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Part 8.

Chapter 3.

After a refreshing bath and a bowl of Indomie, Wema was in the verandah enjoying the rare sun waves given the harsh weather recently, when the Sosoke cat appeared out of nowhere. She meowed as she approached, balancing on the iron rails like a gymnast on a beam and as elegantly as a model, before jumping down on the concrete and walking over to her.

She jumped on the bench as Wema watched, then the two sat staring at each other before Wema broke into a soft chuckle. The cat's eyes squinted as though in response before settling down, then started licking her pads.

"I've never had a pet my whole life," Wema spoke. "I haven't done so many things in life that I wanted to in fact." She added, as though the little creature was enchanted and made people open up to her.

"Am jealous of you.." she said vaguely, petting her little head. The tenderness of its fur tickled her palm which made her smile. The cat purred in enjoyment.

"You get to go wherever you want, you can climb however high you want, and land on your feet even when you fall."

Sighing, she looked up at the sun barely peeking from the Columbus clouds, "I can't believe am talking to a cat."

A sudden premonition however made a chill run down her spine, and that's when she noticed softly approaching footsteps behind her, but it couldn't save her from the intruder. It was too late to turn around, so the gloved man captured her.

Bekho had left home after promising to let her stay if she wouldn't follow him like she had done the day before, and on feeling on the man's body as she struggled against him, he felt a bit bulkier than Bekho so it wasn't him.

The cat had scurried away as soon as the commotion began, leaving her to battle the man who had now blindfolded her and was tying her hands at her back.

"Leave the slut alone already..." another deep voice of a man said from inside the house.

"To think that he keeps one of them for himself...pfft." The man said just as Wema's body fell on the concrete.

"I don't even know why they all suck up to him, he acts like he's all that..." the voice faded as he hurried back into the house.

The other man was dressed more formally, in a black suit and well-kept hair like every butler who serves in a conglomerate family, or a high ranking officer's bodyguard.

From where she lay on the ground, with her heart beating rapidly in her chest from fear, she regretted for the first time having run away from home. Her whole body shook, her breath was unsteady, she dared not make a sound, or even cry.

I knew he was in a gang, she thought.

Will they kill me before they leave to avenge for something, or send him a message.

Will they frame him for my murder just to get him out of the way...

I know this voice...

The situation was horrifying as she listened to the sound of everything being turned upside down inside the house, yet a part of her felt more thrilled than frightened by it. What else was possible in this newly found world away from home.

It quieted down after a while, but only when the cat came back, meowing and going around her in circles did she start wriggling out of the tight binds. Born with flexible shoulder blades that allowed her to move arms clasped together from behind over her head to the front effortlessly, she finally found a use for the talent after sitting herself down, then used her teeth to untie herself.

She took off her blindfold, chest heaving heavily as she rushed back inside.

She thought everything would be strewn about the room, but it looked as though nothing had happened in the first place.

"Whooaaa.." she sighed heavily, flopping onto the bed, only for the doorbell to startle her out of the blue.

Steeling herself for the worst, she tiptoed towards the door, while the cat followed silently on her heel as though aware of their current state.

"Hello." She tried to sound stable after making sure the door was locked from inside, despite the pain on her wrists and rapid heartbeat. 

"It's me." A composed man spoke. A voice similar to the intruder's.

Yet, this Wema swung the door open for him.

Ian. The voice was Ian's.

"Is Bekho..." he trailed off, tilting his head sideways like a dog and peering at her with a curious expression in his eyes while letting himself in and she impulsively stepped back.

"So it is you." He said with a smirk, then glanced at the wrists she was still rubbing. He extended his arm to touch them, but she slapped his hand away, stepping farther away.

"Sorry about that. It wasn't me." He shrugged, sounding quite honest.

She huffed in annoyance. "Are you horrible at lies or just stupid?" She asked, glancing briefly at the gloves peeking from under his belt.

"You are something else you know.." he spoke nonchalantly, making his way to the couch while his eyes looked around the room like a visitor. "I tied you up quite nice yet you still got away...you still opened the door for me..."

"Am just not scared." She spoke firmly with a straight face, "and am not foolish enough to not have an alibi and backup in case anything happened to me."

He laughed, his careless voice vibrating through her meridians, threatening the little strength she had left.

"If you want to know more," Ian began, walking over to her. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look up, where a playful grin was plastered.
"about Bekho, how about you come with me."

She shook her head out of his grip when his thumb started shifting back and forth on her skin, her clenched fists fighting the urge to punch him.

"I know you want to," he said,  "but not because of him." He whispered in her ears, before walking out.

"You and I have a lot in common you know..."

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