TWO YEARS AFTER
THE BRILLIANTS SCHOOL COMPLEX
It was a sports day at " The Brilliants School Complex". All the students were happily and busily getting ready for the match between the "Roses" and " Dandelions " of the school and Gisella's class was no different but no one was ready to mingle with her because of her nature.
" Come on, guys" Loretta mumbled as she trod pass Gisel along with her friends. " Let's join the rest at the field and leave this wiredo here– the sight of her alone disgust me" She chuckled as she pushed Gisella' s head, which made Bianca and Paola teased, giggling." Sure– such a bad luck she is." They all laughed as they sauntered out of the class.Gisella gazed at their back, pained and desolated. She was the only person left in the class with her ghost friend, Annabel." Is okay,Gisel– Just know that i'll always be your friend and will be by your side whenever you need me", Annabel consoled. She tickled her which made her burst out with laughter." stop it Ann, its tickling." She cried, just then, a voice intruded from behind them which made her flinch." What's tiickling,Gisel?– And why are you all alone, laughing all by yourself?, .who is Ann?" he queried on which made her swiftly raise her head towards the direction of the voice, panicked. It was Mr. David, their class teacher." Nothing, sir" She stuttered, rising on her feet. "I was just about leaving." she fidgeted with nervousness written all over her. Without further words, she swiftly picked her stuff and walked pass him hastily to avoid further questions.Mr. David just gazed at her back as she swiftly exited the close. " This girl is really strang..", he murmured with a shrug and left the class in a daze.**********************
THE SCHOOL'S LOCKER ROOMGisella hurriedly entered the room and locked the door behind her. She leaned on the wall and left out an inaudible sigh. " That was really close" She eluded. "Let me get ready before–""Before what, Gisel?" A voice interrupted. She instinctively raised her head to find who it was only to notice Loretta and her friends approaching from a corner of the room.Loretta snarled. "Actally, I feel like playing alone with you at the moment,wiredo– what do you think, girls?" She added, turning to Bianca and Paola. They nodded with a mischievous grin."Won't miss it for anything, Lore.– I think it's gonna be fun" Paola stated as they closed up on Gisel. She instinctively paced backwards. "I don't want to, Lore– please let me be" She cried but suddenly met a dead end as hit the locker behind her. She swiftly lurked around, its a complete dead end with no where to escape through.Loretta laughed, as she faced up with her. " Going somewhere? " She wittily queried which made Bianca and Paola chuckle."Nope, I guess not because there seem to be no way of escape for you, Gi– Or gonna call your invisible friends to come to the rescue? Oh, I'm suddenly scared" She teased and they all laughed expect Gisel who look so tensed and helpless at the moment. Before she could know, Lore pushed her so hard, causing her to fall to the floor. Her head smacked into the locker.She winced in pain, blood oozed down her head but Loretta just kept on, indifferent." Oops, does it hurt?, She chuckled. "Should I call the nurse or your evil powers will do, evil soul?" She uttered with a sneer about to hit her again but a hand suddenly held hers back in the air." Ouch, you're hurting me–let go off my hand!!" She yelled, trying to find out who it was but the more she struggled, the more the pain intensify."I'll break this your filthy hand if you ever dare touch her again!" He warned, his voice was so cold. He vehemently pushed her hand down, causing her to lose her balance. Bianca and Paola instinctively held her. After gaining her balance, she swiftly turned to see who it was but was puzzled at who she saw."Desmond ?" She eluded. Her cold aura suddenly turned warm and seductive as she neared him. "What are you doing here, dear and how does my issue with Gisel concern you– you rather had to be on my side and not hers?" She added in an arrogant, flirting tone. He instinctively pushed her away." Get over yourself, Lore!– I know what you've been doing to the poor girl since grade 2. " He roared which made Lore and her friends tremble with fear. "You better be careful this time because henceforth, whenever you attack her, know that you're asking for my trouble as well.– Now, get lost!!""Fine!, we're leaving" She shouted, glaring at Gisel who just sat on the floor,gazing at them. She instinctively stared away when Loretta's eyes met hers."Let's get out of here, girls" She called to her friends and took the lead. Bianca and Paola hurriedly sped after her, they couldn't stand a second of Desmond's presence. After he was sure they had left, he crunched down at Gisel's side. " Let me help you" he mumbled with a stretched hand,staring at her face. He wore a beautiful contagious smile which made Gisel smile back with a pale face. "Can I be your friend" He queried on. She just gazed at him puzzled."Umm, are you sure about this?" She asked, skeptical."Yeah, are you okay with that?" "Yeah, why not– thanks for the hand earlier as well " She answered sheepishly. Desmond is the most handsome guy in her class. He's a sports maniac and every girls dream boyfriend. She had long had a crush on him but afraid to approach him because of her situation. It felt like a dream that he was the on who came to her aid."Hey, you're still bleeding, let's get you to the infirmary now, please" His voice drew her out of her thoughts."Oh, never mind– I'll check by myself" She refused but he insisted. Gisel had no choice than to accept his hand. " Okay, if you insist" She mumbled.He held her hand, helped her up from the floor and led her out to the school's clinic*************************Loretta stood at the field, all pissed off.
