Love Really Is Strange – Episode 25


By Lydia Jonathan

“Thanks, I sat, as he tied both my arms when we came back from the bathroom for my changing. Even if he doesn’t have the best of attitude, he does seem okay. Then again, he’s holding me hostage for his unknown boss who still hasn’t made an appearance

He nodded and got up to leave when he was done tying but stopped on his tracks when I called out to him

“Please, stay a while” I pleaded, cause I felt lonely and at a brink of loosing my mind

He turned to stare at me a while before sitting at a far end corner of the room. Thanks to the light from outside, I could make out his face, even if he isn’t looking at me. He isn’t bad looking, muscular but not too much of it. Brown chocolate eyes with angular jawline, and defined abs, although he’s always clothed, one could see the outline

“I’m Lizzy” I spoke, seeing as he seems bored already just sitting there, but mentally scolded myself. Of course he would know my name, his boss must have given him my details

I turned back to look at him but he didn’t even spare me a glance, he seemed too engrossed in his thoughts

“I’m sorry, I murmured as it seems he looks uncomfortable just sitting there

“I’m Dennis” he frowned a bit turning to look at me with narrowed eyes which seemed a bit intimidating, but then turned away from my gaze which was a frightened one

“Why did you tell me your name” I wondered? But he turned back to me, his gaze faltering

“Because you look like her” he spoke, his jaw clenching and unclenching, and we stared at each other for a while before he averted his gaze

“I look like her? Who”? I asked cautiously, a bit too glad he’s actually holding a conversation with me

“My fianceé” he answered still staring at the ground before he got up and left

He’s fiancée? He had a fiancée? I pondered. If he had a fiancée then what happened to her,and why did he say I look like her. I was too tired and wasn’t arriving at any solution to my questions, and he wasn’t even around to answer me,nor would he do so even if he was there with me, so I did what I could only do….sleep…..

***********

“Wake up” a gruff voice sounded out. I see he’s back to himself.

“Eat” he dropped a plate of food in front of me, while I raised my tied hands to him. He looked down at me, before bending down to untie my hands

“Thank you” I rubbed the spot that was tied, seeing a bruise coming along. He saw also, but looked away too quickly for me to see his reaction as he went and sat at the corner for me to finish my meal

“When will you boss come? Or isn’t he gonna come see his hostage”?

“Don’t know” came his gruff reply

I took a spoon of food into my mouth and chewed. “What do you mean I look like her? What happened to her”? I turned away from my food to look at him.

“Forget it” he grunted not looking at me

“But I wanna know” I pressed on. “You can’t just spring that up on me and expect me not to be curious. I didn’t know why I was sounding like this to my kidnapper, not a very friendly one at that, though he had his moments but still, I wanted answers, since I’m gonna be here a while.

“Answer me” I yelled, frustrated from his annoying silence

He got up, anger visible in his features as he marched down to where I was sitting, his fists clenching and unclenching and his jaw doing just same

“You wanna know what happened to her?” he growled. “She died, she got kidnapped, tortured then killed. They sent her battered, lifeless body to me as a warning. Is that what you wanted to hear”, he yelled causing me to flinch in fear cause of the close proximity we were now having, and the thoughts of him hitting me

He saw the fear and my eyes and backed away. “Finish your food” he spoke in a low tone before turning away and then I heard the door bang shut, starling me from my daze.

He came back minutes later seeming a bit cooled down from his earlier outburst, but I dared not looked him in the eyes. He grabbed my barely eaten plate of food, because I was too shaken to eat and was wondering if what happened to his fiancée would happen to me. Would I be killed then my body be dragged to Mimi. The thoughts alone sent chills down my spine, causing me me shiver in fear

“I’m…I’m I gonna die”? A tear rolled down my cheek, as I sniffled, wiping the tear with the back of my palm

He dropped the ropes in his hands for tying my hands, and sat not too far away from me, my head still bent

“I lost both my parents when I was five”, he started. I raised my head to look at him but he’s eyes were fixed on nothing really, he just wasn’t looking at me and his back was resting on the wall as he sat on the ground

“My uncle took me in” he went on but paused a while before continuing. “He was married to this nice lady, and since he was my dad’s only brother, he decided to take me in. My parents and I, though, we weren’t flamboyant, we lived well, we had a small bungalow my dad built just for us, from his savings and my mom had a restaurant”. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as if he remembered something, but it disappeared all too quickly. “My mom, would come home with me after school and prepare plenteous meal for just our small family. My dad always complained it was too much but she would say, we would give it to our neighbours and we would laugh and eat. But then they died, both of them, in their car, while I was home waiting on them. My uncle came and told me to pack my things that I’m going with him. I asked him why, and where my parents were. He told me they travelled and asked him to take care of me and told me to go on. I knew something had happened,my parents wouldn’t just go away like that, they took me everywhere, but the little boy in me wouldn’t wanna believe it and decided to believe him instead. I packed up and went with him. His family were so welcoming, especially his wife, took me inas part of her family cause she had a boy and a girl. I became there third child.

“As time went by, I still pestered for my parents, but his wife would assure me everything’s fine and not to worry, and so would the kids, since they were far older than I was. But that wasn’t the case with my uncle, he got mad for every mistake I did and scolded me, his anger got a better of him when he spilled my parents death when he was yelling at me one day and immediately stopped when he realised what he had said, but it was too late, I had already heard and I ran to my room in tears just as I saw his wife’s sad face looking at me. She knocked on my door, later on and apologised on her husband’s behalf but the deed was already done. She said she didn’t see me any less and she was true to her words.

