Song: Kidi ft. Kwesi Arthur – Mr. Badman (I saw someone set a kitten on fire and all I have to say is that humans are a menace to planet earth)

*Unedited* (Lmao why do Africans think you're not sick anymore when you laugh?)

P.S I feel this chapter is too raw, but I'm not going to be updating in a while 👀 so here you go.

Wolfgang agreed with me that Kofi was faking his illness once he stumbled upon the scene. He came with my crutches; apparently, he was delayed because climbing stairs is a much more difficult task than it is given credit for.

Kofi wasn't faking though. Few minutes after Wolfgang sat beside him to talk, he began to vomit and I was too disgusted to stay. Descending the stairs with crutches was just nightmarish. When I got down though, I went back to bed.

I woke up during Christmas night and Wolfgang and I had a pizza party with a lot of soft drinks, then we watched Christmas movies. Kofi was asleep because his diarrhoea took a lot out of him.

The next few days passed without hassle and soon enough, Kofi was walking again. He was avoiding me a lot and I felt that that was because he was embarrassed because of his diarrhoea. When he was sick, I spent most of his mornings and evening with him, leaving only when he began to get expelling disgusting fluids. After he got better, he made sure to avoid me every step of the way.

I ignored him too, feeling jealous that he was fine now while my ribs were still killing me and my leg wasn't getting any better. My face wasn't swollen anymore though, but I still looked slightly disfigured because even though the bone was set back into its place, it hadn't healed.

We three were having breakfast – the only place where Kofi would willingly be near me – when Wolfgang asked, "Do you think we overreacted?"

"What do you mean?" Kofi asked. He had already cleared four balls of banku – we were eating banku, grilled tilapia and hot pepper for breakfast – and was on his fifth one. He had been eating like a caveman ever since he recovered.

"No one even called looking for Elorm. I mean, I know almost everyone in the mansion knows what happened to the chief, but there hasn't been any trouble due to that so far."

Well, that was good news. Though I preferred this penthouse to the mansion, especially since Michael had left. The only person I wanted to see was Barbie; I wanted to make sure she was recovering from... that thing that happened to her.

"Mr. Mark called me though. By now, he must've realised that the Chief Amegah is missing." Kofi said.

"Has he called ever since?"

"No," Kofi frowned, "that's strange."

"What's strange is that we left the mansion like criminals. If trouble comes, we must face it head-on."

"We're only here because of her," Kofi said, referring to me. He didn't look at me though. He was still pretending like I wasn't there, and I had no idea why. It was strange because during his illness, we were civil with each other. I could almost say we had become friends, but that sounded farfetched. I still hated him for trying to kill me and for not telling Michael the truth.

"At the mansion, we have bodyguards and the advantage of privacy. There's so much more protection there than here. I think coming here was a mistake."

"I like it here," I whined.

"Too bad," Kofi replied. It was the first time he'd acknowledged my existence in a while.

"So we're going back?" I asked, frowning.

Kofi looked at Wolfgang, waiting for an answer.

"Tonight," Wolfgang said.

"Okay," Kofi agreed.

"Do I have a say?" I asked, but they both ignored me. "I'm a free woman now, for your information."

"If you want to leave, you can leave," Kofi said.

I glared at him. "I want to, but I obviously can't." I gestured to my leg.

"Then shut up and do as we say," he retorted, "excuse me."

He pushed his chair back and left.

Wolfgang stared at his retreating back. "What's up with him?"

"Beats me," I shrugged. I wouldn't admit it but I felt hurt by his attitude change. I thought we'd finally come to an understanding, but he had thrown that all away again. I don't even know why I try with him.

"Get some rest. It'll be a seven hour or so drive." Wolfgang told me, referring to our return to the mansion.

"Can't we just stay? Tomorrow is the last day of twenty-eighteen, we can celebrate the new year here." I whined.

He smiled and shook his head. "Sorry princess. No can't do. Staying away too long is a bad idea, and besides, since Kofi has been away, the prostitutes haven't gone to work. New year is coming, they'll be in high demand."

I laughed. "I thought people go to church for the thirty-first night."

"They do," he chuckled, "then right after that, they come and hire prostitutes."

We both laughed.

"Get some rest okay? In case you're unable to sleep in the car." He touched my cheek with the hand he wasn't using to eat.

I smiled and nodded. I went to shower – which took about two hours due to my injuries – then took a long nap. When I woke up again, it was five pm. I had become better acquainted with my crutches, especially since I had to move around a lot because of Kofi.

