It's been a month, I know.🥺
It wasn't easy, but I could finally get this update ready. Thank God for that. I hope you like this one!❤️🔥

Nonetheless, Ladies and Gents, I present to you the first POV from our long-awaited protagonist...

~DABI~

“Click Here to Kill Everybody.”

It was a book.

As enticing as those huge block letters looked on its header, the world of Cyber Security and Technology was not a topic that I was much interested in. It seldom ever phased me, in all frankness.

So, it was a thing of honest wonder for me why they felt like the best thing they could gift me, in order for me to  "cope" in the claustrophobic four walls of this Hospital Ward was a fucking book.

A book teaching me how to be a Hacker.

A Hacker with an intent to Kill.

"Click Here to Kill Everybody," I repeated, as I looked around the medium sized, squeaky new paperback in my hand, observing how untouched and perfect and unblemished it looked.

It smelt just like it looked: Neat. New. Clean. Perfect.

And, in all honesty...

I hated it.

Yeah, I hated it to bits.

I hated every hue of perfection. Any slightest hint or facade of it. Even though it was something as inanimate as a book.

"Click Here To kill Everybody," I reread the sentence all over, a subtle amusement bubbling in the pit of me and laughter escaping my lips as a damn result.

And, what was funny? I had no idea. 

All I knew was that each inscription on the cover looked more humorous to me the longer my eyes hovered all around it, the more my brain interpreted the words, visions of chaos and catastrophe playing in clear graphics in my head as a hysteric laughter started to bubble from the pit of my gut, as I lay on my bed.

And, God, I laughed.

My sides hurt, but I laughed.

My head hurt, but I still laughed.

My back hurt, but I didn't stop laughing.

My chest hurt, but my laughter hurt more.

I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. Laughing so hard until my head felt heavy. Until the room started spinning around me. Until the colors on the text, the cover, the leaves: shades of white, red, yellow, red, brown, RED, started to dance around in my vision in all its variety.

"Click Here... To Kill Everybody," I croaked, my voice in strained whispers after losing my breath. Exhausted from laughing at everything and nothing.

And, with my last breath, I sighed. My head, tilting instinctively to the side, as I found yet a newer observation.

"Huh." I hummed in subtle confusion as I swerved the paperback around my hand, eyes roaming it with precision.

The book looked different than I remembered a few minutes ago.

Much, much different.

It looked rougher. Older. With its parts and cover mangled and torn. Pages, littered all around the bed that I laid on. I watched the mess around me through a vision that blurred red and with a heart that triggered with more laughter.

Yes, triggered.

With a laughter I couldn't explain. My hands would be shaking, I'd be laughing. My heart would be pounding with a fear of the unknown, a surge of panic and anxiety creeping onto me, and my body would still laugh. Confusion, Frustration, and a feeling of overwhelm, the certainty of impending doom would befall me and I would laugh through the tears. Through the heart pounding. Through the sheer terror.

This was a laughter that I knew was a desperate cry from within me. The only thing that prevented me from acting on my intrusive thoughts or manic impulse, the only thing stopping me from putting this entire building to Flames in all frankness. The only thing preventing me from setting this entire Town Hospital on fire and letting everything within it burn so bad. Every body, every dream, every soul. Every damned soul that was barely hanging on. Forced to stay, trapped, in a broken body. Just like mine.

I imagined Blood and Fire.

And, it stopped me from actualizing my wildest imaginations.

[NEW EMAIL]

My peripheral vision had caught the icon blaring in the middle of my laptop screen, and reflexively, a satisfying smile creeped onto my lips, stretching them into the widest grin.

It was like an Addict who had their hands stained with powder, about to sniff down every last bit of that crystal Meth with no one and nothing to stop them. That peak joy and pure satisfaction that comes with it, even though the subconscious is aware that you are throwing yourself into a toxic rabbit hole.

So, yes, talking to this stranger online was me, throwing myself down that Toxic rabbit hole.