All I could do was blink occasionally,and sniffle cause of my running nose, not believing he was actually telling me his sad story, but nonetheless glad, he wasn’t angry, or yelling at me

“I grew up with them” he continued, was really brilliant, so my teachers would always say. Top of my class, and the joy in my mother’s face, I started calling her mom, he explained, was all it took to make me want to continue. But my uncle didn’t hide his disgust for me anymore. one day I over heard him and his wife discussing about me, and he was yelling, while his wife was talking in hushed tones. “So what are we going to do about him” I heard him yell. “We’ve used all our money in training our actual kids and I don’t have a dime anymore to spend on him” he yelled.

“Honey calm down” came her calm soothing voice, he’s our son now, and we’ll manage as we have being doing”

“No, he’s not my son and will never be, came his angry reply.

“Well you should’ve thought about that before you sold his father’s house and took all his parents properties for yourself. I told you to leave it alone, since it was left for him but you didn’t listen. He’s my son now” she yelled “and that means were taking care of him till the end whether you like it or not, so you better suck it up and do what you have to do”.

“I heard shuffling, and decided to stop listening and went away to my room, not able to grasp all the information I just heard but slept off. The next day life went on with me pretending not to hear anything

“After my waec results came out, I aced most of the subject and got just two B’s and the joy on her face was”… he paused to look at me and we shared gazes before he looked away and continued

“She made a feast to celebrate and my brother and sisters came also since they aren’t home anymore with us, which my uncle wasn’t happy about but had to go with it cause of his wife.

“Weeks later, my mom decided to visit her parents, cause of her ailing father and left me with my uncle.

“He called for me, two days later told me he couldn’t cater for me anymore, gave me few cash, told me to pack my things and leave his house

“I was angered, not that I wasn’t expecting it but still… I asked about my father’s property to which he replied, he had already exhausted it on me. I nodded and went in, gathered my belongings and left without taking a dime from him. Half way out the door, I turned to him and told him to tell mom and my siblings “I’m sorry, and thank you” before I turned fully and left not sure where I was headed. I started living on the streets that was until I met “Them” he growled the last word, his jaw clenching.

He stopped narrating, came to where I was sitting,my gaze fixed on him. He tied my hands and walked away, with me wondering what the héll just happened. What happened to him that made him like this.

It’s been four days… four days I’ve been held hostage in this place, and it’s seems Dennis, as I now know him as has being avoiding me. Not that we we talked anyway, but at least he opened up a bit to me about him the last time. He really had it rough, but what could have turned him into this? I wondered. Feeling dizzy all of a sudden, I decided resting my head a bit since I couldn’t sleep a wink last night and the cold ground I’ve been lying on is taken its toil on me, cause I feel a fever coming on

The door flung open an immediately I knew who came in. I waited for him to call out, but there was nothing. Seconds later, a plate was kept in front of me and he was leaving already without even his signature “Eat”

I sat up immediately and saw his retreating figure. “Hey” I called out but he didn’t so much as stop. Was he mad at me? Well, That was a stupid question as he has no business with me, but still, no grunts or angry remarks?

“Hey!” “Stop!” I yelled, and he turned to me, his face anything but friendly,causing me to shiver in fear and suddenly regretting my decision to yell, while he walked straight to where I was seated glaring daggers at me

“What?” he growled his eyes still fixated on me, making me even more uncomfortable

“I…I…I still need to use the bathroom, I stuttered, cowering in fear as he bent to my face level, his ragged breath fanning across my face. He stayed a while, before bringing out a pocket knife and cut the rope, unlike his usual untying.

I gulped nervously, mostly because of the knife still been held close to my face. He got up, and I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding, my eyes still fixed on him

“Let’s go” he spoke in a gruff voice, and I immediately untied the ropes on my leg and followed not wanting to provoke him more than I apparently had done

After I was done freshening up, I knocked on the door, and he opened, his face still holding a glare. He pulled me in and threw me down on the ground whilst I flinched and hissed in pain, but not daring to utter a word

He turned to walk away after he was done tying while I tried and failed to hide the tears from spilling. I sniffled and he stopped on his tracks. After what felt like eternity, when it was barely minutes, I felt a cold hand raise my chin up and saw his face, he was no longer spotting a scowl, but now a sorry look, bending to my face level

“I’m sorry”, he whispered, almost too low for me to hear, but I heard.

“They ruined me”. He muttered dropping his hands from my chin. “But you know the funny part?” he laughed maniacally, but I could feel the vulnerability beneath it. “I liked every bit of it, until she came along…. she changed me, she made me want to be better…. but then they took her, and ended her life

“She didn’t deserve it” he yelled causing my my breaths to come out ragged in fear. “She was a nice person, an angel, he stopped and fell to the ground, slouching. “You should have seen her lifeless body” he muttered, sounding bitter. “I could’ve protected her” he stopped talking, but still not looking at me, his eyes fixed to the ground

“Who are they?” I raised my two hands, since they were together,turning his face to make him look at me, and gladly it worked

“Not they” he laughed sadly “Him. And it doesn’t matter, cause I killed him”

…to be continued

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