I went to the living room to find them dressed, with our suitcases waiting to be carted into the car. Wolfgang had gone shopping for me during the time I spent here, and I was glad because unlike Kofi, he knew my style. It was a bit of an overkill though when he bought me razor blades and sanitary pads.

They bought clothes for themselves too, especially Kofi because he'd ruined most of his clothes. I didn't understand why they were taking theirs away though.

"It's just five," I complained.

Immediately Kofi saw me, he took two suitcases and went out. I glared at his black tank top.

"We have to leave now if we want to get there early." Wolfgang said.

"You really want to drive through that dark forest again? Even after what happened the last time?" I questioned.

"We won't stop for anything this time, plus we're taking a big car."

I groaned, about to head back to my room when he hopped over the sofa and blocked my path. "Car park. Now."

"Five minutes," I begged.

"No. Now."

I glared at him and rolled my eyes. "Fine."

"I'll be down in a minute," he said.

When the lift came up, Kofi came out, walking past me without a word. I frowned and leaned against the wall, waiting. He came around holding the last two suitcases, but stopped upon seeing me.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked.

"I thought we could ride the lift together," I said with a sweet smile. If he was going to piss me off, then I'd piss him off too.

"No, go ahead. I... I have something to do." He said.

"What?" Wolfgang asked, coming behind him.

"It's my business," Kofi retorted, "the two of you should ride together."

"No, I still have to take the decorations down. You guys should wait in the car," Wolfgang said. Even though Christmas passed, Wolfgang still decorated the flat at my behest.

"I'll help," Kofi offered.

"Kofi, no," Wolfgang said, frowning, "you're still not fully recovered, and I don't want Elorm to go alone. Go and wait, I'll be done in no time. It's not much."

I smiled triumphantly. "You heard the man. Let's go."

Kofi glared at both of us, hesitating.

"If you don't go now, someone's going to call the lift." Wolfgang added.

Kofi sighed defeatedly and glanced at me. "Come on."

So that was how come we were both sitting in the car, waiting for Wolfgang with an air of awkwardness surrounding us.

He took the front seat, but I was fine with that because I would be able to stretch out and get some sleep during the ride.

"I know why you're ignoring me," I said.

He ignored me, of course.

"This is the part where you ask, 'Oh yeah? Why am I ignoring you?'"

I caught the small smile on his face through the driver's mirror. He didn't say anything though.

I rolled my eyes and continued anyway, "You've started to like me, but you don't want to like me." I stated proudly.

I didn't expect him to suddenly burst out laughing. I couldn't help the confused expression that crossed my face as I stared at the laughing man. "What's so funny?"

"You think your life is a Wattpad book, don't you?" He asked.

I frowned. "My life is too good for Wattpad."

He rolled his eyes. "You're so swollen headed."

"No," I glared at his shoulder, "I didn't mean that in a good way. I mean, my life is too messy, too unbelievable and weird to be in a Wattpad book."

He didn't reply.

I let out a breath. "But I'm right, right?"

He yawned. "Of course not. I liked you a long time ago."

I coughed. My hand flew to my throat because I was very close to death caused by choking on disbelief.

He turned around just to glare at me.

"You have a very weird way of liking people," I said once I had calmed down.

"Yes. Don't you forget that."

I rolled my eyes and we fell silent again.

I was getting tired of waiting, so I opened the car door to stand for a while. Unbelievably, sitting hurt my ribs.

"Where are you going?" Kofi asked.

"It's none of your business." I replied, leaning against the car.

He poked his head out to make sure I wasn't going anywhere. It didn't escape me how his eyes scanned my body from head to toe. "You've lost weight." He commented.

"Okay, body shamer."

"Shamer is not a word."

"Okay, body shamee."

"That's even more stupid!"

I chuckled. "What's your point though?"

"You're not eating," he replied.

"And so? My body, my rules."

"Nonsense," he got out and flicked my forehead.

"What was that for?" I asked angrily, holding my head.

"How can you not eat and say 'my body, my rules'? Fool."

"My tongue, my words."

He frowned. "Now that's just lame."

"Will you get back inside?"

"No. This is just disturbing. Look at your thighs. They used to be so thick!"

"Excuse me!" I exclaimed, backing away from him in shock.

"Oh shut up. You know I don't mean it like that."

"I think you mean that you've been staring at my juicy thighs!"

