Chapter 77
"Thank you so much, I had so much fun playing video games with you." Grace said as Eric walked her outside the hotel to her waiting Uber.
"There's never a dull moment with you, Sweet, but I don't know why you have to leave this early." Eric complained playfully.
"C'mon, tomorrow is the wedding day and I need to go now so that I can have enough sleep before we wake up very early to prepare Violet." Grace told him.
"Yeah, I get it. I'm even supposed to go as early as possible to join the guys in the house since I'm part of the men in suit." Eric informed her.
"Yeah, tomorrow will be fun and after the reception, we can have all the personal fun we want, okay?" She said huskily to him, wrapping her arms around her chest.
"Tomorrow is almost here anyway." He kissed her on the lips then opened the back door of the car for her to get in. "Call me when you get home." He said to her through the window of the car.
She blew him a kiss and he waved at her as he watched the car drive away. As he turned to go back into the hotel, he suddenly felt something hard against the side of his lower back, followed by a hard voice which said, "Nice and easy... Act normal and slowly walk towards the end of the fence." When Eric tried to turn to see who it was, the voice quickly warned, "You try any stunt and I'll pull the trigger! Move!"
Eric glanced down at his side and realized that the hard stuff pressed against his body was a handgun. Deciding to comply in order to save his life, he followed the instructions given to him and when he got to the end of the fence, two more men in black masks, got down from a waiting car and pushed him into it then sat on either side of him while the one who had pressed a weapon against his side got into the front seat and told the driver to drive away.
As Eric started to ask questions about who they were and what they wanted with him, he was instantly silenced and a black cloth bag was quickly worn over his head so that he couldn't see anything.
★★★
After ending a long call with Stephen late into the night, Violet adjusted on her bed and in a matter of minutes, she was soon asleep; only to wake up to the sound of someone in her room. As she opened her eyes, she saw the figure of a man in a black mask and before she could scream, a white handkerchief was suddenly clasped over her nose and mouth and she felt herself helplessly drift back into darkness.
When she finally came to, she realized that she was in a room she couldn't recognize. When she slowly sat up, feeling a slight headache, she realized that she was on a bed and someone else was sitting in a chair close to a wardrobe, speaking into a phone.
"...we have her ma... Yes, madam...you shall get what you want... Okay, ma... I'll keep you updated on how it goes..." The person said, then ended the call. And as if sensing that she was awake, he slowly turned to look at her. Violet knew that his voice sounded familiar but she couldn't guess whom she had heard it from before.
"Who are you?" Violet asked, a bit terrified. "And where am I?"
"In a place where no one will ever look for you... A place that will be in your home for the next eight months, sweetheart." Nosa said slowly as he slowly removed his mask to reveal his identity and she gasped a bit when she recognized him.
"You!" She uttered in surprise.
"Yes, me." He smirked. "Surprise-surprise!"
"What's the meaning of all these? Why have you brought me here?" Violet asked.
"Let's just say someone whom you got on a bad foot with simply made this easier for me. You have always thought that you are special, but finally, I have you where I want you." He said cockily.
"You will let me go immediately! This is kidnap and you know that not only is it a crime it could also get you kicked out of the military!" She stated boldly.
"That's only if anyone knows that I'm the cause of your disappearance!" He hissed. "You have played so hard to get for a long time, you little bitch! You even let my boss hit me because of you!"
"You hit me first!" She said in defense.
"Yes, I did and I'll like to do it again and again and again, but I can't risk my boss noticing any bruise on you." He said.
"Let me go or I'll scream!" She threatened now.
Unfazed, he scoffed then stood up. "Be my guest! Go on, scream all you want! No one will hear you! When you are done screaming all you want, then I'll be ready to shove my cock down your throat." When he noticed her eyes widen in shock, he smirked. "Yes, my boss doesn't have to know that part and you definitely won't tell him or I'll make your death quicker and more painful. He wasn't the only one who fancied your little ass on that stage; I liked it too but what could I do when he wanted you all to himself?"
"Just let me walk out of here unscathed and I promise that I won't breathe a word to anyone." She tried to bargain with him.
"Don't try to act clever, girl." He said, seeing through her ploy. "Fortunately, I can't make that decision alone. I've two other people in charge of this."
"You do not understand how dire this situation is for me, Nosa! My wedding comes up today in the next five hours and if I'm not there, it will break a lot of people's hearts. Please let me go, I beg of you! A lot of people will be so worried." She pleaded.
"You see, that's exactly the point here, Violet. One of the major purposes of this abduction is to make sure that you do not attend that wedding. That's why we also kidnapped that American-based dude too to make it look like you two eloped together to continue your secret love affair elsewhere."
"Wait, what! Eric is here?!" She asked in surprise.
"Yes. He's in one of the rooms down the hall. I'm supposed to make a video of you two having sex!"
"You wouldn't dare!" Violet hissed.
"Oh, I don't really intend to do so, dear, at least not yet; so don't you worry your little pretty head for now."
"What do you mean?" Violet asked, flustered.
"I see that you are curious for a better explanation. Well, let me break it down for you; I get to beat the colonel to it by fucking you first then Eric can have his own share later, lucky bastard..." He chuckled to himself then continued. "...and if the Colonel so wishes, he can have you last and for as long as he wants but that doesn't mean that I won't get to sneak in here and fuck you whenever I want... But, unfortunately, I can't do that now, not with the other men around. Though, they'll leave by 6 a.m. because they have to report for duty and when we are all alone, I'll make you moan my name a thousand times..." He finished in a husky whisper. "...So, right now, I'll advise you to take all the rest you need because we'll be going on a sex marathon and I won't stop until the Colonel comes to see you by 9 p.m. today."
