REVENGE- SHORT STORY

REVENGE

“congratulations, you have just been selected as the 10 lucky winners of the game, please come down to our main office and claim your price. Address is below. Again, congratulations”. Stella stared at the message and was a bit confused. “when did I register for any game?” she thought. She looked at her friend Boma, seated across from her in the office.

“Boma, do you have anything to do with this point and kill game that I have just been notified as a winner?” Stella asked. Boma looked between her and their other friend Kidar.

“Well…”

“Boma!”

“chill. You were the one who actually played the game, Boma just pushed your hand” Kidar said.

“when?” Stella asked in disbelief.

“remember two weeks ago, when we were at your place? The quiz you were answering. Then all the other ones that came after that day, that you played with so much excitement” Kidar said. Stella stared at them.

“look at it this way, I your friend, has helped you win some extra cash. So, what is the price?” Boma asked.

“are you serious?” Stella asked.

“yes. we can’t play this game and not take the price o” Boma said.

“well for your info, the price was not stated, they said I should come to their main office to claim the price” Stella answered.

“ahan, what are we now waiting for, let’s go now” Boma said.

“who are we or who is we? We nothing o. Just sit there” Stella said.

“it’s 12 and we know oga will not be back till 2. So, that means you have 2 hours to go to where ever their main office is and come back, even before oga, that’s if the place is not far. The least you could do is check it out” Kidar said and for a moment she was considering what he said. After a while, she looked at them.

“fine. But I’m going alone. And oga better not come back before me, if not you are dead” she said and then picked her things and left, Boma laughing as she left.

After 30 minutes, she arrived at the area where they said their office was supposed to be at. She looked around, expecting some big buildings or something, but there were none. She looked ahead and saw a small shop with the sign, point and kill. Sceptical, she walked over to it, just for curiosity’s sake, to be sure her hunch was right. She crossed the road, heading to the shop. As she was about to knock on it, her phone rang. She opened her bag and brought it out and saw it was Boma calling. She answered the call, but couldn’t hear anything, because of the noise from where she was standing. She moved away from the shop a bit to take the call.

“Boma what is it?”

“can you buy something for me as you are coming back?”

“you are not okay”

“I’ve not even said what I want yet. Or you don’t want to share your bonus money with your destiny helper?”

“you are truly insane my friend” Stella said and laughed shortly. “I’m hanging up” she added. As she was about to end the call, the sound she heard was that of an explosion. Before she could comprehend what was happening, she found herself on the ground. Everything around her seemed to slow down, sounds became muffled in her ears. She saw as ash was falling in front of her, everything was blur, even the voice of Boma who kept calling her name. And the next second, all she saw was pitch black.

Stella slowly crawled back to consciousness as she laid on the hospital bed, with her eyes lids opening slowly. When she opened her eyes, she saw Boma and Kidar seated opposite each other, next to the bed, talking. The minute they realized she was awake, they turned to her.

“hey… are you feeling okay?” Boma asked.

“yeah” she replied.

“thank God. You almost gave this one heart attack today o. you know she was on the phone with you when it all went down” Kidar said and Stella chuckled, while Boma hit him playfully on his shoulder.

“thank God you are okay. You see this is why I want to go to Canada, the insecurity in this country is too much. Because, I don’t think just like that, bombs are laying in wait for an innocent someone, in Canada” Boma said and they laughed.

“like it was not your fault” Kidar said, causing Boma to scratch the back of her head. they continued to talk, and stayed by Stella’s side, till she was discharged from the hospital, that same day. When she got home, tired, she first headed to the kitchen, opened her fridge and took a bottle of water, finished it in one gulp. When she was done, he was heading to her bedroom when her phone chimed, indicating, she had a message. She brought out her phone from her bag and read the message.

“congratulations, you have successfully escaped this one, but you will not escape the next. I hope the bottle of water was enough for you”

Alarmed, her eyes widened and the phone in her hand slipped to the ground. She was taken aback. Her shock was cut short as it hit her, and she went to check if she looked her front door. Seeing it was looked, she rushed to the back and saw it was also looked. Fear gripped her as she stood by the back door. What was going on? Does this mean that, that bomb was meant for me? If so that means that someone wanted to… oh my God! She thought to herself and became more alarmed at this realization. She looked around the kitchen and stayed there for a bit, before she went to her room, to get some sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, she was about to get up from bed, when she heard movements in the living room. Given the threat she got last night, she immediately gripped the knife that was in her hand, which was laying on her chest and jumped out of bed quietly. She knew she had no fighting skills, but she was benching on the hope that, if she could cut this person real good, she could have a head start to run. she just needed to cut the right place, which even as she creeped to the living room with her eyes wide open, she did not know where that was going to be. As she entered the living room, she saw the person seated in the living room, with the TV on. It was like the person could sense her, as the person turned back immediately as she, Stella was lifting her hand, about to stab her. As the person turned around and they saw each other’s face, they froze, then screamed.

