“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” – Mahatma Gandhi.

•••

“What the hell are we going to do now?”

Tomi asked in dismay, as he and the rest of the boys watched the large throng of female populace heading into their hostel through the black metal-railed gate. When the announcement had come over the radio, the boys had managed to escape the monitoring of the institution’s male staff that were burdened with the task of escorting all boys back to their hostels also. They had trumped one problem, and as they all stood staring at the female hostel in distance—they knew that this one that had posed itself was of greater task to defeat.

“I know,” Alexis spoke up from Tomi’s right. “Capture a girl, strip her and wear her clothes. And join the large group in disguise, squeeze ourselves into the middle and hope fervently that we don’t get discovered.”

“You’re just a fool, a big fool who doesn’t know when to joke.” Tomi frowned, yet keeping his gaze on the hostel ahead. “You think now is the time to joke? Didn’t you hear what is at stake? Who else has any good, efficient idea?””

Mofiyin spoke up next from Alexis’s right. “I know you wouldn’t want to hear this, but all I can think of is running towards that gate in high speed, and hope we’re as fast as flash or I don’t know—knocking out the security men at the gate. They’re all useless ideas, I know but there Is really nothing we can do.”

Tomi sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Rena’s reputation and dignity, was on the line and he couldn’t help but think that he was going to fail her and then every ominous thing that prevailed would be his fault.

“Dabby, what are you thinking of?” Tomi asked, looking at his left where Dabby seemed to be in a brooding mode. Of course, he had followed them down here—as he cared every bit for Rena’s image like they did. Even more than Alexis and Mofiyin did apparently, if their snide remarks were anything to go by.

“I’m looking at this fence,” He folded his arms. “They don’t look all that high to me actually, I’m just wondering if we can jump it.”

“Jump it? And not get noticed?” Alexis frowned.

“Well, we could go around the back and jump it from there.” Dabby clarified. “But we have
to be stealth, because if we make ourselves too obvious – girls would take notice, and they’d freak out that boys are in the hostels. Before we even get chance to explain ourselves, that’s if our story is even believable—we’d have been brandished perverts and kicked out of the facility. Thus failing to stop Benita’s ploy in ruining Rena, and ruining our own selves too. That’s the risk, guys.”

Tomi’s heart rate kicked up, as he considered his options. Dabby was right on the fact that if they failed, this mission had the potential to ruin them all and if they were successful there was still no guarantee they would be able to save Rena eventually. There was a lot of stake, that could alter the course of their life totally. He didn’t think it was right to ask such of Mofiyin and Alexis.

“Mofiyin, Alexis. You guys are free to head back if you want.” He said, turning to his right to face the boys who had quizzical looks on their faces. “There is too much at stake, for me to ask you to go in with me–”

“You’re an idiot, if you think I’m going to leave you here.” Alexis scowled. “And the same goes for Mofiyin, definitely. Of what use is saving ourselves, when we won’t have a relaxed mind and we’d keep on wondering if you haven’t been made? Plus, we’d rather go down with you than have it in our conscience that you stood a higher chance to have been successful if you had our assistance. So no, smart guy – we’re not going anywhere. We’re all in this together.”

“Alright, it’s your funeral.” Tomi cracked his knuckles, and faced the hostel once again. “Alright then, let’s move. From the left, we’d head to the back and then we’d see if the fence is indeed something we can jump. Let’s just hope that there is no teacher or member of their staff patrolling. That would just be instant death.”

“Chill, we’re going to the back?” Mofiyin sounded perturbed. “Isn’t that the place facing that desolate land that they said has a lot of wild animals, and weird stuff?”

Oh, great.

“That’s why he asked you if you wanted to go back, and you went on the speech of we’re all in this together.” Dabby almost retorted. “If you don’t want in, head back now. There is still time to retreat. Meanwhile, Tomi I know you must already know that we’re out of time already as it is. We need to head in, now.”

“We’re coming along.” Mofiyin said in an assuring tone, and then it began. They scampered to the other end of the hostel, heading into the narrow space at its side. Dabby in the lead, Tomi behind, and Mofiyin and Alexis trailing quietly respectively. They halted at the end of the tiled ground at the side, and inspected the fence to ascertain the best entry point.

“It’s taller than I thought,” Dabby pointed out as he stretched out to his tip toes, reaching out with his hands to the fence – to see the highest point he could attain. “We’re not going to have any choice than to support ourselves. Even if I can jump really high, and land on the other side – which I highly doubt, the rest of you wouldn’t stand a chance. I’d have to stay here and push everyone up.”

“Alright then.” Tomi swallowed, as Dabby backed the wall and clasped his hands—motioning for the boys to hop on his feet. Alexis went first, stepping into Dabby’s hands with grace and not putting too much weight into it. Dabby didn’t expel an audible groan, but the veins that bulged out of his hands and the cinched skin on his face said a lot about the difficulty of the action. Alexis latched onto the edge of the fence quite well, and made the jump into the building.

“Fast, fast. We don’t have a lot of time.” Dabby hissed, telling the boys to get on with it.

“Wait a minute,” Tomi held up a hand. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so wise if we all went in. There is no saying what we could face when we want to get out. It’d be best if only Alexis and I went in. You and Mofiyin should remain out here.”

