Two months later.

In as much as it hurt Ebun's pride, she had to admit that Viktoriya had been right all along. Still, it didn't mean that she'd forgiven her for what she'd done because Mrs. Mariyah had grounded her for real. Ebun could never forget that nightmarish afternoon when Mrs. Mariyah called for her presence from the first floor.

Her azure blue eyes burned with fire and brimstone, and her brunette hair was a tangled mess — as though it was her rage that had caused the strands of her hair to web together. Perhaps, it was Ebun's fear that had caused her to read a deep meaning into it.

"You!" Mrs. Mariyah's voice was thunder. "How could you be so dengerous? Vhen your seester ahsked me to keep ahn eye on you, I didn't think I vould have to keep my two literel eyes on you twenty-four-seven! How could you even tek e life?!" She sighed heavily.

"Ze only reason vhy I'm not going to report you to your seester ees because I understand you to e leetle ekstent. I understand zat you are hurt. Steell, you cen't go ahbout killing people in a foreign country. Your family von't be here to save you if you get arrested," she paused and eyed Ebun, who was biting her lip nervously. "But I von't let you get arrested. Not vhile I'm alive."

"Eboon," Mrs. Mariyah narrowed her eyes, ready to mete out her decree. "You are grounded! Henceforth, you vill go novhere else eksept for school, and I vill see to it vith ahll my power!"

Mrs. Mariyah kept strictly to her word. She wasn't bluffing when she said, "with all my power," because precisely a week after, Mrs. Mariyah purchased a car for Viktoriya on installments so that Viktoriya could drive Ebun to school to and fro every day. No more strange school buses showing up in the morning with a disguised school bus driver saying there was an educational excursion where he had to take Ebun.

Ebun thought she could be sneaky and still try to play smart. She tried to escape the school premises during school hours a few times, but it was always during those moments, such coincidence, that Viktoriya knew she had a biscuit wrapper to dispose of in the public trash bin outside or she had the pressing need to go to the toilet.

Other times, the security officers stopped her from moving outside the gate — as if Mrs. Mariyah had assigned them to keep a particular watch over her. Ebun's last hope was lunchtime. That was the only period Ebun was sure she could leave the school premises because most of the students always left the school to buy food to eat.

But Ebun was wrong and strangely naive to have thought she could escape at such an hour. Viktoriya was always right on time to press the car's honk and yell, 'Time for lunch, girl! Let's grab something to eat. Bills on me!'

Ebun tried to adjust the timing when she'd set to leave the school's surroundings. She figured that if she left a few minutes before noon — before most people left the school to buy lunch, she would be able to escape successfully. Still, Viktoriya always caught her. She was always ready. It got to the point that Ebun began to suspect that Viktoriya had a secret camera which she used to spy on Ebun's every movement.

The exactness of Viktoriya's appearance, whenever she'd made a move to run away, was no longer coincidental.

Ebun even dismantled her phone and checked throughly to see if Viktoriya had chipped in a tracking device, but she found nothing.

Ebun wished she could kill Viktoriya. She knew she could do it now that she was an assassin but knew that there would be too many unbearable consequences attached to that action. Besides, she didn't have a potent reason to kill Vik. Vik was no rapist. Instead, she was a rape victim, and Ebun's area of specialty in murder was solely towards rapists.

Also, she would become an absolute psychotic monster if the world got to know that she killed someone who was trying to protect her. Taking the law into your hands was heavily frowned upon in any country. Hence, it would be bizarre for anyone to know that she'd eliminated someone who was trying to stop her from doing the job that the police ought to do.

Later on, Ebun stopped to ask herself two logical and essential questions: why was she running? And even if she managed to escape, where would she go to? She was supposed to be thankful that Mrs. Mariyah hadn't decided to report her to her sister, Yemisi. It would have been worse and unbearably terrible if her sister got to know of her ordeals. She was supposed to live the rest of her days in gratitude to Mrs. Mariyah, and yet, she was still being so stubborn.