On hearing the scream, Kidar rushed out from the kitchen.

“what is going on here?” he asked from behind Stella causing her to be startled. He looked at her hand and saw the knife in it. “Stella? What are you doing” he asked, trying not to worry or jump into any conclusions. She looked between both of them and let out a sigh of relief.

“what are you guys doing in my house!” she screamed, taking both of them aback.

“we cam to check up on you” Kidar said.

“that’s what you did yesterday at the hospital. Besides you could have knocked, instead of creeping into my house like this. Don’t do that again”

“sorry, we didn’t want to disturb you” Boma said.

“whatever. In fact, why do you still have my keys?”

“you told us to keep it in cases of emergencies. What’s going on?” Kidar asked. Stella took her sit and sighed, as Kidar came to sit next to her and Boma turned her attention to her.

“yesterday night when I got back, I was heading to my room, when I got this” she said and handed Boma her phone. Boma read the message out loud.

“congratulations, you have successfully escaped this one, but you will not escape the next. I hope the bottle of water was enough for you” she read. She looked at Stella with a “so?” face.

“I had just finished drinking a bottle of water, when that message came in. and yesterday, if not that you called me, I would have been in bits and pieces remember? It was your call that made me move away from the spot” she said, pointing out what was going on.

“are you saying that this was international…” Boma was saying then she trailed off and gasped. “what are we going to do? And you are still here, let’s get out of this house jor” Boma said, being on high alert.

“wait, let’s think on this…” Kidar was saying but Boma but him short.

“thinking on what? This is an actual threat right here!” Boma shouted.

“look, if the person was spying on you, to even know what you were doing, that means the person is serious about this, and there is a probability you might be followed. So, my suggestion is, let’s call the police, report this and then we can leave or take any other course of action” Kidar said.

“bro, we no dey America o. this one no be Hollywood movie. Police? For this naija? E no go work” Boma said.

“relax, I have a police friend, who I trust, and he is very good at his job. I’ll call him right now to come over. Just stay put” Kidar said and pulled out his phone from his back pocket and placed the call. An hour after the call, they heard a knock on the door, and they all became alarmed for a minute. Kidar went to open the door silently praying that it was his friend. As he opened the door and saw it was he, he gave out a sigh of relief.

“true true, wetin you talk dey happen? See as you fear” his friend said.

“see guy forget that thing. No be fine boy dey save pesin life” Kidar said causing his friend to laugh. They shake hands and hug. “please, come in” Kidar said and he came in. Kidar looked the door and led him to the living room. As they entered the living room, they were welcomed by the gazing and worried looks of Boma and Stella, as their eyes were peeled to the space, just before the door. Kidar cleared his throat, to get their attention.

“guys this is Sam, Sam, my friends. Oh, he is a detective” Kidar said and they shook hands. Stella offered him a seat and he sat. As Kidar was going to sit, Boma tugged at his shirt, causing him to stop.

“you didn’t tell us that your friend was hot, or did you deliberately leave that out?” she whispered.

“which do you think it is?” he whispered back, then smirked before he went to sit.

“so, which one of you is Stella?” Sam asked and Stella raised her hand. “okay, so can you tell me what happened?” he asked.

“well, I got a message telling me I had won this quiz game I was playing and I was to come to their main office to get the prize. When I got to the address they gave me, I checked it out and saw it was a small shop. I was about speaking to the person there, when I got a call from my friend which moved me a couple of steps away from the shop. Before I knew it, the bomb went off…” she was saying but he cut her short.

“wait are you talking about the bombing of yesterday?” he asked.

“yes”

“okay. Carry on”.

“so, when I got back home, yesterday night, I went to the fridge and drank a bottle of water. S I was heading to my room, I got a text saying, this” she said and handed him the phone then he read the text out loud.