Dabby didn’t take the news well. “I don’t think so, what could happen in there is something we don’t even know of. Itunu said the drug would make her really hyper and vicious. What if you and Alexis can’t drag her out on time? I don’t think I can chance that.”

“I understand your worries, Dabby. But you have to trust me. We don’t know what problem we could face, I wouldn’t want everyone to head in. You know how I feel about Rena. I won’t let any harm come to her, I promise.”

Dabby still looked unconvinced, but because time was of the essence and something they didn’t have – he caved in with a sigh, and urged Tomi to proceed.

“Alexis, here I come.” He stepped into Dabby’s hands, and got hurled into the air also. Catching the fence with ease, he peered down on the height he’d have to descend and saw a pacing Alexis, motioning for him to get down. Sighing, he gritted his teeth and made the jump.

Argh!

He wheezed, and rubbed his thighs gently before facing his friend who had an inquisitive look on his face.

“Why are you guys taking so long? Who is coming next?”

“No one, I told them it’d be best for them to wait outside.” Tomi replied, standing up straight. “We don’t know the sort of problem we could run into, it’d be best if all of us wasn’t in one place and we were divided.”

Alexis heaved a sigh of anxiety. “I still don’t know how them standing outside would help us inside here, but we really don’t have time and we have to head inside now.”

So they waited, willed their ears to listen if they heard feet padding or some trudging noise around. Fortunately, they could hear none.

“Good, looks like God is on our side. Now how to head in.”

The exterior of the female hostel, was one large humongous bungalow covered in white paint, which was perched on a stone-padded ground terrace. Well trimmed and manicured glass meandered on its sides, enhancing its picturesque image. It was quite a sight, and Tomi would have taken time to revel in it if it weren’t for the fact that they were on a clock.

“So how do we get in?” Alexis asked, as they remained crouched behind the hostel, to stay out of sight of any girl that could look out of the hostel.

“I really didn’t think of that,” Tomi swallowed, his heart rate picking up again—thumping harder, initiating a throbbing pain in his chest. “We can’t just head in. It’s too risky and we’d get caught. That’s for sure. But at the same time, we can’t just stay here also. Soon enough, everyone would hear the noise that would arise when Rena gets on a rampage and–”

A distant shriek rippled the air, and made him pause. He exchanged a desperate look with Alexis and swallowed.

“That was the cry of a girl,” Alexis swallowed. “Is it what we think it is?”

“We have to assume the worst.” Tomi nodded. “Oh, we really do not have the time to stay out here and waste more time. We have to head in now. What do we do? What do we do!”

His eyes darted around their distance of search, searching frantically for anything at all that could suffice as a solution. There had to be something, a way that they could get in and remedy the situation without necessarily compromising themselves. There just had to be something!

God, please. Help us.

And almost as if the supreme deity had read his words, his eyes landed on a solution.

“Yes!” He shrieked in delight, pointing to a small square glass box wedged into the wall by the side of the entrance. “You see that? That’s the fire alarm.”

“The fire alarm?” Alexis quirked a brow.

“Yes, the fire alarm. If we hit that, then it would send the entire hostel into a frenzy and most people would run outside. But guess who wouldn’t be able to run outside due to the ongoing situation of things?”

“Rena, and the girls.” Comprehension dawned on his friend. “They’d try their best to drag her, though. Point is, they’d probably be the last.”

“Good now you get it,” Tomi said, dashing up to his feet and bolting towards the fire alarm. With his body quivering in alertness, he gave it his best punch and the glass made way – not without suffering a couple of cuts on his wrist, due to the penetration of glass shards. He hit the button and stepped back into his crouching position with Alexis just as the alarm went off.

“Now we wait.” Alexis sighed.

As expected, an uproar of chaos – emanated from the insides of the building. The violent slamming of doors, wailed echoes of perplexed girls shrieking, the heavy trudging of feet on the ground and the deafening siren of the ringing fire alarm. After waiting it out for a couple of minutes, and having assurance that most girls would have stepped outside the hostel – they headed inside with careful caution.

The hallway was totally empty, the notion which was supposed to provide relief – did more to escalate the tension. Because they knew, at any second – anyone could step out of anywhere and spot them.

“What the hell do we do now?” Alexis whispered. “We don’t even know her room!”

Tomi’s throat bobbed. “We just have to listen.”

He pulled his friend to the wall beside the erection of the door. It was no secluded area of course, but it was less obvious than standing in the center of the hallway. And fortuitously, they head another haunted shriek.

“Definitely that direction,” Tomi followed the voice in hurried, yet silent steps and Alexis did the same behind. Shooting cursory glances about.

“Guy, you know if we make a mistake and step into the wrong room of people we’re so done for.” Alexis pointed out.

“Sure, I didn’t exactly think of that before.” Tomi balled his fists. And once again, another shriek accompanied by a loud cry of a lower pitch shook the hall. It was definitely the girls. “It’s definitely this room.”

The room in question, was in the center of the hallway which only worsened matters. As they knew their chances of being made was at its highest.

Tomi hesitated, before knocking. There was no response, and he had to knock even harder.