Ebun got her answer: she was afraid. She was afraid of her demons, and her fear made her restless. More importantly, she missed Sean, or rather, the short time she'd gotten to spend with him doing criminal things. With Sean, she'd been able to fulfill her dreams — her visions of shedding the blood of sex offenders and slaughtering rapists. Being caged and having her dream life snatched from her was a miserable and suffocating experience.

It was why she never wanted to go back to Nigeria: to her family. They'd tried to cage her. Ebun already knew what it looked like to live a normal life: focusing on schoolwork, studying, and being a quiet, well-behaved girl. It was annihilating. She'd tried it before. She knew it all too well.

Being caged gave her demons the strength to torment her. They would keep her company all day long – so long as she was trapped, doing nothing but imagining how she could kill her rapists without being able to carry out her wishes.

Now that she'd had a glimpse and experience of what her dream life looked like, she was terrified of going back to her old life — the status quo.

After a few turbulent weeks rolled by, however, Mrs. Mariyah and Viktoriya didn't even have to try so hard to cage Ebun. Ebun herself stopped trying to escape Hostel Pavlov. Something terrible had begun to happen — just like Viktoriya had feared and predicted.

Miss. Itoro, the witness to Mr. Kojo's death, was nowhere to be found and had ceased causing a fuss all over the national TV. When she realized that her best friend, Zinaida was also dead and had been brutally murdered, she figured it would be best to duck and try not to further stir up a war that she would lose and would also cost her life.

She'd learned her lesson — the people who killed Mr. Kojo weren't people you could mess with. Once she learned that, no one heard anything from her again. Mr. Kojo's case finally died down. Hallelujah.

But there was a bigger storm, and it approached with a destructive, crushing force.

It was unbelievable and overwhelming to Ebun that the death of the post-graduate man, which had occurred almost six months ago, had now resurfaced to become her biggest headache.

The post-graduate, who was later discovered to be Mr. Saratov, had a wife. And this woman was an outrageous, livid, ferocious beast. Mr. Saratov's wife was no ordinary enemy. She was the daughter of the leader of one of Russia's most powerful and ruthless mafia gangs – meaning that every threat she uttered was a promising literal death blow, every cold glare she flashed was a threat of a slashing sword or a firing cannon.

Her threats were not empty because she had a strong backing force.

She showed up at the university every other day, promising to shut down the school if they failed to produce the people who killed her husband within the ultimatum she'd given them.

Ebun felt a strong urge to kill this beastly woman, and it was sickening to watch Mr. Saratov's wife act like an animal. Why did all the girlfriends and wives of rapists always have to be oblivious to their husband's atrocious doings? Why did they always have to protect their lovers who weren't even worthy of being called human beings?

It was already becoming a cliché to Ebun, which drove her crazy. It had been the same thing with Zinaida. Also, why did this woman have to come now, after six months of her husband's death, if at all, she wanted to avenge his demise? She felt bad for the authoritative body of the university because now, they would have to suffer due to Mr. Saratov's wife's actions.

Asides, her irritation, Ebun felt other things. She felt guilty and sorry towards Viktoriya, Sharon, and every other student in the university who'd been raped and assaulted by Mr. Saratov. Now, she'd understood why Viktoriya was against the idea of killing the post-graduate man.

It was painful to watch someone defend the person who hurt you – especially when that person has power. Such people always had the upper hand. Even now that Mr. Saratov was dead, it still didn't feel like his rape victims had gotten the complete justice that they deserved. Why did the school have to be in the danger of shutting down just because two school members had facilitated the death of a rapist?

Why did the school have to suffer for meting out justice that the police couldn't? Why did hardened, animalistic criminals always have strong forces backing them up even in their death? It made peace and justice hard to obtain. It made hope feel like a far-fetched dream. It showed that the death of a criminal was never a final one.

Ebun could feel Viktoriya's sorrow – the solid tightness that Viktoriya must be feeling in her chest having to watch all this happen, knowing that no one would ever believe her story with the post-graduate man even though he was dead. No one ever believed rape victims even when the evidence was clear. Powerful people like Mr. Saratov's wife crushed the dreams of rape victims who yearned to be heard and be fought for.

