The perfect album to listen to while reading this, Pure Heroine by the greatest artist to ever live; Lorde.

***

Sanmi Ilori tried to remember the last time he had been in the same room with Ewatomi alone. Like he had done with Grace, he had distanced himself from his family that sometimes it was hard to recall how they looked like. He rarely slept at home these days, he missed the days where he would burrow into his mother laps back when she was more alive than she were actually was, back when she had cared for her children before her husband's constant cheating and beatings finally broke her.

He remembered nagging and teasing his sisters, protecting them from bullies, their father and even the world. Now he was a useless rag and was nothing more than a burden to them. Sanmi couldn't even remember how old little Rafe was, but every time he looked in the mirror he saw his little brother and hated it. He should be protecting them, maybe then Grace wouldn't have gotten into trouble with the university's authorities.

He had been in the middle of dance routine with his crew, his hands shaking so bad because he hadn't had a dose of the drugs he abused. His phone had buzzed, it had been Ewatomi calling and for a second he forgot he had a sister called Ewatomi. Grace was being accused of breaking into a lecturer's office to alter her low grades, she had fainted, hitting her head on the floor and was now in the health clinic, recovering until she could be questioned in person. For now, the university wanted to speak to her siblings.

The lecturer in question was outside the office discussing in hushed tones with several security guards.

He felt suffocated and guilty in the presence of Ewa who said and did nothing but stare ahead at the family pictures on the wall. He felt the urge to say something.

"How did you know?" He blurted out. Feeling stupid afterwards and ill, by the end of the day he was sure that at least half of the students would know what had happened, Grace might never show her face outside forever. And he wasn't even exaggerating. His baby sister hated attention, a little dose of it sent her running into her shell. This would destroy her, unless there was a  way to stop the damage but there was none he could think of, especially when the urge for his usual dose clawed at his throat until it was all he could think about.

Sanmi shoved his hands into his pocket and waited for his sister to answer.

"Her friend called me, Tope. I know you're familiar with her." Ewa's eyes narrowed slightly and his heart sank to his stomach. A year ago, he had a thing with Tope, she was perhaps Grace's only friend and he had toyed with her heart and returned it shattered. She had seen him at his worst and she never wanted to leave, he had sent her away. Ewatomi was the only person who knew about her, if Grace knew that Sanmi was the reason why her friend almost missed more than a semester last year because of an abortion, she'd never forgive him.

He could never forgive himself.

"Not anymore," the word slipped from his lips before he could rein them in.

"And it is nothing but your fault." Ewa said plainly, she had never been one to sugarcoat her words.

"You think I don't know that!" He snapped. "I know I'm a fuck up, the worst one and I hate myself every damn day."

Ewa just shook her head and stared ahead. She wasn't much of a talker. Yet Sanmi was sure she was seeing someone, Ewatomi was a sad girl, she had always been that way since she was a child, that look in her eyes spoke of a thousand sufferings, but a few months ago, she had begun to look happier and sometimes let a smile dance around her lips.

He stood up suddenly, his chair scraping against the floor. He was desperate to get the hell out of the musty smelling office, it smelt like old books. He was desperate for a cigarette or a drink, anything to take the itch in his throat away for a couple of minutes. Until he went crawling back to Joshua fucking Phillips begging for a fix.

"You don't get to run away, ode." Ewa said just as suddenly as if she could read his mind and he felt ashamed. "Grace always fixes our shit, we owe it to her to try."

He was in the motion of saying something harsh about how there was nothing they could to save Grace, about she would most likely end up being rusticated or the very least, suspended. All of which would still ruin her education, when he caught the logo on the lecturer's computer, on another day he might not have noticed it, he could have dismissed it as a harmless sticker. But today he didn't, the logo wasn't a random sticker, it was ingrained on the computer, it was a brand signal, like the Apple logo on their products.

This one was a simple cupid with an arrow, it was ORION'S logo. He had seen that logo many times, on Joshua's wrist watches, on the brooches on his shirts and on a cellphone Joshua had dismissed casually as a Japanese model.

A shiver snaked down his spine as realization dawned. The lecturer was part of The ORION Project. Grace might have been framed.

Joshua Phillips wanted his fucking sister.

***

Kendrick muttered a low apology as he brushed past the figure he bumped into. The science complex tended to be crowded after laboratory sessions, today's own had been particularly horrible, especially because he hadn't been able to keep his attention on the task before him. He had failed at getting into ORION, worse, they had played him a fool. He still seethed thinking of it.

He shrugged off his lab coat and slung his backpack over one shoulder, ready to fill his stomach with food and forget all his woes.

"I'm offended, you weren't going to say hi." A familiar feminine voice said behind him. Kendrick whirled around almost smacking into Amina, the Muslim girl he had seen with Phillips. He struggled to keep his shock in check, he seemed to have forgotten that the members of ORION were students like him, and that he might bump into one of them sooner of later. After all he couldn't avoid Firepemi forever.

