Consciousness crept back, bringing a headache like a marching band in her skull. The world slowly came into focus-a grainy, poorly lit version of reality, more fever dream than real.

Two bare bulbs hung from the ceiling, their weak light barely cutting through the darkness pressing against dirty windows. Night wrapped the outside world in uncertainty

She wasn't tied up, but freedom was an illusion here. Her heart raced as she scanned the room, desperately searching for Kel. Relief washed over her when she spotted his ghostly form sitting opposite her, leaning against the wall with his elbows on his knees and face buried in his hands.

As a groan escaped her lips, Kel's head snapped up with almost comical speed. He was by her side in an instant, in a speed that defied physics and logic.

"You okay?" Kel asked, worry etched in his voice.

"Hi," Presence replied, a weak smile forming on her tear-stained face.

"Hey you," Kel replied, two simple words carrying the weight of universes.

"You didn't ghost me," she whispered, her attempt at humor as weak as her voice. "You're still here."

Kel's expression softened, a change so subtle yet so significant. "If you weren't just waking up from a long nap, I would have sent you napping again."

Presence's laugh was a brief, beautiful thing, quickly morphing into a cough that seemed intent on turning her inside out. As it subsided, she took in more of their concrete prison - a lone chair stood sentinel in the corner, while broken chunks of concrete littered the floor like the remnants of shattered dreams.

"Where are they?" she asked, noticing the absence of her captors.

Kel's ghostly form tensed slightly. "Anthony left about half an hour ago. Said he'd be back. The other two goons? Probably playing watchdog outside."

Presence's face scrunched up, fear and confusion battling for dominance. "What's their endgame here? What could they possibly want from me?"

Kel hesitated, his pause pregnant with reluctance. "They think you're Afefe."

The name hit Presence like a bucket of ice water. "Afefe? But that's... how could they...?"

Kel's shrug was both an answer and a non-answer. Presence groaned, her head still pounding. "I'm so out of my depth here," she whispered.

Kel's ghostly form shifted closer. "We'll wait for Anthony to return. Maybe clarity will tag along with him."

"Just fucking great," Presence muttered. "Now I'll miss my exam."."

Kel's incredulous look was almost comical. "Seriously? That's your concern right now?"

"It's a 3 credit load," Presence explained, as if discussing the weather. "If I bomb it, I'm screwed. My mother would kill me."

"Well, if you're dead, your dad would just kill you again in the afterlife," Kel quipped.

"Fair point," Presence conceded, causing Kel to laugh and shake his head.

Presence continued, her voice tinged with a mix of humor and sadness, "Then again, you're wrong. My dad doesn't hate me as much as my mom does."

"Oh...?" Kel's spectral eyebrows raised in surprise.

Changing the subject, Presence asked, "Do you know where we are?"

"I think we're in the outskirts of Lagos... headed to Ogun State," Kel replied.

"Jeeez," Presence sighed.

"Don't worry, it's not that far," Kel offered, his optimism either impossibly genuine or sarcastically brilliant. Presence couldn't decide which was worse.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. Her hand dove into her pocket, searching for that rectangular lifeline to the outside world. "Hey, have you seen my pho-"

"Looking for this?"

The voice sliced through the air like a knife through warm butter, startling in its suddenness. Anthony stood in the doorway, Presence's phone dangling from his hand like bait on a hook.

"Yeah, he took it," Kel helpfully supplied, his ghostly captain obvious routine oddly comforting in its familiarity.

Anthony stepped further into the room, his posture tense but controlled. "Finally awake?" he sneered.

Presence straightened up, trying to project confidence despite her fear. "What's going on, Anthony? Why am I here?"

"You are a perculiar one, Okafor. Do you talk to yourself often" Anthony asked mockingly.

"Why am I here?"

Anthony's eyes narrowed slightly. "I think you know why, Afefe."

Presence's heart raced, but she forced herself to remain calm. "Afefe? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb," Anthony snapped. "We know who you are."

