GHOST (The Shadow in the Dark)

Part Twenty

I helped him arrange his books when I discovered he was limping. I watched him limp out of the class. Ken came to join me where I was standing.
"Ella you are so soft hearted. I wish I could help him but you have to be careful, they have eyes everywhere and it's best to avoid them" Ken whispered to my ears.
I told him I was no longer interested in reading and when our last class together was over, he asked if I would go to a movie with him, it was same time my phone blinked.
'See you this night love.'
In other words I could not go.
"I won't be available Ken."
"You've been dull since what happened to Emeka."
"You know him?" I asked
"Yes na, who doesn't, he is popular. You need to start knowing what is going on in your environment. The incident where he defended a girl Boss was asking out is very well known and I'm sure you are not aware that Ako's cult group was attacked on Friday during their initiation night and he is dead and the others are still treating their wounds."
If only he knew I was not just aware but present and witnessed what Ghost did to them.
"Rumor has it that Boss' cult is responsible and everyone is dreading them right now. I am rich but even my wealth can only protect me a little. I am safe as long as I don't step on their shoes and you should do the same cause girls are not exempted."
I nodded so he would stop advising me.
As I walked back to my hostel, I could not stop thinking about Ghost's imaginary sister and what he had imagined her to have done at seventeen. I wished I was that imaginary sister, I would have taught those guys some lessons right in that classroom, but people like that didn't exist and it was a waste of time to wish I could fight. I also thought about the girl who Emeka had been trying to help. I wondered how scared she would be, then I wished Ghost was a good guy, I wished he would use his trainings to do good, not get rich by killing innocent policemen.
My phone blinked around 9:PM.
'Come outside.'
It was definitely the river but I was wrong because there was no bike, just a tall figure wearing a face cap and a night vision goggle, a bag on his back. The night was dark and there was power outage. The light from stores did not get to my gate. Only someone standing by my hostel gate could see others. I really wanted to see the little I could about his face so I quickly switched on my phone torch. He did not block me but even removed his face cap. His face was not ugly, not handsome, not as I imagined it, and it looked somehow squeezed and wrong. He pulled under his jaw and it looked like he was peeling his skin, then gummed it back.
"Have you heard of silicone mask?"
Now it became clear.
"Jerk."
I had said it before I could stop myself. I tensed waiting for him to decide the punishment.
"Stop fearing the wrong thing Ella. Let's go."
He held my hands.
"Go where?"
"Let's just stroll."
His hands felt so warm in my hands and it felt so right like my hand was in the right place. We strolled into my hostel street.
"So what suggestion have you come up with?"
"I don't understand."
His hand was distracting me.
"Ella, the file. This is very important."
"I thought and I even had headache from thinking and there is no idea but I will try."
"Try harder because there is something and people I need you to meet."
"I thought the deal will be over once I can locate the file."
"We will make another deal, cause I'm not letting you go. You mean a lot to me."
I stopped walking and pulled my hands away.
"This is not what you do to someone you love, you don't blackmail or threaten someone to love you."
"I am not, your body loves and wants me. It's your mind that needs to be fixed."
"My mind is very much okay and I don't.."
A gunshot stopped me. Ghost pulled me immediately to a big tree and pulled me down with him. He brought out something from his bag which he plugged to his ears. He pulled me close and I allowed him, I allowed myself to feel the warmth that came with being enclosed by him. I found myself wrapping my arms around his waist, I just could not explain why I yearned for the closeness. He allowed me and brought out his phone.
"Any alert?"
"What now?" I asked pulling away to look at him but he was not talking to me.
He pulled me back and I allowed him.
"Then where did the shot come from? I heard it clearly and it's not more than two minutes' run."
He paused.
"Roger that."
There was something familiar with his last words but I could not place it. He gently pulled me up with him. He did not say anything and if I were to guess, it must be some of his rivals. He started operating his wristwatch. I tried to look and surprisingly, he did not stop me. All I could see was a green circle that kept moving and blinking. He pulled his hand down and started pressing something on his goggle.
"Shit, damn it."
He was angry, I could tell because he was breathing fast.
"What is it?"
He did not answer.
"Can you scan him to find any identification?"
He was not talking to me but to someone through what he had inserted in his ears which was powerful enough to also act as a mic. These gadgets were only seen in movies, but my mindset had been reset because I had seen more than I've seen in movies.
"Damn it, what the heck is wrong with them, why this madness?"
He paused.
"He just had to be wasted like that. Hell is my business Wild."
I was not too surprised by the name, his own was Ghost, that should be their code name. But he made mention of wasted.
"Did you lose your men?"
I did not even know why I was concerned.
"I'm sorry Ella."
I've heard that word many times to know what he meant. But I had no one close to me, no one close that his or her death would make Ghost tell me sorry except Ken.
"No no, Ken, what happened?"
I was already panting.
"It's not Ken."
I turned because I could hear noises behind me. We were not far from the market and I could see crowd gathering at a distance, the noises grew and changed to wailing. Then I heard the name. People were screaming his name. They got him, he said they would leave him but they got him. I tried to run towards the crowd but I was pulled back.
"No, let me go, no" I screamed struggling to get free. But he held on.
"You don't need to see him."
"Let me go" I screamed.
"Sssh Ella, don't attract the wrong person, take."
He was giving me a goggle. I allowed him to wear it on my eyes. The night became clear but for just few seconds because it changed to the crowd, like I was watching a movie with it. Then I saw him, his skull was opened as he laid arms outstretched, Emeka was dead. I pulled out the goggle and cried my eyes out. I did not struggle when he pulled me back in his arms. I allowed him. I could hear the wailing, people shouting his name and telling him to wake up, some telling him he should not forget he was the only son of his mother. But they were just wasting their time because he was very dead.
"I heard what happened in the day, I just knew he must be the same guy. I'm sorry, I know you wanted to help him. I'm sorry."
He rubbed my back and allowed me sob.
"But why? He did nothing wrong, he was just standing up for a girl that was being bullied, he even had to back down and apologize, why?"
"The shot was very close, he knew who killed him and he was not running away. I'm eighty percent sure it was a part of an initiation, someone's rites of passage and he was the sacrificial lamb. They also want to make a stand. I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry? Since when did you start caring? The boy who shot him is same as you, there is no difference."
"Ella, I'm not a murderer, I eliminate them. I don't kill innocents Ella. You need to open your eyes and see who your real enemies are. If I knew or had them on my trail, I would have prevented this from happening."
I wanted to believe him but I had seen him kill police officers.
"If you are not the bad guy, how about getting justice for him. How about making sure they don't have the boldness to go for another target, how about making sure that girl is not harassed. Please? Police will not do anything, they will not stop killing. I'm a victim and I keep wondering about those who had no one to save them. Please give him justice."