She smirked at his look and Kendrick noticed she was wearing a lab coat like he was a few seconds ago. She couldn't be in the same class with him? He would have noticed her, or he might have, if he had been paying attention to his surroundings.

"Cat's got your tongue?" She said. Even today, she was wearing a stylish pink hijab with shiny stones on it that he was sure they weren't ordinary rhinestones but diamonds. It was like she was begging to be robbed or kidnapped, he pitied the poor man that would dare to rob her. There was something always feral in her smile and it chilled Kendrick to the bones.

Her jeans were pink too, so was her crop top that said Gucci in white calligraphy, he was sure they were real designers. With some satisfaction, Kendrick noted that her pink converse shoes were stained with mud, she couldn't look so perfect always, it wasn't fair to people like him.

"Not at all, I just didn't see you coming." He lied. She grinned. "Are you studying Mathematics?" He asked when what he wanted to say was; are you stalking me?

"Yes, do you think I'm not smart enough?" She was baiting him now.

He almost snapped. "And when did I insinuate that?"

She laughed breezily as if she had no care in the world.

"Follow me," was all she said, he was forced to obey, brushing past the loitering crowd of his class, he noticed the looks they gave him. It wasn't regular to get transfer students, especially all the way in the middle of three hundred level. At least he hoped so, better that than they looking at him because he was Asian.

While they jogged down the stairs, she didn't say anything to him until they were out of the building and under the full glare of the sun. She took a seat on the numerous concrete seats outside the complex and he was forced to do the same.

"I can't stay for long, I have things to do." Kendrick said after she remained silent.

"I like you, you know. It's not everyday we get brave boys wishing to avenge the death of their best friend." She said, a smile on her face. She never seemed to stop smiling. "It'll only get you killed though."

Kendrick's own fake smile slipped off. Amina was even blunter than he knew.

"Why are you telling me this? I've realized that everything to you and ORION is a game, what stops me from thinking this is another one too?" He replied bitterly. He was right, ORION was all a game, a game that made no sense, a game that never ended and kept taking until there would be nothing left to take again. It was a game that took Emmanuel.

For once Amina was not smiling. She looked dead serious, her pink painted lips twisted downwards in a frown.

"You have no idea how wrong you are, this isn't a game. It is so much bigger than you know. And it's why we can't slip up and let go you go away." She said. "I've killed for ORION and I will kill for ORION."

The casual way she spoke of murder was what made him snap. He slapped a hand to his lap in anger.

"Then what the hell is this?" He snapped. Her smile returned, she very much enjoyed rattling him.

Amina batted her long lashes at him and tilted her head to the side to assess him. Kendrick noticed she had a beauty spot right below her nose and he wondered how someone could be stunning and be terrifying at the same time. He remembered his mother warning him that those kind of people were the kind of people to run away from, then why wasn't he scared, why was he craving the danger, like a moth to the flame?

Kendrick was slowly learning that the bad guys weren't the ugly ones, they were ones that looked like Greek gods and goddesses.

"Something very dangerous, something very bad. You should run," She said in a voice so soft it could have been carried by the wind. "Why aren't you running, Kendrick?"

"I think you are a lot more like us than we realized, I'm aware your father is the CEO of a construction company. His net worth is in the billions."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kendrick asked warily. He hated them having the upper hand over him especially when he knew so little about his enemies.

"We are power, Kendrick." He hated the way she said his name like the crack of a gunshot, crushing the 'k' like thunder. "It's only natural that we deal with power."

She paused briefly to call out to a tall boy that strolled past them, he flashed her a smile in greeting then continued his walk. Kendrick wondered briefly if he was part of them. Amina turned her focus back to him.

"Take for example, me. Amina Khalid, I'm heir to a multi billionaire empire. Joshua has so much power that it gets into his head, it's why he is leader. Firepemi's mother, Dayo Kingston is a senator." She continued without missing a beat, something about her voice was commanding, she made you want to listen. "You can't play a game you cannot afford."

"My best friend wasn't wealthy." Kendrick shrugged. He probably appeared calm on the outside, but on the inside, he was hyperventilating. He was finally going to get information on the group that he hated so much.

Amina grinned her shark like smile.

"Who said he was a part of us?" She said. She rose after a quick glance at her wrist watch.

"Leaving so soon," He dared her.

Amina made a clucking sound with her tongue. "Oh, we'll be seeing each other a damn lot, after all we are course mates."

"Then what was the point of this conversation? A bunch of vague warnings and sayings." He said, rising with her.

"No, this was a test." She said.

"I waited at the tennis court for hours." He let anger slip into his tone before they began to think of him as a blind follower. Amina waved her hand carelessly.

