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2024-10-29 19:42:56"Who from hell is responsible for your pregnancy?” her father roared.
As a Preacher, he was furious after discovering that while he preached for couples to remain innocent of sexual intimacy till marriage, his own daughter had gotten pregnant under his roof.
“No…nobody.” she stuttered and immediately realized how foolish she sounded. Her father realized it too.
“Oh, so you just magically got pregnant?” he questioned, incredulous.
At this point, Inara’s mind had started working fast. She knew that she had to pin it on someone. But who? Who in her class was easy bait? Eric? No. He was a nerd and hardly spoke to anyone. Victor? No. Everyone knew that he was gay. Her friend Mike? It would be a betrayal. He was a nice guy and had a girlfriend. It would ruin their relationship.
So who? Alex in the choir? He was an alto singer like her and they often scored songs together. He would be devastated and it would ruin his reputation as a good guy in church. Besides, he had already told her that he loved her older sister Amara. So who again?
She was on her knees before her parents in their bedroom as she always was whenever they interrogated her over serious issues. It was just how she and her sibling had been brought up. And this time, she feared that she had crossed the finished line. Her life was about to change.
It was a tense atmosphere, the most it had ever been in her home. Her worried sister, Amara was outside the door, listening and her mother was mad with disappointment over her situation. It made her heart sink.
“Speak up!” her father snapped, “or by God, I won’t care if you’re pregnant. This whip will remind you of whose daughter you are.”
Inara was terrified and felt for her mother who was looking down at her with a disapproving frown across her face. Her mother didn’t talk much but her anger and disappointment was evident in her disappointed expression. Inara was deeply sorry that she had failed them.
“Are you dumb?” her mother shouted and she heard the whoosh of her father’s whip in the air. Inara flinched and before it could land on anywhere near her skin, she whispered the name Lemuel.
“What was that?” Her father questioned, his raised hand, pausing at midair.
“Lemuel.” she repeated in a louder voice, her head down.
“Who the sky is Lemuel?” he demanded, lowering the whip and tossing it aside so that it landed carelessly on the floor.
Inara didn’t know how to explain it. This was someone who was in her Extra moral classes but did not fit in. He wasn’t of her age grade which was late teens. He was in his early thirties and from whispers around, only there because he wanted a high school certificate in business before he would get into business school.
Word in campus was that he was already a Model and certified Civil Engineer. He had insisted on learning business from scratch. He hardly mingled with the students and often minded his business. Many girls were dying to be noticed by him which had never surprised her because of how attractive and coordinated he was but she simply saw his confidence as arrogance and self-importance.
She saw him as a guy who saw himself as better than everyone else which was probably why he didn’t mix up with the other students. The only persons he really mixed up with were the Lecturers. Maybe they respected him because of his self-importance or something, she had always reckoned with irritation, which had never made any sense to her.
“Who is Lemuel?” her father demanded again, cutting off her thoughts.
“My classmate.”
Her mother began to weep upon hearing that.
“She disgraces this family. How will I show myself in church?”she wailed.
“Oh my dear, we will show ourselves in church.” her father said in an ominous voice that was disturbing.
“How?” her mother asked him. “How is that possible with what she has done? People will laugh at us. They will say that we can’t practice what we preach. This is bad.”
“Don’t worry dear, our daughter is not having a baby out of wedlock. No way. That boy or whatever, is marrying her by fire or force.”
“Daddy no!” Inara cried out and that was when she started crying, the enormity of her situation, completely sinking in. At nineteen going on twenty, she had not cried in a long time, except when watching emotional movies. Her parents had stopped disciplining them some years back so there weren’t such episodes.
The reason they were so mad now was because of the current situation and she was overwhelmed with regret for putting herself in this sticky situation. It wounded Inara that she couldn’t turn back the hands of time. And the truth was that she was only in this condition because, she had been drawn into a game called The Last Dare.
