Chapter Sixty-nine

As they walked to the sitting room, they heard screams from the sitting room. It was the voices of the three men.

" What is going on? " Eddie asked Annie as they ran to know what was happening. Eddie and Annie saw the men, hopped on the sofa when they got to the sitting room. 

" What is it ? " Eddie asked as they (Annie and Eddie ) approached them.

Clifford and Freddie pointed at Harry. Eddie and Annie looked at Harry quizzically as he was fidgeting.

" Cockroach. " Harry said. The two ladies stood mouth agape as they watched the three men fidgeting. Eddie couldn't believe what was happening in her house. She had actually ran down the stairs because of an insect. That was indeed crazy. Annie and Eddie jumped when Harry screamed again pointing at the floor. Everyone looked at what he was pointing at. Eddie moved and picked it up. It was only a strand of hair that coiled at the place. The wind may have carried it from one place to another that it appeared as though it was walking. Everyone watched Eddie raise the strand of hair and tossed it on Harry. Harry screamed and almost jumped onto Annie if not that Annie retreated.

" The three of you were disturbing the peace in this house because of a strand of hair. That's crazy you know. " Eddie said calmly but her expression was very harsh. 

The three men apologized to her and she left them and went upstairs.

" Isn't she supposed to be your babe? " Harry asked Clifford.

" Yes she is. " Clifford answered firmly.

" What's with that attitude then? " Harry questioned further.

" Ok guys. You came without notice. You should apologized for that. " Annie told them.

" We're planning on staying here forever. " Freddie and Harry said in unison.

Annie shook her head and went upstairs to Eddie's room. Eddie's room was opened when she arrived, so she had easy access to it. 

" Girl, please calm down. " Annie pleaded. Eddie ignored her and continued pressing her phone. Annie sighed and went to sit beside her. She spoke to her for about three minutes without getting a response. So, she left her to her own devices and went to the kitchen to get some refreshments for the guests.

She returned back to the sitting room after that, with a tray containing wine and three glass cups for the trio.

" Enjoy yourselves. " She said and kept the glass cups on the table and went upstairs into Eddie's room.

...

...

" Please Eddie. Let them stay here. This house is too big for the both of us. " Annie bugged her with the pleas.

" I never complained when i was alone. " Eddie defended in annoyance.

Annie kept on begging, till Eddie accepted.

" Waow! " Annie screamed and went downstairs to announce the news to the men. The men were discussing while sipping their wine gently, when Annie ran into the sitting room.

" It's done. We're going to be living together! " Annie said and began jumping around the sitting room. She went to the stereo and took the Mp3 there, which she connected to her phone and turned on a hip pop music and began dancing. That thrilled the guys and they joined in the dance.

...

...

" What's going on? " Eddie wondered as the noise kept reverberating from downstairs. Eddie left her room and went downstairs. 

" Hey, what's going on here? " Eddie asked but no one replied her. Her presence was totally ignored as the four were so engrossed in the music and dancing.

Eddie walked towards the stereo and turned off the music startling the four dancing.

" What's going on here? " Eddie asked furiously. The four of them kept quiet and kept on looking at her.

" Now listen. There are terms and conditions to adapt to if you must live in this house. " She paused to get their total attention.

" 1 : You will be given your own rooms and on no account should you cross paths with our own rooms. I mean my room and Annie's. "

" 2 : No one should be seen playing within this building. We have a play ground for that or you can go to the field. "

" 3 : Keep to your limits guys. This is not a house for married couples. You know what I mean. "

" 4 : You ought to contribute to the daily feeding. Annie will update you with that later on. "

" 5 : Don't rearrange my properties without permission. Everything has been kept in place.  " 

" 6: We have no maids. So, you all will contribute to the cleaning of the house. "

" 7 : Don't disturb the serenity of the neighborhood. "

" Do you understand? " Eddie asked them. They were knocked out of daze when Eddie left them. 

Annie tried to calm them down and went upstairs after Eddie.

" Eddie what was all that for! " Annie yelled this time. She was totally pissed off by Eddie's character. This wasn't the Eddie she used to know and something must be done about it.

" You're shouting. Gone against rule number seven. " Eddie reminded her.

