Alice laid still, her sleeping look gave off such innocence and frailty that for a minute she didn't seem like the same person whose life had suddenly taken a drastic turn for the worse, from one bad luck to another, as though a couple of gray haired, long nailed, toothless witches had cast an evil eye on her, long strands of hair fell across her face just in the right way, it brushed against her cheeks and the rest crept back along her ears until they fell down on the bed sheets, apart from her face and neck her entire body was enveloped, submerged under a warm definition of comfort masked in the form of a pink blanket, that looked rather too patronised by floral patterns.
The soft breeze touched at her face, it's invisible touch toyed with her hair as it pulled it even further away from her eyes, sensing the pat of the breeze she gently pulled her face up from the bed sheets, but it went back there the following second, her body adjusted under the sheets indicating she was about to wake up, her hands spread across the bed in a stretch followed by a yawn, and with that her eye lids slowly lifted up, what appeared like scarlet curtains dancing to the silent tunes of the morning breeze made what she saw look like a dream, she pulled her palm across her eyes, blinking a couple times more, she breathed out a sigh of relief.
Her eyes finally pulled away from the curtains and glanced round the room, carefully taking in the details, every item intricately placed, the paint on the walls was as white as day light, flawless without a stain, the air smelt fresh and clean, a wardrobe stood directly opposite the bed, she could see her reflection from it's mirror like doors, pulling herself up a sudden sting erupted from her left shoulder, she hissed and held at it with her other hand, taking the effort and sheer will power to lift her body from the bed, pulling away her hair from her face, she stared again at the reflection, there were little bruises on her skin and a cut on her lip that shone a bright red with dried blood, she flinched again putting one leg down from the bed followed by the other, advanced easily towards the mirror doors to take a better look at herself, there might've been more bruises to other parts of her body as the little stings she sensed warned her of them, but it didn't feel like anything serious, other than the cut on her lip and a little redness following the heartless slaps the holligan kidnapper had released on her face repeatedly, she looked okay, but she hadn't rescued herself, someone had come to her aid, she remembered him having given the kidnappers a thorough beating, but then everything went dark before she had the opportunity to see his face.
it could've only been one person, only he would've known how to find her, somehow even while she had been kept hostage by her captors she hadn't faltered in hoping he'd be alright, other than him being the only one who knew the truth behind her present condition, he was the only one who could protect her, but this was a strange place, and worse still it didn't look close to anywhere she was familiar with, but again whoever lives here could'nt have had a bad intention towards her, it seemed to be the only reason she was alive and well, she stared at the mirror one more time, taking careful thoughts and rethinking going out the door now, that's when she noticed what she was dressed in, pyjamas ? she questioned, careful not to make a sound, that had'nt been what she wore before now, but then she remembered her clothes having been ripped off her body forcefully, her body restrained as he rummaged her skin with his mouth.
" Pig " she cursed at the thought.
Finally taking the bold step she approached the door and reached for the handle, took a deep breath and pushed it open, the living room was just as intricately designed, with a bouquet of flowers fairly trimmed to perfection popping out of a vase that looked equally expensive, but just like the room, it was also empty. Following the chirping and bird songs that invaded the room she moved towards the door that led out of the house.
The outside was even more beautiful than the inside, the air obviously cooler and smelt divine as it carried the fragrance from the field of carefully planted flowers, she hadn't noticed that there wasn't a step down from the foot of the door, still engrossed by the view of the garden and basically every other thing, she dropped her leg and soon found herself falling on the hard cold tile she had earlier admired.
It took a second, and then three, she had earlier let out an unconscious cry right before she slipped, but something held her back, the feeling of a firm hand at her waist, she opened her eyes and he drew her up, turning around, a familiar pair of eyes stared back at her, she could tell he had been worried, his demeanor oozed concern, she hadn't realized how close they stood now, he still held her upperarm, and she had never felt more safe being this close to anyone before, she didn't mind.
" Are you alright ? " he finally questioned, looking at her as though she were to fall down any minute now.
This was hardly the time to allow herself give in to such temptations, she hadn't felt like this before, it was probably because he had been three when she needed him the most.
" Alice " he called softly, haven noticed how speechless she had grown, without tearing her eyes away from him.
" Yes " she answered.
" Are you okay ? " he questioned again, this time giving her a concerned look once again.
But she could barely utter a response, at least not before a resonating boom tore away the silence, shocking her back to reality.
Maybe it wasn't over after all.
