CHAPTER 1

As they walked passed the trees she couldn't control her heartbeat. As they drew closer to the cliff, Her feet grew heavy with each step and though his palm in hers was sweaty from the heat in between their palms, it felt very cold, cold almost to a frightening numbness. Every step they took brought fear to her heart, body and soul even her numbness couldn't stop the fright that was taking over her entire body, she knew death was closer to her than ever.

Are we really doing this?" She asked Michael who had been her boyfriend from college.

"Yes we are Keji ". He looked at her charming brown face and saw what looked like a plea in her eyes, but he felt sure that everything would be alright.

He held her by the hands and said "Keji this is the only way we can be together forever, we will get peace and we'll live for eternity by doing this, you love me don't you?" Michael asked. "I love you more than anyone else in this world" she replied, but she was skeptical about what they were about to do.

Like the mantra "love is blind", the love Keji had for him transcends that of the usual love we see couples display everyday, in a way it wasn't just thrilling and romantic, it was toxic and psychotic". She was willing to do anything as long as a Michael was happy.

Keji thought of her mom, her little brothers and her dad, she thought of how much she meant to them and the state of misery she was about to put them in if the plan fails but she quickly dismissed the thought because it would make her even more skeptical. And even though she loved Michael crazily, she wished the walk to the cliff would take forever. She wished the chirping sounds from the creatures in the woods would drown her fears but it didn't.

Looking at the cliff from a distance, her feet became cold because she was enveloped in fear. The thought of having eternal peace with the love of her life was the only thing that kept her going but still something inside of her gave her doubts, something told her the whole arrangement was crazy.

And she thought to herself "what if it doesn't work or what if we die and nothing happens?" But they had finally arrived at the cliff so it was too late.

"Keji, remember when we would talk all night about this cliff? How we would go on about getting eternal peace and living for eternity by walking off this cliff?" Michael asked with so much excitement.

"Yes Michael I do remember" Keji replied (a bit sorrowfully).

"Well this is the time to get that peace and eternal life we dreamed off. So, are you ready?" Michael asked.

"Yes I am" Keji replied, although her voice lacked the readiness she confessed.

With a smile on his face he walked towards the tip of the cliff and spread out his arms like a flying bird. He had always been that one person who was never deterred when he set his mind to something he believed. He felt so happy, fulfilled and at peace and even if the moonlight was just starting to peep from the clouds, he looked odly handsome and his light-skin shone in the night light. He knew Keji had her doubts, so he walked up to her with a dashing and soothing smile on his face.

Keji who had her doubts stared at the love of her life with lust in her eyes and her lips started begging and craving for a kiss in spite of how gloomy her current situation looked. She needed something from him that will comfort and give her courage. It didn't matter if a kiss would do the trick. Michael stood before her and said "close your eyes", she closed her eyes submissively. He held her by the waist and brought her closer to himself. Using his hands to feel her shapely slender body, she suddenly felt lost in his arms. Moving his right arm upwards, he kept his hands on her face which forced her to open her eyes.

Looking at the beautiful face of his love, he noticed he couldn't stare directly into her big beautiful eyes because a little part of her hair covered her eyes a bit. So using his fingers, he moved the hair away and kept it behind her ear. She looked even more beautiful in the moonlight, her oval face holding so many unspoken words. Keji was drowned in his beautiful smile and perfect face. As she stared directly at his face all she hoped for was to kiss his lips.

Different emotions coursed through her veins, fear filled her heart, confusion took a sit in her mind. She tried all she could to resist the beautiful smile on his face which compelled her to submit to her lustful desires but she couldn't, so she moved her face closer to his. Michael kept his hands on the right side of her neck as he leaned in to kiss her. Though she had mixed feelings, the kiss Michael gave her was so passionate that it felt like she had no worries anymore. This was exactly what she needed, it was as if he had taken all her burdens away, she felt so relaxed. Keji looked into his eyes as he removed his lips from hers and withdrew his face.

She thought to herself "how can someone be so beautiful?, how can a mere mortal have eyes which were more dazzling than the stars?".

Michael looked at her and asked

"Are you ready?" She said with a smile on her face "yes I am ".

He turned to the cliff and he said "let's get eternal peace my love". As he walked to get his peace, Keji walked behind him with her hand gripping his own firmly. Michael's left foot was on the air as he walked off the cliff before Keji heard the scream from someone in the woods who seen them.

Startled with fear she left Michael's hand and watched as he fell to his death. The waves coming with so much force covered his body as he took his last breath and received the eternal peace he sought.

Keji was in a state of total shock and at that point she couldn't believe the love of her life was gone. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she heard a loud scream "hey you, what did you just do?" asked the stranger who she couldn't see. Keji panicked and ran away . As she ran through the woods she couldn't really see because it was already late and it had grown very dark in the woods, it was frightening how time had gone by. She just followed the sounds of the cars which she heard from a distance.

The leaves from some of the shrubs kept hitting her on the face as she ran past them, she got a lot of injuries from broken branches which she kept running into. She ran without looking back. She tripped over a little rock and fell. While on the ground she started crying because her heart was broken and she couldn't bear the pain of knowing that the man she loved was no more.

She got up slowly as the dirts of the earth were all over her body, the moist dead leaves from the ground were all over her. Keji slowly removed the dirts from body as she looked around trying to figure out where the major road was. As she looked around she saw the headlight of a car driving by, she immediately got up and ran towards the direction where the car was coming from. Luckily she got closer to the major road, as she walked further she saw the road and finally left the woods.

She fell down to her knees and screamed with so much agony" "why?!!"

She kept on screaming saying "I know we were suppose to do this together but I left you I'm so sorry, forgive me", her crying continued as she thought to herself "what if I go back and jump of the cliff? I guess I could still meet him".

As she got up and walked towards the woods again she saw little light from a distance and it looked like that of a flashlight so she ran away heading for her house.

Getting home she perceived the pleasant smell of her mom's Jollof rice and she knew her mom would be inside the kitchen so she slowly tip toed into the house. But before she could go upstairs her dog sensed that someone had entered into the house so it ran towards the staircase as It picked up Keji's scent and started wagging its tail. Keji had no choice but to rub the back of her white haired Caucasian fondly. In the process of petting it, her mom heard her voice and asked "Keji is that you?", she answered saying "Yes Mom ".

"Can you please help me in the kitchen?" Her mom asked.

Keji stopped petting her dog as she thought of a quick reply "Mom I can't today I'm having a headache".

Keji heard footsteps from the kitchen and realized it was her mom, so she ran upstairs before her mom could see her

"Keji are you okay?" Her mom asked as she looked around but she couldn't see anyone.

Keji opened the door to her room slowly careful not to let it creak so that her dad would not know that she had just come in. Immediately she got into her room, she closed the door quietly and rested her back on the door. Her hands were on her face as tears gushed out of her eyes like a fountain. She sat beside her bed and cried like a little girl who had just lost her favorite doll, but silently so that her parents would not be alarmed. "What have I done?" She asked repeatedly as tears rolled down her cheeks.