Ebun also felt frightened. For herself and Sean. The end of Mr. Saratov's wife's ultimatum was drawing near. On one scary day, the ruthless woman had stormed into the school premises like she always did and demanded access to the laboratories to check for the skeletons preserved as specimens. She wanted to run a test on every skeletal remain to see if any of them belonged to her husband's body.

Smart woman.

Thankfully, Mrs. Yekaterina had a good relationship with the chief forensic officer of Moscow. She didn't even have to pay the man a dime for him to tamper with the test results.

Mrs. Yekaterina and Mr. James, the anatomy lecturer, had vowed to protect Ebun. Mrs. Yekaterina because she'd aided the murder of the post-graduate man. Mr. James, because he was Galina's uncle.

Galina was the girl that Ebun had saved from Mr. Saratov on the day of his death. The lecturers stayed true to their word. Both of them, including the entire school, were joining hands to protect Ebun and the school's reputation.

Mr. Saratov's wife might indeed be the daughter of a mafia leader. Still, the mafia wasn't above the government, and the entire staff of First Moscow State Medical University was using this fact to their advantage.

The university had suffered injustice for too long, and this time, they wouldn't let some angry bird pull them down. Unlike Mr. Kojo, many girls in the university have been victims of Mr. Saratov. Hence, there were more than enough people to testify to Mr. Saratov's cruelty.

Gathering the victims alongside their families to sign a petition which would be passed across to the government officials, would be very effective. That way, the government will be on the school's side rather than the mafia's side, and the killing of Mr. Saratov will be justified.

Mr. Saratov's wife would have to sit her butt down, accept her defeat, and cover her face in shame for marrying an animal for a husband.

While this plan worked well and the number of people who signed the petition increased by the day, Ebun still wondered and worried for Sean. She hoped that the university was also protecting Sean and every other member of the psycho barracks because they ought to be shielded from this danger.

She texted and called Sean's phone a few times, but he never responded to her texts or answered her calls. Ebun was tempted to visit the psycho barracks situated in the busiest street of Moscow, but she knew better than to do that. There were too many eyes watching her.

Finally, the signed petitions successfully got to the Moscow government officials without being tampered with by any corrupt officer. A ban was placed on Mr. Saratov's wife, and she was restrained from stepping foot into the university.

It was a breath of fresh air for everyone.

On that evening, when she heard the good news, she received a text from Sean.

How are you doing, Ebun? It's been a long time!
I'll see you soon. And when I come, I'm coming to take you away from Hostel Pavlov forever. You can be rest assured that neither your hostel mistress nor her daughter, Viktoriya, will be able to find you. Mrs. Yekaterina helped us secure an abandoned hospital to carry out our future operations safely. Do not be scared or worry about anything. Everything will be sorted.
With love, Sean.

Ebun had so many questions after reading the text, and she felt slightly uncomfortable about diving right back into her adventurous lifestyle. It was too soon. Way too soon. Especially after all that's happened: from Zinaida and the witness to Viktoriya snitching on her, and then Mr. Saratov's wife. So far, it had proved to be too dangerous. Taking the law into your hands... was it truly worth it?

Ebun reread the text message. And again and again. The more she reread it, her fears ran low. Her questions still bugged her, but she trusted Sean. He was going to protect her as he promised. Slowly, sparks of excitement began to grow in her, seeing that she would soon be free again and would be able to go back to living her dream life. The thrill of it was worth the risk.

Ebun was so expectant of the forthcoming adventure that she hadn't even paid attention to the concluding words written beneath the text message. 'With love, Sean.'
He addressed her with love—something he'd never done.

***

Viktoriya was slowly beginning to loosen up. She was no longer so edgy now that Mr. Saratov's wife was far away. Now, several cities across Russia, such as Chita, Magadan, Volgograd, Irkutsk, and St. Petersburg, were joining hands to support the end of rape and sexual assault across Universities in Moscow.

