GHOST (The Shadow in the Dark)

Part five

           The stares I received as soon as I entered the lecture hall was disturbing. I had been Dr. Bright’s last victim before he was attacked. I followed some of their stares to the phone I was holding, I quickly put it in my bag but it was too late. They knew it was the phone he seized. No one boldly came to accuse me but the glares were enough accusations. Once again, I could not concentrate throughout the lecture, neither could I scribble anything on my note. 
As students trooped out of the lecture hall, I felt a tap on my back and turned. I did not know him, just one of the familiar faces who always loved staying at the back and spent all the time making noise with their gang. I heard they were probating hundred level.
“Which levels your guy dey?” he asked.
“I don’t understand.”
I turned to see that the class was almost empty and just the boys remained. I tried to walk out but was blocked by one of them.
“You nor won answer, I know say nor be our own. You know say we dey treat who give Dr. Bright fuck up.”
“I wish I understand all this gibberish you are saying.”
I was still blocked from moving out.
“See this girl oh, she think say you dey ask am and she fit decide say she nor one talk.”
I knew the last speaker, he was also in English Education and he was rumored to be a cultist. This was not the shit I wanted my life to become. I did not like the fact that I had not been able to focus on the reason I came to school. My zombie life had been simple. Did Ghost not know I could be arrested by the law if Dr. Bright pointed me out as a suspect? Or I could be in trouble because he had boys who protected his evil acts? I was sure he did not care, I was just the link to the file he wanted.
“I don’t have any business with you and I have important things to do.”
This time, I pushed him out of the way and he was not expecting it. I was at the B series corridor and running down the first floor, I did not turn back till my foot touched the last stair. They were standing by the rails watching my movement. I had another class at my department but I felt like not going. I was going to be sick. I walked to the faculty car park and sat down same seat I had sat down the other day. There were just five people on my roll. I brought out my phone and sent a message to him.
‘You think you saved me?’
It sent but no response.
‘You are not helping me, you are breaking the deal, stay out of my school activities.’
Still no response.
‘What satisfaction do you get from tormenting me? He will report me as a suspect and I hope you enjoy my suffering.’
‘He can’t report you, I made sure of that.’
Finally a reply but not what I wanted.
‘Leave me to handle my school business, he did not deserve this treatment.’
‘Now you are defending a rapist, I did him a favor.’
‘Seriously? You are worse than him.’
‘How?’
‘You are working for the killers of my family, you are killing men just to blackmail me and force me into….
I paused, I did not know what to write.
‘becoming a willing partner, that is also rape.’
‘I still remember every details of you pushing your body to me and raising your legs to have a deeper taste of me, you harassed me Ella not me.’
‘I did not give you permission to kiss me.’
‘You must be a dullard to forget you offered yourself willingly to me.’
I wanted to scream out my frustration, replying him would not do, I wanted to tell him I did not offer my body to him, I wanted to shout and scream and kick something and tear and punch.
‘Leave me alone, get lost and get out of my life, I hate you.’
I wished he could feel all the emotions I used in typing the text.
‘Okay’ he replied almost immediately.
This was not what I was expecting, I just knew there was more to it but I was having headache and needed to sleep. Lecture was over for me because I was not concentrating, I needed to fix my life. I stood up to go back to Ekosodin but people started running as soon as I had crossed the road. There was no particular way they ran, just different directions. The faculty park for busses was empty in a jiffy. Elderly Ekosodin residents who used the school as route to different destinations were running back to Ekosodin, a woman stumbled and fell on the ground and immediately started shouting for people to help her but no one responded. Everybody was taking cover but I stood there confused on what was going on, then I felt his presence but there was something different from the other times, it felt more like my emptiness was getting filled but there was also fear and dread because my mind was totally against the invasion my body wanted. I turned round to sight him but felt ridiculous. Even if I saw him, I wouldn’t know. The feelings wouldn’t even help because it was not pulling me to any particular direction, it was permanently with me so I could not use it to find him. What I was sure of, was he must be behind the panic, then it all made sense. I had broken the deal and somebody was dead.
“No” I screamed running back to the park and towards the ebelebo tree by UNIBEN faculty security office where people were already gathering. They had stopped running.
I was wrong, somebody did not die, three people died, just one face was familiar, the others were new.
“I still don’t understand what happened. There was no sound of any gunshot but they were all hit by bullets and they are all confirmed dead” a security man said with a walkie talkie.
I turned to get a glimpse of some of the undercover policemen I had seen earlier but no sign of any of them. They would not even be able to show themselves because they were on undercover. The ground where the three dead men laid was soaked with blood and more was still pumping out of their body, the skull of one of them was opened and I could see what was inside. The three were hit on their head, he did not miss his shot. I ran away from the gruesome sight and found myself throwing up. I was not the only one, some girls were also throwing up.
I stood up and covered my mess with sand then started running. I ran all the way to my hostel. I could still feel him and I knew he was following me but I did not care, he already knew my hostel.