"Another test."

"So what now, Amina?" Kendrick asked, letting her name roll off his tongue.

"Now? Nothing. We will be in touch." She said, wagging a manicured finger.

"I'll be waiting." He said wryly and let out an uncomfortable huff and she leaned in and brushed her lips to his left cheek, almost brushing his own lips.

She pulled away, looking pleased.

"Oh, and don't be too hard on Fire, he was just looking out for you."

"Or spying on me." He countered. She smiles again.

"I like you, Kendrick. We'll get along just fine." She said, approval in her tone.

He watched her sashay away, swaying her hips and blowing kisses as she stopped by to greet some of their course mates. He was very much aware of the paper she had slipped into his pocket while she thought he was not looking.

Kendrick waited until she was out of sight before he pulled out the small card. It was her personal number and it read; love, Mancracker.

Kendrick smiled.

***

3rd of August, 1992

Tolu Kingston was exhausted. He felt like he had been running for miles yet he was stuck at a standstill. He wasn't winning, the tribunal was still stalling for some strange reason, he hadn't seen Mika since two days ago when she confronted him after the tribunal meeting and a part of him wondered if they could ever go back to the people they once were, a part of him wanted to call off their relationship and let her go but the more cowardly part of him didn't want to let go. To think that just two months ago, he had been thinking he had found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

People could truly go from people you knew to people you didn't.

The campus was not scanty despite the fact that it evening already, in fact people were still hurrying to the libraries or various group studies. He would have been part of them, if he weren't so tired mentally. He paused outside a shop on campus to buy recharge card and was careful to stay half shrouded in the darkness of the night, these days he couldn't step outside his room without getting stares from the student body, he despised the whispers even more than the stares.

He tapped at his phone as he walked, it was never dark on campus and the street lights were already on. For the first time in a long while he almost smiled as he looked at his wallpaper, it was Mika and he had taken the picture while she was sleeping, originally he had taken it for blackmail materia but she had looked so peaceful snoozing on her textbooks. Unlike other relationships, being with Mika didn't make him lose focus of his education or slack in the slightest bit, she made him want to be better and it was a playful competition to see who would get the highest grades at the end of every semester.

He always came first in his whole class but Mika was a close second or third.

Kingston was still smiling as he walked until he bumped into someone. He looked up to rain down profanities on the person but his smile slid down immediately as he took a step back and cursed his stupidity.

Remi Phillips wasn't smiling either. He looked dead serious under the street lights. His look made Kingston's heart sink down to his stomach.

"Nice to see you, again." Kingston spat in disdain and made to move past Remi but he halted in his steps. Something was very wrong.

He was surrounded by ORION boys, he could scream bloody hell and still no help would come to him. He was truly screwed.

"I've tried blackmail, I've tried guilt tripping with your family. I've tried bribing you but nothing seems to work." Remi seemed to be speaking more to himself than to Kingston. "You are one stubborn SOB."

"I don't understand," Kingston snapped. "I am no one special, I'm not the most popular person, or the smartest on this campus. Yet you cannot take no for an answer. Just fuck off and leave me and my family alone."

Phillips nodded like he understood.

"I don't beg, Tolu and I don't plan on making an exception for you." Remi continued, his voice hardened with every word. He sounded like he was every bit as tired as Kingston was and he sounded impressed, like he hadn't expected Kingston to say no for so long. Even though it had only been a week or two.

"So what? I won't say yes and you won't stop stalking me." Kingston said. "Only one person is going to give up and it will not be me, Phillips."

He nodded. "Very well, but I am not giving up so quick."

Kingston sighed and touched a hand to his head. "What do you want now?"

"I want you to follow me, this one time. Learn what ORION is about before you say no."

Kingston shook his head.

"And what if I say no?"

"You don't get a choice this time, all this while I've given you one, look where that has gotten us." Phillips gestured around with his wide spread arms. He gave a discreet nod to the boys surrounding them and a moment later, a nondescript car pulled over to the sidewalk.

Kingston narrowed his eyes, ready to say no for the thousandth time but Phillips was faster, before Kingston could blink, he heard the distinct cock of several guns. He looked around, fear drumming a beat into his chest, confirming what he already knew. All ten boys had pulled out guns and were pointing them at him. Even without their weapons he never stood a chance of winning, he was slowly realizing that.

Kingston remembered the first time he saw a gun, he had been twelve, toying around in his father's office when he drew open a hidden drawer in the desk, revealing the weapon, even lying harmlessly there had sent shivers down his spine and now he faced ten of them.

Remi Phillips cocked his head to the side, weapon pointed solely at Kingston.

"So what will it be now?" He asked. Kingston had no answer for that. So Remi nodded and said; "Get into the car, it's a long ride ahead."