"No, I'm just observant. And the way they look now, you shouldn't even dare call them juicy."

"Please," I rolled my eyes, "you're exaggerating."

"I'm serious," he suddenly pushed the sleeve of my long-sleeved shirt back, exposing my shoulder, "look at this. This bone was barely visible before."

"Stop it," I shoved him away, "stop touching me. This is why I don't like wearing revealing things. Just shorts and you think that's automatic permission to judge my body."

"I'm not judging your body, and I thought you don't wear revealing things just because that's not your style."

I frowned. "That too, but I don't like being judged by my body either. Imagine, just because I have wicked curves, someone automatically assumes that I 'belong to the streets'."

"You let that get to you?"

"I've been slut shamed my whole life, Kofi. You might act like it doesn't get to you but deep down, it does."

I don't know why I said that to him when I didn't even realise that myself. I always prided myself by believing that the rumours and those stares don't get to me, but I guess that they always have, just that I wasn't brave enough to admit it to myself.

He went quiet after that.

I took a deep breath, glad that there was silence between us. He went back into the car while I admired the setting sun.

Wolfgang came down a few minutes later. "Get in." He told me.

I did. When we were in that posh part of the country, I looked out the window, admiring the houses and the décor belonging to the rich, wondering how different my life would've been if I were born rich.

It's wishful thinking, but I just wanted to know what it would've been like to be born with that much privilege. I would've probably been in university, or I would've taken over my parents' multi-million dollar companies, never having to worry about money.

Instead, I was born a villager, to two ignorant parents and an even more ignorant village. I let out a breath, knowing that I was just dooming myself to self-pity with these foolish thoughts. It was no use thinking about what could've been, because it will never be what it is.

When we left that posh community, I closed my eyes and stretched myself on the seat.

I woke up again to a chilly temperature, darkness and the sound of crickets. We were driving through the forest, so he'd put the windows up and turned the air conditioning on. I sat up and yawned, then hurriedly closed my mouth due to the stench of today's breakfast.

Wolfgang noticed though and he made a face at me through the driver's mirror. I stuck my tongue out at him and leaned back on the seat so that he wouldn't catch my breath again.

"I'm hungry," I said. I didn't miss Kofi's stare through the driver's mirror. I averted my eyes.

"We'll be there soon," Wolfgang said.

Just as he said that, we took a curve and looking ahead of us, I noticed huge clouds of smoke billowing into the night sky.

"It looks like a part of the forest is on fire," I stated.

"I know right. Weird, because we're the only humans here for miles and humans are the only ones stupid enough to start forest fires."

"Humans," Kofi spat, shaking his head.

"Tell me about it," Wolfgang agreed.

I couldn't help the unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach though. "Call the fire service. I don't know which direction the fire is coming from exactly, but it could be headed towards the mansion."

"No, don't worry," Wolfgang told me, "the mansion has too many security systems in place to be on fire. If it was in danger, we'd know."

"Besides, a fire in the mansion wouldn't be that big unless the whole building is on fire, which is very impossible." Kofi added.

They couldn't assure me though. I had a very bad feeling that it was the mansion that was on fire, but they wouldn't believe me so I decided to let it go.

I settled down for another nap, but I woke up again due to my rumbling stomach. I noticed that the car had stopped. "Do you guys have a death wish? Do you remember what happened the last time we stopped?"

They ignored me, so I sat up.

I was right.

It was the mansion that was on fire.

We were at a safe distance, but we could see the large establishment which looked more intimidating in a beautiful ball of fire. My first thought was to take a picture, but then I admonished myself, thinking of the people who were unfortunate enough to be inside.

I couldn't feel too bad though because, one, Elikem was at the polo club. Two, a lot of people were also at a safe distance – though not very safe because they were in the forest – watching the mansion burn. Some of them were in nightwear and barefoot; I assume they were asleep before the mansion caught fire. Last, I don't really care about these people.

"I told you so."

"Really?" Wolfgang asked me, looking at me disappointedly.

I shrugged. "Is anyone trapped in there?"

"They would be dead already."

"How..." Wolfgang trailed off. He looked petrified and angry, "this was obviously not an accident."

"So can we go back to the penthouse now?"

They both looked at me, annoyed.

"What? There's nothing we can do about that," I pointed to the mansion.

Wolfgang glared at me for a second, then turned to his brother. "Why didn't anyone call?"

"I don't know. Let's talk to some of them," Kofi suggested.

