Ex Vivo (#2 EX TRILOGY)

Chapter 8

At half past eight p.m. on the same day she was dispatched to the university campus to meet up with the Snitcher, Akoma decided to take a break and grab a drink at Mimi's Hut near the university's library after hours of lurking and waiting for the next word from Ender. Just as she took her last sip on the coconut juice, she looked up and attempted to draw the attention of a waiter, but she hesitated when she glimpsed something odd in a reflection in the glass door before her. She slowly set down her empty coconut onto the table and pretended to check something on her phone for about thirty seconds, and then she peeked at the reflection with her head bowed and hidden behind the chair before her.

Someone was staring at her from the far end of the hut.

Akoma averted her eyes quickly and wondered what the person was possibly looking at, and she quickly planned a repulsion plan if that person turned out to be a man thinking of making advances at her. She took another glimpse and intentionally stretched in order to take a peek at whoever it was. She realized the person was a male and he had quickly averted his eyes just when Akoma moved. Akoma started doing a number of calculated movements to buy her some time to observe her stalker, and she was quite disappointed to see that he was busily staring at a waiter who was serving another table not far from him.

The campus Snitcher called less than a minute later. "I was just told by my friend and classmate that his girlfriend was seeing someone else. He looks terrible."

Akoma sighed and prodded the coconut with her fingers. "I guess we should let them be," she responded. "These campus folk are fond of playing a lot of relationship drama. It will be too unnecessary to slaughter someone because of a relationship that's already bound to doom. I find these kids really troublesome. Waste of time."

The Snitcher scoffed. "You know Ender will not be pleased with your attitude, don't you? I can report you right now, and I know you will regret it."

Akoma shook her head. "Is that blackmail or what?"

"Whatever it is, the message is what matters most - "

"Look! Stop wasting your time! Do you know what she is doing to - ", Akoma started to say, but she paused for a moment and remembered that she was under Ender's restraint and would not be able to reveal to the Snitcher that he was under a spell too. Nevertheless, she forced her way through the thick mind shield by focusing on speaking the words and straining to loosen her tongue to let them out, but all that came out of her mouth were gagging sounds.

"Excuse me?" the Snitcher asked. "I can't make anything out of what you're saying. Hello?"

Akoma tried harder. The muscles in her neck began to tense up, and she felt a low croak in her throat that resonated in her ears. 'Come on, Akoma. Try harder. You have to be able to say this. SNITCHER, YOU ARE UNDER ENDER'S CONTROL. YOU ARE UNDER HER CONTROL - YOU ARE - UNDER - HER - CONTROL! YOU - ARE - UNDER - HER - try harder, girl. Try. Say it! Say it! Say it!

You shall not say a word to anyone, not even a Snitcher, concerning your submission to me - not even their status should be revealed to them, came another voice in a whisper in her left ear. She remembered these exact words on the day they were said. That was one of the strongest barriers Ender had put on Akoma's mind, and this spell appeared to be unbreakable because Akoma endured excruciating pain whenever she attempted repelling it. Gradually, she began to feel the anticipated pain seizing her throat, and she reached for it slowly and massaged it with her fingers fruitlessly. She felt the sweat pores at different regions of her face open and one drop of sweat slowly slid down her forehead and onto her left brow. The mind battle was growing intense, unfortunately granting her a very thin chance of victory. The other voice, actually Ender's, was growing louder with a high-pitched underlay to it.