“congratulations, you have successfully escaped this one, but you will not escape the next. I hope the bottle of water was enough for you” he read then looked at her.

“yeah” she said. He handed her phone back to her.

“well, let me start from this. Luckily for you or should I say coincidentally, I was the one assigned to your case, as in the one of yesterday, to investigate what happened. And I am already on it. And not to add to your fears or anything, but this is indeed a threat. But I would advise, you don’t see much to it for now, till more investigation on is done” Sam said.

“okay, so what have you gotten so far from your investigation?” Boma asked.

“sorry ma’am I can’t disclose that to you, it’s an ongoing investigation”

“ma’am is what they call my mom and I believe the ongoing investigation would now be my friend here, seeing that this was a direct attack on her”

“besides, you did say, you were already working on it, so, maybe you have something” Stella added. Sam looked at Kidar and Kidar shook his head as he sighed. He then motioned for him to tell them. Sam took a deep breath before he spoke up.

“when we were clearing out the scene yesterday, we discovered that it was a mannikin. What you saw, that you were about to approach was not a person, but a mannikin. Thisi si was began to raise my suspicion, that maybe, this was not an accidental bombing. Also, I went back to the scene of the crime, last night and examined the place. From what I saw, the bomb was attached to the mannikin and it was set up with a trigger touch sensor. That means as you touch it, it goes off” he said.

“but I didn’t touch it” she said.

“I know. I remembered that from the report, so I looked further into the shop and saw another bomb, which was the actual bomb that went off, which had a timer on. Which could mean that, this person who set the bomb, knew how long it would take you to get to the spot from your office, because I bet it was just seconds left from your arrival, that the bomb was waiting to explode” he said. “now, two bombs, with such precise timing, and a trigger sensor? I’m thinking, that this person wanted you dead by all means. So, this might be a revenge, because everything about it sounds and feels vindictive” he added.

“revenge? This girl hasn’t killed anybody or done anything to anybody. Me yes, him, maybe, her? I doubt it. Not that she is saint, but no” Boma said.

“well these things sometimes come unintentionally. Tell you what, I will leave you guys to have some rest. And I will call for some police reinforcement, to watch over the house and tail you from time to time… don’t worry, they will be in mufti when they are tailing you. I will go back and look into the case, and when I get anything new, I will let you know. In the mean time, just stay on guard” he said then stood up.

“thank you Detective…” Stella was saying but trailed off, having forgotten his name

“Sam” he said reminding her.

“Sam. Thank you, let me see you out” Stella said and then showed him out of the house. When she came back, she met Boma smiling.

“was that guy hot or what?” Boma said.

“seriously, my life is in danger and that’s what you are thinking about?” Stella said in disbelief but was not surprised because, that was Boma.

“so, it’s not like you are gong to die today, or that you are already dead. So, let me smile when I can” Boma said.

“ha, you this my friend. you will not make heaven” Stella said.

“Amen” Kidar shouted.

“ahan, shey you people are mad ni? This one even shouted amen. Were” Boma said causing them to laugh.

The next day, Stella feeling more calm about the whole situation, with the comfort of her friends from the previous day and the quick response of Detective Sam in providing the police protection, she went to work, being a bit care free. As she got to work, her friends welcomed her, with Boma being overly dramatic as always. As she was about to take her seat, she noticed a medium sized gift box on her desk.

“who dropped this?” she asked and Boma shoulder shrugged while Kidar shook his head. She dropped her bag next to her on the floor, then picked the note on the box and it read:

“the police won’t save you from what’s coming next… BOOM!” she read. She was immediately taken aback.

“guys who dropped this thing here? who dropped this box here!” she screamed, causing her other co-worker to be alarmed.

“We said we don’t know, what happened?” Boma asked. She stood up and handed the note to them and started pacing around. They read it and then shared a look. They looked back to her and went over to her, then lead her out of the office. She was already hyperventilating.

“hey, breath. Deeps breaths babe, deep breaths” Boma said.

“just breathe babe, breathe” Kidar said and she tried to breath and calm down.

“look, we have seen that Detective Sam is efficient, and he said he is looking into this, so be calm” Boma said.

“also, he has given you police protection 24/7” Kidar said.

“yeah, that too” Bom said.

“but with that, the person got in here with that” Stella said.

“tell me who is suspecting anyone with a gift box in their hand” Kidar said and Boma nodded her head in agreement. As they were there, their boss arrived at the office, they greeted him as he passed by them.

