I've been dropping crumbs of clues since the beginning of this story, if you notice the details, you'll find out a lot of secrets ;-)

***

Under the glow of the pink club neon lights, it was hard to tell what Joshua Phillips was thinking, his head was cocked to the side in consideration and his lips almost twisted in disdain. The watch on his wrist glittered under the light, silver and diamonds. Kendrick shoved his new discovery into the back of his mind -- Joshua Phillips clearly liked to flaunt his wealth, he liked people looking at him, he was like a pandering peacock or rather the alpha of a wolf pack.

Nina, the girl in the sheer dress had her eyes on Joshua and she seemed to be assessing him predatorily and Kendrick was sure there was no love lost between them despite the fact that they seemed to be an item. Fire looked bored and kept jiggling a bunch of keys in his right hand, he didn't look the slightest bit remorseful, his constant jiggling and the low classical music only seemed to emphasize the tension in the cool room.

However, the other girl -- Amina -- He discovered, was watching him keenly, a smirk tugged at her naturally red lips. She made a subtle motion of winking at him, something told Kendrick that there was nothing flirty about that action, it was purely predatory. Amina appeared like the kind of girl that ate people like him and drank their blood with a grin on her face. Even the way she stood spelt danger, she leaned casually against the bar in the VIP room and toyed with an half empty champagne flute.

It occurred to Kendrick that he was dealing with dangerous people, people who could ruin him with a snap of their finger, again he sneaked a glance at Fire, surprised to find his friend already staring. Something like a warning flashed in Firepemi's eyes.

"You found me," was all Joshua Phillips said. The contemplative look was long gone and now he just looked amused, a smile danced at the edge of his lips. "I wonder why, usually we do the seeking, the pursuing and the asking. This is a first, I'm almost flattered."

Joshua was full on grinning now, Kendrick noticed he had a gap tooth grin, it was almost easy to miss and for someone like Joshua Phillips who hated flaws and craved and crooned perfection it was hard for Kendrick to understand why he didn't have it corrected. He averted his gaze, before he was caught staring.

His bravado was long fading and the weariness was seeping through him.

"I'm sure you are." Kendrick said wryly, forcing amusement into his voice, ORION didn't tolerate weaklings, if these people sensed any weakness in him, they would tear him apart like starving hyenas. "Let's say I was very curious. What exactly is the ORION Project?"

"Here I was, thinking you'd be curious about the death of your best friend? Sad, isn't it?" Amina cut in, they were baiting him now, waiting for him to slip. Kendrick almost revealed his grimace, the mention of Emmanuel's death still slapped.

"I'm more concerned about what he had told me, mere weeks before his death. About the ORION Project." Kendrick lied through straight white teeth. Emmanuel had never let a word slip about ORION, he only knew about the secret organization because he had snooped his best friend's belongings. Kendrick had grown suspicious when Emmanuel began to hide things from him, he had suddenly put passwords on his phone and laptop and returned at odd hours. So one day, he tailed Emmanuel and witnessed his murder.

Kendrick still had nightmares about that night, Emmanuel had walked into his death knowing he was never going to return. Nobody knew Kendrick had seen his best friend's murderer, and he never spoke about it to the authorities, not when he might be risking his own death too. Emmanuel's murderers had left something behind -- A flash drive that contained information on ORION as an organization but nothing on their secrets.

ORION wasn't a secret organization, it was a cult, a cult for the children of the most elite in Nigeria. Emmanuel had dealt drugs to them, Emmanuel had been a member of ORION. He had been an Archer, that was what members called themselves.
That night, Kendrick had realized he barely knew the boy he called his best friend.

Kendrick could tell his words had struck something in Joshua Phillips, the Vice President's son still looked amused but there was something else in his expression, something like anger. He looked like he was going to say something but instead he walked to the bar and began to make himself a drink. Kendrick stood tense, he was waiting for anyone to call him out on his crap, waiting for anyone to deem him a liar and fraud. He suddenly felt very cold, a chill that had nothing to do with the breeze from the air conditioner.

Firepemi no longer looked nonchalant, Kendrick thought he looked afraid and with a jolt, Kendrick realized that Firepemi might not exactly be a willing member of ORION.

He swallowed visibly as Joshua added ice to his drink and lifted to his lips for a slow sip. He put the glass down  and beckoned to Amina who leaned closer as he whispered something in her ears. Nina looked annoyed, she exchanged a swift glance with Fire, so quick that Kendrick was sure that he imagined it.

A slow smile spread on Amina's lips and she nodded something to Joshua.

"You've done your homework on us, I can tell. The fact that you seem to know so much about us makes you very valuable, and dangerous to us." Joshua spoke softly, like one would do to a disobedient child. "You want something from us."

