Safe

One

Mondays were incredibly busy days. Days when one got up at five, studied a little before breakfast, ate then went to class. Days when one returned completely drained and unable to do much except sleep.
Those were typical Mondays for Nike but since she graduated a few months before, her days had sort of blended together and Mondays were just another day to laze around and do whatever so it wasn't surprising at all when Nike looked at the clock and saw that it was ten in the morning.
She blinked, stared at the ceiling for a moment then went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. After, she grabbed her phone off the bed and stomped downstairs yawning as she checked her notifications.
"Ahn ahn! Who's that person?" She heard someone say as she entered the kitchen and pretended not to hear anything as she helped herself to a warm cup of Milo and carried it to the dining table.
"Some people will just wake up and start making noise for no reason. We like peace here please."
Nike turned to the source of the snarky comment and flipped her brother the finger.
"You're so annoying. Can't I at least have my morning?" She said to him.
"In his defense, you were making a lot of noise." Their sister Sade commented from the couch where she was burrowed under a thick, puffy blanket.
"So mum and dad go to work and you migrate to this place to continue sleeping? Wait till they hear." Nike retorted.
"Ah, sorry o madam reporter!"
The idiot who'd started the argument in the first place snorted and stood up to leave the table and Nike huffed before sipping her tea.
"I can't wait for your schools to resume so you people can get out of this house." She mumbled.
"We know you've graduated. Let's hear!" Sade grumbled.
"Graduate that does not have a job?" Their brother Lekan responded and the two idiots laughed.
"Gosh, you two are idiots." Nike mumbled and finished her tea then went to rinse out the cup.
"Where's the only other sane person in this house?" She asked after.
"So you're categorizing yourself as sane?" Lekan huffed.
Nike who was already closer to him than he realized grabbed him by the collar and delivered a slap to his head which made him howl and try to get out of her grasp.
"Rude idiot!" She said pinching him once for good measure before letting him go. He grumbled his way upstairs and Nike rolled her eyes and flopped next to Sade burying her feet under the blanket.
"Do you have plans for today?" Her sister asked and Nike shook her head.
"We can't spend another boring day in this house. I'll lose my mind." Sade groaned and Nike nodded only half listening as she scrolled through Instagram.
There was silence for a few minutes then Sade gasped and grabbed her sisters leg.
"Let's go and see a movie! Maybe Sugar Rush or something."
"Is the movie even nice?"Nike asked.
"I heard so. Even if it's not, what do we have to lose? We're already bored."
"What do we have to lose? 1k for the ticket is not money?"
Sade burst into laughter and evaded the slap aimed at her.
"Sorry, I forgot you're broke and jobless. Don't worry, I'll pay for you from my generous allowance."
"You had me at pay for me!" Nike said and got up.
"What time's the movie?"
"Twelve thirty." Sade said looking at her phone again.
"I'll go and get ready. We can't be late and miss part of it."
"You didn't even want to go at first."
Halfway up the stairs, Nike stopped and looked down at her sister still sprawled on the couch.
"Madam, get up! I won't wait for you if I finish first."
"Don't wait now, you'll pay with vibes when you get there!" Sade hissed but got up and turned off the tv then trailed her sister up the stairs.
On the way to her bedroom, Nike stopped and banged on their older sister's door.
"Lola! We're going to see a movie, want to come?"
A muffled go away came from inside and Nike shrugged and left.
She took her time to straighten out her bed then took a shower and dressed sort of quickly so she'd finish before Sade and nag her for being slow. She put her braids in a tie behind her and slipped her phone, some cash and her card into a bag she slung around her shoulders as she went downstairs.
"Sade!" She hollered from the living room.
"What?" Her sister called back.
"Please bring me those white sandals you just bought!"
Sade appeared at the top of the stairs.
"My own brand new sandals?" She asked pointing to herself as if to say 'you're joking'. Nike knew it would be easier to beg for it so she did and grinned triumphantly when Sade handed her the pretty, new sandals.
"Just for today okay."
Together, they headed to the garage where Nike selected a car key and unlocked the car. In less than a second, Lekan appeared on the balcony above and shouted down.
"I don't know where you busy bodies are going but don't take the Honda. I didn't wash it for anybody."
Sade stepped out of the garage so she could see his face and said, "stop shouting. Nobody is taking the Honda. Even the neighbors can hear you shouting, you're embarrassing."
Lekan said something back but Nike didn't hear it because she'd shut the car door and was backing out of the garage. Sade helped to open the gate and she drove out calling goodbye to Lekan who lingered on the balcony waving at them as they left.
"Thank God there's no traffic." Sade commented as they arrived at the mall with only a few minutes to twelve thirty.
"We should be happy the movie opened a while ago or we wouldn't even get tickets at this time." Nike told her.
"How about you go in and get the tickets while I park the car."
Sade agreed and entered the building while Nike waited while the security guard directed her to park. She joined her sister at the snack place and laughed when she saw the huge pack of popcorn she'd gotten.
"You don't even like popcorn."
"I'm sharing with you so it has to be much cause you'll put everything inside that vacuum stomach of yours." She retorted.
