In a world where bad people weren't actually bad people but people who were haunted by their pasts. Could anyone actually define bad?

What did it mean to be a bad person? We are all haunted by our pasts one or another, at some point in our lifetime. And what you do-the one you think is right-might be wrong in the eyes of someone else.

So go on, define a bad person.

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ＦＩＶＥ ＹＥＡＲＳ ＥＡＲＬＩＥＲ

Dele had promised himself that he would learn his mother's magic, and he did. Before he knew it, he could take measurements, do stitches even without a machine. His mom was proud of him and he was proud of himself.

But his father could never find out. It was their little secret.

During those days, he cherished his mother's smile more than anything, but the unending bruises from the unending beating his father gave his mother hindered that smile.

Things were just getting worse and worse and the only time Dele was truly happy was when they together. He had brought up the idea of them running away and leaving his dad behind but his mother smiled and told him that things didn't work that way.

But all hell broke loose one night.

He had already gone to bed but jerked awake when he heard his mother's screaming from downstairs. His heart immediately froze and chills ran down his spine. His breath was shaky and he could barely walk as he made his way out of bed.

When her scream became much more deafening and continuous, Dele dashed out of his room and into the upstairs kitchen and grabbed a knife.

He was ready to put the knife in his father's back if he didn't let his mother go. He'd had enough. Today, it was all going to come an end.

And it did.

Hiding the weapon behind him, he hastily made his way down the stairs but tried to to make any sound.

Beatrice was screaming for help and Dele could only imagine what he was doing to her this time. He almost didn't make it down the last step because he was starting to feel very dizzy and his chest pounding dangerously against his rib cage wasn't helping matters.

Coming to a halt in the downstairs living room, his breath hitched and he was close to passing out. Dele couldn't believe his eyes and moreover, he couldn't believe he'd just stood there, rooted to floor without doing anything.

No, it couldn't be his mother who had her clothes torn apart and pinned to the tiled floor.

No, it couldn't be his own mother that was naked, struggling to free herself from the beast that sent slaps across her face as he forced his penis into her.

No, it wasn't his mother that had blood running out of her nose as she screamed for help like her life depended on it.

No, it wasn't his mother who had the beautiful smile that was begging to die instead.

Mr. Akindele looked up and saw his son standing in shock a few feet away.

Dele thought that would be enough to make the man stop. But he was wrong. On the contrary, it seemed it motivated him. He was basically saying, 'You want to watch? Then I'll put on a show for you'.

He sent another slap that was equally as deafening as her scream.

Dele lost it that instant.

And it was all red.

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Martha had been knocking on the door for ages but as usual, there was no response. He must've had his headphones on and her knocking would be fruitless even if she didn't it for the next one hour.

She gently pushed the door open and walked into the room. It was a mess. Fabrics everywhere, needles, thread, measuring tape. And there he was, in the midst of it all.

Was there something about watching a seventeen year old boy behind a sowing machine? Maybe, because after she'd walked in, she stood there for awhile when he hadn't noticed her presence. He muttered along to whatever that was playing on his headset as his feet occasionally stepped on the pedals and his hands moved the ankara fabric as the machine stitched it accordingly.

Bright sun rays poured into the room through the large window and they put him and his sowing machine in the spotlight.

Dele was very startled after he'd looked up at the elderly housekeeper standing by the door, creepily smiling at him. He immediately pulled off his headset and he was back to planet earth.

"I was knocking, you didn't hear me," said Martha. "I just came to tell you, you have a visitor. A girl, she said she's your classmate."

Kasy.

"Tell her I'm coming."

Martha smiled and left, shutting the door behind her.

Dele inhaled and exhaled a couple of times. Maybe that would help summon up his 'I'm a cool guy and I have my shit together' facade. The same one he summoned everyday before school.

• • •

Kasy stood in the backyard, admiring the way the swimming pool twinkled as the afternoon sun radiated on the water surface.

It was only a year ago that they'd all been in that same backyard, swimming and chasing each other around. But that seemed like a long time ago now.

