GHOST (The Shadow in the Dark)

Part Six

As soon as I stepped inside my room, I shouted.
“No, no” I said grabbing Ibrahim.
He had been in my room, he had arranged my scattered room.
I picked my phone and sent him a message.
‘You will rot in hell.’
There was no response, then I remembered he was now a loose killer and I had not renewed the deal. Another person could die.
‘I broke the deal not them, just kill me.’
‘You are my subject not yet my target, we have rules. I can’t kill you.’
‘Did you have to kill them to make a point?’
‘Yes, the earlier you understand me the better. Are we back?’
‘Not on my own will.’
‘Then I can move over to the next target.’
‘Don’t, please don’t….’ I replied immediately.
‘So?’
‘Stay and don’t get lost.’
‘Deal. See you this night.’
‘Can you at least give me the day? You can’t torment my day and night’ but the message bounced back.
I dropped my phone on my bed and cried out all my frustrations. Six people dead, six humans not animals, six humans. How did I get myself involved with him? That was not even my biggest worry. My biggest worry was the fact that my body had never felt repulsed by him, the fact that my body wanted to have his presence back.
         I had cried myself to sleep and only woke up when I felt a sting on my stomach. I was hungry and I had not prepared any food. I had to make do with corn flakes, then went back to the bed. I later stood up to study my books but nothing was entering so I gave up and started watching a zombie movie. The first film finished and I checked the time. It was already 9:00PM but there was no message from Ghost.
   My phone vibrated same time the second movie ended.
‘The roof.’
I looked at the time, it was already past eleven.
‘It’s past eleven’ I sent back.
‘That’s my working time. Six minutes Ella.’
If there was one thing I had no doubt of was this ghost did not waste words and would not fail to kill someone if I did not make it on time.
‘I need to collect the gate key and it will take time.’
‘I’ve opened it.’
Of course, he had opened it. Stupid me.
       I was afraid as I stepped outside. I had never in my life come outside by 11:PM, it was a first and there was something scary about it, like someone could just pounce on me, like a spirit could be staring and following me. I doubled my step but the fear tripled that I could hear my heartbeat. Every tree or building suddenly had eyes staring at me, even the pole looked like it would grab me. My phone blinked making me jump.
‘Switch off your light.’
I did as instructed and almost immediately I was lifted. He dropped me on the roof but did not hold me like before. He gently pulled me down. I wished he was rough, I wished he did not act like he was a lover on a picnic with his girlfriend, he was worse than a rapist. He made me sit in-between his legs, then used his hand to wrap me up like he was trying to remove my goose bumps and calm my nerve. My body immediately responded to the warmth and it automatically relaxed on him against my will. And some people would say the body and the mind were the same thing. I was a clear evident that they were wrong.
“You are struggling too much. Why are you fighting what you are feeling?  It’s dangerous to separate your mind from your body.”
“If you care so much, just set my body free. Right now, I prefer my mind to my body.”
“And I prefer your body to your mind, so I’m the wrong person to ask for help.”
“Just know that I hate you, I hate you with every fiber in my being, if I have a choice between what you are doing to me and death, I will so choose death.”
“But your body is not saying the same thing. The mind is supposed to be more powerful than the body, it is supposed to control it, you are a unique subject Ella, your body is stronger than your mind and I don’t think it hates me.”
“My body, my mind, my soul detest you” I answered putting enough venom in my words.
He did not answer but suddenly pushed himself against me, his hand already under my T-Shirt and very close to my bra, his lips very close to my mouth. And that was it, he did not do anything else but my body was already on fire and I was already breathing fast. He was waiting for me to push his hands away and I wanted to, my mind wanted to but my body felt starved, my body wanted that liquid fire to once again flow through my iced blood stream, I could not push him away. He moved his hands closer and my mind remembered the Chaplain’s preaching on Sunday. His topic was fornication in the house of God, I could literally hear his voice, that was not just what my mind was reminding me, there was the fact that his hands were filled with innocent blood and he had killed three people just few hours ago, people sent to protect me and most importantly my mind reminded me that I was nothing but a subject for him to use at will and I was making it impossible to blame him for sexual harassment but my body was not listening. His touch was removing the icy and numb feeling and my body wanted the remaining ones gone. I felt a shock wave immediately his hand went under my bra touching my left breast, the fire erupted and filled me up making me pant for more. His lips was just too close and he was touching my mouth, I shifted my mouth and got his. I opened up for him and allowed him explore my mouth, his hand was just on my breast and I wanted him to do something. I held his hand and pushed it further. He chuckled bringing my senses back. I pulled away and he did not stop me but prevented me from leaving my position. Then I felt something else making me tense, fear gripped me. I must have pushed him beyond his limit and he could easily rape me….
