THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO ALL OF YOU, FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING. I LOVE YOU GUYS.
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ELIJAH.

The bar smelled like cheap spirits and broken hopes. Eli had never felt so alone and helpless. He sat in the farthest corner he could find and stared blankly at the TV screen hanging on the wall, following the moving figures half consciously. His hair looked unkempt, his eyes were glazed as he kept rumminating on his next course of action.

After encountering Ugo on that Saturday, he had hidden in an abandoned shack all day, afraid that Tokunbo's father would look for him at the hospital. He went there the next day to an empty bed and a missing Enoch. He had been discharged. He remembered the cold feeling that washed over him at the realization that he didn't know where his best friend lived.

Stranded. That was what he was. Stranded, alone and helpless. Not only had he put a poor girl in trouble with her dad, but it was all for nothing. There was no way Tokunbo would help him now.

Well except Enoch.

He nodded repeatedly to himself. Maybe he would go to the school and look out for Enoch. Then Enoch would take him home or find someway to help him. They had to find a way to get the police off his back. There was no way he'd go to jail. Never.

A chime filled the air indicating that someone had just entered the bar. He glanced up absentmindedly and froze still as his nemesis came into view. She even had the gall to smile as she walked towards his seat and sat on the chair opposite his. For a minute he stared at her as if she were an apparition conjured up by his tired brain. When it became clear that she was real, anger poured through him in abundance. He lunged across the table between them to grab her neck. A muscular hand grabbed his and shoved him backwards so he fell to the ground. Two boys, he recognized as part of the Skylars gang stood on either side of her like Eiffel towers staring him down.

"Hey! No fighting here!" A tall muscular man boomed from behind the counter. "Don't make me regret letting you stay here boy!"

Eli managed a weak nod as he stood up dusting himself. He faced Demi, eyes blazing in anger. "Let's take this outside."

The girl's smiled widened. "You're sure about that?" She asked glancing pointedly at her bodyguards. "They're about two times your size Eli, just in case you failed maths as well."

"Out. Side." He grinded out.

Demi shook her head crossing her legs. "I'd rather not. Sit Elijah. We have matters to discuss."

"Discuss?" Eli wasn't sure he heard her right. " Yeah let's do that. How about my fist discuss with your face? Leavw this place you little piece of-"

"Fine. We won't talk then." She glanced at one of the boys on her right. "Show him."

The boy whipped out a phone, tapped a few buttons and held it out for him to see.

"What are you saying?" Two police men asked a familiar boy that sat on an hospital bed. Eli's brows furrowed as he watched the video.

"I'm saying....tha-that I remember now. Eli... My ...friend is responsible for what happened."

"No." Eli shook his head. "No. You're lying. This is a Eli. Enoch would never. "

"And you just recalled this? Is that possible Doctor?" Tokunbo's father asked. The doctor standing nearby in his white coat nodded.

"Yes it is. Brief memory loss could result from concussions or a big hit to the head."

"No!" Elijah shouted staggering backwards. "He would never do that to me. Enoch would never. I stabbed him with a pen in seventh grade and when the nurse asked, he said his chair had a nail. He would never."

"But he did. And I know how heart breaking it is to be betrayed by the people you trust." Demi didn't smile any longer. Her face was pulled into a somber look. "Betty's too far self absorbed to do anything to help you. Vicky hates your guts and Tokunbo's a scared little girl who's to afraid to even pee against her father's wishes. You're all alone Eli and I know how it feels when everyone suddenly turn their backs on you. I know how it feels to have everything you know taken away from you in a moment. I know that Eli."

Eli swallowed and closed his eyes to fight the tears. "It's all your fault. You must've done something. I know you... You did something."

Demi sighed and shook her head. "But whatever it is I did, I didn't put the words in his mouth, Eli. He did that of his own voilition. It is surprising what humans can do to save their skin Eli. And your best friend just sold you to jail selfishly."

"Shut up." He murmured weakly rubbing his fore head to take away the headache.

" I can help you Elijah." She motioned to the other boy that carried a school bag. He dropped the bag on the table and zipped it open.

Elijah gasped at the wads of cash his eyes fell upon. "What the ... Holy shit."

"More than you could ever ask for right? I can get you out of the city. Get settled far away and you could start a new life Eli. A life on your own terms. Isn't that what you've ever wanted?"

"All I want right now," Eli said weakly "is for you to leave me alone."

"And you could have that too. And more." Demi said nodding towards the bag.

"So you're just going to let me take this bag and walk away? I'm not stupid Demi." He hissed and made to leave.

"I'm counting on that. Everything comes at a price." Demi smiled sweetly. "And all I want in return, is a tiny little favour."

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Dun! Dun! Dun!
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