Beckoned Through The Dark

33 // Lesego // Free Bird

After Clay left, I couldn't sleep at all. I was so exhausted and yet my own conscience wouldn't allow me to rest. I kept thinking about what Clay had said.

He had spent the last three months with me, but I was in prison. The thought that the imposter was living in my house while pretending to be me, bothered me.

From all I could tell, she was dangerous; she had set the cafeteria at school on fire and killed many people, which meant she was capable of anything, and my family wasn't safe at all.

I could still see the whole scene going down. It was right after I left campus with my Danielle who told me that Helena had left due to a family emergency. After we left, Sihle's car drove back to the campus with someone that looked like me.

She stood on the pavement in front of the parking lot and surveyed the area. She looked like me, but she had a serious face, an angrier face than mine, and her hair was a bit longer compared to mine.

She looked bigger and taller than me, but somehow, I couldn't understand why Mrs Martins didn't notice the difference when she approached them and started conversing with me. I mean her.

The girl whose name I still don't know, looked impassive and tense as she nodded her head to whatever the old lady was saying.

Mrs Martins then headed for the cafeteria. The girl attempted to go after her, and Sihle stopped her, but her defiance was so cold, I could see him literally take a step back.

She looked crazy; her eyes were wide and loud in alarm, a sort of a warning; not just to Sihle but to everyone who was watching.

The look on her face made me shudder when I saw her on CCTV footage, and it felt as though the only thing standing between us was a mere computer screen, as if she could see me.

She turned around and walked off, and I couldn't miss the relieved and yet scared look on Sihle's face as we slowly walked behind her.

They went through the underground parking lot instead of the stairs, and then entered through the cafeteria kitchen. Fast forward to fifteen minutes later, Sihle and his lady friend reappeared from the cafeteria through the staircase, looking as chilled as ever; leaving behind a huge cloud of smoke.

They escaped in Sihle's car, and five minutes later, Mrs Martins also left the campus from the library. But from the looks of things, she was troubled.

Detective Daniels and I surveyed the rest of the footages around campus and all the entrances and exits on that particular day; and it clearly showed that I left campus with my friends and that there was no way we could have met with Sihle on the way.

The footage went as far as showing my mini episode in the garden, and I've never been as scared as I was when I realised that I was the only person in that garden before Danielle came to fetch me.

On other news, it turns around that Helena never went home; she went to the cafeteria right after she left me, as well as Clay. Strangely, the cameras at the cafeteria stopped working right at that moment and we couldn't tell whether Clay or any of the other students left the cafeteria or not.

But clearly, he had.

I was innocent, and Detective Daniels knew this and realized that I was aware of the truth; he just disappeared with the promise of bringing the 'imposter' to justice. From there on, I only dealt with guards and my fellow prisoners, and that was it.

I guess if it wasn't for the latest encounter, I would still be in prison and probably dead by now. Worst case scenario, no one would even notice, because to the world, I would still be alive and well.