Tragedy of the African Cinderella [Black Book3]✔

11.

The night was dead of any human activities. Cold to the skin and wicket to the soul.
Nora, as per her step mother's new regulation, strode down to the tap as early as 1 a.m in the morning, when both good and evil spirits of the dead roamed.

Her mother had always warned her not to lurk around from the late hours of eleven pm, for that was the hours of the spirits; they mingled amongst the living in search of slaves, expectant mothers to birth them once again, wives, husbands and so much more. However, Nora never did believe in those myths even as the little girl she was.

Nora settled her bucket below the flowing tap and did nothing but wait, watch, and feel. The latter which she struggled to escape from by rubbing her exposed arms, fighting to generate the tiniest heat possible.
Inquisitiveness getting a fraction of her, she lifted her eyes to the balcony of the hotel as she had been doing for the past two days and as thought, the result was still the same.

For God's sake, what was she even thinking? That he was going to emerge from his bedroom to that balcony in the middle of the night to check up on a filthy miserable human mistake?

"Nora?" She heard a heart jiggling voice which metamorphosed her physical being almost immediately, from a chasm to absolute eye-bulging shock.

Nora, not wanting to confirm the stranger's wonder, pancaked her body unto the cold tiled wall of the hotel which had surprisingly gotten warm and cozy over the past ten minutes.

"Nora. Stop hiding, it's nonessential,"

Nora shut her eyes tight, fought to not breathe, to not make the slightest noise, and to stay glued to the dark corner of the wall.

"You know, for the little time I've known you I got to know about the shape, size, and shade of your bucket too and I also got to know that...the night is your ally. By the way, your bucket is overflowing,"

Nora still wouldn't stumble.

"Are you ok with it if I...take it with me?" She heard the gravel crunch beneath his feet and then the water seized, "I mean, the hotel's got some water crisis lately and this is hella gon' be of--"

"Leave it right there!" she sprang out of her hiding spot.

"Oh, so you really were there?" He said sarcastically, "For a moment I thought I was talking to the night,"

"What are you doing here?" She quizzed, looking all ferocious as if about to pounce on him for invading her territory.

"Looking for you,"

Her heart warmed up a little but didn't affect her countenance.

"Why's that?"

He lowered his head and pocketed his hands in his jeans. Even beneath the faintness of the streetlight which showered their lone figures from the complete darkness, Nora could see he was remorseful about something. Rather unfortunate, the sentiment was just a flicker.

"To..." He cleared his throat then paused his vision on her bare arms. Nora didn't expect his next move as he forcefully pulled her arm to the concentrated portion of the light rays. "The fuck is this?"

He examined. But she was quick to retract her arm to get back to picking up her bucket to leave.

"Did I cause that?" He demanded the figure who refused to spare him a glance. "I am fuckin' talking to you,"

"No! Now leave me alone,"

Her first step to escape was hindered by Ace standing in front of her.
"Don't lie to me, I saw the way she mishandled you two days ago and you can't tell me these whip bruises didn't result from that day. Tell me nothing but the truth, did she really do this to you?"