MAYA
I limped on my way out of the club. The pain between my legs was unbearable. My legs kept wobbling so I took my hells off and walked barefoot. My head would spin at the remembrance of what had occurred. There was so much blood.
I smiled weakly. At least, it was over. That's something to be happy about,
He pinned my hands to the bed. I couldn't move at all. He was too strong.
"I don't want this, please" I cried as I struggled against him.
He slapped me. I winced in pain.
I didn't want to see my sister. I didn't want to see her friends. I didn't want to see anyone. I just want to get an Uber, go home, crawl into my bed and sleep.
I want to scream so badly. I had so much anger inside me.
I screamed in pain when he thrust inside me. He entered forcefully and I felt something burst inside me. I screamed again. He covered my mouth.
"Ah, that's it" he moaned in ecstasy while licking his lips. "That's a good girl"
In front of the club, I spotted Justin talking to a woman. I walked closer to them. Initially, I thought it was Adaeze but I was wrong. I've never seen this person before. She wasn't even with them in the club. They were arguing about something.
"You ruined everything" I heard him say.
"Justin?" I called.
He turned to face me.
"Maya?" he looked down at me "Why are you bleeding?"
He walked over to me. Before I could explain or say anything, I collapsed into his arms. This time, I couldn't control my emotions. Slowly, I started to sob until it turned into a full-on cry.
"Hey" he soothed me "It's going to be okay"
He hugged me tightly as I screamed in agony.
ADAEZE
I always hated hospitals. Everything about the building appalled me. The white walls. The apprehension of people. The beeping of machines. It made me go nuts.
I was fortunate enough to have good health that kept me away from coming here. On few occasions of me coming to the hospital, I had the urge to punch the wall and scream. No wonder psychiatric patients get even worse under hospitalization.
Chen was in the emergency room. I was shocked when I heard what really happened. Apparently, she checked Mike's phone for something then discovered the messages between him and Victoria. That was the reason she came to the dancefloor in a raging fit. I was too wasted to ask questions or even to care.
After she confronted them, she went back to our seats with Victoria following here, trying to explain everything. A female waiter came by with a tray which had a drink inside. She said an admirer sent it for the lady in a black dress which was me. Out of anger and in an attempt to get even drunker, Chen gulped down the drink without question. After a few minutes of bickering back and forth, Chen fell to the floor and started to have a seizure.
I stayed seated in the hallway, trying to make sense of all that has happened tonight. That drink was meant for me. Chen is in a hospital bed because of me. I'm the one who's supposed to be lying down there, not her. I felt guilty. It seemed as if it was all my fault and Chen had to suffer for it all.
Who could have sent it? More importantly, what would have happened to me if I actually took it? Yesterday, I was thinking nothing would go wrong this weekend. Boy, was I wrong! All it took was a few moments for things to spiral out of control.
When I entered the hospital, I went straight to Chen's room. She looked so pale and lifeless. The once fierce and strong warrior we knew was lying down there, looking all weak. The sight brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't bear to look at her for much longer so I had to come outside to wait. The doctor told us that she's lucky she has a strong immune system and that she was brought here on time. If not, she might not be able to make it. She just needed monitoring. She would be fine by tomorrow evening at most.
"Hello dear" a voice brought me out of my thoughts.
I looked up and came in contact with the warmest pair of brown eyes I had ever seen. The man looked like he was in his late fifties. Out of respect, I stood up to talk to him.
"Good evening, sir"
He smiled at me. He looked friendly and easy to talk to.
"I'm the one who called the ambulance. I was at the club with my friends when I saw what happened to your friend. How is she now?"
"Thank you so much, sir. She's doing okay. She just needs rest"
"That's good to hear"
His eyes zeroed in on my earrings.
"Those earrings are beautiful" he commented.
"Thank you, sir. My dad gave them to me"
"Well, he must have good taste"
I chuckled.
"He sure did"
The man and I stared at each other....in a comfortable way. There was nothing weird about it. For some reason, I felt pulled and tempted to seek comfort in his arms, not in a creepy way but in a fatherly manner. It made me think about my dad. I feel as if I've seen this man before but I can't put my finger on it.
"Have I met you before, sir?" I asked him.
"I'm afraid not, my dear. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing. You look very familiar"
"I've been told I have a common face. I'm Patrick"
He held out his hand for me to shake which I did.
"I'm Adaeze"
His hands felt warm. I felt as if I could hold on to his hand for a long time. I looked at him again. I've seen this man somewhere before. I'm sure of it.
"Adaeze" he repeated "What a beautiful name"
The way he called my name sounded familiar too.
Adaeze
"Thank you" I responded.
"Ada!" a voice called from behind me. It was Victoria. Mike and Yinka stood beside her.