And maybe even letting them visit me in the Hospital, without anyone's knowledge, was just me, digging my own grave slowly.

However, they gave me stuff. Like Computers and Books that teach me how to hack. I mean, I'd have preferred better gifts, but it is the thought that counts. Maybe when we got to know each other more, the gifts would get better too. But for now, overall, I could say that they were just trying to be nice to me.

That was it.

I had nothing to fear. None at all. When, after all, GHOST was only trying to be a friend to me.

NEW EMAIL
GHOST:
So,
Did you like the book I sent you, Dabeluchi?

I smiled, it was a reaction that I couldn't even control. Frankly, I just couldn't explain it, but there was a satisfaction and relief that came from seeing an email from GHOST. Every day. It either felt the same, or more intense. Like the feeling of seeing an old friend. A loved one. After years and years. It was akin to a sweet feeling of nostalgia, that sweet tingling feeling in your belly that almost triggered nausea...

But, a sweet kind of nausea.

Almost the same way I once felt for Marcus Acha.

Almost. Just different. In a way that I couldn't bring myself to explain or understand, no matter how much I tried. All I know was that as I stared at the words of the computer screen, I felt that sweet, ticking feeling in the pit of my guts. Inside the unending depth of my being.

I felt it so strongly that even when I raised my hands to begin typing, my fingers were shaking from it's sheer intensity.

Me:
Hi, again.
I missed you.

One thing about GHOST that I had noted from the first day I started talking to them was the speed of their responses. I had never texted someone who sent faster responses, like all they did all day was sit in a dark room and wait for you to respond to their messages. Marcus was a fast texter, but GHOST was faster.

And, for some other reason, I always found myself randomly comparing the two.

GHOST:
Dabeluchi,
I asked if you got the book I sent you.

A subtle laugh escaped my lips as I read the message. Something about GHOST's bluntness amused me.

Marcus seemed nicer on a general scale. And generally, more open to stuff like emotions and showing vulnerability. For example, if I said I Love You, he said it back. If I said I missed him, he assured me beyond reasonable doubt and would actually manage to be able to convince me that he most certainly missed me more. He always had a way of getting into my head with sweet words and gentle praises, worshipping me thoroughly, making me feel adored. Making me feel Loved. Making me feel wanted, needed.

Bullshit.

It was all pages and chapters of bullshit.

And, the fact that I could fall for something so superficial and fake, mere words, made me feel so much resentment. Not even for Marc, but for myself. For believing such a stupid lie. He was a sour topic in my mouth, a painful hole inside my chest that would never close. Once upon a time, I thought of him and I felt peace, but now... Now, every thought of him made me feel things that I shouldn't feel. Resentment that should only be reserved for the Devil himself.

Made me imagine burning bridges and devasting earthquakes.

People like Marcus Acha could not actually exist. People with genuine kindness to give the world. They were a fickle of the imagination, a delusion.
They simply couldn't exist.

And, if anything, I appreciated GHOST for showing me the reality of things. Sometimes, Love could come in different shades. With different motivations. Like a similar desire. A mutual and desperate urge to bite, to strike, to wreck catastrophe back at a world that broke you first.

To Kill Everybody.

Marc taught me that 'Me and You Against the World' was about being yourself, doing what you want with the person you love, and damning the consequences, but now that those scales are off my eyes, I see what it truly means to be against the World.

Me:
I got the book.
So,
Will you say
you missed me too now?

As expected, a faster response came back at me.

GHOST:
Did you start reading it?
You should, Dabeluchi.

My eyes diverted to the torn pages littered all over me, scattered
on my bed. Surveying the shattered pieces of paper in nothing more than a nanosecond, before I finally typed in my response to the stranger on the other side of the Internet.

Me:
I think I ripped it.