“Please, we’d soon be out we’re taking care of something–”

A more than familiar voice, which he could swear belonged to April answered.

“April, open up! It’s me – Tomi.”

“What!”

The door jerked open instantly, to reveal an astonished April. She looked disheveled. Her oversize blue tee, had ripped stitches hanging all about. “Come in fast!”

He and Alexis ran inside, just as April slammed the door shut and they took in the scene before them. In the center of the room, on the foot-mat was Moyin, retreating from a figure that was crawling up, in a rather animalistic manner towards her. Moyin looked as equally disheveled and astonished like April, and when her gaze landed on the boys – a bit of relief seemed to seep into her glare.

“Guys, you’re here!” She said tersely, before pointing to the hunched figure on the ground – which Tomi could of course mistake for no one.

Rena.

“We don’t know what’s happening to her!” Moyin continued. “She just started behaving really weird. She jumped on April, and forced a kiss on her and I had to pull her away. And if not that she hit her head really hard on the bunk, she’d be more energetic now. I’m guessing she is bidding her time to gain more strength or something. She’d soon become vicious again. What is wrong with her!”

Tomi dared step closer to Rena, coming to stand beside Moyin to stare at her. She looked almost nothing like the person he could remember. Her eyes had altered to a deeper shade of black, there was a bruise on the tip of her nose – probably complimentary of one of the girls, and most importantly – a smug, seductive smile scrawled on her face.

“Tomi, you’re here even better.” She advanced towards him, and he had to take several steps back. “Boys are always more fun than girls. Come here, there is no need to play this run and catch games that Moyin and April have been playing with me all day.”

What!

Her voice was so low-pitched and smoky, that he could hardly make out her words. Was this really Rena?

“Are you sure it’s only a sex drug, and she hasn’t been possessed by one demon?” Alexis asked, as he watched her.

“What? Sex drug?” April frowned, just as Moyin’s head shot up also. “You know what’s going on?”

“Long story,” Tomi sighed, inching further away from her as she approached. “To cut it short, this is the plan. The doom that Benita had in mind.”

“Benita is the one behind this!” Moyin shrieked. “I just knew there was more to it. That girl is evil!”

“Yeah, Legide knew nothing of it and we had to accost Itunu to get the information out of it. The plan was to get Rena high on whatever this drug is, and have the entire female population walk in on her doing things to you or April, whichever. The news would spread far and wide, and of course destroy her reputation. Some would even record the video and share it. She’d of course not be able to live in Lake County anymore.”

“Christ,” April sighed. “That’s diabolical. But we really have to do something to stop this! Number one, you guys shouldn’t even be here. Number two, the staff would be expecting everyone to have cleared out of this place by now because there is a freaking fire somewhere in the hostel!”

“There is no fire,” Alexis placed a soothing hand on April’s shoulder. “We hit the alarm ourselves to send everyone out. But I fear we might not have time, just like you said as the teachers would definitely be going around to ensure everyone has cleared out of the hostel–”

“Are people still inside this place!” A loud cry, came from the hallway as the door rattled from the force of violent knocks. “Open up this door, this instance! You all need to clear out of here! There is a fire somewhere and we need to take care of it!”

“God, what do we do?” Moyin said, pacing about. “We can’t open the door, and risk letting them see Rena like this. Also, you guys shouldn’t be here! You’re boys!”

“Yeah, I think I can remember that quite well.” Tomi snarled, as he hurried to the other end of the room, where Rena was still trailing him. “We need to get out of here, but we can’t open that door. Too much explanation that we would have to give that won’t make sense. How else can we get out of here?”

“There is no other door,” April swallowed, talking in a low volume. “And the windows are too fortified. I’m afraid, the only way we can leave this room, is through the door only. We don’t have any choice but to open it.”

Tomi closed his eyes to think hard, as he felt Rena’s hands encircle round his legs. He hissed, and pulled away quick and looked at the rest just as an idea struck him.

“We don’t have any choice but to open the door, fine but that doesn’t mean we all have to show our face.”

“What do you mean?” April asked.

“Someone has to act as a diversion.” Tomi replied. “Either you or Moyin or the both of you. Open the door, while the rest of us would hide under the bunks and hope to God that they don’t go as far as searching the rooms to believe the lie that you’d tell them. The lie that you’re the only one in the room. So, decide you or April–”

“Open this door now!” The voice on the other end roared again, sending horrified looks all about.

“I’d do it, there is no time to waste. She’d believe me because I’m more compliant than you guys.” Moyin stepped forward, towards the door. “Now you guys need to hide, now.”

“I’d handle her, don’t worry.” Tomi said to the rest, as he bent down and took Rena into his arms. Instantly, her hands found his face and she began to place feathery kisses all about. “Oh, good God.” He groaned, as he tried to maintain control over his raging hormones. Pulling them both down to the floor beside a bunk, his hands wrapped firm around her waist.

“Oh, so you like playing dirty, huh? I like dirty too.” A smug smile smeared her face, as she moved in his hold – stirring up uncomfortable emotions in him. Cursing under his breath, he rolled them both to his side until they were well under the bunk and pressed his lips hard to hers – to stop her from making any further noise. The rest had already taken up positions, and were waiting.

