Song: Risky – Davido ft. Popcaan (Word didn't AutoSave this chapter so I lost it, but thanks to my awesome IT skills, I managed to get it back. If I didn't, I don't think I would've continued the book)

*Unedited* (Dedicated to Skai9876)

"If you even think about falling asleep, I will shove you out the window." Kofi warned, his finger sitting on my nose.

"You're weird, and it hurts to breathe. I want to fall asleep," I retorted.

He glared at me. "Have you seen yourself? At least wait until the doctor checks up on you, then you can fall asleep."

"You're strange," I repeated, "you should take this opportunity to kill me now. Think about it. The chief is dead, and to anyone else's knowledge, you were never here. Say something like we killed each other. Two birds, one stone."

He sighed, rubbing his forehead exasperatedly. "Has it even crossed your mind that I have no interest in killing you? Every excuse I've ever told you, forget those. I haven't killed you because I have no interest in killing you."

"Why not?"

"You must think of me as some ruthless person who kills every single person that annoys him, don't you?"

I looked up at him. "Yes?"

He rolled his eyes. "No. That's stupid. Stop watching so many movies and reading idiotic books. Taking a life is not that easy."

"You literally just take a gun and shoot. BAM!" I laughed.

I don't know what I said that made his eyes soften as quickly as they did. I was even more surprised when he said, "You must be in so much pain. Your brain has even been affected. Sorry for wasting time, I'll get the doctor now."

I just frowned and watched him as he left. There was something seriously wrong with that man. How can you be planning to kill someone a few minutes prior then suddenly start caring about them later?

Or maybe I was the delusional one and he didn't care. Perhaps this was all part of a secret agenda.

It could be a ploy by him and the chief to do something to me. I mean, what are the odds that the chief had a heart attack exactly when he was about to paralyse and rape me?

My gaze strayed to the chief. His eyes were still open in a frightened and fearful way. He must have seen the devil before he died.

Or he didn't die, and he and Kofi were planning something against me. I tried to sit up, but my ribs made a scary sound and pain shot through me like a liquid fire. The cry of pain escaped me before I could stop it as I clutched my torso like my arm could do anything to quell the pain.

I stayed there, breathing hard and clenching my teeth, waiting for the pain to subside. When it did, I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

He didn't move, but if he and Kofi were pretending as if he was dead, he wouldn't react to a pillow. I turned to my side, seeing a lava lamp on the bedside table.

Holding my ribs, I crawled a little bit to the edge of the bed and grabbed it, then threw it at him. The lamp bonked him on the head, then fell behind him uselessly. He didn't budge.

Just then Kofi came in the room with Doctor Obeng, the doctor that had found the Liquid X in my system.

When his eyes fell on the chief, his mouth dropped open in shock, while Kofi looked at me like I was demented.

"Did he come back to life or what?" Kofi asked, dropping to check the chief's pulse.

The doctor was obviously shaken. "Is he dead?" He asked, looking at the chief's body.

"Well, judging by his pulse, yes." He replied to the doctor. "Elorm, you still haven't answered my question."

"He didn't," I explained, "I just wanted to make sure he was really dead, and this was not just a ploy by both of you."

He frowned. "Why would we do this?"

I shrugged.

Kofi gave me that look again, the 'I've-realised-that-you're-a-human-look' and told the doctor, "I think she has a concussion. There's something wrong with her head."

I shrugged again.

"What about the body?" He looked at the chief.

"I want an autopsy done on it. Please be discreet about it, I don't want anyone finding out what happened here."

The doctor laughed nervously. "Even I don't know what happened here."

I lifted my hand. "I killed him," I laughed.

Kofi glared at me. "Don't listen to her. She didn't."

"I said I did," I glared at him, "he was trying to rape me but I bashed his head in. It took a while but he eventually died."

Kofi sighed. "From the looks of things, he died from a heart attack."

"Oh," the doctor nodded nervously, "okay."

"Can you please get to work?" Kofi asked.

"Yes, of course." Doctor Obeng said. He looked and sounded confused.

When he finally looked at me and took in my outfit, his eyes widened in shock. He looked at my face, then scanned my battered body. "Did... where you..."

"No. He died before he got the chance." I replied.

"Okay." He turned to Kofi. "Please get her some fresh and loose clothes."

"Nothing slutty!" I called after Kofi, laughing.

Before he left, he looked at me for some time and shook his head. Maybe it was because of my choice of words. It wasn't something I'd usually say.

