I had woken up with a throbbing headache. My whole body felt paralyzed and I couldn't move.

After the umpteenth time of trying to sit up, I finally succeeded. I yawned and stretched my arms.

Good grief! This place was unfamiliar.

I looked around me.

Where was I? This wasn't my bed and why was I naked?

I managed to get up but I couldn't walk properly. I felt pains in between my legs and my private part. What in the world had happened to me?

I sat back on the bed and buried my head in my hands, trying to remember where I was and what I was doing there. And... Where's mum?

Suddenly, like a hurricane, the events of the past day flooded my mind.

I remembered everything... The call from the hospital, sleeping with John, Mr Grumpy, the death of my mother and the unfortunate Reverend who had clearly taken advantage of me. If men of God can't even be trusted, then this world is a mess.

"You're awake finally." I heard a voice say.

I looked up to see Reverend Lawrence as he stepped into the bedroom.

His voice wasn't the calm soothing one of yesterday. Today, it was coarse and unloving.

I drew up the sheets to cover up my nakedness.

He laughed. "What are you hiding? I've already seen all that needs to be seen in you. I enjoyed you last night, it had been such a long time since I last had sex. Thanks for being such an easy prey."

The nerve, the effrontery, the guts, the audacity, the temerity he had to utter such nonsense. He wasn't even ashamed, he was bragging about raping an innocent girl.

"Here." He said and tossed a wad of notes towards me.

"I don't want your money." I retorted through clenched teeth.

He chuckled mockingly. "You don't have to want it but you definitely need it. Go get yourself some nice underwears with that money." He said.

I had never been so humiliated and embarrassed. And I'd never met such a shameless man like him in my entire life.

"You useless man, if you knew you can't keep that thing between your legs, why did you become a Reverend?" I asked, ignoring the tinge of shame and embarrassment I felt.

Yeah! My underwears were torn and old but did he have any right to make a mockery of me after his forced sex on me?

Some men are just bastards!

I was hurt, but I wasn't going to cry. If my mum were alive, I won't have to go through the turmoil I had gone through in the past few hours.

She was right, we completed each other. And now, without her, I was incomplete, broken and useless.

"I have to be in the Cathedral in twenty minutes. Get dressed so I can drop you off on my way." He said and walked out of the room.

Have you ever felt like just throwing your hands up in the air and giving up?

Well, that's how I feel right now.
Reverend Lawrence dropped me off and I saw John with his leather bag swung over his shoulder on his way to work. He looked surprised on seeing me alighting from a car but just walked off, ignoring me.

My mother had no friends, just a few acquaintances and we didn't relate well to even our neighbours and also, I'd never been the type to have friends so telling anyone about the demise of my mother would just be pointless.

I felt used, hurt and betrayed. I couldn't just live this way. I needed a sort of plan and a way forward. I felt hurt on seeing John this morning, how would I live seeing him everyday? And how could I stay here in this apartment where my mother's memories were all over? But I had nowhere to go.

The only money on me was the #15,000 the Reverend had given me and the #3,500 I had somewhere. That was #18,500 altogether.

I had used Mr Grumpy's money in paying for my mother's body to be in the mortuary and arranged for her to be buried in the hospital's cemetery in 3 days time.

I hadn't eaten since morning and it was already almost 8pm. I couldn't starve myself any longer so I went to the kitchen and placed a pot of rice on the stove. I then returned to our parlour which was also our bedroom.

I was hungry, tired and dizzy.Soon, I had drifted off to sleep.

I felt choked up. I was coughing really hard. My eyelashes fluttered and I opened my eyes to see smoke enveloping the environment. Something was burning. I saw flames of fire. It was coming from the kitchen.

Jesus! My rice.

I jumped to my feet with so much agility.

The smoke overshadowed my sense of sight. I couldn't see clearly.

How long had I slept for?

I grabbed my phone from the bed.

2 hours, 2 long hours!

I was done for. How would I explain things? How would I pay for the damages? Soon, the fire would creep into the other houses in the compound and they'd all ask me for their money and I'd end up in jail cause I can't pay.

Even if they can stop the fire in time, I'd still be doomed cause I'd have to refund the landlord the money for his apartment.

I was in so much trouble. I had only #18,500 so what could I do now?

The fire crept to the parlour as quick as lightening.

I was suffocating, I couldn't feel my lungs. I coughed and coughed. People were probably sleeping at the time so they hadn't noticed the fire in my apartment.

I couldn't die like that.

I refused to die!!

So saying, I grabbed my purse and phone from the bed and a handful of clothes in a polythene bag and made my way to the door.

Outside, I could finally breathe. I panted heavily before catching my breath. I jumped and rang the fire alarm and with that, I fled from the environment without taking so much as a glance back.

What awaits Cassandra? Do you think everything will be okay with her or will things get much more worse for her??

Please, you all should encourage and comment.
Thanks❤️❤️.

Also, thanks to MarkMaxson for nominating my book in The Nigerian Readers' choice awards.
Much love❤️❤️