The person that stood in front of me, lighting a stick of cigarette with smug and deliberate movements was none other than Jide.

Yes, the corper Jide that tried to force himself on me.

"What the actual fuck?!" I yelled again with my head processing different thoughts.

I thought they said he was still in a critical condition. Hot cop fucking told me he was in coma! Was it possible that all was just a front? Was he really the killer? Did I underestimate his maniacal abilities? Jide was really capable of murder?

"What the fuck?!" I shrieked again, in an attempt to halt the overheat my brain was currently going through. It didn't work.

"Hey bish, calm your titties. I wouldn't be so loud if I were you," he mused after a lighthearted chuckle, I didn't find anything funny about the situation.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" I countered in an ungentle tone. Something that seemed to amuse him even more.

"We came here to practice for Christmas carol. Abi, Saheed?" 

At the mention of the name, I felt the remnant of the blood that stayed in my face after the first blow, swiftly rush away. If that was possible.

The lighter was flung over my head and the person behind me caught and flickered it to light something, probably a lantern.

When I turned around, I found that my intuition was slightly correct. I didn't know what they called the thing they lit, but it was locally constructed by discarded tons of milk and the wick ran on the kerosene the tin contained and that was barely the point at the moment. 

The man who held the torch was really Saheed, the school's chemistry teacher that had always sold me never ending supplies of weed, booze and pills with a goofy smile on his face. That goofy smile seemed to be missing now, an expression of grim loathe and bitterness took its place. 

I couldn't help my fear, especially when the words that he greeted me with was;

"I should have killed you when I had the chance to." 

My blood ran cold.

What is happening?!

Just when I thought I'd had the height of the surprises, some else suddenly came out of the shadows. It felt like a blow in the gut when I recognised who it was;

It was the big mouthed gossip I shared a dorm room with;

Alero.

I staggered backwards in alarm, then realisation.

Suddenly, every clue began to fall into place.

It was easy to get the gifts to my room without notice because Alero had been the one doing the delivery. Obviously no one was going to question her for taking stuff into the dorm room she lived in and she made sure nobody was around whenever she dropped the package over at my corner. 

Like the day I received the first note, she'd finished in the bathroom long before I did and the skin must have been planted into my locker by her when I was busy catching up with Tiny and friends in lala land. Now that I thought of it, I did bump into her when I went to collect my bag for my sleep over at hot cop's. That must be how I got the poem.

Oh My God! Why hadn't I figured it out?!

So the killer, killers had been right under my nose and I hadn't noticed?

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Alero's voice snapped me out of my reverie. She suddenly seemed so confident and happy about something I couldn't place.

"Pftt, she, herself, looks like a ghost," Jide observed audibly and smiled at Alero like they shared a secret joke. 

Saheed was the only one that didn't share in their amusement. Other than me, that is. His bloodshot eyes roamed the room as if looking for a distraction. I used the opportunity to pull out my weapon.

"Nobody moves!" I ordered after successfully making all of them go grey with shock.

I used the evident surprise factor to my advantage. I hastily pulled the closest person, also the easiest for me to tackle of the trio, closer to me and pointed the gun to her temple. Her initial confidence had apparently taken to its heels as she was already trembling like a plant by a river bank.

"If anyone moves I'll shoot her," I warned fiercely, giving nothing away of my nervousness but for the  unsteady hold of the arm.

Jide was quick to catch on to it though, I'd underestimated the bastard after all.

"She's bluffing. She can't fire a gun," he said calmly, almost like he was being entertained, to reassure his counterparts. I tightened my hold on the gun.

"I'm serious. I'll shoot if anybody moves." I reiterated with a firmer tone.

Jide took a step forward to dare me. I pushed the nuzzle deeper into Alero's head, making her whimper in fright.

"Get back, I am not kidding!" I warned once again, wondering why I was really hesitant on pulling the trigger that my index finger was perched on. 

Alero had helped these people kill two innocent girls, I shouldn't hesitate to blow her fucking head off, but that was what I was currently doing. Try as I might have, I couldn't seem to be able to complete the simple action of pulling a trigger.

Because deep down I knew if I did then I would be killing a human being, I would be committing murder.

And Jide had been able to read me like an open book. He kept coming closer, undeterred by my aggravated warning. Alero, emboldened by the move of her boyfriend, suddenly elbowed me, making me stumble and lose my grip of her. Saheed had started to rush over too, I knew I would soon be cornered if I still wasn't willing to use the weapon that I'd miraculously been able to retain after the slight wrestle.

Jide was a few feet away when I mindlessly pulled the trigger and contrary to my aim, the bullet didn't hit him.