The doctor took his time in examining me, inevitably causing me more pain. I was in tears when he was done. Kofi came back in with a nurse, who dressed my wounds and shooed the men out to help me into a decent dress.

When she was done and she left, Kofi came back alone without the doctor and sat beside me.

"Can I sleep now?" I asked.

"Yes. Turns out I was overreacting. Well, not really. The doctor will have an X-ray done on you, but right now, he believes you have a broken leg and ribs, along with your cheekbone, plus multiple injuries to your face," he touched my cheek that wasn't broken lightly, "cuts all over your body, a mild concussion, shock–"

"Okay I get it. I've been beaten up badly," I rolled my eyes, "but at least I'm not dead like that one over there." I laughed at the dead body.

He looked at the chief and sighed. "Must've been all the drugs. Viagra, liquid X and alcohol. They must've been too much for that ailing body."

"Serves him right." I grinned like a wicked cat.

"Listen," he shifted closer to me, "you can't tell anyone what happened here. Not even Michael."

Michael. I just killed his father. "He's going to hate me," I said. The tears came even faster than they normally did.

"Let me make something clear. You did not kill the chief. He died a natural death."

"I don't regret that he's dead," I sniffed, "I just didn't want to have a hand in it. You said he takes the Viagra and tequila all the time. Why did he die this time then? It was the GHB. I killed him."

"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," Kofi began. He waited, seeing that a couple of male nurses came in with a stretcher. They zipped the chief's body in a body bag and carried it away, "I'm the one who put the idea in your head anyway."

I shook my head, wiping the tears only for them to multiply.

"Stop... stop that. I hate tears. Like I said, I suggested you drug him in the first place so technically, I killed him. Then again, he's an old man. Perhaps he would've had the heart attack anyway, drugs or not."

"So, what now?" I sniffed, looking at him through my tears.

Kofi frowned and was quiet for a bit. "Well, he's dead now. There's nothing keeping you here."

I would've sat up in shock if I wasn't in so much pain. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me," he rolled his eyes and got up from the bed, going to stand behind the window, "you're free to go."

"Are you serious? What about me snitching you to the police?" Just as I finished saying that, I felt a sharp pain in my head.

"In fact, too many people have come to know the location of this place. It's high time we relocated."

I let out a breath, staring at my leg. It was deformed, and I couldn't even imagine having to stand on it. "I'm hurt."

"I realised." He had his hands in his pockets and his stance was rigid, emanating antagonistic vibes.

"Are you actually just kicking me out?" I asked.

"No, Elorm. You can stay if you want, but you'd have to work and I doubt you'd want that."

"Of course, I don't," I laughed, "but I'm hurt."

"Yes. So, I'm saying you can stay here as long as you want and leave when you're fine again."

His words were soothing. It felt like a huge burden that I didn't even realise was present was lifted from my heart. I could leave. I could actually leave and take care of my family, but it sounded too good to be true. This is Kofi we're talking about. "What's the catch?"

He turned around and glared at me. "There's no catch. I'm not completely heartless. Your assumptions that I am are just pissing me off."

I rolled my eyes. "You can't blame me for being sceptical. Especially after everything you've done."

He stared at me blankly, then turned back to the window. "I guess I should show you my heartless side then. I mean, there's no need trying to be nice when you think–"

"Wait, stop. I'm sorry. Sorry," I said meekly.

His shoulders sagged but it was barely noticeable; I must've been staring too intently. "No. Don't apologise. In all honesty, I don't blame you for thinking like this. I've done a lot to deserve that, and I should've let you go a long time ago. I guess..." He shrugged.

"You guess what?" I quizzed.

"Never mind, it's not important."

"But I want to know. Please," I whined, pushing my bottom lip out – which was something I'd never do, meaning that there was something seriously wrong with me this time around.

"I don't know," he shrugged, "I guess I liked the company even though you were insufferable."

"Ha! I knew it!" I giggled.

"You knew what?"

"I knew that."

"What's 'that'?"

"Where? What am I supposed to look at?"

"No. I mean, what's 'that'?"

"I know, and I said where's this that?"

"No, I me–" he cut himself off and rolled his eyes. "I can't believe I'm arguing with a mentally confused person."

"Mentally confused?" I asked, frowning.

"You have a concussion. Stop talking, it will help abate the pain from the headache."

"How did you know that I had a headache?" I touched my burning forehead.

"Because you have a concussion," he face-palmed.