" Who does that Desmond think he is?" She lamented. "Who is he to interrupt my fun"She wore a wolfish gaze as her breath raced rapidly with rage. Paola and Bianca tried to calm her." calm down, Lore, have you forgotten, you've been crushing on him for the past years?" Paola defensively uttered. "You shouldn't have acted the way you did earlier on with him. That was your golden chance to get him but you just spill it out of anger.""Yes, Lore, I agree with Paola on this" Bianca supported. "That wasn't right at all""To hell with him" Loretta roared, burning with rage. " As long as he chose that cursed girl over me– I hate him and i'm done with any crush I ever had for him. " She smirked."l'll so get back at him for disregarding and disgracing me in front of that nobody, Gisella".ANTONIO'S OFFICEAntonio sat behind his desk, lost in some document he was busy with. Just then a knock from the door drew his attention, he instinctively gazed up." Come in." He eluded and turned back to the documents.Gideon slowly pushed the door open and trod in. "There's a bad news, sir". He mumbled, nervous. Which made Antonio swiftly gaze up, tensed." What is it? Tell me, Deon?– whhat happened. "" The main quarters,sir– where all the products are kept , just caught fire." He answered in a single breath. Antonio sprang up, shocked. His face suddenly went pale as if the colour in his face had dried out." What?" He roared. " How is that possible?– what do to mean!?"" I don't know sir" He stuttered. " But we couldn't retrieve anything from there."He added. Antonio suddenly felt numb. He sauntered back and slowly faint into the chair, devastated. " God, this can't be happening."He exclaimed. Without further thoughts and hesitation, h
ANTONIO'S MANSIONGisella sat by the window in a daze. Her mind flash over the earlier incident with Natasha . Tears welled up in her eyes, she wished there was another way to end this pain and suffering she was going through at the moment.Her eyes lurked through the window and Antonio's car drew her attention. The car drove through and pulled up infront of the garage. She instintively felt her heart wrecked apart." I wish you could feel the pain I'm going through right now" She eluded, her voice trembled admist sobs. " I wish you could see what I saw to make you realize" She paused, her throat chocked with tears."To make you realize what you've brought upon us, dad" She cried. Antonio slowly opened the door and got down car. He looked so devastated and miserable as if his whole world had come to an end.Gisella kept his gaze on him as he weakly sauntered out of the car like a corpse and leaned over it. She flinched at the reaction of her fa
GISELLA'S ROOMGisella sped into her room and shut the door. She leaned over it, her face soaked in tears. It felt like her heart was being wrecked apart while the words of her father kept replaying in her head. Her troat felt chocked with tears.She screamed as she crunched to the floor, burying her head in both hands. " Wish you could listen to me for once, dad– Just once" She stuttered.She felt totally helpless and hopeless, wishing there was a way she could make his father understand her.**************KITCHENNatasha sat over the table with a wolfish glare as she stared upstairs at Gisel's door with fixed gaze, sense of fury rushed through her." Stupid girl!! bastard! "She cursed underneath her breath. "How dare you interfere.?– I'll so deal with you. Just wait"She gave a faint snarl. Antonio slowly lifted his head from his plate only to find her, spacing out without eating. He thoughtfully stared at her but Natasha was too lost to notice. He sighed,
It was already 6:00 in the morning. Gisella still laid on the bed with a pale face, unconscious. Lizzy and Gina left to the mansion for their chores while Antonio stood by her bed completely shuttered. He had to rush back to work but he was so desolated that he didn't feel like moving an inch from the hospital.Choked up with tears, he slowly took Gisel's hand in his as he gazed down at her while the tears he fought back dropped down his eyes."Daddy is still waiting for you, honey–please wake up, please" He whispered. "Waiting to see those beautiful smiles again" A faint smile dazzled on his face while he chuckled admist tears. "i'm so sorry I never told you– you were the prettiest when you smile."He mumbled on. Natasha slowly pushed the door opened and trod in. She instintively paused at the door as she watched the father and daughter moment. She smirked, a satisfactory smile dazzled on her lips." Is time to go dear" She eluded while she sauntered over towards
