***In the city***The mayor halted, baffled. He skimmed the face of the guard who had just stepped into his front and stopped him from going further into the governor's office.His eyes met the deep, unflinching eyes of the guard. Then he saw that he was not the regular governor's guard he was familiar with. "What's this?" The mayor asked, trying to control every ounce of hostility in his voice."Who are you? What business do you have here?" The guard was still looking down on the mayor, with a straight face. He was about two feet taller than the mayor and had super large shoulders that perfectly complemented his height."I bet you don't know how to read for asking me this question," the mayor could no longer control his anger. How could a mere guard stop him? Wasn't it embarrassing? To be stopped by a guard?The guard didn't flinch. He stood still in the mayor's front. "If you don't answer my questions I'll have no problem throwing you out of the building.""I'm Mr Guano," the mayor
Realizing what the man meant, the mayor giggled. "How much?""Ten," the man cut in sharply and shifted his eyes to avoid the mayor.This was how the world was. Everyone out here was trying to feed off the very next person he saw. The mayor was more than certain it didn't cost TEN to feed the pigeons but he acted like it was nothing. "For the whole sack?"The man was shocked. "For everything?""Yes, for everything. ""Let's say… give me 50 and I'll let you have everything.""Okay," the mayor slid his hand into his trouser pocket and brought out his wallet. He took out five notes and extended them to the man. "Take.""Five hundred?!" The man's mouth opened. And for a moment, he couldn't close it."Keep it."Tears dropped from the man's eyes. "Thanks, man, you don't know how badly I needed money. My house rent is over, I've got a son to pay his tuition fee and… thanks sir," the cleaned his tears with the edge of his dirty coat. And the man walked away after handing the mayor the sack.
"Killing two birds with a stone. If bringing down those woods will fix this mess then I don't mind burning down the whole forest. Announce that I have an announcement to make right now please." He settled into his chair and whirled around. This was exactly what happens when the universe is with you, opportunities present themselves to you, he thought. The universe has always proven to be on his side because whenever things were going sour and out of hand something just happened and he's out and free again.He picked the cell phone up and called Kelvin to inform him. "Hello, Kel!!!... Fine. She's fine. We're all fine… yes. Kel, Samuel called me to order the deforestation of the southern part of the forest. I was confused too man… huh?! Then he said he's found out the person who killed Abigail and wants to go on them."The mayor stopped to listen to what Kelvin was saying before he spoke again. "I don't think he knows that. Moreover, there's no way he's going to find you… that's true.
"Lorraine! Lorraine! Lorraine! Wake up." James shook her motionless body violently, his eyes shimmering with fears and unnamed emotions. Her body was heavy, her eyes tightly closed and her lips were still soft.James positioned his hands on her neck to feel how warm her jugular veins were. There was still life in the veins. He carried her to his room and lowered her on his bed.It was not a good idea to take her to the hospital nor was it a good idea to let their family doctor take care of Lorraine in this critical condition. James picked up his phone and called his friend, Jason.In no time, Jason arrived and began to attend to Lorraine. James had gone to go get some snacks and do a little shopping when his phone began to buzz. He raised it and saw that it was Kyle. "What? Lorraine?! How?" He stopped picking the things he was shopping for and hurriedly paid for the few things in his cart and rushed into his car and drove back home.On his way, James almost ran into a truck, he coul
Somewhere in a bar at night, Kelvin was sitting before a group of strippers who were dancing on the bar pole as the different party colours twinkled around the airtight room. He was completely not interested in the display before him. He had been trying hard to keep himself away from the nostalgic feeling that had been trying to take over him. But the club doesn't seem to be the answer to his problem. After about three hours in the club, he was still not feeling any better.He loathed this particular mood he was in right now. Wasn't it possible to just live and forget about the past?Though It was true that the past shaped the future but fuck it! His own past was trying to wreck his future. These memories were like symbols sculpted on a rock in his mind. The more he tried to wash them away the more he found himself getting hurt.Of all places, why have his memories chosen a rock when the memories could have written themselves at a riverbank for the tide to wash them away? He drunken
James unbuttoned his black Jacket, pulled it off his body and dropped it on one of the chair's hands before lowering his body into the chair.He placed his right leg first on the desk before crossing it with his left leg. A short wicked and mischievous smile curved out of his mouth as he watched David tie Kelvin to a chair tightly."The son of a bitch never thought we were ever going to find him," David stood from his bent posture and moved some inches away from Kelvin. He lowered his body and carried the bucket of water they had brought into the room earlier. He pursed his lips and threw the whole water on Kelvin.Kelvin tensed as he gained back consciousness. Slowly his eyes began to open. At first, everything was a blur but slowly it got clearer and he saw James sitting opposite him, legs crossed. He tensed and struggled to free his hands from the rope but he stopped when he realized all his efforts were not going to help.When his eyes finally opened, he looked around the airtight