"How did you know that I had a concu–"

"Just go to bed, okay? I was wrong to overreact. You need plenty of rest to help heal yourself," he cut in.

"Now, I don't really feel like going to bed." I told him. "I want to swim in that blue lake, but my ribs feel kind of squishy right now."

"According to your doctor, you're going to be stuck this way for at least six weeks."

"Wait, what?" I bellowed.

Kofi winced. "You're the one with the headache. Control your volume." He said. "Your ribs will be fine in about six weeks, if the damage is as the doctor assumes it is. We think you have a broken fibula right now, but we can't know for sure until the X-ray is done."

"Fibula? Does that mean that I can't walk for six weeks?"

"Wait," he laughed, "don't get me wrong. Your ribs are what are going to heal in six weeks, and that's just an assumption. We can't be sure until the X-ray. Your leg however could have an array of injuries that we can't know for sure by just looking at it. For example, you said you can't feel it, which may be a sign of neurovascular injury."

I frowned, playing with my fingers and sniffling from my previous tear attack. "So what, do I need surgery?"

"It's a closed fracture," he came and sat beside me again, looking at me leg, "there are no visible bones, so I don't think you'll need surgery. Though, I can't be certain about that until the X-ray."

"What are you certain of?" I glared at him.

He glared back. "I'm only going to tolerate this behaviour because I know you have a few screws missing up there right now," he scoffed, "then again, you're always like this."

"I'm sorry for being mad at you, you know, after you offered me as a virgin sacrifice to a man old enough to be my father," I spat.

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "One, if it wasn't for me, in this very moment, you would have been being torn to shreds by that beast. Second, I don't know if you've forgotten, but you're no longer a virgin."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, getting even angrier.

"Don't you remember? You slept with Michael that night he rented you."

I laughed, throwing my head back.

Kofi was looking at me like he was scared, and that made me laugh even harder. "Did he hit you with a hammer or what?" He asked.

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p,' "he grabbed me by my hair and repeatedly bashed my head against the floor instead." I laughed again.

The idiot kept looking at me, then let out a small breath. I was still laughing when he shifted closer to my upper half. "Just go to bed. We'll talk when you wake up again, okay?"

"But I don't want to talk to you. Not now, not ever," I looked at him with big eyes.

"That's okay. Just go to bed," he pulled the covers up to my chin.

"You're very strange. One minute, you leave me without a roof over my head, then the next, you put me in your own bed and feed me. One minute, you offer my body to an older man, then the next, you take care of me and tuck me in bed. What's wrong with you?"

"If I started telling you all that's wrong with me, you won't stick around to hear the end of it."

* * *

When I woke up again, I was glad that I didn't have a headache. What I didn't expect though was the amount of pain I was hit with the moment I opened my eyes.

I groaned, trying to turn on my stomach – because that always helped when I was in pain – but that only intensified the pain, reminding me that both my leg and my ribs were severely damaged.

I hadn't told Kofi anything about me coughing blood, which was a mistake on my part, seeing that that could be a sign that something else was seriously wrong.

I shut my eyes and bit my lip, resisting the urge to dig my fingernails into my palm. I hated doing that, even though it brought me so much relief.

I started taking deep breaths to calm myself as the pain decreased. "Kofi?" I called.

There was no response.

It was honestly so stupid of me to think that he'd sat on a chair beside my bed waiting for me to wake up like Wolfgang had done. Kofi didn't care. But it was so unwise to leave an invalid all alone. What did they expect me to do when I needed something?

I just sat there, suffering from the extreme pain while trying hard not to cry. I'd been crying too much. It was not befitting of the strong, confident woman that I wanted to be.

Just when I began gripping the sheets in agony, I heard yelling. I let out a breath and closed my eyes, glad that someone was close enough. I needed some pain medication so badly, it felt like I was about to pass out.

Before I could call for help, the door burst open. It was Nathan, who was closely followed by Kofi. "What happened here?" Nathan asked bewilderedly, coming to kneel beside me.

I glanced at him, but the fear of him seeing my tear-filled eyes made me turn my head to the other side.

"It's nothing serious." Kofi said.

"Nothing serious? Last time I saw her, she was fine. Look at her now! She looks like she's been knocked down by a train and runover multiple times!"

"Can you keep it down?" Kofi asked, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not going to keep it down! I can't watch you become the very monster you're so afraid of." Nathan warned.

Kofi looked at Nathan; that look you give to someone when they're not supposed to be saying something in front of a third party. "Can we talk outside?"