A WEEK AFTERIt's been a week after Gisel's incident but yet no sign of her waking up. Natasha on the other hand, tried her possible best to end her life but it all failed drastically due to the constant visit of Desmond who mostly spent all day beside her.Meanwhile, Antonio's health had already started deteriorating due to Natasha's constant poisoning and this had made it impossible for him to visit his daughter often. He stood at his library, his gaze fixed on some files on the shelf when Natasha trod in with a tray." Coffee?", she called from the door. Antonio instntively nodded without looking back at her. His eyes locked on the files. She smirked, placed the tray on the table and drew out a mini bottle from her pocket." Antonio, i'll like to visit Gisel at the hospital today with some flowers and a teddy bear" She stuttered. "What do you say about that.?" She consciously glanced from time to time to make sure he wasn't watching while she dropped the contents of t
ANTONIO'S MANSIONLizzy was busy as usual, attending to her chores in the kitchen when a ring from the door bell invaded. She groaned in exhaustion and yelled out at Agnes who stood at the hall with Lola, Natasha's cat." Agnes, please get the door." Agnes whined in hesitation" Why should it be me?" She cried. "I'm very busy at the moment– can't you get it yourself or ask Gina to do so and stop bordering me." She roared back which made Lizzy bursted out in anger." Silly head!" She cursed. " Can't you see I'm busy at the kitchen and Gina is still attending to Mr. Antonio at his library? – By the way what are you so busy with that you can't get the door...."" Taking care of Mrs. Natasha's cat. It hasn't eaten since morning and I don't want it to starve to death." She swiftly cut in. Lizzy's jaw slacked in awe." What?" She howled, tilting her head. "Gosh, Agnes, I will so kill you before the cat if I get there." She threatened whic
ANTONIO'S MANSION Natasha trod down the stairs, her thoughts enveloped her." Who dare to interfere last night?" She mumbled. "I know the person who took Desmond away wasn't human but where from that spirit?– why can't I find any trace of it's hideout?" She paused in her steps with a calculative gaze." Such strong spirit will be a great tool for me against Gisella's soul. I wish I knew where to find it." Her mind kept drifting deeper in thoughts. Just then, Gina's voice echoed from the kitchen."Ma'am ! , Ma'am !!" She approached her in a rush which drew her back to reality."What's it, Gina?" She retorted in a cold tone. "Why are you disturbing my peace this early morning –Can't I just have a peaceful day for once!?"She glared furiously at Gina making her tremble in fear." Um, sorry, ma'am. I just came to tell you that, Mr Antonio's breakfast is ready. "She stuttered but was swiftly interrupted by Natasha's voice." So? –how does that con
ANTONIO'S MANSIONNatasha sauntered over to the door. Her eyes lurked across the corridor, furious as she earnestly glared for the culprit but found no one." Who dared spy on me..?", she thought to herself." I need to find who it was" She instinctively took a step about to leave when realization hit her." What are you doing, Nat?" She stuttered to herself as she paused in her steps. "This is not the time for this–you can find the spy afterwards . " She smirked, her eyes travelled back to Antonio." I'll find that out later, let me just finish off with this first and get back to the who ever it was." Her lips curved in a mischievous grin as she sauntered back to the room.Gina stood in Gisella's room, her breath kept racing rapidly as she peeped through the door. Her hands covered her lips and her knees felt numb. She looked tensed and terrified. Just when Natasha diminished into the room, she instinctively let out an inaudible sigh."Oh, God, that was so da
