GHOST (The Shadow in the Dark)

Part Eleven

      I had an impromptu test during my last lecture for the day and I knew I wrote rubbish and I would be battling to avoid F during exams. He was ruining my present and future, that was if I had one. As my course mates trooped out, I saw Ken coming to my seat.
“Hope you wrote something?”
He sat down on the empty space close to me.
I shook my head in response.
“Is it that you did not read or you are still very distracted?”
I did not answer nor look his way. I concentrated on my note like I was reading something. He held my hand and there was no feelings, I felt nothing, I knew what would have happened if it was Ghost and it made me ashamed.
“Can I take you out?”
He had finally decided to go straight to the point.
“Why?”
“You need a distraction, I really want to know what is troubling you. I can help.”
He would only end up as one of the casualties.
“I can’t tell you.”
“It’s okay, I won’t pressure you but don’t let it disrupt your studies.”
I did not respond, somehow I just did not like his presence.
“So will you go out with me?”
“You have lots of girl tripping for you why me?”
“You are different and unique. You are very beautiful but you always do everything to hide it. You are not like those girls and I have always been attracted to you.”
“I’m not interested in any relationship now.”
“It’s okay, can will be friends, reading friends?”
I wanted to say no but I remembered Ghost.
“Just reading friends?”
He nodded.
“Okay.”
His smile was captivating and those dimples were distracting. He brought out a paper and pen for me to write my number.
“I know you won’t agree to come to my place, what if we use empty classrooms?”
I looked at him and wondered what I just got myself involved in. He was handsome but I felt bored being around him. I nodded.
“Good, I will call.”
He left and my phone blinked.
‘When a guy ask you ‘can we be friends’ after you’ve rejected him, it means ‘can we start with friendship before dating?’
‘Yes’ means I’m giving you another chance to ask me out later.’
‘Thanks for the relationship tip, maybe I’m giving him the chance to work his way to my heart.’
‘That’s why he is not my competition.’
‘Wait and see.’
‘That’s the issue, time is running too slow and this waiting to see you in the night is not working, but I will still wait.’
I remembered the message I had sent earlier and re-sent it.
“You are evil beyond redemption’ but it still bounced back as not sent.
             As I waited for him, I wished he would cancel and let me be for the night. It was already past nine. My phone started ringing, the number was unknown.
“Hi Ella.”
It was Ken.
“Ken.”
“Sorry I am calling late, will you be free tomorrow night?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, lets’ study during free time tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“Goodnight.”
I did not answer, I dropped my phone without checking if he had cut the call. The feeling I had when talking to him was the same feeling I got from watching a very boring movie and I just did not know why. My phone blinked.
‘Come outside.’
     The night was not pitch dark neither was it clear enough. The stars looked like they were being forced to wake up and the moon seemed to be having a beef with the sky. There was light but nothing like streets light. Just stores which were not powerful enough to illuminate everywhere. He was on same bike with same bag.
“Your hair is beautiful.”
I had to lose my hair to prevent him from seeing another reason to take another life. I stood there watching him.
“Ella let’s go.”
“You are destroying me, why are you doing this to me? Why can’t you just kill me? If I die, that file won’t ever be discovered because I’m the last person in my family. You are torturing me, forcing me to do things against my will. Please can you give me my life back, or just kill me?”
I just could not explain what came over me. I was crying and it was from the depth of my heart. I was going out with a soulless murderer who had no value for human lives and that was not the worst part. I kept enjoying his presence and his touch. My body kept yearning for his touch. I was just messed up in every way.
“Three seconds and I’m off.”
And the worst part of my messed up life was I kept expecting him to change, I kept thinking there was still hope for him to become a bit human. I rushed at the bike when I noticed he was almost moving.
I cried all the way to the river and I did not bother to look his way as he fixed the tent. I did not protest when he gave me a spectacle and told me to enter the shelter.
I sat knees raised and placed my head on my knees and I just let the tears flow. I raised my head after I have exhausted my tears. He was eating unperturbed by my tears. He did not even ask me if I had eaten, he was becoming worse each day. I watched him finish the food and put back the empty flask in a small bag.
“You know you did a good job. I heard indigenes discussing about the herdsmen who were beaten by a poisonous snake. Some said their charms against snakes must have failed them. People are now afraid to come to the river because they believe the snake is still around, if only they knew they are right.”
He did not answer, he just looked at me. I wished I could see his face, at least know who I had kissed and yearned for. What if he had a monstrous face? I hated that beauty and the beast story, just didn’t know why.
“I won’t say I’m handsome but I’m sure I’m not ugly.”
He knew what I was thinking about .
“If you are that good why hiding your face? Why are you afraid I will be able to describe you and you will be caught?”
