1999 - OSU

“Alfie run, they’re coming. Don’t let them see you!!” his mum exclaimed.

“But I can’t leave you mum, they’ve already killed dad. If I leave, they will kill you too! and small sister and baby Rona!” Alfie shouted back to his mother.

He couldn’t bare leaving his mother to perish under the mercy of these men, whoever they were and for whatever reason why they were raiding his family.

They had already shot his father and set his house on fire. Now they were after his mother, and he was pretty sure they would come after him next.

Fortunately for him, they had no idea his little sisters were hiding in the kids’ room upstairs.

So if only he could make it to them, he would lock the door and stay with them there, hope and pray they won’t be found by the men and the fire will not burn them to ashes.

He wiped his tears and got ready to move. He stumbled over his dead cousin, Richie; who was stabbed by one of the men.

He clenched his fist at the sight and continued his mission until he heard his mother’s muffled screams.

“Alfie my son, I said run! If you really want to save us please run. Run, Alfie, run!”

Just then, one of the men slit a sharp knife around his mother’s neck and she fell right in front of him,dead.

As he leaned over his mother amidst tears, the man who just killed his mother started coming towards him ready to end his fate as well. He turned on his heels towards the nearest exit.

After a hot chase, the man finally gave up and went back into the house. Alfie accepted the fact that he lost his family within a short minute by a strange group of men.

With adrenaline and terror running through his veins, he ran away into the thick forest. Not before he turned back to the burning house he once called his home, and whispering to himself the words “I will be back”.

PRESENT DAY

“Boss we’re here’’, Patrick blurted out from the driver seat of the brand new Mercedes van. They have been travelling for quite a while now and the silence between them had been thick like a fog.

Not because of any malice between them, nor because of the fact that they do not normally communicate, but because both of them seem so lost in his own thoughts.

Patrick, the boss’ personal assistant and the driver for that matter, seem to fathom how important a mere girl is to her boss that could possibly make him decide to come all the way down here for her.

For the boss he knew and has worked with for the past three(3) years, this was the last thing he would do in his entire life.

He recalled how he found him and how far they have come together as friends and partners.

Few days after they enrolled in the army, he decided to take an afternoon stroll around the camp. He found him sitting alone in one corner.

In as much as they were new there and did not know each other that much, it was clear that this young man sitting here was intentionally isolating himself from human contact.

He looked lost and confused, and the way he flinched when he got close to him raised questions and made him suspicious. He tried to talk to him and forced a few words out of him.

From the little conversation they had, he realised that he was running away from something or even someone in particular, and in the process had experienced terrifying situations which has left him with a probing social anxiety.

Regardless of how strange he acted, he drew him closer since that day, and that was the beginning of a life-long friendship.

In no time, this young man became far mature than he was in terms of strength, wit and dominance.

He became powerful and fearless after their army training and anyone who crossed his path had his fair share of brutality. He was bent on ending bad deeds and killing bad men in the society.

For whatever reason why his boss was obsessed with this, Patrick never asked. So seeing him showing his emotional side was something so unusual, and whoever this girl was, must really be special.

He pulled up in front of a dilapidated old house and announced their arrival.Unfortunately, his boss seemed so lost in his thoughts.

He then got down and switched off the engine before going to stand beside his boss who had already alighted and staring deeply at the abandoned house before them.

He wished he could at least read his mind to understand what was going on.

Finally his boss spoke, and when he did, it came out nearly like a whisper.

“Right here on this compound, in this building, was where I lost all my family within a time range of thirty(30) minutes.

My house was in flames, I saw both my cousin and parents killed before my own eyes, and my younger sisters left at the mercy of the killers, whiles I had no choice but to run.

I was traumatised and lost. Fortunately for me, I was already recruited in the army and had already prepared to leave.

That was why you found me that way the first day you saw me. Since then, I have lacked the capacity to feel emotions; which explains my fierce and brutal nature.

I always feel like I was the cause of my family’s death. I could have done better to save them. I hate myself and I hate anyone who tamper with my emotions and patience”.

Patrick sighed. He seemed to process whatever his boss has said. He seemed to come to terms with the fact that behind the fierce man,

the man who seemed not to care about anyone’s feelings, who has tortured many and has earned the respect and fear of almost anyone in the society; was a little boy who was grieving inside,

a powerless boy who has been exploited by people more powerful than him.

