chapter three

Present time

Ashville College

School library

The wind roared and howled with defiance as a sharp bolt of lightning sliced through the dark ominous sky, accompanied by the deafening noise of a frightful thunder that tore through the peace and serenity of what is supposed to be a silent, mourning night.

Samantha flinched when she saw the blinding flash race through sky menacingly, as if it could split the sky open and rain down hell, the viciousness and furiocity of it raised instant goosebumps on her deathly pale looking skin but she didn't run off to shelter like she always does, probably because a part of her knew there was no one to run too... No one. So she remained, unmoved with a heart full of sorrow, pounding violently in fear as every cell in her body begs for her to stop the foolishness and self inflicted punishment.

"Be reasonable Sam! Doing this won't bring her back or change the past. What is done is done.

Stubborn as she is, she didn't yield to her inner voice of wisdom. Time passed and She must have lost track of how long she watched the raging storm through the glass wall of her "sanctuary" with a choking sense of guilt, recounting the disastrous omen she had always attributed to it all her life, it was her personal superstition but it came true just when she started to discard it.

So consumed in her grief, she didn't notice the change in the air around her, how it shifted drastically until she started shaking and shivering in her heavy boots, it suddenly felt too cold and icy for her, even though she is dressed to suit the unrelenting harsh weather in a long black coat, over a simple black gown for the mournful occasion.

Then came the irresistible urge to look up at the sky again, to challenge it with her own gaze against her better judgement, she knew that unsolicited action will be her undoing, she knew it would shatter her to face her biggest fear but something, perhaps a stronger force made her do it and so she obeyed and looked up to behold another clasp of frightening thunder as if on cue, that was when she saw it, the image that will hunt her for the rest of her life

It was the form of a grotesque face that emerged from the stormy cloud and glared maliciously at her, she could have sworn it was only an imagination until it bared long, sharp fangs and let out a splitting scream that accompanied the next roar of thunder.

Everything happened in a split second, she had no time to ponder on what she saw as primal fear and horror washed through her spine, seizing her entire system and almost knocking her off from shock, but her survival instinct kicked in next, willed her body to move instantly, to run to safety and hide from it, the demon that has come to hunt her.

Sam staggers back like a hopeless drunk and started backing away hurily, sensing an unseen danger while moving as fast as her legs could carry her, bumping nosily and carelessly into random chairs and tables without care until she tripped over something foreign and nearly fell face flat on the floor.

She froze, her heart sank all the way to the bottom of her queasy stomach as an unearthly gush of air twirls around her teasingly, it was followed by a loud piercing scream that tore through her mouth, so loud that it should definitely have woken the whole school up if it wasn't drowned by the angry and unstopping splatters of the rain.

She kept screaming with her eyes shut tight, expecting something or someone to lung at her and tear her to pieces like in the movies but nothing happened, she soon realized it was no horror movie and  nothing was dragging her down beneath, she should have felt relieved when she looked down, minutes later to see it was only a book, carelessly strewn in her path but it made her feel worse and pathetic, made her feel so small and useless.

Then it came, the flood of tears she has been holding back for the past three days since they found her best friend's lifeless body, hanging from the fan in her dorm room.  Her tears came pouring down like a deadly tsunami without restriction, since there was no one around to see and judge, no one to call them "crocodile tears" and snidely ask why she's faking it.

The reality of her loss finally hit her deep as she kept backing away, whimpering and crying silently, her whole body shaking like that of  a wounded deer until she was up against a  book shelf from behind, tired and drained, she slid down into a desolated heap on the cold tiled floor and folds into a tiny ball, trying as much as possible to make herself shrink into invisibility. She desperately wished she could disappear off the surface of the earth like a puff of smoke, but if wishes were horses, beggars would ride

She's a total mess, a mixture of confusion, loneliness, guilt, anxiety, uncertainty and fear personified, in one small, tiny and crumbling body, she could feel her sanity slipping away as she muttered feverishly, fighting against the accusing looks and voices in her head.

" you killed her! You killed our sister..."

"You monster, you despicable thing!"

"I hope you rot in hell! I hope the demons feed on your damned soul..."

"I hate you! I hate you!! I hate you!!!"

'No! Please no... Please'

She cries, trying to block the voices and faces that carried nothing but the pure hatred and anger she truly deserves, she was still fighting her inner demons when the intruding sound of heavy footsteps, approaching cut thought her thoughts, she stilled for a moment, wondering who it could be wandering round the dark deserted library in the dead of the night.

How did they get in? The doors are locked with full security in case of break in's

Sam swallowed the rest of her sob and listened with rapt attention as the footstep drew alarmingly closer to her, to her hiding place with the continuous raging of the storm, giving a scary background sound track. She said nothing but waited, waited for what's to come with different horrific thought running through her mind. Thinking the demon is finally here to take her away, to punish her for driving an innocent girl to commit sucide.

I deserve it, I deserve everything... Just make it quick and painless, I hope that's not to much to ask for?