"No. I'm not going to allow you to lie to me. I want to beat you up so badly for what you've done to her," Nathan stood in front of him, his stance rigid and with an angry expression.

He thought Kofi did this?

Ah. The others didn't know that the chief was supposed to be with me last night. They have no idea that he's dead either.

Serves Kofi right.

"What's stopping you, huh?" Kofi mimicked Nathan's disposition but his face was expressionless.

Nathan stared pointedly.

"Why did you two even come back here? I thought you didn't want to see me." Kofi asked him.

"Even if we don't like you, you're still our brother." Nathan sighed, relaxing and coming to sit beside me. He wiped away a tear sliding down my cheek.

"Who are you lying to? Wolfgang came because of her and you came because of Wolfgang."

"Well can you blame us?" Nathan looked at him, instantly getting angry all over again. "Just look at this! What kind of human being has the heart to do this to another? What kind of person are you?"

Why wasn't Kofi defending himself? Why allow Nathan to think he beat me up?

I hated Kofi, but this whole situation was making me feel uncomfortable. I wanted to speak up, yet this was a conversation between brothers, and I had no right to interject.

Nathan was being so biased. Wolfgang helps run an organization that harvests organs from children. What kind of person is he?

Also, did he just say 'even though we don't like you'? Who says that to their family or friends unless it's a joke?

"She's fine. She has an X-ray scheduled for later today, everything will be alright." Kofi told him. His expression didn't betray how he was feeling, though if I were him, I'd feel miserable.

"No. I don't trust you with her anymore. The chief and his son will leave today and his son has promised not to come back for her, therefore, you can let her go. Can't you?"

They didn't know the chief was dead.

Michael didn't know his father was dead.

"I already have, but she's not in the best condition to leave right now so I'm letting her stay until she gets better."

"She can recover somewhere else. Take her to a hospital or something." Nathan said annoyedly.

"No. I said she's staying and that's final."

"Did you even ask her?"

"I said," Kofi's face was expressionless, but his body language and his blazing eyes couldn't hide his anger, "she's staying, and you're leaving. You and Wolfgang."

"I think not."

"Stop thinking then. This place is mine. Not our father's, not ours, but mine. I can decide who I want on my property."

"It was given to you by our father, wasn't it? Just like the polo club was given to me. They're all our properties, I've never forbidden you from any of mine," Nathan told him.

"What's your point? Just because you haven't doesn't mean I can't."

"You can't make me leave." Nathan got to his feet and faced his brother.

Kofi had about an inch on Nathan, and though not much, that slight height advantage made Kofi look somehow fiercer. "That's what you think. I blame myself for telling the security to let you both back in. I d–"

"Oh, don't worry. Wolfgang and I will leave you to this beautiful, huge mansion and its even more beautiful prostitutes, but not without her."

"No. Go, but you're not taking anything of mine."

Excuse me?

"Does she," he pointed at me, "look like an object to you?"

"Does she to you?"

Nathan glared at him. "Of course not."

"Then why have you automatically decided that you're taking her away?"

Nathan was about to give a heated reply, but he stopped himself. He turned to me with an awkward apologetic smile. "I kind of forgot you were here."

I smiled. "That's okay."

"I suppose you were paying attention?" He asked, and I nodded. "Will you rather come with us or... stay with him?"

The way he said 'him' made my heart sink.

I couldn't even imagine being in Kofi's place.

He admitted to liking my company, which goes to show how lonely he really was. Now his brothers were thinking of leaving him, and Nathan was talking and referring to him like he was a stranger.

Kofi fixed his green orbs on me, conveying the message that I did not have a choice. He'd already given me my freedom, which meant that if he was forcing me to stay, he was only doing it to piss his brothers off.

Honestly, I didn't want to go with Wolfgang and Nathan. The way I felt right now, I didn't want to leave my bed for anything in the world. Plus, the chief died here, and only Kofi knows he's dead and how he died.

In a weird way, I needed Kofi. He was my ally, and if he didn't suddenly change again, recovering here wouldn't be bad. Besides, Michael and Barbie were here. I couldn't leave both of them without a word.

I had to stay.

"Nathan, this may not make a lot of sense, but I do want to stay."

Nathan didn't say anything. He just looked at me like I was an unsolvable riddle, then turned to his brother. "You've scared her that much?" He asked incredulously.

Kofi rolled his eyes. "You've heard the non-object. She wants to stay, so she will stay."

"You're despicable," Nathan said, "it's no wonder that dad hates you."