Studying the number of feet that were standing, he could see they were four and not two. Meaning April had also joined Moyin. Great, the greater the number – the more believable the lie.

The door creaked open, and another pair of feet stepped in.

“Yes! Why are you girls still inside when the fire alarm went off several minutes ago!”

“Sorry, ma we were putting our room into order–” He could hear April say.

“I don’t want to hear any more, just get out of her right now.” The woman bellowed. “And where is that your third friend? The three of you are always together.”

Almost as if Rena heard she was being referred to, she began moving very hard in his hold and almost called out.

“Shh,” He said in the most quiet tone he could muster, just before he claimed her lips with his. He knew the only way she would stay quiet, was if her sexual want was satisfied and he personally had no problem in doing that as far as they didn’t get caught. He did his best to keep this kiss gentle, so she wouldn’t have cause to moan but when she pulled away to come up for air – he feared that their doom had indeed come.

“She’s not here with us, ma. Her session with the instructors took a longer time and kept her in the hall. She hasn’t returned to the hostel at all.” Moyin was the one who replied.

“Oh, yeah that’s true. Janice did tell me that she and Kunle took longer time with the social prefects.” The woman sounded convinced. “But I thought I saw her here not so long ago.”

“No, ma. You are mistaken. It wasn’t her.” April assured.

“Alright then, you girls step outside now and lock the door behind you. We wouldn’t want news of something stolen.”

Tomi’s breath hitched, and he quickly tore his head towards the direction of the pair of feet by the door – as if It would do something in changing the woman’s mind. Rena on the other hand seemed content with toying with his collarbone. Oh God, he wasn’t supposed to be enjoying this! There was a problem at hand!

“Oh, would there be need for t—that?” Moyin stammered. “I mean everyone is outside and it’s just–”

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion, miss.” The woman shut her up. “Now step out of this room, and lock this door now.”

The girls knew it would be pointless protesting, and therefore did as they were ordered. They filed out instantly, and closed the door shut behind them and of course locked it. Tomi and the rest stepped out from underneath the bunk instantly, and looked around.

“Great, now we’re stuck in here.” Alexis sighed.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Tomi said, advancing towards the door and letting Rena slump to the floor. “There was something about the way Moyin locked it. She locked it with just one turn. It’s supposed to be two turns.”

“Still that doesn’t mean we would be able to open it?” Alexis said, his eyes moving from his friend to Rena. “She’s getting up on her feet, Tomi. Are you sure we shouldn’t do something to restrain her?”

“And what would that be, exactly? Bind her with chains?” He almost rolled his eyes. “There is nothing we can do. But we have to get out of here. They can’t meet us again. When they all come back, every girl would be back in the hostel.”

“Let’s say we even try to jerk that door open, and let’s say miraculously it does open – we’d have drawn too much attention still.” Alexis said. “We’re so done—wait, what the hell is that?”

The shuffling sound of a key being inserted into the keyhole, startled them all. Tomi backed away, as the sound continued. This was it! They had reached their end. The woman earlier didn’t buy Moyin and April’s story and she had returned to inspect again. This was truly the end.

Horror and defeat was also spelt on Alexis’s face, as they stepped back in dismay. There was truly no escaping from this now.

The door jerked open, and to their great surprise and relief – the person that stepped in was the last person they expected to see.

“Itunu! The hell are you doing here?” Tomi hissed.

“You guys have to move now, there is no time. The fire people would be arriving any moment.” He motioned towards the corridor.

“We didn’t exactly expect to see you here.” Alexis said, as Tomi moved back into the room to hoist Rena up to her feet. Itunu studied her, and Tomi could know he felt remorse for his actions. Still that didn’t make it right in anyway. It was all his fault.

“Well, I knew I had to do something to atone for my sins no matter how little so I headed here. I saw Mofiyin and Dabby waiting outside, and they told me you guys were inside. They said you ordered them to stay outside that it was too risky, but I knew I had to go in to ensure you guys were okay. I walked in just as the staff member was locking the door. Luckily, the boys’ hostels also use the same set of keys and it’s always on me since I was appointed housemaster.”

Wow.

“Quickly, you guys don’t have much time.” Itunu repeated again, his feet tapping the ground in a rather frantic motion. Tomi grappled Rena once again, and whisked her out of the room with grace, following the duo as they headed out of the building. Upon getting to their rendezvous point, they encountered a new difficulty of crossing the barrier as of course – Rena was compromised.

“So how do we get to the other side?” Alexis asked, his hands propped on his waist as his gaze skimmed the fence which seemed to be taller on this side. “She can’t go on her own, she’s too sluggish. There is no telling if she’d fall, and—I
don’t even want to complete that statement.”

Itunu backed the wall, and clasped his hands – assuming the same position Dabby had earlier. “I’d lift her up, C’mon guys we don’t have much time.”

Tomi did his best to steady Rena into Itunu’s hands, while Alexis yelled to the other side that there was incoming. The announcement wasn’t so smart, as it drew the attention of persons on the other side of the hostel. Instantaneously, the trudging of multiple feet like several drums being beaten came into their hearing.