Kel moved closer to Presence, his spectral form tense. "Be careful," he warned. "We don't know how much they actually know."

Presence took a deep breath, buying time to think. "Anthony, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just a student, like you. Who or whatever you think I am, you're mistaken."

Anthony laughed humorlessly. "A student? Please. We've been watching you. The things you can do, the people you talk to when no one else is around..." His eyes flicked to the space where Kel stood, unseeing but somehow sensing something amiss.

Presence felt a chill run down her spine. They had been observing her, piecing together fragments of her supernatural interactions. But they had jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"Anthony," she said, her voice steadier than she felt, "I think there's been a huge misunderstanding. I'm not Afefe. I'm just... different. But I'm not who you think I am."

"Different ...how?"

As Presence opened and closed her mouth, unsure how to respond to Anthony, his two companions suddenly entered the room, accompanied by a girl.

One of the companions spoke up, addressing Anthony: "Agaba, chief is on his way. He would be here in 15 minutes."

"Good," Anthony replied, his attention momentarily diverted from Presence. "Is the perimeter secure?" he asked, looking at the girl.

She nodded silently in response.

"Good," Anthony continued, a smile spreading across his face. "What about our little surprise?"

The girl nodded again, her expression remaining impassive.

Anthony's smile widened, taking on a more sinister edge. "That old bastard won't know what hit him. He thinks he can use me and trash me as he chooses."

Presence glanced at Kel, seeing her own confusion mirrored in his ghostly features. Neither of them knew who this "chief" was or what Anthony was planning.

Turning his attention back to Presence, Anthony grabbed the chair and pulled it closer to her. He sat down, leaning in menacingly. "Now, where were we?"

Presence, her voice barely above a whisper, asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Anthony laughed, a harsh sound that echoed in the sparse room. "What do you mean?"

Gathering her courage, Presence pressed on, "Is this what Kel would have wanted for you?"

The mention of Kel's name wiped the smile off Anthony's face instantly. His expression darkened as he growled, "How... how dare you say his name?"

Anthony made a sudden move to grab Presence's face, his hand reaching out threateningly. In that moment of fear and desperation, Kel called out a name and Presence echoed, "Adodo!"

The effect was immediate. Anthony froze mid-air, his hand inches from Presence's face, shock evident in his expression.

Anthony froze, shock and anger contorting his face, his hand inches from Presence. 'Adodo' hung in the air."

Presence's heart raced as she realized the impact of the word she'd just uttered. She glanced quickly at Kel who didn't break his gaze on Anthony as if he could strangle him.

"How... how do you know that name?" Anthony's voice was barely above a whisper, a mix of confusion and rage evident in his tone.

The other occupants of the room - Anthony's two companions and the fierce girl they'd brought in - all turned their attention to the unfolding scene, tension palpable in the air.

Presence swallowed hard, her mind racing. She hadn't planned to echo Kel's words; it had just slipped out in the heat of the moment. Now, she needed to think fast to navigate this unexpected turn of events.

"Kel told me," she said softly, her eyes locked on Anthony's. It wasn't entirely a lie - the ghostly Kel beside her now looked at her.

In that moment, suspended between truth and fiction, Presence realized she had stumbled into a story far more complex than she had imagined. The name "Adodo" was clearly a key, but to what door? And more importantly, how could she use it to escape this concrete prison of misunderstanding?

As the silence stretched on longer than she anticipated, thick enough to cut with a knife, Presence wondered if she had just made things infinitely better or catastrophically worse.

Anthony's expression shifted from anger to something more complex - a mixture of pain, nostalgia, and suspicion. "That's impossible," he muttered. "Kel's dead. He's been dead for weeks."

Presence felt Kel's ghostly presence tense beside her. She knew she was treading on dangerous ground, but she also sensed an opportunity to potentially change the course of events.

