Ex Gratia (#1 EX TRILOGY)

Chapter 27

It was a dark night. All the lights around were out. Akoma found herself standing in this thick gloom that was just impenetrable. She decided to take a step but could not see her feet nor where she was stepping. The night was still, yet the weather was cold and damp, and her clothes were sticking to her body. Her eyes were feeling funny because of how her pupils had to dilate in response to the darkness. Just then, fog began to slither around her feet out of nowhere – and this was the only thing that was visible in the dark. It started to spread, and then all she could see was the space around her enveloped in thick fog. Then she saw the figure of someone approaching within the fog, and she panicked. Her heart pounded in her chest because she feared the person could be dangerous. Just when she thought of self-defence, she became aware of a gun in her hand and gripped it firmly.

“Go and kill,” came the sly voice of a woman at the back of her head. Akoma looked around and saw light, but the dark silhouette of a woman was in front of the light, and her face was not visible. The influence of the voice was so strong that, though Akoma did not want to do what she was told, she simply moved on without hesitation. The person within the fog started to approach faster, and Akoma felt scared. She heard the sound of the footsteps growing louder as the person came closer. Was he or she going to harm Akoma?

Akoma slowly squared her shoulders and raised the gun to aim right for the heart, and then she squeezed the trigger. It fired, and the person fell backwards to the ground. Akoma sighed and stared at the smoking barrel of the handgun in her hand. It did not feel bad to murder in the first place, to her surprise, and in her mind she was certain that whoever she had shot dead was an enemy. She walked closer. Gradually, the body seemed to start gaining colour as though watching a colour fade visual effect. She noticed that it was a woman judging by the breasts underneath the clothes and long hair. She saw blood soaking the victim’s clothes from the wound in the chest, and there was already a pool of blood on the ground.

Akoma and stopped over the body, and to her utmost terror, the person turned out to be –

“Gracefield!” Akoma jolted from sleep and found herself sweating profusely in her hotel room. It was only 12:56am and the lights had been put out. She pushed the covers off her and slid down her bed to walk to the balcony. Her heart was racing and she did not know why she was trembling like that this time. This was the fourth time she had had the same dream about killing Gracefied nine days since her last assignment at the fashion designer’s. She was surprised that dreams about the wreckage did not appear instead. She gripped the cold aluminium banister firmly and bent over, taking deep breaths and shutting her eyes. She was very scared. Maybe the last assignment had awakened something inside her that was supposed to eternally dead, or maybe it planted it there from elsewhere. She started to consider how far she was prepared to go with this appointment with Ex Gratia, whether she was going to be a permanent agent to be an ‘Ender’ to other innocent broken people, or just be an expendable agent who would have to self-terminate for the secret of the syndicate to die with her. She thought of her mother, her friends and family and felt she was missing out in life because they had nobody to be bossing them around to visit or love their exes. She called Gracefield’s line one more time and did not get an answer just like the rest of the days since their last conversation.

*******

Mama was surprised to see he daughter visit her again. She was not weeping this time. She looked healthier than the last visit, but something was troubling her. At supper on the second day of the visit, Mama sipped a glass of water and licked her lip with her gaze fixed on Akoma. Akoma served the yam and aubergine sauce onto the plates before them. Akoma looked up and saw her mother staring.

“Akoma, you do know that you have been quiet since yesterday, don't you?” Mama asked.

Akoma shrugged and pulled her plate to herself as she sat on the cushion on the floor to eat. “I know, Ma. Just a few things I don’t understand. I am sure they’ll make sense soon.”

Mama snorted and said, “Young people. You seem to have everything figured out until you’ve had enough in one lifetime.  I would have pushed you to reveal everything, but I can only pray and trust that you will not be harmed.” She leaned forward and pushed Akoma’s hair off her face with her thumb. “You are not yourself. Something is on your mind, and it is not Rich.”

Akoma waved it off and mumbled, “Of course, it’s not Rich. He’s just a liar.” She ate silently for some minutes while Mama watched her. She finally looked up when she could not hold it any longer and opened her mouth to speak, but she weighed her question and wondered how Ender was going to know about what she was going to say. “Mama.”

“Yes?”

“What do you do when you find out that you’re being drawn into something that’s awful, but you seem to be bound to it because the life of someone you love is tied to the outcome of the assignment?”

Mama furrowed her eyebrow and thought for some time before replying, “Call the police. This is not a matter of negotiation. What have you gotten yourself into?”

Akoma held her breath. “Mama, it’s not that kind of awful thing – “

“No. The issue is that someone’s life is at stake, from what you said. Isn’t that enough to send you to the police for help?”

Akoma regretted telling her anything in the first place. Mama looked alarmed by Akoma’s scenario and kept insisting that Akoma was lying about a persistent situation. Akoma felt she needed someone who would not quickly attempt to contact the police, but could at least attempt to handle the situation unconventionally long enough. Her mother was just being as emotional as always.

“Akoma, be careful o. Yoo. I have warned you,” Mama finally said as Akoma cleared the dishes later after supper.

She received a phone call from Ender the next dawn. She had to sneak out of the bedroom and step outside onto the compound to talk freely. “What next?”

“Your next assignment is almost ready,” she said. “It’s scheduled for three days from now.”

Akoma frowned. “My friend has a wedding that day. Missing it might be – “

“You should miss your own funeral to take this assignment or else it won’t be nice at that wedding. Well – it won’t be a very peaceful one anyway.”

“Wait – what are you talking about?” Akoma asked. “What do you know?” There was silence on the line. Akoma repeated, “What do you know? Talk.”

“You dare command me?” Ender hissed. “Go to sleep – now!”

Akoma opened her mouth to speak but went totally blank. She suddenly felt like she had closed her eyes and perhaps fallen down, but she was unaware of time long enough until she finally got roused by her mother and found herself sleeping indoors the next morning.

“Ah!” Mama shouted. “I thought you were dead. Don’t be sleeping like that. Get up and let’s sweep the compound.” She left the room angrily. Akoma sat up and rubbed her forehead, trying to remember what had happened after the call from Ender, but she could only find memories of herself walking back inside and getting to bed, and something about that picture felt unreal.