She should've known that things would fall apart sooner or later. Their friendship was a good definition of too good to be true. Dele was way popular and socially relevant than any of them, Zehan had anger issues and things he had been dealing with and refused to share with them, Adam probably never felt like he belonged in the clique anyway and she? She had been hopelessly in love with Dele the whole time.

It could only be love. Only love could last all this while.

"Do you want to swim?" Dele emerged from the glass door leading out to the backyard, wearing a warm smile, button up ankara shirt and khaki shorts. Typical.

Kasy chuckled. "No."

Dele tilted his head towards the glass door he'd just emerged from. "Then let's go inside, the sun is too much."

Dele talked about how he was planning to host a pool party one of these days as they made their way inside. He'd also mentioned a surprise birthday party for Annika while they walked up the stairs to the upstairs sitting room.

The house was really big. They didn't call it the Akindele mansion for nothing. Kasy's house was relatively big but nothing compared to this. The upstairs and downstairs sitting rooms proved that.

The Akindele mansion aesthetic seemed to be made up of modern furniture, oxblood and maroon leather everywhere. It was obviously done on purpose and it had always been that way. Kasy wondered who had come up with the interior decor. It reminded her of when her dad had decided that the every furniture would be cream and brown. It sounded crazy but it turned out quite beautiful and cozy.

The flat-screen television in the upstairs must've been the biggest one Kasy had ever seen. Red leather couches formed a half-moon in front of the TV and oval-shaped rug in the middle blended well with everything.

"What took you so long, though?" Dele asked after they got settled and he turned on the TV.

"My mother, she came this morning." Kasy released a sigh, feeling exhausted by just the mere thought of everything that had gone down since the previous night.

Dele took his eyes away from the TV for a moment to glance at Kasy. He was standing in front of it, surfing channels while she sat on a couch on the right side looking like she was thinking about a lot of things. "Seriously? When was the last time you saw her?"

"More than a year ago," replied Kasy. "And my dad has a girlfriend... Or fiance, I'm not even sure."

Dele chuckled, finally settling on a channel showing a movie. "That's good for him. Does your mom know?" He took a seat on the big couch opposite the TV.

"I don't know. It's not even her business, he can decide not to tell her. It's not like they're married."

Dele nodded slowly and they sat in silence afterwards with Kasy occasionally glancing at her phone to see if Casper was online.

"So," Kasy started, "are we working on the debate or what? It's almost four o'clock."

Dele sighed before raising eyebrows at Kasy. "Do we really have to? We're both smart, we can pull it off. Dangers of premarital sex, right? Piece of cake."

"I would've asked you to get down from that high horse of yours but I'm tired," said Kasy.

Dele smiled. "And besides," he motion to the TV, "This is a really good movie, it's way better than prepping for a debate."

Kasy mirrored the smile. "If you say so."

"And this is a better view." He scooted on the couch, tapping the spot next to him.

Kasy looked up at him in perplexity. It was indeed a better view but she'd be damned if that was the reason she sat next to him.

His fragrance alone was enough to make her imagine cuddling with her after she took the next to him but she wouldn't want to wish for too.

"Is your Wi-Fi password still the same? My data connection here is the worse."

"Yeah, it's still the same," Dele replied without taking his eyes off the screen.

She immediately connected to the resident Wi-Fi and notifications started popping up soon after. Casper's messages poured in as well.

Soon, she'd forgotten about Dele and his movie as her fingers flew against her keyboard, sending replies to Casper who generally wanted to know why she had been MIA all the day.

Casper Bassey
I think we'll be in Abuja Tuesday morning instead of Monday afternoon. That's what I heard anyway. So I'll see on Tuesday, not Monday...

Kasy didn't get to finish reading the message because Dele snatched her phone away from her, taking her unaware.

"You and your boyfriend should take a break," he pocketed the phone as Kasy tried to snatch it back, "Watch the movie, young lady."

"Noooo... I've been offline all day!" Kasy protested, still trying to reach to the other side and take the phone. "Pleeaasee!" She whined but Dele didn't budge.

Kasy gave up, folded her arms and stared ahead at the television. It didn't take up to thirty minutes and she was engrossed in the movie, forgetting that she might have ghosted Casper.

