A wild night and a new road.

“People fear death even more than pain. It’s strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah, I guess it is a friend.

– Jim Morrison

Leticia.

"Maverick, please... Please," Leticia whispered to the phone as her tears continued to run down her face. She knew he had hung up the call, he cut off the last hope that she had.

There was no struggle when the phone was taken from her hands.

She slid down the wall to the cold ground. Her tears were flowing freely, the sounds were stuck in there, as though a gag was shoved down her throat.

Her body trembled and her tears multiplied. Two times, her hope was crushed.

She was a big fool to believe that Noah would ever help her, and an even bigger fool when she asked Maverick for help.

The needles pricking her heart were about to burst out through her skin.

The ground was cold, but the coldness she felt inside was capable of freezing her into a block.

When Noah accepted the call, she had been very happy, she had even assured Hannah that she would get her out of there no matter what.

She clung to Noah's words desperately, forgetting how her brother could be. Her heart dropped when he told her that he would not help, and it dropped further when she heard her mother's voice in the background.

Angel just gave her a small smile, then told her to call one more person.

Maverick was not an option, neither was her mother. She was sure her mother-in-law had heard about what she was accused of doing, so that was not an option either.

Then she remembered her best friend, Michelle. Even if nobody believed her, she knew Michelle would.

And for the fact that Michelle wasn't in Nigeria, it was obvious that she had not heard about it so that was a bonus.

Since she was not aware of the situation, she would help her out, and then she would find a way to prove her innocence.

Instantly, she made the call and Michelle accepted it.

She was startled when she heard Maverick speak the second time, but she still decided to try her luck.

How much more unfortunate could she be?

The tone of his voice scared her, but she still decided to try her luck. However, when she heard the hatred in his tone, she needed nobody to tell her that there was no escaping Angel.

Her shoulders started to shake more, and she drew her legs closer to her body, letting out a strangled sob. The sound racked through every inch of her body, echoing in the empty room.

Leticia felt her body being pulled to warmth.

Hannah hugged Leticia tightly, rocking her back and forth as they both wept.

The pain in their voices was heart-wrenching, as their new reality began to sink in gradually.

The two women wept, holding onto each other.

Some moments later, when the sky had shed its colours, they sat exhausted, their grip had loosened, eyes sore and throat raw from all the sobs.

They stared into space, both lost in their worlds.

"You know, I didn't tell you everything about my life," Hannah whispered.

Leticia slowly tilted her head towards her direction, even though it was hard to see her in the darkness.

"I have lived with my Dad all my life because mom was killed when I was twelve years old. I watched them rape her to death..." She gave a pained chuckle before continuing.

"After that, Dad took me away. He gave me everything I needed. Is it money? I had it in abundance, clothes? I had a change of wardrobe every month, but it never stopped my nightmares, never gave me the friends I needed. The ones that came close to me were there for my money, and others felt I was too proud."

Leticia felt that familiar pang in her heart. She knew what it felt like to be an outcast.

"H-he never cared for me, always busy, travelling to Europe today, Asia tomorrow and so on. I used to see blood on his clothes most times whenever he came back from 'work'. Once, I summoned courage and asked about it. He glared at me and warned me never to talk about it again."

Leticia patted Hannah's back as she realized it was getting hard for her to speak. Her voice had already started to crack.

"It's okay. Don't speak if you can't bear it."

"No, let me. I got used to the bloodstains I used to see on his clothes and some weapons too. Then one day, he said I should prepare to go on one of his trips with him. I was too excited that I would get to go far away from his prison that I didn't even question or suspect anything. We boarded the plane and arrived in Brazil. I enjoyed myself for a few days, went sightseeing in so many places. Until that day, when he told me my tenure had expired." Hannah laughed again, harder than the last time.

She laughed so much that Leticia was beginning to question her sanity.

After a little while, she calmed down and took deep breaths.