A MONTH LATERGisella and Agnes fully recovered and were discharged home. Gisel returned back to her studies and handling of her father's company, being herself without fear or intimidation with the help of Mr. George, Antonio's secretary.She became very brave, confident, bold– full of herself. She no longer allowed the words and behavior of others to pull her down.She became a role model to a lot of young ladies going through low self-esteem and excelled in everything she did.Loretta finally got out of coma and was later placed on a therapy to help her overcome the experience she went through in Bello's hands.Few weeks later, she confessed her relationship with Bello and how she planned to eliminate Gisella with the help of him.Ciara and Ben on the other hand, were so disappointed in their daughter after hearing her confession." How could you do this, Lore? – Is that how we trained you?" Ciara had exclaimed in tears." Your mother and I worked en
Bello strolled towards Loretta, chuckling with the gun pointing at her head. She cried and crawled back, finding means to escape the ruthless beast in front of her." Please, spare my life""Huh? – Spare your life, you said?" He smirked amidst chuckle. " Do you think I'm so dumb to let you off the hook so you can expose me? Huh!! Never, bitch, not even in your dreams " He roared, kneeling beside her with the gun over her skull." Please " She pleaded in tears." Just say your last prayers, honey" He shouted. *********Paola, Bianca and Loretta's parents, Mrs. Ciara and Mr. Ben sped towards the location shown on the GPS in their vehicle." Drive a little faster, Ben" Ciara cried in devastation." I am, honey– Just pray we're not so late. I've already informed the police and I'm sure they're already on their way. They should even be there by now " Replied Ben w
ON THE ROADLoretta drove along the road, looking all distressed on noticing a white cab which followed keenly behind her; keeping a close watch on her. She instinctively turned her gaze to the seat beside her as she reached for her phone. Loretta anxiously surfed through and dialed Paola's line, staring through the side mirror as she balanced her gaze between the road ahead and the mirror." Hey, Lore, what's up with you ?" Paola's voice echoed from the other end of the phone." Fine, I guess " She answered absent mindedly, still gazing at the car behind her through the mirror, wondering." Hey, girl, is everything okay? You seem so down and absent minded– Come on, tell me, what's it?" Her question spontaneously drew her full attention on her." Huh? – oh, yeah, umm, are you home? I need to talk to you " She answered." Yeah, I'm home but can you tell me what's going on now? I'm a little worried" Paola insisted but she instinctively pull a blunt excuse
Antonio sighed and stood up from the floor, turning back to Gisella, Desmond and Lizzy. Gisella stared at her father with teary eyes which just burst out of joy– Her lips slightly twisted and she raced to embrace him; thorn between tears and chuckle. Desmond and Lizzy stared at her as she buried herself into his arms.Antonio hugged her, comforting, "It's okay, honey. Everything is finally over. " He slowly withdrew her from his embrace and curbed her cheeks with his hands; a faint smile dazzled on his face. " I'm so sorry for not listening to you, dear. I'm really sorry for everything, baby"Silent tears dropped down his eyes which Gisel instinctively dried it up with the back of her hand, embracing him in a warm hug, a faint smile spontaneously formed on her face." It's okay, dad– I've already forgiven you for everything and I'm so sorry for not saving you" She sobbed. " Forgive me dad, forgive me for returning so late from the hospital " The tears she tried to hol
THE ANTONIO' S MANSION RECAP" Get out of here, I'll handle this." Said Gisella, turning her gaze back on Natasha as she monitored her every step but Desmond stubbornly insisted." No, Gisel, we can't leave you here all alone with this evil woman. Lizzy can go with her while I stay with you."" No, you can't be here.....Leave now....", Gisella yelled.Natasha laughed, " Aww, such a touching scene....but I've got a bad news for you, honey. No one is living here alive...", she responded, approaching with dark eyes.Lizzy and Desmond trembled. Gisella shaded them and began to pray. **************Suddenly, a heavy wind blew across the room, lifting and sending things flying in the air with Agnes still lying unconscious on the floor . A thick smoke hung in the air like a blanket despite the heavy breeze. Gisella, Desmond and Lizzy surveyed around wit