She shut her eyes the minute a figure suddenly materialized beside her, too scared to look up and see who it is but then she caught the faint smell of a familiar cologne which only one person she knows of, uses.

'You shouldn't be here, it's light out already'

His voice brought instant relief to her, she  looks up in time to meet his stern, unsmiling face with a sad one of her's, she has never been so grateful to see someone in her whole life, especially him in his black rain drenched attire.

'Riq! It you!'

She flew up to her feet and literally jumped at him in a hug, putting her tiny arms around him and her head on his broad chest, she started sobbing all over again while he stood still like a statue, his hands glued to his side in an unreciprocal gesture. Finally he had enough of her tears and gently pushed her away to her disappointments.

'I was doing my night check when I saw a shadow moving around in the library through the glass wall...'

He didn't need to explain himself to her but he did so she doesn't get the wrong idea, so she doesn't think he came for her... He would never do that, if he had known she was the one on the library he wouldn't have come. Sam caught the note of anger and disdain in his tone, it smashed her already messed up mind into pieces.

'Riq...'

'You should go back to your dorm! It's too late and dangerous for you to be wandering about in this storm'

A flare of hope came up in her, he knows she's scared of the storm, his statement shows he still cares.

He started walking away but she grabs him by the forearm to stop him.

'Riq...'

She started again but he cuts her shut.

'Go back to your dorm Samantha, or I would be forced to use my position as the headboy to punish you for breaking the rules'

There was no trace of joke or humor in his tone, his glare is so hard it nearly burned through her skin as the pulls her hand off him like trash, she gasps.

'This would bet last warning, don't push my hands'

She was staring straight into his brown eyes and all she could see was intense hatred shining in them, those eyes that used to hold love and adoration for her.

For long both of the stood in silence, in the dark, each to is own thought and regrets until she broke the ice.

'You're mad at me, you have every right to be but please don't turn your back on me, you know I didn't mean for Ini die like that! you of all people should know that and how much she meant to me, you've known both of us since forever!'

She pleads in desperation, hoping he would understand her even if no one does.

'I don't know that, because I don't know you, I thought I did but I didn't know shit about you'

He replies, not sparing her feelings.

'For Godsake Ini is my best friend, she meant the world too me, how could you join the league of those who accuse me of her death because of something I said out of anger? How can you not care how this is affecting me as well? She was my other half, my soul mate, she was my everything so how could I have wished her death.

How can you stand by and watch without defending me?'

She's disappointed in him, disappointed that he was so quick to turn his back on her instead of standing by her.

'Was... She was your best friend but you rudely cut her off and made her life a living nightmare before she took your advice and put an end to her own life!'

He yells in her face, not caring as spit carelessly flew out of his mouth in an undignified manner. Sam was too stunned with guilt to reply him.

'I begged you Sam! I begged you non stop, I did everything you asked of me just so you would stop torturing her, so you would let her be but you didn't stop, you carried on every single chance you got, you drove her to the hangsman noose and now you stand here, crying and playing all innocent when you know too well what you did to her... You might not have put that thought in her head or the rope around her neck but you're just as guilty of her death if not more. You can keep living in denial but it won't change the bitter truth of your major involvement'

He found himself crying by the time he was done talking, Sam was crying as well, muttering apologies in between but he wasn't listening to her.

He prides himself on being in charge of his emotions, afterall that's what the society expects from the hard core kind of man he wants to be but he doubt he will ever be the same again, not after he had to cut down the body of the only girl he loved with all his heart, what he regrets more was not being able to have prevented her death, not being sensitive enough to have read the signs and signals in her thought, words and behavior, most especially, not being able to do much by standing up for her... He would never forgive himself for failing her, never forgive Sam for being her nemesis.

He after what seemed like forever, he managed to put himself together again and attempts to leave but Sam fell back to her kneels, clutching his leg.

'Please! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Riq, I didn't mean for things to turn out this way, I didn't mean to push her too hard.

You're all I have left, please don't turn your back on me... Please'

He paused and looked down at her, the pitiable sight laying frightfully at his feet, begging for his mercy like her life depended on it. For a brief moment he relished in her suffering and wished Ini could see it, to see the graceful mess her tormentor has become.

He took his time to reply her request with a well thought out response.

'Less than two months ago, she was on her kneels just like this, begging you to have mercy on her, begging you with her sweat and blood in the school hallway... Do you remember?'

Sam knew what he was talking about, she remembers that day like it was yesterday, if she could guess properly, it was definitely the day she finally broke Ini's resilient spirit. She bows her head in shame because she couldn't admit remembering the terrible things she did.

'You laughed at her, you mocked her, you made a fool of her, made her a spectacle for the whole school to watch... Then you turned your back on her without a backward glare. You shouldn't have done that, I told you, you were going to regret it but you laughed it off... The day of reckoning and regret is finally here.

Goodbye Samantha Adepoju Coker.

He roughly pull his leg of her and walks off, leaving the dark walks of the library behind without a second glance.