"I guess you have to go now" he says.
"Yes sir. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it"
"My pleasure. Good night...Adaeze"
He smiled at me once again. I couldn't help but smile back.
"Good night...Mr. Patrick"
I gave him a respectful nod before making my way towards my friends.
"What's up?'' I asked "How's Chen?"
"She's fine" Victoria responded "The toxins have been flushed out of her system. She will be fine in the morning"
"Okay. Good"
"We all have to keep this to ourselves guys. Our parents would kill us if they knew what happened tonight"
We nodded in understanding.
"Where's Choi?" I asked.
"Inside with Chen"
"Guys" Yinka spoke "We need to get to the bottom of this. This was intentional. It could have been worse. We could have lost our friend tonight"
The thought of losing Chen made me have a weird feeling in my stomach. I couldn't even bear the thought of it. However, he was right. It could have been way worse. This was a warning. If someone really wanted to kill me, the poison would have killed Chen immediately. Even the strongest immune system wouldn't have been able to stop it.
"It was initially meant for Adaeze" Victoria spoke "Ada, do you have any idea who could have sent it?"
"No" I shook my head.
"How about those android thingy's that were after you?" Mike suggested "They could have done it"
I thought about it. It did seem possible. In fact, that was the most reasonable option right now. I'm a seventeen-year-old girl, what other enemy could I possibly have?
"True" I responded "But how did they know I would be at the club?"
"Exactly!" everyone chorused.
"Could they have been spying on us? On you?" Yinka says to me.
"How?" I questioned "We planned this outing weeks ago in private. I doubt anyone was eavesdropping"
"I hate to break it to you" Mike spoke "But it means the information got out from someone on the inside"
"You mean one of us did it?" Victoria questioned.
"Yes"
"That's crazy" I said "We're all friends. Surely, there has to be another explanation"
"My bet's on Yinka" Mike says.
"Come on man" Yinka looked pissed off. I would be too if I were him "You can't be serious"
"Why not? You just came into our group plus you were a former terrorist. How do we know you aren't on a mission to harm one of us? You can't be trusted"
I might not know Yinka too well but I don't think he would want to hurt me or anyone of us for that matter. He didn't give any warning signs. Even at the SARS protest and during one of our missions, he always looked out for my safety. Those occurrences were enough to tell me that he wasn't a traitor.
"You better watch your mouth, bro?"
"Or what? See, I don't even know why you were invited here in the first place. I'm sure this wouldn't have happened if only five of us went out. I knew you were trouble from the first day I saw you. I never trusted you"
"Why? Is it because you were jealous of how close Victoria and I were?"
Mike came closer to him.
"My girlfriend is in the fucking hospital! Don't test me!"
"She's my friend too. You all are. I would never hurt any of you"
Victoria stepped in between them.
"Calm down, guys"
"Ada" Yinka looked at me with pleading eyes "You believe me, don't you?"
Without a doubt, I answered.
"Yes, I do"
"Thank you" he looked relieved.
"How can you believe him?" Mike shrieked "He used to be a fucking t-"
"It's not good to judge people by their past" I say "Yinka is a victim. He was forced to join that group. He's a changed person now and I think he has proved it to all of us. If he really wanted to hurt us, he would have don't that a long time ago. Also, don't forget that Chen took that drink as a result of your infidelity. Don't put the blame on anyone else"
"Well said" Victoria replied "Partly, it's me and Mike's fault"
"Unbelievable" Mike shook his head.
"Can we just focus on finding the culprit instead of fighting each other?" I say.
"Hey guys" a voice said from behind. It was Justin.
I sighed in relief. I had been so worried about his whereabouts. I hugged him tightly.
"Where have you been?" I asked him "I've been blowing up your phone"
"I'm so sorry baby. I got caught up with something in the bathroom then when I came out, I couldn't find you all. What really happened?"
Of course, I can't tell Justin the true story. He would be confused by someone trying to poison me. It would just complicate things.
"Chen took a drink and was allergic to it" I said "She's being treated"
A look of concern came across his face.
"How is she now?"
"She's okay"
"Thank goodness"
He hugged me and kissed my forehead.
"What was so important that you had to take care of?" Mike attacked Justin "Guys, Justin might be the one who did it"
"Oh, shut up" the rest of us chorused.
"Mike!" a loud voice bellowed.
We looked forward to see who it was. It was Choi. He took angry steps towards us. He looked furious.
Oh well. I don't need a fortune teller to predict how this is going to end.
"I can explain" Mike started.
Before he could finish, Choi sucker punched him in the face. Mike was immediately knocked out and fell to the ground.
I thought this night couldn't get any worse. Boy, was I wrong.