“Shit! We don’t have much time,” Tomi swallowed, as Itunu lifted Rena as high as he could and released her. He watched her fall to the other side, but was rest assured Dabby was going to catch her quite well.

“Now, you guys. Go now!” Itunu cried, motioning for the boys to get on his hands. Alexis went first, without wasting much time and got shoved into the air like a projectile before landing safely on the other side. “Stop looking at me, Tomi. Move!”

“What about you?” Tomi couldn’t help but ask. “The fence is too tall, you wouldn’t be able to jump it all by yourself.”

Itunu sighed. “Only a fool would think I’d be getting out of this that easy. Better me getting caught than you. Now, you don’t have much time, Tomi. Move!”

“But–”

“This is the perfect punishment for me. I’d feel better after I face this.” Itunu swallowed, a hint of regret in his voice. “I know this is the last time in the world for this sort of conversation, but I never deserved Rena anyway. There is too much evil in me. I can’t even believe I helped Benita.”

“But you’re making things right in your own way,” Tomi set a soothing hand on his shoulder, as the noise of people approaching drew closer. “I guess it’s time.”

Leaping onto Itunu’s hands gracefully, he hopped on the face—bracing himself with just a single touch, before sliding into free fall. The pain that zinged through his legs, when his feet made contact on the ground almost impaled him but he gritted his teeth in pain, and absorbed the pain. Looking around, he saw the group in place newly joined by the girls again.

“You guys came back?” He asked Moyin and April, who stood on both sides of Dabby as he held Rena up—stilling her with his iron clad grip.

“Is that even a question?” April rolled her eyes, before motioning at her friend. “Just like we anticipated, her earlier exhaustion is wearing out. It’s only a matter of time before she goes all rampage mode again and regains her energy. What the hell are we to do now?”

Tomi’s gaze moved about the group, who all had their gazes fixated on him – obviously awaiting his order. It was now he realized that they all looked up to him for guidance, and that he was the alpha of this pack. The realization of his role, didn’t do much in relieving the tension.

“We have to get away from here, to somewhere private before she regains her energy. There is no telling of what she could do next.”

“Oh, we better move fast.” Dabby grunted, his muscles bulging to its threshold as Rena writhed in his grip, and he knew it would only be a matter of time before she’d wrench herself out and cause a scene.

“Where can we go?” Mofiyin asked. “The front gate of the hostel is crowded with all the female staff and every single girl, so we can’t move out. We also can’t stay here forever, as we’d not be able to contain her if she starts with you-know-what.”

Tomi’s eyes wasn’t scanning their surrounding anymore, he was staring past them – into the area of land behind the hostel, which was barricaded by trees, shrubs and human-length grasses. The place indeed looked ominous. But what choice did they have?

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re even thinking of going in there.” Alexis said, reading his friend’s thought. “For Christ sake, you heard all what they said about how the place has wild animals and all that.”

“Really, though? What evidence do we have that it’s not just a space of land?” Tomi shot back. “More so, if this place has so many wild animals, as you claim then why haven’t they stepped out? Why are they remaining inside there? Is it because they’re considerate and they respect the space of we humans or what?”

A collective sigh went up, before Mofiyin spoke.

“Tomi is right, I don’t see any valid reason to fear. Besides, what other choice do we have? It’s either we stay here and get made? Or we go somewhere that no one would be able to find us, and have the luxury to tackle our problem in the best possible way. Or does someone have a better idea?”

The silence that ensued, emphasized on the point quite well that they were all out of ideas.

“Now, let’s go. I’d lead the way.” Tomi said, stepping forward in a bid to exude more confidence and zeal. He believed the rest would be more encouraged, and would let go of their fear when they saw him – actually taking charge of the plan he had given.

Dabby followed closely, with Rena still wriggling in his hold, and the rest also filed behind. There was a thin layer on the forest floor, void of shrubs and that was what they followed until they were well deep into the area. Upon close studying, he realized the place didn’t look quite as ominous as it did when they stared out it from outside. It looked like a simple farmland, that had been invaded by unwanted growth of plants.

“Oh, Christ!” Dabby’s squeal pierced the serene air, and Tomi swirled around to stare at the cause. Dabby had staggered back, holding his groin region as he released his breaths in a slow, dragged manner. Rena must have lodged one in between his legs.

Speak about the devil.

Rena’s gaze narrowed in on him, and she began a slow sensual work towards him – her mouth curving upwards into a smile. Oh Christ, she must have regained her strength indeed. Alexis and April had moved to Dabby side to ensure he was alright while Mofiyin and Moyin stared helplessly at Rena.

“Okay, so now that we’re alone with her. Anyone have any genius ideas?” Tomi called out to the group, his heart rate picking up as Rena began to close in on the little space between them. “Mofiyin? Moyin? You guys are the genius people here! What can we do!”

“How would we know anything about sex drugs?” Moyin groaned, striding over to Rena and stepping in her front. “Okay, so look at me Rena. You need to snap out of it. This isn’t you, you wouldn’t—argh! Get her off me!”

In the flash of a second, Rena had cleared her friend of her feet and mounted herself on top of her. Tomi and Mofiyin moved on her immediately and pulled with a little more force than was required, and she landed on top of the former—her thighs settling on his groin region. Good God! He hissed, and clutched her by her hips – summoning strength within him to push her off, but she barely moved.

