Warning: This chapter contains minimal violence. To those who are triggered by violence or any hints of it, please use discernment.
***
Tokunbo.
"No diary." She grumbled as she closed the last drawer in the cabinet. Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead. In her hands was a metal scrap shaped like the handle of a bicycle. She had found it in one of Demi's numerous drawers. With a loud hiss, she threw it to the ground. The room was a mess but she couldn't care less. She had to find the diary no matter what.
What if Demi was level-headed enough to take her diary? She could've known someone was after it.
Confused and out of places to ransack, she collapsed on the bed. The soft satin sheets wrapped their fingers around her, burying her in comfort.
"God. This feels great." She murmured fisting a handful of the white sea of comfort. Her eyes roved the material with admiration until they caught on to something.
Blue Ink?
Her brows furrowed in thought. She leapt to her feet tracing the pen markings up to the pillow. They could only mean one thing. The last time Demi had written in her diary, she had written it on the bed.
New found strength pulsed through her. She pulled the bedsheets off causing the pillows to fall off with a loud thud.
Pillows are made of soft materials, aren't they?
Biting her lips to contain her excitement, she reached for a pillow and peeled off its case. A roller coaster of emotions swelled within. An orange-covered book with the numbers '2018' stared back at her. Relief, joy and surprise washed over her. She giggled, cried then laughed some more.
The fight is over.
The door flew off its hinges with a boom and a tall guy stepped in. His lips pulled into a grim line and his eyes zeroed in on her. She swallowed, her feet rooted to the ground, and eyed him with as much courage as she could muster.
He gestured to the book and nodded. In response, she pulled her school uniform by the neck and tossed the diary inside. Tucking it safely.
Suddenly he zoomed towards her and as quickly as she could she jumped out of the way and ran towards the window. He yanked her back by her arm, slammed her back against a nearby wall and aimed to dig out the book from her chest. She let out a loud hiss and slammed her knees between his legs then dashed for the window as he hobbled.
"Help me!" She screamed as he pulled her back again and sent his booted foot against her stomach. She sputtered and doubled over. "Help"
With an angry growl, he grabbed her by the neck, threw his fist against her face and launched her in the air. Blinding pain coursed through her skin as her back collided with something on the ground. She rolled over, her vision blurry, and reached for something to help herself up. Her fingers grasped a familiar shape and tightened around it.
"Give up skinny girl." He taunted. She could make out his shadow through the haze of pain that swirled around her.
Give in Token. Give in. You know you want to. Let it feed you. Let it boil. Let it grow.
Her chest heaved as she struggled to stand up. Her feet tittered and tottered. She closed her eyes tight, shook her head and opened it. Her vision was still blurry. A massive headache threatened to pound her brain into pulp. And somewhere underneath all those haze, she heard singing.
Her attacker lunged toward her with heavy footsteps and for a moment, it felt like he was running in slow motion. She found her fingers tightening across the metal, her breath coming out in pants, her feet placed in a wobbly stance, and everything else went white.
***
The darkness is mortifying. She coughs, and waves her hands around to find the light switch but finds nothing.
"Tokunbo." She hears a voice. A very familiar voice. Her mouth opens in a loud gasp.
"Derin!" She calls and whips around to look for the source of the voice.
A petite girl stands by a window. Her eyes are wide with fright. Her hair was in a ponytail and a tiny stain of red on her pale pink swimsuit.
"Derin!" She calls excitedly running towards the girl but stops when the girl steps back.
"Stay away!" The girl screams.
"What? Why? It's me."
"You killed her," Derin whispers.
"It was a mistake. I was angry. I didn't know."
"You're a monster." The girl whispers again. "You're not my friend. You are a monster."
"Don't say that." She cries."I am not. Don't say that."
"Why not?" Another voice calls out.
She turns around to see her pregnant mother. Her copper brown eyes flashed with anger.
"You gave my husband that scar did you not?"
"Mom."
"You ruin everything. You always do. We had to move because of you." Her mother accuses.
"I'm sorry." She begs. "I'm sorry."
"Tokunbo." A deeper voice calls.
"Papa. I am so sorry Papa. I know I shouldn't have made friends with them. But I can't be alone Papa. I can't be alone. I don't want to be alone."
Silence.
"Dad? What's happening?"
"Skinny!"
Her eyes flew open. Bright white light flooded them and they reflex to adjust to the burn. She blinked a few times to clear the fog from her vision. Something rotated above her and a lot of voices were jumbled together in a cacophony.
What the fishballs happened?!