All the bits and pieces of his boss’ behaviour seemed to add together and make sense now.

His thoughts were interrupted by a slight cough from his boss and he directed his attention towards him.

“Have you found the girl”. He said amidst his cough.

“Yes Sir, I have quite a lot of information about her”, Patrick replied, “who is she anyway, and why did we come all the way down here for her?” he continued.

His boss replied “She took care of me in the forest when I was alone. She came there with food and water everyday and even brought clothes sometimes.

She disappeared all of a sudden and I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye before I joined the army. I owe her my life and I want to pay her back. So where is she”?

“Her story is a little heartbreaking at the moment.

From my investigations, a certain rich man named Frederic of the Great Five Family in the city has turned her into his personal slave.

He sexually abused her, and when she defended herself by slapping him, he arranged for her death by a car accident.

Fortunately, the girl survived but she was paralysed. Currently, he is arranging a forced marriage for her where she would choose among the beggars and homeless in the society.

Her hands are tied , and so is her family due to how powerful his Frederic man is”. Patrick finished his speech with a sigh.

He could see how his boss had clenched his fist and how his eyes were glowing red. Whoever this Frederic man is, really want to taste death.

“When and where is the party?”. He managed to ask through gritted teeth.

“Tonight, at Frederic’s house boss”. Patrick replied.

“Patrick we came for vengeance. We are here to kill and destroy. Are you with me Officer?” That was his boss.

Patrick realised his boss put on that fearful look, the one he had on when he knew he was about to kill. He smiled and replied “Yes boss”.

“Good, we’re attending the wedding tonight”.

“

The weather was gloomy and the clouds had gathered in the sky. It will rain anytime soon and the wedding will be postponed where she would probably escape her fate.

Unfortunately for Claribel, these thoughts were just her imaginations which will not work out even if even there was a heavy thunderstorm outside the walls of this great mansion.

Frederic was bent on destroying her and he will not rest until this wicked desire of his is fulfilled. Whatever she and her family had done to this man, she never knew.

Nobody will even tell her too. She understood Frederic was from the Great Five Family, yes, but as to why he was bent on destroying her without any of her family members ever saying a word to defend her against his actions, she had no single idea.

Soon after she graduated from college, Frederic attempted to rape her. She fought against him and hit his groins before she managed to escape.

He claimed it has left him impotent and that is the reason why he hated her that much. He purposely arranged an accident for her of which she escaped too, but paralysed.

The worst of it all, her family has made no attempt to even defend her against this man’s actions. They claim his family is powerful and their hands are tied.

But in reality, Claribel knew the kind of hatred most of her family members has towards her. Some even wished she died in that accident, and till this day, even when Frederic is arranging a forced marriage for her with a pauper, they were still happy.

She scanned the people. The man she was to choose from to spend her whole life with as his wife: the gamblers, homeless, ex-convicts, beggars and the wretched.

She could not accept this fate. This could not be her marriage. She turned to her mother for help and she met her eyes.

“Claribel I wish I could help” was all she could say.

Just then Frederic climbed the stage clad in an expensive suit sipping a glass of wine.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, you’re all welcome to the wedding ceremony of our dear Claribel. Today, she has the chance to choose among the best of the poorest in our society to be her husband.

Other than she will have to sleep with my dog in front of everyone for a whooping sum of money. I have been so merciful to her, what she did to me deserved more punishment than that”.

He turned to Claribel. “Dear Claribel, the choice is yours. Marrying a pauper or being a whore for dogs” he said amidst laughter. Everyone in the hall started mocking her.

She heard one of her cousins say “Sleep with the dog dear cousin, at least you will get us some money “ in between her laughter.

Claribel wished she could stab a knife in Frederic’s throat right now. She wished she could change her fate.

She was so desperate and wanted to just die and end it all. Why can’t somebody do something to save her?

Why did everyone hate her this much even in her most vulnerable state? What has she done to deserve this?

She was lost in her dilemma of thoughts until she saw the big gates flung open as a deep growl echoed in the walls of the mansion “Let her go! “.