“are you guys okay?” he asked.

“yes sir. We are fine” Boma answered with a smile. He nodded his head and left.

“look, it will be fine. All we have to do is let Sam do his job and then try not to alarm the office people” Kidar said.

“true. That’s the last thing we need right now” Boma supported.

“okay. Fine, I hear you” Stella said. “but who did I offend, ehn, who did I offend bayi?” she added and her friends embraced her, telling her to be calm.

“look, we have to go inside before oga comes out and starts wondering what is going on” Kidar said and they nodded their heads then went in. As she sat, she looked at the box and wanted to throw it away, then her boss came in and called for her, causing her to leave the box under her desk.

A week later, Stella strolled into the office, with eye bags underneath her eyes. As her friends saw her, they were taken aback.

“they beat you for sleep?” Kidar asked.

“not now Boma” Stella said.

“actually that was Kidar. We are switching roles today” Boma said.

“good for you” Stella said dryly as she took her seat.

“are you good? Girl, please don’t tell me you are still not sleeping?” Boma asked.

“no” Stella replied.

“why. No one is following you!” Boma said, then looked around and saw their other co-worker was not around.

“but someone is” Stella said.

“babe, you are letting this thing get to you. Sam checked it out, the police checked it out. In fact, Sam followed you personally this last days, and still nothing, so what are you worrying about” Kidar said, but it sounded more like a question.

“my life. I’m worrying about my life. you guys this is serious” she said.

“we know. That’s why you have to take it easy, before what actually kills you is fear” Kidar said and she stayed silent for a while before she sighed.

“I will try to get some sleep” she said.

“that sounds lovely” Boma said.

“okay, y’all got to stop this role play or switching nonsense. Not cool” Stella said.

“or is it” Kidar said wiggling his brows, causing them to laugh.

30 minutes to the close of work, as Stella was packing up her things, waiting for Kidar and Boma to return from their assignment, their other co-worker came in with box in her hand. Identical to the one previously sent to her.

“hey, um, someone dropped this at the reception for you. I just said let me help you bring it since I was heading here already” she said and she dropped the box on her desk.

“oh, thanks” Stella said and looked at the box. The other co-worker packed up her things.

“this your new bobo like you o, this one he is sending you gift boxes like this” she said.

“lucky me” Stella said with a fake smile.

“hmm, God when o” she said.

“soon” Stella said with a fake smile. The lady packs finishes packing up her things and leaves the office. Immediately she leaves, Stella picks up the note on the box and reads it.

“meet me in the address below and let’s end this” the note said. Her eyes trailed down and she saw the address. It was about 45 minutes drive from her office. She picked up her bag and hurriedly left the office. Seconds later, Boma and Kodar came back to the office and saw she was not in. Thinking she had left without them, they packed up their things and left. as they were leaving, Boma’s phone chimed, indicating she had just received a message. She looked at her phone in her hand and read the message. On reading the message, she was taken aback and staggered a bit. Kidar turned to her quickly, to hold her.

“Kidar call Detective Sam now. Our friend is in trouble” Boma said in fear. Before Kidar could speak, she showed him the text she just received. He was shocked and quickly placed a call to Sam.

45 minutes later, Stella arrived at the location given to her. As she entered into the abandoned building, she placed a call to Boma. As Boma saw the call she immediately called the attention of Sam and Kidar, causing Sam to stop the car, wile the other police men sped off, to the location. Boma picks the call in a hurry.

“Stella are you insane, get out of there right now!” she shouted but there was no response, all the heard in return was.

“hello, is anyone there? I’m here, as you asked”.

“hello, Stella, can you hear me?” Boma asked. As she was about to speak again Sam stopped her.

“I think she put it on so we could hear what’s going on, on her side… let’s remain silent, so we don’t alert the culprit” he says and they nod their head as he brings out his recorder and puts it on.

“come out and let’s do this face to face, instead of you lurking in my backyard and threatening me, scaring my sleep away” Stella said.

“that was fun” she heard a voice say from behind her and she turned around. Boma, Kidar and Sam all share a look as they hear his voice. Stella squints her eyes as she tries to make out, who was standing there.

“Jerry?” she asked in disbelief.

“in the flesh” he replied. Boma and Kidar shared a look and whispered “Jerry?” to each t=other.