There was no way for me to explain how certain I was, but GHOST had seen that message the second that I had sent it. Maybe, my certainty was what made me truly petrified when three whole seconds had passed and I I had yet seen their response. And, like, I needed to salvage something, I double texted:

Me:
I'm not sure how I did...
But, I really didn't mean to.
Are you still there?

They were.

GHOST:
You shouldn't be ripping things gifted to you, Dabeluchi. It hurts the gifter.
But, it's okay. I forgive you.
I'll just get you another one.

I fought the urge in me to ask for better gifts. Ghost was unpredictable, and I wasn't sure what I'd say that get them pissed off or not. It was hard to tell if they were angry, really; and even when I suspected they were, they came back around to surprise me with a calm and levelheaded response.

ME:
What if I rip it again?

GHOST:
Then, I will just get you another.
Until you learn to appreciate them better.

ME:
Oh. Okay.

I stopped, staring at my screen at what seemed to be the close of our messages for the day. This was a moment that me and Marcus never had, that moment of silence while texting, as if we are unsure of what to say next to each other.

Marcus and I used to say anything and everything on our minds to each other. But with Ghost, there was this level of cautiousness I couldn't explain or understand. Not all the time. Just at specific moments. And it wasn't because we didn't have anything to say anymore, it was more of a feeling of hesitation to say what we do want to say.

If that made any sense.

ME:
Ghost,
Can I ask you something?

I smiled when their response came, giving me the go-ahead.

GHOST:
You can ask me anything,
Dabeluchi.

My fingers were a breeze, typing the one question that had me thinking on my hospital bed, many many times.

ME:
Don't be angry, it's just curiosity.
But,
Are you a boy or a girl?

I waited, fingernails in between my teeth as I sent that message.

GHOST:
This is the seventh time
you've asked me this question in three days.

With a blank stare, I stared at the response and waited for more.

GHOST:
I'm worried about you, Dabeluchi.
If you keep ripping books unprovoked and rotating your conversations, these people are going to think you are mad.
If that happens,
they will take you away.

The next one dropped right after that one, an even heavier paragraph from Ghost.

GHOST:
But, on a serious note,
I won't answer that question again.
And, be careful, Dabeluchi.
Behave yourself and don't draw unnecessary attention to yourself.
You would be making a big mistake if you did that.

ME:
I'm not that scared, to be honest. My family has been taken away.
My friends betrayed me. The only boy I ever loved betrayed me. And my classmates are probably on a high right now, cheering my downfall and waiting for school to resume so that they can drag me in the mud even more. What more do I have to fear?

GHOST:
You know I'm here for you,
You know that, right?

ME:
Yes.

GHOST:
What do you want me to do to your classmates?

ME:
I'll think about it.

GHOST:
Let me know when you do.
I'd do anything for you. And I won't hesitate to hurt anyone who hurts you. Do you understand that?

ME:
Yes.

GHOST:
I can kill for you, Dabeluchi.
All you have to do is say the word.

ME:
Okay.

GHOST:
And also,
Bear in mind that not everything you think is what it is.
And generally, be careful;
People you think are your enemies may not even be your enemies. Don't get carried away in your anger that you blind yourself to what's actually going on.

I swallowed hard, but could not bring myself to pinpoint why that last message made something in me sink, like my heart into my stomach.

ME:
Okay.

Even if Ghost could be too blunt sometimes and could speak in riddles another time, in little things like these, I appreciated them looking out for me.

GHOST:
Can I say one more thing,
Dabeluchi?

Hopeful eyes stared back at the words blaring on my white, flashing screen as I waited for their next message. Maybe Ghost would say something nice. Something sweet. Something that wasn't their usual rigid type response...

GHOST:
I met your boyfriend last week.
He was here in the Town Hospital.

Something sank into my stomach from my heart and my smile was instantly wiped off my face, a thick wave of nausea rushing into my system on instant command.

