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♥ Required for Song for this chapter; ♪ Numb by David Archuleta ♪

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_Chidinma_

The week after Chioma left was a roller coaster ride for me. I had met up with Bennie and Funmi at the mall the day after I had seen Samuel. We were now a trio. We just sat on the benches in the open space outside the mall and literally cried our eyes out reminiscing about Chioma and all the fun times we had back then in high school.

Bennie had decided to take us to Beauties' to lift the weight off, but when I saw the dress that Chioma wanted me to wear, I literally broke down right there on the tiled ground of the boutique.

They had to carry a crying me all the way home. I had gone back to my apartment.

I didn't tell them about my ongoing investigation. I didn't want anymore people to get hurt because of me, I couldn't lose anymore friends.

After meeting Samuel, I wasn't able to gather any relevant information about that night.

Somehow, the murderer did his job between the time Samuel was away and the time she was found. By my calculations, that could be an hour since she was gone before she was found. Fega said her dress was torn at the thigh region.
Could it be that the murderer had other intentions or was it due to the struggle?

Then, was the killer at the the party or did he sneak in through a back door or balcony? If he did, then an investigation of the crime scene is compulsory.

I stopped and blinked at the screen of my laptop, looking at what I had written so far. This was really reining me in. I would need to go back to the crime scene.

Could I really go back to the place where everything happened? Where I lost an integral part of my life? I was torn.

Part of me wanted to curl myself into a ball and cry, while the other part, really wanted to see my best friend's killer behind bars.

Putting on a face of firm determination, I donned on my black denims with a black off shoulder blouse, grabbed my purse, stuffing my phone and some bills in.

And then, I took a taxi to Spring Falls.

~~~~~~

_Rex_

I planned to surprise Chidinma by coming over to her place. I wanted to be there for her in every possible way, to hold her hand when she was hurting. To tell her that someone else besides family cared.

And plus, I'd do anything to see her lovely face again. When I met her at that restaurant two days ago, the way she blushed and smiled with me, I knew that I was going to be stuck on her.

I took a taxi to her place. I was about to enter her yard when I saw her through the see-through gate, exiting her apartment with a determined look on her face. I quickly hid out of sight and waited.

Her eyes still held all the sadness and pain. She hailed a taxi.

Curiosity got the better of me. Where was she going? Why did she look so determined? Or worse, what if the same maniac that ended Chioma was out for her too?

Shivering at the possibility, I quickly hailed a taxi and followed her.

~~~~~~

_Chidinma_

I entered the reception of the hotel. The interior decor was awe worthy. A few paintings graced the walls. Paintings expressing negritude and landscape murals. Potted plants were positioned at the four corners of the room, a few rows of fancy waiting chairs were stationed close to the doors.

The place smelled faintly of lavenders and roses. The receptionist desk lay right in the middle of the room, a plush highly stylized carpet laid on the aesthetically tiled floor in front of the desk.

The reception wasn't busy and it will not be until maybe after a few months, when the effect of the murder wears off.

Walking up to the receptionist, I asked to see the hall.

"Do you have a reservation?" She asked in the sing-song voice of people of her profession.

"No" I answered, my voice defiant.

She looked up, eyeing me lazily for a second, before arching a well carved eyebrow.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" I shook my head.

"I do....you are the babe that her friend was killed.....in this hotel."

I looked at her demanding an explanation. Everyone that had come to my party did not bother passing the reception,they came in through the event centre.

"You dey for news..."

I blushed. I hadn't turned on the TV since that night.

"Can I see the event centre?"I asked again looking her dead in the eyes.

She smiled, shaking her head a little.

"Oya come, follow me. I'm not supposed to this, but... I know you need this. Losing a loved one is hard." Her voice seemed to swim in tears for a moment, like she had gone through the same. Her name tag read Aisha.

" Thank you Aisha."  She nodded in reply.

Leaving me at the staff entrance and handing me the keys to the patio doors, I went in. The place was a little bit dark and dank, little light filtering in through the closed windows. The images of that night seemed to fit themselves into the hall. I, Chioma, Funmi and Bennie entering through the mahogany doors, my parents on the podium, Chi and Samuel dancing... I and Rex dancing.

I crossed the hall and went to the patio doors. I put the key in the keyhole and turned, unlocking the doors. My hand seemed to hang in midair as I made to swing them open.

Gathering emotional strength, I gave a little push.

The place had been swept and mopped clean. I was expecting a yellow tape to mark off the crime scene, but there was none.

It was spacious. The four walls were demacated into two, brick tiles covering the lower half, lavender colored paint covering the upper half.

Two metal cushioned benches lay opposite each other, by the East and West walls. Mother-in-law tongues were growing in flower pots place diagonally across the room. A low railing separated the patio from a little flower garden that lay beyond it. It looked like somewhere out of Ancient Greece. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I felt very nostalgic.

How could somewhere so beautiful hold such a dark and painful memory? I sat on the bench and cried a little, taking in the beauty of the flower garden.

