his mind to cancel the schedules for the day. He had to think up something quickly.

Back in his room, Julian walked over to a gallon to pour himself a cup of water when his phone rang.
He picked it up and saw the message on the screen which read:
Tonight........8 O'clock..........Garden.

That was it. Julian was in trouble. Garden was a place where scores between cults and enemies were said to be settled.

Julian tried to reach Greg but it was useless as he wouldn't pick the calls. He could hear clearly the ticks of the clock and knew that he had to go or he would be in more trouble.
He somehow wished that time would pass slowly but felt that it sped.

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

A hot slap and kick sent Julian sprawling on the ground.
All his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Thunderous kicks followed others amidst screams of protest from Julian. When they were exhausted, they moved aside for their leader.

Greg stood for a while staring at Julian groaning in pains. What fate had in stock for him was more than he could ever imagine.

Greg dragged him up but before he could gain balance, a heavy uppercut caught his jaw. The next place he found himself was on the floor, eating slaps and punches like hamburger.

"Guy wait, wait.....e be like say im don kpai." one of them said. Greg stopped and looked at the motionless body.

Without saying a word, he turned and looked at others. In a twinkle of an eye, the garden was deserted leaving Julian's brutalised body in a pool of blood.

Before noon, news of Julian's death had spread the school. People were wondering how a guy who meant no trouble could be attacked that way. Some said their minds able others being chameleon.

"He must have done something to them, that's why he met his doom soo soon." they said.

When Tonia got the gist, she was speechless. She thought about him as someone she saw the previous day.
How then could he be dead?
She was the one that had revealed to Greg that Julian was at the scene but was careful enough not to disclose her identity.
She had not wished Julian to be killed. She had only wanted him off her back but the way things had gone, there was nothing else she could do.

It was no longer her business but the dead's, she thought. Wiping he face with her palm, she turned back to her friends.

"Girl how far nah,you suddenly looked lost."one of her friends asked.

"Just thinking"
"O yeah. So how are you dealing with Julian's death?"
"How should I deal with it. Yes, he took me out the other day but that doesn't mean I should die with him, does it?" she asked no one in particular.
"He's dead. I should get on with my life."

"Yo! that's my girl" they hailed her but for one.
"You shouldn't be so blunt. Atleast you should be grateful. He loved you to........."

"Love my foot. Find that word in my trash can. Please let's discuss something better like our next meeting. It should be at the usual venue and time. There will be initiation of members so it sure would be a long night."

After discussing at length Tonia saw them off. She was a member of Black Bra, having been initiated twelve months ago when she was in her first year.

As days passed, it was gathered from an unknown source that Julian had been taken to his hometown for burial.
****************************************************************################################################

Update Loading........... ************
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My first update comes before 2.....please bear with me. Nah condition make.........

toykathy: This is just to appreciate all wonderful writers on this forum. Have been wanting to do this for a long time now, even if this isn't gonna put cash in your purse, but I'm sure it will put smile on your faces.
To all who inconvinient themselves to make the little time we spend here worthwhile and keep our companies with beautiful stories, on behalf of myself and my fellow readers, ghost readers, we want to say a big thanks to each and evry one of u. Bigger u we pray, more ink 2ur pens and may u find more happiness as u continue to make us happy. Thank u all.
Tiffanyj, Temitopedaniel, prettyspicey, queenxter, kayemjay, princesa, zuby77, repogirl, glowingscenes, vonn, flakkydagirl, royver, 360prince, larrysun, rapmike, davep, d9ty7, therock555, sammyhoe, bukkydan, exixlove, omoshelwa, stefikal, dorisbest, frank317, akinlex, divepen, uzolexis, underage, xeniaontopp, misshorlah, trixandra, ezepromoe, domawoleye and whole lot of others.
More ink 2ur pens and may God bless y'all.
#millionhugsandkisses#

Awww.......thank you soooo much for this. Writers are Happy when Readers are happy too. God bless you all.

TemitopeDaniel: Welcome ere sis Nancy.


Weldone Vonn, thought I'd meet anoda update this morning. Maybe me sef sud go and risk my life so that dem go agree....

Love this!

Risk your life? When I'm already here for you.

LogoDWhiz: Thanks for inviting me tee Dan.. I'm loving this..

Bonn well done..

Thank you dear

NEPA has really done me bad since yesterday ooo. No battery to type. Hope y'all understand. I'll see what I can do today. Patience please!!!!!!!!!!

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

Julian tried to turn but felt a piercing pain in his arm. The memories of the night came flooding back. He got steady before lifting himself out of the bed. His eyes darted towards his bed but Tonia was nowhere to be seen.

He looked at the wall clock and realised that it was 7:30am.

"She should have informed me before leaving."

Standing puzzled was exhausting himself so he just moved back to the bed and sat.

Looking at his arm, he observed that the affected part was swollen. So he made a mental note to visit the health centre after the two hours lecture that morning.

Julian got up and rushed a bath, got dressed in a long sleeve shirt and a pair of chinos trousers.

He decided to check for Tonia in her hostel. On getting to her hostel, he called her that he was waiting outside. Within five minutes,she came out and greeted him.