. The sudden blast ripped her eyes away from his as they both stared in the direction where it came from, at a distance a slender figure emerged from the array of trees, she sashayed, swaying her hips so confidently as if she owned the place, Alice couldn't make out exactly who she was, but looking again at Sunday he didn't seem bothered, the closer the mysterious lady got, the more Alice could make out her features, she had a slim but strong pose, a blue jean tightened against her hips, and a white polo top hugged her posterior, she wore dark shades that made it impossible to see her eyes, and for some reason she could already picture what her back side looked like, this was inappropriate, there were other important things, like how she had almost been raped, what happened to her abductors, if they had a lead on Fasting, or what could be done to give her her life back, she hadn't imagined that instead of all those details she would be more concerned about a complete strang
Sunday led the way, opening the door into a slightly smaller room when compared to the others, Alice stared jaw dropped at what had possibly been the most sophisticated pieces of modern technology packed in one place that she had ever seen, the screens, five of them to be exact hung from the wall of the room, running with numbers and codes that she couldn't understand, it reminded her of something she saw from the matrix the way the numbers kept on rushing through. She recognized Susan, who stood merely inches away from the young man that kept on clicking and clacking away at the keyboard, that figure of her's was almost impossible to miss despite the fact that she stood with her back facing the door, she held a glass of champagne in her hand, and still had that revolver tucked in her back pocket, as intimidating as ever, Alice equally recognized Reuben, who had been in the dinning room earlier, he too had his attention fixed on whatever it was the tech guy was do
Alice couldn't bring herself to sleep even though she needed it, she was so worried about them it made her head throb, she wondered how dangerously foolish the plan was, as if walking into the lion's den wasn't enough, they had to call the devil to be a spectator. Fasting was dangerous on his own without having to lure the CSS, even if no one noticed them because of the mask, anything could happen, someone could easily just rip it off their faces and that would be it for them, that would be the end of it, and the more she thought about it, the more it made no sense, but again theses weren't just ordinary people, they were trained agents, prepared for anything, surely they would be able to handle it if anything went rouge, surely, she hoped, but even that didn't do much to douse the flames of her anxiety. Staring at the ceiling, that obviously looked as expensive as virtually almost everything in the house did, she wondered again if the operation was going as plan
Everything was going as planned, they had arrived at the place, the grand white baker hotel, the bugs were all fixed, and the fake data had already been sent to alert the CSS, all they had to do now was wait. Susan sat beside Sunday in the passenger seat of the car, she studied the surrounding with a telescope, taking in the most minute details, but so far nothing appeared suspicious, only pedestrians, hawkers, and flashy cars that kept on driving in and out through the hotel's gate. Neither Fasting nor his client had arrived yet, that would give them some time to go over the plan again, or so she thought. " Any sign of them ? " Sunday questioned " Nothing yet, " Susan responded. " You do remember the plate number David had given us right ? " Reuben
There wasn't any room for mistakes, Sunday and his team would only have one chance to grab Achademsi and his body guards, and only a few minutes to impersonate them before Fasting would realize they were imposters. As soon as the elevator doors sealed shut, Sunday, Susan and Reuben took to the stairs, and David helped them track Achademsi, they communicated with the mini earphones he had handed them earlier, and he told them the exact floor Achademsi was heading to, the second floor. They arrived just in time to catch Achademsi leave the elevator, he walked into the bar, and a young lady guided him and his guards to a seat. The bar was filled with people, Fasting had deliberately arranged this meeting with Achademsi in this particular place, at this particular time of the day, the more people around, the fewer the chances would be of him getting caught by the CSS, blending in the crowd would help make his escape a quick and easy one.
The hotel's interior was even more of a spectacle than the outside. An exquisite fountain stood at the very centre of the drive way, a drive way that counted only enticing cars, the kind that the normal people of Lagos referred to as machines. They had good reasons to, these so called machines were worth more than the net worth of most lagosian families combined, but Sunday and his team couldn't care less about the interior of the hotel or the worth of the cars, they had a bigger mission, and right now, that was going after Fasting's client. They blended well seeing as their car was equally a work of art, it didn't just look expensive, it was expensive, and that was a good start. &nbs
Sunday thought nothing could possibly make him hate fasting more than he already did, for his whole life, and for the most part of the period he had worked with the CSS, his sole mission had always been to find Fasting and his goons, and put an end to their drug ring, but unfortunately, that had led to him neglecting his own family, himself, and his sister. After loosing both their parents, she was all he had left, and yet he couldn't even keep her safe, he had failed her, he had failed in his promise to protect her. Catching Fasting wasn't just about accomplishing his mission anymore, it wasn't just about his ego or settling a score, this was way personal, it was about avenging his sister, and right now that was all that mattered to him. In the end h
A man wearing a white sleeve, long gray pants and a jacket walked through the doors of the white baker hotel, his hands tucked into his pocket while his eyes scanned the room as he strolled towards the receptionist, giving her a friendly nod accompanied with a charming smile. He looked like every other regular resident, or potential resident of the hotel, at least that's what the ordinary person would think, right before anuone even considered exchanging pleasantries. " Good morning sir, how may I help you " the receptionist asked calmly. " I would like a room please, " he replied. " Any particular requests ? " she asked while clicking at the keyboard, with her eyes fixed on the screen. " 2nd floor, " he responded . " 2nd floor, luxury suite, " she
Alice couldn't help but feel disturbed at the fact that they were at someone else's house yet again, their presence in the house of their host obviously threatened the man life, as they were still being chased by Fasting and the CSS. Sunday had tried to make her understand in the shortest and fastest way he possibly could, he didn't want her to feel like she was the reason why this man's life would be threatened. He had said a few things, how the man had been his mmentor and a true friend when he had joined the CSS, Cornelius had always been someone Sunday looked up to, he had every reason to follow Cornelius's instruction, after all Cornelius was the reason why he had joined the CSS in the first place.
