THE STALKER episode 6

THE STALKER

Episode 6

I walked slowly into the security office, careful not to draw too much attention to myself. Dr Korede had already called to grant me access to Dave but I was not going to take any chances upsetting anybody.

“Who are you?” A rough voice asked from behind a window.

“Good afternoon sir, I’m here to see Dave Aigbe.”

He did not reply. I waited but still there was no response.

“Excuse me?” I said.

Still no reply. Was I looking for trouble to have come here?

I heard a movement to my right and turned to see a man looking at me.He was short and stocky with a rough beard. He scared me.
“You’re the one here to see the culprit?” He asked.

“I’m here to see David Aigbe sir.” I didn’t like the sound of ‘culprit.”

“That’s the culprit.” He said with a snarl and waved me over.

He disappeared behind a door and I followed him nervously. I had never been within the security office before,first class students don’t belong here. Everything about the place scared me.There were several dark rooms beside each other. I wondered what horrors went on behind those closed doors. I pitied Dave again.

The man stopped at a door and opened it.

“Enter that room and wait for me.”

I entered the room & the door slammed behind me. The room had two chairs seating on opposite ends of a table. The room was dark with a solitary bulb hanging over the table. I felt like I was in the middle of an episode of NCIS. I pulled one of the chairs and sat. I hope all they do here is talk.

Ten minutes later and no one had attended to me. I knew this was a tactic used on suspects to get them unsettled, but I wasn’t one.

Or was I?

If Creep was behind this, he could have somehow roped me in. Oh no, am I a suspect? Was I going to be held here? I jumped off my seat and began to pace.

The door creaked, opened and Dave walked in. I ran to him and hugged him. The door slammed shut behind him and I pulled him to one of the chairs. I looked him over, he had not been harmed.

“I’m so sorry Dave, I did not want to bring you into all this.” I said, tears welling in my eyes.

He looked at me and smiled.

“Are you okay?” I asked but he waved me away.

“How did you get here? Who called you?” He asked.

I told him how Creep had called and threatened.

“You shouldn’t be here then.”

“No, I will get you out of here.”

“No, you won’t. You are only going to aggravate this…”

“But you didn’t cheat and you’re only here because I told him you were my boyfriend.” I said.

He paused and smiled. “Am I?”

I closed my eyes and tried to relax my face. I opened them and looked at him.

“Yes, you are, if you’re still interested.”

“I waited a long time for this, of course I still am.” He said.

He pulled my hands and held them.

“I’m scared Dave.” I said.

“I understand, but I did not cheat, so eventually the truth will come out.”

“I know but it might not as simple as that.”

“I will be fine.” He said.

“I heard you hit a guard, is that true?” I asked.
He nodded and looked down. My heart sank.

“But why?” My voice trembled.

“It was a terrible mistake but then the guard wanted to start searching me.”

“That was the problem?”

“He attempted to drop my p-nts, in front of the class!” Dave said, his face livid. “If you ask me, he just wanted me angry.”

“This is all the handwork of Creep!”

“That’s a nice pet name for him.” Dave said. “Very appropriate too.”

“What happens now?”

“I face the disciplinary committee.” He said.

“With what explanation?” I asked. “How did the paper get on your person anyway?”

“I have no idea. It wasn’t on me when I started the test, at least I did not see it until the lecturer came to my table.”

“You did not bring it out, the lecturer did not see it?” I asked.

“Yeah sure, the paper was in between my answer paper, he couldn’t have seen it.”

“How did he know where to check? Or was it a general search” I was getting really apprehensive.

“No, it wasn’t. He knew.”

“Oh my God! The lecturer is in cahoots with Creep? I don’t know him, why will he do that?” I asked, again the tears poured.

“The key to answering that question is finding out who this guy is.” Dave said.

I agreed. I was fighting an invisible enemy; an enemy powerful enough to have lecturers on his side.

“If you can’t find him. maybe you can find out what Mr Tunji is.”

“Maybe they belong to a cult.” I said.

I had avoided cult members for four years and somehow at the end they had found me.

“Don’t jump to conclusions, okay?” Dave squeezed my hands between his.

I wanted to jump into his arms and have him hold me.

The door burst open and the short man I saw earlier entered with a sneer on his face.

“Out now!” He said to Dave.

“Sir, could you give us a minute?” Dave asked.
Wham!

I heard the slap before I saw it. Dave collapsed holding his face.

“Next time I tell you to do something, you do it!” The man said and dragged Dave to his feet.

“You wait here.” He said to me.

Dave walked out of the room without looking at me. I sank into one of the chairs and buried my head in my hands and sobbed.

I was an easy going student who paid no attention to anything but my books, why was this happening to me? I didn’t deserve it

The light in the room went off and I lifted my head. The door creaked and opened.

“Hello precious.”

Creep!

“What do you want?” I asked, wiping my eyes.

“You know my voice already? Looks like all of this is working, right?”

I kept quiet and stared into the dark. What did he want now?

“I promise I’m not here to gloat,d espite your obvious troubles. Look, I love you and all I want to is to be given a fair chance.”

I heard him pull a chair and sit.

“What does that guy have that I don’t? What is it?” He said.

“What does he have? A heart!” I said..

“Of course, I have a heart, give me a chance to prove it.” His voice was tender now.

Maybe this was my chance to know who he is.

“A heart is difficult to prove. I don’t even know what you look like. I don’t know what your name is, I don’t know who you are, what do you want from me?” I said and waited eagerly.

The room was silent for a few seconds. I wondered what he was thinking. Did he know what my motive was? I kept quiet and waited

“You want to know who I am?”

“Yes.” I said.

“As you can tell, I don’t handle rejection well. Are you sure you want to do this?”

I kept quiet and thought about it. What if I saw his face and he wanted more than just talking with me? Was it worth the risk?

“I see you are considering it too. Obviously your mind is not made up.”

“No, no, my mind is made up. My answer is yes.”

“Are you sure about this? If you make a fool of me, you will live to regret today.”

My heart thumped against my chest.

“Yes, I am sure.” I said.

“Okay then.”

“But wait, you have to release Dave.”

He hissed and shifted from one foot to the other.

“So this is still about that guy? I’m sorry I can’t do that.”

My heart sank.

“That’s the deal, release him or we don’t meet.”

He burst into laughter.

“Do you realise that you are not in any position to negotiate? He could be dead today if I wanted.”

Well, I had to try. I was going to have to save Dave another way.

“No problem, we have a deal. I’ll let you know when.” I said

“Once again, you forget who is controlling this negotiation.” He said. “At the right time, I will bring you to the right place.”
This was not what I had in mind, how was I supposed to come out of this unharmed? I calmed my shivering hands and stilled myself.

“So, do we have a deal?” He asked.

I exhaled and answered. “Yes, we do.”

Now, I cross my heart and hope for the best.

To Be Continued……..