GHOST:
He wouldn't know you're here though.
Given the circumstances of how you got here, I doubt anyone asides the people who brought you here and the Police Authorities know you're here in this exact hospital.
Marcus came for someone else.
I was leaving the reception when he bumped into me and the stretcher I was posing with. You never mentioned your boyfriend has awful coordination. There was literally no reason he had to push my things down and almost blow my cover.

ME:
Can we not talk about Marcus?
He hurt me, Ghost. I told you. He and everyone who meant everything to me. They all are the reason I am in this condition right now.

GHOST:
I'm here for you.
And, believe me when I say I am getting revenge on everyone who has truly hurt you.

ME:
Don't do anything to Marcus.

GHOST:
I never said I was going to, did I?

Again with the mind bending rhetorics. Ghost was an expert at doing this.

ME:
Ghost,
Should I tell you a secret?

GHOST:
It would be my pleasure.

For some strange reason, I trusted this  stranger. Enough to be sure they would not hurt the wrong people. Enough to tell them things I have never told anyone before. It felt like I had always known them, always loved them. It was weird, but it was a strong reality. It was bewildering to have such strong emotions for someone who only contacted me a few weeks ago. Someone whose face I had never even seen since we started talking.

Truly, the most I had ever gotten off their physical profile was the white, white curls that escaped from the hem of their white hoodie that covered their face. I couldn't even get the special treatment of seeing any other feature that made up their face and I was left to come to inconsistent conclusions about their gender with their choice of clothing and body physique.

To me, Ghost looked unreal. Like an actual Ghost, a person who had died years ago. Someone who dug through their own grave and brought themselves back to life. The few times they stepped into the Ward, I felt chills run down my spine. Like a sinister, uncanny presence had stepped in. When they touched my hand, goosebumps spread across my skin. They never said a word, but their presence was unnerving. Like an evil spirit in hoverance.

And all those times, I pretended to be asleep. I pretended to be deep into my nightmares each time Ghost snuck into my Hospital Ward. And, this one time they actually slept into my bed with me, to sleep by my side. I tried to hide the smile on my face when I felt the cold chills of their body against him, a body that felt so soft and maybe pale, almost fragile, laying right there next to me. That night was the first time that I actually had a 'dream'. Not a nightmare. I had a dream and even after I woke up and Ghost was gone, I still remembered it. I still remembered my dream.

So, in that moment, I was my most vulnerable. Letting my mind loose and my spirit free, I started to type a message to GHOST, telling them something that I had never told anyone in my entire life. Telling them something that I had buried, deep down, in the depths of my subconscious.

GHOST:
They're coming.

Only to be shut down while my fingers were about to start speedily attacking the keyboard by Ghost's sudden intrusion of a message.

I immediately knew what it was. Ghost had eyes everywhere, and it should have been something that scared me. They knew when everything as about to happen, when anyone was about to walk into my Ward too. It happened from time to time, everytime that I was about to have visitors, Ghost warned me. And, with that warning, I knew what my next cue was. I knew the next thing I was supposed to do.

With that, I shut down the laptop and threw it under my bed, its regular hiding place. I picked up every torn page scattered around my bed and disposed off them. Doing everything in my power to make it look like what it wasn't, to make sure that noone, not even the people I trusted the most, knew that I was talking to Ghost.

Ghost specifically warned me, that the day anyone knew that we were talking, I would never hear from them (Ghost) ever again.

And, I didn't want that.

So, I did the needful and covered up all the tracks. Put away any signs and clues that could have given anyone the impression that I had a consistent visitor coming for me and giving me gifts in this Hospital. And, like my senses had doubled, from the outside of my Ward, I could hear those quick paced footsteps from the corridor, hearing each careless shuffle of her feet getting closer and closer, until the knob of the door was creaking and shaking.

While I waited, I laid on the bed. Rested my head against the soft pillow and started to take in deep, slow breaths. Anything to convince them that I was either weak or just waking up from sleep. And, not conversing over email with a person who calls his or herself ‘Ghost’.

