“It is just a matter of time, Tiffany,” Akilang growled.
“Stop meddling in my business, Akilang. St… Huh!” Tiffany groaned in pain.
“Much easier to say. Hehehe, Tiffany, I am bounded by you. It’s you and I forever, I hope you know that,” Akilang sneered.
“You… You… ” Tiffany stammered, the pain eating her deeply.
“I’ll be back for you. Just have fun while you can.”
Tiffany inhaled deeply as the pain left her as soon as Akilang finished its statement.
She held her bag tightly, wiped the sweat that had gathered on her face with her palm, and resumed walking.
‘Let’s not think about anything now…’ she said to herself as she walked further.
She had always known her life was a mystery, but now with Akilang’s existence, her life wasn’t even hers.
Her life was not hers because Akilang was inside of her, breathing the same air as her.
Her life belonged to the wicked demon inside of her.
Wait, if there’s a demon inside her, then… She’s a demon also.
Huh, what a cruel fate she’s got.
~
“You’re still up?” Aiden yawned lazily as he strolled towards the refrigerator after sparing a glance at Declan who watching a movie directly from the plasma television.
“Fûck it, dude, why are you just coming back?” Declan hissed, not ready to look at Aiden.
“Don’t ask me any questions, if you are going to be like this, go to your house,” Aiden rolled his eyes and walked towards him with the bottled water he had gotten from the refrigerator.
“Tsk, how rude,” Declan chuckled then turned to look at Aiden who settled on the couch beside him.
“Oh, my old man called,” Declan started.
“Hmm,” Aiden nodded his head, removed his phone from his pocket, and then began to go through it.
“You should know why he’d called. Lauren told her dad about what I did and her dad called my dad. Funny, right?” Declan asked and turned to look at Aiden.
“Hello, Anny.”
Hello, Anny?!
He was telling Aiden about what had happened and the only thing he could do was ignore him to call some girl!
Wow!
“Did you get home safely?” Aiden grinned.
“Yes, how about you?” Tiffany asked.
“Yeah, I just got home,” he answered.
“Okay… Aiden, huh… Thanks for today, the ride, and… Everything,” Tiffany said anxiously.
“The pleasure is mine,” he answered.
“Okay. Huh, I gotta go. See you on Monday, right?”
“Yes, yes, see you on Monday,” Aiden answered hurriedly.
“Alright.”
“Goo…” he was interrupted as he heard the beeping from his phone which indicated that the call has ended.
“I didn’t get to say goodnight to her,” he muttered under his breath.
“Ouch!” he cried out as Declan’s palm landed on his head.
“Are you cràzy?” he half yelled.
“You’re the crazy one. I was talking to you about something and you just ignored me to call that girl!” Declan complained.
“Are you angry? If you’re mad that I call someone, pick up your phone and call someone also, don’t you fûcking disturb me!” Aiden hissed, dropped his phone beside him, opened the lid on the bottled water, and then prepared to drink from the bottle.
“Are you angry, sweetheart?” Declan teased and Aiden choked on the water immediately.
“Hey! Are you sent to kîll me?” Aiden coughed.
“I called Zoey,” he changed the topic which made Aiden hissed at him.
“Won’t you ask why?” Declan frowned.
“You are the one narrating the story, should you not tell me everything I need to know? Fûck.”
“Okay, it didn’t go well though. That girl practically insulted me. It made me wonder if she really had a crush on me,” Declan shook his head.
“She called me an arrogant prîck! Woah, thinking about it gets me mad,” Declan ran his hand through his hair and Aiden laughed.
“What is funny?”
“It is a nice thing someone else aside Tiffany is ready to get on your throat, don’t you think?”
” Get on my throat? That girl? Excuse me, she doesn’t even have what it takes to do that,” Declan hissed.
“Whatever, can’t wait to see how things get interesting between the two of you,” Aiden tilted his head sarcastically and drink slowly from the bottle.
“Nothing will get interesting!”
“I will just ask her to pretend to be my girlfriend in front of Lauren,” Declan added.
“I think you both should pretend to be dating in front of everyone in school. It’s never going to work in front of Lauren alone,” Aiden suggested.
“That girl is strong-headed. I mean, most ladies will be willing to do this for me!” Declan raised his hands proudly.
“Well, my baby didn’t make a mistake choosing Zoey as her friend,” Aiden raised a brow.
“Ba… Baby!” Declan widened his eyes.
”Yes. By the way, I think it will be very fun if things get serious between you both.”
“Fun in what way?”
