Aaron's P.O.V

10 hellish years later

I wake up to the sound of my alarm I set on my phone ringing loudly.

I stretch my hand to the night stand and get my phone then I turn off the alarm.

I check the date on my phone even though I know what day it is.

The day I honour a woman who I loved a lot Naomi Adesua Daniels.

It's the 27th day of April in the year 2031.

The day 27th April holds a very painful memory for me and I hate it.

This day, ten years ago was the day that an empty casket was buried in respect of Naomi after she was declared dead by the police.

My mind travels back to a very painful time

~FLASHBACK~

I literally running out of school to where my driver parked so I can get to Naomi's house as soon as possible.

The sound of my name stops me.

"Aaron"

I turn around to see Diane. This girl is a serious pest.

"What?" I ask impatiently.

"We need to talk" she says in a whiny voice.

"No we don't" I say then I storm off.

I get into my car and slam the door shut.

"Drive" I say and my driver speeds off.

My heart is beating erratically as we get closer and closer to Naomi's house. I haven't been myself since I got the call from Nathan that Naomi was missing.

I haven't told the others yet. I need good information and permission from her family before I start blabbering about it.

Was she kidnapped?

Did she run away?

Is she lost?

Is she hiding?

And most importantly is she still alive?

My mind started imagining the worst as I thought about what happened to Naomi and where she could be.

I tap my fingers on my knee in an irregular rhythm in order to calm down my nerves.

The car comes to a halt. I raise my head and look at the window to see that we're in front of Naomi's house.

I take a deep breath and get down from the car.

I walk inside the compound and mumble a greeting to the gateman. I gather up my courage and ring the doorbell with a trembling finger.

I suddenly have the urge to walk away but my feet stay glued to the ground.

After some minutes the door is opened by Ruth.

"Hey, come in" she says moving aside so I can enter.

I walk in and she shuts the door behind me.

I take a look at her and she looks very tired. Her eyes are red and swollen probably from crying.

"I think Nathan wants to see you" she says walking to the kitchen.

"Where is he?" I ask.

"Upstairs, in his room" she says without sparing me a glance.

I walk up the stairs very sluggishly. I navigate through the hallway and I finally locate Nathan's room.

I knock twice and wait patiently for a response.

"Come in" he says in a faint voice.

I brace myself and open his door. I see him sitting on his bed and discussing with his brother Moses.

"Good evening" I say sitting on the couch.

"Good evening" they says in unison.

Nobody says anything, we just sit in silence.

Nathan looks very stressed and so does Moses. I feel so out of place right now.

"I'll leave you two to talk" Moses says then he gets up and leaves.

So now it's just me and Nathan. We've become good friends after that night.

"Do you have any idea where she is?" he asks with tired eyes.

I wish I did. I wish I had a sensible answer, something meaningful to say. I wish I could give them hope.

"No but I do have a feeling this has something to do with Alex" I say.

"Why do you say so?" he asks with raised eyebrows.

I then tell him about the note Naomi found in her drawer.

He's about to say something when his mum calls him from downstairs.

"Nathan"!!

"Ma, I'm coming" he says getting up then he rushes out of the room.

I get up and follow after him.

When we get to the living room, Mr and Mrs Daniels are sitting down on the couch with a very gloomy expression on each of their faces.

This is so wrong. The house of the Daniels is a very jolly place. This whole sad atmosphere just doesn't feel right.

"What's the matter?" Moses asks his parents breaking the silence.

Naomi's mum lets out a sigh before replying.

"We got a call from the police station, they have some information" she says.

"Are you going there now?" Ruth asks.

Naomi's dad nods affirmative.

"I think we have to inform the police about Alex" Nathan says.

"Why do you say so?" Naomi's dad asks with raised eyebrows.

He then proceeds to tell them about the note in Naomi's drawer.

"That girl ehn, why will she keep that type of thing to herself?" Naomi's mum says clearly annoyed.

"She probably didn't want anyone to worry about her" Ruth says.

"And that's exactly what we're doing now" her mum says in a dismissive tone.

I wish Naomi could open more sometimes. She's putting everybody through a lot of stress.

Mr and Mrs Daniels say a few more things then they leave.

I pray they find useful information

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

We're all in my room after school reading for our exams tomorrow. I still haven't told them about Naomi. I requested permission from Nathan to tell them and he gave me the go ahead.