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Dark Love 2
Memories of that night returned to her, vivid as sunlight rays casting their brilliant light upon the earth. What they called The Last Party had ended and all the guests were gone, leaving a messy living room for Inara and her friend Zee but that wasn’t their problem.Having nothing to worry about, they were seated over a deck of Whot Card game, willing to bet some part of their allowances already laid down on the floor as the house keeper in Zee’s home cleaned after the guests.Inside Zee’s room where they were, no one was winning and the game was getting boring hence, Inara dropped her remaining cards onto the furry rug in the middle of the room where they were seated.“I'm bored.” she complained to Zee. She was expecting Zee to demand for the backing out penalty fee but Zee didn’t do that. Instead, she seconded her move, laying down her cards as well.“Me too.” she admitted and they giggled about it.Inara liked Zee’s home because it was a free place. Zee’s parents were permissive a
Dark Love 3
To ensure that the dare was not to be taken for granted, Zee had them seal their oath in blood. Zee pricked their right thumbs with a needle and as blood trickled out, they pressed their wounds to each other’s and Zee led her through the oath in a solemn way like an experienced priestess of some dark cult.“With our blood, we do perform the last dare. We seal an oath to perform the dare we give each other and we agree that the dare will not be one that drives the other to take a life.”Afterwards, they both wrote a dare to challenge each other, agreeing that the dare had to be life changing. After exchanging the papers,
Dark Love 4
When Inara reached her home that night, her sister had come to open the door for her.“I heard the sound of your bike. I wasn’t expecting any rebel.” Amara commented.Inara forced a smile as she walked inside the house, doing a good job of hiding her pain or so she thought.“Trouble in paradise?” Amara asked after locking the door behind her and Inara was not expecting it but the weight of dismay and disappointment over the events at Zee’s place broke her down in that moment. She fe
Dark Love 5
Inara called Zee’s phone but there was no response from her. She contemplated paying her a visit in order to confront her about the strange message but instead, she rode home, unable to control the constant pounding of her heart.At home, after handing over Amara’s pringles to her, she went straight inside her bedroom and locked herself inside so that she could think or more like hide from the world. Flopping herself down onto her bed, she curled herself into the comforter, wishing that she didn’t exist. To her surprise, her phone rang and it was Zee, so she picked the call and listened.“How many nightmares have you had?” Zee asked, going straight to the point and Inara was surprised. She didn’t know that Zee knew about that.“How can you know about that? Did you have any too?” She asked, her voice a hoarse whisper due to the fear that she was feeling.“Yes.” Zee a
Dark Love 6
Suzy moaned as she rode her boss’s rigid manhood with pleasure. His labored breathing behind her ear was pure music to her ears. His deep voice alone could make her come and she loved everything about him. She would do anything for their relationship to be more than what it was.When he was employing her as secretary, he had told her straight away that what he wanted was one who would also attend to him sexually whenever he desired and she had accepted. For that, her pay was high.He had also warned that she co
Dark Love 7
Inara had barely slept at night due to her fears about the next day. She was about to pin a fake pregnancy on Mr. High and Mighty, the model with hazel eyes, a guy who barely knew her. It was scary and she had no choice but to go through with it.By morning, she was quickly dressed in a pair of black jeans and black T-shirt. Then she pulled her hair back in a ponytail and slipped her legs into a pair of black sneakers.The colors of her outfit reflected her state of mind, which was beyond melancholy. Hence, physically, she was prepared for the day but inside, she was lost and wished that she could run away. Her sister had come to see her, advised her to be strong and left for the gym.She had also heard her parents arguing afterwards with her mom saying that they didn’t need to force their daughter into a man’s home if the girl was unwilling to go. Her father was of the opinion that if that daughter was willing to sleep
Dark Love 8
At Future High, Lemuel knocked on the door of the Director’s office and let himself inside. There, he couldn’t quite figure out what he thought of the scene before him.The director, a somber faced man in his sixties, peeked at him from a pair of thick medicated glasses.A single seat was arranged at the left hand side of his table, while the right hand side was occupied by a couple and the plump girl from his class. What was she even doing here? he thought.There was a resemblance between the girl and the woman, so he figured that they could be a family. The woman was on the slim side though.Lemuel realized that he recognized the man as a Reverend who preached on Television. He generally didn’t like preachers because he had discovered that many of them twisted the scriptures to put money in their pockets. This one though had earned his respect when he heard whispers of how he lived an average lifestyle and spent most of his church funds on charity and missionary work.He also noticed
Dark Love 9
After the confrontation with Lemuel, Inara remained quiet and distant with a forced smile here and there as her family became cordial again. They were gradually accepting the state of affairs concerning her.Her father and Lemuel had exchanged phone numbers and he had told her that Lemuel said the wedding could take place in seven days and that he would formally have her engaged in two days. The information frightened Inara.Amara was excited but Inara didn’t share in her excitement for obvious reasons.***