Now, on this sunny afternoon, as she and Ebun sat at the same table in a small restaurant, eating ice cream sundaes, Viktoriya, who was all smiles looked radiant in her brunette hair which had been woven in pigtails. Although the friendship between her and Ebun had somewhat been lost, Ebun was grateful that right now, there was not much tension between them as usual whenever they were together.

"I'm sorry, Vik. I truly should have listened to you," Ebun said, keeping a gloomy composure as she fiddled with her ice-cream spoon.

"I guess it's okay since that crazy woman isn't coming around anymore, and rape victims like me are slowly beginning to get the justice they've been long deprived of."

"Thanks, Vik. I'm glad to see that the government is finally taking action. Moscow Medical University has suffered for too long."

"I'm sorry too, Ebun, for snitching on you. I shouldn't have done that, to be honest. We had a deal, and I broke it. I felt so bad watching you lose your sparkle while my mother grounded you. Caging you was the worst thing I could have done to you. But I was just scared for you."

"I guess it's okay too, Vik," Ebun smiled grimly. Because Sean will come for me soon and I won't have to be caged anymore. She added in her mind.

Viktoriya's phone rang. When she checked the screen for the caller, she stood up with an abrupt sense of emergency.

"Ebun, I have to go outside to pick this important call. I'll be back in about ten minutes."

"Oh. That's fine. Do you have a boyfriend now? You should introduce him to Mrs. Mariyah soon. She'll jump for joy," Ebun teased.

Viktoriya blushed and said nothing in particular to that remark. Instead, with stern eyes, she said: "You won't try to run away again, right?"

"Nah," Ebun said.

The silly girl had just apologized for caging her a few seconds ago, and here she was, doing the same thing. So much for a sincere apology. However, to an extent, Ebun understood where she was coming from.

"I thought as much. Just because Mr. Saratov's wife is far away now doesn't mean we are completely safe. Anyway, see you soon."

She walked out of the restaurant.

It wasn't up to two minutes when the bistro door swung open again. Instinctively, Ebun turned around to see if it was Viktoriya who had stepped in and wanted to ask if she'd forgotten an essential item.

But it wasn't Viktoriya.

It was Sean.

There he was, still the same as Ebun could remember. Muscular, dark-skinned, tall, and moderately bearded. He hadn't lost weight. Ebun gasped. She felt a sensational urge to fall to the ground and thank God because the relief that she felt had overwhelmed her so much. She wanted to cry, scream out loud for joy and hug him simultaneously.

At the same time, Ebun was surprised to see him show up at the restaurant. She didn't think he was going to come this soon.

"Sean!" she shrieked.

"Shh," he moved closer and pulled her up from the chair. "Don't say a word till we are out of here. Viktoriya might hear you."

True to his words, when Ebun glanced over at the window, she saw Viktoriya leaning next to a wall outside and peering inside the restaurant to know where the sound had come from. Ebun ducked when Viktoriya's gaze nearly landed on her. Then she followed in Sean's lead quickly till they got out of the area.

***

"Sean!" Ebun screamed again now that she was safe inside his car. He'd drove to somewhere far away from the restaurant – where Viktoriya would not be able to find her. "You are alive! How were you able to survive through the ruckus that Mr. Saratov's wife caused?"

"Mrs. Yekaterina informed us of Mr. Saratov's wife's intention to invade the psycho barracks space with the mafia. So we had to evacuate and find somewhere else to stay temporarily."

"Wow! It's been two whole months."

"I know right," Sean smiled. "That's why I had to ask Mrs. Yekaterina for help on how to get you out of that darned hostel," Sean paused as though holding back the rest of his words. Ebun knew because she wasn't sure what he meant.

Then his eyes darkened as he gazed at her with a serious look now.

"Did you look for me? Did you miss me?"

Ebun's cheeks flamed up at the second question. Quickly, she turned to the other side, staring aimlessly out the window. She could have easily answered the first question. Why did he have to ask if she missed him?

Besides, what on earth was wrong with Sean? Had something possessed him? Was she speaking with his doppelgänger? Ebun regretted not being observant enough. She should have realized that something had gone awry ever since that text message that ended in, 'with love.'