"What's on your mind?" Ayo whispers to me.

"Naomi is missing, she was kidnapped" I blurt out.

"What"!! He shouts and give him a glare as the others turn to face us.

"Are you mad? Why did you scream like that?" Anita asks with anger written all over her face.

Her blood is just too hot.

"Naomi was kidnapped" Ayo deadpans.

I watch shock register on all their faces.

"When did you find out?" Anita asks.

"Yesterday, she was kidnapped on Sunday" I say bluntly.

Saying those words bring so much pain. Knowing that she's out there somewhere all alone with that rapist.

Nobody says anything. We just keep reading only talking when necessary.

I check my phone and it's already 7:26pm.

"You guys should start heading home" I say.

"What's the time" Anita asks.

"7:26 pm" I say.

"It's late already" Temi says getting up.

They all get up one by one and start packing their stuff.

"Don't overthink it, you have chemistry tomorrow. Read" Ayo says to me.

I sigh.

"Naomi is more important than chemistry" I say in a low voice but he hears me.

"I know but if she could talk to you now, she'd be telling you to read" he says.

"True, I'll try" I say sincerely.

"Better" he says then we do our bro handshake before he leaves.

Now I'm all alone and left with my thoughts. I set my alarm for 10:00pm. I'll wake up to read.

I close my eyes and rest my head on my pillow.

I'm drifting off to sleep when someone knocks on my door.

I get up very reluctantly to open the door. I'm shocked by who I see I standing there.

"Diane" I say in unbelief.

"We need to talk" she says.

I'm about to say something but she cuts me off.

"It's about Naomi's disappearance" she says.

I immediately move aside for her to enter in.

"What do you know about it?" I ask her as soon as she sitting comfortably.

"Alex kidnapped her" she says bluntly.

I knew it.

"How am I sure you're not lying to save your head? After all you killed Racheal" I say and she flinches at that.

"I didn't kill her she was my best friend" she shouts clearly annoyed by my statement.

"Sure" I say with heavy sarcasm.

"Racheal died on her way to Ogun state, her body was never found" she deadpans.

My eyes widen with shock.

"I went to see her parents after the whole thing and they told my dad who told me" she says.

"I'm so sorry" I say sincerely.

I feel very bad for accusing her for the past two years now.

"It's fine. Anyway, I think I know where Naomi is" she says.

"Go on" I tell her.

She lets out a sigh before talking.

"I helped Alex with the plan because he threatened me. I helped him because I knew Naomi would go to church that day and she invited me for that programme. The plan was that I will call Naomi outside then he will take her then" she says.

I'm about to flare up but she's not done.

"I was going to betray him, using some of my dad's power to my advantage I already had the police waiting for him. So when he comes to kidnap her they'll arrest him immediately but at the end of the service I found out Naomi was already missing and that was how my whole plan fell through" she says.

I'm speechless. I don't even know what to say about the whole thing I'm just shocked.

"We have to inform the police" I says.

"Yes, I was thinking how about we go there on Saturday" she says.

"Where?" I ask.

"Where he's holding her captive" she says.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I'm presently in a car with Nathan, Diane, Moses and Ruth on our way to Ogun state in the search for Naomi.

I told Nathan what actually happened happened to Racheal and he was super sad.

Him and Diane surprisingly became friends they've been talking since we started the trip but Diane is sleeping now.

There's a lot of traffic but according to the address Diane has we'll get there very soon.

What if she's gone?

What is she's dead?

What if the address is wrong?

I look out the window and hum the lyrics of a song to take my mind off my disturbing thoughts.

The car comes to a halt and I assume that we're there.

"Let's get down" Nathan says to me.

Diane is awake and she's already out of the car.

We get into car. By we I mean Naomi's family, the police, Diane and me.

"Search the house" Naomi's dad says to the police.

The house seems empty, I don't think anyone is here.

I walk up the stairs and search the upstairs. I open all the rooms and do a search but nothing.

I go back downstairs.

If I were a kidnapper where would I hide my victim? Probably the store.

I walk around the house, it's bigger than it looks and finally locate what I believe is the store.

I open the door and walk in and just like I predicted. It's the kitchen store. There are food stuffs everywhere but nothing related to Naomi.

I'm turning back to leave when I see a note taped at the back of the door.

I take it off and read it.

"If you're reading this, it means that bitch Diane betrayed me. Naomi's family is looking for her and that fool Aaron is probably with them.