” You know, what if you develop feelings for her while you are just pretending to be dating. I’ve watched a lot of movies where hate turn to love, trust me,” Aiden chuckled.
“I can never develop feelings for that girl. She’s not my type, I mean, she’s not even close to my type. She is flat chested, ugly, and her hair color, I hate it. How could she dye her hair gold? Does she even think it fit her?” Declan hissed.
“Well, you’ve not even started your fake relationship and you’re already seeing problems in her. Truth be told, golden hair looks good on her,” Aiden protested.
“It doesn’t. She looks so bad!” Declan hit his foot on the floor.
“You’re acting like a possessive boyfriend. Your fake relationship has not even started and you are like this already. Hehehe, don’t tell me you’re liking her already,” Aiden chuckled sarcastically and prepared to drink from his bottle.
“I don’t like her!” Declan snapped and hit the water bottle that was still in Aiden’s mouth from the bottom which made the latter choke on the water.
“Hey!” Aiden coughed, water dripping from his nose.
“Oops, didn’t know you were going to choke this hard,” Declan twitched his mouth.
“Screw you!”
“And you.”
Aiden stood from the couch to go change his shirt that already had water on it, “You didn’t prepare anything for dinner?”
“The last time that I checked, I can’t prepare meals except for noodles which you hated with passion,” Declan answered, grabbed the remote, and prepared to change the channel.
“Very useless human,” Aiden hissed.
“Will you make dinner?” Declan asked as he watched Aiden walk towards the stairs.
“Fûck no! Just order pizza!”
”Just make dinner, please! “Declan shouted.
“Shut the fûck up, dude. Order. Pizza!”
“Very rude person,” Declan hissed and leaned forward to grab his phone.
“How many servings?!” Declan shouted but Aiden was already out of sight.
“That guy…”
***
Sunday.
“Let’s go to your house.”
They had just walked out of the photography shop when Zoey said to Tiffany.
It was very evident on the ladies’ face that they enjoyed each other’s company.
They had met in front of the sandwich shop where Tiffany work and from there they visited the amusement park which was Zoey’s treat where they spent almost two hours.
Then, they stopped by the roadside counter where they ate a hot dog, falafel snack, and then Ice-cream which was Tiffany’s treat.
Lastly, they went to a photographer’s shop even though Tiffany didn’t want to take a picture of herself. They both took single shots and then took pictures together which they collected after a few minutes of waiting.
Walking out of the shop, Zoey asked Tiffany to take them to her house.
“W… We can’t go to my place,” Tiffany answered.
“Why?” With a fallen countenance, Zoey pouted.
“I… It is just not presentable to you. You come from a rich household, you can’t last thirty minutes in my room,” Tiffany answered.
“Well, I care less.”
“Zoey…”
“Please, I want to know where you live,” Zoey nudged her gently.
“But…”
“Please,” Zoey pouted.
“Okay,” Tiffany accepted nervously.
They held hands and then began to walk to Tiffany’s house which was ten minutes away by foot.
Zoey didn’t stop giggling, while Tiffany wouldn’t stop sighing.
She didn’t want anyone to know how she was living. It’s not like she is ashamed but she wasn’t ready to see the pitiful look they were going to give her.
Huh, she had no choice but to bring Zoey to her house.
~
The walk lasted twenty minutes due to how they stopped walking at some places to look around.
As they entered the corridor which led to Tiffany’s room, Tiffany let go of Zoey’s hand, dipped her hand in her pocket, and removed the tiny key to her padlock.
She walked closer to it, unlocked the padlock, opened the door, and then stepped in.
“I… Live here,” she whispered as she watched Zoey enter slowly.
“Tiff…” Zoey sighed as she looked around the dark space.
Tiffany switched on the light of her phone and placed it on the bag that was filled with her cloth and then watched Zoey’s unreadable expression.
“Tiffany,” Zoey exhaled, walked towards Tiffany, and pulled her in a hug.
Tiffany said nothing, she stood still, even though Zoey had mistakenly touched her shoulder which hurt, she stood still and didn’t push her away from her.
“You’re so strong, living here alone… You’re very strong,” Zoey said and then pulled away slowly.
“Zoey…” Tiffany mumbled.
“I envy you so much. The way you act like there’s nothing in this world troubling you… I envy that so much,” Zoey smiled at her.
”Thank you,” Tiffany smiled.
“Let’s go outside. It’s getting hot in here and I don’t think you will be able to stand it,” Tiffany grabbed her wrist.
“Says who?” Zoey snatched her hand away from Tiffany, moved away from her, and then sat on the mat that way lying beside the wall.