“There are just three categories of people who can see my face. My family, those who will not even remember seeing me among the crowd of faces they had seen, and then my targets. But not all my targets see my face. They have a higher chance of surviving if they don’t see my face.”
“Then which category am I in?”
“You have the answer to your question.”
“That’s a way of saying I’m a subject for now but will become a target when you have the file.”
He did not respond.
“Why can’t you just kill me now? Is it too much to ask for. I’m sitting here trying to figure you out, wondering what I will do in future and who will die as a result of it. You were right, there are things worse than death and I’m experiencing one now. I can’t get over the number of policemen who have died because of me, their lives are hanging on a balance and I have to do anything to keep them alive.”
“Is that what the D.P.O told you? Police officers?”
I kept quiet
“What did he say about me?”
I kept quiet.
“Ella.”
That calm voice. I opened my mouth and spoke very fast.
“That you are working for one of people in the list. He said he is not sure if you are working for one Mohammed, a senator.”
He did not say a thing, he just watched me. The silence was too loud. He finally spoke after some minutes.
“Why do you hate Hausas and Fulanis?”
“Can I choose not to answer?”
He shook his head.
“You are forcing me to share every private thing about me, it’s not fair. I don’t know you, I have no idea what you look like.”
No answer.
“They killed my family.”
“Who told you that?”
“I thought you already know so much about me? Did you not study the part where my family were murdered by Fulani herdsmen? My step-mum was raped and butchered, my kid brothers Efe and Maro were not shown mercy. They were just three years and three months. My dad was also butchered and Grandma had slept and did not wake up. The worst part was one Umaru, my dad’s biggest client was among his killers. Then there was a soldier who could have saved them, he could have alerted the military but he did not. He watched my family die, he is Hausa too. The army even refused to prosecute him.”
“I read and studied everything about you but I never came across the story of the soldier.”
“The D.P.O told me. I could not follow up using the media so he updated me. Two police officers were killed during a shootout with the twelve herdsmen. One Musa was arrested and he confessed that the soldier was their friend and it was actually the solider who killed one of the policemen.”
“Then why can’t you just hate the criminals? Why the whole tribe?”
“I choose who to hate and I have nothing to explain about. The D.P.O is from my tribe and his life is always in danger because they see him as an enemy.”
“The one you should fear is the D.P.O because the friend you don’t know is more dangerous than the enemy you know.”
“Any more questions?”
“No.”
“Can I ask?”
“No.”
“Will you stop if I offer you enough money?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“It’s against the code.”
“So criminals have a code?”
He did not answer.
“Is there any way to appeal to the humanity left in you? You are also destroying my future, I wrote a test today and it was terrible.”
He did not answer.
“Please, I promise to help get that file, just don’t use every opportunity to kill those men. I don’t want to see any more dead bodies.”
No answer.
“And please don’t intervene in my academics, I can’t concentrate and I’m being tagged as the girlfriend of a cultist.”
“Then Ken must be very bold, if he believes you are dating a cultist he won’t ask you out.”
   “I have been saying a lot since but you chose to answer this?” I shouted.
No answer.
“Did you have to stab him there? Very soon the rumor will spread to my course mates and I wonder how they will see me.”
“Dr. Bright is a very lucky man. He just needs to heal and go back to normal. He is lucky he did not encounter my sister.”
“You have a sister? You are really human? You have a sister?” I shouted.
“A crazy sister who would have castrated him. There would have been no need for hospital because she would have treated him.”
I tried to imagine what he said but could not. The picture he was trying to paint was not believable.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I was never trying to convince you, I was just stating a fact that my sister wouldn’t have been so lenient to a confirmed rapist.”
I did not want to know how he confirmed Dr. Bright was a confirmed rapist.
“So you are telling me that your sister is also not human.”
“I will prefer crazy, a definition of sweet but poison.”
“So your family runs an assassin business?”
He did not answer but moved close to me, he was so close that I could feel his breath.
“Don’t touch me”
He was trying to touch my cheek but I shifted away, I knew how my body would react and I did not want it.
He did not listen but instead pulled me to him and forced me to sit between his legs, then used his hands to wrap me in.
“You are cold, the weather is a bit chilly.”
“I never knew you cared so much. You think there is a difference to what you are doing and what Dr. Bright did?”
“Ella did your dad show signs that he was worried?”
I wanted to ignore him, I wanted to just have the power to snub him but I knew the consequence.
“No..” but then I remembered.
“Yes, he said he was having some stress at work. Grandma had noticed he was looking lean.”
“Did he not elaborate?”
“No.”
“There was nothing in the cathedral.”
“Then he did not bring the file home.”
“He did. The man wrote that your dad told him he was going home to hide it where only you can find.”