It also means that I have successfully taken off with Naomi and police wasn't able to stop me.

Well sorry for you, because you're never going to find Naomi or see her ever again.

She's with me now and we're very happy. So please get your sorry asses out of my house.

P.S We left Friday morning"

They just left yesterday morning.

I feel like such a fool. If I had listened to Diane earlier we might have saved Naomi.

I rush out of the store to show the police.

The police man takes it from me and reads it aloud for everyone to hear.

Ruth drops to the floor and breaks down in tears.

Diane is crying too and she keeps muttering it's all my fault.

Naomi's dad is having a conversation with the police.

"Let's head back to Lagos" Naomi's mum says with a shaky voice already heading outside.

Nathan helps Ruth up from the floor and they head outside followed by Moses then me and Diane.

We get into the car and the driver speeds off.

No one says anything all through the ride.

The car is filled with sounds of sobs and sniffs.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
some months later.

We're all gathered in the assembly hall for an emergency assembly and it's really rowdy but the prefects are really trying to keep the students quiet.

Still no news about Naomi. I haven't been myself since we came back from Ogun state.

It has been really hard for me.

"Settle down" Our principal says climbing onto the stage.

After some minutes the whole class settles down and everywhere becomes silent.

"You all know about Naomi's disappearance, well we have some news" he says.

Oh Lord let it be good news.

"The police has declared her dead" he says bluntly.

Gasps and whispers are heard around the hall.

"Her family will be holding a burial ceremony tomorrow by five pm and you're all invited" he says then he gets sown from the stage.

This can't be true. Somebody should pinch me and wake me up from this terrible nightmare.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

27th April 2021.

We're all standing at the back Naomi's grandparent's mansion. That's where the empty casket is going to be buried in honour of Naomi.

The whole of SS3 came for the burial and we even donated money.

I'm sitting beside Ayo, Anita, Bimbo, Temi and Tyrone.

Everything has been so off since yesterday,

Naomi's dad walks to the front of the crowd and addresses us. His voice is very shaky and a few tears escape his eyes which he quickly wipes away.

He moves aside for the priest who says a short prayer then the coffin carriers come to place her in the ground.

As soon as they drop the casket in the ground, I feel a sudden overwhelming pain.

This was heartbreak not that corny bullshit you see in movies.

The pain behind my eyes, the tears rushing out of my eyes, the pain in my chest, the dizziness, the feeling of confusion, the jelly like feeling in my legs and the bad headache all this was what heartbreak felt like.

My Naomi was truly gone.

~END OF FLASHBACK~

I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes to prevent tears from falling.

My room door open and Ayo walks in. He's still my best friend after all these years.

"You can't knock se?" I ask him as he sits down.

"I can I just didn't want to" he says with smirk.

He's attitude hasn't changed though he's still very annoying.

"It's my fault" I say sadly.

"That what?" he asks with confusion evident in his tone.

"That she's missing" I say in a low tone.

"It isn't your fault, I've been telling you this for years" he says in a sympathetic voice.

That's true. He has been telling me for years.

I don't say anything so he continues.

"If it was fate. No matter when you went there they would have left already. So please don't overthink it. Go and shower let's go for her remembrance service" he says.

"Are the others already there?" I ask getting up.

He nods affirmative.

"Alright" I says heading to my bathroom.

"Wait" he says so I turn to face him.

"If you don't brighten up, I'll take you to see a therapist" he says.

"Sure you will" I say with sarcasm then I enter the bathroom.

But knowing how stubborn Ayo is he will.

A/N

Word count- 2,624

I tried now, this is the longest chapter I have ever written. 😁😁

Don't hate me please🙏🙏🥺 it was never my intention for this chapter to turn out like this. i just started typing and then gbam we're here. I was like what have i done😨😨😨

I think I like it. Do you?

temi_loluwa14 I'm sorry i lied to you.😔😔 As at the time i didn't know things would end up like this.

Thank you guys so much for the 1k votes.❤❤ That means a lot to me. 😊

Did I ever mention that i love you guys.🤔 Well I do.😊

You are all amazing.🤩

Dont forget to hit that star✨and make your author very happy.😁

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Also in a real life situation the number of years it takes before a missing perosn can be declared dead varies from country to country.

Next update- Friday (wasn't planning to but i will 'cause os a ver special someone she knows herself) 🙄🙄