“Zoey?”
“Come sit down,” Zoey placed her hand on the mat, indicating for her to sit in from of her.
Tiffany smiled and hurriedly sat beside Zoey. They both stared at each other for a few seconds before Zoey broke the silence.
“Would you mind if I ask some questions about you?” Zoey bit her lower lips.
“I am an orphan,” Tiffany started.
What else would Zoey want to know apart from why she’s living here?
“Huh?” Zoey raised her brows.
“Aren’t you curious about why I’m living this way?” Tiffany chuckled.
“I’m sorry…” Zoey bowed.
“It’s fine. Come on,” she smiled.
“So… I don’t have a mother and a father. I heard my mother died after she delivered me, and my dad… I don’t know anything about him. I lived in an orphanage home till I was nine years old. I left the Orphanage home after some issue arose and my existence would solve everything. Right from childhood, I’ve always been an outcast. No one liked me and I also didn’t make any effort to make friends. After I left the Orphanage home, I bumped into a car and the man behind the wheel got down and took me to his home. I lived with him and his family for five years before I was chased away. I have a stroke of very bad luck, right?” Tiffany chuckled and glanced at Zoey who looked down already.
“I did a lot of part-time jobs, building construction, bakery, stores… Name it. I worked hard to make a living and I slept anywhere and everywhere I could. It wasn’t easy, I was assaulted and almost raped, but, trust your girl, I had this power in me. I was able to take anyone who comes at me down. With that, I lived my life without being harmed by people. Six months ago, I got to work at the sandwich bar where I was paid very well. Our store is the only sandwich bar in the area so we make a lot of sales and with that, I make quite a lot of money from there. At first, I slept at the sandwich shop which my boss accepted. So, three months ago, I got this place,” Tiffany narrated with a said smile on her face.
“I can’t believe you’ve gone through this much,” Zoey sighed as a drop of tears escaped her eyes.
“I know, right?” Tiffany smiled.
“But, how come you can read and write if you lived that way? You even school at western high,” Zoey raised a brow.
“I learned how to read and write when I was still at the Orphanage home and then Where I lived from nine till fifteen, I learned the more. Their children were homeschooled so I was permitted to join in their lessons,” Tiffany answered.
“Woah,” Zoey exclaimed.
“Will you come live with me? My parents will agree,” Zoey offered.
“No,” Tiffany answered curtly.
“But…”
“I said no. I don’t need any sympathy from anyone so, please… ”
“It’s not sympathy though, but it’s fine,” Zoey smiled.
“Ah! Lest I forget, Declan called me his girlfriend in front of Lauren, “Zoey change the topic.
“What?!” Tiffany widened her eyes.
“Yes. I went to the clinic… ”
With that, Zoey began to narrate how she had gone to visit Declan at the clinic and how he had called her the night before which they both laughed out loud.
=
Unknown.
“Any update?” The man removed his glasses and rubbed his hand between his brows.
“No, sir,” his informant bowed.
“S… Sir?”
“Yes?”
“May I ask why you are looking for that kid after so many years have passed? Who knows, she could be dead. She left the Orphanage home at the age of nine. She might not have survived on her own,” the informant said cautiously.
“Hmm!” he looked away, not ready to answer the question he was asked.
“You may leave,” he said.
The informant bowed deeply and exited the room hurriedly.
After his informant had left, he sighed. He really wished he could unravel the mystery behind Nova’s death.
When he got to the mountain that day, he refused to believe that the ever radiating Nova was lying lifeless on the floor, her skin had turned black and no one knew what happened that day.
He wasn’t on good terms with Martha, Theodore’s wife and the woman wouldn’t even tell him what happened even though he had asked.
The only person who could explain what happened had turned brain dead.
It was indeed a puzzle and the pieces were far from coming together.
Different questions were running through his head.
Why did Nova visit the mountain?
Why was Theodore there also?
What happened in the mountain that day? Nova died a mysterious death and Theodore couldn’t say anything anymore.
The one that was bugging his mind the most was, who carried the baby to the Orphanage home?
Even if he had met the baby there, he would have carried her to the Orphanage home, his wife was another definition of the Devil.
She would never allow him to bring another baby home.
When his wife found out that he had impregnated another woman, she didn’t take it lightly and Nova suffered the most for it because his wife made the woman go through hell.
He had been waiting for Theodore to open his mouth to talk to him about what happened.
Theodore could explain better.
After all, he had kept Nova in Theodore’s care.
*
TBC…