Cornelius was a well to do man, despite having retired from his previous position as an agent of the CSS years ago, he was still very fit and lived quite a fairly comfortable life with his wife and twin daughters. Cheryl and Constance, beautiful bright young girls, they weren't exactly the spitting image of their father, but what they lacked in appearance, they made up to him in complexion and wit. Cornelius loved his family, and he cared about them more than he did himself, there wasn't a successful CSS agent alive who was without enemies, and enemies always preyed on the weaknesses of their adversaries. But Cornelius was smart enough to send them to a secure place, before his enemies could get to them. He had hesitated initially to part with them, but after the attempt to kidnap
If memories served her right, Alice knew this wasn't the first time she was meeting this particular police officer, he had seen the fight between Sunday and the other agents, and tried to intervene. Which would have cost him his life had he not been a good fighter on his own. He managed to fight off some of the agents, taking his fair share of significant blows of course, but luckily he hadn't been shot, however he wasn't so lucky to dodge the gun that hammered against the back of his head suddenly, and made him lose conciousness. Alice knew she had to have seen him somewhere, the only question now was where exactly.
Thud ! thud! thud! thud ! Sunday could hear them coming, hard footsteps pounding against the floor as the men approached the room where he hid with Alice. Sunday wasn't sure exactly how many they were, but by the sound of their footsteps, he could say roughly ten to fifteen. Well armed, well trained. He had been hiding out with Alice in the house ever since he almost died of the wounds he got when Fasting shot him. It has been three days already, and ever since then they had stayed low. Sunday knew he wouldn't be able to hide for too long, sooner or later the agency would track him down, Thomas and Shola were traitors who worked with Fasting, with their help Fasting would get to him in no time.
The last thing Sunday remembered before he passed out was Alice trying to keep him conscious, he thought he would've died that night, he hoped he had died, at least then he would be free from the guilt of having disappointed his sister everytime. Yes, Fasting was still alive, and once again Sunday had failed. With the help of agent Thomas and Shola, Fasting had escaped, Reuben as well as Susan had been shot, and no one knew if they were still alive. Sunday had been able to take the bullet intended for Alice, and it had almost killed him. However he was far from dead.
Alice had felt like someone dropped the weight of the world on her shoulders the moment she saw the video of her mother, father and brother being gagged and beaten by Fasting's thugs. Fasting had threatened to kill them before, but they had been able to escape before he could do anything, at least with that Alice's heart could rest easy, even though she had no idea where they had escaped to, she was content and hopeful, praying they would all be fine. Anywhere is a better option than being held hostage with little or no chances of survival. Last she heard about them, they had been lucky enough to run into one of her uncles who was a military personnel, at least with him and his squad protecting her family, they were safe for now. &
" What are you even saying ? " Alice asked, staring at Sunday as if he had said something outrageous, he seemed fully aware of just how ridiculous he had sounded just now, because he didn't say a word in his defense. " You are still hurt, " Alice said, rising to her feet she glared at Sunday, " the agency is still after you, Fasting is after you, we don't even know where Reuben and Susan could be, we don't even know if they're still alive, you can't just run off knowing about all of this . " Alice said again, trying her best to reason with Sunday. Sunday fell speechless hearing Alice's words, he knew her words proved true all too well. Judging from their present situation, as well as the threat that lied in wait, going outside was suicide. They
Alice rested her head on the bed where Sunday slept, she had fallen asleep a while ago, but it was already morning, she hadn't been able to get much sleep, truly, she had barely gotten any sleep at all. Taking the bullet out of Sunday's chest was an ordeal, the biggest and most dangerous thing Alice had ever done in her entire life. There was so much blood, so much pain, so many things that could go wrong, Alice was no doctor, the only thing she knew about bullets wounds if she knew at all, was that they bled a lot, they put you in a world of excruciating pain, and yes, they are impossible to look at. But somehow she had overcome that fear of blood and managed to pull out the bullet from Sunday, he would live . Sunday clearly was no stranger to bullet wounds, he had the scars to show for them, forget scars, he
Blood trailed behind them as they dragged along the dark, silent road. Sunday had been badly hurt, and the longer his wounds stayed untreated the more chances were of him bleeding to death. If it had been during the day or even in the brighter hours of the evening, they might've seen someone willing to help them. But it wasn't early, it was late, dark and as quiet as a grave yard. Alice tried her best to help Sunday get help, and hopefully get away from the goons that were after them, she looked behind her several times, nothing was in sight, the darkness like a blanket had covered it all. Even if anyone had been there, she wouldn't have been able to see them.