In a swift motion, her hands curled round his and clasped them tightly, before another devilish grin took up residence on her face.

“How did you know this is my favorite position?” With that she leaned in and crushed her lips to his, with a pensive anger that hardly felt like one exerted in a kiss. Almost as if she wanted to eat his lips. Squirming, he tore his mouth from hers and kept them in a constant swiveling motion from his left to his side, to keep hers at bay.

“You guys think of something real quick. I’m not sure how long I can take this.”

Alexis spat, a hint of mischief glimmering in his eyes. “He’d be acting like he isn’t enjoying it at all. Anyway, I don’t know much about countering stuff like this but I do know one thing Is effective in situations like this.”

“And what is that?” Moyin threw him a desperate glance.

“She needs to sleep,” Alexis shrugged. “It works all the time. It’s just like alcohol, or hard drugs whichever it is. Sleep douses the effects, and when the person wakes up – they’d be back to normal.”

April sighed, one free hand dangling by her side and the other clutching Dabby’s shoulder to replenish him with strength. “Yeah, but look at her. She doesn’t in anyway look like she is going to fall asleep soon. If there is anyone who will go into sleep, it would be Tomi because he might just pass out soon from all the bouncing Rena has been doing on his ball—Oh, this girl is out of her mind!”

“Pass out?” A light bulb went over Mofiyin’s head. “Of course, she’d go into sleep if she passes out. All she needs is a stimuli.”

Despite the fact that Dabby was in pain, he didn’t miss the essence of Mofiyin’s point.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“We need to knock her out.” Alexis finished.

“What! No!” Moyin cried in astonishment. “What the hell! Do you want to hurt her?”

“No! We just want to make her sleep, because obviously that’s the only option we have.” Dabby almost rolled his eyes, as he sprung to his feet. “And if we don’t do that soon, Tomi is going to get hurt anyway.”

Rena wasn’t relenting in finding Tomi’s lips, she kept following the movement of his head from one side to the other, and judging by the smug smile on her face – she thought it was a game, and she looked to be having a good time.

“We don’t have a choice, Moyin. We have to do it.” Dabby continued. “You’re not the only one here who cares about her okay? I do too.”

The boys seemed to be pretty much determined in their new solution, irrespective of the girls reaction.

“You need to hit her hard on her jaw,” Mofiyin was already saying. “With a quick jab. It has to be once, and sharp. Apply little energy, and it would only injure her but not do the required thing. Too much, and you might cause the rattling of some teeth and induce bleeding. You just need the adequate amount of power. Ease into it.”

“I can’t watch.” Moyin covered her eyes, and April moved closer to her – pulling her into an embrace, so she needn’t watch. Dabby exhaled sharply, as he readied his fists and gave Mofiyin and Alexis a curt nod. The boys came up by Rena’s sides, and pulled her off Tomi and up to her feet, whirling her round to face Dabby. A whoosh of air, whipped Tomi’s face as he sprung to his feet and caught glimpse of Dabby’s firm fist shooting low into Rena’s chin.

Her eyes clamped shut instantly, and her body slumped back and he straightened himself to catch her well. Lowering her to the ground, he reached for her wrist and felt for her pulse. The expected, throbbing sensation was one he felt and relief coursed through him.

“Dabby, great work.” He announced, as the boys released the air they had been holding in, and the girls scurried to his side to inspect Rena. It had indeed been one heck of a day.

******

The moment she regained consciousness, and her eyes parted – her jaw vibrated with pain, almost as if her eyes were some trigger to it. The scent of grasses and forage, filled her lungs and she sat up taking in her surroundings.

She was sprawled out on a bed of shrubs, a quite large – circular stone, lodged behind her head like a pillow. There was no pattern to the surrounding grasses and leaves, as they interspersed with trees and rocks to give a picturesque image. It was when she craned her neck farther upward, that she met the studious gaze of six familiar people burrowing into her.

“What the hell is happening?” She sat up, her back making contact with the stone.

“Really? You can’t remember anything at all?” April said with a smirk, as a layer of skin compressed at the bridge of her nose. “To cut the long story short, sleeping beauty. This was all Benita’s doing.”

“Benita?” She tried to spring up to her feet, but the energy she expected to meet in place was nonexistent. Wheezing, she settled back into the bed of shrubs and looked back up at them as they all settled down around her. “Tell me what happened. Full deets, now.”

“So, Benita was behind it all.” Moyin said, exhaustion inscribed on her face. Christ, the problem they must have been through. “She had Itunu give you some sort of sex drug that turned you into a crazed person. You were all over the place, jumping about, latching on to the nearest person and kissing them like your life depended on it. It wasn’t pretty at all.”

Her heart sank, as her balled fists flattened on her thighs. “And? E—everyone saw it?”

“Luckily for you, the boys came to the rescue.” April continued in Moyin stead. Her friend looked as bright as always, but the volume of her voice was repressed also. It had obviously gone through a lot of strain. “They broke into our hostel. I still can’t imagine how they did it without getting noticed. They sha found our room, and managed to get you out without getting discovered also. It was Tomi’s idea to bring you here. Actually, Tomi was the one calling the shots the entire time. You have a lot to thank him for.”