"Waohhh..." Kasy mumbled as they watched the scene where the main character had her hands and legs tied up before being thrown into a lake. "That's cruel. She has like zero chances of survival."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because she can't swim. She can't possibly even try to save herself and remember she was drugged too," Kasy explained before turning back to the TV with a look of horror, "I can't believe she's going to die."

Dele didn't say anything. Kasy doubted that he also felt like crying, because she did.

"Seriously, though..." Kasy trailed, ten minutes later after the movie ended and the female lead died after all. "She still died?"

Dele turned to her. "You're the one who said she had zero chances of survival, what did you expect?"

"I know, but it's a movie! She could've miraculously saved herself or something!"

He chuckled, shaking his in amusement. "You're right. But in real life, it doesn't work that way."

Kasy leaned back into the couch and sighed. "Who likes real life, anyway?" A rhetorical question.

There was silence as they watched the different commercials that came on until Kasy got bored and began looking around the parlor until she spotted the large portrait of Late Beatrice Akindele at the next to the dinning and mini bar area.

Kasy had seen the portrait a lot of times but she was left in awe each and every time. It was simply magnificent. The portrait was nearly extended from ceiling to floor-making it impossible not to notice. It was the largest portrait she had ever seen and the frame seemed to be made of shiny bronze, complimenting the woman's skin perfectly.

And that dimpled smile. Without doubt, Dele had inherited the woman's looks.

According to Dele, she had died of cancer. How unfortunate. Kasy could remember seeing her only once before she died. No one really knew Beatrice Akindele at all. If Kasy hadn't seen her at least once, she might've thought the woman was a made up figure because, this was the Akindele family they were talking about. Everyone in Newland knew Dele and his father but Beatrice Akindele, hers was a different, unknown story.

"This must've cost an arm and leg," Kasy whispered, running her fingers along the bronze frame. How she had gotten up and walked to the portrait, she could not remember.

She couldn't see Dele since she had her back to him so she didn't know why he didn't say anything since he'd heard her.

It occurred to her that maybe he just didn't like talking about his mother. She could understand that since she didn't like talking about her own mother either and that one was even alive.

Kasy shook the thought out of her head and walked back to the couch.

The next movie had started with a scene of the supposed main character writing in her diary.

Kasy snorted.

She couldn't believe she had once been so invested in a diary before. The thought of it now just sounded so stupid and childish, even if she was only just sixteen. She had given up on having a diary after she lost the first one.

Dele chuckled for some reason next to her and he turned to look at her.

"What?"

"I want to show you something, come," he said, standing up from the couch and heading in the direction of his room.

Kasy followed without question because whatever it was that he wanted to show her must've been something interesting for him to be grinning like that.

Dele had made minor changes to his mini apartment over the past months. The aesthetics was very different from the rest of the house. Here, there was a good blend of royal blue, black and white. Everything was in order but the room was too for it not spacious not be.

A TV as large as the one in the sitting room, large desk housing a lot of science textbooks, blue lights. The place was literally glowing after he'd turned on the lights and everything was a neon blue mess.

"I like the lights," Kasy complemented as she examined the Teen Wolf posters on the wall. These ones were new and different from the ones he had before. Dele had always been a Teen Wolf fanatic, the fact that he'd named his dogs after the main characters would tell you that.

"Thanks," Dele replied as he walked to his closet which was a different room on his own. The closet could probably house a family of three.

He walked back into the main room with a smirk on his face and something behind him. Whatever he wanted to show her, he had hid it behind him, looking at her mischievously.

Kasy chuckled at his behavior. "What's that?"

"Guess," he told her.

"I... I don't know. What is it?" Kasy couldn't stop giggling for some reason.

Dele hesitated, but slowly, his hands left his backside and with it came a book-a big book... Journal? No.

Diary.

The smile on Kasy's slowly fell as her long lost diary stared back at her. Dele had been telling her how she'd left it at his house when they'd all been hanging out but nothing else was really processing in her brain asides the fact that Dele Akindele had her diary all these months.

At first, Kasy wanted to feel relieved and happy but then... Something dawned on her.

There was no way he'd had the diary in his possession all this while without reading it.

She manged to look up at him and his look said everything she needed to know.