" Oh,this is crazy. " Annie said and sighed. She turned around and went to meet the men in the sitting room.

" Guys, this is not her speaking at the moment. I understand that she's going through a lot at the moment and she'll return to her usual lively character after she'd fixed that. Hope you don't mind? "  

Annie heaved a sigh of relief when they nodded in acceptance. She joined them and they began to discuss. While they sat talking, Clifford received a call from Albert. Albert spoke to the doctor who maintained that he was going to arrest the person that almost killed Aunt Mary. So, Albert decided to alert Clifford immediately.

" I'll be there in a jiffy. " Clifford said and ended the call. He told the rest that he needed to go to the hospital and it was urgent. 

" What are we doing here? Let's go with you. " Harry said. Annie wanted to go with them, so she informed Eddie and left with the men.

LIFE SAVING HOSPITAL.

Albert paced impatiently at the corridor, for Clifford to arrive. He kept on glancing at his watch. He had given the doctor some minutes to return back to him and he must keep to time else it results to something else. It remained fifteen minutes for the time to elapse, so he called Clifford again. 

Clifford didn't answer the call because he was already in the hospital with the other three, Annie, Freddie and Harry.

They walked hurriedly to the direction of the ward and saw Albert standing at its corridor. The five of them exchanged pleasantries. Clifford pointed at Sofia, Aunt Mary and Alma's ward before leaving with Albert to see the doctor. 

" Who do we have here? " Sofia exclaimed excitedly. She hugged Harry and Freddie as soon as they got into the room. She looked quizzically at Annie and hugged her too. 

" She's one of our friends. She came to see you and Aunt Mary. " Freddie said.

" She's the best friend of Clifford's girlfriend. " Harry introduced.

" Sofia. " Sofia said to Annie.

" Annie. "Annie replied and they hugged again.

...

...

The doctor showed Clifford and Albert the video of a lady going in and out of Aunt Mary's ward when she was still unconscious. That was obviously Valerie and the two men saw that. They pleaded with the doctor to close the case but he refused. It took a long while before the doctor finally agreed but that was after Clifford and Albert offered him some money.

As the duo, left the doctor's office, they discussed about this strange character of Valerie. Albert called John and Eva to meet them at the corridor, a few distance from the wards.

Eva and John greeted Albert and Clifford when they met them and Albert told them to tell all they found about Valerie to Clifford. That was a great shock to Clifford when he heard what they narrated. He couldn't believe that his younger sister whom he watched grow up can turn to a demon. Even when the evidence was clear, he still had doubts in mind.

" We need to find out who Valerie was speaking to. Eva, you'll help us with that. " Albert said.

Eva looked at him in confusion.

" How was she going to do that? " Eva wondered, so did everyone. Albert had a plan, the must find out. 

" Everyone will monitor her movements. Eva you'll get the number of whoever that Valerie is working with. That's easy. Ok? Think of ways to do that whenever you'll clean her room. " Albert explained.

Albert went in to see Sofia before leaving for the Smiths residence with Eva and John. 

SMITHS RESIDENCE.

Valerie was with Smith when Albert arrived home. Andy told him that his father wanted to see him, so he went directly to his father's room. He greeted his Dad and then Valerie and he sat down to listen to his Dad.

" How's Sofia and Mary? " Smith enquired.

" Oh Dad, spare me those pretence of yours. " Albert said rudely.

" You're speaking to Dad and ... " Valerie defended.

" And you are not allowed to interfere in my family's matters. " Albert said straight- faced.

" Excuse me? "  Valerie got pissed off by Albert's response.

" You didn't sneeze." Albert said rudely again.

" Will you two stop? " Smith said in a high tone and the room became silent again.

Smith started by enquiring Albert's effort towards the ball that will soon be organized by the company. Albert told his father that he wasn't interested in any of that as Sofia is still in the hospital. 

" You must be crazy. " Smith said to his son.

" It's Sofia or no one else. " Albert said and walked out of the room. That was a great stab on Valerie's chest. She was so upset that tears  trickled down the corners of her face. She stood up immediately and left the room.

" Valerie. " Smith called but she was already out of the room. 

" Andy. " Smith called.

Andy came into the room and Smith gave him some instructions to follow.