Kunle.

Inside the cold cemented room, Lex sat on a wooden chair and sitting across him was the masked man. The smell of incense hung strongly on the air making Lex a little bit dizzy. But he managed.

"So..." the masked man began.

"From the beginning, shall we?"

Lex nodded.

.

* *

Y unlocked the back door of the Venza and made a routine search of his surroundings. He wore a black mask and drew Kunle out of the car. Though he was only semiconscous, he did not slump into the cold cemented floor. He sat upright with his back to the tire of the Venza, his head bent forward. 

Y lifted this burly man to his broad shoulders and started for the door. Beyond it was an empty room with one chair and a shaky bulb overhead in the middle of the room.

.

The smell of incense made Kunle's nose to twitch, bringing him back to consciousness. He opened his eyes and the first thing that came to view was the man squatting before him, clad in black, wearing a mask made of plain wood. Kunle shivered. 

"Are you cold? Would you like a blanket or something?"

Kunle did not answer. The smell of harsh incense and chloroform hung on the air. I've been kidnapped?

"I'll get you something to cover yourself with." Y went to a small shed nailed to the wall and brought out a small blanket. He handed it to Kunle and he wrapped it around his body. He was shivering alright, but not from a cold.

"Who are you?" Kunle asked.

"Who I am isn't important, Mr. Kunle." Y began. "you should be worried about who you will be after I am done with you, that is, if you don't do as I say."

Kunle didn't flinch. He's accustomed to these type of threats. He tried to think of the person behind this. He had few friends and a battalion of enemies, any one of them could be behind this.

"Can I speak to the person in charge?"

"Some guts you've got, barrister. Some guts. You've been abducted and you act like you're still in control? This is not a court." Y cautioned.

"Ok then, why am I here? What does your friend want with me?"

"Not with you." Y produced a brown envelope. "With this."

Kunle's eyes widened. The will? Nobody knew about this! I kept this secret carefully.

"You wanted to give this to the media?" Y asked.

Kunle said nothing.

"Well," Y continued. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, sir."

"And why is that?" Kunle was almost screaming. "that, over there, is the only thing left of the Ayodele's."

"Not quite."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're playing a dangerous game. I'd advice you to not interfere with this case just because you want a little publicity. This is way beyond you. And that's the only way you can leave here in one piece." Y paused. "and I mean that literally."

"and if I don't?" 

"Well I'm afraid," Y brought out a knife. "You'd have to ask Satan."

The masked man walked over to where Kunle sat tied to the chair, he placed the blunt of the

blade on Kunle's face, letting it graze the surface of his skin.

Kunle cringed. The coldness of the blade gave him gooseflesh.

"Alright please stop!"

Y chucked. Somewhere in the room, there was a soft hum.

"Tell me, barrister," Y withdrew the blade. "Do you pray to God?"

"Well," The man was stuttering.

"Sometimes. When I'm scared." he added.

"Are you praying to Him now?"

"Well..."

"Do you believe God will help you when you pray?"

The question caught Kunle offguard. "I don't know. I don't think about it after I pray. I know I ought to."

"You ought to." Y repeated. "Uhm, there are so many things you do not understand. In a little while, I'll help you understand. Will you excuse me now?"

"Sure."

Kunle watched the man disappear into the darkness at the far end of the room, the clicking of a door was heard, the clank of materials. To Kunle, it sounded like knives. Kunle silently prayed. For a moment, he wished he had gotten married when his people asked him to. But he chose the life of bachelorhood. He wished he had loved ones who'd be searching for him, but there was none. He had a lot of enemies. At this sudden realisation, Kunle felt lonely. He prayed to get out of this alive. 

I will make things right. It's not too late to get married and make children, right?

Kunle head soft footsteps. They got louder, then the masked man reappeared.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting barrister." He began.

"It's not a problem." Kunle stammered. Y saw the once authoritative man squirm before him. Realisation had hit him, Y thought.

"You wanted to tell me what's going on?" Kunle offered.

"Ahh, Yes." There was a long pause. "Tell me, what kind of person do you think Ayodele was?"

Kunle hesitated for a second, selecting his words, carefully.

"He was a client who was very friendly. Very humble for a man with the kind of power he grasped." he said.

"But our relationship was strictly business. Nothing more." Kunle quickly added.

Y chuckled.

"Not all that glitter is gold, Barrister. Godwin was a Son of Hades."

Kunle did a double take. Am I hearing this man correctly? Sons of Hades? The most influential occult in the world! That is, after the illuminati. Kunle was so perplexed he didn't know what to say. His lips pursed.

"I take it you know who they are." Y chuckled. He put a fist on his broad chest. "I work for them. And trust me, you really don't wanna mess with them or their business."

This time Kunle spoke.

"What exactly did Godwin do that you'd have to kill him and his family?"

"You're fast. Yes we killed him. I killed them." He corrected. "And the other family too. Don't ask me why, orders from the elite members."

"So, you're just an errand boy?"

"You could say that." The man chuckled. Taking no offense for what Kunle had said.

"But," Kunle pressed. "You've killed Godwin and his family. Why do you want to intercept his last wishes?" 

"That, I cannot answer. Like I said earlier, this is bigger than you... It's advisable that you back out." Y had a habit of pausing so that his previous statement would sink in before he continued. He produced the brown envelope again. "This is not going to the media."

"Don't be so sure! I have my mouth, I will let the world know. You cannot obstruct justice!"

