It's kind of funny how time skips when you want it to slow and passes with the speed of a slug in that exact moment you wish it to fly by; a year resembles a few days when you're trying to achieve a great feat but a second slows into a century when you're living a nightmare. This was my food for thought as I stared down at the untouched bowl of pasta I'd bought for lunch.

I remembered the time significantly slowing down when I approached that bathroom stall seven days ago. I remembered time grinding to a halt when I saw the body ….my Tiny laying still on the cold bathroom floor, how everything that happened afterwards was in the semblance of a slow motion scene in a movie, how much of a hurry I was in for my alarm clock or anyone or anything to wake me up from my suffocating nightmare. 

I remember vividly, like a 3D motion on a big screen. I still yearned to be pinched awake from the nightmare I was living, but I knew it had dragged on too long to be a nightmare. It was reality. A horrific reality I wish I could escape.

However, I marvelled at how two and half days skipped by while I tried to find out the reason behind hot cop's actions, and how one week went by in a flash while trying to decipher what seven meant.

Since that scream-off with the cop, I tended to avoiding him like a plague, still trying to make out what 'never in your life offer me money in return for my emotions' meant. I guess there was a story behind that, a story that he would be hesitant to share, a story that for some reason, I was curious to learn about.

Sigh.

"A kobo for your thoughts."

Oooooooooooooooo God, please not again.

Oh but from the reflection I was seeing through the screen of my phone, it was Dave. Again, again.

Maybe if I ignore him , he'll probably get the message and fuck the hell off. 

From the corner of my eye, I saw him taking a seat beside me with elegant demeanor.

Gah! Just why? Why oh why does it have to be me?

"You've barely touched your food!" He pointed out in a lame attempt to begin a conversation and I rolled my eyes so hard that it was a wonder they didn't fall off.

Like a moron couldn't deduce that with his eyes closed.

After a minute of silence, he spoke up again.

"You know, I wonder why you ignore someone as important as I am that often. Do you like the chase?"

I would have been surprised if I didn't know how much of a cocky bozo dear senior Dave could be.

"You know, I wonder why you haven't shoved your bloody importance up your sorry ass." 

I was about to flee when I noticed a printed picture of …..her fall out of the leatherback book that looked very familiar. I suddenly found breathing very hard to achieve.

Crap!

"What are you doing with this?!" I demanded harshly as I snatched up the picture.

It was a recent one, a very, very recent one. I looked around wildly to catch dozens of curious glances thrown my way.

They shouldn't see my Tiny like this, no one will see my Tiny like this. I won't let anyone see my Tiny like this. They don't deserve to see my Tiny like this.

I was shredding the image in no time.

"Sheesh Adeoti, calm down." Dave moved closer, probably to stop my actions but I shot away from him.

"You don't fucking get to tell me to calm down Dave! You don't get to tell me what to bloody do." I snatched up my bag with the remains of the shredded picture still tightly secured in my grasp.

"And this," I raised my folded palm to show him, "you'll explain to that hag how you got this. Just stay the hell away from me and if you know what is the best for you, don't you dare follow me." With that I was out of the cafe.

I didn't care how many students deemed me crazy for screaming my head off over a simple polaroid and bolting out the door and bumping ungraciously into people in the process of doing the latter, I just wanted to get away.

Not really getting away from Dave, no. But from the memory I'd tried so hard in the last seven days to suppress. Unfortunately, running like a maniac didn't drive away the image I'd just shredded from my mind. Running didn't relieve my agony as I relived every damn moment of seven days ago all over again.

Running only made me breathless and tired.

I almost collapsed when I got as far as the medical facilities of the school. Thankfully, no one followed and it was just ten minutes into lunch hour, so there was no one around to glare at me as I collapsed noisily on a bench by the door labelled 'sickbay'

I focused on taking deep breaths when I realised my inhaler wasn't with me.

A scratchy noise made my ears perk up and instinctively reach out for my phone in case the need to record would arise. It seemed to be coming from the room I was sitting by, but the door being firmly closed didn't give better access to listen in more closely.

Not fair!

"We can't involve her in this with all due respect ma'am. She has already been through enough as it is." I heard a bold, more distinct and familiar voice filter from the window of the room. I took a few steps closer to the blinded window and tapped the record icon on my phone, hoping it would be good enough stuff to upload on my rather dormant vlog.

"I'll have you know Mr. Otabor that her take on this would be of immense assistance in cracking this case. Somehow the previous deaths have been connected to her one way or another–" the scratchy voice that I recognised to be the hag's was cut off abruptly by the one of the hot cop's.

"This is way worse ma'am, this body is completely severed beyond comprehension. She won't be able to be sane after seeing this, we'll have to find another way around this."

My brain stop registering anything after I heard the word body.

Body…

Body…

Does that mean....?