Kofi stilled.

I stilled.

Nathan stilled. "I'm so–"

"No," Kofi held up his hand. If I thought his face was expressionless before, now it reminded me of a blank canvas, "get out of my house."

"Kofi, I didn't m–"

"In that moment of anger, you spoke your truth. I have heard you and I thank you for being honest with me, even though unintentional. Now, I request that you leave my house and not even think of stepping foot here again. I hope you have a nice life with your father and your brother."

I wished I could dig a hole in the ground and hide in it.

Both of them were hurting each other and it made me sick. It made me wonder, even though my siblings were still young, looking at the path we were taking, if this was how we were going to end up.

I didn't want that. I wanted a family; a real one.

All these experiences have truly made me realise how much I took everything I had for granted, and didn't realise how much it all meant to me until I lost it.

"You can't cut us out of your life. We're your family."

"The same family that abused me for years on end and left me emotionally dead?"

When he said that, I felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. In that moment, I forgot about all my pain, and focused all my attention on a man who had been shattered by the very people who were supposed to love him.

"You..." Nathan let out a breath. He looked like he was about to have a panic attack when he sat on the edge of my bed, controlling his short breaths. "That isn't fair. Wolfgang and I were just kids. There's nothing we could've done."

"You could've never stood up to him? When he'd beat me senseless and leave me bleeding and barely breathing, you couldn't even just say, "Dad, please stop?" You couldn't help me? When he'd tell me that he only adopted me to look good in the public eye and that my parents never wanted me because I was worthless and I didn't deserve anything, you couldn't come and see me and tell me that all he said were lies? No. You and Wolfgang turned a blind eye; you pretended like it wasn't even happening, even when you were old enough. Every time, I'd have to pick myself up and attend to my own wounds, because even the maids were either too scared of dad or didn't care enough to help me. I had to hug myself and tell myself that I wasn't worthless and that I deserved the whole world until even I stopped believing that."

Nathan was crying.

I had never seen a man cry before. It was shocking and it even felt like a taboo.

I was crying too, and not because of any pain.

I was no stranger to abuse, but my case was much more different. In my parts, they believed that beating their children was a way to make sure they grew morally upright. We weren't beaten out of anger, but always for our own 'good'.

We rarely bled, and overall, not much damage was done, unless your parent was really angry and went overboard. It had happened once to me, back when I was five or six years old.

Dada was heavily pregnant with the twins, but I didn't know how delicate her situation was so I tried climbing her, since I wanted her to pick me up. Actually, I climbed a tree and jumped on her back and she got so frightened that she fell.

It must've been God that saved her and my brothers that day. She fell on her back and began to scream, drawing people's attention. She was attended to by our village midwives and my brothers were born almost a day later.

I got the beating of my life from my father, which resulted in me getting a mildly swollen face and a busted lip, and even dada had taken care of me after that, hugging me and tending to me even though she had two tragically born babies to take care of.

Back at the village, I always remembered the bad things my parents did. Now, seeing how dysfunctional other people's families were, I couldn't help the onslaught of good memories, and the horrible feeling of guilt as I thought of how ungrateful and selfish I'd been.

I had good parents. They weren't perfect, but they did what they thought was right and what they thought will aid me in future. They were wrong for not believing me about the rumours, but could I really blame them? They were so uneducated.

I'd been such an ambitious and pretentious child. I hated them, I hated being born to them. I dreamed of going to the city and leaving them to suffer in poverty and make them wish they'd been nicer to me. I made them the absolute bad guys in my mind, with no hope of redemption at all.

Perhaps, due to my actions, they started hating me too.

"So, please, forgive me for locking all human emotions and feelings and the need to be a 'good person' when it's your fault that I'm like this. Give all your keys to the security when you leave."

Nathan just kept crying. He had his palms covering his face as his semi-loud sobs filled the tense room.

Kofi stared at him blankly for a while, then he looked at me. "Let's take you to the hospital to get your X-ray done. We've wasted enough time already."

I nodded, and he proceeded to pick me up like a bride. I hissed in pain, wiping my eyes and biting my lip. I felt like broken glass. I felt like I'd come apart both emotionally and physically and every touch and every memory was like a stab.

When we left the room, I looked back at Nathan.

He was still crying.

* * *

This is the first time I've ever written something that awoke so much emotion in me. I don't even cry in tragic movies but I cried for this chapter. I feel stupid; I know I'm being dramatic and you guys just read this normally.

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