“hello, newest member of the house” Sam said, drawing their attention to the fact hat he did not know who that was.

“Jerry was a guy who she put away by her testimony. He was into money laundering, bribery and corruption, extortion and other illegal businesses and he was using the company, which is where we currently work at, as a cover up. She found out and was the key witness whose testimony put him in prison” Kidar said.

“how come I didn’t see that in any of her records?” Sam asked.

“it was a closed and quiet case. He had way too many powerful friends for them to know she was the one responsible for it. I think he just got released or so” Boma said.

“it’s been a long time Stella. The last time I saw you, was when you sent me to prison” Jerry said.

“I did not send you to prison, the judge did”

“um, whatever makes you sleep at night. I liked you, you know. Always dedicated and hardworking, you took the job like it was yours. A rare gem I said to myself. But I guess not everything that glitters is gold”

“why didn’t someone stab you in prison or something”

“just imagine, the heart of man is desperately wicked. But God will always save me”

“you must be talking about your village people right?”

“I could have made you rich. I could have changed your life. all you had to do was shut up and move on, but no, you couldn’t do that simple task”

“I guess it’s easier said than done”

“it’s your mind for me. You are still the same way you were, years ago. When you were so determined to testify against me, despite my threats. So, I decided to up my game this time. God must really love you, to have saved you that day”

“what day are we talking about?”

“the day where I almost killed you by a bomb. I think point and kill sent the direct message of what was about to happen. But today, nobody will save you”

“so you are agreeing to the fact that you almost had me killed that day by the bombing at point and kill, been stalking and threatening me for a week, and now, you are about to kill me, as revenge for your stupidity?”

“yes. And I’m going to let that last part slide because you are about to die”

“did you get that?” Stella asked, bringing her phone to her ears

“yes” Sam said and as Jerry was about to pull out his gun, the police man behind him, placed a gun on his neck, causing him to freeze.

“you need to learn to be less stupid in your plans” she said as she was passing by him, while he was being cuffed.

“you stopped me, but you can’t stop the bomb that’s going to go off in your office” Jerry said. She stops and looks at him. “did you think I sent you empty gift boxes? Inside those gift boxes, there is a bomb”

“you’re bluffing” Stella said

“am I? you have less than 20 minutes. No one will make it back in time. Let’s say you do, good luck finding out which one of them is the actual bomb. Given there are three of them. Oh, yes, I sent in another box, after you left” Jerry said and she stared at him, as she took her phone to her ear.

“don’t worry, I got. I’m heading there already” Sam said over the phone.

In 15 minutes Sam was able to arrive at her office, after breaking almost every traffic rule. He got to her office and couldn’t make out which box was which, given all of them were ticking. He picked all three boxes and ran out of the office. He took a quick glance at his watch and saw that he had two more minutes left. By the time he got to an open space, it was just seconds left, he picked up the boxes and flung them in the air and ran back as quick as he could.

Boom!

The sound of the explosion got others around the area alarmed. Seconds later, as Sam got up from the ground, and was headed back to his car, he saw two police cars drive in and park next to his. Boma, Kidar and Stella comes out and rush to him, while the police men, go check the place out.

“you okay man?” Kidar asked.

“yeah. Just a few scratches that’s all” Sam replied, and they hugged each other, with Kidar being careful of his cuts. Boma hugged him too an thanked him, alongside Kidar. Stella stepped forward.

“thank you so much” she said.

“welcome. I was just doing my job” he said.

“still… How did you know which one it was?” she asked.

“well, I just made a very smart decision as I looked at it critically and decided that the best course of action was to throw it way”

“you never had intentions of defusing the bomb did you?”

“nope. When I’m not superman” he said and she laughed.

“are you sure you are okay?” she asked.

“yeah. But I will be better if you go out with me… just to thank me for saving your life. I did save your life?” he asked.

“smooth” Kidar said.

“shots fired” Boma shouted causing the police men to all turn and look at her, then she apologised. Kidar, Sam and Stella laughed.

“so, I guess I’ll call you then” Sam said and she nodded her head, with a smile. As he was about entering his car she called him.

“wait, you don’t have my number” she said.

“who says I don’t” he answered after a short pause, causing Boma and Kidar to shout. He smiled and saluted her with two fingers, and she smiled back. He got into the car and left, leaving Kidar and Boma with Stella who kept teasing her about him asking her out.

The End.

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