"I know he is," Presence said, her voice steadier now. "But you --you see ...that doesn't mean he's gone, Anthony. He's worried about you. He doesn't want this for you."

Anthony's companions exchanged uneasy glances, clearly unsure how to react to this unexpected turn in the conversation.

"Shut up," Anthony snarled, his voice wavering. "You don't know what Kel wanted."

Presence took a deep breath, steeling herself. "I know he's the only one who knows your middle name, 'Adodo' besides your family. I know he tried to help you leave the gang life behind. I know he cared about you, Anthony."

Anthony's hand, still suspended in mid-air, began to tremble. The girl who had entered earlier took a step forward, her eyes darting between Anthony and Presence.

"Chief will be here soon," she reminded Anthony, her voice tense. "We need to focus."

Anthony hesitated, torn between his mission and the echoes of his past. The mention of 'Chief' snapped him back to reality.

As the situation took an unexpected turn, Kel seized the opportunity, quickly instructing Presence to act as a conduit. "Adodo, the floor is lava," he said, his ghostly voice urgent. A game he had played with Anthony when they were younger.

Presence, understanding immediately, repeated the phrase, and Anthony's reaction was as immediate as it was dramatic. He scrambled backwards, grace abandoned, falling from his chair in a tangle of limbs and disbelief. "What the fuck is this freaky shit?" he exclaimed, his tough-guy persona shattered like a dropped mirror.

Presence continued, echoing Kel's words: "Days before I died, I went to see Donny in his school. I took provisions and also paid for his school fees." Anthony, now on the floor, stared at Presence with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"All that money, all those nights painting the town red," Presence continued, her voice gaining strength with each word, "and you left that boy to wither in that school?"

In that moment, Anthony wasn't a feared gangster or kidnapper. He was just a boy lost in a man's body, confronted by the ghosts of his choices and the weight of paths not taken.

"Shut up," Anthony warned, his voice a trembling mix of threat and plea.

But Presence pressed on, her words sharp as a knife. "Do you think kidnapping this innocent girl to fix your own mess will appease karma?"

"I'm warning you," Anthony's voice grew more desperate, a drowning man grasping at straws.

Then, Presence dropped a bombshell that not even Kel had seen coming: "And what about sleeping with his girl while he was alive, as he hustled hard to make ends meet for all of you?"

The words hung in the air like smoke, choking the room with their weight. Kel's head whipped towards Presence, shock etched in his ghostly features. "What?" he gasped, the single word carrying the weight of betrayal and disbelief.

Presence collected herself but deliberately avoided Kel's gaze, the weight of the secret she'd just revealed hanging heavy in the air.

Anthony quickly scrambled to his feet, his face a mix of guilt and defiance. "I knew you heard us that morning," he said, his voice low and tense.

Kel sat frozen, his ghostly form flickering between Presence and Anthony as the truth of his best friend's betrayal sank in. The pain of this revelation left him stunned, words failing even his spectral form.

The tense silence that followed was abruptly broken by one of Anthony's companions: "Chief is here."

The announcement hung in the air, adding another layer of tension to the already charged atmosphere. Kel, still reeling from the shocking revelation, struggled to process everything that had just transpired. Presence, caught between the living and the dead, braced herself for whatever was coming next.

Anthony, his past sins now laid bare, stood rigid as a statue. His face was a battleground of emotions - guilt, anger, fear, and something unreadable flickering across his features like shadows in firelight. He squared his shoulders, preparing to face Chief with the air of a man walking to his own execution.

In that moment, suspended between revelations and anticipation, the unfinished building felt less like a hideout and more like the stage for the final act of a complex tragedy. Presence, Kel, Anthony, and the others were players in a drama none of them fully understood, each revelation rewriting the script in real-time.

As footsteps echoed from beyond the room, heralding the Chief's arrival, Presence couldn't help but wonder: in this story of ghosts, betrayals, and mistaken identities, what twist would the next chapter bring? And more importantly, would any of them make it to the epilogue?

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