Nike got the drinks, two bottles of Pepsi and followed her into the theater where they got seats at the middle and sat before the movie began.
Nike pulled on the cardigan she'd brought with her and dug into the popcorn which Sade slapped her hand away from.
"At least let the movie start."
The movie ended up being hilarious and Nike laughed till tears stung her eyes and Sade could barely breathe from their laughter egging the other on.
In hindsight, such a great morning was the calm before the storm but neither girl knew it and they laughed through the movie carefree.
When it ended, they stood outside the theater and Nike asked her sister to wait while she ran to the bathroom.
She'd washed her hands and was reapplying her lipgloss when she first heard it.
A rapid burst of gunfire and screams so loud she dropped her gloss, startled to the bone.
Gunfire on a Monday morning at the mall? It seemed unlikely and Nike had never actually heard a gunshot before so she couldn't be sure. The screams and the sound of people running around was another thing though and she quickly stuffed her gloss into her bag wondering if it was okay to leave the bathroom.
The gunfire started again, closer this time than before and she ducked under the sink already shaking in terror. With trembling hands, she fished her phone out of her bag and dialed her sister.
It rang and rang and rang without an answer and Nike suddenly got the image of her sister lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood. She shivered at the thought and hunkered down more when the shots sounded again. Heavy footsteps followed and she held her breath terrified that whoever it was would open the bathroom door and find her out in the open but she dared not move and tears ran down her face at the thought that she might die on a Monday morning from something as ordinary as going to see a movie at the mall.
Eventually the footsteps faded away and she waited a beat before slipping out into the building gasping in surprise at the deserted and bullet riddled interior. Whatever had done that sort of damage was not to be played with and she quickly retraced her steps to where she'd left her sister. Obviously she didn't find her there and she looked around for any sign of movement but it was dead quiet.
Where had everyone gone? She wondered and was startled by the sound of her phone vibrating against her hip.
She answered quickly and whispered into the phone, half shouting.
"Where are you Sade?"
"Car park!" She whispered back tears swimming in her voice.
"Okay, I'm coming. Just stay by the car."
"Hurry please, it's quiet outside and I'm scared."
Feeling the need to protect her little sister, Nike crept out of the building seeing a few other people pop out of hiding as she went. She ignored them and ran to the car park as fast as she could once she was outside.
Rounding a corner, she came to a sudden stop wondering if she was seeing right at all.
Right there in the car park, with a big, dangerous looking gun slung across his shoulder, a man was stuffing what looked like a corpse into the boot of a car.
A strangled scream escaped her and he turned toward her. She balked as he shut the boot with a loud bang and started walking towarss her, his gun aimed.
Nike screamed and turned running back the way she'd come and hearing the man run after her. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew was that she had to get away from him.
She considered running to her car but realized she'd only lead him to her sister so she ran anywhere he legs took her panting heavily from the strain of the activity.
Suddenly she collided with someone and screamed again edging away from the person.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked steadying her so she wouldn't fall. Nike shook her head and desperately tried to open her mouth and get the words out but all she could do was pant and point behind her. The guy still hadn't caught up to her yet and she finally got out a few jumbled words clutching the stranger by his shirt and shaking.
"There's a guy... A body... Chasing me."
"Wait what?" The guy asked, brows furrowed. She heard footsteps and turned screaming when she found the guy with the gun a few feet behind her.
She tried to take off again but the stranger held her back.
"Let me go! He's going kill me too!" She wailed as she tried to break free wondering why the stranger was holding onto her and not running away from the other man.
"He's a killer! Let me go!" She screamed again and the stranger looked around before barking in an entirely different voice at her.
"Shut up!"
She jumped at the tone and looked back again perplexed. Then the stranger grabbed her other arm and pushed her toward her assailant.
"What? No!"
"Shut up or I'll hit you!" The gun man roared as he grabbed her and began dragging her back the way they'd come, the stranger in tow.
"All in order?" Gunman asked stranger and stranger nodded and with a sickening twist in her gut she realized they knew each other and were working together. They were the ones that shot up the mall.
Contrary to the warning she'd gotten, Nike screamed and fought to get away and the gun man without hesitation backhanded her so hard that her vision swam and she fell to the hot asphalt ground. Stunned beyond measure, she lay there gasping for breath, half out of it.
She heard a door open and another slam then she was roughly yanked off the floor and pushed into a car. The same car the man had stuffed the body into and the door shut.
Her head fell against the glass still reeling from the force of the slap and she raised a hand to her lips surprised to see some blood on her fingertips.
The other door opened and stranger got in next to her and pulled a seat belt over her then tapped the driver's seat and the car began to move.
"No! Stop!" She tried to shout and wondered why her words were slow, like they didn't come from her.
Stranger turned to her and said darkly as a warning, "stay quiet or I'll let him hit you again."
Nike shook her head no and he nodded in satisfaction and pulled out a small phone from his pocket.
"Yes, boss! Job's done! Minor distraction but we have it covered sir. Yes sir!"
And in that moment, if it wasn't already clear before, Nike realized she was in trouble. She was being kidnapped.