Joshua laughed, the harsh sound cutting through the silence, sometime ago, the classical music had stopped playing, Kendrick hadn't even noticed.

"What's that saying, keep your friends close --" Phillips trailed off deliberately. Kendrick finished it mentally -- and your enemies closer.

"Kendrick Yong, you're about to know us a little better." Joshua said, still sporting that amused grin. "Next week Wednesday, this conversation resumes at the tennis court in the university. Bring your wits, and your racket." He drawled the words with a secret smile, like he was saying a joke that Kendrick was supposed to know.

"Now, get out." Joshua said evenly.

Kendrick didn't have to be told twice. He forced himself to walk calmly to the door and walk down the stairs, the booming music returned, surprising him. The club was even more packed, the bouncer by the stairs didn't spare him a second glance as he jogged down the stairs, he almost crashed into a couple arguing at the end of the stairs.

He caught the ends of their conversation, still disoriented from encountering ORION.

The girl jabbed a finger at her boyfriend's chest."-- trust me, those guys are dangerous, I know dangerous when I see it, I wonder how you got entangled with Joshua Phillips, the devil in Gucci."

Kendrick almost laughed at how accurate the girl was.

***

Sanmi Ilori was a liar. He couldn't remember the last time he spoke a word that wasn't a lie. He lied about being sober to Grace and he had lied to her about having a show at the Love Club. He lied so much that it was hard to differentiate who he truly was from the fake persona he had built because of his lies.

He hadn't been sober since four months ago, Grace thought he had relapsed weeks ago when it had been months. Even now as he stood, he itched for that forbidden fruit, for the drugs that helped him forget his depression for a little while. His throat was dry and his hands twitched in anticipation as music pulsed through the club, he was so lost in his list that he barely paid any attention to Hayley Olise who yelled his ear off about Joshua Phillips.

Hayley was perhaps the only person close to a friend that he had, she was a part of his dance crew and she reminded him of the sisters he had, the sisters he failed to protect. Sanmi could see in Hayley's eyes that she was a broken girl, perhaps that was another reason they were close, fuck ups attracted fuck ups. There was something that haunted Hayley, something she refused to talk about, instead she'd rather talk about him.

She knew he had relapsed, she knew he was far from the happy person he made himself out to be. He saw the way she looked at him, like someone she knew, just like how she reminded him of his sisters.

She knew he was in debt. He owed ORION, he owed them millions.

Sanmi almost laughed at the thought of it, he had been so high that he hadn't even noticed he was gambling everything he had left to stay high. That was how bad the drugs fucked him up. His eyes darted around the club, barely noticing the tall stranger that brushed past him, his eyes stayed on the bar as he craved a shot of alcohol, anything to take the itch away. He knew there would be drugs behind that bar, ORION came fully blazing, they would go over the top for every single thing that they did. They were bored rich kids looking for lives to ruin, too bad he was caught in their tangled web.

"You aren't even paying any attention to what I'm talking about?" Hayley stretched on her toes to tug at his ears. He let out a distracted yelp.

"I'm sorry." He said, sounding anything but. He rubbed his sore ears. "You're the one who insisted on following me here." He reminded her sharply.

Hayley didn't bat an eyelid at the bite in his tone, secretly, he was grateful to have her with him. He was a coward, always needing others to fix his own mistake.

"I'm not letting you walk into the lion's den alone." She simply said, she tugged at her afro hair and winced. "You need to clean your act."

Sanmi chuckled lowly, he wasn't even sure she heard him, the music was deafening even as they stood at a corner by the stairs. The party only seemed to be getting wilder, the small crowd were doing drugs openly now and the hosts hadn't even shown their faces.

"I'm in trouble with ORION, they aren't going to let me clean my act up when they can dig me deeper. There's no getting out of this, Hayley. Not until I have something against them." He said.

He saw her chest heave up in a defeated sigh. He wasn't even sure what ORION was yet, he had only seen the surface and that should have been enough to make him run but he had been so foolish, thinking Joshua was one of the good guys.

Sanmi recalled the moment he fell into their trap, it was last year, when things had been difficult at home, his father had been even worse than he was now, taking his hate on the whole family, his father had hit Grace that fateful night and Sanmi had hit him back to the dismay of their doormat mother, Raymond Ilori found other ways to punish his own blood. He began to deprive them of money, he stopped paying bills, rent and fees.

That was when Joshua approached him, seemingly offering his assistance in the form of a job and Sanmi had stupidly fallen for his trap, before he knew it, he was dealing drugs for ORION for measly money, that was the worst part, they could have given him a lot more but chose to give him crumbs. The situation at home worsened and soon, he was doing the drugs he was dealing, and Joshua made him pay for every dose he took.