"I wondered what he meant, but my head was too high up in the clouds to give it any serious thought. Three days later, he handed me over to some scary-looking men.  I cried I begged, I pleaded with all my might and strength but he didn't give me a second glance. He left me with them. They would beat me, hit me with all sorts of things and I would cry myself to unconsciousness. I would witness so many girls being raped, killed or traded. I guess I was lucky that I wasn't raped, because I never let them touch me no matter what. That's how I ended up here with you."

Leticia felt tears leaking once again. She hugged Hannah, patting her back. "We'll be fine," she muttered, trying to make herself believe it.

"I think it's high time we get down to business, all this mushy stuff is hurting my eyes," A deep voice said.

They withdrew from the hug and turned. Leticia saw the tall silhouette standing by the door.

She did not hear the door opening.

He continued to move forward at a calculated pace until he stopped before them.

He took a seat on the chair brought in by his boys and stared at the girls without any expression on his face.

"So from my knowledge, none of your family members agreed to help, poor ladies, I feel so bad for you," he said with a sigh.

"I saw it coming though. Why do you think I let you call so easily?" He asked.

"Any guesses?"

Leticia said nothing, neither did Hannah.

He sighed again. "How can't you guess something as easy as this? I gave you the chance because I knew that nobody would come for you!"

He started to chuckle.

"I don't buy commodities that have backups. I buy only helpless commodities my darlings." He breathed in deeply before resuming his speech.

"You my dears, are helpless, and unfortunately you decided to double-cross me. Now that's not what good girls should do. Good girls are obedient, and I like good girls but I hate disobedient girls so I punish them-"

"Bastard!" Hannah spat and Leticia froze, wide-eyed.

What was wrong with her!

She covered Hannah's mouth with her hands on impulse, pleading with her eyes for the girl not to speak any further.

Angel chuckled, fixing his eyes on the defiant girl.

"Anyways, I kept my end of the promise, so it's your turn to keep yours," he said.

Standing up to his full frame, he adjusted his cuffs and turned to walk out of the room.

Hannah bit Leticia's hand and sprang up from the ground before she knew it.

How she did it, Leticia had no idea, but the next thing she saw was a big wood landing on the back of Angel's head.

She gasped and blocked the sound with her palm.

It seemed like time stopped at that point.

Angel froze in his tracks while Hannah stood fiercely behind him with the stick in her hands.

Angel touched the back of his head and took it to his eyes. Blood.

He laughed and slowly spun around to face the attacker.

Swiftly, he took the plank and whipped Hannah's head with it.

Hannah lost her balance and fell to the ground.

Leticia scrambled forward to the writhing girl and held her tight. She lifted her head shakily to stare at his face.

She could see nothing except his eyes which were brewing a storm.

"How. dare. you?" He said.

"I said, how dare you!" He roared this time and Leticia flinched.

The door was thrown open and nearly ten men rushed into the room.

"Switch on the light."

His command was immediately carried out.

The room was fully illuminated and she could see his countenance this time.

Never had she seen such a twisted expression on anyone's face. The look made her stomach rumble.

His face was clouded, his eyes shone undiluted anger but his lips were twisted into a wide smile. Was this not the man that just roared?

He tilted his head and a pistol and knife were handed over to him.

Her body started to tremble, so did Hannah's. She wanted to scold Hannah at first for calling him a bastard, but Hannah's next action stupefied her to the extent that she had forgotten how to even speak.

Angel bent over and pulled Hannah away from her grip.

The next thing he did was to put bullets through Hannah's left knee.

Leticia screamed as the blood splattered all over her dress.

Hannah dropped to the ground with a louder and gut-wrenching scream, trying to clutch her wounded knee.

She started to scream in pain, so much so that Leticia was shaken to the core, not knowing how or whether to pacify the girl.

While she was still thinking of what to do, another gunshot rang out, followed by endless screams.

Hannah's right knee was shot this time.

Her blood started to soak Leticia's clothes.

Angel was still smiling.

"You shouldn't cross me, baby," he said and shot her hands which were clutching her two knees.

