We got to the place and to my surprise it wasn't an outside court like the one Michael used to take me to. It was like our school basketball court but bigger, with different guys playing in the court, some shirtless, some sweating. I sat down and watched as Alex greeted the other players, giving them bro hugs and stuff.
"Michelle?" A voice said behind me, I turned around to see Diane's cousin Liam, he was shirtless and holding a bottle of water.
"Hey, uhm Liam, How's it been?" He smiled and sipped from his bottle,
"Well, I came to Florida for the holidays, I got tired of the hustle and bustle of New York".
I nodded, "Oh, uhm Diane told me you guys were coming though, I didn't know it was so soon"
He dropped his bottle on the bench and turned round, his dark messy hair falling over his forehead, his grey eyes looking into mine and he smiled, "Well, I'm here now".
He turned to look back at the court and whispered, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me, probably go to the movies?".
I was contemplating whether or not to accept his offer. "I don't know, I'll think about it".
He sat down on the bench and turned to look at me, "I know our first time seeing each other wasn't all good, I was drunk and didn't know what I was doing, I've been battling with myself ever since, I felt I took advantage of your situation and I'm really sorry".
I was shocked at the way he apologized for something that I didn't even remember, "Its cool, funny story is that I didn't even remember anything that happened until recently when Diane mentioned it".
He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "She really didn't let me have it she would always be like, you owe me a new bed, or she'll say buy me a new bedspread on your way out". He said, mimicking Diane's voice which sounded exactly like her.
I laughed so hard, while holding my stomach and ate my cookie and offered him some.
"Want some?" He shook his head, "I don't eat while training".
I wondered why they always refused to eat while they were practicing, "Why?"
He shrugged and ran his hand through his hair, "It's just not advisable, makes you feel weak and you get tired easily".
I nodded and picked at my sweater. "Oh okay, anyways are you coming for the big game tomorrow? Everyone keeps talking about it".
He shook his head and stood up. "I'm not sure I'll be able to come, I have other stuffs to do".
I chewed on my bottom lips and that's when I noticed how handsome he was, his muscles were well defined, with a smooth tan skin and black hair which kept falling on his forehead, he had to run his hand through it to take back only to have it fall back again. His lips so pink and full and his grey eyes which looked like it was reading into one's soul.
"Okay, that's cool".
I felt a tingling feeling on my feet and my head began to turn and everything began to blur, I heard Liam's voice asking me if I was alright, but his voice wasn't clear and I stood up and fell on my knees. I held onto the bench and the voice which I had been hearing for sometime kept saying, Come back home, Come back and fulfill your destiny, you alone. I screamed and everything suddenly faded out.
I woke up again in the same strange forest again, but this time I was floating in the lake. I stood up and walked out and noticed I was in the strange white attire again with the red waist bead on my waist and my neck and hand adorned with coral beads. I looked around and noticed that no one and nothing was in sight.
I screamed and then I saw a figure walking up to me. I looked closely and saw myself walking up to me. I shrieked and moved back and suddenly she was in front of me.
"Where are you running to?" I stopped walking backwards knowing that I didn't even have where to run to.
"Nowhere, but why am I here? I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to be involved, just leave me alone".
Sh chuckled deeply and stopped suddenly, "Today, I will be running through everything you need to accomplish your mission, follow me"
She said and totally ignored my questions. She turned and walked back deeper into the forest.
"There were five people who killed your father, they used him to satisfy their own selfish interest known to only them, but from the look of things, you will........"
She trailed off and stopped suddenly in front of a cave and looked back and me. "Find out. Go in"
I looked at her in confusion and she said again, "Go in".
I walked in scared, everywhere was dark, the air was wet and smelt of herbs. I walked in and saw a small pond of water in the middle of the cave.
"Your first mission is to take the life of Alhaja" she said startling me.
I looked at her and frowned, "I can't take the life of anyone".
She tilted her head to the side and looked at the pond, and a man appeared, he was dressed in a blue and rather baggy cloth, which he adjusted from time to time. He was talking to someone and was holding a glass of wine.
"He took the life of your father and you must avenge your father's death".
I looked at her in confusion, "No one killed my father, he had a heart failure and died, no one killed him".
She walked slowly behind me and bent down to pick a stone and tossed it into the water. "Your father was killed by these people, five of them and you will take them down one by one, you must do this to avenge the death of your father!"
She stood up from her squatting position and adjusted her cloth.
I moved back a little from the pond when an image of my father being stabbed in the chest with a sword appeared on the surface of the water. "No, no, no, this isn't true, nobody killed my father, nobody, no"
I picked up a stone from the floor and threw it in the water, just when my dad landed on the ground. Dead. I screamed and dropped to the ground and suddenly everything blacked out.
I woke up screaming and found out I was in a room, I sat up and looked around, something felt familiar about this room, the scent, the window, the door, the dresser, I saw my scarf on the pillow and turned to pick it up when the room door burst open.
"Are you okay? Heard you screaming". He held my face in his hands and I exhaled.
"I'm fine, I just want to use the bathroom".
He nodded and pointed towards the door by the left of the room. I stood up and walked to the bathroom and heard the room door close. I looked at my reflection and washed my face and dried it with a towel. I sat down on the toilet and that's when I noticed the waist bead on my waist which had been on my body for some days now. I tried cutting it off, but it won't budge, I ransacked the cabinets and found a pair of scissors and cut the waist bead.
I dropped the scissors on the counter and pulled up my joggers, only to find the waist bead back in place on my waist. I came out of the toilet and sat down on the bed, it was so soft and smelt like vanilla and was big enough to contain about five people. I walked out of the room and headed downstairs. I was so tired of having all these fainting which wasn't due to anything, but some supernatural force or whatnot.
I sat down on the stool in the kitchen and rested my head on the counter, I heard Alex calling my name from upstairs,
"I'm here!"
He came down the stairs and held my face and tilted it up. He hugged me and rubbed my back and kept muttering.
"You'll be fine". I released myself from his embrace and held his hands.
"I'm so sorry for ruining your game today, I'm sure you see me a a weird person, because I faint pointlessly, I'm really sorry".
He smiled and rubbed my cheeks softly, "It's okay, as long as you are fine, nothing else matters".
I really wanted to tell him what was bothering me, but the voice kept whispering, You alone, no one else must know, you alone. I stood up from the stool and hugged him tightly. I really didn't understand my life at this point, but I also needed to find out the people who killed my father.