There were red, white and purple hibiscuses, morning glory, lavender, boungavillea, jasmines, lilies, sunflowers, daisies and a rose bush.

That had roses.

White roses that smelled so nice and were astonishingly beautiful. I frowned as I studied them closely.

They looked like they had been trampled upon. A branch lay askew, a single pure white rose that contrasted with it's thorns, lay on the earth. That was strange. Had the rose fallen off or did it fall due to some kind of external force?. I went back to the reception.

"Aisha can I see the garden?" She looked at me warily. She had done so much already, this was a lot to ask.

"Fine." She said reluctantly.

She took me outside, round the first wing of the hotel, past the large adult pool, to the garden and then left.
I leaned on my haunches, in the pathway in the garden, examining the rose bush. Several branches were bent over and wilting. Who could have hurt something so innocent?

Looking closer, I noticed a piece of cloth that was caught by a thorn. I picked it off, stinging myself in the process. It was a denim like material.
Why would anyone try to exit or enter the patio through the garden? Talk less the place were roses which most definitely had thorns, grew? There was no reasonable explanation.

Except... except if the person was in a hurry to get away and there was little or no light.

I quickly pocketed the material and surveyed the garden some more.

Then carefully picking up that single, pure, innocent white rose and burying my nose into it, I was about rounding the corner when I bumped into a strong solid chest.

~~~~~~

_Rex_

Lord!. My mind and heart was racing.
What was she doing coming back to the place of the murder? Was she out of her mind? What if it was someone in the hotel that killed Chioma? What if she got hurt?

I was scared to the bone for her while she was risking her neck? Why? For what? Was she investigating on her own? Why didn't she tell someone? Tell me? What if she got hurt?

I gave it a space of a fidgety, anxious, worried twenty-five minutes before I went into the reception. I asked for her at the receptionist desk.

The lady told me that she was at the garden, telling a staff to show me the place. Halfway to the garden, the guide told me that the garden was around the bend.

I was about rounding it when I bumped into her. I put out my hands to steady her. She had been sniffing a rose. I went berserk.

"So you came all this way to smell roses or is what I think you are doing?"

She just blinked at me with her wide beautiful black eyes that still held all the sadness.

"Wah...what are you doing here Rex? How did you know I was here?" She asked scowling, a hint of anger in her confused voice.

"That's not the point Lillian. What are you doing here? Don't you know this place is not safe? You could get hurt or worse..." I bellowed shaking her.

"Firstly, my name is Chidinma...and I don't need you to protect me. I can do just fine on my own, Rex."

She finished raising her chin, a haughty look on her face. I released her shoulders and sighed exasperatedly, running my hand through my hair scattering it the process.

"Look Dinma, I'm sorry. I just don't want to see you hurt. I can't bear to see you hurt. Please could you stay safe and not come here again? Or better still you call me to come with you. Please."

I elaborated holding her dainty hands. The look on her face softened at my words. She was about to say something when her phone rang cutting her off. She removed her hands from mine and picked the call.

"Hello? Mum? Yes I'm fine... I'm okay...I love you too Mum... Is anything wrong? No, but if it would help, I'm with Rex."

Her face became pale and ashen and her hands started shaking.

"What!?"

She exclaimed her voice low, filled with pain and anguish. The phone dropped from her hands as her whole frame shook and she started clawing at her hair.

In a flash of lightning, I quickly engulfed her in my arms while she shook and shook and shook. I was worried. What could her Mum have told her that upset her like this? Did someone else go?

Hiding my worry, I murmured soothing words into her ear, trying to calm her down. Her head was buried in my chest and her tears soaked my shirt. My heart went out to her. She had stopped crying and shaking so violently. All I heard now were sniffs. I held her like that for some minutes.

"What happened?" I whispered into her ear. She sniffed.
She was quiet for a minute.

"They...they found cocaine in Chi... Chi's body...they said she did drugs..that...that she was intoxicated as at the time of her death, that what killed her, might be..might be self-inflicted."

She whispered shaking her head violently.

"How could they say that ehn? I know my best friend. She was my best friend!!.She absolutely hated drugs!. Something is just not right."

She lamented her voice shaky and muffled as she cried in my arms. I pulled her away from me and wiped her tears. Her eyes were puffy.
She was so beautiful, even when she cried.

"Let's get you home."

She nodded putting a weak,exhausted smile on her face. We left the hotel and took a taxi to her apartment.

I watched as the gentle sunlight washed her face as she slept, her head on my shoulder. The sun highlighted the mesmerizing features of her beautiful face. I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, my hand lingering there for a second. Beautiful.

Beautiful and Hurting.

She was there for me once, now it was my turn. My turn to be there for her. Maybe her gentle nature could rub off on me once more. God knows I need it.

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Hmm..
Haba, did Chioma do drugs?🙊
Me I don't think so oo.

Please let me know what you think is going on here.

PS: I'm so sorry for the late updates. I'm really really busy. Enjoy the chapter!! 😉