Stripped down to nothing but my unmentionables, I paced to and fro the length of the room in apprehension. My chemise clung to my body as it was drenched with sweat, the words on the paper in my hands were almost unreadable as it'd been soiled by several droplets of sweat and tears.

The dainty clock seated on the bedside table read 6pm. It'd been over four hours since I discovered the note and I hadn't been able to decipher whatever message it was trying to send. 

Desperation was too little a word to describe my current emotion. A new message always came after a new death. Did that mean a new body was waiting to be discovered? Did that mean that another murder had been committed? Another innocent soul snatched away?

I didn't know, and the fact that there was no way to find out in this prison I'd landed myself in, added to my feeling of being useless. I reached for the corpse of my phone once again and hopefully pressed my thumb down the power button but its blank screen told me to move along.

I flung the device across the bed in a new level of all the mix of emotions I was feeling. Then I did something I thought I'd done enough of to last me for a lifetime;

I broke down and cried.

I sobbed in anguish, in helplessness, in guilt, in fear.

Someone else had probably lost her life because of me and there was absolutely nothing I was able to do about it. I wasn't even able to solve whatever equation that gave a clue to finding whoever was behind it all. 

I didn't know what was currently happening at the school. I didn't know what the killer wanted from me. I didn't know who he was going to kill next;

And I wasn't able to do anything about it.

The fear of my not knowing what would happen the very next minute began to grow.

By the time I was done pouring out my eyes' content, it was already growing fairly dark. From the position at which I'd curled up as a ball, I could see the clear blue sky being sprinkled by a constellation of tiny lights, the faint halo of the moon filtering into the room.

I couldn't help the whimper that made my lips quiver as I got to my feet and made my way to the window to close the curtains and shield my eyes away from such beauty. 

But when I made it to my destination, I couldn't help but stare on in wonder. It seemed like I was being mocked by mother moon herself. The way she hid half of her fullness behind the clouds reminded me of the popular slang 'moya look away'; like her way of announcing that she was very well aware of my predicament but had decided to look away.

A line of the poem suddenly came back to me;

And the yellow half-moon large and low…

Apart from the yellow, that seemed like a perfect description of this moon.

My heart picked up its pace.

Did that, perhaps, point to a time frame for something important? 

With newly found gusto and the aid of the poor light in the room, I tentatively tapped my way back to the couch where the note lay, feeling the need to check it one more time. There must be something I was missing. Something I felt that I would find out with just another glance at the writing.

Alas! The illumination in the room, the one the moon provided, wasn't enough to see the wordings on the sheet of paper.

I cursed loudly in exasperation and sunk into the ground in defeat.

I could feel the emotions seeping in again and I might just do a little more than sob if I broke down this time around. So I directed my brain to focus on remembering more lines of the poem.

There was something about matches, blue matches… spurt… singlet, or was it ringlet?... The sea was mentioned too…shore…

"Agh! This is useless. It's all fucking useless!" I groaned and closed my eyes to calm my nerves. I could feel a headache coming on.

A sudden bright spectrum of orange overcame the initial black, almost hurting my closed eyes. I slowly opened my eyes to behold a bright room and the three metal brothers that had just begun their race to 'catching' themselves.

I did what I would have never imagined myself doing in a million years;

I screamed.

I screamed 'up NEPA!' so loud that it shook the rickety house to its foundation. 

It was a scream of relief and sheer joy. It wasn't until then that I understood how the people, who always screamed this slang, had felt.

I quickly scrambled to my feet and straightened the almost-ragged peice of paper.

"The grey sea and the long black land," I read out loud for better comprehension.

"And the yellow half-moon large and low," I looked at the moon as I said this part but didn't dare get lost any further.

"And the startled little waves that leap
In fiery ringlets from their sleep,
As I gain the cove with pushing prow,
And quench its speed i’ the slushy sand."

I resumed pacing afterwards.

I still didn't get it. Grey sea and black land? What did that mean?

Instinctively, my eyes fell to the second stanza. 

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;
Three fields to cross till a farm appears;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match,
And a voice less loud, thro’ its joys and fears,
Than the two hearts beating each to each!

Okay. So there's a sea and it's in the night, the Moon's reflection on the water will make it grey...

Wave and ringlets in their sleep and cove; it all screamed seashore.

A farm is over a mile away from the beach, there's a building on the farm and voices are hushed…

I paused.

My eyes wandered to the last line of the note and it finally struck.

I stiffened.

Meeting at night; the killer wanted to meet me. Secretly.

And it had to be at night. Tonight.

Tonight of all nights when I was locked in a room like fucking Rapunzel!

You have got to be kidding me!

I knew better than wallowing in self pity and helplessness. I knew there was a way to get out of the God forsaken room. All I had to do was find it.

My hunt for a spare key or something to either break the door down or pick the lock began immediately. 

Contrary to my fears, it didn't take long before I found a spare key in the built-in wardrobe. I literally cried in joy when I tested it and it worked.

I rushed over to close the door of the wardrobe but stopped short when I noticed a black holster that was occupied by a handgun. I stopped to think for two seconds before grabbing it, as well as the slim wad of cash that lay underneath. I knew I was going to need both if I wanted to survive the night.