"She appears tough and all but I am sure she wouldn't survive this. I beg of you ma, spare Ella of this nightmare."

Spare me of nightmare? I was living in one already.

What irked me though was the fact that hot cop thought I was frail and defenseless.

I marched towards the door and yanked open the door with an annoyance that almost pulled out the knob.

Gasps flew about as I gained entrance, with mine inclusive.

The hot cop had almost been right about me not surviving, the sight that greeted me knocked the air out of my lungs.

"Holy crap!"

All traces of colour and sustenance must have drained from my face and body, for the figure of the hot cop rushing towards me blurred for a moment.

My eyes was definitely playing tricks on me.

That wasn't what I think it is, right?

"Are you okay?" A concerned voice snapped me out of my daze.

"W–what happened to her hand?" I pointed over his shoulder that was already blocking the view from my eyes and stuttered. He was trying his possible best to get me to calm down. It wasn't working.

"Just calm down, it's nothing. It's nothing at all."

"It's not nothing! I saw…." I trailed off and squirmed out of his hold.

"Mr. Otabor, I don't think this is necessary at all. She has already noticed the body, she can as well identify it."  Came the unfamiliar voice from a lady I hadn't noticed earlier. If I wasn't in so much shock, I would have given a suitable comeback with as much venom she'd talked with.

"Stop being a bitching around miss Ruby, things are already as bad as it can get." Hot cop gritted and I used his distraction to my advantage and got out of his hold.

Maybe my vision was being deceptive. I needed to know.

When I looked again, the body was still laying slant on the sickbed, its head was still twisted to the side at an unnatural angle, with its half-open eyes staring chillingly at m–me. Its belly was still naked and and thoroughly slashed through and the skin around her left forearm –the arm that was supposed to hold a new equation– was still entirely missing, leaving behind a very unsettling, bloodcurdling sight.

I found myself gasping for air.

"I thought and hoped there wouldn't be another death till the next term. This is just too much, it's just been a week." A quivering squeal reached my ears, but it sounded so far away, like a voice from the other end of a dark labyrinth of torment and terror.

"The killer is being pretty impatient. We have to act fast before he strikes again." The other unfamiliar voice informed with urgency whilst in the middle of clicking another picture for further investigation.

"Only God knows how long we–" hot cop began but was interrupted by a whisper, my whisper.

"Seven."

"Sorry?, did you say something?" The venom voiced lady asked a pretty frozen up me.

"Seven in the equation means seven days. It meant we had seven days to figure out who he is and what he wants or another death will happen." I said out loud in realisation.

Why didn't I think of it in the first place? It'd been staring at me in the face for seven days and I wasn't able to decipher it.

Nobody was able to decipher it.

"Oh my God!" The faraway squeal reached my ears again. "Please wake me up from this nightmare." The owner of the voice whimpered fervently, I would have wished the same if I didn't know better.

"So we have seven more days." Hot cop muttered under his breath with frustrated intensity.

I nodded repeatedly but froze when another surge of realisation hit me in the face.

I suddenly understood what happened to the body's forearm.

"Unfortunately, he took that certainty away. A new ultimatum has been set for sure, but he took it away as well." I pointed to the body's forearm and the hag had finally had enough.

"This is too much. This is just too much." She broke down in sobs while I tried to stop staring back at the cold, half-open eyes staring at me.

Firm, warm hands tightened around me.

"It's fine, you'll be alright. You'll be fine." The hugger whispered into my locks in a cool voice.

I wanted to push away and yell at him to stay away from me. I wanted to tell him that he was hugging the wrong person, that I wasn't the one shedding weak tears and breaking down. But the warmth and strength I gathered from the action shut me up. My hands awkwardly closed around his torso too.

It'll be fine. It'll be fine.

I realised that he was not only trying to assure me, he was also trying to assure himself.

"Lunch hour will be over soon. We have to act." Venom voice reminded with an arctic voice and hot cop snapped out of whatever possessed him to act the way he did. He released me.

"Garba will be here soon to transport the body to the lab for forensics." Hot cop informed just as someone knocked the door and turned the doorknob to enter.

"Goodness gracious!" The new person exclaimed and venom voice groaned.

"Seriously, you have got to be kidding me!" She cursed loudly and moved towards the new occupant.

A loud thud was heard before she reached her destination and an even louder groan filled the air.

I didn't need to turn around before deducing the fact that senior Dave had fainted.

I can't help but laugh when I typed the last paragraph😂😂😂.
Anyways, sorry for the delay in posting, I had to deal with tests and I went off to prepare. I wasn't even intending to write until the end of the month, but Ella forced me to.

Now that we have a second death, who do you think the body is? Any theories yet?

This chapters is for Ifedayyo, thanks for supporting my humble work💓 and don't mind the fact that I haven't personally said the 'T' word, I still love you.

Till we meet again cupcakes.

✌illusionistic.