The diary contained a lot of things ranging from the chaos at home, to the struggle with attaining the perfect body and her scary obsession with wanting to be like Annika. But those things only made up twenty percent of the diary.

Eighty percent of those pages revealed-in graphic detail-another obsession with Dele. As the memories of everything she had written in there came flooding back in, Kasy nearly lost it.

The way he smiled, the way she felt whenever she saw him, how she got lost in thought when he spoke with his deep, sexy voice. How she wished he would notice her and reciprocate her feelings...

And God, the sexual fantasies.

She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't even stand being there with him at that moment. She didn't want him looking at her.

Leaving the outstretched diary in Dele's hands, she made a beeline for the door and the cold breeze did well in letting her know she'd teared up with the way her eyes stung.

"Kasy, wait!" Dele ran after without second thought. He blocked her before she got to the door and he locked it and put the key in his pocket.

"Open the door," Kasy mumbled, looking everywhere but at him. His gaze on her suddenly felt like torture.

"Look at me," he tried raising her chin up to his face but she squatted his hands away. He sighed. "I wish I could tell you I didn't read it..."

Oh, God. That was it.

Kasy turned around, moved towards the bed and took a seat at the edge. If she stood for a minute longer, her legs would give up on her.

Dele confirming he'd read the diary only added fuel to fire. Kasy fought the urge to yell and ball her eyes out.

He sat a good distance away from her.

"I was going to give it back to you but then everything happened with Zehan and..." He trailed off, probably realizing that was a stupid excuse.

Kasy only stared ahead, forcing the tears back. "And you read...all of it?"

Dele didn't say anything and she knew what that meant. Unbelievable.

"I don't want you to feel ashamed or anything and I'm sorry for invading your privacy."

Kasy wiped her cheek with the back of her palm. It was her fault for carelessly leaving it in hi ls house anyway. What did she expect? That he'd return it without going through it? She knew even she wouldn't resist the urge.

"I'm very sorry, I hope you know that."

She didn't even know what to say. The fact that he'd known all these while how much she was head over heels for him was mind blowing.

And the fact that he'd known about how insecure she was about her body and he'd still let his friends make fun of her. Kasy was silently going crazy.

"And I think you're beautiful." Everything stopped for awhile after he'd said that. "Regardless of what you think, and what you think I think, you're a beautiful. You're heating it from my own lips."

For a second, Kasy couldn't even remember what she'd been going mad about. The only thing in her head at that moment was the fact that he'd said she was beautiful.

Bamidele Desmond Akindele thought she was beautiful.

Kasy wanted to punch him and yell at him for the emotional torture all this while if he'd actually thought she was beautiful as he claimed but no, she didn't get the chance. Why?

Because Dele fucking Akindele was suddenly so close to her again and he was caressing her cheek. That punching and yelling just had to wait.

The way he stared into her eyes now-like someone who knew all her secrets, which he did-it was overwhelming. "I know everything about you and I accept that." That was basically what he'd been saying with his eyes. Their faces a few inches away and his scent enveloping her in warm ecstasy.

She was dying to kiss him again. And since she didn't want to die waiting for him to do it, she did.

The way his plumb, soft lips crashed against her small ones was something she would never get used to. She held his hand which rested on her cheek and sat there, kissing slowly and steadily like they all the earth to themselves.

Dele broke the kiss and smirked as and idea popped into head. "Someone said she wanted me to kiss her neck..." He trailed, and his voice had never been more husky.

It Kasy a few seconds to understand what he was saying before she remembered that she'd written that in her diary. And before she knew it, her entire body grew hot with the way Dele sucked on the side of her neck.

Her back was soon against the very soft bed and everything else happened very fast from there. He grazed his teeth against her earlobe as his hand traveled beneath her skirt tugged down her undies. Just as she'd written in her diary.

His lips found hers again but she was moaning into the kiss this time because his fingers were going in and out of her.

He suddenly broke off, retrieved his hands and looked down at her as she laid on his bed. She didn't know what she was thinking-or probably contemplating-but she didn't want him to stop because it looked like he was going to do so.