Violet suddenly jolted off the bed and lunged at him, trying to get to the door. "LET ME OUT!!!" She screamed, beating his chest with her fists.
He caught her wrists and stopped her from hitting him then swung his hand and struck her hard with the back of his hand sending her falling back on the bed on her side and she remained that way, stunned by the blow. "You had always thought you were special, right?!" When she turned to look at him, one of her nostrils was bleeding. "Well, I'll prove you wrong today, you little slut! I shall defile every part of your body that you'll never be able to wash off the scent of me for years to come! So, do not make this any hard on yourself, because what will happen will definitely happen!" Nosa spat, turned and stalked out of the room. While Violet nursed her hurting cheek and nose, she heard him lock the door from outside before walking away.
★★★
The church was filled to its brim with guests who had come to attend the wedding. But they were murmuring again as most of them kept checking their wristwatches or the church's big wall clock. The priest tried to remain calm but it was becoming hard by the minute. Even Stephen and his friends who were dressed in their military ceremonial uniforms were restless and each was busy with their phones, trying to reach out to the ladies who were yet to arrive.
"Chief, you can see why I had my doubts about this girl having to live in that duplex all by herself? You see why I said that she should remain in the house with us so that I can take very good care of her? But you said that it was unwise for the groom and bride to leave for the church from the same house and that it was also bad luck for the groom to see the bride just before the wedding. Almost an hour has passed and still, there's no sign of her yet or her friends. She's very late." Mrs. Michaels complained.
"Just calm down, Eucharia." Mr. Michaels said to his wife, looking very composed even though he was also worried. "I'm sure that there must be a reason for this."
"There had better be a good reason o, because I can't take this embarrassment a second time, Chief, I just can't, I'll have a heart attack!" Mrs. Michael panicked. "This feels like the past is reliving itself, chief! What could be wrong?!" she was greatly distressed. “If the same thing happens, my women union will never take me seriously anymore. I will be an object of ridicule for those who have always envied me! I will be too ashamed to even attend meetings or give an opinion whenever we have a gathering. Worse, they might make a proverb out of my predicament! Do you know what all these will do to my reputation, Chief? Do you?”
"Just calm down already, Eucharia... Pull yourself together and exercise a little more patience; your panicking will not fix things right now. I don’t know what the delay is but whatever it is, I'm sure that they'll all be here soon." Mr. Michaels assured her. "Relax, Eucharia."
Stephen who sat in a corner, had dialed Violet's phone number countless times but got no response. He was trying not to assume that the worst had happened and was trying to think of every possible scenario that could have caused the delay. Maybe her makeup artist showed up late. Maybe, something was wrong with her dress. Maybe she overslept. Maybe their car broke down. Or maybe the bridesmaids were too busy taking pictures that they had forgotten to check the time to see that they were already running late.
He had glanced at his mother and had seen how his father had had to take her hand in hers to keep her calm. He had been avoiding eye contact with his mother because he just didn’t know what he would tell her. He began to gently tap a foot against the wall, telling himself that today would go well and Violet would show up at the church entrance anytime soon and they would we and be man and wife in no time and this delay would only be something that they would laugh about during their honeymoon.
His friends, Rufus and Jerry had been trying to call the other ladies too, but for some reason, none of the ladies were picking up their calls. Soon, Jerry, Rufus and Stephen walked out of the church as the people began to murmur loudly making the church noisy.
"Any luck?" Stephen impatiently asked his friends.
"Not yet, I don't know why Doris is not picking up her calls." Rufus replied.
"Neither is Anne." Jerry replied.
"Then what could be wrong? Did their car break down?" Stephen asked.
"I don't think so. I made sure that the mechanic double-check it yesterday and he confirmed that everything would work smoothly." Rufus said as he watched a familiar car which had already been decorated with colorful balloons and ribbons drive into the church's compound. "I think the ladies are here." Rufus stated then rushed to the car and the others quickly followed.
As they reached the car, Anne, Grace and Doris stepped out of the car looking so worried and the men's eyes swept them from foot to head in shock. "You all are not dressed?!" Stephen couldn't believe his eyes. “How can you not be dressed?! Have you any idea what the time is or did you ladies forget what today is?!”
“Well, we didn’t.” Doris answered, swallowing hard.
“Then what is going on?” Stephen asked, glancing from one lady to the other. “Where is Violet?” He tried to glance over them at the car for Violet but much to his dismay, he saw no sign of his wife-to-be. Even his friends looked as confused as he was.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Stephen, but we can't find Violet." Anne anxiously said. "We have searched everywhere and even had to drive down to the club to see if she had gone there because she had developed cold feet but there was no sign of her there either."
"What do you mean by you can't find Violet?" Stephen asked, puzzled. His heart was beginning to beat fast in his chest but he was trying to control it and maintain his composure. This was his big day. He couldn’t let anything ruin it. "Didn't she sleep in the same house with you all?"
"Yes, she did but when we woke up this morning, she was gone. We found her room empty. Violet is missing!" Doris stated.
"And where's Eric, I've been calling his phone but he hasn't been taking any of my calls since last night." Grace asked in worry, glancing towards the entrance of the church, hoping to see the love of her life.
"Same thing with us. He has refused to answer any of our calls too." Rufus said. "But we have already sent Emmanuel to check on him in the hotel."
Emmanuel who had just arrived from the hotel which Eric had lodge in, got down the commercial motorbike that had communed him to the church and he quickly approached them.