"What do you want to know?" He finally gave in with a grunt.David's lips curled negligibly into a smile. They had finally gotten him where they wanted. Now it was time for James to get the words out of Kelvin's stomach piece by piece. David wouldn't have minded if James would let him do the questioning but…James unbuttoned the two upper buttons of his shirt, he then flipped the collar outside and bent over to begin after he had taken a moment to ponder the perfect question, to begin with. "Where did you get the information from?" James requested, keeping his eyes on Kelvin. David spun the knife-cutter in his hand like a jester in performance. "He meant who told you everything you know… about us?" Kelvin eyed David, raking his eyes from his head to toe. His inspection of David didn't last more than a split second. Suddenly, the angry look on his face changed into something else- mockery. "Your team member, Kayla, told me everything I wanted to know in exchange for my time and aff
"So how are we going to do it?" James asked. He knew his question was totally unnecessary. It was certainly going to be them abducting the mayor's family and using them to get what they want from the mayor. Kidnap, of course. Exactly how kidnapping happens," David repeated sarcastically and grinned at the rather unnecessary question his brother asked. "I'll get us a sketch of the mayor's house and the nearby surroundings so we can plan it out.""Mary really had us all fucked up. I never thought she would do that though," James raked his hands through his hair. Indeed she really had peddled them out. "At least, she did it to survive." David knew who James was referring to with the last statement, it was Kayla. However, Kayla was the least of their problems right now. As long as they don't do anything that would create suspicions about Kelvin. "I'll take care of Mary later, trust me. She'll regret what she has done. I'll make her feel it would have been better to have Samuel kill he
Ellie's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at the sight of Lorraine's sudden change. She could sense the power running through her niece. The aura Lorraine exuded was more than just an urge, it was pure anger.Ellie crawled backwards, too surprised to act or do anything. She knew what she was supposed to do but she couldn't, she couldn't bring herself to hurt Lorraine. She was to protect her and not hurt her."Lorraine," Ellie called. Seeing her niece like this had not only surprised her, it broke her too. It was her fault that Lorraine had to go through this. If only she had done what she had to do at the right time then the urge would not have gotten so strong. "Lorraine, fight it. You can do it. Remember your destiny, think about your mother."Lorraine could still hear Ellie's voice in her head but it was getting dimmer with every passing second. Suddenly, Lorraine screamed, her voice echoed with excruciating pain. Someone was doing it. The same thing Ellie could bring hersel
After almost an hour of working on the passport David had given him, Kyle had found out that Mary, as I suspected, had been in and out of Lightwood several times over the last few weeks. According to him, she was in the city at this very moment."When last was she in Lightwood?" David raised a question and Kyle gave him a fiendish glare. He had just said she was still in Lightwood so what does it matter when she entered the town."What is she doing in Lightwood?" David asked another question, with surprise spreading all over his face. If anything, he has had one of the roughest stories so far amongst all of us."We'll have to find out. That's why we need to find her before she leaves the city," I answered, calculating the possibilities of finding her. It was not going to be easy, where would we begin to look? I asked myself. Just as it was impossible to look for a needle in a sea, it was same when the case is turned to her David pursed his lips tightly and smirked. " I don't think sh
Lorraine's POV"Hurry, we need to go before he finds you," Ellie said and began to hasten her steps. She was faster than I expected her to be. Perhaps it was because she was frequent with the road."Before he finds me?" I gaped, unable to hide my surprise. "Is he going to find me?" I halted and my eyes blazed with fear.This was the point where I was supposed to be confused and scared at the same time. And Yes, I was confused and scared.Turning her head backwards, Ellie saw that I wasn't following her anymore. "You need to hurry up, Lorraine, I'm sure he's coming for you right now," she uttered and stopped. I thought I had seen it all and there was possibly nothing more that would shock me again but hearing that he would be able to find me was something I had not expected.My head began to heat up with questions. Complying with her, I continued walking, and even hastened my steps and began to run. "Why is he able to talk to me despite our distance?" I asked but she didn't reply. W