“Hey I’m the one being harassed here, and yes, I can flip you down and have my way with you and you won’t be able to fight me off, but that does not change the fact that your fear is ridiculous.”
How did he know what I was thinking?
“It’s obvious you are afraid of the bulge in my trouser, but it should not be new to you” he replied my unasked question.
It was new to me, very new and somehow scary, the worst part was his powerful male scent.
“You’ve not? You are still a virgin? You are still chaste. I’m really your first.”
“Get out of my head” I panted.
“I wish I was, I really want to know what you are thinking every second, minute and hour. I should have known you a virgin. But have you never been touched?”
“You said we will start the search for the file.”
“Did your grandma lock you up from men?”
“How did you know of my grandma?”
“That is a yes.”
“How did you know about my grandma?”
“Wrong question, you should ask how much I know about you. You will be surprised how much I know. The first place I saw things you hated was your room at Ozoro.”
I tried to turn, to confront him but he held me back.
“It’s the normal thing Ella, I can’t work on my subject without knowing details.” The way he pronounced my name was making me feel things I could not place.
“How long have you been following me?”
“Why do you have Hausas and Fulanis as things you hated? They are on your list from one to ten, why?”
“I’m not obligated to answer you.”
“Who is Ibrahim? You contradicted yourself by writing love only Ibrahim under your list. That name is Hausa or am I mistaken?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Is he my competition?”
“You wish, you can never be near him as competition.”
“And you even named your teddy bear Ibrahim.”
“I still meant what I said, it is none of your business.”
“It is very much my business. The deal is I can do anything I want with you, and I want you to answer my questions.”
I did not respond, now that Ibrahim was being mentioned, my body was back with my mind, it happened automatically.
“Is it unrequited love? Why did Ibrahim leave you a virgin?”
I did not answer.
“You know I can find anyone.”
I had not laughed for a while and it was refreshing to be able to laugh. He thought he could use everyone to blackmail me, he should try find Ibrahim to his grave.
“I dare you to try.”
He did not say anything but his hands were back under my T-shirt but for the first time I was not interested. I tried pulling his hand away but could not. I thought I did not do it well so I used force but he held on. Panic enveloped me and the terror of the first night was nothing compared to the one I was feeling and tasting.
“You must have forgotten who I am. Good, it’s better to fear me, I don’t want you to ever forget I am a ghost.”
He removed his hands but did not free me, I was too frozen to run anyway.
“Your reactions to Ibrahim is piquing my interest but I will get my answer when I want, don’t forget that. Now do you still remember your dad’s last visit?”
I nodded, I was still too scared to talk, I could still feel the bulge in his trousers and my mind was overloaded with what he might do to me if I pissed him off.
“Was there anything unusual?”
I shook my head.
“Think, maybe a paper, a flash drive. He must have said something to indicate something like that was with him. The man the leak came from wrote that your dad had the file with list of top names. He was killed just two days after your dad but his wife found what he wrote in his diary not too long ago, he wrote that in case he died, that she should find you and get the file he had given to your father, that his killer and many others would be caught.”
“Which side are you working for? Which of the names in the list hired you?”
I had so many things to ask but that was very important. I was being held by a man who had sold his soul for money, who would do anything as long as it paid and human lives made no meaning to him, this was the man I had kissed, my body had yearned for. I hated myself.
“Ella think. He died two days after returning from Ozoro.”
“He did not die, he was killed, he was murdered, it’s not the same thing” I cried, which was now my new hobby.
“Did he not mention any file? Your life is in danger because of this file.”
“No, he only visited the Cathedral and my life is in danger because of people like you, my life was okay until you came and started killing everyone on my side. Human lives have no value to you.”
“They are targets not humans.”
It was a waste of time explaining to someone that far gone. It even made me understand who I was dealing with. There would have been hope if he at least saw those he killed as humans.
“Am I also your target?”
“You’ve not yet made yourself my target, like I said, you are my subject.”
“No I am a human, a human with feelings, a human whose life has been taken from her. You can decide to call us anything but it would not change the fact that we are humans and you are a killer.”
“Says the person who sees Hausas and Fulanis as things. We are the same Ella, they are my targets, you are my subject same way Hausas and Fulanis are things to you.”
“They are not the same thing. I am not a killer” I shouted but he was already lifting me to the ground. My phone blinked.
‘Five minutes to get home.’
I kept my phone back in my pocket. I was mad and pissed off and I felt like daring him. I walked as slowly as possible but started running when I remembered I would not be the one to be punished.
My phone blinked as soon I entered my room.
‘I will be visiting the cathedral, don’t forget the deal, you are mine and no one touches you’
‘I hate you’ but I could not send it, he might take it as breaking the deal and harm someone. This was now my life.