I tried to think of any secret place I shared with my dad but there was none.
“There should be Ella, maybe somewhere you used to visit together.”
“The D.P.O has asked me something like that and I gave him same answer, there is none apart from…”
I paused.
“Ella.”
“My mum’s grave, but we did not visit the grave.”
“Your mum’s grave was already visited before I got there.”
I had almost forgotten there were many of them looking for the file.
“Have you also been eliminating your rivals?”
He did not answer but spoke after some minutes.
“Are you sure you are okay? Your body is warm.”
“That’s the best news I have heard in days, maybe nature will kill me before you do, saving me from extra tortures.”
I did not know what was wrong with what I said because he became stiff.
“You think your death will set my targets free?”
“I wish I understand your question.”
He did not answer but pulled me closer, his hand on my hair.
“Your hair is beautiful.”
I did not answer because I was loving what he was doing to my scalp and how his hand was running round my hair like he was massaging it. I struggled to make my body reject the feeling.
“Ssssh, relax Ella, for once stop battling with your body, Just feel. You need rest.”
“The only rest I need is freedom from you.”
“I wish I can grant you that but it’s not possible.”
I was angry, very angry. I turned to look at him and he did not stop me. I wished I could tear off his mask and gouge out his eyes.
“Enjoy your captive” I said putting all the hatred I could summon.
“With pleasure”
His lips was on mine and before I could comprehend his response, I was already opening for him. I was really cold, I never realized how cold I was until our lips touched. The ice in my body started melting and at the same time heated up. I wanted the heat to fill me up and remove the remaining ice. I pushed myself against him and something told me my top was obstructing the heat from circulating. My hands automatically pulled his hands away from my neck and guided it to my waist. His hands were inside my top and the way his rough and strong hands were running through my body but avoiding my breast was excruciating, I needed the heat there, I pushed my breast to his chest and his groan sent liquid fire running between my legs but he still did not touch my breast. I pulled my hands down to his shirt but as I tried to raise it, my hand grazed something hard and swollen bringing back my sanity. I tried to pull away but he still held on. Fear immediately replaced my excitement and it became panic when he pushed me to the mat. Then suddenly he was off me and outside the tent.
     I was still in panic state when he returned. I could see the bulge and I found myself shifting back.  There was nothing I could do if he decided to force himself on me.
“You keep fearing the wrong thing.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Till it enters your skull.”
He moved closer. There was no escape because he was blocking the entrance.
“Are you going to rape me?”
I blurted it out.
He did not answer but pulled me back to my former position. I did not resist him, it was foolishness to. He did not say anything and because I was very conscious of him, I noticed there were no more hardness and bulge. I was going to study how the male organs worked. It did not take away my panic but it at least reduced it.
“There is a new rule.”
I did not answer, I just waited for him to continue.
“Don’t go anywhere unless I tell you to.”
“Why?”
“I am not suggesting for you to ask why. If you want less death do as I say.”
“Less death? I thought the deal was no death.”
“The deal was if I’m not offended.”
“Ghost please I will do anything but no death.”
“This is the first time you are calling my name.”
“Please.”
“Anything?”
“Yes as long as there is no death.”
“Can I have sex with you?”
He took me unawares, it was a perfect way to say he did not rape me.
“You know I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I’m a Christian, it’s a sin to have sex before marriage.”
“You are using religion to say no.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I thought Christians are supposed to abstain from all sexual immorality? Why kiss and romance me if you don’t want sex and why hate Hausas and Fulanis when you have been told to love?"
I did not answer because I had no answer. He had been the one to kiss me but I had been the one to kiss him back.  
“See, that’s why death will be inevitable for my targets. They are increasing and they are becoming desperate because they now have an idea of who I am.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It is better to eliminate a witness with the evidence if there is no more means of having the evidence. They know that my presence indicates they will never get their hands on the evidence, so the best thing will be to take you out before you find it.”
“You mean your competitors.”
“If you call it so.”
“Then why don’t you just join them and kill me?”
“Not when I’m sure I will get the evidence.”
“Because you have me in check and chains.”
He did not answer but started massaging my scalp again.
“So am I permitted to go for my lectures tomorrow?”
I made sure he heard the mockery in my voice.
“Yes but don’t leave the class till I say so.”
“Or I can leave and allow them kill me, that is the best way to save those policemen.”
He stopped his movement and became very stiff.
“If you come out and get killed, just know as you are entering the underworld that all the people you are trying to protect will be coming behind you.”
His voice was very calm, he was not bluffing.
“So in other words, even in death I won’t be free from you until you decide so.”
He did not answer but what he was doing to my scalp was making me feel sleepy and as I allowed sleep to overwhelm me, he spoke again.
“Emmanuella, what am I going to do with you?”