Leticia retched and threw up on the floor when the blood kept on flowing.
Hannah was sprawled on the floor, struggling to catch her breath and squirming side to side in a bid to stop the excruciating pain.

Angel wiped the blood on his face, then he said,

"I'll let you watch your friend bleed to death to teach you a lesson to never cross me." He gave both of them a once over, then walked out of the room with his men.

Leticia crawled towards Hannah and grabbed her.

Hannah moaned, shaking her head vigorously. She collapsed with her back on the red liquid beneath her.
Leticia sobbed, not knowing what to do.

"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry. It's all my fault," she begged Hannah, tearing part of her gown to wrap the wound.

"It- it's n-not your f-fault... Urghh..." She groaned and coughed, sending a fresh batch of the liquid spilling over a whimpering Leticia.

"I'm sorry, f-forgive me," Hannah whispered.

Leticia shook her head.

"It's not your fault! It's not please," she said.

Hannah chuckled a bit. "It is."

She went silent for a while, and Leticia felt her breath slowing down.

"D-do you know m-my d-dream?" She asked after a while.

"Hush, don't say anything, please. Save your strength."

"N-no Leticia. I-I want to s-peak. I... Would have - would have loved t-to be a marine..." She coughed again and Leticia held her tighter.

"Marine engineer," she managed to choke out.

"I never told anyone, you're the first person I'm telling."

"Hannah please-"

"My full name is Hannah Azrielle Mfonabasi Etok, and my favourite colour was Sea green, just like the ocean. What's yours?" She stuttered in her speech but did not stop.

"Leticia Uyo-ojo Adama-Wagner. Favourite colour is peach."

"Okay, Mfonabasi means God is good, so what does Uyo-ojo mean?"

"It means joy, please that should do, don't talk again."

Leticia tried to block out the thought that Hannah was going to die, but every second she could feel it in her bones that she was close to the end.

Hannah gave a weak giggle. "Don't worry about me, I feel good actually. I'm going to see my mom again. Now shush, I want to say my last prayer," she whispered.

A tear dropped from her moist eyes. It wasn't fair. Hannah did not deserve to die.

"I'm done saying my prayer. Rest your mind now, I'll be in a good place with gold and silver everywhere. You just survive this please, you have to. I pray you find your true love unlike me who never did," she chuckled.

"And I pray you have children, and please name one of them after me okay?"

Leticia nodded, trying to stop her flowing tears by wiping them which wasn't successful as the tears had a mind of their own.

"I promise I will–if I get."

"That's the spirit," Hannah said and took a deep breath.

As Leticia noticed that she was not speaking again, her heart slammed violently against her rib cage.

"Hannah! Hannah, please, please not yet," she tapped her gently.

"Hey chill, I'm not gone yet. Just rest your heart okay? Remember that I'll be in a good place now, and you must survive no matter what okay? Violence takes it by force."

Leticia nodded again. A little moment of silence passed and Hannah took another deep breath.

"Uyo-ojo. You're the last person that brought joy to my life, the first person to make me feel what it's like to have a friend and sister, I promise that I'll never forget you."

"I know you won't," Leticia choked out.

"I won't. Thank you so much, big sis. I love you." She smiled at Leticia and the last tear dropped from her eyes as her eyelids shut forever.

"Hannah! Hannah please!" Letitia hugged Hannah close, rocking back and forth, only to realize that she was no longer breathing.

She gasped on her sobs, clutching the lifeless girl in her hands. Her heart, oh her heart ached so bad that she thought it was going to explode.

The walls of the room reverberated from the sound that erupted in her throat with so much anguish.

"Nooooooo!"

No please😭😭😭😭 this chapter😭😭😭😭😭😭

Let's give Hannah one minute silence😞

Surprise surprise! I gave a double update today and I'm so happy, although I'm sad that our dear Hannah is gone😭😭

Imma go to bed now, see y'all next time.

I'm sad that Hannah is dead so I won't make noise.

Yours sadly, Caupcayke💔💔🤧