Her gaze set on Tomi, who was squatting a few inches away from the shrub bed on her right and she reached out to clasp his left hand.

“I knew I could trust you,” She gave him the most heartwarming smile she could muster. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what to say. I owe you a great debt. One I’d be making up for a really long time.”

“Oh, you did a lot of making up in the past few minutes.” Mofiyin interjected, and they all erupted into a bout of laughter. She stared at them in dismay, her eyes darting from one person to the other – speechlessly urging them to get on with an explanation.

“You were quite the savage with Tomi, though.” Moyin said. “That’s all you need to know for now. We can afford to spare you the details, or you might just not be able to stare at his face ever again.”

She swallowed, and resorted to accepting her proposal.

“In the mean time, we have to get out of here guys.” Mofiyin said, rising to his feet. “We’ve been gone for too long, and definitely they’d have noticed we’ve all gone missing. And we need to even have a good lie prepared as to how we got missing–”

“Lie? You must be kidding me.” Dabby frowned, joining Mofiyin on his feet. “We’re telling the damn truth. Benita must be exposed. If need be locked behind bars for what she just did. How the hell could you go that far just because you want someone’s reputation ruined when there is no even any guarantee that if you succeed you will ascend to her lost title?”

Rena couldn’t help but blush. Dabby had never been protective, or overtly concerned for her before in his entire life. It was a sight to see him genuinely pissed.

“Baba, chill.” She spoke out. “We’d tell them the truth, sha calm down. Before you go and detonate like atomic bomb…”

Rena trailed off, as the twig of a distant branch snapped.

“You heard that?” Tomi asked, helping her up to her feet, as the rest arose also.

“Someone is here.” April said.

“Something is here.” Mofiyin clarified, horror laddered on his face.

They made a silent resolve to keep quiet, and listen closer to the distant sound. Then it came again, a twig snapping – the shuffling sound of leaves, then another twig crunching this time around, before a series of multiple crushing sounds followed.

“Christ, there are animals coming here.” Moyin shrieked, stepping closer to the warmth of Mofiyin unconsciously. “What are we going to do!”

And they knew from the look of fright on Tomi’s face, who they all looked up to for directions – that indeed the end was nigh, and there was nothing to remedy this abyss that they found themselves sinking in.

“If we die,” Dabby started, his grip on April who was on his right – tightening. “April, you need to know this. I can’t take this to my grave–”

“Oh, please shut the fuck up!” Mofiyin cried in agony. “You’d only draw the attention of whatever that’s approaching faster. Save the drama, abeg.”

“Guy leave me. If we’re going to die, we’re going to die irrespective of how fast. Might as well get it over with.” Dabby spat back. “April, you need to know that I like you. Alright, that’s all don’t ask me silly questions–”

“Are you seriously kidding me?” April roared in defiance, pulling free of his hold. “You tell me this after so long, and expect me to do what! Why would you even keep this to yourself in the first place and act like a jerk while I paraded myself in front of you for the past few years…”

“Here we go.” Moyin sighed.

“…And jumped from boy to boy, teasing and flirting only to make you jealous.” A tear had slipped from April’s right eye, and Rena felt compelled to lodge one hard into Dabby’s groin for putting her friend through such ordeal. He was a infuriating bastard indeed. “I also have a confession for you, I hate you.”

“Alright, case closed. Can we all shut up now?” Mofiyin cried.

“I have a confession to make also,” April continued much to Mofiyin’s displeasure. She faced Alexis on her left, as the tears slipped out in a more rapid motion. “I’m sorry for coming on to you, Alexis. I’m afraid you’re one of those boys that I intended to use like a tool to make Dabby jealous–”

“Yeah, well I understand–”

“But, I swear I didn’t. You were so different from the rest. So uninterested in talking about sexual stuff, that you actually became a real genuine friend that means so much to me. I don’t want to lose our friendship. I’m so sorry.”

Alexis shrugged. “I sorta knew what you had in mind at first, but thank God there was a change of mind. I’m cool with it, really.”

Mofiyin jumped right into cautioning action again. “Okay, Dabby is now being hated and Alexis has been friend-zoned. I hope we can all keep our mouths shut now so as to not draw attention–”

“I also have something to say, ode.” Alexis interrupted his friend, before facing Tomi who was by Rena’s side. “Tomi, I’m sorry for being the worst friend to you this term. I was a jerk most times that never understood your pain, and I know I’m not supposed to go all touchy-feely as per we’re boys and we’re not supposed to be soft about this ish, but still an apology is in place. I didn’t think most of your reasons to be suspicious made sense, and I called most of them stupid and never also showed any real support. Sorry about that.”

Mofiyin groaned. “Oh, would this ever end–”

“It’s okay man,” Tomi smiled. “I totally understand. But I know this doesn’t exactly mean you’d try better to a better person, but that’s why we all like you for the big fool you are.”

They all shared a laughter, even Mofiyin that seemed irritated by the entire thing.