But thankfully, he unbuttoned his shirt, removed it and did the same with his shorts.

She'd seen him in just his briefs before but this time was very different. And the huge bulge in his briefs proved that fact.

He grinded against her as he slowly got rid of her own clothes as well.

She just laid there and didn't know what to do, or rather, too overwhelmed to do anything. He was without doubt experienced, while she was a virgin with nothing more than fantasies. But she couldn't think much of those things because the way she felt at that moment, it was something else.

He stared at her blandly as her legs wrapped around his waist and for the first time, she was a little scared. Not just because of what was about to happen, but because Dele wasn't there anymore.

He was there physically, but something was off. Something was wrong.

That observation became meaningless when she felt him about to enter her.

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ＦＩＶＥ ＹＥＡＲＳ ＥＡＲＬＩＥＲ

Dele lost it that instant. He yelled like a mad man and charge towards his father with the knife now up in the air, ready to strike.

Just as he'd gotten there, his father was alerted and acted swiftly before his son could dig the knife into his back.

Father and son fought for the weapon with Beatrice there, screaming her lungs out. Twelve year old Dele was no match for the able-bodied man who overpowered him and got hold of the knife, cutting himself in the process and didn't seem to mind.

It was also at that moment that Beatrice had made a beeline for the door, screaming and yelling for someone to come to their aid. With the knife in his hands, Mr. Akindele ran after.

Dele ran after them as well.

Mr. Akindele grabbed Beatrice's arm with his free hand and yanked her her around. Dele ran towards his father like a bulldozer and went head in into the man's waistline.

The man was propelled forwards as he grunted and his wife who was in front of him yelped and gasped at the impact.

Everything paused for a few seconds.

Silence.

Dele didn't understand what was going on until his mother fell off his father's grip and fell to the floor. The knife wasn't in his father's hands anymore.

They were in his mother's stomach.

"Mummy!" He'd never screamed so much in his life before. And he kept screaming like that, watching the amount of blood that oozed out.

"Dad! Please! She...needs help!" he yelled at the man who just stood there, shock stricken.

"Someone help us! Someone help!" The boy began yelling in tears when he realized his father was useless. He couldn't carry her on his own. What could he possibly do?

"Des-desm-mond..." Beatrice was trying to say something with the last bit of consciousness she knew wouldn't last long.

"Mummy, please..." Dele couldn't even make a reasonable sentence as he watched her eyes shut slowly. He cried even louder and shouted on top of his lungs.

His father must've come back to his senses because he lifted her in one swift movement and ran out of the house and towards the car. Dele ran after them.

He must've cried a river that night because his mother was already unconscious before they had gotten to the hospital.

They spent hours in the hours in the hospital and even when the doctor finally came to address them, he called his father aside but Dele heard the man perfectly.

"She lost too much blood. I'm sorry sir, she couldn't make it."

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Kasy moaned a little louder than before. This wasn't what she thought it would feel like.

Dele blinked for the first time in a while and she heard mumble, "Sorry."

What happened next scared Kasy a little. For one, she had already imagined and felt the penetration before is actually happened and two...

As though he had been sleep walking or something all the while, Dele got off her and got off the bed with haste. Literally the speed of light.

Strings of apologies left his mouth as he put on his clothes. What had he been thinking?

Kasy watched him dash into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. He had probably also locked it too.

She got off the bed as well and put on her clothes. What just happened? Asides the fact that Dele just acted very strange, what had happened when he almost...

Why did she feel the pain before he actually penetrated?

Anxiety? It couldn't be.

Dele splashed water on his face as though that would do anything in helping him regain his senses. That was very stupid of him.

What was he thinking? That he could ever have sex after what had happened that night? Impossible. He'd tried countless times and it all ended the same way.

But with Kasy? Seriously, what had he been thinking?

Unbelievable.

Mindlessly, he slammed his fist repeatedly against the sink and since that wasn't enough, he screamed so loud. So much rage.

He was sure the entire Newland Estate would hear him but who cared?

He ended up bruising his knuckles but he didn't care. He was tired but enraged at the same time. Broken but mad at the same time.

He looked at himself in the mirror as he screamed for no just reason. His eyes had turned red but there were no tears to cry.