"Why didn't you inform me that you were leaving?"
"I did'nt want to disturb you" was her reply.

A shortwhile of silence passed. Julian was in thought on whether to ask her out without making himself a fool again.

When finally he gathered courage and let it out, she agreed to his utmost surprise. he had expected a negative response. What had happened to her?

"Emm...okay, what time would be more convenient for you?"

"Anytime you think is suitable" she insisted.

"Five-thirty then. I'll pick you up" he said getting up from where he was leaning on and Tonia nodded before they parted.

When he got to the lecture hall, he noticed that he was early so there were still vacant seats. The lecture lasted for an hour and thirty-five minutes so he still had enough time to visit the health center and and take some rest before evening.

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

"Where are we going to?" Tonia asked as they got into his car.
"Wait and see for yourself. It's somewhere you'll like to be, I bet."

Julian had received the car as a gift from his parents on his birthday two years previously. After driving for fifteen minutes, they halted infront of a de luxe resturant. Tonia glared at him in surprise.
Was he that rich to afford the bills or was he just trying to please her? she thought.

Julian got down and Tonia did same. Walking into the spacious resturant,they were directed to a table and greeted with a menu when they were seated.

After their orders had been made, the waiter left. Julian's eyes held hers for a moment before she, unable to withstand the gaze, looked away.

"Thanks for coming with me." he told her and when she didn't say a word, he took her hand in his and started a close examination.

They were interrupted by the waiter's arrival. Adorning the table were plates of richly garnished fried rice and salad with the cream. Julian said out a prayer before they started eating.

After that, they were served with dessert of egg omelette and fruit salad. Tonia ate to stisfaction and so did Julian.

The waiter brought the bill and passed it to Julian. Looking at it, he glanced at Tonia and her heart did a sumersault.
He shouldn't have brought me here for this kind of embarassment if he can't foot the bills. She thought.

Just then Julian dipped his hand into his pocket and produced a wallet. He counted the wads of notes and gave to the waiter, signalling him to keep the rest.

Back in the car, Tonia expressed her gratitude. Julian nodded and kept smiling. He was always very careful when it came to driving.

Finally, he got infront of her hostel and stopped. He bade her goodnight and waited till her figure disappeared before he closed the door and zoomed off.

..................................
.................................

Out of frustration he slipped into his slippers. The next thing he realised was finding himself running towards the hostel.

Was he in his right senses? How could he be so dumb after all the pieces of advice given to him by his mum and friend just because of a girl who obviously didnt even love him.

It is said that the day death comes knocking, the victim behaves like a fool.

Entering the compound, he noticed the potters lodge was empty as they had all run out for fear of the unknown.
With his eyes he searched for Tonia's room and at the same time looking out for danger.

He had to ascend a fleet of stairs to get to the second floor but knew that he could get caught in the process.
Hidden in a dark corner, he noticed a couple of girls trying to scale the fence at an end of the compound. Just then one of the cultists flashed his torchlight in their direction and that was when Julian sighted Tonia amongst the girls.

He watched in a confused state as the cultist sprang angrily towards them.
Why was his brain failing him at this crucial moment? He had to come up with something within seconds.

His hand felt something on the floor. He picked up the stone and hauled it at the guy. The stone got his rib and he fell on his side groaning.

Pulling Tonia, they ran as fast as they could. Although they managed to escape, that was not without Julian getting a knife cut on his left arm.

When they got to his room, he quickly made to his wardrobe for any worn-out and abandoned clothe with which he tried to control the bleeding. Then he fixed water on the stove to clean the cut.
Setting all he needed on a table, he sat and gave himself a first aid treatment.

All those while, not a word had passed between him and Tonia who had been sitting and just looking at him. His two roommates had gone out for a party and wouldn't be back till later in the morning, so they were alone.

When he was done, he looked up for the first time and realised that she was staring at him, probably searching for what to say.

"Thank you very much. I appreciate what you did out there...risking your life and everything."

"Oh, it was nothing much". He smiled and got one too.
"What matters now is your safety"
There was silence for some seconds before Julian let her know that she couldn't go back that night as it was still risky to do so.
He offered her the comfort of his bed while he took that of his roommate.

As he laid back, he heard faraway cries of victims cursing. Remembering the incident sent chills down his spine. Then he realised the meaning of what he did.

What if he had been killed while trying to form James Bond..... What if the knife had slashed his throat instead of his left arm.
All these thoughts made him have goose pimples. Hot beads of sweat rolled down his skin.

Getting up, he walked to his wardrobe and took out a sachet of pure water which he downed at once.
When he laid back he felt better though the pains in his left arm left him uncomfortable.

Stealing one last look at Tonia who with closed eyes was obviously finding it difficult to sleep, he drifted off into dreamland.
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Wishing everyone HAPPY NEW MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is gonna be a great AUGUST for us!

TemitopeDaniel: Wao! First to comment!
Aunty Vonn hy una stop for there? Abeg come continue ohh!!

Lol....Tee, I'm not Aunty ooo. I'm still a kid!!!!!