The deafening sound of the shot, coupled with the sting at my shoulder and force that was the opposite reaction of the bullet going forward, threw me off balance and this time, I wasn't able to hold on to the gun. It clattered to the floor a few metres away from where I lay. Even though I quickly reached, a certain foot crunching my palm to the ground stopped me from regaining my possession of it.

With the evil chuckle of Jide as he bent low and picked up the metal I had put too much trust in, the idea of the end began to dawn on me.

I may not make it out of here.

"Emi niwo yinbon fun, emi liquid metal?" Jide enquired in Yoruba and chuckled once again. I was beginning to feel lightheaded and furious that he thought of situations like this funny.

"W… wh-what is it… what do y-you want from me?" I stuttered and went on to mutter curses that clearly couldn't be heard.

"Why don't you ask that from the devil when you get to hell hm?" He smiled and rose to his feet. I could barely see anything in the dimly lit room, but I knew the gun was now pointed at me.

The end was near, I could feel it.

I closed my eyes as if that was going to prepare me for the agony that was underway.

I winced when the ear splitting shot rang out and mentally opened my arms for death to embrace me, but he never came.

The pain, the terror, the final whispered prayers for forgiveness as life slowly drained of my body, it all never happened. 

Maybe I'd died a painless death?

Then I would be floating on my way to heaven, not pushing off the meaty boulder that'd fallen on top of my lap, right?

Everything seemed to slow down and everyone else in the room vanished when I sat up to see Jide's eyes staring coldly at me, he was the one who'd fallen, slant, on top of me and a sticky liquid was rapidly pouring from him to soak my body. He'd been shot from behind.

He shook his head slightly as he his head slowly reclined to an uncomfortable position, his eyes never leaving me for a second. We both knew he wouldn't survive it.

 Even if it was a semi-dark room, I could see the mockery in his eyes before it closed. It wasn't the normal leering gaze this time, it held a message, a meaning I didn't think I was going to like.

A sigh escaped his lips before he breathed his last. It sounded like he said something but all I could make out was 'hena'. The eerie silence that took over afterwards was almost deafening. It was evident that a minute's silence was being paid to the lost soul.

Tears pricked my eyes and I didn't try to prevent them from falling. It was the first time in my life that I'd witnessed life being slowly sucked away from a human being.

I'd just watched a man die!

It was all too much to take in so I just closed myself off all the physical happenings around me and let it all out. It wasn't until I felt the weight leave my lap and strong arms around me with a peculiar scent of male cologne, that I knew who had called the shots.

Another strong wave of different kinds of emotions hit me.

Hot cop had had shot a bullet to save my life. If he was just two seconds late then the reverse would have been the case and Jide would have watched me die. 

Would Jide have mourned my passing the same way I did his?

I didn't need a sage to tell me the answer was in the negative.

I didn't know for how long hot cop carried me or where he was taking me, but I didn't hang around to find out. I passed out on the way.

♣

I woke up covered in plasters, in a familiar large room; the same one I'd been in when I passed out a few days before.

I was beginning to abhor the overall feeling of weakness that came with the aftermath of passing out. However, I was grateful that unlike the other times I was unconscious, I hadn't been transported to some sort of other dimension that only dead people seemed to reside in.

And for the second time in a row, I had woken up to the sight of two people arguing close by. This time, it was a slightly interesting topic between a different duo. Of course I was very much involved in the topic;

"You are being very irrational Agent Otabor. This girl is clearly crossing the line over and over and all you ever do is defend her stupid actions," Ruby uttered an exasperated sigh. I could tell that the argument had been going on for a while.

"I sincerely don't see the reason why you keep getting worked up ru—" Hot cop, who as standing with his back to me, started but was swiftly cut short.

"I keep getting worked up because the bitch will try something even more drastic if she isn't put in her place! She took my service gun and broke out of my room for Christ's sake! She fucking took my money!" Her voice reached a higher crescendo when she talked about the money. I felt bad for her as it must have been her entire monthly allowance.

The way in which Hot cop placed his hands on her shoulders to placate her didn't seat well with me, "look Ruby, If it's the money that's the problem, I'll refund—"

She was determined not to let him have a say, for she cut him off again;

"It's not the money Jet and you know it! It is the fact that we have a difficult case to crack here and that hussy isn't making it any easier!" Hot cop suddenly retrieved his hands like her shoulders had caught fire.

"I don't appreciate you calling her names Ruby!" He growled menacingly but Ruby wasn't deterred.

"That is barely the point here! The girl thinks this is all a game and until she learns the hard way that it isn't, I don't think we'll move forward on this case."

Until I learned the hard way? That wench did not just say that! 

I was getting up from the bed with agility and moving towards them within seconds.