He slammed his fist unto the mirror and cracks dispersed on it, droplets of his blood included.

And he still couldn't cry.

• • •

With his right hand wrapped with white bandage after he'd also showered, Dele finally left the bathroom and wasn't surprised when he realized Kasy wasn't there.

She had probably gone home and he wouldn't blame her if she did.

• • •

Kasy had decided to simply wonder around the mansion to clear her head. She'd assumed Dele was taking a bath or something because she didn't stay any longer after putting on her clothes.

She just didn't want to leave even though she'd thought of it. She couldn't go home just like that without saying goodbye.

It had already been twenty minutes and within that twenty minutes, she'd been to the garden and pool area, just strolling about and thinking about so many things. Too many things.

I also tried to convince myself that things wouldn't be awkward and even worse between her Dele after that day but something told her otherwise.

She wanted to cry.

But she couldn't.

She must've wondered far because she was now in the kitchen. What she was doing there? Nothing.

From the kitchen, she walked into the downstairs sitting room and kept walking around until she found her way to the adjourned hallway at the far end.

She immediately noticed two things about this passage.

First: it was very very dark. She couldn't make out anything except...

Second: the door at the far end of the passage. It was the only door. A basement door maybe? Kasy had seen a lot it in horror movies not to recognize one in real life.

Something carried her legs and soon, she was standing in front of the door, twisting the door nob but it was locked. Of course, it was.

"Young lady."

Kasy screamed and jumped around to the direction of the shrill, static, deep voice. Whoever it was had taken her aback and she couldn't recognize that voice, at all.

The figure approached her slowly, and silently and Kasy's heart raced with fear as she began sweating like there was no tomorrow.

Was it a serial killer? A kidnapper? A rapist? All of the above?

But then, she had to remind herself that this was still the Akindele mansion.

"Who's there?" Kasy managed to ask.

"What are you doing here? Didn't Junior tell you that this place is off limits?"

Only one person spoke like that.

Kasy had forgotten the sound of his voice but she could never forget how Dele's father spoke; firmly, authoritatively and goddamn chilling. The kind of voice that could get under your skin for no reason.

"Mr. Akindele." she breathed out, a little relieved. He was friends with her father, kind of.

"Oh, Kanayo." The man also seemed to recognize her immediately. "What a pleasant surprise. It's been a long time. Does your father know you're here?"

"Uh..." Kasy trailed.

"Kasy?" Dele's voice joined the conversation and soon, his footsteps approached them. He came with a torchlight and Kasy was thankful for that. Why hadn't they put a bulb here?

"Kasy," Dele called out again when he got to them. He seemed surprised but relieved to see her. He turned to his father. "Dad."

"Junior," he equally acknowledged. "You didn't tell Miss. Kanayo that-"

"She knows," said Dele.

She did know. Dele had always told them not to go anywhere near that hallway. She had forgotten that.

"I thought she had gone home," Dele added, averting his gaze from his father's.

Mr. Aloysius Akindele. Millionaire. Business man. Powerful. Connected. Formal. Never in the country, always busy. He looked the part.

The man smiled at Kasy. "Well, it's already late. You should get going."

Kasy didn't notice the glare Dele sent his father's way as she scurried out of their presence. The man must've just returned home and of course, the first place he'd come was here.

If Dele had known he would be home, he would never have invited Kasy over.

Dele made to follow Kasy but Mr. Aloysius held his arm and stopped him in place. "You seemed to have forgotten what happened the last time you brought your friend down here. What is wrong with you?"

Dele yanked his arm away from the man. "I'll never forget what you did to Ahmed," he spat, glaring back in the darkness. "And I'll never forget what you did to my mother."

He began walking away but he still heard his father say, "They were all your fault, don't forget that."

The big reveallll.... I honestly thought a lot of you would've guessed that the Junior (Ahmed's friend who had a basement) was Dele. It was kinda obvious though, come one. Did you really think that I'd include them in the story and then say goodbye to them?

You know, if you want to crack my mysteries, have in mind that everything I write is of relevance. So if I start mentioning a particular person and their cat often, then it'd definitely for a reason.