Ace of Spades ✅

12; You Don't Know What It's Like.

"Three days ago, he sent a video to the presidential office through unidentified means and as always, full of threats." Isaac paused, and pressed the remote in his hand to play the video. It will better for them to see it with their own eyes than for him to expression.

Immediately, the said man's face came on, his greasy voice filling the space of the meeting room. He stood in front of the camera in his glory, as if he has no fear at all whatsoever. It wasn't that hard to tell what he was wearing-a faded khaki trousers and army green top.

His face was completely bare; letting the world know the face of the man that had ruined countless families. The man that forcefully ripped away a mother from a child, and a child from its parents. The man that instilled fear in people's minds; planted it along with uneasiness and nurture it with disruption in the country entirely.

His age isn't exactly known-but said to be approximated around forties to early fifties. He doesn't look that old though, for his face sported no wrinkles aside from the jagged scar that run down the side of his face-or perhaps, it's a tribal mark of some sort. It's as well yet to be identified.

A dusty grey veil was used to cover his hair, as always. Hardly anyone ever sees him without it. It left his hair to nothing of a person's imagination. Contrary to people's thoughts thought, he wasn't exactly bulky.

Sure enough, the top he had on clung to his skin, outlining what's not open to one's eyes and his arms, bare, were veiny and muscular. He was more in the middle than rather belonging to being lanky, or bulky.

Aside from the scar, he would've passed on in a crowd of people as an ordinary man because nothing about him stood out. If not that his face is actually imprinted in people's minds, he would've done just that. Even then, there's no telling whether he will dare to do so or otherwise.

When his voice came, it held that ruggedness his expression lacked. His eyes were fixed on the camera, as if directly looking into the souls of the viewers and gnawing at it. "I don't need to introduce myself, nasan kun sanni so bazan bata lokaci naba." He started, his lips parting to showcase his crooked front teeth. Still, it was the least of their concerns. "Nasa mutane na sun sato mana yara daga makarantun qauyuka. As you can see, all of them are girls"

The camera shifted to the side, and true to his words, quite a large number of girls were seated on the floor, surrounded by men that were all heavily armed. Most of them were crying, while a few looked as though they've already surrendered to their fate. To say they are petrified will be an understatement.

Inaya sucked in a breath, clenching her fist. Subconsciously, her thumb moved to the ring on her index finger, a black band that doesn't seem out of the ordinary in the slightest bit, before digging into it.

Despite her action, her facial expression remained blank, impossible to penetrate and tell what exactly was going on her mind. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, as if she would see herself there, in that same place and be in the moment. The girls' cries, the shaky bodies, the armed men...it seemed to be slowly taking over her-and suddenly, she had forgotten exactly where she was at the moment.

From the corner of his eyes, Aadil didn't miss the change in her posture or even the smallest action of hers. Though he made no move to show he was aware, he knew it all too well and was subconsciously ready to offer comfort if needed.

Luckily, the camera was switched to show the man that didn't seem to regret his actions in the slightest. What did they expect? He had been doing that exact thing for over a decade, it was clear his heart was long gone down that path.

He even had the audacity to offer them a wide grin through the camera, as if knowing the anger coursing through their veins at the sight of those terrified girls.

"-it's too early to pull those long faces, I mean you guys take us to be bad people, we aren't. Mu nan musulmai ne, addini muke so mu dabbaka."

Unable to help herself, Rukayya instantly let out a scoff the minute those words left his lips. Did he just call them Muslims? The audacity! Honestly, it was people like them that paint the beautiful religion in a bad light. They aren't even in the position to claim any religion, much less to camouflage under the name of 'Islam' just to ruin it.

Islam never stands for violence. It's just sad people like them ruin the image of the beautiful religion for their selfish needs.

"-you shouldn't send these small girls to school. They are supposed to stay home and take care of the house, that's how it's supposed to be. Haka addini yace ba ku tura su yawon banza da sunan boko ba. But, don't worry, we'll take of that for you. We have a lot of unmarried men here, and even those willing to take second, third and fourth wives." He chuckled, the menacing sound filling the air and sending chills along with it.

If looks could kill, the man would be six feet under then.

"--And, don't even think of coming to save them, for you do, wallahi sai na kasha su dukka! Ba wanda zai bar nan a raye. Idan kunne ya ji, jika ya tsira! I'm sending you this because we need you to send money for their upbringing of course. We're helping you take care of them, you need to give some support as well."

The curl of the man's lips into a wider grin made Inaya's stomach instantly be in knots, her thumbnail digging painfully into her index finger. At that rate, she would soon rupture the skin since she has sharp nails.

"-Of course," The man continued with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "we are open to negotiate bringing them back to you at a fair price. Stay tuned, I'll soon reach out so we can discuss the ransom money."

The video ended there.

Shoulders slumped, and sighs were released-anger coursing through the veins instantly. They were all silent for a while, waiting for Aadil to speak up because it was obvious, they needed to hear his input first.

But, much to their surprise, he didn't voice out the words they were expecting. If anything, he turned his head to the side, his eyes on Inaya before he voiced out. "What should we do?" He wasn't taunting her, he genuinely wanted her input.

She swallowed thickly, her hand fisting yet again. Her eyes were still fixed on the screen, despite it going blank already. "We save them." She stated, her voice low and cold. "That's what."