The humming grew louder. The air around Kunle was hot, he swallowed hot air. What in the world was going on? Beads of sweat travelled down his temple.

"Well, that's sad." With swift hand movement, Y produced the knife. He moved towards Kunle's chair, towering over the burly man. Y chuckled. He placed a hand on Kunle's balding head, with swift movement, he moved the knife hovering directly over Kunle's left eye. Then he placed its blade inches above his left eyebrow, the blade hit flesh.. And then blood.. Y dragged the blade deeper and pulled it downwards.. Slashing Kunle's left eyeball in two and his cheek. The blade stopped at his jaw.

Kunle's scream reverberated in the room.

* * *

Funke's eyes were swollen with tears. She moved carefully. Her body ached. Looking at the tray of rice on her laps, loathe crept up on her.... A sudden urge to kill enveloped her. She violently shook the tray off her laps. It came crashing down, spilling its contents on the cemented floor.

The sound of aluminum on cement had shook Lex and the man before him who turned his head towards the darkness.

"What was that?" Lex demanded.

"Oh, it's nothing. Probably rats."

Lex wasn't convinced, however he didn't press it. His eyes moved towards the direction of the sound.

"Lex, it's nothing." The man reassured him.

Lex wasn't listening. He was thinking about Funke. For some reason, he had a feeling that Funke was nearby.

Hang in there, my love.

Down at Kunle & Sons, the air was heavy and the grey sky low. The security came out of the office building smoking a cigarette with one hand and the other dipped into the pocket of his blue overall. He was alone on the pavement enveloped by the smoke that emanated from the cigarette, the sound of cars was heard in a distance. He coughed.

Half a block away from the guard stood Y, squatted beside Kunle in the back of an unsuspecting van. On it were the words: INDOMIE NOODLES. He tugged at Kunle's collar in a lame attempt to dress him properly, then pat the bald spot on Kunle's head with a gloved hand. 

Kunle was in great pain. He looked stuporous, he oozed of urine and his face was something out of a horror movie. Raising his eyelids, trying to scan his surroundings, it was a cramped space. Probably a delivery van. Where is he taking me to? He watched Y peek through a small opening on the slides. He let his eyelids sleep. When they did, the left one sent pinching pains all over Kunle's body, he shook. Before he closed his eyelids, there was something that caught his attention.. To his extreme left, close to the drivers seat, in fact, directly behind the driver's seat stood a small board with pictures attached with 'x' marked on most of them. Kunle recognized one of the photographs before his eyelids went to sleep.. 

It was Godwin Ayodele.

Y put on  a white jacket, like a doctor's coat, laid a thermometer on Kunle's lap and rolled him out of the van. When he locked the wheels of the chair and turned to put something into the van. Kunle watched  all this through a blurred right eye. He felt like a mess, he tried to move but his body wasn't responding. Shit.

Rolling now... Sidewalk, people turned and watched this weird sight of a doctor rolling an injured patient on the sidewalk. But there was no hospital nearby. 

As Y got to a deserted corner, paper crackled under the wheels. Y stopped the wheelchair beside a littered deserted kiosk. He crouched in front of Kunle and tapped his lap. Kunle opened his left eyelid halfway. Where am I? The place looked familiar but Kunle couldn't just place it. His mind was a mess, too.

Y held a bottle under his nose, Like a spell, Kunle's eyes were wide open now. 

Ammonia.

"Earth to Kunle."

"Where am I?" This was not Kunle's voice, this was an alien.

"We are almost there. Your time is near." Y paused to check his watch. 

"I'd ask you for one last time. Will you cooperate or not."

"Justice....." Kunle whispered. Talking hurt his throat. His body ached terribly. 

Y chuckled and produced something from the back of the wheelchair and poured its contents all over Kunle.

Eyes closed, Kunle felt a warm substance all over his body, then it became cold as it came in contact with air. He smelled a familiar scent. He half-opened his eyes to see his captor clad in doctor's attire and tied to his face was a surgery mask. His eyes widened at as he saw what was in the man's hand.

Gasoline.

Fumes filled his nostrils at the sudden realisation of what was going on.

"What are you doing?" He stammered.

Slowly, Kunle's captor's eyes widened. He appeared to be grinning underneath the surgery mask. He dipped a hand in his doctor coat and produced a lighter, grazed it with a thumb.

"Like I said," the flames danced in the wind.

"I'm sending you to Satan."

Lit with a whump, Y kicked the wheels of the chair, sending it rolling down the sidewalk that leads to Kunle's chambers. Sree, Scree, eek, eek, eekeekeek, the wheels sang on the empty sidewalk.

Puffing smoke into the air, a piercing sound made the guard become alert. The man looked up as his scream blew the burning gag away. He saw a moving ball.. A moving fire? He watched the moving fireball coming, dodging cracks on the cement like it had a mind of its own, it hit a garbage can in front of the building, the carriage overturned, one wheel spinning and flames through the spokes emanate a squeaking sound. Arms coated with fire fought the flames. The guard stood, staring at the sight before him. He felt a hot wetness in his pants. Regaining his composure, he dashed for the lobby. He wondered if it would explode. He screamed fire as he entered the building. Starting for the fire extinguisher on the far end of the wall, with one swift movement, groped the object and waited...

No explosion.

The guard went back to the blazing ball, the guard approached cautiously through the greasy smoke spreading low over the pavement and, at last, sprayed foam on Kunle.