"I think I've already learnt the hard way, how serious things are," I piped in a clear tone even before getting to them. My initial fatigue had vanished into thin air.

"You think I'll put my damn life on the line just for a fucked up game? You think I enjoy witnessing life slowly draining out of man? You think I think the thoroughly butchered bodies is a funny sight? You think I don't wish to vanish from existence 'cause all I tend to do is attracting bad luck?"

I stopped to catch my breath, hoping that I would be calm but it was a futile attempt. The cunt's judgemental stare was too much to stomach.

"My Tiny was fucking snatched away from me?!" I yelled in near-hysteria, "have you ever lost someone that was your sole reason to endure the hellish life you're leading? Do you know the terror I go through when I close my eyes? Do you know what it feels like to have someone's flesh right in your locker?!" She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. Not even a word.

"Then do me a freaking favour and don't you fucking dare judge me! Don't you ever relay your damn shallow speculations as facts, you haven't been in my shoes!"

The right hand of the hot cop resting on my shoulder doused the urge to reach out and punch the bitch in front of me, square in the face.

"I think what she was trying to say is that you shouldn't have left the room. It was irresponsible —" I flared up at the word 'irresponsible' and turned to face him in a flash.

"You're judging me too, isn't it? Now tell me what you would do if you got a freaking note that it took you all day to decode, only to find out that the killer wanted to meet you in a few hours. If you were in my shoes and you know that failure to comply would most likely lead to the death of another innocent soul, what will you bloody do?!" I jabbed an index at his chest audaciously. He averted my eyes. Venom was silent.

I sighed, exhaustion taking over.

"I am beginning to get sick and tired of all these. Keeping this secret from the authorities has only lead into more harm than good, we can't continue to—" 

I paused due the ruckus that seemed to be going on outside the room. There was pounding at the door, the high pitched voice of the hag and that of another man that seemed to be talking with his mouth full. I distinctly heard my name repeatedly, making me shake with nervousness.  Hot cop and venom voice exchanged bewildered looks before turning to look at me.

"Don't even dare tell me to get behind you. If the dude wants to see me then I'm not going to deny him the privilege." With that, I dragged off at the latch and twisted the knob to open the door, resulting to the stumbling in of people that were apparently resting their weight on the door. I instinctively jumped out of the way to avoid their crashing into me.

While the duo struggled to find their balance, I took my time to analyse the situation.

Principal Hag was in a brightly-coloured, off-shoulder jumpsuit —the least depressing outfit I'd ever seen her in. But the entire front of the lemon-coloured outfit looked like she just got out of a battle with a dirty raccoon.

And by her expression of disgust and the frantic vigour in which she tried to erase the numerous stains, she didn't look pleased.

My eyes traveled to the man she'd stumbled in after and I understood why she looked the way she did. She'd most likely been wrestling the buff man that stood a few feet away. Suddenly fighting a raccoon didn't feel over-exargeratted anymore.

The tall, tan man, in his faded black tee-shirt and torn, ragged peice of jeans that looked like it had been soaked into a pool of dirt, and his dirty, greying, knee-length beard, stared right at me and called my name once more. I immediately understood why he sounded like he had something in his mouth, all those facial hair muffled his voice and I could hardly even see his lips.

Where does this wild animal know me from?

When he started rushing my way, Hot cop swiftly intercepted him and wordlessly started to push him undeterred by his struggle. I breathed a sigh of relief when they were out of sight and two other people did as well. Apparently I wasn't the only female in the room that was on edge by the man's presence.

My fatigue seemed to be returning swiftly so I wordlessly returned to the bed to lay down. I was halfway through the journey towards the bed when the little detail I'd noticed earlier but failed to acknowledge suddenly clicked. 

I immediately turned around and sprinted out of the room after them. Suddenly, I didn't feel so tired anymore.

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Translation:

"Emi niwo yinbon fun? emi liquid metal - you dare shoot at me? Me the liquid metal.

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*Sighs*, let's clink glasses to a new chapter.🍻🍻

I really don't have tons to say as I am currently slightly depressed and all but I'll like to appreciate you for 807 reads. Y'all are my hero(es)☺

Special thanks to phaylove4 as well😍 I'm grateful that you gave this humble work of mine your time. I love you so much❤❤

And I love everyone of my readers very much as well, even the ghosts🌚 please don't stop showing love  and stick with me till the end, I promise it'll be a great experience☺❤.

So I don't sound totally off point, comment  your theories so far😏😏

Who can take a guess as to who the 'dirty raccoon' is?😐

Do you think the 'liquid metal' is really the killer?🙆🙆

Don't forget to vote, comment and share, it means a lot to me😌😌
XX

✌illusionistic.