All it took from there was mere seconds,

The door came opening.

"Dabi."

I froze at the sound of my name, the soft texture of her voice made her sound like a three year old child, calling out to me with a plea.

She stood there at the door, taking one step after three seconds and I just quietly watched her from my bed, a blank stare I couldn't control marrying my face as I looked right through the girl.

"I have a feeling that you still haven't made your decision to come and stay in our home," she spoke, her big puppy dog eyes soft and promising as she tried to convince me about this for the hundredth time this week, "We have already signed an affidavit to the Court that we will take care of you, and provide you with everything you need. We didn't bring you here to this hospital to live here, Dabi. We want to take care of you. Don't you understand?—"

She moved.

My eyes moved with her.

I watched her like she had a bomb under her foot, following every subtle but hesitant movement she made, like she could trigger an explosion at any moment if she moved too much.

And she must have been more attentive than I may have been able to account for... Because when she noticed the fear in my eyes, she stopped moving immediately.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," she said to me, but she didn't move again for my sake, "Look, Dabi, I see you as family now. You haven't looked at what people are saying on the Internet, that we are your family. That your Family is finally coming to take you back home. We don't mean to cause you any more problems. And, we may not have the funds to give you the life that you may want, but our fundraisers have nearly half a million. We can start from there. Come with me, Dabi."

I didn't respond. Didn't say a word. I gave her nothing more than an impassive face and empty eyes.

She started to walk closer, and I saw my life flash before my eyes. But, she didn't stop. She was a short girl. Very short. That long dark dress she wore made her even shorter.  And, even the weave-on she had on her head which she wrapped into a long, six-inched bun did not do much to give her any extra height. This girl was fucking short. So, when she started moving towards me with such a furious speed, long jacket flying behind her dress and fat boots stomping against the porcelain tiles, she looked like Chucky wearing a cape.

I almost passed out.

"Look," she sat on my bed with me, her soft voice being a contradiction to the vigour she used to approach me, "You can't stay here any longer. We don't have much more money to keep you here past Friday. All our money from the fund raiser is being pushed into this Hospital, and we need all that money to cater for you and all your needs, Dabi."

I shifted away from her, creating a distance between the both of us.

"I don't have much money, Dabi. You know that," she said to me, her voice in a plea, "And, I don't want to leave you here. Can you please cooperate?"

She watched my lack of reaction, and I could see the frustration growing on her face.

"Dabi, please say something," she begged me, "You've not said a single word to me since we got you here, and that's not fair. Do you also see me as your enemy too? After everything I've done for you, after everything my family is putting on the line for you?"

No words.

She heard no words from me.

"Fine," she said, raising her hands in surrender, "I won't convince you to come with me any longer. I will just give you reasons why you can't stay here in the Town Hospital past this week."

And, she went right for it. Giving me all reasons to convince me and not confuse me on her point of view.

"Apart from the fact that the moment all our money finishes, these wicked people will kick you out and throw you into the streets..." She started off, "I'm not sure how safe it is for you to be here any longer." She scooted closer and I scooted away, but that didn't deter her from continuing, "And, I heard rumors, Dabi. Scary rumors about this hospital having an intruder!"

I watched her in silence. The little smurf would not stop talking, her squeaky voice blabbering more than three words in one second.

"Somebody is out there sneaking in and out of this very hospital!" She was telling me, "The other day, they impersonated a nurse and was almost caught when they hit some visitors and the stretcher fell. They followed this person out o! The entire security team tried to chase them down, but they couldn't find them. The scary thing is that the gatemen don't have any account of any strange person with the intruder's descriptions coming into the hospital or leaving it. It's like the intruder didn't even come in or escape through the gate. It's like, it's like they just disappeared!"

She didn't bother that I just stared quietly, she went on to continue what she was saying, giving me more details.

"And, I overheard some people saying that the intruder came to this Flat, Dabi..."

I swallowed.

Of course Ghost did.