Tomi continued. “And you that is shouting at all of us to keep quiet, I have something to say to you also. Most times, Alexis and I treat you like you aren’t a part of us. Most times we even unconsciously neglect you and talk to ourselves like you aren’t even present. We make it quite obvious that you’re the third wheel–”

“Do you see me complaining?” Mofiyin snarled. “I couldn’t handle being the best friend of either of you. Your wahala is too much.”

“Nevertheless,” Tomi insisted. “Sorry about that. We’d try to be better friends as from now on, and stop being too caught up in ourselves.”

Mofiyin nodded, before turning to face the vision on his side that was seeking solace in the warmth being expelled from his body.

“Moyin, I also have a confession to make. I’m sorry for being so irresistible smart and hot, that you had no choice but to be pulled in by my charm. Such voodoo isn’t in anyway fair to anyone. As from this moment henceforth, I’d start playing fairly—ouch!” He winced, as his addressee pinched him hard on his right rib.

“I also have a confession to make also.” Moyin spoke up. “A legit one, actually. April, I’m sorry for being insensitive to your feelings most times. I usually go hard on you because I’m like well she’s April, she never takes anything personal. She’d be fine. And low key, I admire you for being that strong willed person that I could never be no matter how hard I try. I’m sorry, and I promise I’d try to be more sensitive to your feelings onward. That’s if we make it out of here alive.”

“It would seem we have a winner,” Dabby announced overzealously, pointing at Rena. “She’s the perfect one in all of us, isn’t she? She has nothing to apologize to anyone for. Or do you, Rena?”

Well.

Her heart rate picked up again, as a stream of thoughts filtered through her head and froze on one that required quite the apology. No, the time wasn’t right. He couldn’t find out this way. But her quivering hands, gave her away and Tomi’s gaze burrowed into her side.

“What’s wrong, Rena?” He asked, concern in his voice. Oh, he wouldn’t sound so concerned anymore when he discovered the lengths she had gone. “C’mon go on, what’s the confession? You ate Oreos in the class, and forgot to dispose of the pack and put it in Moyin or April’s bag? I do it with Alexis’s bag all the time.”

“Hey!” Alexis frowned, as the rest laughed uniformly again. “And they told me I was going mad.”

“Suck it up, and take that as my apology to you. Now we’re even.” Tomi retorted, before turning to face Rena again. “What is it?”

Before she could cook up a lie in her head, Moyin interjected.

“You have to tell him now, Rena. It’s now or never!”

Well, thank you!

Glaring daggers at her friend, she turned to Tomi and softened her features like it would cushion his reaction somewhat. “Okay, so you remember what happened with the lab? The money that got stolen and all?”

“Uh-oh?” Dabby exclaimed. “So she still hasn’t told him since!”

Alexis and Mofiyin looked equally as confused as Tomi.

“Well, I was responsible for it.” She finished, swallowing hard just as the amusement on his face dried and his face wrinkled.

“What?”

“It was all a ploy to get you sucked into our world,” She stepped closer to his retreating figure. “We had to create some scandal of some sorts, that would get you into punishment and you know trigger us into more interactions–”

“You almost got me stripped of my prefect ship post? Slandered publicly on assembly and suffer wrath from my parents? Just because – what? You wanted to have the chance to talk to me!”

Okay, this wasn’t going well.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t–” She began to stammer, as the tears streaked down her cheeks. She couldn’t bear seeing him so angry and disgusted at her sight.

“It was not her fault, I came up with the idea.” Dabby interrupted, opting to take the fall for her but she couldn’t let him do so.

“No, I agreed to it so it’s still my decision.” She swallowed. “It has to mean something. Me admitting this and taking full responsibility? You have no idea how I’m sorry, Tomi. I’m so sorry, please forgive me.”

“Wow, just wow.” Tomi was pacing about, while the rest was in stunned silence. “Just what else are you responsible for, again! Tell me! Did you tell someone to take the inhaler from my sister’s bag and trigger her asthma attack?”

What!

“No!” She cried, fazed by the magnitude of his accusation. “How can you even ask me that! How would I put Imisi into danger!”

“I wouldn’t know. You didn’t think twice before putting me into danger.” He shot back. “It’s just a little leap from there to hurting my sister!”

She felt all the energy within her being sucked out. “No, I didn’t have anything to do with Imisi. That’s inhumane, and the scandal with you I had it under control the entire time. You know I’d never harm you, Tomi. You know.”

He stopped pacing, with his arms propped on his waist and when their gazes met, she didn’t need verbal confirmation to affirm the fact that he wasn’t convinced.

“No, I don’t know. Rena. I don’t even think I know you, anymore.”

She heard the noise her heart made with the forest ground, as it fell and shattered to pieces. The tears exploded in waves, pouring down her cheeks and she made little to no effort to wipe them away. She was too dazed, too impaled to find any word to utter anymore. That look of disappointment in his face said it all.

“Uh, guys.” Alexis said in a shaky voice, as he inched backward – stepping away from the opening that connected with the center aisle path. “I think we have company.”

Just as he finished, the head of a heavily haired predator reared its head out of the bush. It was difficult to ascertain the exact animal it was, but it was hard to miss the glimmering, sharp – terror exhuming set of teeth.

Oh God. The end had come indeed.

------------------------------------------

Death? Tune in next week to find out what’s in store for them all.

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