Lorraine's POVJames had blood stains on him. I instantly knew whose blood it was, it was Kayla's.So all this while she had been the mastermind behind everything that was happening. I regretted not reading her mind when I had the chance.Unlike I expected, there was no sign of remorse in James's voice as he spoke. It was as if he had just disassembled a nuclear bomb that would have killed the whole world.After James has rushed out in between our discussion, I wanted to follow him but my mind suggested I gave him some space. It would appear like I was pegging him too much if I don't let him do some things alone.So I forced myself not to follow him and I crawled back onto the bed and waited anxiously for him to return and tell me what it was all about.I was waiting when I slept off."No!" I yelled as I jerked from the nightmare I was having. I was gasping for breath. I looked around the room, the walls were familiar. I was sweating like a rat dropped into a bucket of water.It was o
"James, what happened?" Lorraine's voice echoed as she struggled to get out of bed and go after James who had suddenly run out while they were still discussing. But before she could get up, he was already out of the room.James went directly to his brother's room and knocked on the door, he would have barged in if he didn't know that his brother had a guest."David, I need to speak with you," James said as he knocked again when his first wasn't answered. The thud was loud. He was not supposed to interrupt them but he had no choice. What he had to say was way more important than anything they've got going on inside the room.He knocked several times again.The door opened and David stood inside, spurred by the unnecessary banging his door had to receive when the first knock alone was enough. When he saw that it was David, he did away with the anger. Looking straight into his brother's eyes, he was shocked and curious at the urgency James had used in calling him. He for sure, thought t
"I'm sorry I came late," James said, still wrapping his right hand on the knife he had stabbed into Kayla. Late? Really? Kyle gasped.Who cared if he came late or not? What mattered to Kyle was that he came and he saved them. Kyle was still amazed that he was able to make it to the building so fast. It wasn't even up to twenty minutes that he had texted him about the whole situation immediately he found out that they had walked into a trap.James pulled out the knife and Kayla spilt more blood from her mouth and fell to the ground, covering the place he had dug the knife into her with her hands to stop the gushing of blood but it was of no use, the blood kept pouring out."Ja. Ja…James," she stammered, weakly and turned to face him. She wanted to say something but there was not much strength in her to put the words together. The little she had was going on trying to stop the blood.How did he find them?She never thought he was coming here today."Thanks, man. You saved my ass," Kyl
"Someone's knocking on the door," Lorraine said, getting out of bed and heading out of the room. She had gotten James to stay at home and not go with the rest of the team. She had a bad feeling about it. There was something completely off about everything to her.She halted at the door and looked back and saw that he was fast asleep. His heart went up and down slowly. She wasn't sure what would have happened if he had gone with them but she knew something bad would have happened.As for David and the rest of the people, she hadn't seen much about them. She just wished they'd be safe. "Why didn't I warn them?" She berated herself, realising that she could have just told them what she felt even if they would have still gone ahead with what they wanted to do.The doorbell rang again. "Who's there?" She asked, her voice calm and loud enough for whoever it was to hear. It wasn't David because he would never hit the bell before coming in, he always had his key with him.Who would it be? S
James's POVI could not look straight into her eyes. I just hope she finds it in her heart to forgive me.I turned and started to walk back to my room. I had nothing else to say. As I walk away, I heard Kyle offer to track the location and James chipped in with the go-ahead.Exactly as I expected, whoever was behind this shouldn't go scot-free."Who do you think did this?" I asked Lorraine when she entered the room right after me. Making sure she had securely locked the room, I leaned my back on the door."I don't know who could have done this but whoever it is, I agree with Kyle, the person is closer to her than we can think of," she answered dryly and walked to me. It was her turn again to console me."I can't think of anyone who could do this to her. And, sadly, we all fell for the card. We all thought she could betray us and it hurts me," I swallowed. The words were heavy on me but I needed to say them out.She walked to me and curled her arms around my neck and I wrapped in my ha
"What do you want me to do?" Kyle asked as he was finally able to clear the sleep off his eyes."I want you to track this number, get the location and everything on it that you can lay your hands on," David said, stretching the phone to him and scowling back at Kayla when he caught her doing the same thing to him.Kyle glanced at him for a moment. He didn't like the way David spoke to him. It sounded more like David was giving an order rather than a request."Okay. Whose phone is it?" Kyle asked as he walked to David and accepted the phone. It was an unwritten law for every single tech personnel to never hack into a phone except he or she has been given full details about it."Why do you care?" David resisted giving an answer and it only made his questionnaire more curious. He was already getting pissed at the questions Kyle was throwing at him. It didn't matter whose phone it was, what mattered was that he could do it."Because it's my work and I'm the one who's going to do it. I can