"There are two wards in this Flat, Dabi," she told me, "This kid in Room 13B who got beat up really badly, and you. And, they say that they asked the boy from 13B questions already and he gave an account of everyone he was aware that came to visit him that day. There was no record of the intruder. But, they found a box in his room. A gift box. But, it didn't make sense because he is a minor and his Mum had restricted ALL visits and the gift was not from her—"

That made me sit up.

"— There were some people who came to see the kid that same day. One of them, rumoredly, was the one who accidentally knocked down the stuff the Intruder was using to impersonate a nurse. They say that he came with a woman and two other friends to see the kid in 13B. And neither of them attested to bringing any gifts either!"

A confused frown came onto my face as I tried to imagine the possibilities of Ghost going around to give other warders who aren't me gifts.

"You won't imagine what was inside the gift box," she told me, eyes wide as saucers, glaring horrendous panic, "The Intruder gave the kid in 13B a box with a Teddy Bear inside it. Dabi, a decapitated Teddy Bear."

Again, I swallowed. Hard.

"They're the gesture as a threat," she told me, "It has to be a threat. And, imagine how lucky you were that you were not the Intruder's victim. Someone is there on his own, trying to recover and some intruder is sneaking into the Hospital to make life more hell for them. It could have been you, Dabi!"

No, it couldn't.

Ghost would never threaten me. Or hurt me. All I wanted to understand why they would want to threaten someone else in the same hospital with me.

"What's his name?"

She paused at my question, visible surprise on her face as she observed me.

"You said something to me," she responded, but I wasn't interested in her sentiments.

"What's his name?" I asked her again with a deadpan, "The boy in 13B. What is his name?"

"Look, I don't know," she answered me with a shrug, "I don't know his name. I don't know the names of anyone involved in this rumor, the only person whose name has been going round the Hospital is the boy in 13B's mother, because apparently, she has more than one reasons now to sue the Hospital. One, for letting her privacy concerns for her son be defied on 'multiple occasions' and now, for putting her son's life on the line, as per referring to the 'gift' from the Intruder that they interprete as a threat."

"And, what's the Mothers name?" I asked her.

"They call her Regina SAN," she answered in a heart beat.

I cracked my brain to connect the dots, trying to figure out whatever connection I would have had with this Regina woman's son.

"She seems to be a big deal," she continued saying, "And boy, she packs the heat. They said she nearly turned this Hospital upside down the other day. Everyone's been trying to appease her, but she is as stubborn as can be. You know how this lawyers can be, you don't want to mess with them. This Regina Ayomide SAN is a full fleged example."

My heart stopped for a minute, multiple sirens blowing in my head.

"Ayomide?" I repeated what I heard her say, "Her surname is Ayomide?"

My response was a nod from her, although a wary look accompanied it.

"Is everything okay?" She asked me.

I couldn't answer when my head was doing multiple calculations. She said the kid in 13B was here because he was beat up badly, and now, she's revealing that his last name is most likely Ayomide... I'd be damned to conclude what this could have meant.

Only that it made no sense.

What business did Ghost have with Sean, enough to be snooping in and out of his Ward to be dropping such concerning gifts for him? And why didn't Ghost tell me that he was having interactions with other people who weren't me... That I wasn't the only person he was talking to?

Or was I overthinking things? I mean, Ghost sucked at gifts, but what if his gesture was not meant to show love to Sean, but to show spite? What if, indeed, that decapitated Teddy Bear was not a gift... But truly, a threat?

"Dabi?"

Fingers were snapped in my face, bringing me back to Earth.

"Are you okay?" She had to ask me, her eyes showing concern.

"How are the sure that it was the Intruder that dropped that gift box in Ward 13B?" I asked her.

"They confirmed from the footage," she answered me, "They had to go back to the surveillance to confirm some things. And, they did see someone strange enter this Flat... And, they headed the direction of 13B."

It even made less sense to me.