"Ebun," he called softly, cupping her chin and turning her face to him so she could look into his eyes. "Did you miss me?"

"What does it matter to you if I did or not?"

"Why speak like this? Have I ever invalidated or made a mockery of your show of affection?"

"Invalidated?" Ebun scoffed as she repeated his word. "What are you yapping about, mister? I've never shown anything towards you except for my desire to be a skilled assassin."

"That night at the Omsk camp," Sean argued in an unabated tone. "I knew it was you."

"Oh. That. So you knew," Ebun turned away again, defenseless and speechless.

"Yes. But I just chose not to ever speak about it. I feared that you would deny it if I brought it up. I would have been hurt if you did, so I kept it to myself as a blissful memory."

"It's a good thing you knew I would deny it. So why does my show of affection matter to you now?"

"Have I been this mean to you?" Sean sounded broken and completely stripped off his pride. "Why do you hate the idea of loving me so bad?"

Ebun swallowed, suddenly feeling guilty to have hurt him. He was right. Why was she so on edge? It wasn't as if she'd ever made her feelings known to him. So why did she act as though she'd confessed her feelings to him and he'd rejected her and was now coming back for a second chance?

"I just don't want to go ahead of myself. Besides, this is very strange to me, and I'm sorry, Sean," Ebun squirmed before she continued talking. "You sound stupid speaking in this way to me and looking at me so affectionately. This isn't the Sean I know. It's not in your nature to speak nicely to people talk more of craving for their affection. Besides, you hate women, so why do you want love from me?"

"You are right about everything, and I get why you are freaked out," Sean nodded solemnly. "Should we talk about the kiss we shared that afternoon at the brothel?"

"No. That happened two months ago. Besides, it happened in a brothel — a place where people have sex like it means nothing. That was what it was. We kissed in a place where kissing is no big deal."

Ebun, calm down! You're getting defensive and cold again!

I can't help it. It's just hard to accept Sean's softness towards me. Ebun responded to the voice of her subconscious.

"Was that what it was to you? A kiss in a place where kissing means nothing?"

"No," Ebun confessed, breathing out through gritted teeth. "It felt strange, to be honest."

And it was mainly because the situation reminded me of my helplessness on the day I was raped. Ebun added in her mind but deemed Sean undeserving of that information.

"Well, it clearly was. Given the circumstances surrounding the kiss," Sean shrugged as a way of disregarding her shallow answer. "But did you feel anything?"

"No. It was all an act, after all. It would be stupid to feel butterflies in my stomach over something that's not even real. I'm not that horny. Besides, asking me if I felt anything from that kiss is like me asking if you felt anything from that night when I moved closer to you and pressed your buttocks. I simply did that to fool the Caribbean driver. We kissed each other to escape the police. C'est Fini."

Ebun was lying, and Sean knew this. Eyes never lied. Yet, he felt so hurt because, frankly, her reason sounded convincing enough.

"That was more than an act, Ebun. There was no need for me to caress you the way I did that afternoon. A light kissing session would have been more than enough to fool the police. Besides, would you be shocked to know that I felt something when you snuggled closer to me that night? I just didn't know what the feeling was. Still, the spark has always been there. I felt something."

"Okay. That's good to know. Now, tell me what you want to hear from me so we can end this discussion," Ebun breathed out, leaning back against the car seat.

"I want to know if you looked for me and worried about me."

"Yes, I did, and yes, I was. It perfectly explains why I was so glad to see you. I was worried," Ebun looked into his eyes. "Happy now?"

The look on his face said otherwise. Why did he look so desperate for her love? What was this expression of longing? It bothered Ebun and made several indecipherable emotions swell up in her and form into a tight lump that soon filled her throat. She regretted looking at him. It broke her walls.

"Sean, do you care for me in this manner that you are implying? Or are you doing this because your parents are already disturbing you to bring your fiancée home? Don't worry, Sean, I'll pretend to be your wife on the day you need me to like we already agreed. So stop with the act, okay?"

"I mean every word I'm saying right now. It's stupid to try to win your heart over a false marriage when you already agreed to it."