I quickly rummaged through my bag and pulled on a pair of jeans and a random tank top. There wasn't time to wait for my phone to charge so I didn't bother taking it. After a lot of trouble, I donned the holster at a concealed angle, pulled on a denim jacket over it and put on my sneakers.

Slipping out of the room and house wasn't much of a trouble, it was pretty much deserted and the compound didn't even have a gate. Before long, I was heading towards my destination.

Did I know where I was going? I believed I did.

According to the poem, the meeting was to hold at a building on a farm that wasn't so far from the sea.

The school's barn on the peice of farmland that was kept for the purpose of practicals for those who offered the Agricultural-science subject. It was the farthest  from the official entrance of the school and most importantly, it fit the description.

If I didn't want to go through the school's gate, which I didn't plan on doing, there was another —illegal— route I could make use of;

A route required using a ferryboat, or whatever other vehicle that worked on water, to move across.

It wasn't a sea though, just the river Ogun but I was sure that was where the venue for this 'meeting' was set.

With the rush of adrenaline, worry and anger fueling my actions, I was able to navigate my way out of the bush to a motorable area and get a cab. I didn't mind that the driver demanded an exorbitant fee as the fare, all that was on my mind was that I was going to meet a killer.

I was finally going to see the psycho that had killed my Tiny like a cockroach. The mad person that thought it was fair to play God and Mr. Invincible. He sure wouldn't be able to guess that I'd be showing up with a gun, he probably would be of the impression that I would grovel and beg for my life when I got there. I couldn't wait to see his surprise when I put a bullet through his goddamned skull.

I wish I could do more. I wish I could make him suffer as much as the made those poor girls suffer. I wished I could go along with people capable of torturing him to a point that he would begin to beg for death, but I knew better than calling anyone. He might have already envisaged that move and had taken precautionary measures that would help Jim escape.

I couldn't risk that. If I tried it and he escaped, then I would have landed myself in even more shit than I was already in. 

At least I was grateful that I would be the one to be the end of the scum. I took solace in the fact that I would avenge my Tiny's death.

"Madam," the gruff voice of the obese driver reached my ears, informing me that we had arrived at our destination.

I nodded in gratitude and got out, slapping half of the was I'd picked from Venom voice's wardrobe before walking off. I watched in boredom as he sang my praises before feverishly zooming off in a haste. He was probably excited and at the same time petrified that he'd unknowingly driven a mammywater to the river and she'd decided on blessing him.

Bozo.

I walked directly to the shore without any form of uneasiness. It wasn't the first time I'd been here, it was the regular route most of the rebellious population of oasis of saints bla bla bla frequented when they intend to go into town.

As expected, after a familiar hoot for a driver, a ferryboat materialized. As it was an illegal waterway, boat owners are not permitted operate there, but with the goat-like stubbornness akin to many Nigerians, secret transitions happened almost every night.

I wasn't complaining though, after all I was also in the wrong as well and I wouldn't have been able to get through to the killer if it weren't for this illegal movement.

I was helped onboard and after a short ride that took a few minutes, I got off the boat and waved the driver away with the second half of the cash I'd kept solely for the purpose. 

After flashing me a shit eating grin, the driver skidded away, almost bathing me in water as he zoomed off. I waited for him to leave before walking down the path concealed by bushes to get to the the three-foot fence of she school.

I ran through the mini sugarcane field that had just begun sprouting like I was being chased by a mad dog.

With every step towards the barn, my heart pounded harder and louder and by the time I got to the already open entrance of the barn, my heartbeat became unbearably loud that it was all I could hear.

With a deep breath to calm my nervousness, I walked inside the dark space without a further thoughts of going back.

The stench of rust, rot and cockroaches gave me a not-so-pleasant welcome but I didn't have enough time to dwell on that as I noticed that a hooded figure was also present.

Apparently, whoever it was had been waiting for me.

"Welcome."

 I flinched in fright when I heard the sudden boom. It wasn't the voice of the hooded figure that greeted me, but that of another person from behind. The person had cleverly closed the door to the barn before advancing towards me in a steady gait. I'd been cornered.

Shit.

My hand went into my jacket and patted the gun that solidly stood against my skin to reassure myself that I still had the upper hand. They still didn't know that I had a gun.

A lighter flickering from the man I'd initially noticed brought my attention back to him.

When the the small yellow glow lighted up enough to reveal his evil smirk, my face blanched in shock.

"What the fuck?!"

Never have I ever screamed 'Up NEPA'😌

Who else can beat their chest and say that?😏😏

Anyways, JK. I've said  that thing times without number, but I don't anymore😌🌚

Who can guess who Ella saw?😐
I so can't wait for you to find out😋

I'm sure you're all surprised for an early  update, I was surprised as well when 498 reads turned into 602 overnight😭😭, here's me saying thank you for that.

This chapter is dedicated to  LazypenNaija, thank you for taking time off your busy schedule to read this work of mine, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it😌

Don't forget to vote, comment your thoughts and share. It might just be the encouragement I need to  drop a surprise chapter soon.🌚

Till next chapter y'all,
❤
✌illusionistic.