"You were lucky," she said to me, a soft sigh coming off with her words,  "There was no record of this Intruder getting into your Ward. But, you may not be so lucky for long, Dabi. We need to leave this Hospital."

It made no freaking sense.

Ghost had come to my room MANY times. More times than I could count. And, somehow, no surveillance has been able to capture it. Ghost had fucking slept on my bed with me once, and there was no record in their so-called 'secret cameras' of the Intruder coming anywhere near my Ward?

Nonsense.

The fact that this was the case and that no one had been able to capture or get a lead on this Ghost made it clear that everything was deliberate.

Ghost was intentional with whatever their plan was. Ghost wanted them to see them in that surveillance camera going to Sean's room, wanted to know the gift was from them too, but wanted the Hospital to have no clue that they (Ghost) was in any way connected to me. Ghost was curtailing the information he was giving them. Almost in a sick way, Ghost was inventing a narrative that they wanted the Hospital to buy, in order to shield them from the truth of what was really going on. What they (Ghost) was really doing...

I had no idea what plan Ghost had in mind.

All I was certain of was that Ghost would never EVER hurt me.

While I was still trying to think this through, her voice didn't stop intruding into my thoughts with her talks about 'going home.'

"Come on, Dabi," she pleaded, "You know you can trust me. You can trust us. Can't you?"

"No," I answered.

Her face fell and her shoulders deflated.

"Ouch," she said, and the next thing, she started to shuffle her tiny hands into a bag that I wasn't even aware she had brought along until now, "I got you food. All this negativity must make you famished."

I fought the chuckle that almost came out at such childish behavior, and watched her get out a food flask, the aroma of jollof rice sneaking into the air through it.

"It's Cameroon jollof," she said to me, "And yes, not everything is always about Nigeria and Ghana." She kept the food flask on the desk next to me as she continued talking, "Coming to Nigeria expanded my food taste, and maybe you should try something new for a change. Maybe it would cheer you up a little. Hopefully, you won't think that I poisoned it."

"Okay," I said to her.

She only nodded, eyes downcast.

"All I ever wish is that things get better for you, Dabi," she said to me, "I hope you do understand that."

I only watched her. She continued talking.

"And, if it means anything, we started making preparations for you to go back to School," she said to me, "I went to purchase some school uniforms for you, for second term, and with some extra help, I was able to get your perfect size, even if you weren't there."

Oh.

"I met a girl there," she said to me, "And, she seemed to know you enough to know what would suit you. It's a crazy coincidence she was there on a holiday too, also getting new uniforms. Almost seemed like she knew beforehand that I was coming."

I stared. She continued talking.

"She was with some friends," she told me, "And, one of them was so nice that she transferred six hundred and fifty thousand naira to our fundraiser and offered to buy you need clothes too. And, all through, these twins with them kept cracking me up so much. They were nice company. It almost made me wonder if Castron High is as bad as people make it seem. The students, I mean."

Every word that left her mouth slapped shege into me.

"Did you get their names?" I asked her.

"Just the first girl told me her name. The one who helped me with the Uniforms. I saw the name of the other friend through the money she  transferred. And, the twins just introduced themselves as one. I believe the first girl called herself Chika. Somadina did the transfer. And, the Twins, was it Onuba, Oraha, Ohuru, Odili—"

"Onuoha," I told her. "Ebere and Ebube Onuoha. The Onuoha Twins."

"Oh," she realized, "Well, Yes."

I sat there, grinding my teeth against each other as it all dawned on me. She seemed to notice that my reaction was anything but positive and even if she didn't understand, she seemed to back up a bit. Her observation skills seemed to be very top notched and I didn't get how I was just noticing that about her.

"I didn't know you knew them," she said to me, "And, seemingly, don't seem to like them. I'm sorry. If you want, I can return the uniforms and the money and also delete their numbers too and—"

I retired to lying on my bed.

That shut her up.