THE ANTONIO'S MANSIONNatasha got to where Agnes laid unconscious and crouch beside her and she gently brushed her hand through her hair– Her lips curved in a mischievous smile." Poor thing, I didn't want to do this, Aggie but you left me no option. Curiosity, they say kills the cat and for now, I think is time for you to go home, honey" She faintly chuckled. "Fare thee well and send my regards to those over there..." She smirked.She rose to her full height and gazed down at her with dark eyes. Gisella, Desmond and Lizzy arrived and pulled over in front of the gate. They hurriedly got down and sped towards the door."Agnes.....!! Aggie !!! ", Lizzy cried as they approached the door.Gisella banged the door but there was no response or sign of anyone approaching from inside. She tried to open it again but suddenly found out it was locked." Oh, God.....it's locked.....", she cried." What?" Desmond exclaimed, nervous. " So what are we going to do now?– Don't yo
Desmond drew her from his bosom and held her hands, wiping her tears. Gisella stared at his face with a faint smile."Enough with the tears, Gisella– Come on, save the rest for future." He joked. "Now,let's go; this calls for a celebration. Don't worry, the bill is on me." He uttered with a smile. Gisella nodded, her gloomy look instinctively replaced with smiles and she hugged him." I'm so lucky to have you beside me, Desmond– Thank you for choosing me" She whispered underneath her breath. Lizzy who silently stared at them with smiles, instinctively let out a tactful cough."Huh...huh...huh..." She cleared her throat, drawing back their attention." Snap out of it, Love birds–Don't forget I'm still here." She teased with a chuckle and their lips swiftly curved with a sheepish smile as they withdrew from each other, feeling embarrassed."Sorry, Aunty." They both exuded and she chuckled."No worries, dear– Shall we go now?"" Sure, let's get out of here an
RECAP The trailer was very close now. The kid stood in the middle of the road, just staring at both vehicles in shock. Lizzy, Desmond and Gisella cried in fear, screaming for a miracle." Oh, my God....oh my God..... Oh no... "The car approached head on with speed. **************Suddenly, a shadow flashed in front of their car and it veered off the road. The trailer passed with great speed without stopping and Gisella's car immediately came to a halt some meters away along the road. It was a quite street with bushes along the road. It's hardly you find people walking along the street.Gisella, Desmond and Lizzy sat in the car, panting breathless with shock spread over their faces." What was that?" Gisella stammered which brought Lizzy sweat soaked gaze on her." What was what, Gisel ? Didn't you see what happened?– We nearly had an accident." She cried." No, Aunty, i was not talking about that." She swallowed a lump of
Desmond had been standing at the junction for the past 45minutes now but still no sign of Gisella anywhere. He gazed worriedly at the roads leading to the junction he stood, expectantly, depressed." What's keeping her? Is every alright?" He mumbled with a furrowed brow and as of on an impulse, he stuttered. " Let me call and find out what's happening?" He drew out his phone and dialed her line but it couldn't get through. He sighed with his fixed gaze, nervously on the screen as he paced around.peep....peep.....peep.....a sound from behind drew his attention. He swiftly turned to find out who it was. It was the sound of Gisella's horn; She instinctively beckoned him in. He gave a broad smile and hopped onto the car." What kept you so long, Gisella?" He immediately asked after settling in but then, he swiftly brushed it off. "Just forget it– Let's get going before the meeting starts." He assumed, turning to Lizzy who all along, stared from the back seat."Goo