"Can I come?" I asked.

"No, before you attract another snake." Kofi said.

"That's not fair."

"It's better you stay here. If we have to run, well," he looked to me to emphasise his point.

"I'm coming whether you like it or not."

Wolfgang was about to protest but Kofi put his hand on his shoulder. "Leave it."

Did he call me an it or he meant leave 'it' as in leave the situation as it is?

Kofi went first, but Wolfgang waited for me to come over to him, then we went to talk to one of the prostitutes. This one was male, and I didn't fail to notice how smoking hot he was.

"What happened?" Wolfgang questioned.

The man was chocolate skinned, with bright teeth and grey eyes. He looked like a fairy-tale. The only problem was that he had a deep scowl on his pleasant face. "It was that crazy man!"

"What crazy man?" I asked.

He looked at me, then his eyes darkened with anger. "Your boyfriend!"

I stilled, then looked at Wolfgang. Wolfgang was looking at me too. "Michael?" I asked, diverting my gaze back to the prostitute.

"Yes, that's his name." He huffed.

Wolfgang frowned. "Why would Prince Michael do this? How would he even do this?"

"He was looking for his father; he said he wanted to see his body for himself. We were watching movies when he suddenly came with a gallon of petrol and started wetting the place." He complained crossly.

"What?" I asked, finding that hard to believe. That sounded so stupid and so uncharacteristic of Michael. "You're telling me he poured petrol over the whole mansion?"

The man glared at me like it was all my fault. Then again, it was. "He wet some rooms, mostly the living room, then he just circled the mansion with petrol and made sure to dump a lot of it on the foundation."

"Why would he do that?" I frowned.

The man looked like he wanted to hit me when I asked that question. "Because you killed his father obviously! He's a psycho, but I understand him. His girlfriend killed his father, it'd drive anyone crazy."

"Don't talk to her like that," Wolfgang snapped.

The man deflected his eyes from me but made sure to glare subtly.

"Where's he now?" I asked.

He shrugged. "News spread quickly that he was setting fire to the mansion so everyone got out. What's going round is that he made sure no one was inside when he set the place on fire, but that could be just lies because the girls here like him."

I frowned. Michael was like a woman magnet. I didn't know some of the prostitutes were attracted to him.

"You didn't answer the question," Wolfgang said.

"It's too late," he shrugged.

My breath hitched in my throat. "What do you mean by it's too late?"

He shrugged again. "He was in the living room when he set the fire, and that was the wettest room."

Before he even finished speaking, a single tear dropped down my cheek. I was frozen. It wasn't even a metaphor, I was really frozen. My heart stopped, my lungs stopped, my whole body shut down. I was frozen.

I must've blacked out for a moment there, because when I came too, I was in Wolfgang's arms and we were just above the floor. He was calling my name repeatedly while he tapped my cheek gently.

Kofi was standing in front of me, hands in his pocket. He looked unconcerned but his eyes were a different story.

"Are you okay?"

I shook my head frantically, more tears spilling over. "He's not in there. Michael is not the type to commit suicide. He didn't do that. He's alive. He's just somewhere here, if you look you'll find him." I pushed him away, sitting on the floor and lifting my torso to scan the crowd for that dark, curly hair. "He's here somewhere. I can still feel him."

"Elorm," Kofi bellowed, "stop this. He's dead. Don't drive yourself mad over it."

I wiped my eyes and closed my palm over a stone on the ground. Before anyone could react, I threw it at that stupid green-eyed boy.

It smacked him right between the eyes. There was a cry of alarm from the prostitute and a few other people who found that scene more interesting than the burning house. Kofi himself cursed filthily, groaning and clutching the area, while glaring at me.

"If you even dare repeat that nonsense, I will kill you." I spat.

He gritted his teeth – I could tell by his ticking jaw – and pulled a handkerchief from his jean pocket to stop the blood flow, but he didn't say anything.

I tried standing, but I fell again. I felt weak at the thought of him dying. If he was dead, then I would want to be dead too. I couldn't even imagine a world where Michael was dead.

I tried getting up again, but before I could fall, Kofi reached down and pulled me up by my shoulders.

"Don't touch me!" I shoved him away, balancing my weight on one leg. He didn't say anything. He simply stepped back and touched his cut, drawing his bloody fingers back.

I looked at Wolfgang, "Please pick them up for me." I gestured to my crutches.