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Dark Love Epilogue
One Year, Six Months Later The day was bright and sunny with a clear blue sky that was almost surreal. Heaven’s Vine had a full congregation witnessing the wedding ceremony between Nana and Feedwell. Reverend Anthony was officiating the ceremony at the altar where the love stricken couple stood, facing each other before him. In the congregation, Lemuel was seated beside Inara, her hand in his. He was wearing a navy colored suit while she was wearing a long peach colored dress. She looked radiant and a bit plump like a nursing mother. “I still can’t believe that I’m supporting those two.” He said, smiling. “They clearly broke the domestic rule.” Inara chuckled. “Because you love them.” She said. “They captured your heart.” “Just like you captured mine.” He said caressing her hand with a finger. She blushed. “Definitely, sir.” “Hmn. That’s true. They are very efficient and I will miss them.” “Why? They made it clear they weren’t leaving.” “I know but I’m sure it’s out of loyalty
Dark Love 79
The room was a six-by-six with soft ashen vinyl walls and low, level ceilings. A hospital bed fitted with leather restraints took up most of the floor space. High up on one wall was a solitary window. It had the translucent look of old Plexiglas and steel posts kept it barred.Detective Kyle was talking to a nurse who was already leaving them. She gave Lemuel a glance and walked away with a sullen face.The detective walked up to Lemuel.“This is Suzy’s room. She had a crazy moment an hour ago, kicking and screaming but has been stabilized. You’ll see her right about now.’’“Okay, I’m ready.”“Your conversation will be recorded and monitored by the Psychiatrist in charge of this place and other officers.”“I understand.”Shortly after, Lemuel was in a small room with the detective, a technical sergeant mounting a recording equipment and a male Psychiatrist in a white doctor’s coat who was in his sixties.Before them was a transparent glass that clearly showed a blank room fitted in the
Dark Love 78
“I should be aware of something like this.” Lemuel said furiously through gritted teeth. He didn’t want Inara knowing that something like that was going on. She hadn’t fully recovered from the trauma and the last thing he wanted was for her to know about what Milo had just told him.“The police detective thought it better not to tell you so that you can concentrate on taking care of your wife.”“That is not their call to make.”
Dark Love 77
The hospital sat on a headland overlooking the lake, enveloped in acres of emerald green trefoil that rolled and toppled into the city mist. It was a paragon of modest architecture, auburn-colored bungalows thrown unevenly around a two-story administration building, the compound veined with pebble pathways and flower beds, partly shaded by the spreading branches of shore live oak.Blade points of grey tile roof intruded upon a cerulean sky so untainted it bordered on the imaginary. At the intersection of land and sky, a single twisted city pine clawed at the sky. Beneath its swaying trunk, patches of yellow and blue lupine flowed like paint drips down a slanting green canvas.
Dark Love 76
Milo moved the seat-belt around Vann and belted her in. She was starting to panic, her eyes rounding with fright.“Hang on.” he said as he belted himself in.“Is the Officer following us a bad man?” Vann asked nervously.“Relax.” Lemuel said, “Even If he probably is, I’m sure he has orders from your beloved daughter not to harm a hair on your precious head.”
Dark Love 75
“What’s your name?” Lemuel asked the woman as he rose to his feet.“Vann.”“Get up. You’re coming with us.” he told her and the agent pulled her up to her feet quite roughly.“I’ll come willingly.” Vann stated. “There’s no need to be heavy handed with me.”“Desperate times.” Lemuel said and led the way t
Dark Love 74
“Is there somewhere you think she might be?” Lemuel pressed. “I really need to see her.”The woman shook her head and remained silent.“I’ve been trying her phone number but it isn’t connecting. Has she changed it like, does she have another one?”Lemuel pressed again.The woman hesitated and he suspected that she was not willing to divulge information about that. It w
Dark Love 73
The City’s bustling landscape receded as Lemuel rolled off one of the main express roads that gave way to a single lane road on which he drove for a few minutes until an arrow with a sign that said pal estate directed him northward.The estate was low cost and situated on a property line marked by a large flowering tree that shadowed low wooden gates. The gates were open, meant for décor rather than security.Lemuel parked across from the third apartment, which he knew, was Suzy’s and the agent parked behind him. Alighting from their vehicles, they both squinted at the harshness of the sun’s glare.Lemuel wondered where Inara was. Was she in a shelter or burning in the heat of the sun? Was she alive or dead? God forbid! He thought. She must be
Dark Love 72
The sun was out in its full glory, casting its shimmering rays across the horizon, scorching the earth and raising temperatures all around.In the woods, it was worse because there was no shelter but most of the wildlife didn’t mind and still carried themselves about. Birds flew, called and sang, perching atop branches of trees and surrounding hills while crickets chirped amidst varying sounds from different unseen creatures that filled the air as they wandered and basked at home in their habitat.Inara was not faring well. The forest wasn’t her element and under the heat of the sun, she was strapped to a dying tree with scan