For what seemed like an eternity, an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

Until she broke it.

"They seemed nice," she said to me, softly, "I don't know what's going on, but they seemed very nice. And seemed to really care about you. Especially the one called Chika."

At that point, I wanted her to leave the Ward.

"And, I understand things are tough and there are some things I may not know or understand, but Dabi, your lucky to have people who want to have your back like that. And, even though, there are others in that godforsaken school of yours that are out for your blood, then to hell with them. You are in your final year of secondary school. You'll probably never see many of your classmates after you graduate. Don't let anyone dictate how you want to enjoy your life. Do you get?"

I ignored her. Stayed there on my bed. Closing my eyes. Maybe if I closed it hard enough, when I opened it, she would be gone.

But boy was I wrong.

It started when I felt a shadow hovering around my head, a darkness that indicated a presence above me, but even when I tried to ignore it, her soft baby voice came hissing in my ear like a damn snake.

"Pst!" She called out to me, tapping me softly like she was trying to wake me from my slumber, "Pst! Dabi! Dabi! Pst! Dabi!" But, I tried my best. Tried to still ignore her with everything I could.

"You're a survivor, Dabi," she said to me, her voice in a whisper tone, "You are stronger than a lot of people give you credit for. You're better than those who want to bring you down. Not many people get a second chance at life, but you did. You did that, Dabi. You jumped off a bridge and managed to survive, even under mysterious circumstances. You should have been dead, Dabi, but here you are. Isn't it a miracle?"

She said it like I saw life as a gift.

This shitty, rubbish life.

"Life is a gift," she said to me, like she could have read my thoughts, "You may not like a gift, but it's in your place to appreciate it until you see why it mattered. It's not easy sometimes, I know, but the strongest soldiers like you always have the fiercest and most inspiring stories to tell. I don't know one successful person who doesn't have a backstory.

And you may wonder why life has to be so unfair to you while being easy for others, but you have to understand that an easy life keeps people relaxed. A relaxed person can never be above mediocrity. People who suffer have a reason to turn things around for their good. They have a reason to push and change things to their favor, to get the most out of this life. As a compensation, you may say. You're going through a lot, Dabi. Stand up, fight, and make sure all you have gone through in life is not for nothing. Will you do that?"

I sighed. Heavily. I laid there on the bed and her words sunk into me much more than I intended for it to. But, I didn't show it. Even if her words caused tears to linger there in the corners of my eyes, I still wanted her to leave.

"Just remember that no matter what I'm here for you. I always have and I always will be," she said to me, and I felt her stand up from the bed. A sigh of resolve left her, as if she was giving up on convincing me for the day.

The desk table was almost the same height with her.

"I'll be back in the evening," she said to me, "Hopefully, you'd have made up your mind on what you want to do. If you want to come home with me or not. But, until then, see you later, my stubborn friend. No matter what, you're still my peng sweetheart."

I chuckled.

She started making her way to the door.

And, I watched her little form walking away until she was inches away from the door.

"Wait."

That was me, to her.

She stopped. When she turned around, I saw the warm smile on her adorable round face. Hopeful huge eyes mood back at me, and I couldn't help but smile at her as my defences layered slowly.

I said the words that she deserved to hear, the words my ungrateful ass had been holding back from saying all these while:

"Thank you, Naomi."

That's it for Chapter Five o!🥹❤️ How was your read? And how relieving from the scale of one to ten are you to see that Naomi is the one taking care of Dabi??

The next chapter is VERY special to me. Especially because it introduces our NEW POV. And yes, in case you are not yet current till this point, there will be a third POV (asides Dabi and Acha), so it is up to you to decide who you feel deserves this space. You have now to guess who is our New POV and the winner gets a shout-out. So, oya, humor me!

Anyways, I can't wait to see you on the next chapter. I am literally sooo excited!! Bye for now! And love you! Thank you for reading my book, I appreciate you all!!❤️🥹🤞🏾