Sanmi curled his hands into fists in anger, he couldn't even look at who he had become without that sharp stab of shame.

Hayley was looking at him in sympathy now and he hated it. Before she could say a word, the bouncer was nodding at him. Sanmi inhaled, it was time to face the music.

"You can go now, they're expecting you." The bouncer said.

Hayley fixed him a withering glare and Sanmi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine." He lied. Again.

***

Grace trudged up the stairs, exhausted but still feeling that flame of anger burning. Throughout the holiday, she had worked at a cyber cafe where she was paid very little, today she had quit because she wouldn't be able to juggle school and work, although she had been paid very little she still liked to work for her money but now she was forced to turn to her mother, or even worse, her father. Grace's parents were probably the shittiest parents in the world, her father was a tyrant and her mother a doormat, she knew once she was twenty, her father would stop paying school bills just like he did to Tomi and Sanmi.

Raymond Ilori hated his children because they were exactly like him, selfish and horrible people, he wanted saints for children but he got nightmares instead so he never passed up an opportunity to express his resentment. He hated that they never did anything he told them to, Sanmi defied him by studying Music instead of Law and Grace defied him by choosing to study Physical Education rather than Medicine. Only Ewatomi listened to him and was stuck studying Journalism, a course she hated. Still, he never showed her any love or warmth.

The children playing in the compound let out a sudden cry, up NEPA! they screamed. The dark street was lit up with electricity, the children ceased their play and began to run to their various homes to watch television. Grace almost smiled at their innocence, sometimes she wishes she could be a child again. She thought of those good times as she knocked on the door at the end of the stairs. Her family lived in a two storey shabby apartment building, they occupied the whole of the second floor and paid a huge rent yearly for a house that wasn't even at peak condition, there was no pipe borne water supply, they had to trek down the street to fetch water daily at a well.

The door creaked open, her little brother stood annoyed at the sight of her. Without a word of welcome, he dashed back inside the apartment where Grace could hear the faint lull of a cartoon playing. With a huff, she took off her shoes and shut the door before entering the parlour.

Rafe sat on the single sofa in the living room, singing studiously to the theme song of Henry Danger. Grace was too tired and hungry to scold him for his rudeness.

"Where's mummy?" She asked. Rafe was only eight and was as sassy as a weary adult. He snapped his fingers twice.

"Blink twice and she will appear," He said it so seriously that someone might have believed him. Under the pale florescent light, he looked like a copy of Sanmi, the same fair skin and serious face, except his hair was a low cut unlike Sanmi's curly one.

"I don't have your time yet, idiot." Grace hissed. She ignored his glare and walked into the adjoining bedroom that she shared with Ewatomi. She lay on the bed, tapping away on her phone, Grace felt an unwanted stab of envy, Ewatomi always managed to look effortlessly pretty even as she was dressed in boxer shorts and a flimsy singlet with her hair packed in a hairnet.

Ewatomi looked up briefly to catch Grace's gaze before turning back to her phone. This was their usual dance, ignoring each other until one needed something from the other. Grace sighed, opening the contents of her bag to dump on the bed. Her backpack was always stuffed with the most useless things, mostly books and random papers, pens, pencils and food wrappings.

"Here," Ewatomi said suddenly. Grace looked up to see her hand stretched out and clutching a one thousand Naira note. "The money you wasted on bailing me out this morning."

Shame coursed through Grace as she reached out to collect the money. It was double the amount she spent in the morning on Ewatomi, she remembered how bitterly she had whined about the money.

"Where'd you get the money from?" Grace forced herself to ask, for the first time in a long while she felt ashamed that she and her sister were so distant. "I know daddy isn't giving you any money."

"Since when did you start caring about anything I do?" There was no anger in Tomi's words, only hurt. The shame bloomed in her chest as Tomi stood up to walk out of the room, shutting the door softly. For a while,  Grace stared longingly at the door, wishing uselessly above the shame of the times where she and Tomi where still sisters, not the strangers that they had become. But those days were so far away that Grace could not remember them.

She shoved the feeling aside and began to separate the trash from the useful things. She tossed a few papers and food wrappers to the carpeted floor and began to lift a notebook when something fell from between it's pages. Startled, Grace picked it up.
It was a photograph, an old one from the looks of it, three girls grinned mischievously at the camera and hugged each other tightly. There were three things wrong with the picture, Grace discovered, the last one sent a shiver down her spine.

The picture was black and white, the girls wore clothes that were out of style, baggy jean trousers and crop tops. As Grace flipped the picture, there was a date written on the back in a hurried scrawl -- 1989.
As Grace peered closer to stare at the picture, she realized that the girl in the middle looked eerily like her.