He did so, and handed them to me. The three men were looking at me like I was insane when I started waving through the crowd, calling out his name. I didn't have to do that for long though, because soon, everyone started screaming.

Thinking it was a wild animal, Wolfgang grabbed onto my shoulders and was about to pick me up when I saw him.

"Michael!"

I began to run as well as I could with those crutches. He was covered in soot and he was coughing. His shirt was torn apart, and through it, I could see burns on his chest. They didn't look bad though, and he was fine apart from that.

I threw myself into his arms, but before I could wrap my arms around him, he shoved me.

I was so confused, sitting on the ground where he'd thrown me, looking at him. Then I remembered. "I can explain everything," I pleaded.

His eyes immediately moistened. "How could you?"

Wolfgang came and stood in front of me, probably fearing that Michael would do something to me. I knew he wouldn't though. Michael wouldn't lay a finger on me.

"Prince Michael, you need to see a doctor now." Wolfgang told him.

He was right. Michael was coughing and his voice sounded raspy, like he'd been smoking for years.

"He was the only one I had left," he continued, ignoring Wolfgang and looking at me, "how could you?"

"I didn't–"

"Don't lie to me!" He bellowed.

I flinched.

"She didn't! I did."

I wished he was dead. Why wasn't that snake a poisonous snake? Why wasn't salmonella a fatal infection? Why didn't the snake constrict him? Why didn't he fall out of the penthouse flat? Why didn't thunder strike him? Why wasn't he here in the mansion when it caught fire?

"What are you talking about?" Michael coughed.

"Michael, you need to see a doctor. Please, this can wait." I begged.

Michael spared me a glance, then he went to face Kofi. "What. Are. You. Talking. About?"

"I killed your father." He said simply, like he didn't just admit to murder.

"Is this true?" Michael asked me.

I shook my head, wiping my tears away. "No. Not really. No one–"

I reasoned that Michael knowing that his father's death was natural will help calm him down enough for us to take him to a hospital, but that stupid green-eyed boy had to cut in. "Look at me when I'm talking to you. Your father beat her up, so I killed him."

"My father could do many things, but he never laid a hand on a woman!" Michael drew his fist back, but before he could even punch Kofi, he doubled over, coughing his lungs out.

"Please, please someone, get him to a hospital!" I cried.

Wolfgang helped me up again and I hopped towards Michael. "I'll tell you everything as soon as you get better. Please." I held onto his shoulders to make him look into my red eyes, hoping that he'd remember that I was still here for him.

For the first time that night, he looked at me. He actually looked at me. "What happened to you?" He asked.

"Your father did that." Kofi cut in.

"Will you shut up?" I snapped, glaring at him.

"Did he really to do that to you?" He asked me.

I wanted to get him to safety. There were wild animals around, a looming forest fire, and there was so much smoke in his lungs. The smoke was denser in the sky, but it was a little bit around us too. Because we were a bit far away from the mansion, it wasn't too much around us, but he'd already inhaled too much.

The way he was looking at me, his eyes burning with so much grief and uncertainty, I knew he wouldn't go anywhere without hearing the truth.

I nodded shakily.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him, sobbing into my hair and apologising softly. My ribs were burning because of how tight his hold on me was, but I couldn't find it in me to ask him to let go.

"I'm so sorry," he sobbed, his tears wetting my neck, "but I can't sympathise with you right now. He was my father, and he's dead."

I wasn't expecting him to say that. I thought he was apologising for what his father did to me. Knowing that he was apologising because he couldn't feel sorry for me right now... well, I didn't know how to feel about that.

"You're disgusting," Kofi spat, glaring at Michael so intently like he wanted him to catch fire himself.

"And you need to shut up." I retorted. "Michael, come with me. We'll take you to a hospital and you'll be fine, okay?"

"He was all I had left," he coughed after that. He was coughing so violently that I was scared he would cough his lungs out.

"Wolfgang please," I begged, looking at the man who'd been silent the whole time.

He, like almost everyone around, was just watching the scene unfold. He looked into my eyes, then sighed and shook his head, "Let's get him in."

"Not in my car!" Kofi protested vehemently.

"Will you shut up! No one cares if it's your car or not, we're using it! If you're a man, try and stop us!" I told him, eyes blazing.

He matched my stare, then turned his back to me, watching his burning house. "Mr. Faye will come for both of you. Run."

* * *

I really don't like this chapter 😩😣😤😑😕 But I had to put it up. It seems short too but it's like four thousand three hundred and something words.

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