Finding 'x'

•Deal with the devil•

Easier said than done.

By the time it was safe for the forensic officers to come along, the flesh had already rotted beyond salvation.

Officer twisted tongue had blamed us for being careless, pointed to a certain chemical in the lab and gabbled something that translated to; 'you should have used that chemical to preserve it'. Needless to say, we were unable to get the equation.

What math problem was I seated by my desk and solving by 1am?

It was the one I got from my latest nightmare.

I know. It sounded very foolish and inefficient, but there wasn't any other way to tell how much time we had left and I had a feeling that it was the correct equation, all I had to do was to get the correct answer.

I'd failed miserably in doing that so far.

So much for being 'smarter than I let on'

Sigh.

This was one of those times in which I felt the burning need to smoke, but my stash had been ruined by that gift, everything in my locker had been ruined by the gift.

I had no money left either, the money mother left me had vanished along the lines of stocking up on necessities and delivering the week's due to 'healing hearts foundation'.

I needed that stuff or I'd go bat shit crazy with all the numbers swimming in my head right now. So I did the next best thing to do, I snuck out through the window to meet with my supplier. Hopefully, he would let me have some without asking to pay in kind.

Sigh.

It was easy to get away from the dorm. The room I stayed in was on the ground floor and there was next to no security considering that the girls were all refined breeds from well to do parents, none of them will have the heart to be rebellious. Scoff.

If only they knew.

Climbing up to the third floor of the staff quarters without encountering the blinding lights of aging security men was a herculean task though. It didn't matter that I wore the right camouflage or was as agile as a monkey, nothing ever got past the eagle-like vision of those babas, except from me, though it was just once when I got lucky.

I almost got lucky this time as well. Almost.

"Isabella Adeoti," someone called from below when I had just climbed past the second floor. Although it was just a level higher than a whisper, it was enough to make me lose my grip of the only solid thing my right hand was holding on to and I started sliding down the fat pole my other hand was tethered unto for stability.

Second floor was still far away from the concrete ground and there was just about enough speed to make the impact nasty. Nobody needed to inform me, I knew my end was near.

That was until I slid past a window and strong, warm hands grabbed mine. I didn't know how the savior was able to do that, but I was grateful. My hope soared.

"Hold on tight, I'll try to draw you in. Don't look below you," due to the whispering, I couldn't tell who he was until after I had successfully landed on my ass twenty long minutes later.

"Balogun." I didn't try to hide my disappointment.

"Yes. Me," he grunted and stretched his had to help me up, "expected someone less of an eyesore?"

That's putting it lightly.

"You shouldn't have bothered saving me," I grumbled and stood up on my own.

Of course I was grateful, but he didn't have to know that.

"Why thank you. It's a pleasure," he replied and walked away from me.