Again, he was right. There was no need for him to try to win her heart when the time for pretense hadn't come.

"You hate women, and it has shown even in the way you speak to me. You're no gentleman. You've been mean to me, shut me out of discussions—"

"I always apologized to you. Also, along the line, I learned to be patient with you. I learned how to calm down, take a deep breath and explain things to you calmly."

Ebun swallowed even though her mouth felt bone dry. He was right. Sean continued talking.

"Yes, I hate women, but over time, I grew fond of you and enjoyed your company a lot. Spending two months away from you made me realize how much I've become attached to you. Dissolving dead bodies in acid was a lot more pleasant with you, even though I've been doing it for many years.

During these few weeks, I've had a few murder assignments to carry out, and I had members of the psycho barracks accompany me for the operation. It was nothing compared to going on adventures with you. That explains why I'm back here again. I need you back so I can enjoy your company."

"I need you back so I can enjoy your company," Ebun mimicked. "That sounds selfish."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"It still sounds selfish. It's as if you love me because I'm not boring like the other barracks members. Because they are experts. You enjoy me because I infuriate you very often, and it's fun for you to mock an amateur like me."

"What about you, Ebun?"

"What?" Ebun glanced in surprise.

"Why did you show affection towards me?"

"I—"

"Don't deny it. We already established the fact that I knew you comforted me back in Omsk, which was a show of affection. So answer the question."

"Well..." Ebun decided to pour out her heart. "I grew a liking for you because you were and still are the first person who has ever been in support of my vision for vengeance. That liking has been there ever since I agreed to follow you to Russia."

"That also sounds selfish."

"I didn't stop liking you even when you were mean!" Ebun defended in a stern tone.

"It still sounds selfish. It's like you weighed the options carefully and figured it would be better to stick around despite my harsh behavior because of the benefits attached to it."

"You're throwing my words back at me, aren't you?" Ebun fumed. "Fine! Do as you please."

"With what? Your heart? Give me the go-ahead, and I'll do exactly as I please just to convince you that I love you."

"Sean!" Ebun's ears turned red. How could he be such a smooth talker, and what was this cheesiness? he was a thirty-year-old man, for God's sake, not a teenager!

"You're overthinking everything, Ebun. I promise that I'm a changed guy now. Look, my reason might indeed be selfish like you claim. After all, the only thing I've done in my life is to kill and destroy. I've never received love from anyone. My aunt, who was supposed to be there for me, abused me for eight years.

Hence, I truly may not understand what love should be about. Still, I want to love you with my 'selfish' reasons till I can learn to love you for no reason at all. Loving you with selfishness till I can adore you with selflessness is what I desire."

"This is all strange," Ebun said with a sigh after a long moment of silence. After letting his words sink in.

No, it's not. Sean countered in his mind but figured it was best to agree with Ebun so he wouldn't ruin the mood.

"Yes, it is."

Ebun closed her eyes and clenched her fists.

"And I don't like it. I don't like the suddenness of it. I've had feelings for you for so long but—"

"You never told me you did. You just wanted to keep loving me from afar in your little bubble. You never saw me as someone who could love you right back. That's why it's hard to accept the fact that your feelings are now being reciprocated."

"Are they?"

"Yes. Give it time. You'll see."

Sean stretched out his hand.

Ebun contemplated. He was right. What was stopping her from accepting his feelings? After all, she'd never shot at her shot towards him. Now that he'd made the first move, whyever should she hold back? All Sean had ever done was support, protect and guide her regardless of his rash temper and unbridled tongue. More importantly, he'd even come back for her.

Why should she not let him love her?

Ebun took his arm. Sean raised her palm and placed a kiss on it. Then he rubbed on the skin of her hand lovingly.

Ebun didn't know how to act or what to say in that situation, so she went on to ask an important and pressing question.

"How am I going to get my clothes from Hostel Pavlov now that you've come to take me away from there forever? Besides, I have to continue schooling at the university."

"Clothes are the least of your worries, baby. Don't worry about school also. You'll continue schooling, and it will be for a more interesting reason."

"What reason?"

"Oh, you just wait and see."